c4countdown

Into the arena I go, as we could have our 3rd octochamp in 18 shows

Off we go, enjoy.

Countdown recap for Thursday 4 September 2014.

C1: Champion David Stanford (7 wins, 577 points.) A retired financial director from Swinton, Greater Manchester.
C2: Challenger Szelong Ng. A student from Bristol, but is currently studying physiology at Cardiff University. He is a Grade 8 pianist, and once rammed an elastic band in ear to impress girls at junior school.
DC: Susie Dent and Janet Street-Porter.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D L T A E I G C D
R02: N A W N E H A E N
R03: 100, 1, 5, 10, 1, 9. Target: 583.
TTT: BUSHROAR - "Hides criminals where the boats are kept"
R04: P A R V O F I M O
R05: N L D I A E S G P
R06: 50, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1. Target: 876.
R07: S C N O I A R T I
R08: S E Y S I G A E L
R09: 25, 75, 1, 5, 4, 2. Target: 890.
TTT: STEAKRAP - "Dad helped himself to a few drinks"
R10: R A P T O R E N K
R11: N T X O U A D R D
R12: T E D O R E S F T
R13: H C M A E I P Z E
R14: 25, 50, 75, 6, 10, 1. Target: 470.
R15: T H R E E L I D S (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: D L T A E I G C D

David: DILATED (7)
Szelong: DILATED (7)
DC: CITADEL (7) GELATI (6)
OT: DELTAIC (7) DIALECT (7) EDICTAL (7) LIGATED (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)

A simple start to the game today, although Susie seems to want some ice cream.

Round 2: N A W N E H A E N

David: WHEN (4)
Szelong: HENNA (5)
DC: HEWN (4)
OT: NANNA (5) WANNA (5) WHEEN (5)
Score: 7–12 (max 12)

A nasty bunch of letters, but Szelong manages to draw out a 5 on his arm.

A WHEEN is a Scottish term for a considerable amount or number.

Round 3: 100, 1, 5, 10, 1, 9. Target: 583.

David: 585. Mistake in working.
Szelong: 581. (5 x 100) + ((9 - 1) x 10) + 1 (7)
RR: 582/584. (7)
OT: 582. ((5 + 1) x 100) - 10 - 9 + 1 (7)
Score: 7–19 (max 19)

Hmmm, a tough target to get spot on, so tough that it's impossible to do, but David messes up letting Szelong go further clear.

Teatime teaser: BUSHROAR -> HARBOURS

Round 4: P A R V O F I M O

David: FOAM (4)
Szelong: VROOM (5)
DC: IMPROV (6)
OT: OVIFORM (7)
Score: 7–24 (max 26)

VROOM VROOM, Szelong is moving further along, leaving David far behind, but there's still plenty of time for David to catch up.

Round 5: N L D I A E S G P

David: PLEASING (8)
Szelong: SPADING (7)
DC: PLEADINGS (18)
Score: 15–24 (max 44)

Well, David is starting to be PLEASING now, and while he is only 9 points behind, DC get themselves a 9.

Round 6: 50, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1. Target: 876.

David: -
Szelong: -
RR: 876. ((50 x 3) - 4) x (2 + 1) x 2 (10)
Score: 15–24 (max 54)

Not easy again, and not even a declaration by either contestant this time...........

Janet talks about how she got all her stories in the "pre-Google" age (it being the 16th birthday of Google today) while working as a journalist.

Round 7: S C N O I A R T I

David: cortisan
Szelong: RATIONS (7)
DC: CORTINAS (8) CROSTINI (8)
OT: AORISTIC (8) CANTORIS (8) OCTRAINS (8)
Score: 15–31 (max 62)

Oh dear, David's spelling of COURTESAN is a bit off, so Szelong goes further ahead again..........

A CANTORIS is the section of a church or cathedral choir conventionally placed on the north side and taking the second or lower part in antiphonal singing.
An OCTRAIN is a group or stanza of eight lines, or an octet.

