Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 4 December 2014.
C1: Champion Antoinette Ryan (6 wins, 656 points.) An Apterite and full-time mum from Nenagh, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland.
C2: Challenger Peter Douet. An air ambulance pilot from Warwick. He once travelled over land from London to Cape Town, which took him 6 months to do
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: J R V N E I O T C
R02: R M T U A S N E R
R03: 25, 100, 50, 75, 5, 1. Target: 808.
TTT: MUMSDONE - "Mum's done wrong and is told to attend court"
R04: D N O I R H P E O
R05: G P K U E A H S G
R06: 50, 25, 100, 1, 4, 7. Target: 609.
R07: S D X T E O U A L
R08: D R P E U L T O F
R09: 25, 100, 9, 4, 9, 2. Target: 601.
TTT: SANDROOT - "They're not brown entrances, they're clay ovens"
R10: I E S T G N O D A
R11: W N T M I E A S O
R12: Y L B E I G R S E
R13: N L R C U O A I A
R14: 50, 25, 2, 10, 4, 8. Target: 179.
R15: G A S A T D E N T (conundrum)
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Round 1: J R V N E I O T C
Antoinette: JOINTER (7)
Peter: CRETIN (6)
DC: CONTRIVE (8) INJECTOR (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)
A good start from Antoinette, while DC go for perfection with both available 8's in the selection.
Round 2: R M T U A S N E R
Antoinette: MATURES (7)
Peter: MASTER (6)
DC: MATURER (7) RETURNS (7)
OT: MENSTRUA (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 16)
Antoinette quickly doubles her lead, but this time the darrenic 8 is missed by everyone.
A MENSTRUUM (plural MENSTRUA) is an archaic term for a solvent.
Round 3: 25, 100, 50, 75, 5, 1. Target: 808.
Antoinette: 805. ((100 + 50 + 1) x 5) + 75 - 25 (7)
Peter: 805. ((100 + 75 + 1) x 5) - 50 - 25 (7)
RR: 808. ((75 / 25) + 5) x (100 + 1) (10)
Score: 21–7 (max 26)
4 large time again from Antoinette, but while Peter gets off the mark, both contestants miss the straightforward 101 x 8 method.......
Teatime teaser: MUMSDONE -> SUMMONED
Round 4: D N O I R H P E O
Antoinette: PHONIER (7)
Peter: honored
DC: PONDER (6) OPINED (6) HORNED (6)
OT: PHORONID (8)
Score: 28–7 (max 34)
Oh dear, oh dear, Susie wasn't that honored to see Peter's word, which was sort of PHONIER than Antoinette's PHONIER offering.
A PHORONID is a small phylum of worm-like invertebrates that comprises the horseshoe worms.
Round 5: G P K U E A H S G
Antoinette: GAUGES (6)
Peter: HEAPS (5)
DC: PUKES (5) PAGES (5) PEAKS (5) SPEAK (5)
OT: PHAGES (6)
Score: 34–7 (max 40)
Antoinette's GAUGES keep her on top of this game, Peter's certainly not getting anything in the letters games so far.......
A PHAGE (short for BACTERIOPHAGE) is a virus which parasitizes a bacterium by infecting it and reproducing inside it.
Round 6: 50, 25, 100, 1, 4, 7. Target: 609.
Antoinette: 608. ((7 - 1) x 100) + ((50 / 25) x 4) (7)
Peter: 608. Mistake in working.
OT: 609. (25 + 4) x ((100 / 50) + 1) x 7 (10)
Score: 41–7 (max 50)
Oh dear, now the numbers fail Peter, as he uses the 7 twice, but even Rachel can't solve this 88%-er.........
Alistair does his political impressions of Boris Johnson, William Hague, Andrew Neil and Diane Abbott. (Also, Alistair mentions that the current home of Countdown is Manchester..........
)Round 7: S D X T E O U A L
Antoinette: TOUSLED (7)
Peter: OUSTED (6)
DC: EXODUS (6) SEXUAL (6) LUXATED (7)
OT: AULDEST (7) LOUDEST (7) LUXATES (7) SALUTED (7) TUXEDOS (7)
Score: 48–7 (max 57)
Another great 7 from Antoinette, and with Peter not getting anywhere, this game is almost over already......
Round 8: D R P E U L T O F
Antoinette: FLOUTED (7)
Peter: poulter
DC: POUTER (6) FLOURED (7)
OT: DROPLET (7) PURFLED (7)
Score: 55–7 (max 64)
Oh dear, proof if proof was needed that it isn't Peter's day........
To PURFLE is to decorate something with an ornamental border.
