c4countdown

That was quick, wasn't it

Enjoy once more.

Countdown recap for Thursday 27 January 2011.

C1: Champion Jamie Humphries (2 wins, 169 points.) From County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He is studying to teach secondary school children mathematics. He says the most fun he has ever had was cycling 1,653 miles from Budapest to Belfast with friends, which took 25 cycling days and some rest days inbetween.
C2: Challenger Jody Sparrow. A student at Winchester University (Jeff whispers "posh"), where he is studying Media & Creative Writing. The person he'd most like to have round for dinner is the brilliant Tim Vine.
DC: Susie Dent and Andrew Castle.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: B T R E O I E P T
R02: S U A I B G W O S
R03: M D T M E O E A E
R04: K I T A R I C U R
R05: 100, 8, 7, 3, 5, 5. Target: 367.
TTT: SAVEGLEN - "Reading these might save Glen from damnation"
R06: T G N D M A E I E
R07: L L R U A U A S N
R08: Z E T I S E C O S
R09: L D N E O E P G O
R10: 100, 5, 7, 9, 6, 10. Target: 318.
TTT: WARMIRON - "It'll come up when it comes down"
R11: N R M S I O E F A
R12: L O G O T E N A R
R13: S N H I E A R N W
R14: 75, 6, 7, 6, 5, 8. Target: 518.
R15: A B I T C R U E L (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: B T R E O I E P T

C1: POTTIER (7)
C2: POTTIER (7)
DC: TREETOP (7)
OT: PETTIER (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)

Nice flat start all round today.

Round 2: S U A I B G W O S

C1: SWABS (5)
C2: BASIS (5)
DC: BIOGAS (6)
Score: 12–12 (max 13)

DC go darrenic early today with that green 6.

Round 3: M D T M E O E A E

C1: DEMOTE (6)
C2: DEMOTE (6)
DC: TEAMED (6)
OT: EMOTED (6) MADTOM (6) MOATED (6) OEDEMA (6) TEEMED (6) TOMMED (6)
Score: 18–18 (max 19)

PANCAKE TIME

A MADTOM is any of several tadpolelike, freshwater catfishes of the genus Noturus, of the central and eastern U.S., having a poisonous pectoral spine: some are threatened or endangered.
An OEDEMA (or EDEMA) is an effusion of serous fluid into the interstices of cells in tissue spaces or into body cavities.

Round 4: K I T A R I C U R

C1: TRACK (5)
C2: TRICK (5)
DC: TRUCK (5)
OT: CRATUR (6) TRICAR (6)
Score: 23–23 (max 25)

2 tricky 6's here, but there's a lot of TRICKing, TRACKing and TRUCKing in the studio today.

A CRATUR is either a whisky or a person (deriving from CREATURE)

Round 5: 100, 8, 7, 3, 5, 5. Target: 367.

C1: 366.
C2: 367. (((5 x 5) + 100) x 3) - 8 (10)
Score: 23–33 (max 35)

An impressive solve by Jody gives him the early lead today.

Andrew talks about his tennis career, which started off at a fish and chip shop, which eventually led him to an American scholarship and eventually being British No.1.

Teatime teaser: SAVEGLEN -> EVANGELS

Round 6: T G N D M A E I E

C1: DEEMING (7)
C2: MEDIATE (7)
DC: GEMINATED (18)
Score: 30–40 (max 53)

Another 9 missed by the contestants in this series. Seemingly, you only seem to get 9's on this show if you're called Adam Gillard at the moment.

Round 7: L L R U A U A S N

C1: USUAL (5)
C2: SAUNA (5)
DC: uranus
OT: LUNULA (6) NULLAS (6)
Score: 35–45 (max 59)

No-one gets better than 5 in this one, but there are a couple of 6's lurking around.

LUNULAR simply means crescent shaped.

Round 8: Z E T I S E C O S

C1: COSIEST (7)
C2: COSIEST (7)
OT: COTISES (7)
Score: 42–52 (max 66)

More 7's to share here.

