Monday 5th August 2013 (Series 69, Prelim 22)

Graeme Cole · Post by **Graeme Cole** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 5:58 pm

Countdown recap for Monday 5 August 2013.

C1: Champion Zarte Siempre (4 wins, 472 points) is an apterite from Dadford who last Monday scored 137, the eighth highest score ever. Zarte, if you remember, hosted Innis and Mark's 25-hour Comic Relief Countdown marathon earlier in the year, and also helped organise this year's CoBliviLon yesterday. If you don't know who he is, you haven't been paying attention.
C2: Challenger Sam Wheeler from Barnsley is the man trying to depose Zarte today. He runs a local poker league, and is a fan of Liverpool FC.
DC: Susie Dent and Dan Walker.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: M D N H E A O P T
R02: R P G A U V K I E
R03: 75, 25, 50, 1, 10, 4. Target: 628.
TTT: LEARNSIT - "You'll have to learn to sit correctly if you're using these."
R04: V R S N A E O D A
R05: T F B T E I A L E
R06: 9, 7, 10, 6, 8, 6. Target: 834.
R07: S T W S O I O M E
R08: S G H N U A O I S
R09: 25, 75, 10, 3, 5, 5. Target: 954.
TTT: EELSKINS - "Bearing a strong resemblance to the Scottish monster, perhaps?"
R10: R D Z T E I N O P
R11: T M S Y A I E C R
R12: S L F A U T R O N
R13: D C N R A I E O G
R14: 3, 5, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 192.
R15: G U I L T B O R N (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: M D N H E A O P T

C1: POTHEAD (7)
C2: METHOD (6)
DC: MOPHEAD (7) NOTEPAD (7) PHANTOM (7)
OT: PHONATED (8) TAMPONED (8) THANEDOM (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Zarte takes an early lead with POTHEAD (falseagram DOPEHAT).

Round 2: R P G A U V K I E

C1: VAGUER (6)
C2: VAGUER (6)
DC: PARKIE (6)
OT: GARPIKE (7)
Score: 13–6 (max 15)

Sam gets off the mark as both he and Zarte find VAGUER. The hidden darren GARPIKE is a type of fish.

Round 3: 75, 25, 50, 1, 10, 4. Target: 628.

C1: 628. (75-50)*25+4-1 (10)
C2: 625.
Score: 23–6 (max 25)

3 large is the least popular selection, which can make it a shrewd choice to specialise in, as so few of your potential opponents will have practised it. Zarte bags another ten points.

Teatime teaser: LEARNSIT -> LATRINES

Round 4: V R S N A E O D A

C1: VERANDAS (8)
C2: DROVES (6)
DC: SODA
Score: 31–6 (max 33)

Zarte finds the darrenic eight, which only leaves Dan with SODA.

Round 5: T F B T E I A L E

C1: fittable
C2: BATTLE (6)
DC: ALBEIT (6) TABLET (6)
OT: FLATTIE (7)
Score: 31–12 (max 40)

FITTABLE^ is one of the more plausible -ABLE words, but it's apparently not yet used enough to go into the dictionary. A FLATTIE can be a flat-heeled shoe, a flatfish, a flatboat, or, in the past, a police officer (formed from FLATFOOT).

Round 6: 9, 7, 10, 6, 8, 6. Target: 834.

C1: 833. (8+6)*10*6-7 (7)
C2: 837.
RR: 834. ((7+6)*10+9)*6 (10)
Score: 38–12 (max 50)

Sam picks six small, and gets 3 away. Zarte has an not-written-down 1 away and takes the points.

Round 7: S T W S O I O M E

C1: mosies
C2: moosiest
DC: SOMITES (7) TWOSOMES (8)
OT: OSTOMIES (8)
Score: 38–12 (max 58)

No points here, as Zarte's offering should be spelt MOSEYS and the language hasn't yet produced an adjective to say someone is a bit like a moose.

Round 8: S G H N U A O I S

C1: ANGUISH (7)
C2: -
DC: HOUSINGS (8)
Score: 45–12 (max 66)

Sam blanks completely on this round, so Zarte goes with his safe 7. We don't get to hear what his longer word was, but if it was HOUSINGS, that's fine. I'd only been thinking of the verb HOUSING, so thought the plural was dodgy, until Nick mentioned you can have a housing for a gearbox, for example.

Round 9: 25, 75, 10, 3, 5, 5. Target: 954.

C1: 955. (75+25-5)*10+5 (7)
C2: 955. (10+3)*75-25+5 (7)
RR: 955. (7)
OT: 955. (7)
Score: 52–19 (max 73)

One of those rare two-large games which isn't possible to solve exactly. There are plenty of ways to get 955 though, so seven each.

Teatime teaser: EELSKINS -> LIKENESS

Round 10: R D Z T E I N O P

C1: PROTEIN (7)
C2: PRINTED (7)
DC: POINTED (7) POINTER (7)
OT: DIOPTRE (7) PERIDOT (7) PORTEND (7) REPOINT (7)
Score: 59–26 (max 80)

And this is one of those annoying "what eight am I missing here" selections. Moving on.

Round 11: T M S Y A I E C R

C1: MATRICES (8)
C2: maciest
DC: MASTERY (7) CREAM (5) CREAMY (6)
Score: 67–26 (max 88)

No MACIEST^ in here, and Zarte continues to build on his score. Useful fact: MATRICES stems with every vowel except O.

Round 12: S L F A U T R O N

C1: FRONTALS (8)
C2: FRONTAL (7)
Score: 75–26 (max 96)

"I've got to get a dodgy one eventually, I'll try an eight", says Zarte. In this case it was a good call. The nounal sense of FRONTAL is a decorative cloth for covering the front of an altar.

Round 13: D C N R A I E O G

C1: ORGANDIE (8)
C2: CARDING (7)
DC: READING (7)
OT: RECODING (8)
Score: 83–26 (max 104)

Zarte sticks with the fabric theme to seal his fifth win. Dan suggests fans of football might like READING, an opinion which might not be shared by everyone to have seen them play.

Round 14: 3, 5, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 192.

C1: 192. (7*5-3)*6 (10)
C2: 194.
Score: 93–26 (max 114)

Once again Sam tries six small, and once again Zarte takes the points. Nick whines that he hasn't reached 100 points this late in the game.

Round 15: G U I L T B O R N

Zarte buzzes on 2 seconds to say TROUBLING which is correct.
Final Score: 103–26 (max 124)

Nick now whines that Zarte took too long to reach 100 points. Zarte should pay no attention - this is just the start of what should be an exciting National Allotment Week. He's now on 575 points from 5 wins. No player has ever scored that much in their first five games and not become an octochamp, but tomorrow's challenger could change that. Zarte is up against the innate, unteachable skills of the world-class Dylan Taylor... join Jack for the recap of that.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=69