C1: Champion Tom Rowell (7 wins, 687 points.)
C2: Challenger Jean Miles.
DC: Susie Dent and Gary Wilmot.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T H S E U A P S I
R02: L B L J E O E F G
R03: P D R A E A S V U
R04: D K R T A O A E W
R05: 50, 1, 10, 8, 7, 3. Target: 523.
TTT: MINIBOAT - "It's all about the drive and the want"
R06: N G D T I A I N E
R07: I I P R S A E N L
R08: R M N I O E D I B
R09: C L N O O E G S O
R10: 25, 2, 10, 7, 4, 8. Target: 513.
TTT: BOBMELTS - "They're smaller than normal but still very dangerous"
R11: C Z L C E U E N O
R12: T S M R A A E D E
R13: Q R T O U E V N T
R14: 75, 5, 3, 6, 9, 7. Target: 248.
R15: U R E A R R E S T (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
On Friday 13th Tom managed to beat superstition and win his 7th game of his Countdown career. He notched up 109 (his highest score to date) and completed a hat-trick of century scores. He was then rudely interrupted by some animals (and some horse racing too).
Now all the focus is back on Mr Tom Rowell from Husbands Bosworth who apparently makes a very mean banana cake as well as being a fan of Girls Aloud, presumably not for their music though.
Bringing even more feminine beauty to the Countdown set is Jean Miles. She is from Poole in Dorset and enjoys playing scrabble and also skiing. Sadly she is married and has 2 children whilst being a manager of a forum for parents that have children with disabilities.
And we have another new guest in DC today in the form of Gary Wilmot. I recognised him but wasn't too familiar with what he does. He has had lots of roles on TV and performs on stage too.
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T H S E U A P S I
C1: PUSHIEST (8)
C2: SHAPES (6)
DC: PAUSES (6)
OT: HIATUSES (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)
Tom is off to a flyer finding the maximum with PUSHIEST. Not too tough a spot but probably a little bit of nerves led to Jean not spotting the -IEST word.
Round 2: L B L J E O E F G
C1: GLOBE (5)
C2: GLOBE (5)
DC: BEFELL (6)
Score: 13–5 (max 14)
Both Tom and Jean stay with a 5 but it turns out they both had BEFELL written down. If one of them had been just that bit braver!
Round 3: P D R A E A S V U
C1: PARADES (7)
C2: PARADES (7)
Score: 20–12 (max 21)
Again they have the same word and it turns out that their wasn't anything better. They may as well have just stopped after 7 letters. Hey, that would make a good variant. Gary amusingly says he has the same and then passes his paper to Tom for checking. I like this guy!
Round 4: D K R T A O A E W
C1: WORKED (6)
C2: WORKED (6)
DC: TOWARD (6)
OT: KARATE (6) ORATED (6) TROWED (6)
Score: 26–18 (max 27)
3rd time in a row now that they have the same. They must be copying each other. Gary pulls the same gag and still draws a laugh from the crowd (mainly from Dudley though).
Round 5: 50, 1, 10, 8, 7, 3. Target: 523.
C1: 523. 50*10+8*3-1 (10)
C2: 523. 50*10+8*3-1 (10)
Score: 36–28 (max 37)
A bit of a long way to go round this one but they both thought the same way and again have EXACTLY THE SAME!! This is uncanny. Tom's first round spot of PUSHIEST is still enough for him to hold the lead as we go into...
...DC Guest Time: Gary Wilmot tells us a couple of funny stories when he has been on the way to a venue to perform. One of these was when he was going to the rugby ground in Cardiff he stopped and asked a man "how do you get to the rugby ground?" the reply was "my brother takes me". Lolsome.
Teatime teaser: MINIBOAT -> AMBITION
Round 6: N G D T I A I N E
C1: EDITING (7)
C2: DETAINING (18)
Score: 36–46 (max 55)
BOOM BANG A BANG!! Tom is left to hang his head in despair when Jean spots the 9 and takes a 10 point lead. Game on! You can play a game whilst watching this round, it's called "how long did it take Jean to spot the 9?" I reckon it's about 3 seconds as the camera close-up shows a smile on her face. By 15 seconds she is licking her lips just to confirm she has a 9. And then at about 25 seconds she looks up to the studio audience, smiling. Just missing was a drink of water. I was a little disappointed that she didn't do the "Lesley Hines' Nine Dance" though.
Round 7: I I P R S A E N L
C1: inspiral
C2: plainers
DC: PRALINES (8)
OT: AIRLINES (8)
Score: 36–46 (max 63)
After that high point in the show both contestants buckle under these very familiar letters. That 9 from Jean has visibly shaken Tom a bit and he tried "an 8 not written down". I was surprised that PLAINERS^ was not in the dictionary, had Jean turned this round slightly for PRALINES she would be 18 clear. As it is the 10 point gap remains. The champion is on the rope.
