Friday 24 September 2010 (Series 63, Prelim 55)
Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 9:00 am
Countdown recap for Friday 24 September 2010 (Series 63, Prelim 55).
C1: Champion Eoin Monaghan (7 wins, 785 points.)
C2: Challenger Pete Hawksworth.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
It’s the big one for Eoin: can he become an octochamp and can he make it eight centuries out of eight? When questioned by Jeff, he admits to being both nervous and tired. I’m not surprised: it’s his final game and the last recording of the day. His opponent today is from Leicester and he proposed to his wife by placing the letters ‘WILLYOU’ on the Scrabble board; they also married on April Fool’s Day. A nice little story at the start of the show, but of course what we want to know most of all is: did Eoin do it? Let’s see...
R01: A O E S N T N A M
R02: R H I E L D S I R
R03: A I U X C S D A N
R04: T H E F O I M G A
R05: 100, 6, 2, 10, 1, 8. Target: 258.
TTT: MANUPSET - "Man upset at being given inferior champagne."
R06: R I D Y O E T C W
R07: U E U P C G N O I
R08: R A L J E O T S A
R09: U E A N G T S B R
R10: 50, 4, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 125.
TTT: HEARNEWT - "You can hear newts swimming by if you're this."
R11: I E O N L W R D A
R12: P T U E R P A L E
R13: U O I R N S V E M
R14: 100, 10, 2, 10, 6, 7. Target: 297.
R15: B I G C A N N A L (conundrum)
Countdown is currently being sponsored by Menopace. It’s ace for the menopause, apparently.
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According to Jeff, it’s the time of year when children have to take something to school for the Harvest Festival, and he laments that many kids are now taking tins of hot dogs and fruit cocktail with them instead of things actually grown in a garden. This leads on to him asking Rachel whether she has planted anything at her new house yet; she says no, but she is planning to grow some catnip and send her newly acquired cats delirious with joy. Jeff recommends that she tries to grow things like peppers, peas and courgettes as they’re ‘really easy’. On with the show, methinks!
Round 1: A O E S N T N A M
C1: MANNOSE (7)
C2: mannest
OT: ANNATES (7) MONTANE (7) NAMASTE (7) SMETANA (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
Considering there are no everyday words amongst the sevens available, Eoin does well to spot MANNOSE. Presumably Pete was thinking of ‘man’ as an adjective in expressions like ‘are you man enough’.
Round 2: R H I E L D S I R
C1: SHIELD (6)
C2: shired
DC: SHIELD (6) DISHIER (7)
OT: SHIRRED (7)
Score: 13–0 (max 14)
Another unfortunate risk from the Leicestershire Scrabbler. Little did he know he was only a letter away from one of the two max words. Susie scans the dictionary in the hope of finding out why we call someone attractive ‘dishy’; it doesn’t say.
Round 3: A I U X C S D A N
C1: NAIADS (6)
C2: CANS (4)
DC: UNSAID (6)
OT: ACINUS (6) CANIDS (6) DIANAS (6)
Score: 19–0 (max 20)
An evil selection of letters, but Eoin pulls a Countdown classic out of the bag and leaves Pete even further adrift. An ACINUS (plural ACINI) is a small cavity in the body; a CANID is a mammal of the dog family; and a DIANA is a North American butterfly.
Round 4: T H E F O I M G A
C1: MOTIF (5)
C2: THIEF (5)
DC: FATHOM (6) HOMAGE (6)
OT: HOAGIE (6)
Score: 24–5 (max 26)
Eoin fails to spot any of the available sixes: is that tiredness making its presence felt? It’s too early to say, but at least it allows Pete to get on the scoreboard.
Round 5: 100, 6, 2, 10, 1, 8. Target: 258.
C1: 258. (100-8-6)x(2+1) (10)
C2: 259.
