Thursday 23rd December 2021 (Series 84, Grand Final)

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Rhys Benjamin
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Thursday 23rd December 2021 (Series 84, Grand Final)

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

(Yes, I know this is not in order and I have a two-week backlog to do. I'm a werking gerl now.)

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Annedown CXXVII and as Queen once sang, Thank God It's Christmas. It's also the Grand Final of Anne's first series. And, well, the jury is still out on her, isn't it?

And also, I've been shouting at my laptop, as I've been trying to write this recap for three hours now. Will Santa get me a new one? Probably not.

Countdown recap for Thursday 23 December 2021.

No preamble here, as it pertains to one of our contestants...

C1: #1 Seed Ahmed Mohamed (10 wins, 1188 points.) From Norh London. 26.
C2: #3 Seed Florence Cappleman-Lynes (10 wins, 1095 points.) First female grand finalist since Ann Dibben, not to be confused with Anne-Marie's mother, apparently. 27. Wearing a Christmas jumper, but no one else got the memo, it would seem.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Coles.
AMI: Anne-Marie Imafidon.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: P L A U N I A L M
R02: C E N A T I W E S
R03: 75, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5. Target: 438.
TTT: BIGLENNY - "Big Lenny acts in such a gentle way."
R04: G E M O P O L T D
R05: S L E U S I Y C A
R06: 2, 1, 10, 9, 7, 1. Target: 149.
R07: H T I R A E U I B
R08: T A K I S U D M E
R09: 50, 1, 5, 4, 10, 1. Target: 790.
TTT: REINFECT - "It sounds very lively, almost like an alphabet."
R10: T E R U F E M R G
R11: N T A E P E O G S
R12: H I S E D A C N B
R13: G D I U A O T P R
R14: 5, 7, 9, 10, 5, 3. Target: 673.
R15: I P A A R T I E D (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: P L A U N I A L M

Ahmed: PINUALA (7)
Florence: IMPALA (6)
DC: PALLIUM (7)
OT: NAUPLIAL (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8, jos 7)
Darren-o-meter: 1/1 (100%)

Ahmed gets us off to a great start by taking an early lead with an obscure word that Susie has to define.

Round 2: C E N A T I W E S

Ahmed: CINEASTE (8)
Florence: STANCE (6)
Score: 15–0 (max 16, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 2/2 (100%)

Ahmed extends his lead with an obscure word that Susie has to define... haven't I just said that?

Round 3: 75, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5. Target: 438.

Ahmed: 438. (75 − (5 − (8 − 5))) × 6 (10)
Florence: 438. 75 × 6 − (9 + 8 − 5) (10)
Score: 25–10 (max 26, jos 25)

Easy enough for both contestants.

Teatime teaser: BIGLENNY -> BENIGNLY

Round 4: G E M O P O L T D

Ahmed: POOTLED (7)
Florence: POOTLED (7)
DC: GLOOMED (7)
OT: POETDOM (7)
Score: 32–17 (max 33, jos 32)
Darren-o-meter: 2/3 (67%)

Even I got POOTLED. There's hope for us vegetables yet.

Round 5: S L E U S I Y C A

Ahmed: SLUICES (7)
Florence: CLAUSES (7)
DC: SAUCILY (7)
OT: CAUSEYS (7) CAYUSES (7) LACISES (7)
Score: 39–24 (max 40, jos 39)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)

Maybe it's because it's Christmas, but my brother had to be reminded that CLAUSES is perfectly valid and not just the plural of Santa Claus.

Florence and Anne talk about her husband, Sam Cappleman-Lynes, runner up of Series 82, not that you'll need reminding. Anne presses Florence as to who is better... three times... and Florence, just to shut Anne up, I suspect, hints it could be her nowadays...

Round 6: 2, 1, 10, 9, 7, 1. Target: 149.

Ahmed: 149. 2 × 7 × 10 + 9 (10)
Florence: 149. 2 × 7 × 10 + 9 (10)
Score: 49–34 (max 50, jos 49)

thank u, next

Richard talks about the time he went to see Father Christmas in Lapland via a husky ride with Christopher Biggins (being shat on by the huskies along the way). He then talks about his plans for the medium term.

Round 7: H T I R A E U I B

Ahmed: HABITUE (7)
Florence: BATHER (6)
OT: RUBIATE (7)
Score: 56–34 (max 57, jos 56)
Darren-o-meter: 2/5 (40%)

Ahmed extends his lead with an obscure... (etc)

Round 8: T A K I S U D M E

Ahmed: MISTAKE (7)
Florence: IDEATUM (7)
DC: MISDATE (7) KISMET (6)
OT: STADIUM (7)
Score: 63–41 (max 64, jos 63)
Darren-o-meter: 2/6 (33%)

Ahmed in "not going for obscurest available max" shocker. That honour goes to Florence's IDEATUM.

Ahmed lives in North London so Anne asks him about football, whereupon we subsequently find out that only Anne and Florence of today's on-screen talent don't support Arsenal - and Florence says she's not a football person anyway.

Round 9: 50, 1, 5, 4, 10, 1. Target: 790.

Ahmed: 787.
Florence: 790. (5 − 1) × 4 × 50 − 10 (10)
Score: 63–51 (max 74, jos 73)

Oh blimey, what on earth happened here? A complete blunder from Ahmed lets Florence back in the game and the gap comes down to 12 points.

Teatime teaser: REINFECT -> FRENETIC

Round 10: T E R U F E M R G

Ahmed: REFUTER (7) (try)
Florence: REFUGE (6)
DC: REFUTE (6) (and two other sixes I didn't hear)
Score: 70–51 (max 81, jos 80)
Darren-o-meter: 3/7 (43%)

REFUTER is a great spot and worth the gamble. One of those dodgy agent nouns, but luckily it pays off.

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

Ahmed: PEASTONE (8)
Florence: PEONAGES (8) (not written down)
OT: PONTAGES (8) SEPTAGON (8)
Score: 78–59 (max 89, jos 88)
Darren-o-meter: 3/8 (38%)

Ahmed and Florence add eight more to their totals.

OOW Susie talks about spruces and how they trace back to Prussia.

Round 12: H I S E D A C N B

Ahmed: ECHIDNAS (8)
Florence: BANISHED (8)
Score: 86–67 (max 97, jos 96)
Darren-o-meter: 3/9 (33%)

Ah, there we are, another obscure round for Ahmed.

Round 13: G D I U A O T P R

Ahmed: PAGUROID (8)
Florence: AUDITOR (7)
DC: TORPID (6) PAROTID (7)
Score: 94–67 (max 105, jos 104)
Darren-o-meter: 4/10 (40%)

Ahmed extends his lead with (etc)

Round 14: 5, 7, 9, 10, 5, 3. Target: 673.

Ahmed: 673. (10 × 7 + 5) × 9 − (5 − 3) (10)
Florence: 673. (5 + 5) × 10 × 7 − 9 × 3 (10)
Score: 104–77 (max 115, jos 114)

And another 10 points here to do some scoreflation.

Round 15: I P A A R T I E D

Ahmed buzzes on 1.5 second to say TEPIDARIA which is correct.
Final Score: 114–77 (max 125, jos 114)

It's actually the first conundrum that Florence has missed, however, that doesn't matter to Ahmed. He has no words (not that he'd be able to define them anyway according to Anne).

His record now stands at 11 wins and 1302 points. Unlike Adam in the last series, he doesn't get to stand on the centre circle and waft the trophy around, but he does get his name added to it.

Anne, Anne-Marie, and Susie will be back in the new year to do it all over again. Monday 3 January (although that's a bank holiday, oddly) is the date. 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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