C1: Champion Amy Gilbert (1 win, 73 points) is a maths graduate from Mansfield, which is an anagram of fieldsman.
C2: Challenger Nick Bonsall is a consultant ecologist from Sheffield, which is an anagram of Sheffield. He's also the vice chairman of the South Yorkshire bat group. Apparently this has nothing to do with the cricket team.
DC: Susie Dent and Jo Brand.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: D S A O C D U E H
R02: S F T H A E A R B
R03: T V H E I E B P A
R04: M T K N O A R I E
R05: 25, 9, 8, 4, 10, 5. Target: 280.
TTT: KISSBERT - "Kiss Bert for bringing you cuts of beef."
R06: I A E G D T N I L
R07: Z T D U E L I N O
R08: A O R S I E C W A
R09: R P S U O E N R I
R10: 50, 2, 5, 6, 3, 8. Target: 649.
TTT: STOICMAN - "It takes a stoic man to live this kind of life."
R11: N V E U I R N E F
R12: C L G M A O E S A
R13: N C N E O P S E I
R14: 25, 7, 1, 7, 6, 10. Target: 750.
R15: D O C I N U N I T (conundrum)
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Round 1: D S A O C D U E H
C1: CHASED (6)
C2: COSHED (6)
DC: sadcod
OT: ADDUCES (7) DOUCHED (7) DOUCHES (7) HOCUSED (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
Six all in the first round of Countdown's 30th anniversary week.
I've been delving into my data mine a bit more, and this recap contains three quiz questions for the stattos amongst you. JR, I'm expecting you to get all these right without looking them up.
Here's the first one... Statto quiz 1: Five players have found two nine letter words in a single game and still lost. Name any of them. (Unless you're James, in which case name all of them.)
Another neat little sub-game you can play when Jo Brand is in the corner is to listen to her build-up definition of the nonsense word she's going to offer, and see if you can guess what it is before she says it. Difficulty varies.
Round 2: S F T H A E A R B
C1: FATHERS (7)
C2: brasher
DC: bearshaft
OT: ABREAST (7) BASHERT (7) BATHERS (7) BERTHAS (7) BREATHS (7)
Score: 13–6 (max 14)
Amy goes into the lead, and Nick finds a phantom R. BASHERT is a useful alternative to BATHERS, as you can put an S on the end of it. It's a Jewish word meaning a soulmate, particularly one you're looking for - you might hope to find your bashert at a party, for instance. Other Jewish phrases include "mazel tov" which is Hebrew for "you clumsy twit, you've broken the glass", and "schmuck" which is "person who puts unbelievably old jokes in a recap".
Round 3: T V H E I E B P A
C1: BEHAVE (6)
C2: BATH (4)
DC: piebath THIEVE (6)
Score: 19–6 (max 20)
Only two sixes available from this selection, surprisingly. Amy finds one of them and goes further ahead.
Round 4: M T K N O A R I E
C1: RATION (6)
C2: knotier
DC: monktear MONIKER (7)
OT: AMNIOTE (7) KERATIN (7) MANKIER (7) MERANTI (7) MINARET (7) MORAINE (7) RAIMENT (7) RAMEKIN (7) ROMAINE (7)
Score: 25–6 (max 27)
Nick tries KNOTTIER with only one T, and only gets in a tangle over it. RATION takes the round, but there were a few sevens available. Jo comes up with a "monk tear" which is what you might see if you upset or irritate the residents of a monastery. I suppose you might have an "irate monk" on your hands too, for nine.
Round 5: 25, 9, 8, 4, 10, 5. Target: 280.
C1: 280. (25+8-5)*10 (10)
C2: 280. (25+8-5)*10 (10)
Score: 35–16 (max 37)
10 is basically a large number pretending to be a small one. It makes this numbers game nice and easy, and Nick goes into double figures as a result.
Teatime teaser: KISSBERT -> BRISKETS
Round 6: I A E G D T N I L
C1: DETAILING (18)
C2: gelding
DC: legnit
Score: 53–16 (max 55)
Amy spots DETAILING for nine, but Nick trips up over a another phantom letter.
Statto quiz 2: One of the participants of the upcoming 30th birthday championship is the only person to have found two nines in the first two rounds of a game. This person therefore had the maximum possible 36 after two rounds, and also holds the record for the highest score after rounds 3 and 4. Who?