Round 9: 25, 100, 9, 4, 9, 2. Target: 601.
Antoinette: 601. ((4 + 2) x 100) + (9 / 9) (10)
Peter: 601. ((4 + 2) x 100) + (9 / 9) (10)
Score: 65–17 (max 74)
Peter gets into double figures thanks to the numbers, but will he score in a letters game
Teatime teaser: SANDROOT -> TANDOORS
Round 10: I E S T G N O D A
Antoinette: SEDATING (8)
Peter: TONED (5)
DC: SEDATION (8) DIAGNOSE (8) AGONISED (8)
OT: GODETIAS (8) STEADING (8)
Score: 73–17 (max 82)
Round 11: W N T M I E A S O
Antoinette: AMNIOTES (8)
Peter: maties
DC: WOMANISE (8) WOMANIST (8)
OT: MOANIEST (8)
Score: 81–17 (max 90)
Well, he doesn't come close in either of these 2 rounds, and Antoinette wraps the game up already.
Susie's Origins of Words talks about the origins of "tarantula".
Round 12: Y L B E I G R S E
Antoinette: BEIGES (6)
Peter: GERBILS (7)
DC: EERILY (6) BEERILY (7)
OT: BERGIES (7) BIGEYES (7)
Score: 81–24 (max 97)
Well, well, well, out of nothing, Peter scores in a letters game
A BERGIE is an informal term in South Africa for a vagrant.
A BIGEYE is a large migratory tuna which is found in warm seas and is very important to the fishing industry. (Thunnus obesus, family Scombridae)
Round 13: N L R C U O A I A
Antoinette: inocular
Peter: RAIL (4)
DC: RUNIC (5) CLARION (7) CRANIAL (7)
OT: CARINAL (7) CORNUAL (7) INOCULA (7) LACUNAR (7) OCARINA (7)
Score: 81–28 (max 104)
A very unlucky guess by Antoinette there, as inocular is in the dictionary, but only on the Spanish part of it.
CARINAL is an adjective relating to CARINA, a keel-shaped structure, in particular, the ridge of a bird’s breastbone, to which the main flight muscles are attached.
CORNUAL is an adjective relating to CORNU, a horn-shaped projection of the thyroid cartilage or of certain bones (such as the hyoid and the coccyx).
An INOCULUM (plural INOCULA) is a substance used for inoculation.
LACUNAR is an adjective relating to LACUNA, an unfilled space or a gap.
Round 14: 50, 25, 2, 10, 4, 8. Target: 179.
Antoinette: 179. ((8 + 2) x 10) + 50 + 25 + 4 (10)
Peter: 179. ((8 / 2) x 50) - 25 + 4 (10)
Score: 91–38 (max 114)
A simple numbers game to finish with, but will it be 7 centuries on the spin for Antoinette..............
Round 15: G A S A T D E N T
Peter buzzes on 9 seconds to say STAGNATED which is correct.
Final Score: 91–48 (max 124)
NO
Peter comes in to steal the glory and leave Antoinette stranded on 91 points.So, Antoinette goes above David Stanford to #6 in the rankings, but how much further will she go up the leaderboard tomorrow...........
Realistically, Dan is safe at #1, even with the high maxes that Antoinette has had available to her, catching 196 points is probably a no-no........
So here's what to look out for with Anthony tomorrow:
A loss, or a winning score of 47 points or below, she will remain as #6 seed.
A win with 48 to 85 points, and she will go above Laurence Killen as #5 seed.
A win with 86 to 97 points, and she will go above George Ford as #4 seed.
A win with 98 to 110 points, and she will go above Mark Davies as #3 seed.
A win with 111 to 195 points, and she will go above Tricia Pay as #2 seed.
So, join Anthony for the last meaningful preliminary of the series tomorrow.
I'll be back next week for the first 2 quarter-finals. On Wednesday, barring a mega miracle tomorrow, should see #1 seed Dan "The Kineton Kolossus" McColm take on the #8 seed Paul "The Blackpool Behemoth" Worsley, then on Thursday, the #7 seed David "The Swinton Survivor" Stanford will be taking on either the current #2 seed, Tricia Pay, or if she does well enough tomorrow, Antoinette Ryan.
So, till then, have a great weekend, and see you soon, bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Antoinette:
Total score - 91
Raw score - 97
Total % of max - 73
Raw % of max - 78
Total average score per round - 6.1
Raw average score per round - 6.5
Number of maxes - 7
Peter:
Total score - 48
Raw score - 76
Total % of max - 39
Raw % of max - 61
Total average score per round - 3.2
Raw average score per round - 5.1
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71