C1: Alan Pollard, a part-time lecturer in pharmacology & medicine management and a Sunday school teacher, from Worcester, who once starred as Will Scarlet in a local hospital pantomime. This involved a lot of wearing red tights and giving out prescriptions. Sounds like fun.
C2: Our very own Peter Fenton, currently studying for an MA in teaching English to speakers of other languages. He lived and worked in Poland for five years teaching English but says his Polish isn't fluent. He also spent about six months travelling around Africa a few years ago.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Arnold.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P N R E O A G I B
R02: T W E A D N U E K
R03: 50, 2, 10, 3, 9, 3. Target: 629.
TTT: LARRYWON - "Larry won, but only by the smallest of margins."
R04: L F A E R G I O M
R05: A I Y S O D T E L
R06: 75, 25, 50, 100, 4, 5. Target: 802.
R07: Q O E O R N A F T
R08: G S O I T G O E C
R09: 50, 3, 9, 7, 10, 4. Target: 301.
TTT: THECRAMP - "The meal you might eat before kick-off."
R10: P V R I O E N J U
R11: E I A S X R E B N
R12: P I E D H R S A U
R13: M I R E O N L U D
R14: 50, 10, 3, 2, 6, 8. Target: 581.
R15: T I N N I O V E N (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Nick introduces the show by talking about how he is looking forward to the month ahead and indeed Easter, recounting childhood tales of painting faces on eggs and rolling them down a hill. Interesting stuff. Rachel is just looking forward to the chocolate. Typical woman.
Round 1: P N R E O A G I B
C1: BEARING (7)
C2: BEARING (7)
DC: PROBING (7)
OT: BEGONIA (7) PIROGEN (7) PONGIER (7) PORANGI (7) PROBANG (7) REAPING (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
Richard is excited at the thought of PROBING, but aren't we all?
Both contestants are on the right course with BEARING for 7. Unfortunately, PROBANG is much less exciting than it sounds as it's a surgical tool, and PORANGI is derived from Maori and means crazy.
Round 2: T W E A D N U E K
C1: TWEAKED (7)
C2: WANTED* (6)
OT: WAKENED (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 14)
*Peter actually had WANKED (he he he) but the Countdown production team held a gun to his head until he found another six. TWEAKED, though, is excellent from Alan (possibly aided by the TWEA being in the correct order at the start of the selection) and he is still on course for a MAX GAME!!
Round 3: 50, 2, 10, 3, 9, 3. Target: 629.
C1: 628.
C2: 629. (2 × 10 + 50) × 9 − 3 ÷ 3 (10)
Score: 14–17 (max 24)
Not any more, however, as Peter sweeps up a tricky solution in his first televised numbers game, which takes some doing.
Teatime teaser: LARRYWON -> NARROWLY
Round 4: L F A E R G I O M
C1: LIFER (5)
C2: FLAMIER (7)
DC: FILMGOER (8)
Score: 14–24 (max 32)
It's that typical Countdown-meets-Poker style situation (we'll call this Coker. Or Pokedown); Peter is under the gun first, and, without knowing what Alan has in his hand, decides risk the 7. Can't help feeling that if Alan declared first, Peter might have played safer, but hey, the risk comes good, so it works out as a great decision. Only one word better than FLAMIER is available and that is namely FILMGOER - an absolute beauty from the corner for 8.
Round 5: A I Y S O D T E L
C1: SALTY (5)
C2: STEADILY (8)
DC: ISOLATED (8) DIASTOLE (8)
OT: SODALITE (8) SODALITY (8)
Score: 14–32 (max 40)
Alan unfortunately loses his way a little in a pretty fruitful selection. Peter keeps his cool to grab one of the eights, steadily extending his lead in the process (see what I did there?)
Round 6: 75, 25, 50, 100, 4, 5. Target: 802.
C1: 800. 50 ÷ 25 × 4 × 100 (7)
C2: 800. (100 + 50) × 5 + 75 − 25 (7)
RR: 802. 100 × 5 + 4 × 75 + 50 ÷ 25 (10)
JW: 802. (100 x 50 x 4 - 75) / 25 + 5 (10)
Score: 21–39 (max 50)
Strategically a very good decision to go 4 large from Peter as he susses out from round 3 that he probably has the numerical advantage over his opponent. However, it's not the easiest numbers round in the world. Peter goes a little round the houses for a decent 800, with Alan taking a more direct approach. Rachel's solve is quite unintuitive and excellently done.
In the guest slot, Richard talks about a show he participated in a few years ago called 71 Degrees North, where celebrities venture towards the North Pole, which he describes as being an extraordinary experience.