Round 7: Z T D U E L I N O
C1: TONED (5)
C2: detile
DC: nozit OUTLINED (8)
Score: 58–16 (max 63)
Forget the Countdown Cat - the Countdown Phantom is a malevolent, highly mischievous but unseen spirit that lurks around the studio slipping letters into the selection when you're not looking. It's never directly observed, but today it seems to have installed itself on Nick's side of the desk.
Round 8: A O R S I E C W A
C1: COSIER (6)
C2: WORSE (5)
DC: cosiwear ROSACEA (7)
OT: COWRIES (7) SCORIAE (7)
Score: 64–16 (max 70)
Jo extends Amy's offering with "cosiwear" - wonderful though the word is, it's not in the dictionary. A COWRY is a marine mollusc, a SCORIA is a piece of black lava ejected from a volcano, and ROSACEA is a skin condition where facial blood vessels enlarge, reddening the skin.
Round 9: R P S U O E N R I
C1: SUPERIOR (8)
C2: PRISONER (8)
DC: nosepurri
OT: PRUINOSE (8)
Score: 72–24 (max 78)
Good solid eights for our contestants, and nasally-applied Pot Pourri from Jo for nine. PRUINOSE is a botanical adjective meaning to be frosted in appearance.
Round 10: 50, 2, 5, 6, 3, 8. Target: 649.
C1: 649. (8+5)*50-3+2 (10)
C2: 649. (8+5)*50-3+2 (10)
Score: 82–34 (max 88)
Another straightforward numbers game means that Amy is up to 82 already.
Statto quiz 3: 82 is pretty good for a round 10 score - it's in the 97th percentile for 15-round heat games. But only one player has had a score of 100 or more after 10 rounds. Who?
Teatime teaser: STOICMAN -> MONASTIC
Round 11: N V E U I R N E F
C1: FUNNIER (7)
C2: -
DC: URINE (5) NERVINE (7)
OT: UNNERVE (7)
Score: 89–34 (max 95)
Nick blanks in this round, but Amy finds another max in FUNNIER. Susie finds NERVINE, which describes a medicine that calms nerves.
Round 12: C L G M A O E S A
C1: CALMS (5)
C2: glocama
DC: malesag CLAMS (5)
OT: AGLEAM (6) CAMELS (6) CAMEOS (6) GALEAS (6) GLEAMS (6) GOLEMS (6) MACLES (6) MASCLE (6) MESCAL (6) OMEGAS (6) SOCAGE (6) SOLACE (6)
Score: 94–34 (max 101)
And talking of CALMS, that's what Amy finds in this round. At first I thought Nick had spotted another phantom with GLAUCOMA, but it turned out to be a dodgy spelling. Unfortunately for him it means he's now out of contention for the game.
Round 13: N C N E O P S E I
C1: PENSION (7)
C2: PONCES (6)
DC: sconenip PENSIONE (8)
Score: 101–34 (max 109)
Turns out you can put the E on the end of PENSION. Somehow I've never noticed this. A PENSIONE is a small Italian hotel or boarding house.
Round 14: 25, 7, 1, 7, 6, 10. Target: 750.
C1: 750. (6/(1+7/7))*25*10 (10)
C2: -
Score: 111–34 (max 119)
Nick can't spot the awkward way of making the 3 in this game, and Amy the maths graduate rounds off a third perfect numbers round of the day.
Round 15: D O C I N U N I T
C1 buzzes on 25 seconds to say UNDICTION which is incorrect.
C2 does not buzz.
The answer was INDUCTION.
Final Score: 111–34 (max 129)
Amy's almost right with her guess, but not close enough. Nevertheless, she's still got the highest score since Jonathan Rawlinson four months ago, and the highest score of this series so far. Nick is off back to Sheffield and his two children. It was the accursed Countdown Phantom that did for him today.
Here are the answers to the quiz:
1. Terry Rattle, Matthew Shore, Micheal Harris, Ross Mackenzie and Lesley Hines.
2. Jill Bright in episode 2271.
3. Kirk Bevins in episode 4771.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67
) And if she got the conundrum, she'd have got the highest score ever in a 9-rounder of 91, but her opponent (Wilma Anscombe, I think) got it.
