Monday 21st June 2021 (Series 83, Third Quarter Final)

[Rhys Benjamin]

Today ought to have been freedom day, and for our contestants one of them will unlock their path to the semi finals today!

Countdown recap for Monday 21 June 2021.

For seemingly no reason whatsoever, Nick Hewer opens with a load of nonsense about skateboarding.

C1: Champion Adam Latchford (8 wins, 732 points.)
C2: Champion Declan McGurk (6 wins, 616 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Rufus Hound, who's finally taken that baseball cap off.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: M S G R I U E I E
R02: O O S P B A U T G
R03: 75, 25, 50, 10, 9, 7. Target: 894.
TTT: DICKRULE - "When it came to fishing Dick ruled the roost, but he could never catch this."
R04: K I E U D P L H N
R05: C S R D A I O T N
R06: 100, 25, 50, 75, 1, 4. Target: 694.
R07: R P N F E A E A T
R08: O O M S L S T I E
R09: 75, 3, 9, 10, 6, 7. Target: 229.
TTT: LISABAKE - "Lisa's going to bake some sausage rolls filled with this."
R10: C N I E U A S J N
R11: Y R G D B O E O R
R12: G N D M I E A E T
R13: D H T E U L O W E
R14: 50, 25, 100, 75, 7, 9. Target: 425.
R15: L A T E D I G I T (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: M S G R I U E I E

Adam: REGIMES (7)
Declan: gumsier (risk, not written down)
DC: EMIGRES (7)
OT: REMIGES (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7, jos 7)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)

Adam takes an early lead with Declan's seven not valid. Not only is GUMSIER^ invalid, but neither is GUMSY^, so it's not just the two-syllable rule screwing him over here.

Round 2: O O S P B A U T G

Adam: ABOUTS (6)
Declan: BOUTS (5)
DC: OUTGAS (6)
OT: POSTBAG (7)
Score: 13–0 (max 14, jos 13)
Darren-o-meter: 1/2 (50%)

Declan will be kicking himself as Adam adds an A onto the front of Declan's word to get him an extra 6 points. However, the darrenic 7 eludes everybody.

Round 3: 75, 25, 50, 10, 9, 7. Target: 894.

Adam: 893. (not written down) (75 + 25) × 9 − 7​ (7)
Declan: 893. (75 + 25) × 9 − 7​ (7)
RR: 894. (75 + 50) × 7 + 10 + 9​ (10)
Score: 20–7 (max 24, jos 23)

Adam and Declan get the easy 1 away to get Declan off the mark, and Rachel finds the only way of making 894.

Teatime teaser: DICKRULE -> LUDERICK

Round 4: K I E U D P L H N

Adam: PLUNKED (7)
Declan: unhide
DC: UPLINKED (8)
Score: 27–7 (max 32, jos 31)
Darren-o-meter: 2/3 (67%)

Seven more for Adam, as Declan's 6 is invalid anyway. UPLINKED is a good darrenic spot from DC.

Round 5: C S R D A I O T N

Adam: CAROTIDS (8)
Declan: ACTIONS (7)
DC: CORTINAS (8) SARDONIC (8)
OT: CANTORIS (8) INTRADOS (8) OCTRAINS (8) TORNADIC (8)
Score: 35–7 (max 40, jos 39)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)

A good Countdown word from Adam extends his lead further. Lots of 8s available here.

Round 6: 100, 25, 50, 75, 1, 4. Target: 694.

Adam: 693. (100 − 1) × (75 ÷ 25 + 4)​ (7)
Declan: 695. (not written down) Mistake in working.
RR: 694. (100 + 75 − 1) × 4 − 50 ÷ 25​ (10)
Score: 42–7 (max 50, jos 49)

Declan used the 1 twice. 695 not possible in any case anyway. Adam's 1 the other side gets the 7 points, and the gap is 35 points already...

Rufus's poem today isn't great, with lots of words having superfluous "ooer"s on the end to force rhymes and some dodgy enough pronunciations to make it work. "Sec-ooer"? The punchline is he doesn't say "Nick Hewer" at the end.

