c4countdown

Well to the first Ibuleve-less Robinson Recap. Enjoy.

Countdown recap for Thursday 13 May 2010.

C1: Champion Paul Stevenson (2 wins, 169 points.) A physics lecturer at the University Of Surrey, Guildford. He's also a warden at one of the university's halls of residence.
C2: Challenger Steve Wilson. A trainee accountant from Romford, Essex. He's a fan of metal, punk and rock music, and would like a private gig from Judas Priest. His other main hobby is tube challenging, which is visiting every Tube station (there are 270 of them) on the London Underground in the quickest time, without using cars. He holds the Guinness World Record with a time of 16 hours and 44 minutes.
DC: Susie Dent and Dr. Hilary Jones.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S B T A E C D O L
R02: N E T S P I O T E
R03: F S O N F I E Q B
R04: S X D I O I U L A
R05: 25, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. Target: 455.
TTT: KINDTREE - "Fiddled about with the former tradesman"
R06: N E A H Y N T O H
R07: S J E K L I A M C
R08: G I E D N P O R L
R09: M R E R L I T O R
R10: 75, 6, 2, 1, 3, 6. Target: 829.
TTT: THEWAVER - "The favourite word of most grumpy teenagers"
R11: W V G U A R W U E
R12: M O N E T C I T R
R13: S T D O E T N A G
R14: 75, 7, 2, 5, 5, 3. Target: 401.
R15: E N D G E T M U G (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S B T A E C D O L

C1: BOASTED (7)
C2: BLOATED (7)
DC: OBSTACLE (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

Both contestants get good 7's, but DC clear the darrenic 8.

Round 2: N E T S P I O T E

C1: POTEENS (7)
C2: spited
DC: POTENTISE (18)
Score: 14–7 (max 26)

A brilliant niner by DC, as Paul takes an early lead.

Round 3: F S O N F I E Q B

C1: BOFFINS (7)
C2: BOFFINS (7)
Score: 21–14 (max 33)



Round 4: S X D I O I U L A

C1: SOLID (5)
C2: audios
DC: DOULAS (6)
OT: OXALIS (6) SOLIDI (6)
Score: 26–14 (max 39)

A dubious 6 fails to pay off for Steve, and it might slightly haunt him later, althought Paul could've added the I to his 5.

OXALIS is any plant of the genus Oxalis, comprising the wood sorrels.
A SOLIDI (plural of SOLIDUS) was a gold coin of ancient Rome, introduced by Constantine and continued in the Byzantine Empire, also known as a bezant.

Round 5: 25, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. Target: 455.

C1: 453.
C2: 456. ((10 + 8) x 25) + (9 - 2 - 1) (7)
RR: 455. ((10 + 8) x 25) + ((9 + 1) / 2) (10)
Score: 26–21 (max 49)

Steve gets back in with his 1 away, which with a slight alteration, could've got him the 10 points.

Dr. Hilary tells the time where Penny Smith was meant to give him an autograph of herself for his plumber, but it getting accidentally put into the briefcase of the ambassador of Saudi Arabia

Teatime teaser: KINDTREE -> TINKERED

Round 6: N E A H Y N T O H

C1: THANE (5)
C2: HEATH (5)
DC: TANNOY (6)
OT: ANYONE (6) HEATHY (6)
Score: 31–26 (max 55)

DC get an audio-related 6 (reference to round 4), but interestingly the similar HEATHY is missed by all, despited Steve declaring HEATH

Round 7: S J E K L I A M C

C1: CLAIMS (6)
C2: CLAIMS (6)
DC: MICKLES (7)
OT: JACKSIE (7) MACKLES (7) MELICKS (7)
Score: 37–32 (max 62)

A MACKLE is a blur in printing, as from a double impression.

Round 8: G I E D N P O R L

C1: ELOPING (7)
C2: DEPLORING (18)
Score: 37–50 (max 80)

Steve pulls the 9 out of the bag to take the lead.

