And since we have an Apteforumite too, this should be good fun. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 18 July 2012.
C1: Challenger Chris Marshall. An Apteforumite from Brighouse, West Yorkshire. He works as an accountant. He has been to the Crucible for over 20 years to watch the World Snooker Championships. He has also been mistaken for Mr. Bean.
C2: Challenger Martin De Sousa. An NHS manager from Clapham, London. He supports Manchester United, and used to watch Countdown at 4am after a night out with his mates.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S V N A I U G I L
R02: T Y E A N P I S E
R03: R L T O E U R O T
R04: D E T R D U O X I
R05: 25, 50, 75, 5, 4, 2. Target: 712.
TTT: ZOOFLIES - "They hang around men like flies at a zoo"
R06: W E A B N P E I L
R07: V H N O U E D O M
R08: R A E H Q U T C L
R09: G T S E I E J A R
R10: 75, 25, 4, 7, 9, 1. Target: 538.
TTT: ELFROUND - "Struggle in the water, like a small flatfish"
R11: K W M E A O D I B
R12: P O S N A O L T S
R13: N G R I E A C S N
R14: 100, 9, 10, 7, 5, 3. Target: 373.
R15: L E M U R S B E D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: S V N A I U G I L
C1: SAILING (7)
C2: SLAVING (7)
OT: AVULSING (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
A nice -ING 7 for both the newbies, leaving the -ING 8 alone.
To AVULSE is to pull off or tear away forcibly.
Round 2: T Y E A N P I S E
C1: PANTIES (7)
C2: PANTIES (7)
DC: SAPIENT (7)
OT: NEPETAS (7) PENATES (7) SYENITE (7)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)
Flat round here, but the contestants seem to be distracted by the appearance of some PANTIES.
PENATES are gods who watched over the home or community to which they belonged.
SYENITE is a granular igneous rock consisting chiefly of orthoclase and oligoclase with hornblende, biotite, or augite.
Round 3: R L T O E U R O T
C1: ROOTLET (7)
C2: TURTLE (6)
OT: TORTURE (7)
Score: 21–14 (max 22)
An impressive spot by Chris gives him the first lead of the day, which also leads to Nick saying how much he hates the sticking of LET on the end of words for smaller things. (Quite funny bit when Nick asks what a bigger ROOTLET is, and is then given the answer..........., ROOT.
)Round 4: D E T R D U O X I
C1: ROUTED (6)
C2: OUTRIDE (7)
DC: TUXEDO (6)
Score: 21–21 (max 29)
Martin gets back in immediately with the darrenic 7.
Round 5: 25, 50, 75, 5, 4, 2. Target: 712.
C1: 712. ((75 - 4) x 5 x 2) + (50 / 25) (10)
C2: 718.
Score: 31–21 (max 39)
Chris goes 3 large and it pays off big time, as it leaves Martin completely flustered.
Dave carries on his talk about intentional puns of shop names, such as a hairdresser's called "Scissor's Palace", and a kebab van called "Jason's Doner Van".
Teatime teaser: ZOOFLIES -> FLOOZIES
Round 6: W E A B N P E I L
C1: BIPLANE (7)
C2: PENILE (6)
DC: ALPINE (6) BALEEN (6)
OT: PLEBEIAN (8) WIPEABLE (8)
Score: 38–21 (max 47)
Now Chris is definitely flying high in his BIPLANE, but there are 2 brilliant 8's left to their own devices here.
PLEBEIAN is an abjective meaning belonging or pertaining to the common people.
Round 7: V H N O U E D O M
C1: HOUND (5)
C2: MOONED (6)
DC: MOVED (5) UNMOVED (7)
Score: 38–27 (max 54)
Martin's not lying down yet, but he seems to be wanting to MOON his way to victory.
It won't quite wash with DC, as they're UNMOVED thanks to that darrenic 7.Round 8: R A E H Q U T C L
C1: LACQUER (7)
C2: HURTLE (6)
DC: RACQUET (7)
Me: ARCHLUTE (8)
Score: 45–27 (max 62)
A superb recovery by Chris this time thanks to that brilliant 7, but yet there was an 8 in there hidden away. I wonder who got that........
An ARCHLUTE is a lute with two pegboxes, one for the stopped strings and the other for the bass strings, which run outside the fingerboard.
Round 9: G T S E I E J A R
C1: gariest
C2: GRATES (6)
DC: TRIAGE (6) TRIAGES (7) AGISTER (7)
OT: GAITERS (7) JAEGERS (7) RESTAGE (7) SERIATE (7) STAGIER (7)
Score: 45–33 (max 69)
Ooooooh, an unlucky guess there by Chris, as Martin cuts down the lead to an even dozen.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "liaison".
Round 10: 75, 25, 4, 7, 9, 1. Target: 538.
C1: 538. (75 x 7) + 9 + 4 (10)
C2: 538. (75 x 7) + 9 + 4 (10)
Score: 55–43 (max 79)
Nice easy numbers all round here.
Teatime teaser: ELFROUND -> FLOUNDER
Round 11: K W M E A O D I B
C1: MIAOWED (7)
C2: BAKED (5)
DC: MEADOW (6) AKIMBO (6)
Score: 62–43 (max 86)
That's Purrrrrrrrrrrr-fection by Chris here with that darrenic 7.
Round 12: P O S N A O L T S
C1: PLATOONS (8)
C2: SPOONS (6)
Score: 70–43 (max 94)
And an even better 8 means that this game is surely wrapped up now.
Round 13: N G R I E A C S N
C1: CREASING (8)
C2: CREASING (8)
DC: GRANNIES (8) CRANNIES (8)
OT: EARNINGS (8) ENCASING (8) ENGRAINS (8)
Score: 78–51 (max 102)
And that flat 8 round will do the trick for our Chris. 1 win to the good for him.
Round 14: 100, 9, 10, 7, 5, 3. Target: 373.
C1: 374. (3 x 100) + (7 x 10) + 9 - 5 (7)
C2: 375.
RR: 373. ((100 / 5) x (10 + 9)) - 7 (10)
Score: 85–51 (max 112)
Chris could've altered his method slightly to get to the target ((7 x 9) + 10), but a score in the 90's is a possibility and will always be welcome for anyone making their debut.
Round 15: L E M U R S B E D
C1 buzzes on 3.5 seconds to say SLUMBERED which is correct.
Final Score: 95–51 (max 122)
And he's got it too!!
A very accomplished performance by Chris there. He even threw in a couple of brilliant words in there too, ROOTLET and PLATOONS in particular. Hopefully he can give us another 7 wins and give us a 2nd octochamp before the summer break.
My sources tell me that another Apterite, Philippa MacFarlane, will be his challenger tomorrow. So, let's see if this all Apte-battle will be a titanic tussle.
Join me for that.
So till tomorrow, bye bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Chris:
Total score - 95
Raw score - 106
Total % of max - 78
Raw % of max - 87
Total average score per round - 6.3
Raw average score per round - 7.1
Number of maxes - 8
Martin:
Total score - 51
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 42
Raw % of max - 75
Total average score per round - 3.4
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67