Round 7: R P N F E A E A T

Adam: PARENT (6) (stick with)
Declan: REPENT (6)
OT: PARANETE (8) PETRAEAN (8)
Score: 48–13 (max 58, jos 55)
Darren-o-meter: 2/5 (40%)

Not sure what Adam was thinking of but 6 points will do just fine for him. Dictionary Corner can't see anything longer, but there were two 8s available.

Round 8: O O M S L S T I E

Adam: loomiest (try)
Declan: loomiest (try)
DC: TOILSOME (8)
OT: MESITOLS (8) OSTIOLES (8) OSTOMIES (8) STOOLIES (8)
Score: 48–13 (max 66, jos 63)
Darren-o-meter: 2/6 (33%)

Declan tries an 8, prompting Adam to try it as well. As in round one, however, this is not a case of the two-syllable rule and LOOMY^ isn't in either. There were several 8s there.

Round 9: 75, 3, 9, 10, 6, 7. Target: 229.

Adam: 229. 75 × 3 + 10 − 6 (10)
Declan: 229. 75 × 3 + 10 − 6 (10)
Score: 58–23 (max 76, jos 73)

thank u, next

Teatime teaser: LISABAKE -> KIELBASA

Round 10: C N I E U A S J N

Adam: NUISANCE (8)
Declan: JUICES (6)
DC: CASEIN (6) NUANCES (7)
Score: 66–23 (max 84, jos 81)
Darren-o-meter: 3/7 (43%)

A wonderful darren from Adam extends his lead further.

Round 11: Y R G D B O E O R

Adam: boogery
Declan: boogery (dodgy)
DC: BODGER (6) GOODBYER (8)
OT: DOGBERRY (8)
Score: 66–23 (max 92, jos 89)
Darren-o-meter: 3/8 (38%)

Adam and Declan are both surprised to find BOOGERY not in (with a hard G pronunciation) and GOODBYER is a fairly dodgy agent noun from Susie - as in someone who says goodbye.

Gary Parkinson writes in to ask about the Welsh expression of raining old ladies and sticks, as opposed to raining cats and dogs. Susie accidentally advertises for the Independent, who have already answered this question for him. It's just a metaphor, no more, no less.

Round 12: G N D M I E A E T

Adam: TEAMING (7) (stick with)
Declan: MEETING (7)
DC: TEEMING (7) GEMINATED (18)
Score: 73–30 (max 110, jos 107)
Darren-o-meter: 4/9 (44%)

Adam is, for once, asked for his spelling, albeit by Rufus and not Nick, but again sticks with something and we're not informed as to what more he was thinking of. There was a 9 there, however, which, again, is fairly obscure. But that gets Adam over the line and into the semi finals!

Round 13: D H T E U L O W E

Adam: WELTED (6)
Declan: woulted (try)
DC: HOWLED (6) OUTHELD (7)
Score: 79–30 (max 117, jos 114)
Darren-o-meter: 5/10 (50%)

Declan does a dodgy 7 now that he's lost, just for a bit of fun. A darren from Dictionary Corner rounds off a darren-filled day.

Round 14: 50, 25, 100, 75, 7, 9. Target: 425.

Adam: 425. 75 × 7 − 100 (10)
Declan: 425. (9 + 7) × 25 + 100 − 75​ (10)
Score: 89–40 (max 127, jos 124)

thank u, next

Round 15: L A T E D I G I T

Adam buzzes on 26 seconds to say LITIGATED which is correct.
Final Score: 99–40 (max 137, jos 134)

A good conundrum spot here from Adam, if albeit a little late in the clock, which gives him 99 points to round off an excellent performance.

Declan's challenge never really got going, and that's a bit of a shame as they had similar numbers coming into the game.

Join us tomorrow for less Countdown.


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=83

[Gevin Chapwell]

For seemingly no reason whatsoever, Nick Hewer opens with a load of nonsense

If Anne Robinson wasn't about to take over, you could have requested that this auto-filled into every recap.