C1: Champion Eoin Monaghan (#2 Seed, 8 wins, 898 points.)
C2: Champion Niall Young (#7 Seed, 7 wins, 726 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Amanda Lamb.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
Incredibly, it’s that time of the year once again when we have the combined delight (all Scrooges please look away now) of Christmas and some Countdown finals to enjoy, so let’s get stuck in to the second quarter-final of Series 63. The phenomenon that is Eoin Monaghan returns with an average score of 112 points (and still just 14 points on his age scoreboard), while recent Countdown combatant Niall Young is also back in the studio and has an average of ‘just’ 91, so on paper this looks like a walkover for the young Irishman – but will it be? Let’s get down to business...
R01: E I I R N W N A R
R02: G D M E I U Y L O
R03: A E U N R V C S E
R04: T M T A E I H M A
R05: 25, 1, 10, 3, 6, 7. Target: 510.
TTT: OVENROLL - "Adored the grass, but it didn't adore you."
R06: N N T I U A R H O
R07: A E I R S G N F C
R08: N R P E I E T B C
R09: U A I R S G V O E
R10: 75, 6, 9, 6, 8, 1. Target: 638.
TTT: NUNOCEAN - "Tell everyone how much weight you've lost."
R11: E A O S T D L I T
R12: S X T A I E T L R
R13: A O E D Q S J O S
R14: 50, 7, 4, 2, 3, 9. Target: 528.
R15: H A V E F O C U S (conundrum)
This week’s Countdowns are sponsored by Pregnacare. Bet you weren’t expecting that?
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As it’s coming up to Christmas, Jeff’s intro turns to the subject of modern nativity plays and we learn that Rachel never appeared in one (or at least, not as far as she can recall), Amanda Lamb once played a mushroom in Snow White (having hoped to be the lead), while Susie was the star that twinkled – aahhh!!
Round 1: E I I R N W N A R
C1: RAINIER (7)
C2: RAINIER (7)
DC: RAINIER (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
A right royal seven for everyone.
Round 2: G D M E I U Y L O
C1: MOULDY (6)
C2: MODULE (6)
DC: EULOGY (6) MELODY (6)
OT: MYELOID (7)
Score: 13–13 (max 14)
Everyone misses the darren, which relates to bone marrow or the spinal cord.
Round 3: A E U N R V C S E
C1: CENSURE (7)
C2: CURVES (6)
DC: CAVERNS (7) CRAVENS (7)
OT: UNCREASE (8)
Score: 20–13 (max 22)
Again, everyone misses the darren – bit of a risky un- word, I guess.
Round 4: T M T A E I H M A
C1: IMAMATE (7)
C2: HATE (4)
Score: 27–13 (max 29)
A brilliant spot from Eoin and quite possibly the word of the day, in my opinion. Despite sounding like an adjective, an IMAMATE is actually the office or territory of an imam. Sadly, the dictionary didn’t tell me that and I had to resort to the Web.
Incidentally, I thought Niall said ‘hate’ with a bit of feeling, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way!Round 5: 25, 1, 10, 3, 6, 7. Target: 510.
C1: 510. (((3x7)-1)x25)+10 (10)
C2: 510. ((7x3)+6-1+25)x10 (10)
Score: 37–23 (max 39)
Lots of ways to get the target and Eoin and Niall spot two of them.
Amanda Lamb uses her final DC slot for now to test Jeff, Rachel and Susie in a quiz reminiscent of Ms Dent’s ‘Tribute to Call My Bluff’, except there are two possible answers instead of three. I wonder if Amanda will be giving her friend’s phone number to Rachel, as mentioned earlier in the week, or has that been quietly forgotten?
Teatime teaser: OVENROLL -> LOVELORN
Round 6: N N T I U A R H O
C1: RAINOUT (7)
C2: RATION (6)
DC: RAINOUT (7)
OT: TINHORN (7)
Score: 44–23 (max 46)
Eoin spots a Countdown classic. TINHORN is a great word and is a North American term (who said ‘boo’?) for a person who pretends to have money, influence or ability.
