Thursday September 18th, 2014 (Series 71 Prelim 48)

[Jordan F]

Countdown recap for Thursday 18 September 2014.

Welcome to another recap made in the United States. Hope you enjoy this international flare to the recap today. Nick starts off today's show by talking about the big vote in Scotland today for independence. I don't know a whole lot to pros and cons about this, would be interesting to hear more. Rachel has only been to Glasgow once, but has friends from there.

C1: Champion Paul Worsley (2 wins, 199 points.) An aptoforumite and father of series 66 champion Jack Worsley. He met his wife in an unusual way, something called a blindhouse. Someone explain this to me please.
C2: Challenger David Morgans. From Pattingham in Staffordshire. His favorite city is Venice, because of the escape from the modern world.
DC: Susie Dent and Jenny Eclair.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: M G A U R A F P O
R02: V I S P O D P I M
R03: 50, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9. Target: 611.
TTT: THESPACE - "This can be said about the second space on a Monopoly board"
R04: T N E L I T N U L
R05: T X S E I A L C O
R06: 100, 25, 6, 8, 9, 1. Target: 854.
R07: S C I R E I N S U
R08: E B D O S E F T Q
R09: 100, 1, 5, 3, 10, 2. Target: 766.
TTT: DOORBELL - "No need for a doorbell at this establishment, it's got lots of knockers"
R10: M I S D E A T H D
R11: R S D O E O R N E
R12: V R N U L E A P S
R13: B R J O E A S W T
R14: 100, 75, 25, 5, 5, 4. Target: 870.
R15: C A R D B A K E R (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: M G A U R A F P O

Paul: GOPURAM (7)
David: pogram x
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

Not a great start for David, as he misspells POGROM. Very great start for Paul though, getting the best word available, referring to a tower at the entrance of an Indian temple.

Round 2: V I S P O D P I M

Paul: VOIDS (5)
David: dooms x
DC: IDIOMS (6)
OT: IODISM (6)
Score: 12–0 (max 13)

Oh dear. More bad news from David, as he doubles the O to DOOM himself. Paul gets a solid 5, with a couple of 6s available.

Round 3: 50, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9. Target: 611.

Paul: 610.
David: 611. 50 x (7+5) + 9 + 2 (10)
Score: 12–10 (max 23)

And the slump is over as David gets 10 points on this game. The key to this for me is finding the right way to make 12, perhaps Paul didn't, I'm not sure.

Teatime teaser: THESPACE -> CHEAPEST

Round 4: T N E L I T N U L

Paul: TUNNEL (6)
David: LITTLE (6)
DC: NUTLET (6) LINNET (6)
OT: INTENT (6) LENTIL (6) LINTEL (6) LUTEIN (6) TELLIN (6) TENUTI (6)
Score: 18–16 (max 29)

Lots of 6s. Both got one. Let's move on.

Round 5: T X S E I A L C O

Paul: SOCIETAL (8)
David: COAST (5)
DC: CALIXES (7)
Score: 26–16 (max 37)

Very impressive spot from Paul, I was stuck on LOCATES and OXTAILS myself. David couldn't pull out much, and Jenny with an interesting spot in the corner, regarding botany.

Round 6: 100, 25, 6, 8, 9, 1. Target: 854.

Paul: -
David: 854. 100 x 8 + (9 x 6) (10)
Score: 26–26 (max 47)

Oh dear again. 0/20 for Paul so far in numbers, and 20/20 for David. Could it make the difference?

Jenny talks about her time on the show "Splash," as well as the 7 stages of wearing swimsuits, from bikini to not caring.

Round 7: S C I R E I N S U

Paul: INSURES (7)
David: incurses x
DC: CUISINE (7) CUISINES (8)
OT: INCISURES (18)
Score: 33–26 (max 65)

David goes for a risk to try to overtake Paul here. It doesn't pan out, so Paul regains the lead. Jenny said CUISINE, and after some deliberation Susie said you could pluralize it. Susie said that was it. It was not it, as there was a 9, INCISURES, that are notches in edges or surfaces.

