Countdown recap for Wednesday 3 September 2014.
C1: Champion David Stanford (6 wins, 496 points.) A retired financial director from Swinton, Greater Manchester. He once went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he would meet his Chinese-born wife, as they were both on business together.
C2: Challenger Natassja Stiles. A primary school teacher from Fareham, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
DC: Susie Dent and Janet Street-Porter.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S A I E P S T A R
R02: V E J S I W M O P
R03: 100, 6, 5, 8, 8, 7. Target: 706.
TTT: TIMBRAVE - "Tim was sometimes brave, but other times he was incredibly shy"
R04: H E O S N E C H A
R05: T V I U O D R B S
R06: 25, 4, 8, 2, 1, 9. Target: 714.
R07: N M A E O T N T C
R08: R U B Y N E A S G
R09: 50, 5, 9, 6, 5, 9. Target: 332.
TTT: BENTRADE - "Ben traded witty exchanges with a friend"
R10: D O M A D R P I C
R11: T G R O U E Q L O
R12: T S A N T E R A K
R13: W N F U A I E P L
R14: 50, 75, 2, 3, 9, 5. Target: 789.
R15: L A R G E H I N D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S A I E P S T A R
David: TRAIPSES (8)
Natassja: TRAPS (5)
DC: PASTIES (7) PASTRIES (8) ASPIRATES (18) PARASITES (18)
OT: SATRAPIES (18)
Score: 8–0 (max 18)
A poor start from Natassja, who is 3 worse than David with her first offering, but there were a trio of 9's available.........
A SATRAPY (plural SATRAPIES) is a province governed by a satrap, a provincial governor in the ancient Persian Empire.
Round 2: V E J S I W M O P
David: MOVES (5)
Natassja: SWIM (4)
DC: JIVES (5) MOVIES (6) EMOJIS (6)
OT: IMPOSE (6)
Score: 13–0 (max 24)
Almost two-thirds of a triathlon here with MOVES and SWIM. Maybe the contestants should have gone to the MOVIES instead, or do something like this:
Round 3: 100, 6, 5, 8, 8, 7. Target: 706.
David: 706. (7 x 100) + 6 (10)
Natassja: 706. (7 x 100) + 6 (10)
Score: 23–10 (max 34)
NEXT
Teatime teaser: TIMBRAVE -> AMBIVERT
Round 4: H E O S N E C H A
David: SCONE (5)
Natassja: CHASE (5)
DC: CHOSEN (6) ENCASH (6)
OT: ACHENES (7) ENCHASE (7)
Score: 28–15 (max 41)
Just a pair of 5's from the contestants, a pair of 6's from DC and a pair of 7's left alone.
An ACHENE is an small, dry one-seeded fruit that does not open to release the seed.
To ENCHASE is to decorate a piece of jewellery or work of art by inlaying, engraving, or carving.
Round 5: T V I U O D R B S
David: DIVOTS (6)
Natassja: -
DC: DISTURB (7) OUTBIDS (7)
Score: 34–15 (max 48)
Natassja can't muster anything here, while David's DIVOTS pull him further clear.
Round 6: 25, 4, 8, 2, 1, 9. Target: 714.
David: 716. (((8 x 4) - 2 - 1) x 25) - 9 (7)
Natassja: 718.
RR: 714. ((25 x 4) + 2) x (8 - 1) (10)
Score: 41–15 (max 58)
David pulls further away once more with his 2 away, compared to Natassja's 4 away, while our Rach is 0 away.
Janet talks about her upcoming series with Brian Turner, A Taste Of Britain, and all the poor hotels she had to stay in during her 5 months of filming across the UK.
Round 7: N M A E O T N T C
David: CONTENT (7)
Natassja: MATTE (5)
DC: CONTEMN (7)
OT: CONNATE (7) MONTANE (7) TOMENTA (7)
Score: 48–15 (max 65)
David seems to be more than CONTENT with his first letters max of the day, while DC shown some CONTEMN........
CONNATE is an adjective referring to ideas or principles existing in a person or thing from birth.
