C1: 1st Seed, Giles Hutchings (8 wins, 965 points) - introduced by Nick as the highest scoring octochamp in Countdown history. Pretty intimidating stuff.
C2: 8th Seed, Peter Fenton (2 wins, 262 points) - introduced by Nick as "no mean competitor" - Nick tells him that giants can fall, so Peter will be looking to pull off the upset here.
DC: Susie Dent and Dan Snow.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P N T R I E U M A
R02: M W C L S O I E O
R03: 100, 7, 3, 1, 7, 2. Target: 612.
TTT: ACORNPIE - "It's the dentist's friend and a big fan of Michael."
R04: H R V M E O A E R
R05: D K G U S F A E O
R06: 50, 100, 25, 75, 4, 2. Target: 183.
R07: D R P E U S O E T
R08: G R N L O A E O R
R09: 50, 10, 9, 7, 1, 2. Target: 129.
TTT: CASHDROP - "They won't have any cash, but they've got bills."
R10: S D T N T A O E I
R11: R S O A M C E P A
R12: B L G Q S A I I E
R13: T B T S I E E V U
R14: 25, 75, 50, 100, 9, 4. Target: 103.
R15: N I N C O M O O T (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Nick starts by talking about the Queen's birthday and the whole "trooping of the colour" shenanigans. Dan talks briefly about it as well, as he once commentated on the ceremony in the past. Trooping the colour comes from the traditional morale-based flag-bearing associated with battle (think Napoleonic era).
Round 1: P N T R I E U M A
C1: RUMINATE (8)
C2: MINARET (7)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)
MINARET would score against 85-95% of contestants here. But not against this guy. Great start for the series favourite, pulling the unique eight out of the bag.
Round 2: M W C L S O I E O
C1: COELOMS (7)
C2: woolies
OT: COOLIES (7)
Score: 15–0 (max 15)
Da fuq? Awesome max by Giles, it's part of a worm intestine or something. Unlucky for Peter - there's a lot of colloquial or regional language that does make it into the dictionary and I had a sneaky suspicion at the time that this would be in as well - it's not uncommon in the Merseyside area for a chav to call a physically or mentally weaker kid a "wooly". But not in the ODE3
Round 3: 100, 7, 3, 1, 7, 2. Target: 612.
C1: 612. (100 + 2) × (7 − 1) (10)
C2: 612. (100 + 2) × (7 − 1) (10)
Score: 25–10 (max 25)
Ha, well that's 30 seconds of our lives we will never get back. With a lead of more than 10 points at this early stage, Giles might strategically prefer that the numbers are this straightforward.
Teatime teaser: ACORNPIE -> PROCAINE
Round 4: H R V M E O A E R
C1: OVERHEAR (8)
C2: REMOVER (7)
Score: 33–10 (max 33)
Yeah, more good stuff from the #1 seed - another unique maximum and it's going to be very difficult for Peter to come back, especially bearing in mind Giles's proven track record every time round 15 comes about.
Round 5: D K G U S F A E O
C1: DOSAGE (6)
C2: DOSAGE (6)
DC: FUDGES (6)
OT: DAGOES (6) SOAKED (6)
Score: 39–16 (max 39)
Solid stuff from both contestants this time. Susie talks about FADOS, some sort of musical instrument from Portugese speaking areas.
Round 6: 50, 100, 25, 75, 4, 2. Target: 183.
C1: 183. 100 + 75 + 4 × 2 (10)
C2: 183. 100 + 75 + 4 × 2 (10)
Score: 49–26 (max 49)
Boring! Peter will have been hoping for a tricky 4 large to try and claw 5/7/10 points back, but it's not to be
In today's guest slot, Dan talks about a time sailing the Atlantic when he was about 21 and how his friend had his finger chopped off in a door that slammed in a gale. Nasty stuff.
Round 7: D R P E U S O E T
C1: POSTURED (8)
C2: PROUDEST (8)
DC: REPOSTED (8)
OT: DOPESTER (8) SPROUTED (8)
Score: 57–34 (max 57)
Yep, more good stuff, taking one of the eights each. DOPESTER is interesting - a sports predictor in N America
Round 8: G R N L O A E O R
C1: GROANER (7)
C2: GROANER (7)
DC: OREGANO (7)
Score: 64–41 (max 64)
Excellent again, not much else to say.