Round 8: E B D O S E F T Q

Paul: BESTED (6)
David: BESTED (6)
DC: BESTED (6)
OT: DEFEST (6)
Score: 39–32 (max 71)

Everyone BESTED this round.

Round 9: 100, 1, 5, 3, 10, 2. Target: 766.

Paul: 766. (100+10) x (5+2) - 3 - 1 (10)
David: -
Score: 49–32 (max 81)

At last Paul gets numbers points, as David is now too far away. Maybe doing inverted T instead of just a regular 1 large is the key. I found this the hardest numbers of the day, I also did not get it (2 away for me).

Teatime teaser: DOORBELL -> BORDELLO

Nick is ashamed to reveal the answer with a vicar in the audience. He'll get over it.

Round 10: M I S D E A T H D

Paul: MADDEST (7)
David: MISDATE (7)
DC: ATHEISM (7) MISDATED (8)
Score: 56–39 (max 89)

A shame for David, I guess not recognizing MISDATE as a verb? Could've been crucial here, but at least he ties Paul this round.

Round 11: R S D O E O R N E

Paul: ENDORSER (8)
David: ENDORSE (7)
DC: RODEOS (6)
Score: 64–39 (max 97)

Two in a row for David of spotting a word and not modifying it by one letter. This time Paul spots the max and pulls ahead further. Jenny with a supposedly "nice" word here, tell that to the people who do it.

Origins of Words: Susie talks about various words used to describe groups of animals. My favorite one was the first, an obstinancy of buffalo.

Round 12: V R N U L E A P S

Paul: UNREAL (6)
David: VERNAL (6)
DC: UNRAVELS (8)
OT: PARVENUS (8) PURSLANE (8) SUPERNAL (8)
Score: 70–45 (max 105)

6s ahoy from our contestants, but several 8s were to be found.

A PARVENU is a person of obscure origin who came into wealth and fame. Kim Kardashian, for instance.
PURSLANE refers to certain greens.
SUPERNAL is related to the heavens.

Round 13: B R J O E A S W T

Paul: JERBOAS (7)
David: BOATERS (7)
DC: BOASTER (7)
OT: BORATES (7) BRAWEST (7)
Score: 77–52 (max 112)

David got the common 7, Paul got the parvenu 7, relating to a desert rodent. This also locks up win number 3 for Paul. Let's see if he can get in the 90s.

Round 14: 100, 75, 25, 5, 5, 4. Target: 870.

Paul: 870. (100+75) x 5 - 5 (10)
David: 870. 100 x (5+4) -25 + 5 (10)
Score: 87–62 (max 122)

David goes for a Countdown first, the Ted Rogers, a 3-2-1. It works out well enough as a fairly simple 3 large game gets them both points.

Round 15: C A R D B A K E R

David buzzes on 15 seconds to say BREADRACK which is incorrect.
Paul does not buzz.
The answer was BARRACKED.
Final Score: 87–62 (max 132)

I thought David could have been right with BREADRACK. He was not. Both miss, but a Worsley does spot it. Not Jack, but Paul's daughter Sophie gets the solution, as her father gets another win. A relatively low scoring affair, but some good spots along the way. I suspect David was nervous, and Paul would need to tell me if he's right. While getting MISDATED and ENDORSER still would've put David behind by 2 points, could've made things interesting. We say good bye to Jenny Eclair, as we see Deborah Meaden tomorrow. Will we say goodbye to Scotland's status as a U.K. member? I don't know, we shall see. Hope you enjoyed the recap made in the United States, and until next time, good afternoons.

Statistics Corner

Paul:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 94 (I count the 610 as 7 points for Raw. Should I not?)
Total % of max - 66
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 6.3
Number of maxes - 8

David:
Total score - 62
Raw score - 74
Total % of max - 47
Raw % of max - 56
Total average score per round - 4.1
Raw average score per round - 4.9
Number of maxes - 6


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

[James Robinson]

Statistics Corner

Paul:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 94 (I count the 610 as 7 points for Raw. Should I not?)

You are correct to do so, well done Jordan.