Greetings Countdowners, welcome to another of my recaps, my only one this week.
C1: Champion Chris Ball (2 wins, 183 points.) A retired teaching assistant from Chellaston, Derby, she's looking like a solid player. With scores of 88 and 95, she's also had some decent spots in the letters rounds.
C2: Challenger Vicky Greaves. From Brechin, Angus, she works with organising volunteers and has recently been working with the MS society after being diagnosed with the illness seven years ago. Their aim is to support people who have recently been diagnosed with the condition.
DC: Susie Dent and Helen Skelton.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G S V E U E N R O
R02: L S D L E A I T O
R03: 25, 4, 6, 9, 5, 10. Target: 187.
TTT: UNITEAIM - "Getting down to the very smallest of details"
R04: V S F Y U O E P A
R05: N S R E I U M S A
R06: 75, 5, 7, 5, 1, 6, . Target: 298.
R07: K N R I E A T D N
R08: G C E O T X I A N
R09: 25, 9, 3, 8, 6, 5. Target: 657.
TTT: THESCREW - "It's not a nice word, but neither are these"
R10: H D S R E I O B E
R11: D W G I A O N M S
R12: J S R N I E O R M
R13: T R G U E I C P F
R14: 50, 100, 25, 75, 8, 1. Target: 978.
R15: H U R R I C A N E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G S V E U E N R O
C1: GOVERNS (7)
C2: NERVOUS (7)
DC: GENEROUS (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
Vicky claims she's feeling NERVOUS so she gets a very apt first word. DC get GENEROUS for the only eight.
Round 2: L S D L E A I T O
C1: DOLLIES (7)
C2: ISOLATED (8)
OT: DIASTOLE (8) SODALITE (8)
Score: 7–15 (max 16)
Vicky's nerves have probably gone and she won't be feeling too ISOLATED, the word that gives her the lead.
Round 3: 25, 4, 6, 9, 5, 10. Target: 187.
C1: -
C2: -
RR: 187. (10/5 + 6) x 25 - 9 - 4 (10)
Score: 7–15 (max 26)
This low target is a little trickier than it first looks and it completely dumbfounds the contestants. Rachel has to use all six numbers to solve it.
Teatime teaser: UNITEAIM -> MINUTIAE
Round 4: V S F Y U O E P A
C1: PAVES (5)
C2: POSEY (5)
DC: PAUSE (5) SOUPY (5) SOAPY (5)
OT: FAVES (5) FOVEA (5) OFAYS (5) OUPAS (5) PASEO (5) PEAVY (5) POESY (5) POUFS (5) POUFY (5) SAVOY (5) SEPOY (5) SUAVE (5) UVEAS (5) YOUSE (5)
Score: 12–20 (max 31)
A horrible round with flat fives.
Round 5: N S R E I U M S A
C1: INSURES (7)
C2: MARINES (7)
DC: SURNAMES (8) ANEURISMS (18)
Score: 19–27 (max 49)
A very good nine from the corner as the eight-point gap remains.
An ANEURISM is a medicinal term for the excessive localised swelling of the artery.
Round 6: 75, 5, 7, 5, 1, 6. Target: 298.
C1: 298. (5 - 1) x 75 - (7 - 5) (10)
C2: 298. (5 - 1) x 75 - (7 - 5) (10)
Score: 29–37 (max 59)
Nice and straightforward.
Helen talks about meeting the queen when she was working with Blue Peter. She wasn't expecting the queen to talk to her and was told to keep quiet. It came to her surprise that she asked her if she did her own stunts, leaving her shocked and speechless!
Round 7: K N R I E A T D N
C1: TRAINED (7)
C2: DRINKER X
DC: KERATIN (7)
OT: DARKNET (7) DETRAIN (7) ENTRAIN (7) TRANKED (7) TRANNIE (7)
Score: 36–37 (max 66)
Plenty of sevens but Vicky unfortunately becomes the latest of many victims of the phantom letter, which allows Chris to close the gap to just one point.
