COOT IV Opening Preliminary Game

[Richard Brittain]

Countdown recap for Monday 23rd June 2008.

C1: Challenger Michael Wallace - A 21 year-old MSc Statistics student at UCL, formerly of Cambridge. Michael made one appearance on Countdown in Series 55 but lost to Stu Horsey, an Octochamp who Richard Brittain later beat in a closely contested semi-final.
C2: Challenger Richard Brittain - A 20 year-old student who enjoys eating wild fungi, listening to Wagner and watching birds. Richard is a Cambridge drop-out, unlike Michael Wallace who completed his degree there, but is intending to start a degree in Countryside Management at the University of Aberystwyth this September. Richard won Series 55 of Countdown.
DC: Ben Wilson and Jason Cullen, Paul Howe.
CV: Carol Vorderman.
OT: Other words or solutions.

This was the first preliminary round game of Jon O'Neill's esteemed COOT IV tournament, hosted by Ben Wilson. An interesting one, pitting together two former contestants of Series 55. Richard and Michael have also faced each other once before, in a casual online friendly match. Michael won the match, although it was dogged with allegations of favouritism towards Richard Brittain by the host, David O'Donnell, who made the final conundrum worth 12 points while Richard was 11 points behind going into it. Richard solved the conundrum and so claimed victory following the match; however, due to intense media pressure, David O'Donnell was forced to go back on himself and say that the conundrum was in fact only worth 10 points. Michael Wallace may therefore have gone into this match holding a slight psychological advantage, although Richard Brittain undermined his position by telling him in PMs before the match that he had 'been practising' and was 'really psyched up for this match'. And thus, one of the most eagerly anticipated games of Countdown in history began...

R01: J I F A R I R E N
R02: A E I H D N S T B
R03: R E H A R E T L U
R04: U I U T X S N I A
R05: 3, 2, 7, 5, 3, 1. Target: 348.
TTT:
R06: E U I R M L T E S
R07: M E T A N A B P U
R08: I A E D R S V N I
R09: C E L I P A K T W
R10: 25, 8, 6, 5, 7, 1. Target: 876.
TTT:
R11: D A S E M A Z N F
R12: E E I R D R T T P
R13: C E W A P E R D L
R14: 75, 4, 2, 2, 5, 10. Target: 948.
R15: D E T A I N P O P (conundrum)


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Round 1: J I F A R I R E N
C1: FAIRER (6)
C2: REFRAIN (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)

Round 2: A E I H D N S T B
C1: HANDIEST (8)
C2: BANISHED (8)
DC: ABSINTHE, (8) BANDIEST (8)
Score: 8–15 (max 15)

Round 3: R E H A R E T L U
C1: LEATHER (7)
C2: LEATHER (7)
DC: URETHRAL, (8) URETERAL (8)
Score: 15–22 (max 23)

Round 4: U I U T X S N I A
C1: UNITS (5)
C2: inuits
Score: 20–22 (max 28)

Round 5: 3, 2, 7, 5, 3, 1. Target: 348.
C1: 350.
C2: 348.7*5*(3*3 + 1) - 2 (10)
Score: 20–32 (max 38)

Teatime teaser: ->

Round 6: E U I R M L T E S
C1: STERILE (7)
C2: LUSTIER (7)
DC: EMERITUS (8) (spotted by Jason Cullen)
Score: 27–39 (max 46)

Round 7: M E T A N A B P U
C1: PUTAMEN (7)
C2: PUTAMEN (7)
DC: MANTEAU (7)
Score: 34–46 (max 53)

Round 8: I A E D R S V N I
C1: INVADERS (8)
C2: SARDINE (7)
Score: 42–46 (max 61)

Round 9: C E L I P A K T W
C1: PICKLE (6)
C2: PLICATE (7)
Score: 42–53 (max 68)

Round 10: 25, 8, 6, 5, 7, 1. Target: 876.
C1: 876.5*7*25 + 1 (10)
C2: 876.7*5*25 + 1 (10)
Score: 52–63 (max 78)

Teatime teaser: ->

Round 11: D A S E M A Z N F
C1: AMAZED (6)
C2: AMAZED (6)
DC: FAZENDAS (8)
Score: 58–69 (max 86)

Round 12: E E I R D R T T P
C1: PRETTIER (8)
C2: PRETTIER (8)
Score: 66–77 (max 94)

Round 13: C E W A P E R D L
C1: REPLACED (8)
C2: REPLACED (8)
Score: 74–85 (max 102)

Round 14: 75, 4, 2, 2, 5, 10. Target: 948.
C1: 948.(75+4) * (10+2) (10)
C2: 948.(75+4) * (10+2) (10)
Score: 84–95 (max 112)

Round 15: D E T A I N P O P
C2 buzzes on 6 seconds to say APPOINTED which is correct.
Score: 84–105 (max 122)

So, a solid victory for Richard in the end, but it was a close match. Richard was annoyed that he missed 'INVADERS' and risked 'INUITS' (which needed to be capitalised), but other than these two rounds claimed that he was 'quite happy' with his performance. Michael, meanwhile, was aggrieved by his failure to solve the first numbers round but admitted that Richard just about deserved to win it after solving the conundrum. It wasn't a spectacular game, and the numbers rounds were probably a bit too easy, but Richard put in a solid workmanlike performance to win it. However, on the basis of today's performance, he will need to improve a bit if he has any real intentions of going far in this tournament.

And with that, Richard stops talking about himself in third person.

[Jon O'Neill]

All matches are requried to have a recap of this detail or you are ejected from the tournament.

Well done Richard, you're through to the next round.

Commiserations Raccoon, you are through to the Plate qualifiers.

[Julian Fell]

DC-beaters ISATIN and SIXAIN in round 4 (so max. score for the whole game = 123)