C1: Champion Phyllis "Phyl" Styles (4 wins, 341 points.) A part-time apterite from Sevenoaks in Kent, she has a 13 year old grandson named Matthew. Countdown is not her first experience on television as in 1970, she represented Southampton University on University Challenge, but sadly for her, she was not on the winning team. After coming back from the dead to win her first match against Kirsten Thompson, she is improving game by game, having scored an impressive 109 points on Friday.
C2: Challenger Christina King. A part-time nursery teacher, her daughter has made her a good luck card. Her mother was also in the studio with her as they both passed their auditions on the same day, so we might see her at some point next series. It was also mentioned at the recording that she is a fan of Dennis the Menace but it's probably been edited out, probably for the best!
DC: Susie Dent and David Lloyd.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P K I E R S O E T
R02: N G R E O P A X I
R03: N G E O D D E A N
R04: W M E D I L S U R
R05: 75, 8, 4, 6, 8, 6. Target: 128.
TTT: SADWATER - "It'll be a very sad event if this gets in the water"
R06: M N R E A I V G T
R07: R Q E E Y C U A N
R08: G P L O A I H S J
R09: N F A E C M O I T
R10: 25, 100, 9, 3, 3, 1. Target: 236.
TTT: DEADENDS - "Drove into several dead ends and got upset about it"
R11: S D A O R N I A H
R12: T Z T E U A S E D
R13: O U C D A I S B W
R14: 100, 75, 5, 2, 8, 4. Target: 263.
R15: L L O Y D F U E L (conundrum)
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Round 1: P K I E R S O E T
C1: PORKIES (7)
C2: POKIEST (7)
DC: RIPOSTE (7) PORKIEST (8)
OT: PERKIEST (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
Seven apiece for the contestants but both just needed to add one letter to achieve one of the two available eights.
Round 2: N G R E O P A X I
C1: PONGIER (7)
C2: PARING (6)
DC: REAPING (7)
OT: APEXING (7) PIROGEN (7) PORANGI (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 15)
Phyllis makes the crucial early breakthrough as Christina can only see a six. DC find one other seven but a couple of more obscure ones are left alone.
PORANGI is a New Zealand term for crazy.
Round 3: N G E O D D E A N
C1: GOADED (6)
C2: DONGED (6)
DC: NONAGE (6)
OT: DANGED (6) DEADEN (6) DENNED (6) DONNED (6) DONNEE (6) ENNEAD (6) GENNED (6)
Score: 20–13 (max 21)
A flat round yields plenty of sixes.
Round 4: W M E D I L S U R
C1: SLIMED (6)
C2: SMILED (6)
DC: MILDEWS (7)
OT: MISRULED (8)
Score: 26–19 (max 29)
Phyllis and Christina offer words which are anagrams of each other while David Lloyd is also stuck on six, the magic number in cricket. Susie manages to go one better with MILDEWS (the verb to mildew, as it's a mass noun). The first darren of the week goes unnoticed though.
Round 5: 75, 8, 4, 6, 8, 6. Target: 128.
C1: 128. (6-4)x75-8-8-6 (10)
C2: -
Score: 36–19 (max 39)
Christina goes blank, allowing Phyllis to take a commanding lead.
David Lloyd talks about Lancashire winning the County Championship for the first time since 1934. I don't follow cricket so this obviously meant nothing to me but it looks like we're in for a memorable week with him in DC.
Teatime teaser: SADWATER -> RADWASTE
Just enough time for Susie to inform us that radwaste simply means radioactive waste.
Round 6: M N R E A I V G T
C1: MIGRATE (7)
C2: VINEGAR (7)
DC: GARMENT (7) AVERTING (8)
OT: EMIGRANT (8) VINTAGER (8)
Score: 43–26 (max 47)
Three eights available but the contestants are content with their sevens.
A VINTAGER is someone who gathers grapes.
