Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 24 March 2011.
C1: Champion Andy McGurn (7 wins, 616 points.) An Apteforumite from Leeds. He works as a social worker. He also performs a sort of "party piece", saying the alphabet backwards in 6 seconds, although by my timing, I made it about 4.5 seconds
C2: Challenger John Maddox. A retired training manager from Kidderminster, Worcestershire. His hobbies including watching sport, mainly football and cricket. His biggest achievement was snorkelling in the Red Sea, after only being able to swim for 2 months.
DC: Susie Dent and Donal MacIntyre.
RR: Rachel Riley, switching her winged dress for some trousers today.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: W N D E A U S A S
R02: P S H I E N P O L
R03: T T C U E O P L G
R04: L R B E O Y B U G
R05: 25, 2, 10, 4, 3, 5. Target: 155.
TTT: CRABCOIL - "Old mouthwash for naughty kids, perhaps?"
R06: S S R I A D I S M
R07: R M T E A R O F R
R08: T N N I A D E O T
R09: R N S E O U T E U
R10: 25, 1, 2, 4, 3, 4. Target: 565.
TTT: SUESTRIP - "Sue's trip involves a spot of skiing thanks to them"
R11: S L N E A A M D E
R12: D T C U A O V W E
R13: G R H I O E C I E
R14: 9, 4, 8, 4, 10, 5. Target: 544.
R15: S O U R E D R U M (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: W N D E A U S A S
C1: WANDS (5)
C2: WENDS (5)
DC: SUNDAES (7) SUNDEWS (7)
Score: 5–5 (max 7)
Just 5's for the contestants to start with, while DC get both 7's.
Round 2: P S H I E N P O L
C1: NIPPLES (7)
C2: POLISH (6)
DC: PINHOLES (8)
Score: 12–5 (max 15)
DC go darrenic with a very good 8, but Andy takes the lead with his erm....., interesting 7.
Round 3: T T C U E O P L G
C1: OCTUPLE (7)
C2: CUTTLE (6)
DC: OCTUPLET (8)
Score: 19–5 (max 23)
Ouchy, rather appropriately, Andy forgetting to stick the T to OCTUPLE, would have given the 8-related 8.
Round 4: L R B E O Y B U G
C1: RUBBLE (6)
C2: BURGLE (6)
DC: GOBBLER (7)
Score: 25–11 (max 30)
DC go darrenic for the third round in a row, by woofing down that 7.
Round 5: 25, 2, 10, 4, 3, 5. Target: 155.
C1: 155. ((4 + 2) x 25) + 5 (10)
C2: 155. ((4 + 2) x 25) + 5 (10)
Score: 35–21 (max 40)
Don't you just love a simple numbers game
Donal talks about a wake he recently attended which had someone who "came back from the dead" after having his heart stopped after being OD'd on drugs meant to help deal with a broken rib he suffered.
Teatime teaser: CRABCOIL -> CARBOLIC
Round 6: S S R I A D I S M
C1: DISARMS (7)
C2: SADISM (6)
OT: DISMISS (7)
Score: 42–21 (max 47)
3 S's here and a brilliant 7 by Andy only using 2 of them.
Round 7: R M T E A R O F R
C1: FORMAT (6)
C2: REFORMAT (8)
DC: TERRAFORM (18)
Score: 42–29 (max 65)
3 R's this time, and a 9 to boot too
Amazingly, I happened to remember that this happened to be one of my conundrums at COLIN 2011. I didn't get it then, but i got it now! Round 8: T N N I A D E O T
C1: NOTATED (7)
C2: INTONED (7)
DC: ANOINTED (8) ANTIDOTE (8) INTONATED (18)
Score: 49–36 (max 83)
Time for a flake methinks. Another DC darrenic 9 and the max score is going up and UP
Round 9: R N S E O U T E U
C1: TONSURE (7)
C2: NEUTERS (7)
DC: RETUNES (7) UTERUS (6)
OT: SOUTENEUR (18)
Score: 56–43 (max 101)
CALL AN AMBULANCE!!! Oh wait, DC missed that French-sounding 9, but the max passes a century already, and we're only at round 9
A SOUTENEUR is a man who lives on the earnings of one or more prostitutes under his protection.
Susie's Origin Of Words talks about the dark beginnings of "jack-in-the-box".
Round 10: 25, 1, 2, 4, 3, 4. Target: 565.
C1: -
C2: -
RR: 564/566. (7)
OT: 564. ((25 x 2) + 1 - 4) x 3 x 4 (7)
Score: 56–43 (max 108)
A very tricky one large appears which befuddles everyone, even with Rachel conceding defeat too. Wise move.
Teatime teaser: SUESTRIP -> PISTEURS
Round 11: S L N E A A M D E
C1: DEMEANS (7)
C2: MEDALS (6)
DC: ENAMELS (7)
OT: MAENADS (7) MELAENA (7)
Score: 63–43 (max 115)
Another good 7 spot by Andy and he creeps closer and closer to that promised land of octochampdom.
A MAENAD (or BACCHANTE) is a female priestess, or votary of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine.
MELAENA (or MELENA) is the discharge of black, tarry, bloody stools, usually resulting from a haemorrhage in the alimentary tract.
And now that I've ruined your dinner, let's carry on.
Round 12: D T C U A O V W E
C1: AVOCET (6)
C2: AVOWED (6)
DC: DEVOUT (6)
OT: COUVADE (7)
Score: 69–49 (max 122)
The darren is left alone this time, as many more 6's are available.
COUVADE is a practice among some peoples, as the Basques of Spain, in which a man, immediately preceding the birth of his child, takes to his bed in an enactment of the birth experience and subjects himself to various taboos usually associated with pregnancy.
Round 13: G R H I O E C I E
C1: CHEERIO (7)
C2: CHEERIO (7)
Score: 76–56 (max 129)
A rather appropriate darren for Andy, but with the gap at 20, it's still not known whether he'll be an octochamp or a 7-timer still.....
Round 14: 9, 4, 8, 4, 10, 5. Target: 544.
C1: 546. Mistake in working.
C2: 536. Mistake in working.
RR: 544. ((8 + 4) x 5 x 9) + 4 (10)
Score: 76–56 (max 139)
But it's game over, as John can't get on the target and both flop with their methods anyway.
Round 15: S O U R E D R U M
C1 buzzes on 1 second to say MURDEROUS which is correct.
Final Score: 86–56 (max 149)
A quick-fire solve on the near-perfect reverse conundrum gives a nice gloss to Andy's victory and confirms his octochamp status.
We now have 4 octochamps in this series. Andy's 702 points put him comfortably in 3rd place, and will probably see him safely into the finals, which according to my internal sources might be starting in under 2 months time, with the final now believed to be on June 3rd.
2 more challengers will enter the fray tomorrow while Mike gives the recap.
I'll be back next Wednesday, so till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Andy:
Total score - 86
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 58
Raw % of max - 62
Total average score per round - 5.7
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 5
John:
Total score - 56
Raw score - 80
Total % of max - 38
Raw % of max - 54
Total average score per round - 3.7
Raw average score per round - 5.3
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64