A return to the promised land of C4Countdownia, after an excruciating gap of 5 days. 
But, with the greatest living Huddersfield Town fan, Patrick Stewart, being knighted today, as well as Town signing Joey Guðjónsson, all is well in my world. For now at least.
So to celebrate, here's a Robinson Recap for you to enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 2 June 2010.
C1: Champion Dominic Travers (4 wins, 360 points.) An Apterite from New Malden, Surrey, but currently studying biology at Bristol University, where he's also the manager of the student bar. His nickname is "The Boggler", because of his love for word games such as Countdown and Boggle. Well, it's a better nickname than "Dom", isn't it
C2: Challenger Ian Pratt. From Blagdon, Wells, Somerset. He's a married chartered accountant. His hobbies are shooting and foraging for fungi. He actually looks a bit like ex-DC guest John Suchet to me as well.
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Gaunt.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: L D O T E S A W T
R02: R V S P I E A F O
R03: G N A D I T E J R
R04: D F N O E A S T U
R05: 100, 50, 5, 9, 1, 6. Target: 451.
TTT: AXESBOTH - "You can use these to avoid the crush"
R06: N L R I O U E T N
R07: G B I D U N E H L
R08: N L R T A E U R E
R09: N G A C O R A U O
R10: 100, 1, 7, 6, 9, 2. Target: 198.
TTT: CASHWING - "Talks a lot about footballers' partners"
R11: Q S A L O S I K B
R12: C T P E O I M P T
R13: M H O R A Z E S R
R14: 75, 4, 9, 8, 10, 7. Target: 128.
R15: B I N M E N C U T (conundrum)
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Round 1: L D O T E S A W T
C1: SWATTED (7)
C2: alotted
DC: SLATTED (7) WATTLES (7)
OT: TOADLETS (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)
An unlucky start by Ian there, as he needs another L for ALLOTTED. Interestingly, DC miss the 8 that was spotted by Susie just 23 days ago.
Sad that I know it was 23 days ago, but I did recap that episode. 
Round 2: R V S P I E A F O
C1: SOAPIER (7)
C2: PEARS (5)
DC: VAPORISE (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 16)
The Boggler doubles his lead with that 7, but DC do the darren with that 8.
Round 3: G N A D I T E J R
C1: TREADING (8)
C2: TREADING (8)
DC: GRADIENT (8)
OT: DERATING (8)
Score: 22–8 (max 24)
8's all round here.
Round 4: D F N O E A S T U
C1: DONATES (7)
C2: DONATES (7)
DC: FASTEN (6) SOUTANE (7)
JS: ASTOUND (7)
OT: FANTODS (7) FONDEST (7) FONDUES (7) SNAFUED (7) SNOUTED (7)
Score: 29–15 (max 31)
I so thought that there was more than a 7 there, but the stats prove otherwise.
Round 5: 100, 50, 5, 9, 1, 6. Target: 451.
C1: 451. (50 x 9) + 1 (10)
C2: 451. ((9 - 6) x (100 + 50)) + 1 (10)
Score: 39–25 (max 41)
A pretty simple numbers there, even though Ian decides to go the long way round.
Jon carries on from where he left off on Monday, by carrying on talking about him being stuck in Tenerife during the volcanic ash cloud problems.
Teatime teaser: AXESBOTH -> HATBOXES
Round 6: N L R I O U E T N
C1: OUTLIER (7)
C2: ROUTINE (7)
DC: OUTLINER (8)
OT: NEUTRINO (8)
Score: 46–32 (max 49)
Ouch, Dom could've stuck an N in his OUTLIER for an 8, and one of my favourite 8's makes an appearance too.
Round 7: G B I D U N E H L
C1: blinged
C2: BUDGIE (6)
DC: BUNDLE (6) ELUDING (7)
OT: BLUEING (7) BLUNGED (7) BUNGLED (7) INDULGE (7)
Score: 46–38 (max 56)
Dom loses some BLING there, as you can't be blinged.