MONTANE is an adjective referring to inhabiting mountainous country.
Round 8: R U B Y N E A S G
David: BANGERS (7)
Natassja: rubeas
OT: BARNEYS (7) GRABENS (7) GURNEYS (7)
Score: 55–15 (max 72)
And now David brings out the BANGERS
But, Natassja is still struggling to score any more points from the 15 she already has............ A GRABEN is an elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults and displaced downwards relative to the blocks on either side, as in a rift valley.
Round 9: 50, 5, 9, 6, 5, 9. Target: 332.
David: 335.
Natassja: 331. (6 x 50) + (9 x (9 - 5)) - 5 (7)
RR: 332. (50 x 5) + (9 x 9) + 6 - 5 (10)
Score: 55–22 (max 82)
Well, Natassja has managed to score some points, but even now, she still needs a miracle of sorts, considering only 5 of her 22 points have come in the letters rounds, and there are still 4 of those to go..............
Teatime teaser: BENTRADE -> BANTERED
Round 10: D O M A D R P I C
David: CRAMP (5)
Natassja: prima
DC: DRIP (4) PICADOR (7)
OT: PARODIC (7)
Score: 60–22 (max 89)
Oh dear, oh dear, that definitely isn't prima for Natassja...........
Round 11: T G R O U E Q L O
David: GRUEL (5)
Natassja: QUOTE (5)
DC: LOOTER (6) TORQUE (6)
OT: LOGOUT (6) REGULO (6) RETOOL (6) ROOTLE (6) ROQUET (6) ROUGET (6) TOOLER (6)
Score: 65–27 (max 95)
Quite a few 6's here, but the contestants struggle with the GRUEL and a QUOTE.
A REGULO was used before a numeral to denote a setting on a temperature scale in a gas oven.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "Nosey Parker".
Round 12: T S A N T E R A K
David: STREAK (6)
Natassja: STARK (5)
DC: TARTANS (7) STEAK (5) TANKERS (7)
OT: NATTERS (7) RANKEST (7) RATTANS (7) TANTRAS (7)
Score: 71–27 (max 102)
David STREAKs to win (thankfully, not literally
), while DC go Scottish with some TARTANS. In the count noun sense, a RATTAN is the length of rattan used as a walking stick.
A TANTRA is a Hindu or Buddhist mystical or magical text, dating from the 7th century or earlier.
Round 13: W N F U A I E P L
David: PANEL (5)
Natassja: LUPINE (6)
DC: PAINFUL (7)
OT: INFULAE (7)
Score: 71–33 (max 109)
Well, the fightback has come much too late from Natassja. In a way, DC's offering sums up her day today...........
In the Christian Church, an INFULA (plural INFULAE) is either of the two ribbons on a bishop’s mitre.
Round 14: 50, 75, 2, 3, 9, 5. Target: 789.
David: 789. ((75 + 3) x 2 x 5) + 9 (10)
Natassja: 793.
Score: 81–33 (max 119)
Well, David gets the numbers, but this score of 81 is only roughly maintaining his average, which will keep him isolated on the leaderboard for now...........
Round 15: L A R G E H I N D
No one buzzes. The answer was HERALDING.
Final Score: 81–33 (max 129)
Not getting the conundrum is pretty irrelevant too, as David's current total of 577 means that he will stay as #3 seed, whatever happens tomorrow, but he is still in the running for a slightly unwanted record of the lowest scoring 15-round octochamp, as he is only 58 points behind Danny Pledger's 635, and the fact that someone in this series has already won with a score of 41 means that it certainly can't be ignored.............
Join me tomorrow to see if David can a) become an octochamp and b) avoid "that record".
Till then, bye for now.
Statistics Corner
David:
Total score - 81
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 63
Raw % of max - 72
Total average score per round - 5.4
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 4
Natassja:
Total score - 33
Raw score - 66
Total % of max - 26
Raw % of max - 51
Total average score per round - 2.2
Raw average score per round - 4.4
Number of maxes - 1
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71