Score: 34–5 (max 36)
Although it’s only the end of Part One, it seems unlikely that Eoin will fail to make it to eight, as a good numbers game moves him into the thirties. Before the break, Dave relates a story which reinforces the old adage “honesty is the best policy”. When going to a job interview many years ago, he lied about being a collector of Chinese stamps. And it just went downhill from there. Fact or fiction, a funny tale either way.
Teatime teaser: MANUPSET -> SPUMANTE
Round 6: R I D Y O E T C W
C1: DIRECT (6)
C2: dietry
DC: DIRECT (6) CORDITE (7)
OT: CROWDIE (7)
Score: 40–5 (max 43)
This time Pete falls for an unfortunate spelling of ‘dietary’, while Eoin registers points for the sixth time in six rounds. Surely at this rate he’s going to hit the ton without too much trouble.
Round 7: U E U P C G N O I
C1: couping
C2: COUPE (5)
DC: CUEING (6) POUNCE (6)
OT: COPING (6) PICONG (6) GUINEP (6) PIGEON (6)
Score: 40–10 (max 49)
Oh no! Eoin gambles on a dubious spelling of COOPING and it fails to pay off. Tiredness or a case of being so far ahead it was worth a gamble? Pete’s offering of COUPE is of course (?) one of the words offered by Michael Goldman on the very first edition of Countdown back in 1982, albeit in the plural. Regular recap readers will probably know that a GUINEP is a fruit tree (annoyingly only listed under GENIP), while PICONG is a West Indian word for ridicule, as in ‘Rachel keeps giving Jeff picong about his height’.
Round 8: R A L J E O T S A
C1: ORALS (5)
C2: JOLTS (5)
DC: AREOLA (6)
OT: ALERTS (6) ALTERS (6) ARTELS (6) LATERS (6) RATELS (6) SALTER (6) SLATER (6) STALER (6) STELAR (6) ALTARS (6) ASTRAL (6) TARSAL (6) AORTAS (6) JALEOS (6) JOSTLE (6) OATERS (6) ORATES (6) SERTAO (6) OSTLER (6) STEROL (6) TORSEL (6) REALOS (6) SOLERA (6) SORTAL (6) TOLARS (6)
Score: 45–15 (max 55)
All those sixes and Susie has to go for AREOLA. I’m going to write to my MP about the amount of smut on Channel 4 these days.
Round 9: U E A N G T S B R
C1: SAUNTER (7)
C2: STRANGE (7)
DC: BARNETS (7)
OT: SUBAGENT (8)
Score: 52–22 (max 63)
Nice to see Pete getting a seven; Susie comes over all Cockney again; everyone misses the darren.
OoW: Susie tells us the origins of the phrase ‘cock-a-hoop’. First it’s nipples, now it’s 17th century drinking habits. I don’t know, will it never end?
Round 10: 50, 4, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 125.
C1: 125. ((50-6)x(7-4))-(8-1) (10)
C2: 125. (50/(8/4))x(6-1) (10)
Score: 62–32 (max 73)
With five rounds to go, it seems that eighth century is a definite possibility for the young Ulsterman. Three sevens, the numbers and the conundrum would give him 41 points. Will he do it or will he hit the proverbial wall? I CAN’T WAIT FOR PART THREE!
Teatime teaser: HEARNEWT -> WATERHEN
Round 11: I E O N L W R D A
C1: ANEROID (7)
C2: WARDEN (6)
DC: AILERON (7)
OT: ALIENOR (7) DARIOLE (7) DOWNIER (7) ORDINAL (7)
Score: 69–32 (max 80)
I was too busy pondering the fact that neither DRAWLINE and LINEWARD are in the ODE to spot the Countdown regulars in that selection. No such problem for Eoin, though, as he keeps on target for the 100. ALIENOR always reminds me of our very own Mr Reams, as he sadly misspelled it in the grand final of Series 59. Not sadly if your name’s Mubeen, of course.
