Spoilers & Comments, Monday 23/02/2009

[Matt Morrison]

The Zussmagic vs Heather <dammit forgotten surname already, sorry! it ends in -EY>

[Matt Morrison]

impressed with Neil's PLACENTAS in R1, though I'm sure a lot of you found it. I was temporarily pleased with PLACATES.

[Kai Laddiman]

A final vowel in Rd 6 would have given PEONAGES.

[Matt Morrison]

A final vowel in Rd 6 would have given PEONAGES.

SPOONAGE will probably be in the dictionary soon considering how much of a buzz word spooning is, and the modern propensity to '-age' words

[Ben Hunter]

DETRAINED, classic nine action there.

[Matt Morrison]

DETRAINED, classic nine action there.

yeah I got it too, though I admit I didn't think it would work - if I hadn't been so far behind Neil I might have just settled for DETAINED

[Joseph Bolas]

You can have LABOURS can't you?

[Matt Morrison]

R13: LABOURS for 7 is a DC beater... but I am thinking I must've written down letters wrong as not the sort of word you'd expect Susie to miss?

I had RVLBROUAS

[Matt Morrison]

You can have LABOURS can't you?

Without doubt it's a valid word. "Every morning Mark labours to get the papers delivered on time".
It was so obvious I presumed I'd got the letters wrong (see above) but guess not, woo.

[Joseph Bolas]

R13: LABOURS for 7 is a DC beater... but I am thinking I must've written down letters wrong as not the sort of word you'd expect Susie to miss?

I had RVLBROUAS

The letters were there, the selection was ROVLUBARS

EDIT: Well done though to Neil for spotting PLACENTAS and both Neil and Heather for spotting DETRAINED.

[Phil Reynolds]

You can have LABOURS can't you?

Without doubt it's a valid word. "Every morning Mark labours to get the papers delivered on time".

It's also a plural noun, as in "the twelve labours of Hercules".

[Craig Beevers]

I seem to remember LOUVARS being okay as an alternative, it's hopefully a valid anagram of VALOURS which is presumably a mass noun.

[Kathleen Batlle]

What an exciting game today. I felt quite sorry for Heather at the beginning when Neil got the first 9 letter word as she looked quite upset, but she soon gathered her wits together and did really well in the end. If it's any consolation, Heather, I also got SCALE in the first round! Heather seemed such a nice character, I was sorry to see her lose, but unfortunately she was up against a real 'goodie'. Congratulations Neil, you're on your way!

[Dinos Sfyris]

Argh!!!!!!! First numbers ruined my max game! Was even more heart-breaking cos I got in at 3.40 then watched the latter two halves first so it was the final hurdle!

ARBOURS as a beater and TIMESED as an equaller to MODISTE but I'm sure most of you will argue its MULTIPLIED!

Great game today. Come on, Neil!

[Eoin Monaghan]

Got both nines and scored a personal best of 137.

[david dawson]

I got SPOONAGE, a period of time shortly after soup was discovered.

[Martin Gardner]

Interesting first round... as far as I know she could have just offered PASCAL for six, it's a unit of pressure (from memory). Really weird sort of game, very good but weird. I thought we were going to have 110 - 30 style thrashing when it was 33 - 0, and in the end she got it back to just 6 points behind, at which point she missed all the words five letters or longer in the LABOURS round, therefore costing her a crucial conundrum! Just a really unusual game; great entertainment though.

For what it's worth, I refused myself JAUNTED as well, as I'm more used to seeing it as a noun, I was pretty sure by the way Neil hesitated before declaring six that he had it, but wasn't entirely sure either.

[Kirk Bevins]

I had CREMATES as an equaller in round 7.
Round 1 I was sitting here smug with an awesome 8, ANALECTS, and thought that would be a winner and then BANG, I'm 18-0 down. Good spot Neil. The first word you offer on a brand new recording day is a nine - that sent a message out to those contestants waiting to play! I also missed the first numbers so a 13 max game for me.

On the numbers watch: Neil lost a numbers game today - do you still think 6 small is the best strategy (even when being something silly like 33-7 up or something)?

Anyway, another tight one and another unlucky contestant. You're so harsh Neil - I hope you hugged them all afterwards.

[JackHurst]

Was there a tea-time teaser last week that was identical to todays first one?
I seem to have certain memories of seeing the exact same one recently. Please tell me it wasn't in a dream, i dont want to admit to havign dreams about countdown!

[Martin Gardner]

What an exciting game today. I felt quite sorry for Heather at the beginning when Neil got the first 9 letter word as she looked quite upset, but she soon gathered her wits together and did really well in the end. If it's any consolation, Heather, I also got SCALE in the first round! Heather seemed such a nice character, I was sorry to see her lose, but unfortunately she was up against a real 'goodie'. Congratulations Neil, you're on your way!

Just looked and sounded really nervous, you could hear her voice waver. I think that was why she kept giggling as well.

[Martin Gardner]

Was there a tea-time teaser last week that was identical to todays first one?
I seem to have certain memories of seeing the exact same one recently. Please tell me it wasn't in a dream, i dont want to admit to havign dreams about countdown!

Yeah DECLARED has been used twice in two weeks.

[Daniel O'Dowd]

For round 7 would BEERMATS be ok?

