COOT 08 Third-place playoff - Wilson vs Bevins

[Charlie Reams]

It's the third-place playoff of COOT '08 and we're faced with two excellent competitors, Ben Wilson and Kirk Bevins, both of whom are famed for their 6-small prowess and knowledge of high-probability esoterica. But who can perform on the day? Read on!

Kirk was seeded for the tournament and took on qualifier Richard Brittain in the first round, winning by a comfortable margin of 94-68. His quarter final was an exciting if low-scoring affair with Martin Gardner, as Kirk unravelled ANONPLATO on 17 seconds to take the game 88-72. In the semi-final, Kirk faced the excellent Damian Eadie and forced a crucial conundrum, but his dreams of a final appearance were dashed after just 2 seconds as Damian spotted GUMSHIELD to win 105-89. And so Kirk, runner-up in last year's Plate, dropped into this year's Cup playoff.

Ben has previously won Series 46 and CORED (Countdown in Redhill) so his ability is unquestionable, but few would dispute that this has been Ben's best-ever tournament. It began with a solid 96-79 win over Matt Coates, and continued upwards with a legendary 116-106 victory over Paul Howe. In the semi-final, he had the misfortune to draw the exceptional Julian Fell. After a bad start, Ben spotted SEALANTS (the only letters round of the tournament in which Julian has not scored) to take the game to the wire, but the conundrum ELPAUCITY proved too much and Julian took the game 112-96. Ben dropped into the 3rd place playoff which is where this story begins.

The game was hosted by Jason Cullen. Kirk won the toss and put Ben in to bat.

C1: Challenger Ben Wilson.
C2: Challenger Kirk Bevins.

R01: D R B R A E U K N
R02: T S N E A O P O M
R03: L T J P E I U D T
R04: N R Y I E A T W S
R05: 50, 75, 100, 10, 1, 3, . Target: 239.
TTT: BEANSOUP - "I order you to give evidence to the court so that we can get beneath the punishment."
R06: C S R E A O T I E
R07: Q D L X A I O F S
R08: D S B I U E M P N
R09: G M N S O U A A I
R10: 1, 2, 9, 3, 8, 7, . Target: 162.
TTT: HORSEMAN - "The snout of a Derby County supporter found in plants perhaps!"
R11: D Z H T I O E R L
R12: S G N O U A T A V
R13: L R T D E I E O H
R14: 2, 5, 8, 6, 1, 10. Target: 536.
R15: J U L I E L O O K (conundrum)


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Round 1: D R B R A E U K N

C1: REBRAND (7)
C2: unraked
DC: UNBARRED (8) - not risked by Ben
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Round 2: T S N E A O P O M

C1: TEASPOON (8)
C2: TAMPONS (7)
Score: 15–0 (max 16)

Round 3: L T J P E I U D T

C1: JILTED (6)
C2: PUTTED (6)
DC: PUTTIED (7)
Score: 21–6 (max 23)

Round 4: N R Y I E A T W S

C1: RETAINS (7)
C2: TINWARE (7)
OT: STERNWAY (8)
Score: 28–13 (max 31)

Round 5: 50, 75, 100, 10, 1, 3. Target: 239.

C1: 239. 100x3-50-10-1 (10)
C2: 239. (75+50/10)x3-1 (10)
Score: 38–23 (max 41)

Teatime teaser: BEANSOUP -> SUBPOENA

Round 6: C S R E A O T I E

C1: ESOTERIC (8)
C2: ESOTERICA (18)
Score: 38–41 (max 59)

After a disasterous start, Kirk bravely went fishing for this 9 by picking a final vowel, and what a spectular pay off -- game on!

Round 7: Q D L X A I O F S

C1: DIALS (5)
C2: OXALIS (6)
DC: SIXFOLD (7) - excellent spot from Damian, whose time in the chair is under an hour away...
Score: 38–47 (max 66)

Round 8: D S B I U E M P N

C1: BUSMEN (6)
C2: impudes
DC: IMPENDS (7) UNIPEDS (7)
Score: 44–47 (max 73)

Round 9: G M N S O U A A I

C1: AMUSING (7)
C2: MOUSING (7)
DC: ANGIOMAS (8) and ISANGOMA (8) for a CountMax-beater from Kirk (sadly out of time)
Score: 51–54 (max 81)

Round 10: 1, 2, 9, 3, 8, 7. Target: 162.

