Tuesday 19th October 2010 (Series 63, Prelim 72)

[Ryan Taylor]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 19 October 2010.

C1: Champion Jack Hurst (4 wins, 468 points.)
C2: Challenger Phil Bishop.
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: J O S Y I A N D E
R02: R H R U O S T P E
R03: S N T I E I R E G
R04: A B R V O A M Z E
R05: 75, 9, 1, 10, 4, 5. Target: 746.
TTT: REDCOINS - "Think about this yourself"
R06: N M N A U D L O E
R07: T R C O A E S O N
R08: U T G R E D I C E
R09: H R L E E A B D F
R10: 100, 50, 4, 3, 10, 4. Target: 951.
TTT: MINDGEAR - "The mind gears turn while you're asleep"
R11: L G S D O U A W T
R12: V L T I A R U X I
R13: M K N O O I T G Q
R14: 100, 75, 1, 2, 6, 5. Target: 805.
R15: H E A R T B L E D (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Jack Hurst managed to score 122 points yesterday taking him to 468 points after just 4 games. If he is looking at octochampdom then at this halfway stage he has amassed more than half the points needed to break Andrew Hulme's 8 game total of 930 points. Jack is of course the inferior Hurst brother from Desford but now studying at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is a proper mad fan of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm and also Lost. Two TV shows that I have neither watched nor cared to watch but perhaps I am the one who watches shit TV?

Phil Bishop is the challenger and he is a freelance journalist living in Kent with his wife and pets (a cat and a springer spaniel). He will no doubt be a little scared having probably just watched Jack's demolition of a decent challenger yesterday.

Alistair McGowan enjoys his second show today and was pretty enjoyable on his debut. Alistair breaks us in with an impression of Duncan Bannatyne if he was gay with the punchline coming with "I'm out". He then mentions that the challenger, Phil, has an impression...[cue possible awkward moment]. But it was anything but awkward, in fact, I thought it was pretty damn hilarious. He did an impression of Vincent Van Gogh answering the telephone but made fun of the fact he had to switch the receiver to his other ear (yano, 'cos he chopped it off or sumfink, yeh?). Hard to describe humour.

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: J O S Y I A N D E

C1: NOYADES (7)
C2: SANDY (5)
OT: ADJOINS (7) ANODISE (7) YANDIES (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

Jack is his usual show offy self as he decides to go for possibly the most obscure 7 out of the bunch picking up from where he left off yesterday.

Round 2: R H R U O S T P E

C1: POSTURER (8)
C2: POSTURE (7)
JS: SHORTER (7) (not funny)
OT: TROUPERS (8)
Score: 15–0 (max 15)

Phil will feel awful after this but what's done is done and Jack storms into a 15-0 lead.

Round 3: S N T I E I R E G

C1: REIGNITES (18)
C2: STEERING (8)
Score: 33–0 (max 33)

Oh dear lord. A 9 spot as early as round 3 means Phil doesn't even score with his 8. This game may as well be called to a halt now.

Round 4: A B R V O A M Z E

C1: AMOEBA (6)
C2: amazer
DC: BRAVO (5) BEZOAR (6)
OT: ABRAZO (6) ZAMBRA (6) ZAREBA (6)
Score: 39–0 (max 39)

And Phil fails again as Jack completes 4/4 maxes on the opening letters rounds.

BEZOAR is like a stone that forms in some ruminant animals stomachs. I think JK Rowling mentions it in the HP books as something to add to a potion.

And ZAMBRA is a flamenco dance performed by the Romani people of Granada (but not Granada studios).

Round 5: 75, 9, 1, 10, 4, 5. Target: 746.

C1: 746. 75*10-4 (10)
C2: 746. 75*10-4 (10)
Score: 49–10 (max 49)

Finally some points for Phil, although I think my mother would have struggled not to score in this round, even she knows that when you "times by 10 you add a 0".

DC Guest Time: Alistair runs through some pisstakes of Andy Parsons, Frankie Boyle, Billy Conolly and Dara "the triple point of water is 0" O'Briain. He also says that probably the first impression he did was of late Radio 1 DJ John Peel and he proceeded to do an impression which meant nothing to me since I've never heard John Peel speak (because I'm not nearly dead).

Teatime teaser: REDCOINS -> CONSIDER

Round 6: N M N A U D L O E

C1: MODULE (6)
C2: MANNED (6)
DC: MUNDANE (7) UNNAMED (7)
OT: NOUMENAL (8)
Score: 55–16 (max 57)

The first miss of the day by Jack and I was quite disappointed. Perhaps I was expecting too much though and I only really knew it since I missed it on the show as well. DC show them both possible 7's too.

NOUMENAL refers to the NOUMENON which is "the intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself, not as it is known through perception".

Round 7: T R C O A E S O N

C1: OSTRACON (8)
C2: RACOONS (7)
OT: ANCESTOR (8) ENACTORS (8) CARTOONS (8) CORONETS (8)
Score: 63–16 (max 65)

Jack causes this hilarious facebook status to be made as he declares the posh anagram of CARTOONS. CORONATES^ is not there as some people may have been tempted by this, I'm pretty sure I have done so in the past.

