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Wednesday 10th November 2010 (Ser. 63, Prelim 88)

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:37 pm
by James Robinson
Welcome to the Robinson Recap, as we prepare to possibly crown our 6th octochamp of the series.

Enjoy. ;) :) :D

Countdown recap for Wednesday 10 November 2010.

C1: Champion Marcus Hares (7 wins, 730 points.) An Apteforumite from Street, Somerset. His ambition was to win a Countdown teapot, but now he's on the brink of octochampdom. 8-)
C2: Challenger Jamie Ashington. Originally from Birmingham, but now lives in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, with his wife and 4 children. His claim to fame is being a drummer in the band The Kuomingtang Party, who had a record played on Radio 1 by John Peel. He raised over £3,000 for charity running the London Marathon earlier in the year, but his ambition is to run the marathon all the way through one day.
DC: Susie Dent and Colin Jackson.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: C I E O P B S A R
R02: G V S U O M N A I
R03: D E A E F Y P I N
R04: H T O U N S I D E
R05: 25, 4, 9, 2, 10, 8. Target: 447.
TTT: IAMTALCY - "Jane's just had a disaster"
R06: V S O M G E I L E
R07: X U E A G L D U R
R08: N M A E W T A N A
R09: R E A I Q R T E J
R10: 25, 75, 2, 7, 2, 8. Target: 294.
TTT: CRINGEAT - "Cringe at the quality of food on offer"
R11: N A E O R L C I S
R12: L T F E E N S I R
R13: P A E A T N S U L
R14: 100, 3, 4, 7, 9, 8. Target: 314.
R15: D A W N S G I L D (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: C I E O P B S A R

C1: COPIERS (7)
C2: COPIERS (7)
DC: AEROBICS (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

Both contestants copy each others COPIERS, whereas DC had clearly done their AEROBICS exercises before the start, as they immediately get off to a darrenic start. 8-)

Round 2: G V S U O M N A I

C1: AMUSING (7)
C2: AMUSING (7)
DC: MOUSING (7)
OT: AGONISM (7)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)

AGONISM is the survivalist animal behaviour that includes aggression, defense, and avoidance.

Round 3: D E A E F Y P I N

C1: PAINED (6)
C2: DEFINE (6)
OT: FIDAYEEN (8)
Score: 20–20 (max 23)

There seemed like there were just millions of 6's around, but a darrenic 8 is hidden very well in there.

FIDAYEEN (or FEDAYEEN) are members of an Arab commando group operating especially against Israel.

Round 4: H T O U N S I D E

C1: outshined
C2: SHOUTED (7)
DC: OUTSHINE (8) SHUNTED (7)
OT: HEDONIST (8) HIDEOUTS (8)
Score: 20–27 (max 31)

The stalemate is broken as Marcus' dodgy 9 is just that. Maybe he should have just chopped off the D for a nice 8.

Round 5: 25, 4, 9, 2, 10, 8. Target: 447.

C1: 446. (9 x 2 x 25) - 4 (7)
C2: 447. Mistake in working.
RR: 447. ((10 + 8) x 25) - (9 - 4 - 2) (10)
Score: 27–27 (max 41)

But the game returns to stalemate almost immediately as Jamie's working out goes quite wrong. :oops:

Colin talks about the number 7 and how it affects our everyday lives, although Colin mentions that 7 holds bad luck for him, as he finished in 7th place in the Olympics for which he was the favourite. :roll:

Teatime teaser: IAMTALCY -> CALAMITY

Round 6: V S O M G E I L E

C1: OLIVES (6)
C2: SMILE (5)
DC: MOVIES (6) GLOVES (6)
OT: EGOISM (6) GOLEMS (6) LEVIES (6) LIEGES (6) MOLIES (6) MOLVIS (6) OGIVES (6) VEGIES (6)
Score: 33–27 (max 47)

And now Marcus takes the lead for the first time today, as Jamie misses one of the many available 6's.

In Jewish folklore, a GOLEM is a figure artificially constructed in the form of a human being and endowed with life, or it can mean a clumsy and stupid person.
A MOLY (plural MOLIES) is a herb given to Odysseus by Hermes to counteract the spells of Circe.
In India, a MOLVI (or MAULVI) is an expert in Islamic law, used especially as a term of respectful address among Muslims.

Round 7: X U E A G L D U R

C1: lauder
C2: GLARED (6)
DC: AUGURED (7)
Score: 33–33 (max 54)

But again, the stalemate returns as Marcus' risky 6 is again, just that. Good darrenic 7 from DC too.