Round 12: P T U E R P A L E
C1: RELATE (6)
C2: pupater
DC: PERPETUAL (18)
Score: 75–32 (max 98)
Another risk from Pete fails to pay off and Eoin’s octochampdom is confirmed. Dave mutters about finding PUERPERAL (a great word, but there aren’t enough R’s) before telling us DC have a nine. Eoin still needs 25 points. CAN HE DO IT?
Round 13: U O I R N S V E M
C1: VERMINOUS (18)
C2: VERSION (7)
Score: 93–32 (max 116)
OK, so he missed the niner in the last round, and he may be tired and nervous, but he pulls a brilliant darren out of the bag and leaves himself in a position where he only needs either the conundrum or seven points on the numbers to make it to the hundred. Surely it’s odds-on now...
Round 14: 100, 10, 2, 10, 6, 7. Target: 297.
C1: 297. (100-(10/10))x(6/2) (10)
C2: -
Score: 103–32 (max 126)
There’s no funny business from Pete and he sticks to a conventional ‘one large’. The relatively low target of 297 outfoxes him, but it doesn’t fool the wee Irish lad and he’s done it with a round to spare. As Susie is prone to say... FANTASTIC!
Round 15: B I G C A N N A L
C1 buzzes on 0 seconds to say BALANCING which is correct.
Final Score: 113–32 (max 136)
Just to put the icing on the cake, Eoin completes his octochamp run in style with a sub-one-second conundrum spot. OK, so it may have been an –ING word, but (as they say these days) meh, his form on the fifteenth round has been pretty outstanding throughout. As Mr Stelling points out (although I haven’t checked it myself), the young Mr Monaghan becomes only the fourth person ever to score at least a hundred in each of their heat games. Impressive stuff, and it gives him 898 points on the leader board and makes him the number one seed so far. He will of course be back in December for the finals. In the meantime, Countdown will be back on Monday with two brand new contestants to entertain us, alongside the returning Dr Phil Hammond in Dictionary Corner. I’ll see you in October for more Friday recap fun.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63
C1: Champion Eoin Monaghan (7 wins, 785 points.)
C2: Challenger Pete Hawksworth.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
It’s the big one for Eoin: can he become an octochamp and can he make it eight centuries out of eight? When questioned by Jeff, he admits to being both nervous and tired. I’m not surprised: it’s his final game and the last recording of the day. His opponent today is from Leicester and he proposed to his wife by placing the letters ‘WILLYOU’ on the Scrabble board; they also married on April Fool’s Day. A nice little story at the start of the show, but of course what we want to know most of all is: did Eoin do it? Let’s see...
R01: A O E S N T N A M
R02: R H I E L D S I R
R03: A I U X C S D A N
R04: T H E F O I M G A
R05: 100, 6, 2, 10, 1, 8. Target: 258.
TTT: MANUPSET - "Man upset at being given inferior champagne."
R06: R I D Y O E T C W
R07: U E U P C G N O I
R08: R A L J E O T S A
R09: U E A N G T S B R
R10: 50, 4, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 125.
TTT: HEARNEWT - "You can hear newts swimming by if you're this."
R11: I E O N L W R D A
R12: P T U E R P A L E
R13: U O I R N S V E M
R14: 100, 10, 2, 10, 6, 7. Target: 297.
R15: B I G C A N N A L (conundrum)
Countdown is currently being sponsored by Menopace. It’s ace for the menopause, apparently.
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According to Jeff, it’s the time of year when children have to take something to school for the Harvest Festival, and he laments that many kids are now taking tins of hot dogs and fruit cocktail with them instead of things actually grown in a garden. This leads on to him asking Rachel whether she has planted anything at her new house yet; she says no, but she is planning to grow some catnip and send her newly acquired cats delirious with joy. Jeff recommends that she tries to grow things like peppers, peas and courgettes as they’re ‘really easy’. On with the show, methinks!