Round 7: Q O E O R N A F T
C1: fornate
C2: FRONT (5)
DC: ORNATE (6) FOOTER (6)
OT: FOETOR (6) RATOON (6)
Score: 21–44 (max 56)
Alan's turn to declare first, and in an equal and opposite way to how round 4 worked out, Alan risks a 7 while Peter doesn't even need to chance whatever 6 he was considering - perhaps a similar strategy to Conor stepping off BENTO vs Ben Wilson in the UPVOTE^ round, or Some Bellface vs Sam McElhinney in the MOARISH^ round when considering MORASS. This time, however, the risky 7 doesn't work out for Alan like it did for Peter earlier, meaning a strong-looking lead now for our aptoforumite. As Susie says, he was probably mixing FORMATE and FORNICATE, which is slightly unfortunate.
Round 8: G S O I T G O E C
C1: COGS (4)
C2: GOOIEST (7)
DC: EGOIST (6) GOOSE (5)
OT: COGITOS (7) COOTIES (7)
Score: 21–51 (max 63)
The COGS are clearly not ticking for Alan at the moment as he can only draw a 4 from this round. Peter back to max form with GOOIEST, a great 7.
Round 9: 50, 3, 9, 7, 10, 4. Target: 301.
C1: 301. (7 − 4 + 3) × 50 + 10 − 9 (10)
C2: 301. (9 − 3) × 50 + 4 + 7 − 10 (10)
Score: 31–61 (max 73)
Yep. Solid stuff from both the lads as two different yet similar methods share ten points all round.
Teatime teaser: THECRAMP -> PREMATCH
Round 10: P V R I O E N J U
C1: JUNIPER (7)
C2: JOINER (6)
Score: 38–61 (max 80)
A berry good spot from Alan to nail the only seven in the selection. He's back on track - possibly a strong comeback is on the cards? How will Peter respond?!
Round 11: E I A S X R E B N
C1: SEXIER (6)
C2: BEANERS (7)
DC: BEANIES (7)
Score: 38–68 (max 87)
Interestingly, is the answer to that. Peter is 30 points ahead yet still goes on to risk a seven here with Alan declaring 6 first. It's arguably a poor tactical move if he did have a six, so one of two things is true - either he was very confident in his seven, or he only had a safe 5. Either way, he goes for it... Susie checks... and... get in there! The risk works. BEANERS is a little-known racial slur towards Mexicans, but more importantly for us, it's in the dictionary, and thus enables Peter to broaden his lead to 30. A couple more solid rounds will see this one wrapped up, but first, back to Susie...
...who is today talking about the Netherlands in Origins of Words. It means low land, appropriate because of its low average height above sea level. The word Holland itself means ‘wooded land’ - the country was once covered in forests. In reality, Holland actually only takes up 2 of the 12 provinces but has since become a common name for the country. The name Dutch, i.e. the language, developed from 9th century Germany, when ‘Deutsch’ distinguished the people’s language from Latin, used by the church. In the 15th/16th century it defined the German language, which at the time included the area now known as Holland. It was only when the Netherlands became a separate state that it became Dutch, leaving behind its German roots.
Round 12: P I E D H R S A U
C1: PRIDES (6)
C2: UPRAISED (8)
DC: PHRASED (7)
OT: RAPHIDES (8)
Score: 38–76 (max 95)
That's my boy. Peter isn't totally sure about it, but UPRAISED is quality. RAPHIDES are needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate, as if you didn't know. Alan can't find either of the eights, meaning he now requires a 9 letter word, a numbers round, and a conundrum to even force a tie break. Stranger things have happened, though, so Peter just has to tie one more round to take the game outright...
Round 13: M I R E O N L U D
C1: REMIND (6)
C2: LOUDER (6)
DC: MOULDIER (8)
Score: 44–82 (max 103)
And there it is. He only needs to find a 6 with Alan still struggling, and he does just that. Whatever happens now, Peter can chillax for the rest of the game knowing he's already won, it's just a case of building more points now.
Round 14: 50, 10, 3, 2, 6, 8. Target: 581.
C1: 583. (10 + 2) × 50 − (8 + 6 + 3) (7)
C2: 583. (8 + 3) × (6 ÷ 2 + 50) (7)
RR: 581. (50 + 8) × 10 + 3 − 2 (10)
Score: 51–89 (max 113)
Rachel is quite happy to see 1 large to wind the week down gently, but both contestants struggle to find the target exactly, overcomplicating things it seems, which is very easily done. 583 each means they share the round before Rachel shows them how it's done.
Round 15: T I N N I O V E N
C1 buzzes on 7 seconds to say INVENTION which is correct.
Final Score: 61–89 (max 123)
Good solid conundrum solve from Alan, but it's too little too late as Peter takes a victory in his debut game. He can now put his feet up and have a cider or two before he is back on Monday to try to develop his first win into something that might challenge for a quarter-final place. See you then!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68