Round 8: N M A E W T A N A

C1: MEANT (5)
C2: MEANT (5)
DC: MANTA (5) MANANA (6)
OT: ATAMAN (6)
Score: 38–38 (max 60)

A horrific set of letters, but Colin manages to find one of the 2 available 6's here.

An ATAMAN is the elected chief of a Cossack village or military force.

Round 9: R E A I Q R T E J

C1: TEARIER (7)
C2: retear
Score: 45–38 (max 67)

Marcus pulls out a brilliant darren to take the lead again. How long will this one last for :?:

Susie's Origins Of Words talks of the origin of the phrase "having kittens".

Round 10: 25, 75, 2, 7, 2, 8. Target: 294.

C1: 293. ((2 + 2) x 75) - 7 (7)
C2: 292.
RR: 294. (75 - 25 - 8) x 7 (10)
Score: 52–38 (max 77)

Maybe a bit longer, as Jamie is one further away from Marcus in the numbers, while Rachel shows us all the relatively simple method to reach the target. :geek:

Teatime teaser: CRINGEAT -> CATERING

Round 11: N A E O R L C I S

C1: LONICERAS (18)
C2: cloners (declared as 8)
DC: CENSORIAL (18)
Score: 70–38 (max 95)

Now that's Apto-magic. 8-) A brilliant 9 is pulled out by Marcus and surely the game is his now. :D

Round 12: L T F E E N S I R

C1: FERTILE (7)
C2: ferniest
DC: REFINES (7) STERILE (7)
OT: ENLISTER (8) LISTENER (8)
Score: 77–38 (max 103)

And that dodgy 8 from Jamie means that Marcus has now become an octochamp. 8-)

Round 13: P A E A T N S U L

C1: SPATULA (7)
C2: PLANTS (6)
DC: PLEASANT (8)
OT: PANTSULA (8) PLATEAUS (8)
Score: 84–38 (max 111)

Marcus decides to go safe with his 7, although we have no idea what else he was thinking of. Can he get his 6th century of his run :?:

PANTSULA is an energetic dance originating in the black townships of South Africa in the 1980s.

Round 14: 100, 3, 4, 7, 9, 8. Target: 314.

C1: 314. (100 x 3) + ((8 / 4) x 7) (10)
C2: 314. (100 x 3) + ((8 / 4) x 7) (10)
Score: 94–48 (max 121)

He's now put himself into the perfect position thanks to that easy 1 large.

Round 15: D A W N S G I L D

C1 buzzes on 2.5 seconds to say SWADDLING which is correct.
Final Score: 104–48 (max 131)

And there you go, a 6th century for Marcus and done impressively too. A brilliant player over the last 8 shows and well deserving of his octochampdom. With 834 points, he is currently the #4 seed, and we'll be seeing him in the finals in a few weeks time.

Join me tomorrow as the search for the "lucky" 7th octochamp begins with 2 new challengers.

So till then, bye bye.

Statistics Corner

Marcus:
Total score - 104
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 79
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 6.9
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 6

Jamie:
Total score - 48
Raw score - 66
Total % of max - 37
Raw % of max - 50
Total average score per round - 3.2
Raw average score per round - 4.4
Number of maxes - 2

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63

Re: Wednesday 10th November 2010 (Ser. 63, Prelim 88)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:28 pm
by Mike Brown
James Robinson wrote: FIDAYEEN (or FEDAYEEN) (plural of FIDAYEE or FEDAYEE)
They may well be the plurals of fidayee and fedayee, but not in this dictionary, I'm afraid. :geek:

Re: Wednesday 10th November 2010 (Ser. 63, Prelim 88)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:30 pm
by James Robinson
Mike Brown wrote:
James Robinson wrote: FIDAYEEN (or FEDAYEEN) (plural of FIDAYEE or FEDAYEE)
They may well be the plurals of fidayee and fedayee, but not in this dictionary, I'm afraid. :geek:
Hmmmm, interesting. Bloody internet definitions :!: :!: :x :x :evil: :evil:

But thank you, Mike. ;) :) :D

Re: Wednesday 10th November 2010 (Ser. 63, Prelim 88)

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:39 pm
by Peter Mabey
R13: Marcus decides to go safe with his 7, although we have no idea what else he was thinking of.

Possibly SPATULAE^, as a possible plural (not recognised by ODE2r :( ) :?:

Re: Wednesday 10th November 2010 (Ser. 63, Prelim 88)

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:24 pm
by Marcus Hares
Peter Mabey wrote:R13: Marcus decides to go safe with his 7, although we have no idea what else he was thinking of.

Possibly SPATULAE^, as a possible plural (not recognised by ODE2r )
Yes this was exactly what I was thinking of - thankfully it would have been disallowed had I gone for it