Round 1: A O E S N T N A M
C1: MANNOSE (7)
C2: mannest
OT: ANNATES (7) MONTANE (7) NAMASTE (7) SMETANA (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
Considering there are no everyday words amongst the sevens available, Eoin does well to spot MANNOSE. Presumably Pete was thinking of ‘man’ as an adjective in expressions like ‘are you man enough’.
Round 2: R H I E L D S I R
C1: SHIELD (6)
C2: shired
DC: SHIELD (6) DISHIER (7)
OT: SHIRRED (7)
Score: 13–0 (max 14)
Another unfortunate risk from the Leicestershire Scrabbler. Little did he know he was only a letter away from one of the two max words. Susie scans the dictionary in the hope of finding out why we call someone attractive ‘dishy’; it doesn’t say.
Round 3: A I U X C S D A N
C1: NAIADS (6)
C2: CANS (4)
DC: UNSAID (6)
OT: ACINUS (6) CANIDS (6) DIANAS (6)
Score: 19–0 (max 20)
An evil selection of letters, but Eoin pulls a Countdown classic out of the bag and leaves Pete even further adrift. An ACINUS (plural ACINI) is a small cavity in the body; a CANID is a mammal of the dog family; and a DIANA is a North American butterfly.
Round 4: T H E F O I M G A
C1: MOTIF (5)
C2: THIEF (5)
DC: FATHOM (6) HOMAGE (6)
OT: HOAGIE (6)
Score: 24–5 (max 26)
Eoin fails to spot any of the available sixes: is that tiredness making its presence felt? It’s too early to say, but at least it allows Pete to get on the scoreboard.
Round 5: 100, 6, 2, 10, 1, 8. Target: 258.
C1: 258. (100-8-6)x(2+1) (10)
C2: 259.
Score: 34–5 (max 36)
Although it’s only the end of Part One, it seems unlikely that Eoin will fail to make it to eight, as a good numbers game moves him into the thirties. Before the break, Dave relates a story which reinforces the old adage “honesty is the best policy”. When going to a job interview many years ago, he lied about being a collector of Chinese stamps. And it just went downhill from there. Fact or fiction, a funny tale either way.
Teatime teaser: MANUPSET -> SPUMANTE
Round 6: R I D Y O E T C W
C1: DIRECT (6)
C2: dietry
DC: DIRECT (6) CORDITE (7)
OT: CROWDIE (7)
Score: 40–5 (max 43)
This time Pete falls for an unfortunate spelling of ‘dietary’, while Eoin registers points for the sixth time in six rounds. Surely at this rate he’s going to hit the ton without too much trouble.
Round 7: U E U P C G N O I
C1: couping
C2: COUPE (5)
DC: CUEING (6) POUNCE (6)
OT: COPING (6) PICONG (6) GUINEP (6) PIGEON (6)
Score: 40–10 (max 49)
Oh no! Eoin gambles on a dubious spelling of COOPING and it fails to pay off. Tiredness or a case of being so far ahead it was worth a gamble? Pete’s offering of COUPE is of course (?) one of the words offered by Michael Goldman on the very first edition of Countdown back in 1982, albeit in the plural. Regular recap readers will probably know that a GUINEP is a fruit tree (annoyingly only listed under GENIP), while PICONG is a West Indian word for ridicule, as in ‘Rachel keeps giving Jeff picong about his height’.
Round 8: R A L J E O T S A
C1: ORALS (5)
C2: JOLTS (5)
DC: AREOLA (6)
OT: ALERTS (6) ALTERS (6) ARTELS (6) LATERS (6) RATELS (6) SALTER (6) SLATER (6) STALER (6) STELAR (6) ALTARS (6) ASTRAL (6) TARSAL (6) AORTAS (6) JALEOS (6) JOSTLE (6) OATERS (6) ORATES (6) SERTAO (6) OSTLER (6) STEROL (6) TORSEL (6) REALOS (6) SOLERA (6) SORTAL (6) TOLARS (6)
Score: 45–15 (max 55)
All those sixes and Susie has to go for AREOLA. I’m going to write to my MP about the amount of smut on Channel 4 these days.
