Countdown recap for Wednesday 11 December 2019.
C1: Champion Luke Johnson-Davies (4 wins, 498 points.) An Apterite and student at Durham University, but is originally from Cambridge.
C2: Challenger Stephen Rooney. A salesman from Banbury, Oxfordshire. He's known as "the oldest spinner in town", as he used to a lot of road cycling up mountains.
DC: Susie Dent and Suzannah Lipscomb.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T H P H O I E N U
R02: A C O S B M A N L
R03: 25, 8, 7, 2, 9, 6. Target: 815.
TTT: HADAGENTS - "Everyone in the theatre company had agents, apart from this chap."
R04: I V O S E M A P G
R05: S D Y P U E A L I
R06: 50, 8, 4, 3, 7, 5. Target: 692.
R07: T R Q K O I A E D
R08: U M E F W C O N I
R09: 75, 6, 4, 4, 1, 5. Target: 615.
TTT: LOFTBUGLE - "At the medieval banquet, he was consuming wine in this quantity."
R10: A E U G D L T S I
R11: Z B R N E A U I T
R12: A O I S C D E L T
R13: C R S W O E A R G
R14: 100, 4, 1, 5, 5, 3. Target: 479.
R15: W R O T E T H I S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T H P H O I E N U
Luke: POUTINE (7)
Stephen: POINT (5)
DC: PHOTIE (6)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
Round 2: A C O S B M A N L
Luke: COALMAN (7)
Stephen: lemons
OT: MALACONS (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 15)
Round 3: 25, 8, 7, 2, 9, 6. Target: 815.
Luke: 816. ((6 - 2) x 8 x 25) + 7 + 9 (7)
Stephen: 818.
RR: 815. (8 x 7 x (9 + 6)) - 25 (10)
Score: 21–0 (max 25)
Teatime teaser: HADAGENTS -> STAGEHAND
Round 4: I V O S E M A P G
Luke: MAGPIES (7)
Stephen: POGIES (6)
OT: MISGAVE (7)
Score: 28–0 (max 32)
Round 5: S D Y P U E A L I
Luke: DISPLAY (7)
Stephen: PAUSED (6)
DC: PALSIED (7)
OT: ALIPEDS (7) DIALYSE (7) DUALISE (7) PAIDLES (7) PAISLEY (7) PLEIADS (7) SPLAYED (7)
Score: 35–0 (max 39)
Round 6: 50, 8, 4, 3, 7, 5. Target: 692.
Luke: 692. ((5 - 3) x 7 x 50) - 8 (10)
Stephen: 692. ((5 - 3) x 7 x 50) - 8 (10)
Score: 45–10 (max 49)
Suzannah finishes on talking about historical motherhood, this time talking about the early days of mothering and nursing.
Round 7: T R Q K O I A E D
Luke: RATIOED (7)
Stephen: troikaed
DC: TROIKA (6)
OT: TRAIKED (7)
Score: 52–10 (max 56)
Round 8: U M E F W C O N I
Luke: INCOME (6)
Stephen: INCOME (6)
DC: COWMEN (6)
OT: MEONIC (6) MUONIC (6) NEUMIC (6) OECIUM (6) UNICOM (6)
Score: 58–16 (max 62)
Round 9: 75, 6, 4, 4, 1, 5. Target: 615.
Luke: 616. ((4 + 5) x (75 - 6)) - 1 - 4 (7)
Stephen: 615. Mistake in working.
RR: 615. (((4 + 4) x 6) + 75) x 5 (10)
Score: 65–16 (max 72)
Teatime teaser: LOFTBUGLE -> GOBLETFUL
Round 10: A E U G D L T S I
Luke: GAUDIEST (8)
Stephen: duelist
DC: DUALIST (7)
Score: 73–16 (max 80)
Round 11: Z B R N E A U I T
Luke: URBANIZE (8)
Stephen: URBANITE (8)
Score: 81–24 (max 88)
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "flapjack".
Round 12: A O I S C D E L T
Luke: DISLOCATE (18)
Stephen: DISLOCATE (18)
Score: 99–42 (max 106)
Round 13: C R S W O E A R G
Luke: CORSAGE (7)
Stephen: GROWERS (7)
DC: REGROWS (7) CARGOES (7) COWAGES (7)
OT: COARSER (7) GRACERS (7) GROCERS (7) ROSACRE (7)
Score: 106–49 (max 113)
Round 14: 100, 4, 1, 5, 5, 3. Target: 479.
Luke: 479. ((100 - 4) x 5) - 1 (10)
Stephen: 479. (5 x 100) - ((5 x 4) + 1) (10)
Score: 116–59 (max 123)
Round 15: W R O T E T H I S
Luke buzzes on 0.5 seconds to say WORTHIEST which is correct.
Final Score: 126–59 (max 133)
So, Luke's journey to octochampdom is temporarily put on hold thanks to the finals of Series 81, but he'll be back in 3 weeks time.
So tomorrow, we start the Series 81 quarter-finals, beginning with the #1 seed James Haughton taking on the #8 seed David Law.
Statistics Corner
Luke:
Total score - 126
Raw score - 126
Total % of max - 95
Raw % of max - 95
Total average score per round - 8.4
Raw average score per round - 8.4
Number of maxes - 12
Stephen:
Total score - 59
Raw score - 83
Total % of max - 44
Raw % of max - 62
Total average score per round - 3.9
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 6
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=81