BLUEING (or BLUING) is a substance, as indigo, used to whiten clothes or give them a bluish tinge.
To BLUNGE is to mix (clay or the like) with water, so as to form a liquid suspension.
Round 8: N L R T A E U R E
C1: ETERNAL (7)
C2: NATURE (6)
DC: NEUTRAL (7)
OT: RELEARNT (8) URETERAL (8)
Score: 53–38 (max 64)
There's me missing RELEARNT, after waiting for UNLEARNT to come out, although as you can see below, the next consonant to come out of the box was an N.
URETERAL relates to the URETER, which is a muscular duct or tube conveying the urine from a kidney to the bladder or cloaca.
Round 9: N G A C O R A U O
C1: CROON (5)
C2: GROAN (5)
DC: CORONA (6) ANGORA (6)
OT: GUANACO (7)
Score: 58–43 (max 71)
A stinky set of letters there, but everyone misses the darrenic 7...., apart from Oli in the spoilers.
GUANACO is a wild South American ruminant, Lama guanicoe, of which the llama and alpaca are believed to be domesticated varieties. They're also related to the camels.
Susie's Origins Of Words continues with the Roman military theme with the origins of "infantry", "cavalry", "chivalry" and "soldier".
Round 10: 100, 1, 7, 6, 9, 2. Target: 198.
C1: 198. (100 x 2) - (9 - 7) (10)
C2: 198. (100 x 2) - (9 - 7) (10)
Score: 68–53 (max 81)
What's wrong with (100 - 1) x 2
Teatime teaser: CASHWING -> CHINWAGS
Round 11: Q S A L O S I K B
C1: SLABS (5)
C2: SILOS (5)
DC: BAILS (5) SAILS (5) QIBLAS (6)
OT: SLOKAS (6)
Score: 73–58 (max 87)
Another stinky set, with 5's aplenty, but DC pull out a Q-sans-U 6 out of the bag.
A SLOKA is a couplet or distich of sanskrit verse, especially one with each line containing 16 syllables.
Round 12: C T P E O I M P T
C1: TOPIC (5)
C2: TOPIC (5)
DC: MOPPET (6) TIPTOE (6) POETIC (6)
OT: TOTEMIC (7)
Score: 78–63 (max 94)
For the 3rd round in a row, both contestants declare 5's, DC get 6's, and there's a darrenic 7 to boot. But since everyone missed it, clearly no-one was in pole position to get that 1.
Round 13: M H O R A Z E S R
C1: MASHER (6)
C2: RAZORS (6)
OT: HOARSER (7) REMORAS (7) ROAMERS (7)
Score: 84–69 (max 101)
A REMORA is any of several fishes of the family Echeneididae, having on the top of the head a sucking disk by which they can attach themselves to sharks, turtles, ships, and other moving objects.
Hmmm, DC missing all those 7's. I'd have thought they'd have got at least 2 of them, but there you go.
Round 14: 75, 4, 9, 8, 10, 7. Target: 128.
C1: 129.
C2: 128. (9 x 7) + 75 - 10 (10)
Score: 84–79 (max 111)
So, like yesterday, Dominic slips on a 1 large at the last second, so out of nothing, a crucial conundrum is now upon us.
Round 15: B I N M E N C U T
No one buzzes. The answer was INCUMBENT.
Score: 84–79 (max 121)
But, unlike yesterday, there's no last-gasp dramatic buzzing of any kind. So, Dominic has reached 5 wins, but can he stay on till the end of the week to make it into the finals.
Our very own Scott Gillies is challenging tomorrow, so as his name suggests will he be fishing for glory or just trucking off
Join me tomorrow to find out.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Dominic:
Total score - 84
Raw score - 91
Total % of max - 69
Raw % of max - 75
Total average score per round - 5.6
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 4
Ian:
Total score - 79
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 65
Raw % of max - 74
Total average score per round - 5.3
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62