Round 9: U E A N G T S B R
C1: SAUNTER (7)
C2: STRANGE (7)
DC: BARNETS (7)
OT: SUBAGENT (8)
Score: 52–22 (max 63)
Nice to see Pete getting a seven; Susie comes over all Cockney again; everyone misses the darren.
OoW: Susie tells us the origins of the phrase ‘cock-a-hoop’. First it’s nipples, now it’s 17th century drinking habits. I don’t know, will it never end?
Round 10: 50, 4, 6, 7, 1, 8. Target: 125.
C1: 125. ((50-6)x(7-4))-(8-1) (10)
C2: 125. (50/(8/4))x(6-1) (10)
Score: 62–32 (max 73)
With five rounds to go, it seems that eighth century is a definite possibility for the young Ulsterman. Three sevens, the numbers and the conundrum would give him 41 points. Will he do it or will he hit the proverbial wall? I CAN’T WAIT FOR PART THREE!
Teatime teaser: HEARNEWT -> WATERHEN
Round 11: I E O N L W R D A
C1: ANEROID (7)
C2: WARDEN (6)
DC: AILERON (7)
OT: ALIENOR (7) DARIOLE (7) DOWNIER (7) ORDINAL (7)
Score: 69–32 (max 80)
I was too busy pondering the fact that neither DRAWLINE and LINEWARD are in the ODE to spot the Countdown regulars in that selection. No such problem for Eoin, though, as he keeps on target for the 100. ALIENOR always reminds me of our very own Mr Reams, as he sadly misspelled it in the grand final of Series 59. Not sadly if your name’s Mubeen, of course.
Round 12: P T U E R P A L E
C1: RELATE (6)
C2: pupater
DC: PERPETUAL (18)
Score: 75–32 (max 98)
Another risk from Pete fails to pay off and Eoin’s octochampdom is confirmed. Dave mutters about finding PUERPERAL (a great word, but there aren’t enough R’s) before telling us DC have a nine. Eoin still needs 25 points. CAN HE DO IT?
Round 13: U O I R N S V E M
C1: VERMINOUS (18)
C2: VERSION (7)
Score: 93–32 (max 116)
OK, so he missed the niner in the last round, and he may be tired and nervous, but he pulls a brilliant darren out of the bag and leaves himself in a position where he only needs either the conundrum or seven points on the numbers to make it to the hundred. Surely it’s odds-on now...
Round 14: 100, 10, 2, 10, 6, 7. Target: 297.
C1: 297. (100-(10/10))x(6/2) (10)
C2: -
Score: 103–32 (max 126)
There’s no funny business from Pete and he sticks to a conventional ‘one large’. The relatively low target of 297 outfoxes him, but it doesn’t fool the wee Irish lad and he’s done it with a round to spare. As Susie is prone to say... FANTASTIC!
Round 15: B I G C A N N A L
C1 buzzes on 0 seconds to say BALANCING which is correct.
Final Score: 113–32 (max 136)
Just to put the icing on the cake, Eoin completes his octochamp run in style with a sub-one-second conundrum spot. OK, so it may have been an –ING word, but (as they say these days) meh, his form on the fifteenth round has been pretty outstanding throughout. As Mr Stelling points out (although I haven’t checked it myself), the young Mr Monaghan becomes only the fourth person ever to score at least a hundred in each of their heat games. Impressive stuff, and it gives him 898 points on the leader board and makes him the number one seed so far. He will of course be back in December for the finals. In the meantime, Countdown will be back on Monday with two brand new contestants to entertain us, alongside the returning Dr Phil Hammond in Dictionary Corner. I’ll see you in October for more Friday recap fun.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63