Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 9 March 2011, or as Jeff calls it "Fleetwood versus Mac" (You'll find out why in a second.)
.C1: Champion Andy McGurn (1 win, 94 points.) An Apteforumite from Leeds. He works as a social worker. As well as being a fan of movies and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, he says that the person he'd most like to have round to dinner is Richard Dawkins, who Andy claims changed his life while he was studying religious studies.
C2: Challenger Adam Fleetwood. An Apteforumite from Sheffield. He lives with his partner, Jessica, and his 5-month-old son, James (good name
). He has been watching Countdown since he was 5 years old, and as Jeff says that's a gap of 18 years between first watch and first appearance, we can safely assume Adam to be 23 years old. 
His biggest claim to fame was being a model for Sheffield Wednesday's replica kits when he was 14 years old. 
DC: Susie Dent and John Parrott.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: H L G U O E S Z N
R02: P D U E W R O B R
R03: W S M E I A R E E
R04: N P O E D L O G A
R05: 100, 1, 7, 1, 3, 4. Target: 175.
TTT: RICHRANG - "Very cross for partially burning the food"
R06: D U A X T E S V N
R07: R B M O A I F R T
R08: M A T J U E T G N
R09: H K N A E O P C T
R10: 25, 6, 2, 8, 3, 1. Target: 287.
TTT: RESTRIFT - "Wastes money away on pieces of spam"
R11: V G T I E O L C S
R12: S D E C O P I A T
R13: Y S N E A E F L R
R14: 75, 50, 100, 25, 3, 8. Target: 811.
R15: L E T U P M O R E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: H L G U O E S Z N
C1: LOUNGES (7)
C2: LOUNGES (7)
DC: ZONULES (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
A nice start for both players in this midweek match-up.
Round 2: P D U E W R O B R
C1: BURROWED (8)
C2: PROUDER (7)
Score: 15–7 (max 15)
Even DC are impressed after Andy dug up that darrenic 8 from somewhere.
Round 3: W S M E I A R E E
C1: SEAMIER (7)
C2: SAMIER (6)
DC: WEARIES (7)
OT: SERIEMA (7)
Score: 22–7 (max 22)
Both go for risky words, but Andy's longer risk pays off and his lead is already at 15.
A SERIEMA is either of two birds of the family Cariamidae, Cariama cristata, of southern Brazil, or Chunga burmeisteri, of Argentina, having long legs, an erectile crest, a short, broad bill, and limited ability to fly.
Round 4: N P O E D L O G A
C1: GONDOLA (7)
C2: glooped
Score: 29–7 (max 29)
Adam goes for the commonly risked glooped, but Andy goes darrenic again in this one.
Round 5: 100, 1, 7, 1, 3, 4. Target: 175.
C1: 175. (100 / 4) x 7 (10)
C2: 177.
Score: 39–7 (max 39)
And that's a perfect first half for Andy. There are ways of getting it from going up to 200 and going down, but Andy goes direct, as Adam will probably be licking his wounds during the break.
John talks about horse racing in preparation for next week's Cheltenham Gold Cup meet (which of course means that this show will be restricted to just 1 show next week
), and in particular some of the odd things involving horse racing such as how horses are named, as well as when he put a bet on a horse to win in a 3-horse-race, when the other 2 were his 
Teatime teaser: RICHRANG -> CHARRING
Round 6: D U A X T E S V N
C1: STAVED (6)
C2: VAUNTED (7)
DC: ADVENTS (7) UNTAXED (7)
OT: UNSAVED (7)
Score: 39–14 (max 46)
Adam ends Andy chances of a max game with a nice 7. Is this the start of a comeback.....
Round 7: R B M O A I F R T
C1: BARRIO (6)
C2: BOAT (4)
DC: RATIO (5) FORMAT (6)
OT: FIBROMA (7) TRIFORM (7)
Score: 45–14 (max 53)
Maybe not, as he then bombs to just a 4, as Andy's 6 gives him more breathing space, while two 7's go unnoticed.
A FIBROMA is a tumour consisting essentially of fibrous tissue.
Round 8: M A T J U E T G N
C1: MUTATE (6)
C2: MUTATE (6)
DC: AUGMENT (7)
OT: MUTAGEN (7)
Score: 51–20 (max 60)
If the contestants had just MUTATEd their words a bit more, they'd have had a nice 7, but they're happy with 6's for now.
Round 9: H K N A E O P C T
C1: POCKET (6)
C2: PACKET (6)
DC: PHONATE (7) PHAETON (7)
OT: CENOTAPH (8)
Score: 57–26 (max 68)
More 6's from the contestants, more 7's from DC and a darrenic 8 is left alone.
Susie's Origins Of Words tells of the origins of the proverb "a rolling stone gathers no moss".
Round 10: 25, 6, 2, 8, 3, 1. Target: 287.
C1: 288.
C2: 287. ((25 + 3) x (8 + 2)) + 6 + 1 (10)
Score: 57–36 (max 78)
Hmmm, Andy's numbers knowledge seems to have been grilled as Adam is now right back in this one with a very fine solve.
Teatime teaser: RESTRIFT -> FRITTERS
Round 11: V G T I E O L C S
C1: COSTIVE (7)
C2: VIOLETS (7)
DC: CITOLES (7)
OT: LOGIEST (7)
Score: 64–43 (max 85)
A 7 for everyone here.
Round 12: S D E C O P I A T
C1: ADIPOSE (7)
C2: DIOPTASE (8)
DC: DESPOTIC (8)
Score: 64–51 (max 93)
But a brilliant 8 spot by Adam means that these last few rounds are going to be very intense indeed.
Round 13: Y S N E A E F L R
C1: sneerly
C2: leaners
DC: FLARES (6) FLAYERS (7)
OT: FLENSER (7) FRESNEL (7) LARNEYS (7)
Score: 64–51 (max 100)
Looks like it has got to both of them as they both blank with illegal 7's.
FLENSER is a noun derived from the verb FLENSE, which is to strip the blubber from the skin of a whale or a seal.
A FRESNEL is a unit of frequency, equal to 10,000,000,000,000 (that's 10 trillion
) cycles per second.A LARNEY is either a white or rich person.
Round 14: 75, 50, 100, 25, 3, 8. Target: 811.
C1: -
C2: 809. (100 x 8) + ((75 / 25) x 3) (7)
RR: 811. ((100 + ((75 - 50) / 25)) x 8) + 3 (10)
Score: 64–58 (max 110)
Adam's gambling habit seems to be working wonders as Andy blanks, while his 2 away means that from virtually out of nowhere, we have a crucial conundrum.
Round 15: L E T U P M O R E
No one buzzes. The answer was PETROLEUM.
Final Score: 64–58 (max 120)
Unfortunately, the conundrum completely flummoxes the entire studio, as no-one has a clue what it is.
But, Andy wins again, despite scoring "nul pois" in the last 4 rounds
It was a very spirited fightback from Adam, who must be cursing himself following his virtual no-show in the first half. But, a tight game appeared at the end and Andy just about survives for another day.Join me again tomorrow to see how much longer he can hold out for.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Andy:
Total score - 64
Raw score - 84
Total % of max - 53
Raw % of max - 70
Total average score per round - 4.3
Raw average score per round - 5.6
Number of maxes - 6
Adam:
Total score - 58
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 48
Raw % of max - 68
Total average score per round - 3.9
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64