c4countdown

Welcome to Part 1 of this week's Robinson Recap Double Bill. Enjoy.

Countdown recap for Wednesday 7 April 2010.

C1: Champion Peter Zyss (3 wins, 258 points.) An Apterite from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. His most memorable experience was hitting his mother with a cricket bat, moments after receiving it as a gift.
C2: Challenger Daniel Stevanato. A student & forumite from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, although he is currently working in Hamburg, Germany, as an English language assistant. Even though he is studying German, he is half Italian and half Yorkshireman. He supports Yorkshire CCC and has been a season ticket holder at the mighty Huddersfield Town for 15 years, describing the best results of the season as the 2-1 win over Hartlepool United at the Galpharm Stadium in October, followed by the 2-0 win over Hartlepool United at Victoria Park in February. Not to mention the 6-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Cup in November, the 6-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers, also in November and the 7-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in August.
DC: Susie Dent and John Suchet.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: I O A N W P I E T
R02: N B D S A I E T V
R03: N H G O A E M S U
R04: D R N C Y E I O P
R05: 25, 100, 10, 4, 6, 7. Target: 163.
TTT: HEYBEAST - "It's where small pupils might go for a dip"
R06: Q T C E O I J R E
R07: L D M U I A R B U
R08: T X T N E A U D S
R09: D P M E A E C S L
R10: 25, 75, 1, 3, 5, 3. Target: 520.
TTT: MINIBLOG - "The music's loud and you're on your knees at the bar"
R11: R G T O I A S G S
R12: R L F Z I E A L S
R13: E M O D U G E N F
R14: 25, 100, 3, 4, 6, 1. Target: 571.
R15: T A S T E C H I P (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: I O A N W P I E T

C1: OPIATE (6)
C2: PIANO (5)
DC: WAPITI (6)
OT: PINETA (6) POINTE (6) TIEPIN (6) TOWNIE (6) WEAPON (6)
Score: 6–0 (max 6)

A nice Countdown favourite gives the champ the early breakthrough.

PINETA (plural of PINETUM) are an arboretum of pines and coniferous trees.

Round 2: N B D S A I E T V

C1: BANDIEST (8)
C2: BANDITS (7)
DC: DEVIANTS (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 14)

Another Countdown favourite extends Peter's max lead.

Round 3: N H G O A E M S U

C1: HOMAGES (7)
C2: MANGOES (7)
OT: HOUSEMAN (8)
Score: 21–7 (max 22)

Daniel gets off the mark, but everyone misses the darrenic 8.

Round 4: D R N C Y E I O P

C1: PORCINE (7)
C2: PONCIER (7)
DC: CINDERY (7)
OT: PERCOID (7)
Score: 28–14 (max 29)

PERCOID means resembling a perch.

Round 5: 25, 100, 10, 4, 6, 7. Target: 163.

C1: 163. (6 x 10) + 100 + (7 - 4) (10)
C2: 163. (6 x 10) + 100 + (7 - 4) (10)
Score: 38–24 (max 39)

John tells of his time when he was doing his first foreign report for ITN in Bangladesh, before the invention of satellite communications.

Teatime teaser: HEYBEAST -> EYEBATHS

Round 6: Q T C E O I J R E

C1: EJECTOR (7)
C2: EROTIC (6)
DC: REJOICE (7) COTERIE (7)
Score: 45–24 (max 46)

Round 7: L D M U I A R B U

C1: BURIAL (6)
C2: murial
DC: RADIUM (6) BARIUM (6)
OT: BRIDAL (6) RIBALD (6) LABIUM (6) LABRUM (6) LUMBAR (6) UMBRAL (6)
Score: 51–24 (max 52)

A risky 6 from Daniel there, gives Peter even more breathing space.

RIBALD means someone who vulgar or indecent in speech and language.
LABIUM and LABRUM mean a lip or liplike part.
LUMBAR means something of or pertaining to the loins.

Round 8: T X T N E A U D S

C1: UNSTATED (8)
C2: STUNTED (7)
OT: UNTASTED (8)
Score: 59–24 (max 60)

Peter is on fire today. Another brilliant 8 there extends his lead to 35.

Round 9: D P M E A E C S L

C1: CLAMPED (7)
C2: CLAMPED (7)
DC: ESCAPED (7)
JS: SAMPLED (7)
OT: CLASPED (7) SCALPED (7) DECAMPS (7) SCAMPED (7) DESCALE (7) ELAPSED (7) PLEASED (7)
Score: 66–31 (max 67)

Those are Daniel's first points since the numbers round, but Peter now has 8 out of 9 maxes today. Is he unstoppable

Susie's Origin Of Words tells of the origins of "margarine" and "prevaricate".

