Countdown recap for Monday 5th July 2021.
Oh my word, what is Anne wearing!? One sleeve is dark blue, the other is light blue with white pinstripes, the chest is white, and the seams aren't even in that pattern. She also does a Nick Hewer intro and tells us that it's the anniversary of Spam.
C1: Champion Daniel Crews (2 wins, 144 points.) "Did you try to match your top to Rachel's dress today"?
C2: Challenger Matthew Gilbert. 27 years old but looks about 12. An assistant accountant.
DC: Susie Dent and Grace Dent. Anne compliments Susie on her top, and it is quite nice, actually.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: B S T U A I G P L
R02: S L H O O E T U C
R03: 75, 100, 8, 6, 4, 10. Target: 588.
TTT: THISCASE - "Reprimand Charlie about his choice of neckwear."
R04: Q L F E E A H G E
R05: T N M G I A W B E
R06: 75, 3, 8, 10, 9, 9. Target: 591.
R07: T K V T U E I L M
R08: T R D R O A I G O
R09: 50, 25, 9, 10, 7, 6. Target: 964.
TTT: SEEAPRIL - "Around April, you might see fruity developments up against a wall."
R10: N S O A U F R O S
R11: P R D E E I M R N
R12: E A T S W I C N A
R13: T J P S E O I C A
R14: 8, 5, 10, 4, 8, 3. Target: 125.
R15: G E L D L O V E R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: B S T U A I G P L
Daniel: uptails (try)
Matthew: PLAITS (6)
DC: GUILTS (6)
OT: ISABGUL (7) SUBPIAL (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7, jos 6)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)
Daniel tries UPTAILS^ which isn't valid, giving Matthew an early lead.
Round 2: S L H O O E T U C
Daniel: CLOTHES (7)
Matthew: CLOSET (6)
DC: LOUCHEST (8)
OT: CLOSEOUT (8)
Score: 7–6 (max 15, jos 14)
Darren-o-meter: 0/2 (0%)
Daniel regains the lead, whilst Susie takes us to eight with a single-syllable superlative.
Round 3: 75, 100, 8, 6, 4, 10. Target: 588.
Daniel: 588. 6 × 100 − 10 − 8 ÷ 4 (10)
Matthew: 588. 100 × 6 − 8 − 4 (10)
Score: 17–16 (max 25, jos 24)
thank u, next
Teatime teaser: THISCASE -> CHASTISE
Round 4: Q L F E E A H G E
Daniel: FEEL (4)
Matthew: HALF (4)
DC: feelage heelage EAGLE (5)
Score: 21–20 (max 30, jos 29)
Darren-o-meter: 1/3 (33%)
Only fours here, the three Es and a Q not helping. Susie tries and fails to get two sevens, but does get the darren of EAGLE.
Round 5: T N M G I A W B E
Daniel: BEATING (7)
Matthew: BEATING (7)
DC: BATWING (7) WINGBEAT (8)
Score: 28–27 (max 38, jos 37)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)
Sevens for our contestants, an eight for DC.
Round 6: 75, 3, 8, 10, 9, 9. Target: 591.
Daniel: 591. 75 × 8 − 9 (10)
Matthew: 591. 75 × 8 − 9 (10)
Score: 38–37 (max 48, jos 47)
thank u, next
Grace talks about her book, Hungry, which is about her childhood, and she goes full Dominic Cummings and moans about things being too London-centric.
Round 7: T K V T U E I L M
Daniel: MILK (4)
Matthew: MELT (4)
DC: VITTLE (6)
OT: KITTEL (6) KITTLE (6) KUMITE (6) MITTLE (6) MUTILE (6) TITULE (6)
Score: 42–41 (max 54, jos 53)
Darren-o-meter: 2/5 (40%)
Another really poor round, only fours for the contestants and DC only see one six.
Round 8: T R D R O A I G O
Daniel: RATIO (5)
Matthew: RADIO (5)
DC: GORDITA (7)
Score: 47–46 (max 61, jos 60)
Darren-o-meter: 3/6 (50%)
GORDITA is a 7, it's also a food term (so Grace claims she got it), and it's a darren. Only fives for the contestants.
Round 9: 50, 25, 9, 10, 7, 6. Target: 964.
Daniel: 963. (10 + 9) × 50 + 7 + 6 (7)
Matthew: 963. (10 + 9) × 50 + 7 + 6 (7)
RR: 964. (after ad break) (25 − 7) × (50 + 9 − 6) + 10 (10)
Score: 54–53 (max 71, jos 70)
This one is more like it - a difficult numbers game and Rachel needs the ad break to find the missing one.
Teatime teaser: SEEAPRIL -> ESPALIER
Round 10: N S O A U F R O S
Daniel: SONARS (6) (risk)
Matthew: SOFAS (5)
DC: SUNROOFS (8)
Score: 60–53 (max 79, jos 78)
Darren-o-meter: 4/7 (57%)
I'm surprised you can pluralise SONAR, but not as surprised as Anne and Susie to find that SUNROOFS is not hyphenated - was it ever hyphenated!?
Round 11: P R D E E I M R N
Daniel: REMINDER (8)
Matthew: REMINDER (8)
DC: PERIDERM (8)
OT: REPRIMED (8)
Score: 68–61 (max 87, jos 86)
Darren-o-meter: 4/8 (50%)
Eights all around here, leaving the gap at 7.
Susie talks about her experience on Test The Nation, hosted by Anne Robinson, then segues into family sayings.
Round 12: E A T S W I C N A
Daniel: WINCES (6)
Matthew: WINCES (6)
DC: CASEIN (6)
OT: ESTANCIA (8)
Score: 74–67 (max 95, jos 92)
Darren-o-meter: 5/9 (56%)
Sixes all round for the studio, but the computer can go two better with ESTANCIA.
Round 13: T J P S E O I C A
Daniel: PACIEST (7)
Matthew: japiest (risky)
DC: POETICS (7)
OT: OPACITES (8)
Score: 81–67 (max 103, jos 99)
Darren-o-meter: 6/10 (60%)
Judging by the declaration, Matthew probably had PACIEST and then realised it was not written down so scrambled around to throw any seven he could find. Unfortunately, JAPIEST^ isn't a thing. The gap goes out to 14 and it'll need a Rachel gamble from Matthew now to win.
Gamble accepted, without even being promoted from Rachel: 6 small incoming...!
Round 14: 8, 5, 10, 4, 8, 3. Target: 125.
Daniel: -
Matthew: 125. (8 + 4) × 10 + 5 (10)
Score: 81–77 (max 113, jos 109)
thank-- what!? Daniel misses one of the easiest 6 smalls you can get, and thus it's crucial conundrum territory once more!
Round 15: G E L D L O V E R
No one buzzes. Rachel provides the answer, which was GROVELLED.
Final Score: 81–77 (max 123, jos 119)
And once again, then, Daniel gets through by the skin of his teeth. Rachel jokes about stealing a Countdown mug, which, well, they're not exactly being handed out at the moment... Matthew gets a goody bag "if Rachel hasn't stolen half of it", says Anne.
Join us again for Countdown. Goodbye.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84