Round 9: 50, 10, 9, 7, 1, 2. Target: 129.
C1: 129. (50 + 10) × 2 + 9 (10)
C2: 129. (50 + 10) × 2 + 9 (10)
Score: 74–51 (max 74)
Five rounds in a row that both of these guys are maxing. Hold up, we're only at the quarter final stage
Giles is remarkably still on for a MAX GAME!
Teatime teaser: CASHDROP -> POCHARDS
Round 10: S D T N T A O E I
C1: SEDATION (8)
C2: STATIONED (18)
DC: ANTIDOTES (18)
Score: 74–69 (max 92)
Ooooof! Those of you with eagle eyes might have seen the possibility of STATIONED/ANTIDOTES after the consonants were drawn, with statistically the most likely vowels to come out being the AEIO. DETONATES is another very likely alternative. It's surprising to see Giles miss this - when watching him play online, he would absolutely rinse that as a 9 letter teaser in chat - but misses it here under studio pressure, leaving Peter to mop up and pull back to 5 behind! The max game is off, and it's all to play for now.
Round 11: R S O A M C E P A
C1: COMPARES (8)
C2: SCAMPER (7)
OT: MESOCARP (8)
Score: 82–69 (max 100)
I thought Giles would pick consonant here, to try and fish for COMPADRES (nb: MESOCARPS also possible with an S) but presumably wanted an E for CAMPOREES - this I hadn't seen at the time and only saw by playing with lexplorer. Would have been a pretty sweet 9 to nail, and E always has a great chance of coming out, but it wasn't to be here. Anyway, good max again from the youngest of the eight quarter-finalists, and he pulls himself back to being over 10 points ahead - so this could well turn out to have been a vital round.
Susie in Origins of Words talks about ignoramuses, which is apparently inappropriate based on the standard of the contestants
It comes from legal mumbo jumbo a few enuretics ago - if someone was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence, then IGNORAMUS was written on the back of the back of the indictment papers, meaning "we do not know". A play called IGNORAMUS, written by George Ruggle, most likely gave extended popularity to this term.Round 12: B L G Q S A I I E
C1: BAILIES (7)
C2: SILAGE (6)
Score: 89–69 (max 107)
Sweet unique max again as Giles looks to close out the victory. Peter needs to win two rounds here, at least, plus a possible potential tie-break conundrum. Against one of the best conundrum players in Countdown history. Not looking very likely, I have to say.
Round 13: T B T S I E E V U
C1: SUTTEE (6)
C2: BUTTIES (7)
Score: 89–76 (max 114)
That's a start! Great unique max under pressure from the challenger; Giles's southern roots perhaps working against him.
Round 14: 25, 75, 50, 100, 9, 4. Target: 103.
C1: 103. 75 ÷ 25 + 100 (10)
C2: 103. 75 ÷ 25 + 100 (10)
Score: 99–86 (max 124)
Peter will have been hoping for, well, anything but that! An unfortunate end to a good fightback. But he can still leave with his held held high after several good spots. Can he deny Giles the century as well?
Round 15: N I N C O M O O T
C1 buzzes on 1 second to say MONOTONIC which is correct.
That's a pretty emphatic no. Giles stares at the board for a long time before giving his answer, but this is mainly down to Nick's slowness than Giles Hansfording or anything like that.
Hard to know what to make that performance really - some genuinely excellent and consistent play by Giles for the most part, but at the same time he missed a relatively straightforward nine to allow Peter a way back into the game. It's not quite the same level of killer instinct as we'd expect from someone like Conor or Kirk, but it's still more than good enough to make the semi final and beyond, so hats off to the young man from Surrey.
Join us again on Monday and I believe Graeme will be recapping my Quarter Final against #7 seed Chris, before horse racing rears its ugly long-toothed head again and destroys the rest of the week. Not literally. Just like, in terms of Countdown and shit. Note that I'm not complaining too much about Glen Webb not being in the finals, with the scores he's been getting this week
Final Score: 109–86 (max 134)
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68