Friday 10 September 2010 (Series 63, Prelim 45)

[Mike Brown]

Countdown recap for Friday 10 September 2010 (Series 63, Prelim 45)

C1: Champion Daniel Pati (5 wins, 537 points.)
C2: Challenger Stephen Crawford.
DC: Susie Dent and Penny Smith.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

This time last week, Daniel Pati took over the Countdown crown and a week later he’s still here. Can he make it six not out against Stephen Crawford from Westport in County Mayo, who married his wife just two weeks after meeting her for the first time - spontaneous, or what?? – or will he be making the very short trip back home to, er, Manchester after this programme? Let’s find out!

R01: N O T A V E S O P
R02: S N R U O U L D A
R03: C E R I S E P G R
R04: J I T C D A E R B
R05: 50, 10, 4, 3, 4, 7. Target: 383.
TTT: DUFFWAGE - "Was offered a duff wage, so laughed about it."
R06: I E U T S M A T G
R07: T E S I W O N E T
R08: S L D O A K I E H
R09: S P U G A R E I D
R10: 75, 25, 50, 1, 8, 4. Target: 831.
TTT: SHEDEALS - ""There's nobody running the school," said the manic chicken."
R11: N E L I W A F G M
R12: R H I S L O D A P
R13: F O E R B A C N S
R14: 25, 4, 4, 1, 5, 1. Target: 701.
R15: C H I N A T E E S (conundrum)

Countdown is sponsored by Wellkid. Vitamins for goats... whatever next?

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The show opens with Jeff discussing the Last Night of the Proms, which is taking place at the weekend. Makes you proud to be British, doesn’t it?

Round 1: N O T A V E S O P

C1: ATONES (6)
C2: STONE (5)
DC: TEASPOON (8)
Score: 6–0 (max 8)

I didn’t realise that ATONE comes from being ‘at one’ with yourself until the other day. Amazing what you can learn from reading Dan Brown, isn’t it? Next week, I will be learning nuclear physics from Carol Vorderman’s autobiography... Back on Countdown, DC spot the excellent TEASPOON; the popular seven NOVATES was also there.

Round 2: S N R U O U L D A

C1: UNLOADS (7)
C2: ARDUOUS (7)
DC: LARDONS (7)
OT: LOURDANS (8)
Score: 13–7 (max 16)

Two good sevens from our contestants. LOURDAN is an alternative spelling of LURDANE (or LURDAN for that matter), which is a word for an idle or incompetent person.

Round 3: C E R I S E P G R

C1: preciser
C2: PRECISE (7)
DC: PERRIES (7) GRICERS (7)
OT: PIERCERS (8) REPRICES (8)
Score: 13–14 (max 24)

Daniel takes a chance on an always risky trisyllabic comparative and it fails to pay off. My word, he’s not in the lead!! Susie and Penny are sipping PERRIES while spotting trains. No one spots an eight.

Round 4: J I T C D A E R B

C1: CARBIDE (7)
C2: BAITED (6)
DC: CATBIRD (7)
OT: TRIBADE (7)
Score: 20–14 (max 31)

A great offering from the Corner with the always amusing CATBIRD. Meanwhile, in contestants’ row, normality is restored as Dan goes back into the lead.

Round 5: 50, 10, 4, 3, 4, 7. Target: 383.

C1: 382. ((50+3)x7)+10+(4/4) (7)
C2: 382. ((50+4)x7)+4 (7)
RR: 383. ((4+4)x50)-10-7 (JS) (10)
Score: 27–21 (max 41)

Surprisingly, neither player gets this one spot-on (I say surprisingly because I got it – and so did Jeff!).

Before the Teaser, Penny rounds off her week of anecdotes with a tale of the tube trip from Hell, while on her way to an opera in London. Sounded nasty.

Teatime teaser: DUFFWAGE -> GUFFAWED

Round 6: I E U T S M A T G

C1: MUTATES (7)
C2: MATIEST (7)
DC: GUTTIES (7) SITUATE (7)
OT: GAMIEST (7) SIGMATE (7)
Score: 34–28 (max 48)

Stephen thinks MATIEST is risky, but it’s fine and keeps him very much in contention. GUTTIES may sound like one of the many fish-related words in the dictionary, but it’s actually Scottish (or Irish) for plimsolls.