Round 9: L D N E O E P G O

C1: glooped
C2: GOLDEN (6)
DC: ELOPED (6) DONGLE (6)
OT: LONGED (6) LEGEND (6) LOONED (6) NOODLE (6) LOOPED (6) POODLE (6) POOLED (6) OPENED (6) PLEDGE (6) POGOED (6) PONGED (6) PONGEE (6) POONED (6)
Score: 42–58 (max 72)

I had a bad feeling that when Jamie said "7" that glooped was going to come out of his mouth......

Susie's Origins Of Words talks about English Civil War terms "roundhead" and "cavalier".

Round 10: 100, 5, 7, 9, 6, 10. Target: 318.

C1: 318. (100 + 6) x (10 - 7) (10)
C2: 317.
Score: 52–58 (max 82)

But, he makes up for it with this numbers solve here.

Teatime teaser: WARMIRON -> RAINWORM

Round 11: N R M S I O E F A

C1: MOANERS (7)
C2: MOANERS (7)
DC: ROMANISE (8)
OT: ENSIFORM (8) FERMIONS (8) MORAINES (8) ROMAINES (8)
Score: 59–65 (max 90)

Plenty of MOANERS here and also plenty of 8's too.

ENSIFORM means sword-shaped.

Round 12: L O G O T E N A R

C1: GLOATER (7)
C2: GLOATER (7)
DC: OREGANO (7)
OT: LEGATOR (7) NEGATOR (7) ORTOLAN (7) TANGELO (7)
Score: 66–72 (max 97)

Some GLOATERs here now, but there's nothing better.

Round 13: S N H I E A R N W

C1: WINNERS (7)
C2: WINNERS (7)
DC: SHERWANI (8)
Score: 73–79 (max 105)

A very impressive spot by DC in this 1, but while the contestants find some WINNERS, who will be the winner in this 1

Round 14: 75, 6, 7, 6, 5, 8. Target: 518.

C1: 518. (75 x 7) - (8 - 6 + 5) (10)
C2: 518. (75 x 7) - (8 - (6 / 6)) (10)
Score: 83–89 (max 115)

The numbers doesn't separate them, so amazingly, in the 14th show of the series, we have the first crucial conundrum of the series and year.

Round 15: A B I T C R U E L

No one buzzes. The answer was LUBRICATE.
Final Score: 83–89 (max 125)

But no-one solves it and Jamie vents his frustration by seeming to bang the desk hard, but anyway Jody is the new champ, and could be on for a bit in my opinion.

So, no we've all caught up, I'll leave you in the hands of the brilliant Mike for tomorrow's recap.

I'll see you at CoLin on Saturday, if you're attending.

If not, I'll "see" you next Wednesday, when someone close to us will be making his long-awaited debut on the show.

So, till then, bye bye.

Statistics Corner

Jamie:
Total score - 83
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 66
Raw % of max - 72
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 6

Jody:
Total score - 89
Raw score - 96
Total % of max - 71
Raw % of max - 77
Total average score per round - 5.9
Raw average score per round - 6.4
Number of maxes - 7

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64

James Robinson wrote: Round 7: L L R U A U A S N

C1: USUAL (5)
C2: SAUNA (5)
DC: uranus
OT: LUNULAR (7)
Score: 35–45 (max 60)

I'm afraid LUNULAR has been banished from ODE3 (the adjective is now LUNULATE only), so chop that max by 1... (top words on this round are LUNULA and NULLAS).

Mike Brown wrote:

James Robinson wrote: Round 7: L L R U A U A S N

C1: USUAL (5)
C2: SAUNA (5)
DC: uranus
OT: LUNULAR (7)
Score: 35–45 (max 60)

I'm afraid LUNULAR has been banished from ODE3 (the adjective is now LUNULATE only), so chop that max by 1... (top words on this round are LUNULA and NULLAS).

Done.