c4countdown

Countdown recap for Monday 1 June 2009.

C1: Champion James Doohan (6 wins, 517 points.)
C2: Challenger Rob Thomas.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Digance.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

James enters his third week only two wins away from becoming an octochamp. Trying to stop him today is Rob, a hedge-fund IT manager from London, who’s into “Drum & Bass”, and speaks Albanian.
Returning to dictionary corner, is Richard Digance, making his first visit for nearly a year and a half.

R01: N S J E A M T U C
R02: P G L I E E S Q O
R03: N T M O E O X R I
R04: E U A G S D B T Z
R05: 75, 8, 5, 1, 2, 10. Target: 145.
TTT: MOBSLIME - "You might have to think like a clot for this one."
R06: N I N E C O S F R
R07: R T S V E I O T D
R08: N E L A R A T L Y
R09: G P D O E T M I F
R10: 25, 4, 8, 4, 1, 10. Target: 352.
TTT: RANFIGHT - "The object is far away; a penny for your thoughts."
R11: R A S R O R K S I
R12: C N D E A O T R P
R13: W D N U O E T B M
R14: 25, 50, 100, 75, 4, 2. Target: 755.
R15: W E L D S P O O N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: N S J E A M T U C

C1: JEANS (5)
C2: MEANS (5)
DC: NUTCASE (7)
OT: MUNTJACS (8)
Score: 5–5 (max 8)

A muntjac is an Asian deer.

Round 2: P G L I E E S Q O

C1: ELOPES (6)
C2: gloops
DC: GOSPEL (6), and Jeff informs us that he’s got PILES (5)
OT: LIEGES (6) PILOSE (6) POLEIS (6)
Score: 11–5 (max 14)

At least Tom is only penalised once for two errors. He’s used a second O which isn’t in the selection, and he’s declared an invalid word, gloop being a mass noun meaning something rather unpleasant, specifically a sticky semi fluid.
Pilose means covered with long soft hairs.
A polis, pl poleis, is a city state in ancient Greece.

Round 3: N T M O E O X R I

C1: MONITOR (7)
C2: EMOTION (7)
DC: MOONIER (7)
OT: IONOMER (7)
Score: 18–12 (max 21)

Moonier is the comparative form of moony, to be dreamy, and possibly in love.
An ionomer is a class of a particular type of polymer material, used to make dental cement.

Round 4: E U A G S D B T Z

C1: STAGED (6)
C2: BADGES (6)
DC: DEBTS (5) BUDGETS (7)
Score: 24–18 (max 28)

Surprisingly, the hedge fund IT manager didn’t see budgets.

Round 5: 75, 8, 5, 1, 2, 10. Target: 145.

C1: 145. (8 - 1) x 10 + 75 (10)
C2: 145. 75 x 2 - 5 (10)
Score: 34–28 (max 38)

For his DC spot, Richard offered us a few limericks, most of which he’d composed since the programme began, and mainly aimed at Jeff’s height.

Teatime teaser: MOBSLIME -> EMBOLISM

Round 6: N I N E C O S F R

C1: conier
C2: SINNER (6)
DC: CONIFERS (8) FORENSIC (8)
OT: CONFINES (8) FORNICES (8) INFERNOS (8)
Score: 34–34 (max 46)

A fornix, pl fornices, is an arched structure in the body.

Round 7: R T S V E I O T D

C1: SORTIED (7)
C2: STRIVED (7)
OT: DEVISOR (7) DEVOIRS (7) VISORED (7) DISTORT (7) DIVERTS (7) DOTTERS (7) DOTTIER (7) EDITORS (7) STEROID (7) STORIED (7) TRIODES (7) TRIVETS (7) VOIDEST (7)
Score: 41–41 (max 53)

Round 8: N E L A R A T L Y

C1: LATERAL (7)
C2: LATELY (6)
OT: ALERTLY (7)
Score: 48–41 (max 60)

Round 9: G P D O E T M I F

C1: MIDGET (6)
C2: MOTIF (5)
OT: FIDGET (6) GIFTED (6) FOETID (6) GIMPED (6)
Score: 54–41 (max 66)

For the first time in the game, a gap of more than 10 points has opened, and it’s James who has the advantage.

Susie talked about some terms which had originated in birdwatching.

Round 10: 25, 4, 8, 4, 1, 10. Target: 352.

C1: 352. (10 + 4) x 25 + 8 / 4 (10)
C2: 352. (10 + 4) x 25 + 8 / 4 (10)
Score: 64–51 (max 76)

Teatime teaser: RANFIGHT -> FARTHING

Round 11: R A S R O R K S I

C1: SOARS (5)
C2: SOARS (5)
DC: SARKS (5)
OT: KAIROS (6) KAROSS (6) KARRIS (6) SKIRRS (6)
Score: 69–56 (max 82)

A sark is a Scottish or Northern English word for a shirt.
A kairos is propitious moment for decision.
A kaross is an animal skin rug, worn as a garment in Africa.
A karri is an Australian eucalyptus.
To skirr is to move rapidly with a whirring sound.
Not really surprising that both contestants chose SOARS.

Round 12: C N D E A O T R P

C1: PRONATED (8)
C2: patroned
DC: NOTECARD (8)
OT: ENDOCARP (8)
Score: 77–56 (max 90)

A countdown favourite from James means that Tom must win the next round to have any chance of saving the game.
An endocarp is the innermost layer of the pericarp surrounding a seed in a fruit.

Round 13: W D N U O E T B M

C1: MOUNTED (7)
C2: MOUNTED (7)
DC: DEMOUNT (7)
OT: UNBOWED (7)
Score: 84–63 (max 97)

And that’s it. An even round means that James is assured of victory. However, the scoreboard shows James only on 82.

Round 14: 25, 50, 100, 75, 4, 2. Target: 755.

C1: 750. (100 / 25 + 4 + 2) x 75 (7)
C2: 750. 4 x 2 x 100 - 50 (7)
RR: 754. (75 / 25 + 2) x (100 + 50) + 4 (7)
OT: 755. (75 x 4 + 2) x (100 + 25) / 50 (10)
Score: 91–70 (max 107)

Thinking that he still has a chance, Rob goes for the four-big selection, hoping it’ll give him an advantage over James, only for the scoreboard to be corrected before the 30 seconds are up.

Not really surprising that nobody in the studio got 755. This is the only possible solution, and it was necessary to go via 37,750 to reach the target.

Round 15: W E L D S P O O N

No one buzzes. The answer was DOWNSLOPE.
Score: 91–70 (max 117)

Today’s win puts James on the brink of becoming the series’ sixth and final octochamp.
Not only that; it guarantees Hamish’s place in the finals, and confirms Kirk as the number one seed.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=60