Wow, spicy backstory to this episode I must say thanks to Fiona and Ahmed's conversations in the Daily Chat, because Rachel mentioned her favourite contestant in the Introduction was someone with a questionable background (I will not mention who to protect all involved)
. Cue Rachel intermittently swearing the F word afterwards off-camera with the directors thinking "Why the hell would you say such a thing on television?" Had that portion aired, I think it would have been the most scandalous episode in recent memory (A retake was done with her mentioning Matt O'Connor instead, but I personally feel favouritism was why it was cut especially since he's coming back soon).
Speaking about that, the second Teatime Teaser was cut mysteriously too, so if anyone who was present during the recordings and can remember what it was, do voice it out here! On to the main part now with Luke's achievement of a max game in his Quarter-Finals was mentioned. I still recall all of us going wild and crazy in the Daily Chat when it happened, has it really been two years since end-2020? Susie's back too with her Origins of Words as her voice has improved (although it's still clearly not her normal one just yet), that is great!
Letters: The gap opens up in R4 when markies was disallowed, but a fast spot by both Martin and Luke in R5 allows them to gain 18 points each thanks to NODALISES!
Cheeky for Luke to go for a rhyming word in R7, and he picks up the pace after the second break with ELEGIAC (although his pronunciation led me to initially think he meant alegiac) in R10, NAVETA in R11 and ROMAJI in R12! That is crazy, and to think Dictionary Corner has still yet to beat him despite an opportunity in R2 with ABUTTER!
Numbers: Good first solve from both as Martin eases us into a new week with 1 Large. Luke then decides to use his Grand Final tactics of 6 Small, but it's so easy thanks to the two 10s that Rachel doesn't bother. The same choice again, but this time from Martin in R9, but it doesn't help him as Luke got the best solution (I was in vain in terms of finding a way to make 101 × 8)
Finally, even though Luke's victory is confirmed, let's have some rest with 1 Large in R14. Well, here it is with a simple target!
Conundrum: I admit I chuckled at Luke's attempt of milototal, because Milo is an actual drink brand and I like it a lot, so thanks for that unintentional reference anyways
I pity myself though, because I did make out the word "Tomato" one second before the time ran out, but simply could not think of a nine-letter word with that inside.
19 appearances Martin, wow, that is prolific for sure as mentioned by Colin, and of course I'm sure you meant Series 79 rather than 78 at the start. It's a shame just like Stephen Read who was the sole contestant of Series 76 in the last CoC and got knocked out, you now face the same fate by being the sole contestant from Series 79. However, I'm sure your 15 years of experience have not all gone to waste. Despite having to wait for four years just for this moment, you still had your skills worked out for you and finishing on 90 points to make a double century game is something you should be proud of, a far cry from when you were beaten by Mike Daysley in December 2018. All the best in your restaurant business and hopefully, some of us would patronise it in the not too distant future!
I think Rachel may be right when she said the Championship of Champions Winner may come from the third Quarter-Final next Monday, both Ahmed and Luke have strong potential apart and of course, we'll know the answer either by next Thursday or Friday. Two more preliminaries to go then, and I'd like to term the next match the alternative to the Series 85 Grand Final, because this is what would have happened if Steve Hyde had defeated Matt O'Connor in the second Semi-Finals last June. Will he have a shot against the Series Champion Dan Byrom and give a run for his money like Matt did? The outcome, no matter what will guarantee a Series 85 contestant in the Quarter-Finals here, so best of luck as we have a glimpse of an "unwritten" version of the show!
Progress:
Preliminary 1 (02 January 2023):
Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Series 84 Runner-Up) vs Leo Smith (Series 82 Semi-Finalist) (
100 - 69)
Preliminary 2 (03 January 2023): Dinos Sfyris (Series 80 Grand Champion) vs
Elliott Mellor (Series 80 Runner-Up) (88 -
110)
Preliminary 3 (04 January 2023):
Ahmed Mohamed (Series 84 Grand Champion) vs Edward Byrne (Series 86 Runner-Up) (
121 - 76)
Preliminary 4 (05 January 2023): Stu Harkness (Series 84 Semi-Finalist) vs
James Haughton (Series 81 Grand Champion) (97 -
111)
Preliminary 5 (06 January 2023): Tom Stevenson (Series 86 Grand Champion) vs
Adam Latchford (Series 83 Grand Champion) (95 -
97)
Preliminary 6 (09 January 2023): Martin May (Series 79 Runner-Up) vs
Luke-Johnson Davies (Series 82 Grand Champion) (90 -
117)
Preliminary 7 (10 January 2023): Steve Hyde (Series 85 Semi-Finalist) vs Dan Byrom (Series 85 Grand Champion)
Preliminary 8 (11 January 2023): Matt O'Connor (Series 85 Runner-Up) vs Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Series 82 Runner-Up)
Quarter-Finals 1 (12 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 1 Winner) vs (Preliminary 8 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 2 (13 January 2023): Elliott Mellor (Preliminary 2 Winner) vs (Preliminary 7 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 3 (16 January 2023): Ahmed Mohamed (Preliminary 3 Winner) vs Luke Johnson-Davies (Preliminary 6 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 4 (17 January 2023): James Haughton (Preliminary 4 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (Preliminary 5 Winner)
Semi-Finals 1 (18 January 2023): (Quarter-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 4 Winner)
Semi-Finals 2 (19 January 2023): (Quarter-Finals 2 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 3 Winner)
Championship Final (20 January 2023): (Semi-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Semi-Finals 2 Winner)