KERATIN is a fibrous protein which forms the main structural constituent of hair, feathers and other things.
Round 8: G C E O T X I A N
C1: EXACTING (8)
C2: EXOTICA (7)
DC: COATING (7) COAXING (7)
OT: EXACTION (8)
Score: 44–37 (max 74)
Chris suddenly takes the lead with an excellent spot which had even DC beaten.
Round 9: 25, 9, 3, 8, 6, 5. Target: 657.
C1: 656. 25 x 3 x 9 - 5 - 6 - 8 (7)
C2: -
RR: 657. (8 x 6 + 25) x 9 (10)
Score: 51–37 (max 84)
Vicky blanks again so Chris doubles her lead with her one away. No surprise to see Rachel reach perfection, especially when she knows her 73 times tables.
Teatime teaser: THESCREW -> WRETCHES
Round 10: H D S R E I O B E
C1: BODIES (6)
C2: BRIDES (6)
DC: DISROBE (7)
OT: HEROISED (8)
Score: 57–43 (max 92)
Six all, with DC going one better but leaving the first studio beater of the day available.
Round 11: D W G I A O N M S
C1: WADING (6)
C2: SAMING X
DC: DOWSING (7)
OT: AGONISM (7) DAIMONS (7) DOMAINS (7) GANOIDS (7) MADISON (7) MOWINGS (7)
Score: 63–43 (max 99)
Chris's lead shoots up to 20 as Vicky offers the illegal SAMING^, which she wasn't confident of herself.
Susie talks about the word "ballon" which derives from French and became known as a balloon in this country. She also mentions a 16th century game in which a "ballon", a heavy ball was used in.
Round 12: J S R N I E O R M
C1: JOINERS (7)
C2: REJOINS (7)
DC: MERINOS (7)
OT: IRONERS (7)
Score: 70–50 (max 106)
Round 13: T R G U E I C P F
C1: PICTURE (7)
C2: PICTURE (7)
DC: FIGURE (6)
OT: CUPRITE (7)
Score: 77–57 (max 113)
A good spot by both players but Vicky needs to win the last two rounds 20-0 just to force a tiebreak. So many times, we've seen contestants pick one or two large in this situation and it's backfired as an easy one's come out. What will Vicky do?
CUPRITE is a dark red or brownish mineral consiting of cuprous oxide.
Round 14: 50, 100, 25, 75, 8, 1. Target: 978.
C1: 977. (1 + 8) x 100 + 75 + 50/25 (7)
C2: 976.
Score: 84–57 (max 120)
She seems to have the right sort of idea as she realises that it's the time to gamble. I admire players who are prepared to take a chance in this situation so it was harsh for an impossible numbers game to come out when Vicky needed all ten points. As it happens, Chris gets closer anyway and her 977 is as good as it gets. That's her hattrick of wins secured.
Round 15: H U R R I C A N E
No one buzzes. The answer was RAUNCHIER.
Final Score: 84–57 (max 130)
Although there are two nine-letter words available from this scramble, the contestant guidelines clearly state that the answer to the conundrum will never be the same as the scramble. So if either of them had answered HURRICANE, it would have been rejected. We've seen an example like this before in Series 58. http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4510 Neither of them can solve this one. Chris remains the champion despite a bright start by Vicky who will be heading home. Chris will face her biggest test yet tomorrow though as apterite Glen Webb awaits her. A win tomorrow will see her rise above Jill Hayward into at least seventh place and guarantee her a place in the finals. Even if she loses that, she'll make the finals if Glen wins seven which would mean he'd carry on into next series. Join Robbo for his first recap for an eternity and I'll be back this time next week for what could be Chris's octochamp game, if she passes her big test tomorrow. See ya!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68
Not deliberate at all, just forgot to change it. Thanks for pointing it out though.