Round 10: 25, 75, 1, 3, 5, 3. Target: 520.

C1: 520. Mistake in working.
C2: 520. (75 + 25 + 3 + 1) x 5 (10)
Score: 66–41 (max 77)

Maybe I spoke too soon. Daniel is back in it, after Peter cocks up his solution.

Teatime teaser: MINIBLOG -> LIMBOING

Round 11: R G T O I A S G S

C1: GROATS (6)
C2: GATORS (6)
DC: STAIRS (6) AORISTS (7)
OT: ARISTOS (7)
Score: 72–47 (max 84)

Round 12: R L F Z I E A L S

C1: flailers
C2: FALLERS (7)
DC: FILLERS (7) RALLIES (7) REFILLS (7)
Score: 72–54 (max 91)

Has that mistake opened the door wider for Daniel

Round 13: E M O D U G E N F

C1: FOUND (5)
C2: DEMON (5)
DC: FONDUE (6) GENOME (6)
OT: DENGUE (6) DOGMEN (6) MENUDO (6)
Score: 77–59 (max 97)

Both players miss a few sixes, but the gap is sub-20, so it's not over yet.

DENGUE is an infectious, eruptive fever of warm climates, usually epidemic, characterised especially by severe pains in the joints and muscles.

Round 14: 25, 100, 3, 4, 6, 1. Target: 571.

C1: 571. (6 x 100) - 25 - 4 (10)
C2: 571. (6 x 100) - 25 - 4 (10)
Score: 87–69 (max 107)

It is now, as a relatively simple numbers game gives Peter his 4th win and half-octochamp status.

Round 15: T A S T E C H I P

C2 buzzes on 1.25 seconds to say PATCHIEST which is correct.
Score: 87–79 (max 117)

A quick solve by Daniel gives more respectability to the score, but Peter was on fire today. With the exception of the last half, the Sheffielder showed good qualities today that could make him a force in the finals, should he get there.

Can Peter get to his 5th win tomorrow Find out with yours truly.

See you then, bye.

Statistics Corner

Peter:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 87
Total % of max - 74
Raw % of max - 74
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 5.8
Number of maxes - 9

Daniel:
Total score - 79
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 68
Raw % of max - 89
Total average score per round - 5.3
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 7

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62

James Robinson wrote:Both players a few sixes, but the gap is sub-20, so it's not over yet.

MISS-take James?

james doohan wrote:

James Robinson wrote:Both players a few sixes, but the gap is sub-20, so it's not over yet.

MISS-take James?

Ta, Mr. Doohan.

Those TTTs are so bad. Who does them? The first one yet again was a plural, thus ignoring the thousands of perfectly good eight-letter words that could be used; and, even worse, the clue says "It's where small pupils might go for a dip" yet the answer is in the plural, so it should have been "They're where small ...". I suppose you could say that 'It' refers to the answer, but anyone who thought about it would surely have said 'They're'.

Quite a clever idea though.

Wil Ransome wrote: The first one yet again was a plural, thus ignoring the thousands of perfectly good eight-letter words that could be used

How is a plural not a "perfectly good eight-letter word"?

Wil Ransome wrote:Those TTTs are so bad. Who does them? The first one yet again was a plural, thus ignoring the thousands of perfectly good eight-letter words that could be used; and, even worse, the clue says "It's where small pupils might go for a dip" yet the answer is in the plural, so it should have been "They're where small ...". I suppose you could say that 'It' refers to the answer, but anyone who thought about it would surely have said 'They're'.

Quite a clever idea though.

LOL - I do them, but i've not ignored thousands of perfectly good 8-letter words. There are 2 per show, that's about 500 a year, and we've been doing them for i guess, about 7 years. There's too many words that are unusable, either because you can't make a clue for them, because the mixed up version cannot be read out in a way that makes sense, eg ALLUVIAL, or because they're way too obscure. I never thought of them as 'bad' though, that's rather hurtful. Am i right in thinking you might be slightly aggrieved because you didn't get the answer, which was all down to the clumsy clue writing?

Feel free to post your best here and if it's good enough i'll steal it, and if it's not i'll be frank and rip it to pieces.

D Eadie wrote:Feel free to post your best here and if it's good enough i'll steal it, and if it's not i'll be frank and rip it to pieces.

To avoid clogging up this thread, I've started a new one here...

Charlie Reams wrote:

Wil Ransome wrote: The first one yet again was a plural, thus ignoring the thousands of perfectly good eight-letter words that could be used

How is a plural not a "perfectly good eight-letter word"?

It is but apparently the rules are different for nine-letter words.