Countdown recap for Thursday 21 April 2011.
C1: Champion Mary Adie (4 wins, 352 points.) She is a retired bank worker, and is quite good at badminton. She also makes her own jams, her biggest seller being Victorian Plum jam.
C2: Challenger James Timpson. From Horsham, West Sussex, but is studying mathematics and statistics student at Reading University. His grandfather was the Radio 4 broadcaster, John Timpson. While at school, he did a Top Trumps deck of his school teachers based on strictness, popularity, intelligence and humour.
DC: Susie Dent and Carol Smillie.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S M D N G E U A W
R02: T S J E I E R D R
R03: P M S T M O E A O
R04: L T G I A U S G E
R05: 50, 8, 9, 1, 9, 2. Target: 580.
TTT: THISGOAL - "The beetles were big, in fact, they were huge!"
R06: P N Q O A O D N E
R07: D T T V Z A E O S
R08: L T D E E A S D V
R09: C N T W I U E O Y
R10: 1, 10, 2, 6, 10, 7. Target: 362.
TTT: RODSMINI - "This 8 can be fours, fives or even sixes"
R11: B L P X N U E U I
R12: P M G A U A R R N
R13: L R N T R I A O E
R14: 7, 9, 4, 2, 9, 1. Target: 255.
R15: T R I A L P L A Y (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S M D N G E U A W
C1: SMUDGE (6)
C2: SMUDGE (6)
DC: UNWAGED (7)
OT: SWAGMEN (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
Both contestants SMUDGE their starts, as DC get one of the available 7's.
A SWAGMAN is an Australian term for a tramp, hobo or vagabond.
Round 2: T S J E I E R D R
C1: RESITED (7)
C2: RETRIED (7)
DC: STIRRED (7)
OT: DESTRIER (8)
Score: 13–13 (max 15)
The darrenic 8 is missed by all, as everyone sticks with 7's.
A DESTRIER is an archaic term for a warhorse or charger.
Round 3: P M S T M O E A O
C1: TEMPOS (6)
C2: MOPES (5)
DC: STOMA (5)
OT: STEMMA (6)
Score: 19–13 (max 21)
Mary ups the TEMPOS with her 6 to give her the first breakthrough today.
A STEMMA (or OCELLUS) is a type of simple eye common to invertebrates, consisting of retinal cells, pigments, and nerve fibres.
Round 4: L T G I A U S G E
C1: GAUGES (6)
C2: laggiest
DC: UGLIEST (7) LIGATES (7)
Score: 25–13 (max 28)
James tries to forge ahead with his risky 8, but it turns out to be just that, so Mary's advantages doubles to a dozen.
Round 5: 50, 8, 9, 1, 9, 2. Target: 580.
C1: 580. (50 + 8) x (9 + 1) (10)
C2: 580. (50 + 8) x (9 + 1) (10)
Score: 35–23 (max 38)
Not the hardest numbers of all time. NEXT............
Carol talks about her time as a hostess on Wheel Of Fortune at the beginning of her career and her stint on Strictly Come Dancing in 2006.
Teatime teaser: THISGOAL -> GOLIATHS
Round 6: P N Q O A O D N E
C1: PANNED (6)
C2: PANNED (6)
OT: POONED (6)
Score: 41–29 (max 44)
Round 7: D T T V Z A E O S
C1: TOASTED (7)
C2: TOASTED (7)
DC: STATED (6)
Score: 48–36 (max 51)
Sounds like we've been in the kitchen with PANNED and TOASTED in successive rounds.
Round 8: L T D E E A S D V
C1: SLATED (6)
C2: steals
DC: DESALTED (8)
Score: 54–36 (max 59)
Oooooh, James is seeing double S's here, so Mary pulls further away again, as DC pick the darrenic 8 out of the bag.
Round 9: C N T W I U E O Y
C1: COUNTY (6)
C2: TWICE (5)
DC: NICETY (6)
OT: NOETIC (6) NOTICE (6) TOWNIE (6) WINCEY (6)
Score: 60–36 (max 65)
And another 6 for Mary and is it possibly game over already
NOETIC is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the mind.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "tickety boo".
Round 10: 1, 10, 2, 6, 10, 7. Target: 362.
C1: -
C2: 362. ((7 - 1) x 6 x 10) + 2 (10)
Score: 60–46 (max 75)
Maybe not, as James comes charging back in with that good 6 small solve. Clearly all those maths lessons have done him good.
Teatime teaser: RODSMINI -> MIDIRONS
Round 11: B L P X N U E U I
C1: NUBILE (6)
C2: BLUE (4)
DC: LUPIN (5)
OT: LUPINE (6)
Score: 66–46 (max 81)
A very impressive spot by Mary there and her lead goes up to 20 now. A bit embarrassing for DC that they spotted LUPIN, but not LUPINE.
Round 12: P M G A U A R R N
C1: PURR (4)
C2: PRAM (4)
DC: PANGRAM (7)
Score: 70–50 (max 88)
The contestants stick to 4's, I was thinking I did good with 5, but DC come up top trumps with an awesome darrenic 7
Round 13: L R N T R I A O E
C1: RELATION (8)
C2: LATRINE (7)
DC: ORIENTAL (8)
OT: ANTERIOR (8)
Score: 78–50 (max 96)
And that's game over now, as Mary's 8 puts her out of reach.
Round 14: 7, 9, 4, 2, 9, 1. Target: 255.
C1: -
C2: 255. (7 x 4 x 9) + 2 + 1 (10)
Score: 78–60 (max 106)
James will probably wish that there were more numbers games in this show, as he seems to have found Mary's weakness and taken complete advantage of it.
Round 15: T R I A L P L A Y
C1 buzzes on 26 seconds to say PARTIALLY which is correct.
Final Score: 88–60 (max 116)
But Mary gets the conundrum to make her conundrum record 4 out of 6, and it also means that Mary has moved up to #7 in the seedings thanks to her 5th win on the trot. Can she be the first female octochamp since Cate Henderson over 2 years ago
Join Mike tomorrow to see if she can make it 6 of the best.
Till next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Mary:
Total score - 88
Raw score - 88
Total % of max - 76
Raw % of max - 76
Total average score per round - 5.9
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 8
James:
Total score - 60
Raw score - 81
Total % of max - 52
Raw % of max - 70
Total average score per round - 4.0
Raw average score per round - 5.4
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64