Round 9: M R E R L I T O R

C1: LOITER (6)
C2: MIRROR (6)
DC: MOTLIER (7)
OT: LORIMER (7) RORTIER (7) TERROIR (7)
Score: 43–56 (max 87)

Susie's Origin Of Words carries on with the nursery rhyme theme with the origin of "Jack Be Nimble".

Round 10: 75, 6, 2, 1, 3, 6. Target: 829.

C1: 828. (((6 x 2) - 1) x 75) + 3 (7)
C2: 828. (((6 x 2) - 1) x 75) + 3 (7)
RR: 829. ((75 - 6) x 6 x 2) + 1 (10)
Score: 50–63 (max 97)

A brilliant solve by Rachel, but the gap stays at 13, so this 3rd half is going to be pretty crucial.

Teatime teaser: THEWAVER -> WHATEVER

Round 11: W V G U A R W U E

C1: GRAVE (5)
C2: WAGER (5)
DC: VAGUER (6)
Score: 55–68 (max 103)

Round 12: M O N E T C I T R

C1: COINER (6)
C2: CORNET (6)
DC: INTERCOM (8)
OT: CONTRITE (8) CORNETTI (8)
Score: 61–74 (max 111)

Yet another audio-related word spotted by DC, but the gap is still 13.

CONTRITE is an adjective meaning caused by or showing sincere remorse.

Round 13: S T D O E T N A G

C1: ATTENDS (7)
C2: TASTED (6)
DC: TOASTED (7) NOTATES (7)
OT: DONATES (7) DOTAGES (7) NOTATED (7) ONSTAGE (7) TANGOES (7) TANGOED (7)
Score: 68–74 (max 118)

Steve misses one of the many 7's available, so the gap is shrunk to 6.

Round 14: 75, 7, 2, 5, 5, 3. Target: 401.

C1: 401. ((75 + 5) x 5) + (3 - 2) (10)
C2: 401. ((75 + 5) x 5) + (3 - 2) (10)
Score: 78–84 (max 128)

So, this is the 3rd Robinson Recap of the week, and for the 3rd time in a Robinson Recap this week, we've got a crucial conundrum.

Round 15: E N D G E T M U G

No one buzzes. The answer was NUTMEGGED.
Score: 78–84 (max 138)

A sole member of the audience solves the conundrum and as the anagram suggests, at the END, he'll GET a MUG.

So, Paul has been deposed and Steve is the new champ, after another close encounter this week.

I'll be back next week with 2 (at the moment) recaps.

Mike will (hopefully) entertain you tomorrow.

See you next week. Bye!

Statistics Corner

Paul:
Total score - 78
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 57
Raw % of max - 67
Total average score per round - 5.2
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 3

Steve:
Total score - 84
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 61
Raw % of max - 65
Total average score per round - 5.6
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 3

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

James Robinson wrote: C2: Challenger Steve Wilson. A trainee accountant from Romford, Essex. He's a fan of metal, punk and rock music, and would like a private gig from Judas Priest. His other main hobby is tube challenging, which is visiting every Tube station (there are 270 of them) on the London Underground in the quickest time, without using cars. He holds the Guinness World Record with a time of 16 hours and 44 minutes.

I wonder if his Countdown appearance was at all inspired by Jack Welsby, who I believe held that record at some point.

POTEENS is consistent with other plural mass nouns, but surely Susie has disallowed it in the past.

David Williams wrote:POTEENS is consistent with other plural mass nouns, but surely Susie has disallowed it in the past.

That is indeed true.

http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4031

Steve has a rather nice smile.
(Not as nice as Jeffrey Burgin of course, but quite pleasing.)

After this appearance (as I follow tube challenging and may have a crack at that record myself) Steve was beaten in 2011 by Marc Gawley from Manchester, only to reclaim the record a month later, which still stands today.

Yes, it was Jack Worsley who held the record between 2002 and 2004, until Geoff Marshall came along and beat him. Worsley himself beat the legendary Robert Robinson. I hear there are a few documentaries about him...

Wasn't it Jack Welsby?

Gavin Chipper wrote:Wasn't it Jack Welsby?

Didn't I say that?