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

C1: NOISETTE (8)
C2: STONE (5)
DC: TWENTIES (8)
OT: TEOSINTE (8) TOWNSITE (8)
Score: 42–28 (max 56)

Ah, NOISETTE, a word that sounds so lovely you could almost eat it. Stephen’s second STONE of the game unfortunately scores him as many as it did first time around. TEOSINTE is a type of Mexican grass, while a TOWNSITE is a tract of land set aside for a town to be built.

Round 8: S L D O A K I E H

C1: SHOALED (7)
C2: HAILED (6)
OT: DHOLAKS (7) HALIDES (7) KELOIDS (7)
Score: 49–28 (max 63)

More great words not mentioned by DC: DHOLAKS are medium-sized DHOLS, which are Indian barrel-shaped drums (not to be confused with DHOLES, which are Asian wild dogs with sandy coats and black, bushy tails); KELOIDS are areas of scar tissue. Game-wise, Daniel is now starting to pull away.

Round 9: S P U G A R E I D

C1: UPRAISED (8)
C2: UPGRADES (8)
DC: GRASPED (7)
Score: 57–36 (max 71)

Two cracking eights from our contestants. Great stuff.

OoW: Susie tells us the origins of the word ‘gringo’.

Round 10: 75, 25, 50, 1, 8, 4. Target: 831.

C1: 827.
C2: 831. ((75+25+4)x8)-1 (10)
Score: 57–46 (max 81)

Mr Pati makes an uncharacteristic blob on the numbers, which means the gap is reduced to just 11. Roll on, Part Three!

Teatime teaser: SHEDEALS -> HEADLESS

Round 11: N E L I W A F G M

C1: FINAGLE (7)
C2: FLAMING (7)
DC: FLAGMEN (7)
OT: FEMINAL (7) INFLAME (7) LEAFING (7) FLAWING (7) GEMINAL (7) MEWLING (7) WEALING (7)
Score: 64–53 (max 88)

Lots of sevens here, but Daniel plumps for FINAGLE for the second time in as many games. Stephen goes for FLAMING, but no matter, it’s worth the same. The DC machine that is ‘PennySusie’ offers FLAGMEN, which are people who wave flags in a professional capacity.

Round 12: R H I S L O D A P

C1: LORDSHIP (8)
C2: DORSAL (6)
DC: HAPLOIDS (8)
OT: SHIPLOAD (8)
Score: 72–53 (max 96)

A great spot from our champ shows his class and Susie pulls a Countdown favourite out of the bag. Interestingly, it’s an anagram of the unmentioned, but rather more commonplace, SHIPLOAD.

Round 13: F O E R B A C N S

C1: BACONERS (8)
C2: BACONS (6)
Score: 80–53 (max 104)

Another brilliant spot from Daniel puts the game beyond doubt, while Stephen’s offering reminds me of the guy who offered BACONS back in Series 48 (or thereabouts) and had it disallowed, because all mass noun plurals were verboten at the time (and wasn’t too impressed).

Round 14: 25, 4, 4, 1, 5, 1. Target: 701.

C1: 700. (5+1+1)x4x25 (7)
C2: 700. (5+1+1)x4x25 (7)
RR: 701. ((((5+1)x4)+4)x25)+1 (10)
Score: 87–60 (max 114)

There’ll be no century for DP today, as he can’t find that elusive 1. Rachel shows Daniel and Stephen the error of their ways. It’s all about how you make the 28, innit?

Round 15: C H I N A T E E S

C1 buzzes on 16 seconds to say HESITANCE which is correct.
Final Score: 97–60 (max 124)

Quite a bit of hesitance from Daniel, in fact, as he takes 16 and a quarter seconds (give or take a tenth or two) to press the buzzer. Despite the delay, he’s still got a perfect record on the conundrum, so hats off to him. Can he make it seven conundrums out of seven on Monday when Alastair Stewart returns for his 55th appearance? Join Ryan to find out.

This recaps was sponsored by the word ‘spot’.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63