Round 8: R M N I O E D I B
C1: BROMINE (7)
C2: BROMINE (7)
DC: BROMIDE (7)
OT: DOMINIE (7) MIDIRON (7) MINORED (7)
Score: 43–53 (max 70)
Good spots from both here and again telepathically going for the same max word.
Round 9: C L N O O E G S O
C1: CONSOLE (7)
C2: oogles
OT: COLOGNES (8)
Score: 50–53 (max 78)
A puff of the cheeks from Tom as he makes some ground on the deficit. The lovely sounding OOGLES^ from Jean sadly isn't valid. Susie points out that something like GOOGLES would be ok though (IF THERE WAS ANOTHER G!!)
Susie's Origin's of Words: Susie goes back to the origins of band names all that have colours in their name like GreenDay, Deacon Blue, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Simply Red. Gary chips in with ELO (sounding like "yellow" when said in the right way). If it's any consolation Gary, I laughed!
Round 10: 25, 2, 10, 7, 4, 8. Target: 513.
C1: 512. (7*4-8)*25+10+2 (7)
C2: 512. 2*10*25+4+8 (7)
RR: 513. (25*7-4)*(8-(10/2)) (10)
Score: 57–60 (max 88)
A tricky numbers game and Tom and Jean can manage 1 away. Rachel earns her money by solving this one with an excellent solution. Show off! I had a more straight forward one.
Teatime teaser: BOBMELTS -> BOMBLETS
Round 11: C Z L C E U E N O
C1: ZONULE (6)
C2: CLONE (5)
OT: COULEE (6)
Score: 63–60 (max 94)
Excellent! Brilliant 6 here from Tom under real pressure. He regains the lead and now has the momentum I feel.
Round 12: T S M R A A E D E
C1: MASTERED (8)
C2: MASTERED (8)
OT: STREAMED (8)
Score: 71–68 (max 102)
But Jean relentlessly stays with Tom having found MASTERED too. This one could be heading for a crucial.
Round 13: Q R T O U E V N T
C1: NUTTER (6)
C2: NUTTER (6)
DC: TORQUE (6)
OT: ROQUET (6) ROTTEN (6) TORTEN (6) TENUTO (6) TOUTER (6) UNROVE (6)
Score: 77–74 (max 108)
"A pair of nutters" says Gary Wilmot. With only 3 points in it, it is becoming a realisation of Tom's that if he is to become an octochamp he will do it the hard way, by pitting his nerves against Jean in a crucial. Just one numbers game to change this scenario.
Round 14: 75, 5, 3, 6, 9, 7. Target: 248.
C1: 248. (75+6)*3+5 (10)
C2: 245.
Score: 87–74 (max 118)
An easy target and I'm already assuming the edge of the seat position in my armchair. This is going to be..oh no! Jean NOO! NOOOOOOOOO! 245?!??! Arghhhhhhh!
Jean sadly wrote down the target number wrongly and as such it's just left to Tom to take all 10 points and with it octochamp status. Extremely bad luck from Jean. I guess we won't have a crucial after all.Round 15: U R E A R R E S T
C1 buzzes on 29 seconds to say "don't have a clue" which is incorrect.
C2 buzzes on 29.9 seconds to say "got no idea either" which is incorrect.
The answer was TREASURER.
Final Score: 87–74 (max 128)
With the contest decided Tom and Jean prat about pressing their buzzers on 29 seconds to declare they have no idea. Pretty funny and both show they have a good sense of humour and clearly enjoyed their match against each other. So who did have an idea about the conundrum? Well it was Peter Godwin in the audience who appears on tomorrow's show. Looking forward to it.
Tom is now a member of the 8+ club and can drink some milk and play street Countdown (nabbed form your FB status). Very well done Tom, you played well throughout and thoroughly deserve octochamp status and surely a place in the series 63 finals.
Jean was a great contestant, she spotted some good words, got a 9, had decent numbers skills and was unlucky not to take it to a crucial (which I thought was the least she deserved). She seemed a natural on TV too, so it is sad to say our goodbyes to her and perhaps a little unlucky for her to run into an apterite on 7 wins. Nevermind though, back to Poole (which is MILES away). Ryan you've done it again.
I can't go without saying something about Gary Wilmot....TWAT!
Just kidding...
...I really enjoyed him [Gary Wilmot] on the show, he was funny, he interacted with the players well and had a decent anecdote. He seemed naturally comfortable in the chair so basically yeah, definitely one of my favourite DC guests recently.
I definitely recommend watching this show, so don't just read some crappy recap written by a loon.
Hasta la vista baby.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63