Round 7: R Q E E Y C U A N
C1: CAREEN (6)
C2: QUERY (5)
DC: QUEENY (6)
OT: CARNEY (6)
Score: 49–26 (max 53)
A good six from Phyllis allows her to pull further clear.
Round 8: G P L O A I H S J
C1: POLISH (6)
C2: POLISH (6)
DC: GALOSH (6) PHIALS (6)
OT: GALOPS (6) PALISH (6) PHOLAS (6) POISHA (6)
Score: 55–32 (max 59)
Sixes all round.
Round 9: N F A E C M O I T
C1: FACTION (7)
C2: FACTION (7)
DC: AMNIOTE (7) ACONITE (7)
OT: CENTIMO (7) ENCOMIA (7) NEMATIC (7) TONEMIC (7)
Score: 62–39 (max 66)
Christina is just about staying in touch with the champion as they find the same seven, while DC mentions the Countdown favourites AMNIOTE and ACONITE. There were a few other sevens too.
An ACONITE refers to any poisonous plant of the genus Aconitum.
A CENTIMO was an historic monetary unit of Spain.
OoW: Susie reveals that this week's theme will be the origins of place names, starting with Leeds today and certain features in Leeds, as it was of course the original home of Countdown.
Round 10: 25, 100, 9, 3, 3, 1. Target: 236.
C1: 237. (25+1)x9+3 (7)
C2: 236. Mistake in working.
RR: 236. (100-25)x3+9+3-1 (10)
Score: 69–39 (max 76)
Just as it seems that Christina is about to get back into contention, she gets her sums wrong and Phyllis now has a 30 point lead with just the final "half" to play. Rachel inevitably shows them how it's done.
Teatime teaser: DEADENDS -> SADDENED
Round 11: S D A O R N I A H
C1: RADIANS (7)
C2: RADIOS (6)
DC: INROADS (7)
OT: ARONIAS (7) DARSHAN (7) HADRONS (7) HAIRDOS (7) ORDAINS (7)
Score: 76–39 (max 83)
Christina thinks about offering RADIONS but sticks with a six. Although it's invalid, she should perhaps have been thinking about taking risks considering the position she was in. Phyllis offer the correct spelling of what she was thinking of and extends her lead further.
ARONIAS are a species of deciduous shrubs in the family Rosaceae.
DARSHAN is a hindu term for the beholding of a deity or sacred object.
A HADRON is a physics term for a strongly interacting elementary particle.
Round 12: T Z T E U A S E D
C1: SEATED (6)
C2: SEDATE (6)
DC: STATUED (7)
OT: SAUTEED (7)
Score: 82–45 (max 90)
Straight forward sixes for Phyllis and Christina while DC offers the dodgy sounding STATUED. Phyllis's victory is now all but confirmed and Christina needs a nine in the final letters round to stay in contention.
Round 13: O U C D A I S B W
C1: WADS (4)
C2: BASIC (5)
DC: SUBACID (7)
OT: CUBOIDS (7)
Score: 82–50 (max 97)
A horrible selection unsurprisingly does not contain a nine, although Christina goes back to basics to get the better of Phyllis for the first time, too little, too late. DC excel themselves with one of the available sevens. SUBACID means partly acidic, as you'd find in fruit.
Round 14: 100, 75, 5, 2, 8, 4. Target: 263.
C1: 263. 2x100+75-(8+4) (10)
C2: 263. 2x100+75-(8+4) (10)
Score: 92–60 (max 107)
A fairly simple numbers game gives Christina her first points on the numbers and leaves Phyllis with the chance to notch up a second successive century.
Round 15: L L O Y D F U E L
C1 buzzes on 4.75 seconds to say DOLEFULLY which is correct.
Final Score: 102–60 (max 117)
And she gets it with a good solve in just under five seconds, a very apt scramble to welcome this week's DC guest. Phyllis may not have made an immediate impact on everyone but her last three performances have been of a very good standard. Today her fifth victory never really looked in any doubt, despite a good effort from Christina. Can Phyllis make it six wins tomorrow?
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=65
