COOT Round 2: Julian Fell vs. Karen Pearson

[Julian Fell]

Countdown recap for Friday 4th July 2008.

Since Ben P couldn't do it, I've taken the liberty of recapping my own COOT last-16 game:

C1: Challenger Julian Fell.
C2: Challenger Karen Pearson.
DC: 'Martina' Gardner and Ben Wilson and loads of randomers
CV: Carol Vorderman (actually Jason Cullen)
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: L O A L N D U S I
R02: N P B E O A C N M
R03: S E T A Z N O L D
R04: M K R I A E S H Y
R05: 50, 9, 5, 1, 8, 1. Target: 617.
TTT:
R06: N J M O A E R S P
R07: I E B T R O F Q T
R08: R C D U A E S D I
R09: I P C R D O A T E
R10: 100, 75, 50, 2, 2, 10. Target: 439.
TTT:
R11: H N X I A U L S T
R12: R V T E A A N G L
R13: M T I I T S A R N
R14: 100, 50, 25, 6, 7, 3. Target: 821.
R15: G E N I E C R O C (conundrum)


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Round 1: L O A L N D U S I
C1: ALLUSION (8)
C2: ALLUSION (8)
DC: only 7s
OT: ALLUSION (8) is the only 8
Score: 8–8 (max 8)

Round 2: N P B E O A C N M
C1: BEACON (6)
C2: BEACON (6)
DC: CABMEN (6)
OT: BEMOAN (6) ENCAMP (6) ... a few other sixes
Score: 14–14 (max 14)

Round 3: S E T A Z N O L D
C1: ETALONS (7)
C2: DONATES (7)
DC: SANDLOT (7) ZEALOTS (7)
OT: loads of 7s, nothing better
Score: 21–21 (max 21)

Round 4: M K R I A E S H Y
C1: RAMKIES (7)
C2: MISHEAR (7)
DC: SHAKIER (7) is the only other 7
Score: 28–28 (max 28)

Round 5: 50, 9, 5, 1, 8, 1. Target: 617.
C1: 615.[(50-1-1) x (8+5)] - 9 (7)
C2: 612.
CV: 616. is the closest possible - one way is [((5-1-1) x 9) + 50] x 8 (7)
Score: 35–28 (max 35)

Teatime teaser: ->

Round 6: N J M O A E R S P
C1: OARSMEN (7)
C2: PERSONA (7)
DC: MOPANES (7)
OT: no better than 7
Score: 42–35 (max 42)

Round 7: I E B T R O F Q T
C1: OBITER (6)
C2: BITTER (6)
DC: TITFER (6)
OT: only other 6s
Score: 48–41 (max 48)

Round 8: R C D U A E S D I
C1: ADDUCES (7)
C2: DISCARD (7)
DC: CRUSADED (8) RADIUSED (8)
OT: Finally the contestants miss a letters maximum!
Score: 55–48 (max 56)

Round 9: I P C R D O A T E
C1: OPERATIC (8)
C2: OPERATIC (8)
DC: APORETIC (8) - the only other 8
Score: 63–56 (max 64)

Round 10: 100, 75, 50, 2, 2, 10. Target: 439.
C1: 438.(75-2) x [10-2-(100/50)] (7)
C2: 438.[75-(100/50)] x (10-2-2) (7)
CV: 439. [(75+2) x [(50/10)+2]]-100 (10)

(That's the only solution - 86% difficulty according to WTP)

Score: 70–63 (max 74)

Teatime teaser: ->

Round 11: H N X I A U L S T
C1: INSULT (6)
C2: shintu
DC: INHAULS (7) is the only 7
Score: 76–63 (max 81)

Round 12: R V T E A A N G L
C1: TAVERNA (7)
C2: VAGRANT (7)
DC: TANAGER (7)
Score: 83–70 (max 88)

Round 13: M T I I T S A R N
C1: TANTRISM (8)
C2: MARTINS (7)
DC: TRANSMIT (8) is the only other 8
Score: 91–70 (max 96)

Round 14: 100, 50, 25, 6, 7, 3. Target: 821.
C1: -
C2: 821.[[(50/25)+6] x 100] + (7 x 3) (10)

(Great stuff from Karen!)