Round 8: S E Y S I G A E L

David: AGELESS (7)
Szelong: GLASS (5)
DC: GLASSY (6) EYEGLASS (8)
Score: 22–31 (max 70)

But, David negates that 7 instantly with his AGELESS answer. A shame that Szelong didn't think to stick an EYE before his GLASS for the darrenic 8........

Round 9: 25, 75, 1, 5, 4, 2. Target: 890.

David: 900.
Szelong: 895. ((25 + 75) x ((2 x 4) + 1)) - 5 (7)
RR: 890. ((2 x 75) + 25 + 4 - 1) x 5 (10)
Score: 22–38 (max 80)

Another stinker to solve appears, but with David 10 away, Szelong's 5 away puts him 16 clear once again............

Teatime teaser: STEAKRAP -> PARTAKES

Round 10: R A P T O R E N K

David: TANKER (6)
Szelong: TANKER (6)
DC: RAPTOR (6) PRONATE (7)
OT: OPERANT (7) PARTNER (7) PRAETOR (7) PRORATE (7) PROTEAN (7)
Score: 28–44 (max 87)

A pair of TANKERs by the contestants, but shockingly David misses OPERANT, which he only got in yesterday's shows

In Roman History, a PRAETOR was each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul.

Round 11: N T X O U A D R D

David: ROTUND (6)
Szelong: ROTUND (6)
DC: ROTUNDA (7)
Score: 34–50 (max 94)

OUCH, OUCH, OUCH

Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "Peeping Tom".

Round 12: T E D O R E S F T

David: DEFOREST (8)
Szelong: RESTED (6)
OT: FORESTED (8) FOSTERED (8) ROSETTED (8) TETRODES (8)
Score: 42–50 (max 102)

David clears the way for a brilliant 8, cutting Szelong's lead in half in the process!! Is the octochamp dream back on

A TETRODE is a thermionic valve having four electrodes.

Round 13: H C M A E I P Z E

David: MAIZE (5)
Szelong: PEACH (5)
DC: IMPEACH (7)
OT: CHEAPIE (7)
Score: 47–55 (max 109)

A couple of foody offerings, but Szelong misses the chance to get a better word by not sticking the IM before his PEACH. David is still within reach of octochampdom, but what will Szelong do to try and stop him..........

Round 14: 25, 50, 75, 6, 10, 1. Target: 470.

David: -
Szelong: 470. (50 - (75 / 25)) x 10 (10)
Score: 47–65 (max 119)

Well, the 3 large gamble pays off for Szelong, and David is denied octochampdom, and we have a new champion.

Round 15: T H R E E L I D S

Szelong buzzes on 23 seconds to say SLITHERED which is correct.
Final Score: 47–75 (max 129)

And just for good measure, Szelong gets the conundrum too.

So, we're denied our 3rd octochamp of this series, although if we're being brutally honest, there has been more than one occasion in which David was lucky to stay in the champions' chair, so maybe it was a bit of justice that he didn't become an octochamp, which could easily have broken the low points record too, so luckily we don't need to talk about that either.............

So, join Anthony tomorrow to see how Szelong gets on in his 2nd game, in what the @c4countdown Twitter feed is referring to as the 6,000th show (Although, the Wiki says it's only Episode 5,987 (although, we've had this argument before........... ))

I'll be back next Wednesday just for a single show, thanks to the horse racing, so till then, bye bye.

Statistics Corner

David:
Total score - 47
Raw score - 60
Total % of max - 36
Raw % of max - 47
Total average score per round - 3.1
Raw average score per round - 4.0
Number of maxes - 2

Szelong:
Total score - 75
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 58
Raw % of max - 72
Total average score per round - 5.0
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 5

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71

With regards to the 6000th episode issue, I'm guessing that includes the Catsdown episodes, although by my estimate we should have passed the milestone already then

James Laverty wrote:With regards to the 6000th episode issue, I'm guessing that includes the Catsdown episodes, although by my estimate we should have passed the milestone already then

I don't think so, as we're well gone with that, and I certainly don't include them in the list

ODO words: EDICTAL and OCTRAINS

Giles wrote:ODO words: EDICTAL and OCTRAINS

Thanks, Giles.