Thursday 28th October 2021 (Series 84, Preliminary 88)

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Rhys Benjamin
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Thursday 28th October 2021 (Series 84, Preliminary 88)

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Annedown LXXXVII and it's not long until the end of the series, and with Len Goodman in Dictionary Corner this week, will he say "sev-ENNNN!" by the end of the week?

Countdown recap for Thursday 28 October 2021.

On this day in 1726, Gulliver's Travels was first published. So Rachel plugs her own book.

C1: Champion Mick Duthie (1 win, 75 points.) "Mick's voice is quite sexy and low" because he's recovering from throat cancer.
C2: Challenger Edward Ratcliffe. 35. Records manager for a public sector body. From Kingston upon Thames. Fully grey-haired by 35, where has it all gone wrong for him...? Only an "occasional" watcher of Countdown.
DC: Susie Dent and Len Goodman.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S A B E A G L R E
R02: O N A G S I R F A
R03: 8, 6, 8, 5, 9, 2. Target: 361.
TTT: LENCARES - "Len cares about his skin, so uses this."
R04: P E E L R T I D O
R05: S U N O L M A E P
R06: 50, 75, 25, 1, 9, 6. Target: 816.
R07: L O T H E A R S I
R08: F T W A O I N E D
R09: 50, 25, 75, 100, 1, 9. Target: 128.
TTT: GREETSIR - "Greet sir at school when taking your name."
R10: S G M U A A B T R
R11: D O S R M E I O C
R12: O A D K W I E N R
R13: G I T E S L E N A
R14: 50, 75, 8, 8, 3, 2. Target: 203.
R15: B O L S H Y C O O (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S A B E A G L R E

Mick: searage (risky)
Edward: GARBLES (7)
DC: BEERS (5) BEAGLERS (8)
OT: ALGARBES (8) ERASABLE (8)
Score: 0–7 (max 8, jos 8)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)

No SEARAGE^, allowing Edward to take an early lead.

Round 2: O N A G S I R F A

Mick: FANGS (5)
Edward: SOARING (7)
DC: SANGRIA (7)
OT: AGNOSIA (7) AGRIONS (7) ANGORAS (7) ARONIAS (7) FARANGS (7) FARINAS (7) INSOFAR (7) ORIGANS (7) SARANGI (7)
Score: 0–14 (max 15, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 0/2 (0%)

Edward is SOARING into an early lead, with Mick the only one in the studio not to see a seven.

Round 3: 8, 6, 8, 5, 9, 2. Target: 361.

Mick: -
Edward: 363. (8 × 8 − 2) × 6 − 9​ (7)
RR: 361. 8 × 5 × 9 + (6 + 2) ÷ 8 (10)
Score: 0–21 (max 25, jos 25)

Mick is still yet to score, but Rachel shows that 40 x 9 is the way to go.

Teatime teaser: LENCARES -> CLEANSER

Round 4: P E E L R T I D O

Mick: DEPLORE (7)
Edward: DROPLET (7)
DC: REPTILE (7) TRIPLED (7) PEEL (4)
OT: DOLERITE (8) LOITERED (8) PETIOLED (8) PROTEIDE (8)
Score: 7–28 (max 33, jos 32)
Darren-o-meter: 0/3 (0%)

Sevens for both contestants, getting Mick off the mark. However, the computer takes the round with eights.

Round 5: S U N O L M A E P

Mick: MAPLES (6)
Edward: UNSEAL (6)
DC: SPUMONE (7) AMPOULES (8) SUNLAMP (7)
OT: MELANOUS (8) NEOPLASM (8) PLEONASM (8)
Score: 13–34 (max 41, jos 40)
Darren-o-meter: 0/4 (0%)

Len is elated for getting SUNLAMP, which is all one word.

Round 6: 50, 75, 25, 1, 9, 6. Target: 816.

Mick: 825. (not written down) (9 + 6 + 1) × 50 + 25​ (5)
Edward: -
RR: 816. (50 + 1) × (25 − 9)​ (10)
Score: 18–34 (max 51, jos 50)

Surprised Edward didn't see anything here, as this was more straightforward to get near than the first numbers game.