Score: 91–80 (max 106)

Round 15: G E N I E C R O C
C1 buzzes on 2 seconds to say CONCIERGE which is correct.
Score: 101–80 (max 116)

It just goes to show that "there are no easy games in online Countdown" when the 500-1 outsider puts up a performance like this - my first game in 4 years was a real scrap, thanks to Karen's tenacity and also some fiendish selections, especially on the numbers ... the final max. of only 116 must be one of the lowest in the competition so far. Karen had apparently been practising with the 3 large and it showed - it could be a real weapon in the Plate. I missed a few maxes but was just pleased to get through such a tough early test... on another day I could easily have gone out. Really well played to Karen, and thanks to Jason for hosting

Further summaries are at:
http://www.thecountdowncorral.com/cd/se ... ?series=59

[Karen Pearson]

Thanks to Jason for hosting

Further summaries are at:
http://www.thecountdowncorral.com/cd/se ... ?series=59

Seconded. Thanks Jason.

And thanks for the kind words Julian.

As I know you didn't see my one miserable appearance on Countdown, you should know that I practised '3 large' for weeks beforehand and had a very impressive record (2/3 spot-on). When I got on the show, however, I came up against Richard Heald who was, to my surprise, also a '3 large' specialist so I lost any little advantage I might have had. What a bummer!! C'est la vie!

[JasonCullen]

thanks to Jason for hosting

No problem Julian and Karen . I really was impressed by the quality of both of your performances and it was good to be the host of such a fine match . Good luck to you both in both your respected competitions (unless you draw me Julian !)

[Julian Fell]

Lol that's unlucky Karen... but yes, without wanting to sound sexist, I think it's pretty rare to see a female contestant who's confident on the numbers - I have to admit I wasn't expecting it (should have researched your appearance on the show more thoroughly! I do remember reading the recap a while back) and I think it'll stand you in good stead for future online clashes

[Jon O'Neill]

Round 15: G E N I E C R O C

[Julian Fell]

Lol yes we did think of you Jono!

I believe HYPOCRITE was used as the conundrum in a previous match in this competition, so to that too

[Charlie Reams]

Any chance we could have some conundrums which aren't recycled? The dictionary is a pretty big thing, you know.

[JasonCullen]

Sorry guys . I really was not aware that my "unseen" conundrums have actually been replicated on the show! I have now done some research, and I have realised why Jono is so upset by that word! My sincere apologies for this.

Is there a tool which I can use to check that one of my conundrums has not been previously used?

[Charlie Reams]

Is there a tool which I can use to check that one of my conundrums has not been previously used?

My tactic is to use a specialised Google search like so:

site:thecountdowncorral.com INNDATOMB

[Martin Gardner]

This might sound harsh, but there were a lot of flat rounds i.e. 8 possible sevens, but no eights or 8 possible sixes, but no sevens. It's the sort of game where you could get the maximum on the letters, apart from INHAULS and ALLUSION which were hard.

Martin

[Charlie Reams]

It's the sort of game where you could get the maximum on the letters, apart from INHAULS and ALLUSION which were hard.

Both players got one of those and missed the other one, so that doesn't seem harsh to me, unless you were criticising the tile shuffler.

[Julian Fell]

Hmmm I don't know Martin, there were some letters rounds with a lot of maxes yes, maybe even slightly more than average, but I wouldn't say this game was anything massively out of the ordinary in that respect? Also, the number of maxes available doesn't precisely correlate with how easy the round is... you can have some rounds where there's only one or two maxes but they stick out a mile (often just because of the order the letters come out in), and others where there are a lot available but they're quite hard to find - e.g. in round 11 here there were in fact something like two dozen 6s available but I found it quite a struggle to get one of them (maybe that's just me... )

I was pretty pleased with some of my spots on the letters... and anyway, if the letters were a little easier than usual (though I'd say that's debatable), then the numbers rounds more than made up for them! Overall I found it a pretty tough game (as I say, the final max. of 116 is on the low side) and I'm sure that Karen didn't find it easy either.