Monday 10th November 2014 (series 71, prelim 83)

[Andy McGurn]

Countdown recap for Monday 10 November 2014.

C1: Champion Laurence Killen (2 wins, 203 points) Actuarial science student from Belfast, now on two wins, had a tough one on Friday

C2: Challenger Stephen Mallet. A Chef at Exeter city football club from Devon. He is a Manchester United fan who visited an orphanage in Bulgaria with his church group.


DC: Susie Dent and Sian Williams.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: R M V O U E D L A
R02: R D M O E I S N A
R03: 1, 4, 100, 25, 50, 75. Target: 212.
TTT: SPRAYSIT - "places like bath are really hard to find"
R04: P D T A E A L N O
R05: F L I E M N A T W
R06: 6, 3, 10, 8, 25, 50. Target: 417.
R07: I E H T W O S H I
R08: S T S Z E A I R T
R09: 7, 4, 4, 1, 3, 6. Target: 554.
TTT: INTOBATS - "he's really not into bats, he's into plants"
R10: R S P A E A X R U
R11: F P D O A E N S R
R12: U I E G P N B V O
R13: Q S Y E I O K S E
R14: 3, 9, 9, 10, 10, 25. Target: 479.
R15: S T A R V E D H E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: R M V O U E D L A

Laurence: overload
Stephen: MODULE (6)
DC: ROULADE (7) REMOVAL (7)
OT: EARLDOM (7) LOUVRED (7) MODULAR (7) MORULAE (7) MOULDER (7) REMOULD (7) VOLUMED (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)

Laurence fails to notice that he needs two Os for OVERLOAD, meaning that challenger Stephen scores first with his MODULE.



Round 2: R D M O E I S N A

Laurence: REMAINS (7)
Stephen: REMINDS (7)
DC: RANDOMISE (18)
OT: ROMANISED (18)
Score: 7–13 (max 25)

Laurence is capable of spotting RANDOMISE but his misses it, there were also some nice eights there but both contestants only have seven.


Round 3: 1, 4, 100, 25, 50, 75. Target: 212.

Laurence: 212. ((75/25)+50)*4 (10)
Stephen: -
Score: 17–13 (max 35)

Laurence goes for four large and it pays off as Stephen misses a fairly straightforward one for a 4L.


Teatime teaser: SPRAYSIT -> SPARSITY

Round 4: P D T A E A L N O

Laurence: PLANTED (7)
Stephen: PLANTED (7)
DC: TADPOLE (7) POLENTA (7)
OT: PEATLAND (8)
Score: 24–20 (max 43)

Simple spot for the contestants, but there was an excellent darrenic eight in this selection.


Round 5: F L I E M N A T W

Laurence: FILAMENT (8)
Stephen: INFLATE (7)
DC: INFLAME (7)
Score: 32–20 (max 51)

After a slow start today Laurence finally impresses with FILAMENT which is a quality spot from him


Round 6: 6, 3, 10, 8, 25, 50. Target: 417.

Laurence: 417. ((50-(10-6-3))*8)+25 (10)
Stephen: 418.
Score: 42–20 (max 61)

Again, it’s a spot on numbers solve for Laurence and his lead is increasing significantly.



DC Guest: Sian talks about how she presided over a radio broadcast by the Queen and the process she went through for the broadcast.



Round 7: I E H T W O S H I

Laurence: WHITES (6)
Stephen: WHITES (6)
DC: WHITISH (7) WITHIES (7)
OT: WHITIES (7)
Score: 48–26 (max 68)

I wonder if either contestant considered trying WHITISH or WHITIES, as it turns out both are valid



Round 8: S T S Z E A I R T

Laurence: ARTIEST (7)
Stephen: stariest
DC: STRAITS (7) ARTISTES (8)
OT: ARTSIEST (8) STRIATES (8) TZARISTS (8)
Score: 55–26 (max 76)

Laurence scores again as Stephen’s risk does not pay off, its not the max though as there were four eights available here.



Round 9: 7, 4, 4, 1, 3, 6. Target: 554.

Laurence: 554. Mistake in working.
Stephen: -
RR: 553. (7)
Score: 55–26 (max 83)

Laurence thinks he has it but gives up as soon as he is asked to describe his method. It turns out it was impossible.




Teatime teaser: INTOBATS -> BOTANIST

Round 10: R S P A E A X R U

Laurence: PEARS (5)
Stephen: SPARE (5)
DC: SPEAR (5) RASPER (6)
OT: PARURES (7) UPREARS (7)
Score: 60–31 (max 90)

Fives for contestants, six for DC, but there were two sevens here.


Round 11: F P D O A E N S R

Laurence: PONDERS (7)
Stephen: RESPOND (7)
DC: PARDONS (7) PROFANES (8)
OT: OPERANDS (8) PADRONES (8) PROFANED (8)
Score: 67–38 (max 98)

More sevens spotted here, Laurence looks to be clear and heading for his third win.


OoW – Susie explains the origins of some words with nautical origins.



Round 12: U I E G P N B V O

Laurence: BOVINE (6)
Stephen: bungie
DC: OGIVE (5) BINGO (5)
OT: BOUGIE (6) GUINEP (6) PIGEON (6)
Score: 73–38 (max 104)

A misspelled word from Stephen al but confirms the win for Laurence.


Round 13: Q S Y E I O K S E

Laurence: SKIES (5)
Stephen: SEEKS (5)
OT: ESKIES (6)
Score: 78–43 (max 110)

And now the win is mathematically certain with this round.


Round 14: 3, 9, 9, 10, 10, 25. Target: 479.

Laurence: 479. ((10+10)*25-(9+9+3) (10)
Stephen: 479. ((25*(10+9)+((10-9)+3) (10)
Score: 88–53 (max 120)

Games already over for Stephen but he ensures that he does score some numbers points, having zero pointed on the other three numbers games.



Round 15: S T A R V E D H E

Laurence buzzes on 2 seconds to say HARVESTED which is correct.
Final Score: 98–53 (max 130)


And a quick spot by Laurence (which Stephen also had) confirms his third win. Nick compliments Stephen by telling him he did well to keep Laurence from scoring a century.

Laurence will get half way to being an octochamp if he wins tomorrow and if he keeps going next Monday would be his octochamp game. Keep it here to see how far he can get.


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

[Fred Mumford]

I think his octochamp game would be Tuesday, as apparently the horses still haven't gone into hibernation yet.

[James Robinson]

I think his octochamp game would be Tuesday, as apparently the horses still haven't gone into hibernation yet.

Correct, Fred. No show this Friday, so assuming Laurence stays on, his octochamp game will be a week tomorrow.

Andy, you might want to put (((7 x 6) + 4) x 4 x 3) + 1 = 553, just to show the closest method to the answer in round 9.