Len talks about when he was hired by ABC for Strictly's US version, Dancing With The Stars. After the first two series of Strictly, the BBC sent over the entire Strictly team to work on it, and ABC wanted Bruno and not Len, but eventually they ended up on Len as well, having been hired on a Sunday in Blackpool for a Tuesday show in Los Angeles! It perhaps says a lot about the way Strictly has gone downhill recently that all of that production crew are now in the US. Len had to do Saturday shows in the UK and Tuesdays in the US for over 10 years. It says a lot he chose to stay on the US version post-2016 and quit the UK version. Although perhaps I should talk about this in another thread...

Round 7: L O T H E A R S I

Mick: LATHERS (7)
Edward: HALTERS (7) (risky)
DC: HORSE (5) HORSETAIL (18)
OT: AEROLITHS (18) HARLOTISE (18)
Score: 25–41 (max 69, jos 68)
Darren-o-meter: 0/5 (0%)

Sevens for both contestants here, but nine for Susie, adding TAIL onto Len's HORSE.

Round 8: F T W A O I N E D

Mick: WAITED (6) (not written down)
Edward: WANTED (6)
DC: FAINTED (7) DEFIANT (7) WIND (4)
OT: ADONITE (7) FODIENT (7)
Score: 31–47 (max 76, jos 75)
Darren-o-meter: 0/6 (0%)

A pair of sixes is bested by a quad of sevens.

Round 9: 50, 25, 75, 100, 1, 9. Target: 128.

Mick: 130.
Edward: 128. 75 + 50 + 100 ÷ 25 − 1 (10)
Score: 31–57 (max 86, jos 85)

Mick, who went 6 small and it backfired in round 3, goes 4 large and it backfires in round 9 too, with a super simple easy game as well.

Teatime teaser: GREETSIR -> REGISTER

Round 10: S G M U A A B T R

Mick: SUGAR (5)
Edward: TRAUMAS (7)
DC: SAMBA (5)
OT: TAMBURAS (8)
Score: 31–64 (max 94, jos 92)
Darren-o-meter: 1/7 (14%)

Edward deals Mick another TRAUMA, and now leads by 33.

Round 11: D O S R M E I O C

Mick: ROOMED (6)
Edward: ROOMIES (7)
DC: MOODIER (7) MICRODOSE (18)
Score: 31–71 (max 112, jos 110)
Darren-o-meter: 2/8 (25%)

A second nine of the day, but with Edward now leading by 40 points, Mick's time is running out.

OOW Susie talks about the different versions of "chafe", including "chauffeur" and so on.

Round 12: O A D K W I E N R

Mick: WONKIER (7) (risk)
Edward: WINKED (6)
DC: WIND (4) DOWNIER (7)
OT: ANEROID (7) WANKIER (7)
Score: 38–71 (max 119, jos 117)
Darren-o-meter: 2/9 (22%)

No one went for WANK, WANKER, WANKED, or WANKIER. Boooooooo.

Round 13: G I T E S L E N A

Mick: STEALING (8)
Edward: SEALING (7)
DC: GENITALS (8) GELATINES (18)
OT: ANGLESITE (18) TEASELING (18)
Score: 46–71 (max 137, jos 135)
Darren-o-meter: 2/10 (20%)

Eight for Mick, but he's a day late and a dollar short here. A third nine of the day.

Round 14: 50, 75, 8, 8, 3, 2. Target: 203.

Mick: 203. 8 ÷ 2 × 50 + 3​ (10)
Edward: 203. 75 × 2 + 50 + 3​ (10)
Score: 56–81 (max 147, jos 135)

Easy peasy Lib Dem squeezy.

Round 15: B O L S H Y C O O

Mick buzzes on 4 seconds to say SCHOOLBOY which is correct.
Final Score: 66–81 (max 157, jos 145)

And Mick takes the conundrum to lose narrowly in the end, by just 15 points. Edward will be back on Friday. Join us then. Goodbye.


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
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