We said goodbye to our Octochamp apterite Andy Noden on Tuesday, and as the saying goes 'as one Countdown apterite ends, so a new Countdown apterite begins' and today we see Neil Stephenson take the Challengers chair, looking to unseat our current 2 times champion Josephine Sinclair.Countdown recap for Friday 16 January 2015.
C1: Champion Josephine Sinclair (2 wins, 147 points.) A London Blue Badge tourist guide from Tonbridge, Kent. Looking for her 3rd win today.
C2: Challenger Neil Stephenson. An apterite. A Marketing Director from London, originally from Dumfries in Scotland. A big Badminton competitor.
DC: Susie Dent and David Emanuel.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S T N E I S T A E
R02: N I E A S Q T R E
R03: 1, 7, 6, 10, 8, 75. Target: 189.
TTT: MYWORDIS - "My word. Is there really any need for all this noise?"
R04: Y M R I O A H D O
R05: N G W T A E A G E
R06: 8, 10, 50, 75, 25, 100. Target: 579.
R07: M X F I E A B R U
R08: S B S O U E R C O
R09: 1, 10, 3, 9, 6, 50. Target: 780.
TTT: BODYGOES - "Your body goes in the opposite direction to a loved one, because you said these."
R10: T S N T U O A O C
R11: T Z P E I E W L A
R12: S P H E A O D R A
R13: L N T O U E L N I
R14: 3, 9, 75, 50, 25, 100. Target: 530.
R15: B A G E L H A U L (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: S T N E I S T A E
Josephine: NASTIEST (8)
Neil: NEATEST (7)
OT: ANISETTES (18) TETANISES (18)
Score: 8–0 (max 18)
Josephine takes an 8 point lead with the NASTIEST word, while Neil gets the NEATEST word but doesn't score.
Round 2: N I E A S Q T R E
Josephine: TRAINEES (8)
Neil: TRAINEES (8)
DC: RESINATE (8)
Score: 16–8 (max 26)
Both players were TRAINEES here and scored 8 points.
Round 3: 1, 7, 6, 10, 8, 75. Target: 189.
Josephine: 191. (10 - 8) x 75 + (7 x 6) - 1 (7)
Neil: 186.
RR: 189. 75 - (8 x 6) x 7 (10)
Score: 23–8 (max 36)
Neil only manages 3 away here, while Josephine came within 2 to take 7 points.
Teatime teaser: MYWORDIS -> ROWDYISM
Round 4: Y M R I O A H D O
Josephine: dayroom
Neil: HAIRDO (6)
DC: MYRIAD (6)
OT: DAIMYO (6) DIRHAM (6) DROMOI (6) HOODIA (6) HOORAY (6) HYDRIA (6) MOHAIR (6) RODHAM (6)
Score: 23–14 (max 42)
Josephine has 'dayroom' disallowed, as it is 2 words, allowing Neil to get 6 points back.
Round 5: N G W T A E A G E
Josephine: ENGAGE (6)
Neil: NEGATE (6)
DC: AGNATE (6)
OT: GEEGAW (6)
Score: 29–20 (max 48)
It's 6 points a piece with ENGAGE and NEGATE.
Round 6: 8, 10, 50, 75, 25, 100. Target: 579.
Josephine: 577. (8 x 75) - 25 + (100 / 50) (7)
Neil: 577. (100 - 75) x 25 - 50 + (10 - 8) (7)
RR: 579. (50 x 10) + 75 + (100 / 25) (10)
Score: 36–27 (max 58)
Both players are 2 away with 577, so get 7 points each.
David Emanuel talks about when he was invited to a Celebrity Horse Race.
Round 7: M X F I E A B R U
Josephine: fiambre
Neil: AMBER (5)
DC: BARIUM (6)
OT: EXURBIA (7)
Score: 36–32 (max 65)
Josephine has 'fiambre' disallowed. It's a Spanish word but not in the English Dictionary. So Neil gets 5 back with AMBER.
Round 8: S B S O U E R C O
Josephine: CROSS (5)
Neil: COURSES (7)
DC: SOURCES (7) OBSCURES (8)
Score: 36–39 (max 73)
Josephine will be CROSS not to score here, but Neil got COURSES for 7 to go into the lead for the first time.
Round 9: 1, 10, 3, 9, 6, 50. Target: 780.
Josephine: 780. (6 x 3) + 10 + 50 x (9 + 1) (10)
Neil: 780. (9 x 3) + 1 + 50 x 10 (10)
Score: 46–49 (max 83)
A perfect 10 for both players with 780.
Teatime teaser: BODYGOES -> GOODBYES
Round 10: T S N T U O A O C
Josephine: COTTONS (7)
Neil: SCOOT (5)
DC: TOUCANS (7)
OT: OCTANTS (7) OUTACTS (7) OUTCAST (7)
Score: 53–49 (max 90)
Josephine COTTONS on to a 7, while Neil can only SCOOT to a 5.
Round 11: T Z P E I E W L A
Josephine: PEEWIT (6)
Neil: PETAL (5)
DC: EPILATE (7)
Score: 59–49 (max 97)
Josephine goes further ahead with PEEWIT for 6, while Neil only gets PETAL for 5.
Susie Dent talks about names that originated from the Norman Conquest.
Round 12: S P H E A O D R A
Josephine: SHAPED (6)
Neil: HOARDS (6)
DC: RHAPSODE (8)
Score: 65–55 (max 105)
It's 6 a piece with SHAPED and HOARDS.
Round 13: L N T O U E L N I
Josephine: OUTLINE (7)
Neil: OUTLINE (7)
OT: ELUTION (7)
Score: 72–62 (max 112)
Both players OUTLINE this round for 7 points.
Round 14: 3, 9, 75, 50, 25, 100. Target: 530.
Josephine: 530. (50 + 3) x (9 + ((75 + 25) /100)) (10)
Neil: 530. 100 + (9 - 3) x ((75 + 50) / 5) (10)
Score: 82–72 (max 122)
It's a perfect 10 again as both players get 530.
Round 15: B A G E L H A U L
Neil buzzes on 7 seconds to say LAUGHABLE which is correct.
We have a tie-breaker as Neil levels the scores by getting a LAUGHABLE conundrum on 7 seconds.
Final Score: 82–82 (max 132)
Round 16: T R E D C H E S T
Neil buzzes on 7 seconds to say STRETCHED which is correct.
The game is STRETCHED to another round, and Neil gets the deciding conundrum on 7 seconds.
Final score: 82-92 (max 132)
So we have a new champion, and what a game. Neil Stephenson was really up against it at times and had to come from behind. That he did, and the scores were level after the Conundrum, meaning a second conundrum was necessary to settle the game. Neil managed to get both and so will progress to next week. Josephine proved to be a tough nut to crack and got some very good words to give Neil a hard time.
So Neil goes on into next week. Find out how far he gets by tuning in next week. Andy McGurn will be here on Monday to witness Neil's first defence. I'll be back next Friday. Will Neil still be here? If he is he'll have done it the hard way as a certain Tracey Mills is challenging on Wednesday, and will provide a stern challenge to whoever shall occupy the champion's chair at the time. Please join me next Friday. In the meantime thank you very much for reading, and goodbye.
PS: Before the arguments start about the max, let me point out, as I'm sure has been said before, only one player can get a conundrum, and if the max is reached, the game is won, so a second conundrum would not increase the max that could have been scored in any way.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=72
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