Enjoy everyone.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 18 September 2013.
C1: Champion Alex Fish (3 wins, 300 points.) An Apterite and accountant from London, who was a past contestant back in Series 50, when he lost to eventual semi-finalist Stuart Solomons.
C2: Challenger Uday Patel. An assistant headteacher from Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex. Last year, he decided to take his whole family to the Dominican Republic, all FIFTY of them
DC: Susie Dent and Deborah Meaden, making her DC début.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A E T S C B P U D
R02: S A L N E U M V T
R03: 50, 3, 8, 10, 8, 5. Target: 753.
TTT: WIPESHOO - "You might need to wipe your shoe if you put your foot in it"
R04: N R D I E A T R E
R05: O P V C K E A S R
R06: 50, 2, 8, 1, 7, 6. Target: 258.
R07: O I J S T S O Q N
R08: E O E G Y T L I R
R09: 100, 25, 10, 8, 3, 4. Target: 796.
TTT: COLACHAT - "This creature could be the goalkeeper for whales"
R10: N S X E O U N R N
R11: O S N G H A E U F
R12: P D S I E O R M R
R13: E I T D L F R A H
R14: 25, 50, 1, 8, 5, 4. Target: 155.
R15: M I L D A L T E R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: A E T S C B P U D
C1: TEACUPS (7)
C2: PASTED (6)
DC: ABDUCTS (7) UPDATES (7)
OT: CUSPATE (7) DUBSTEP (7) UPBEATS (7) UPCASED (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
Alex finds the perfect accompaniment to his already won Countdown teapot, with a lovely set of TEACUPS.
Round 2: S A L N E U M V T
C1: AMULETS (7)
C2: VALETS (6)
DC: LAMENTS (7) MANTLES (7)
OT: ELUANTS (7) LEVANTS (7) LUNATES (7) MANTELS (7) MAUVEST (7) MULETAS (7)
Score: 14–0 (max 14)
Another plethora of 7's, but unfortunately Uday can't find any of them, so Alex doubles his early advantage.
An ELUANT is a liquid used for elution, the chromatographic process of using a solvent to extract an adsorbed substance from a solid adsorbing medium.
To LEVANT is to leave secretly or hurriedly to avoid paying debts.
The LUNATE is the second bone from the thumb side of the proximal row of bones of the carpus.
A MULETA is a red cloth similar to but smaller than a capa and manipulated by a stick set into one of the three holes in or near the centre, for use by a matador in guiding the course of the bull's attack in the stage of the fight preparatory to the kill.
Round 3: 50, 3, 8, 10, 8, 5. Target: 753.
C1: 753. ((10 + 5) x 50) + 3 (10)
C2: 753. ((10 + 5) x 50) + 3 (10)
Score: 24–10 (max 24)
Almost reminds me of last Wednesday's numbers games, again starting nice and easy, which gets Uday off the mark.
Teatime teaser: WIPESHOO -> WHOOPSIE
Round 4: N R D I E A T R E
C1: RETRAINED (18)
C2: READIER (7)
DC: RETAINER (8)
Score: 42–10 (max 42)
And there's the NINE, Alex's first one of his run so far. Will it be the last I wonder................
Round 5: O P V C K E A S R
C1: PACKERS (7)
C2: POKERS (6)
DC: OVERPACKS (18)
Score: 49–10 (max 60)
Well, he could've got 2 in 2 there
But while the DC team OVERPACKS their suitcase, Alex is happy with his PACKERS. 
Round 6: 50, 2, 8, 1, 7, 6. Target: 258.
C1: 258. ((6 - 1) x 50) + 8 (10)
C2: 258. ((7 - 2) x 50) + 8 (10)
Score: 59–20 (max 70)
And there's simple numbers game #2, as predicted.
Deborah talks about job interviews she has had with people while she was running her bingo business.
Round 7: O I J S T S O Q N
C1: JOISTS (6)
C2: JOISTS (6)
DC: JOINTS (6)
OT: SNOOTS (6)
Score: 65–26 (max 76)
Nothing much here apart from some JOISTS and some JOINTS.
Round 8: E O E G Y T L I R
C1: TOILER (6)
C2: GOITRE (6)
DC: TRILOGY (7)
Score: 71–32 (max 83)
DC go full marks with their darrenic 7, while our contestants stay happy with their 6's.
Round 9: 100, 25, 10, 8, 3, 4. Target: 796.
C1: 796. (100 x 8) - 4 (10)
C2: 796. (100 x 8) - 4 (10)
Score: 81–42 (max 93)
And here's #3, which is at least good for Uday, as without the easy numbers games, he could possibly have been down to 12 points........
Teatime teaser: COLACHAT -> CACHALOT
Round 10: N S X E O U N R N
C1: NEURONS (7)
C2: exorns
DC: NEXUS (5)
Score: 88–42 (max 100)
Another fantastic spot from Alex here, and he powers away to what will surely now be half-octochampdom.
Round 11: O S N G H A E U F
C1: SHOGUN (6)
C2: HANGS (5)
DC: ENOUGH (6) FANGO (5) FUNGOES (7)
Score: 94–42 (max 107)
Another nice spot from Alex here, while DC go darrenic with FUNGOES, bringing back memories of this Series 63 quarter-final, when laughter went all around the studio when Daniel Pati declared FUNGO.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of phrases related to pigs, such as "pig in a poke".
Round 12: P D S I E O R M R
C1: PROMISED (8)
C2: SPERM (5)
OT: PRIMROSE (8) PROMISER (8)
Score: 102–42 (max 115)
Well, I was PROMISED SPERM, but I never expected it to be like this. But, the PROMISED prediction has happened and Alex has now got his 4th win and his 2nd century to boot.
Round 13: E I T D L F R A H
C1: FAILED (6)
C2: TRAILED (7)
DC: TRIFLED (7)
OT: FLIRTED (7)
Score: 102–49 (max 122)
Slightly ironically, Alex seems to have FAILED in this round, while Uday has TRAILED all game, but shows his delight at getting one over Alex.
Round 14: 25, 50, 1, 8, 5, 4. Target: 155.
C1: 155. ((4 - 1) x 50) + 5 (10)
C2: 155. ((4 - 1) x 50) + 5 (10)
Score: 112–59 (max 132)
It's a full house in the easy numbers stakes again, and Alex now has a new PB, and has a chance to extend it even further with the conundrum.
Round 15: M I L D A L T E R
No one buzzes. The answer was TREADMILL.
Final Score: 112–59 (max 142)
Unfortunately, a tricky one appears and neither Alex, nor Uday can solve it, so a gentleman in the audience does instead.
So, Alex has now reached half-octochampdom, and with 412 points from his 4 games, he looks like a good prospect for octochampdom, although with the lowest scoring octochamp being Glen Webb at 945 points, it looks more than likely that if he does become an octochamp on Tuesday, #4 on the leaderboard looks like being Alex's best bet.
He has currently moved up to #7 at the moment with his 4 wins, which moves him ahead of Margaret Lawless, who has 53 points fewer, yet has played a game more.
Join me tomorrow to see if Alex can make it 5 of a kind.
Till then, bye bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Alex:
Total score - 112
Raw score - 118
Total % of max - 79
Raw % of max - 83
Total average score per round - 7.5
Raw average score per round - 7.9
Number of maxes - 10
Uday:
Total score - 59
Raw score - 94
Total % of max - 42
Raw % of max - 66
Total average score per round - 3.9
Raw average score per round - 6.3
Number of maxes - 6
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=69