Monday 9th March 2015 (series, 72, prelim 46)

Andy McGurn · Post by **Andy McGurn** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 7:21 pm

Countdown recap for Monday 9 March 2015.

C1: Champion Mark Sutcliffe (1 win, 77 points) A golfer and dad from Wilmslow, scored his first win on Friday following the end of Jordan Barker’s run.

C2: Challenger Chris Dromey. A music lecturer at Middlesex university fro Portsmouth. Once gave a talk on a book he had written in Brazil, the book is musically themed. Its fair to assume his book got better reviews than the world rose.

DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: U T R L I E N C O
R02: L V N A E O U D E
R03: 10, 8, 8, 2, 50, 25. Target: 337.
TTT: TESTCASE - "the player was always getting wound up and ejected"
R04: R M N L I O A I E
R05: X P H G O E A M R
R06: 2, 7, 4, 5, 9, 100. Target: 459.
R07: O A I E F S D G W
R08: S C N M A O I D E
R09: 8, 1, 10, 10, 5, 50. Target: 171.
TTT: TORNITUP - "its run off but hasn't gone anywhere"
R10: R L A I A W E D S
R11: P T O E A G S O V
R12: U N I T E N F A E
R13: I E Z R T D O B H
R14: 9, 6, 4, 9, 7, 100. Target: 773.
R15: G R I N D A P U G (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: U T R L I E N C O

Mark: TROUNCE (7)
Chris: OUTLINE (7)
DC: NEUROTIC (8) UTRICLE (7)
OT: OUTLINER (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

Chris could have added the R to his word to make OUTLINER, but he probably didn’t know it was a word so will be happy with his seven which Mark matches.

Round 2: L V N A E O U D E

Mark: vandle
Chris: LOANED (6)
DC: UNLOVED (7) DEVALUE (7)
Score: 7–13 (max 15)

Wasn’t sure whether to type vandle or vandal in the recap box here but made a judgement call that it was bad spelling rather than a phantom letter that was the issue. Chris’s valid six gives him the lead.

Round 3: 10, 8, 8, 2, 50, 25. Target: 337.

Mark: 337. (((50-10)*8)+25)-8 (10)
Chris: 343.
Score: 17–13 (max 25)

That’s a nice solve by Mark and he takes a four point lead with his solution.

Teatime teaser: TESTCASE -> CASSETTE

Round 4: R M N L I O A I E

Mark: MOANER (6)
Chris: molier
DC: AILERON (7)
OT: MONILIAE (8)
Score: 23–13 (max 33)

A very unlikely comparative risk by Chris sees him slip to ten points behind.
MONILIAE is the plural of MONILIA which is a genus of fungus which may cause crop diseases

Round 5: X P H G O E A M R

Mark: HAMPER (6)
Chris: GOPHER (6)
DC: HOMAGE (6) HOAXER (6)
OT: GHERAO (6)
Score: 29–19 (max 39)

Nice maxes from he contestants sees the gap remain at ten.

Round 6: 2, 7, 4, 5, 9, 100. Target: 459.

Mark: 454.
Chris: 459. (((9+7)+100)*4)-5 (10)
Score: 29–29 (max 49)

This time its Chris with the nice solve and he’s back on level terms with the champ. It was possible to use the Richard Max method to get the target here (though it wouldn’t be accepted despite Mr Max’s protestations).

DC Guest: Tim talks about his upcoming tour, before using this to launch into his trademarked unfunny jokes (though there are a lot of them).

Round 7: O A I E F S D G W

Mark: widges
Chris: DOSAGE (6)
OT: DAGOES (6) DOGIES (6) FODIES (6) FOGIES (6) SWAGED (6) WODGES (6)
Score: 29–35 (max 55)

Unlucky for Mark as he tries widges when he could just as easily tried WODGES. Chris’s DOSAGE gives him the lead for the second time today.
DAGOES are Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian-speaking people.
FODIES are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Foudia. They are native to the islands of the western Indian Ocean

Round 8: S C N M A O I D E

Mark: MINCED (6)
Chris: COMEDIANS (18)
DC: DAEMONS (7)
OT: DEMONIACS (18)
Score: 29–53 (max 73)

Not to be as dramatic as James would be in this situation but that nine comes out of nowhere for Chris and he shoots ahead with a superb spot. It looked like the game would go to the wire but that may be the decisive blow for the challenger.

Round 9: 8, 1, 10, 10, 5, 50. Target: 171.

Mark: 164.
Chris: 171. ((8-5)*50)+10+10+1 (10)
Score: 29–63 (max 83)

Mark is probably still reeling from the last round as he can only get seven away on a pretty simple one. Chris looks like the new champion now.

Teatime teaser: TORNITUP -> PRINTOUT

Round 10: R L A I A W E D S

Mark: WAILED (6)
Chris: WAILERS (7)
DC: SALARIED (8)
Score: 29–70 (max 91)

Chris’s increasing confidence is clear to see now as he chances WAILERS and gets the result he wanted.

Round 11: P T O E A G S O V

Mark: GOATS (5)
Chris: POTAGE (6)
DC: POTAGES (7) POSTAGE (7)
Score: 29–76 (max 98)

Mark hasn’t scored a point since Chris pulled out the nine, a sign that the nine really was the killer blow.

Round 12: U N I T E N F A E

Mark: UNITE (5)
Chris: unfaint
DC: INFANTE (7)
OT: UNEATEN (7)
Score: 34–76 (max 105)

Chris’s word is invalid but he won’t care as its this round where he seals the win.

Round 13: I E Z R T D O B H

Mark: TRIBE (5)
Chris: BOTHER (6)
DC: ORBITED (7)
OT: BIRTHED (7) THEROID (7)
Score: 34–82 (max 112)

5 for Mark, 6 for Chris, 7 for DC and 8 for Steven McCann.

Round 14: 9, 6, 4, 9, 7, 100. Target: 773.

Mark: 773. ((100+9)*7)+6+4 (10)
Chris: 772.
Score: 44–82 (max 122)

Mark gets to shine once more as he gets a numbers solution that his opponent misses, interesting that both contestants were 2 and 2 on numbers games today.

Round 15: G R I N D A P U G

No one buzzes. The answer was UPGRADING.
Final Score: 44–82 (max 132)

So its no more that just one win for Mark but he gets to add a countdown teapot to his collection. Chris was the worthy winner today, COMEDIANS was a great spot and if he could be a bit more consistent there’s a chance he could win a few (though I’m pretty sure Thomas Cappleman is appearing soon so octochampdom seems unlikely).

No more countdowns this week so its next Monday before we are back. I’ll be here for the next one so join me to see if Chris can get a second win.

Jai Gurudev.

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=72