Wednesday 9 May 2001 (Series 44 Prelim 97)

[Andrew Feist]

Countdown recap for Wednesday 9 May 2001.

C1: Champion Matthew Jenkins (1 win, 53 points.)
C2: Challenger James "call me Jim" Stewart from West Kilbride.
DC: Tania Styles, birthday girl and Nigel Rees.
CV: Carol Vorderman.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: G I D S A L R E I
R02: T O A G P T E Z R
R03: L I N E S O N U T
R04: 75, 2, 3, 5, 4, 7. Target: 914.
R05: V C E A K M I Y L
R06: J N A S X O B E W
R07: C F A I R D E H P
R08: 25, 50, 7, 3, 1, 4. Target: 693.
R09: D E L S G R A N T (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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I could only find one West Kilbride, on the Ayrshire coast. Presumably that's the one we're interested in. They mention that today is Tania's birthday, but I find no mention of which one.

Round 1: G I D S A L R E I

C1: slidier
C2: RIDGES (6)
DC: SILAGED (7) GLIDERS (7)
OT: AIRSIDE (7) DAIRIES (7) DIARIES (7) DIARISE (7) DAILIES (7) LIAISED (7) SEDILIA (7) DERAILS (7) DIALERS (7) REDIALS (7) GILDERS (7) GIRDLES (7) GIRLIES (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)

The champion slides around all the real 7s to land on a fake one.

Round 2: T O A G P T E Z R

C1: POTTER (6)
C2: GAROTTE (7)
DC: PORTAGE (7)
OT: POTAGER (7) POTTAGE (7)
Score: 0–13 (max 14)

Round 3: L I N E S O N U T

C1: OUTLINES (8)
C2: leonine
OT: INSOLENT (8)
Score: 8–13 (max 22)

When all else fails, take the word that's spelled out for you.

Round 4: 75, 2, 3, 5, 4, 7. Target: 914.

C1: 914. 75*(5+4+3) + 2*7 (10)
C2: 914. 75*(7+5) + 3*4 + 2 (10)
Score: 18–23 (max 32)

Round 5: V C E A K M I Y L

C1: CLAIM (5)
C2: LACKEY (6)
DC: MICKEY (6)
OT: MYCELIA (7)
Score: 18–29 (max 39)

Round 6: J N A S X O B E W

C1: saxon
C2: BOXES (5)
DC: JAWBONES (8)
Score: 18–34 (max 47)

Saxon, being capitalized, doesn't score.

Round 7: C F A I R D E H P

C1: CHAIRED (7)
C2: CHAIRED (7)
DC: CHIRPED (7) PARCHED (7)
OT: EDAPHIC (7) RAPHIDE (7)
Score: 25–41 (max 54)

Round 8: 25, 50, 7, 3, 1, 4. Target: 693.

C1: 696. 50*(3-1)*7 - 4 (7)
C2: 699.
CV: 693. (50*3 + 25) * 4 - 7 (10)
ME: 693. (25*4 - 1) * 7 (10)
Score: 32–41 (max 64)

This seemed pretty obvious to me. Have I internalized the "reusing numbers" method of solving numbers games so completely that I no longer recognize its difficulty? Apparently so.

Round 9: D E L S G R A N T

C1 buzzes on 2½ seconds to say STRANGLED which is correct.
Score: 42–41 (max 74)

Matthew gets in just ahead of Jim to take another game. So far, in two games, Matthew has been ahead exactly twice: the end of round 9 yesterday, and the end of round 9 today. If nothing else, he should be getting a good cardio workout.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=44