Countdown recap for Wednesday 18 December 2019.
C1: #1 Seed James "The Manchester Marvel" Haughton (9 games, 9 wins, 1,105 points.) An Apterite and applied maths PhD student at the University of Manchester. He reached the semi-finals by beating #8 seed David Law 147-60 in his quarter-final last Thursday.
C2: #4 Seed Morgan "The Peterborough Pulveriser" Sauer (9 games, 9 wins, 853 points.) A student from Peterborough, studying maths and business studies at Leicester University. He reached the semi-finals by beating #5 seed Andy Evans 78-77 in his quarter-final yesterday.
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S M N R A O E I G
R02: C D H U A O T E M
R03: 100, 50, 25, 75, 8, 10. Target: 245.
TTT: LISAWEARS - "Lisa wears warm clothing and goes from house to house singing carols."
R04: N T W A E U N R T
R05: V S R C O A E O A
R06: 100, 6, 5, 4, 1, 7. Target: 556.
R07: X G S T I A O U J
R08: H F M I E O C Y E
R09: 50, 25, 100, 75, 7, 10. Target: 466.
TTT: ELVESOPEN - "With so many letters to Santa, the elves have to open millions of these at Christmas."
R10: R T R U I A V R O
R11: T N D M I E O I A
R12: P R L E I U N G O
R13: P R W S E A I D O
R14: 75, 7, 1, 4, 4, 3. Target: 403.
R15: L A S S I E R I P (conundrum)
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S M N R A O E I G
James: ORGANISE (8)
Morgan: SMEARING (8)
DC: ORGANISM (8) ROMANISE (8)
OT: AGONISER (8) MASERING (8) MEGARONS (8) MORAINES (8) MORINGAS (8) ORGANIES (8) ROGAINES (8) ROMAINES (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)
Round 2: C D H U A O T E M
James: TOUCHED (7)
Morgan: MATCHED (7)
DC: MOUTHED (7)
OT: CATHODE (7) MOUCHED (7)
Score: 15–15 (max 15)
Round 3: 100, 50, 25, 75, 8, 10. Target: 245.
James: 246. (25 x 10) - (8 / (100 / 50)) (7)
Morgan: 248.
RR: 245. ((75 x 8) - 100 - 10) / (50 / 25) (10)
Score: 22–15 (max 25)
Teatime teaser: LISAWEARS -> WASSAILER
Round 4: N T W A E U N R T
James: TAUNTER (7)
Morgan: TAUNTER (7)
DC: NATTER (6) WANTER (6)
OT: ENTRANT (7)
Score: 29–22 (max 32)
Round 5: V S R C O A E O A
James: ROSACEA (7)
Morgan: COVERS (6)
Score: 36–22 (max 39)
Round 6: 100, 6, 5, 4, 1, 7. Target: 556.
James: 556. ((100 - 7) x 6) - (5 + 1 - 4) (10)
Morgan: 556. ((100 + 7 + 4) x 5) + 1 (10)
Score: 46–32 (max 49)
Jon does an impression of President Trump doing a Christmas message.
Round 7: X G S T I A O U J
James: AGOUTIS (7)
Morgan: AGOUTIS (7)
DC: OUTGAS (6)
Score: 53–39 (max 56)
Round 8: H F M I E O C Y E
James: HOMIE (5)
Morgan: COMFY (5)
DC: MOCHI (5) CHIME (5) CHIEF (5)
OT: ECHOEY (6)
Score: 58–44 (max 62)
Round 9: 50, 25, 100, 75, 7, 10. Target: 466.
James: 465. (75 x 7) - 50 - 10 (7)
Morgan: 459.
RR: 465/467. (7)
OT: 466. ((75 - 10 - (100 / 50)) x 7) + 25 (10)
Score: 65–44 (max 72)
Teatime teaser: ELVESOPEN -> ENVELOPES
Round 10: R T R U I A V R O
James: RATIO (5)
Morgan: rotar
DC: VIRTU (5)
OT: RIATO (5)
Score: 70–44 (max 77)
Round 11: T N D M I E O I A
James: MEDIATION (18)
Morgan: MEDIATION (18)
DC: MEDIANT (7) DOMINATE (8)
Score: 88–62 (max 95)
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "going spare".
Round 12: P R L E I U N G O
James: LOUNGER (7)
Morgan: ELOPING (7)
DC: PURLOIN (7) PLONGEUR (8)
OT: NEUROPIL (8)
Score: 95–69 (max 103)
Round 13: P R W S E A I D O
James: PARODIES (8)
Morgan: POWDERS (7)
DC: WEIRDOS (7) PRAISED (7) PARODISE (8)
OT: DIASPORE (8)
Score: 103–69 (max 111)
Round 14: 75, 7, 1, 4, 4, 3. Target: 403.
James: 403. ((4 + 1) x 75) + (7 x 4) (10)
Morgan: 403. ((4 + 1) x 75) + (7 x 4) (10)
Score: 113–79 (max 121)
Round 15: L A S S I E R I P
Morgan buzzes on 26.75 seconds to say PERISSIAL which is incorrect.
James does not buzz.
The answer, solved in the audience by my CO-event co-host Callum Todd, was SPIRALISE.
Final Score: 113–79 (max 131)
Trust a SPIRAL to get in the way of things
(Although I must say, I did get it this time. )And so, the form book is maintained and James makes it into the final, and his hopes of lifting the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy are retained for now.
Join us tomorrow for the second semi-final between the #2 seed Jamie Wing and the #3 seed Paul Nixon.
Statistics Corner
James:
Total score - 113
Raw score - 113
Total % of max - 86
Raw % of max - 86
Total average score per round - 7.5
Raw average score per round - 7.5
Number of maxes - 10
Morgan:
Total score - 79
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 60
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 5.3
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=81