Round 8: U T G R E D I C E

C1: RECITED (7)
C2: TRUDGE (6)
DC: DEUTERIC (8)
Score: 70–16 (max 73)

Jack again beats Phil leaving him on a measly 16 points, but Jack did miss the darren which DC managed.

Round 9: H R L E E A B D F

C1: HEALER (6)
C2: HEALER (6)
DC: HALBERD (7)
OT: BLEARED (7) FEDERAL (7)
Score: 76–22 (max 80)

And again DC are bossing this show with another contestant beater in the form of HALBERD (a pike with an axe head).

Susie's Origins of Words: Susie answers another viewer's question about why we learn things "by heart". It goes back to the Ancient Greeks (the bum fun ones) who believed the heart held intellect.

Round 10: 100, 50, 4, 3, 10, 4. Target: 951.

C1: 951. 10*100-50+(4/4) (10)
C2: 951. 10*100-50+4-3 (10)
Score: 86–32 (max 90)

The numbers prove to be a bit of a saving grace for Phil as he manages to take his score to a much more respectable 32 points as Jack goes in hunt of century number 5.

Teatime teaser: MINDGEAR -> DREAMING

Round 11: L G S D O U A W T

C1: OUTLAWS (7)
C2: STAG (4)
DC: goudas
OT: WOULDST (7)
Score: 93–32 (max 97)

At Jack's declaration of "7", Phil let's out a noise that seemed to say "oh-my-fucking-god-how-do-you-get-a-7-from-that-you-absolute-weirdo-what-do-I-have-to-do-to-score-points-around-here".

Round 12: V L T I A R U X I

C1: VIRTUAL (7)
C2: TRIVIAL (7)
Score: 100–39 (max 104)

Phil manages to spot TRIVIAL in the last few seconds but it only equals Jack's alternative 7.

Round 13: M K N O O I T G Q

C1: KIMONO (6)
C2: MOOTING (7)
Score: 100–46 (max 111)

HALLELUJAH! Jack for some reason didn't go with MOOTING (or at least that's what I'm assuming he had written down) whilst Phil beats Jack for the first time in a round. Strange decision by Jack with this one since Phil actually declared first.

Round 14: 100, 75, 1, 2, 6, 5. Target: 805.

C1: 805. (6+2)*100+5 (10)
C2: 805. (6+2)*100+5 (10)
Score: 110–56 (max 121)

A stupidly easy numbers game means Phil passes the half century mark and Jack's score isn't even double his...yet!

Round 15: H E A R T B L E D

C1 buzzes on 0.2 second to say BLATHERED which is correct.
Final Score: 120–56 (max 131)

By Jack's standards, this was a pretty slow solve, I had chance to actually blink before the buzzer was pressed. Jeff is again astounded by Jack's performance but let's just analyse it on the Ryan-o-meter...

The Ryan-o-meter rated the perforance an 8/10 since there were plenty of nice words spotted and a 9 as well but the number of maxes displeased me somewhat (only 11).

Hard luck to Phil for coming up against what would seem like an octochamp in waiting but well done to Jack who scored yet another whopping amount of points making the stats 5 wins, 588 points and an average of almost 118 points. Countdowners all over the country will be huddling in little groups whispering frantically about the prospect that "Hulme's 930" is in threat of being obliterated.

To be continued...

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

[Charlie Reams]

Round 13: M K N O O I T G Q

C1: KIMONO (6)
C2: MOOTING (7)
Score: 100–46 (max 111)

HALLELUJAH! Jack for some reason didn't go with MOOTING (or at least that's what I'm assuming he had written down) whilst Phil beats Jack for the first time in a round. Strange decision by Jack with this one since Phil actually declared first.

If you're outscoring someone 3 to 1 then you should trust your own judgment above theirs, plus Phil is obviously going to take risks at this point, and the verb sense of MOOT is pretty obscure and not guessable from the ordinary meaning. I don't think it's a strange decision.

[Ryan Taylor]

Round 13: M K N O O I T G Q

C1: KIMONO (6)
C2: MOOTING (7)
Score: 100–46 (max 111)

HALLELUJAH! Jack for some reason didn't go with MOOTING (or at least that's what I'm assuming he had written down) whilst Phil beats Jack for the first time in a round. Strange decision by Jack with this one since Phil actually declared first.

If you're outscoring someone 3 to 1 then you should trust your own judgment above theirs, plus Phil is obviously going to take risks at this point, and the verb sense of MOOT is pretty obscure and not guessable from the ordinary meaning. I don't think it's a strange decision.

Take your penis out of Jack's bottom please.

I mean, I see your point. Still I had faith in Jack that he knew the word.

[Michael Wallace]

Take your penis out of Jack's bottom please.

I mean, I see your point.

Even though it's in Jack's bottom?!

[Ryan Taylor]

Take your penis out of Jack's bottom please.

I mean, I see your point.

Even though it's in Jack's bottom?!

When RACOONS came up today I thought of you.

[Charlie Reams]

When RACOONS came up Jack's bottom I thought of you.

This is so puerile.

[Michael Wallace]

When RACOONS came up today I thought of you.

Whenever a forumite on the show fails to declare RAC(C)OON(S) it makes me so I want to have them b& from Co:Lon.