C1: 162. (8+7+3)x9 (10)
C2: 162. 9x2x(8+1) (10)
Score: 61–64 (max 91)

Teatime teaser: HORSEMAN -> RHAMNOSE

Round 11: D Z H T I O E R L

C1: LOITER (6)
C2: TRIODE (6)
OT: LITHOED (7)
Score: 67–70 (max 98)

Round 12: S G N O U A T A V

C1: SAVANT (6)
C2: OUTSANG (7)
OT: NOUGATS (7)
Score: 67–77 (max 105)

Round 13: L R T D E I E O H

C1: LOITERED (8)
C2: DOLERITE (8)
DC: HOTELIER (8) (also from Kirk)
Score: 75–85 (max 113)

Round 14: 2, 5, 8, 6, 1, 10. Target: 536.

C1: 536. (6x10+5+2)x8 (10)
C2: 536. (10x6+5+2)x8 (10)
Score: 85–95 (max 123)

So Kirk has a 10-point advantage as we go to the conundrum -- not quite enough to have the game sealed up, but Ben will need to solve this and the next one to win.

Round 15: J U L I E L O O K

C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say KILOJOULE which is correct.
Score: 95–95 (max 133)

A speedy spot under pressure -- good stuff from Ben. We'll need a tie-breaker to separate them!



Round 16: C U N T Y B E A R

30 agonising seconds tick by but no one gets it. The answer is CYBERNAUT. Jono set this one so blame him.



Round 17: H A N D Y T I R E

...and another 30 seconds tick by! The answer is ANHYDRITE. Yeah, me neither. Jason set this one so blame him.


Round 18: U P T H E N O S E

...and after just 3 seconds, Kirk puts us out of our misery with an excellent spot of PENTHOUSE. It's all over and Kirk takes 3rd place after an inauspicious start to the game. Commiserations to Ben, who put in the performance of the tournament (and probably of all time) in his quarter-final and is rewarded with a highly respectable 4th place.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.thecountdowncorral.com/cd/se ... eries=-100

[Jon O'Neill]

What a game!

Awesome stuff guys.

[Keith Bevins]

Hi all

Some game that. Just compared my own attempts versus theirs and came a poor second to both of them but out of interest would I have been allowed unbraked in round one (railway term for loose fitted freight) and waryest in round 4? Also for the first numbers round just add up all 6 numbers to hit 239.


Cheers

Keith

[Jon O'Neill]

Hi all

Some game that. Just compared my own attempts versus theirs and came a poor second to both of them but out of interest would I have been allowed unbraked in round one (railway term for loose fitted freight) and waryest in round 4? Also for the first numbers round just add up all 6 numbers to hit 239.


Cheers

Keith

Hey Keith.

UNBRAKED has been deemed not enough in common usage, apparently, as it is absent from the ODE. A bit like RESPOTTED, I suppose. WARYEST is spelt WARIEST, and well spotted on the numbers game. A rare occurrence indeed.

[Keith Bevins]

Cheers for that Jon. I was tossing up between wariest and waryest and chose the wrong one.

[Julian Fell]

I was tossing up between wariest and waryest

Seriously though, I agree this was a great game, well played Ben and Kirk - lots of hard-to-spot maxima in there so you didn't have it easy. Well done Kirk for keeping your focus after that disastrous start

[JasonCullen]

Yet another fabulously close game and a game that forced many to change their pants at least once last night . The climax to the match was quite extraordinary however I solely take the blame for conundrum number 3 which, admittedly, was spotted only by CountMax . But a very good playoff final was produced by both players with both spotting difficult maxima! A very well earned 3rd place goes to Kirk Bevins and a highly respectable 4th place goes to Ben Wilson