Round 7: A E I R S G N F C
C1: CREASING (8)
C2: SEARING (7)
DC: FRANCISE (8)
OT: FANCIERS (8) REFACING (8) SCARFING (8)
Score: 52–23 (max 54)
As Susie notes, FRANCISE (also FRANCIZE) is a Quebecois word meaning to force a person or business to adopt French as their language.
Round 8: N R P E I E T B C
C1: RECEIPT (7)
C2: PRINCE (6)
DC: PRENTICE (8)
Score: 59–23 (max 62)
I was really chuffed with RECEIPT until DC announced they’d got eight. Fair play to them, though, for spotting an archaic spelling of Lord Sugar’s rather successful TV programme.
Round 9: U A I R S G V O E
C1: VIRAGOES (8)
C2: OVARIES (7)
DC: VIRAGOES (8)
OT: GRIEVOUS (8)
Score: 67–23 (max 70)
You can’t have VIRAGOES without OVARIES. Fact.
OoW: Susie discusses the origins of various words, including PANIC, which derives from the god Pan. So when you’re having a panic attack, its origins lie in a fear of the woodland deity. She also notes that the word APHRODISIAC comes, unsurprisingly, from the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.
Round 10: 75, 6, 9, 6, 8, 1. Target: 638.
C1: 638. ((75+6)x8)-9-1 (10)
C2: 638. ((75+6)x8)-9-1 (10)
Score: 77–33 (max 80)
Teatime teaser: NUNOCEAN -> ANNOUNCE
Round 11: E A O S T D L I T
C1: TOTALISED (18)
C2: TOASTED (7)
DC: TOTALISED (18)
Score: 95–33 (max 98)
Another cracking spot – and a niner to boot – from Eoin puts the result beyond doubt at this remarkably early stage. Still, from his comments after the game, it appears Niall realised he was probably only along for the ride.
Round 12: S X T A I E T L R
C1: TASTIER (7)
C2: STARTLE (7)
DC: RATTLES (7) SALTIRE (7)
OT: ARTIEST (7) ARTISTE (7) ATTIRES (7) RATITES (7) STRIATE (7) LITTERS (7) SLITTER (7) TILTERS (7) STARLET (7) REALIST (7) RETAILS (7) SALTIER (7) STARLIT (7)
Score: 102–40 (max 105)
TOTALISE nearly pops up again, but as things turn out, it’s just an enormous plateau of sevens.
Round 13: A O E D Q S J O S
C1: DOSES (5)
C2: DOSES (5)
DC: SODAS (5) DOJOS (5)
OT: ASSED (5) DOSAS (5) JADES (5) OASES (5)
Score: 107–45 (max 110)
DC may have lost their mojo on this round (although you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear, to be fair), but they haven’t lost their DOJO, which is the room in which judo and other martial arts are practised.
Round 14: 50, 7, 4, 2, 3, 9. Target: 528.
C1: 528. ((7+3)x50)+((9-2)x4) (10)
C2: 529.
Score: 117–45 (max 120)
Eoin gets a perfect 30 points today on the numbers and a nigh-on perfect 117 points with the conundrum still remaining.
Round 15: H A V E F O C U S
C1 buzzes on 0.25 seconds to say VOUCHSAFE which is correct.
Final Score: 127–45 (max 130)
Another lightning-fast solve (something that seems to be becoming much more commonplace these days – I wonder why?
) gives Eoin a mighty 127 points and his third entry on The Countdown Page’s High Scores list, while Niall can unfortunately only muster 45, but he takes it with good grace. The next quarter-final features Daniel Pati and Tom Rowell with Paul Zenon in Dictionary Corner, so please join Ryan for that on Monday. I’ll be back next weekend with the Grand Final recap, by which time there’ll only be a week until Christmas and the country will probably be turning whiter and whiter again!Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63