[Kirk Bevins]

For round 7 would BEERMATS be ok?

No, but BEERMATS^ + W = WEBMASTER. Lovely. One for Charlie I think.

[Charlie Reams]

For round 7 would BEERMATS be ok?

No, but BEERMATS^ + W = WEBMASTER. Lovely. One for Charlie I think.

Spot on. For those not in THE CLIQUE, Kirk is alluding to my enjoyment of word+weird letter stems, e.g. LEOTARD+W and indeed DACOITS+X.

Also STEAMBREW is a great conundrum.

[Richard Priest]

I thought Heather did brilliantly to recover from what must have been a pretty demoralising start. Was hoping for a crucial conundrum but hey...

[David Gunn]

On the numbers watch: Neil lost a numbers game today - do you still think 6 small is the best strategy (even when being something silly like 33-7 up or something)?

You beat me in asking the question, while I was looking for last week's quotes!
I was already going to say that today's first numbers game was a perfect example of the point that you (& Charlie) made last week. I couldn't think of a sufficient lead at first numbers to change tactics, but 33-7 is! It's ironic that Neil lost this game (weakening my argument), so instead of being 43-17 up (on an easy numbers), it was the start of Heather's comeback.

[AnnieHall]

DETRAINED, classic nine action there.

yeah I got it too, though I admit I didn't think it would work - if I hadn't been so far behind Neil I might have just settled for DETAINED

"Detrained" is a word regularly used on the Underground- to get passengers of a defective train. (Always wondered if Debussed is a word?- to get passengers off adefective bus (Never heard it used)

[Phil Reynolds]

"Detrained" is a word regularly used on the Underground- to get passengers of a defective train.

So, if:

"detrain" = get off the train

then presumably:

"defective train" = get off the fecking train

[Jojo Apollo]

Well played Neil, I thought it was going to be an easier match for you with that first nine. Heather made a spirited comeback though. Good game.

[Lesley Jeavons]

Interesting first round... as far as I know she could have just offered PASCAL for six, it's a unit of pressure (from memory).

Yes, especially as Rachel mentioned it as the letters came out. Maybe she felt it would have been cheating so declared her own five...

Last numbers game, though I got it out of time

(3+9)x((5x10)+9)-2

[Howard Somerset]

Just enjoyed watching this game. First I've seen of yours Neil. Look forward to catching up with the rest shortly.

Surprised that Heather didn't go for a six with PASCAL in round 1, but probably she thought it was only there as a proper noun. Wouldn't have counted anyway, and I was impressed with the PLACENTAS spot.

Annoyed with myself for seeing JAUNTED, but then rejecting it.

I gather from comments I've seen that you're a 6 small person, Neil, so was pleased to get closer than you on R5, even though not as close as Heather.

Again annoyed with myself for getting TRAINED, but not noticing that DE could have gone before it. (That would've given me a win over Heather.)

Shame you didn't offer BOLAS in R13, Neil.

Best of all, got the conundrum. But only after 34 secs. Still a bloody site faster than my usual performance.

[Ian Fitzpatrick]

It looked like Neil went walkabouts halfway through this game, could it be that it was too early in the morning for him?

Let's hope he's wide awake for the next game.

[Julie T]

Great game! Heather made a good comeback, but Neil triumphed in the end.

I was pleased to get CAPLETS in round 1 till Neil announced his 9.
SAVOUR was a DC beater (equaller?) in round 13, but others have now mentioned LABOURS, so not feeling quite so smug.

Looking forward to watching today's game.

Could the stats geeks please tell me whether (especially as this is a short series due to C of C), if Neil loses, is he still likely to get to the finals with 6 wins?

[Howard Somerset]

Could the stats geeks please tell me whether (especially as this is a short series due to C of C), if Neil loses, is he still likely to get to the finals with 6 wins?

Probably. But on the other hand, possibly not. That close enough for you, Julie?
Still time for 10 octochamps (9 if you allow for four days off due to racing)

[Neil Zussman]

Very interesting game to watch, I bet! Can't help thinking that I was a bit lucky to win, because it didn't seem like I played that well for the last 12 rounds! Getting 2 nines, but still not recording my highest score backs that up. Mind you, scoring 108 despite not scoring in 4 rounds is pretty good, though it's a bit of an opportunity wasted because there was a massive score there for the taking.

What an exciting game today. I felt quite sorry for Heather at the beginning when Neil got the first 9 letter word as she looked quite upset, but she soon gathered her wits together and did really well in the end. If it's any consolation, Heather, I also got SCALE in the first round! Heather seemed such a nice character, I was sorry to see her lose, but unfortunately she was up against a real 'goodie'. Congratulations Neil, you're on your way!

Just looked and sounded really nervous, you could hear her voice waver. I think that was why she kept giggling as well.

One of the other contestants commented on this, having seen the match from the studio. Apparently, it was really visible how Heather just loosened up after round 3 and seemed to think 'Que sera, sera' and that attitude obviously helped her performance immensely. I, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction.

For what it's worth, I refused myself JAUNTED as well, as I'm more used to seeing it as a noun, I was pretty sure by the way Neil hesitated before declaring six that he had it, but wasn't entirely sure either.

Nice of you to say that, but I just didn't see it at all. I must've hesitated because I was so disappointed and not seeing the 7 that I knew must be there.

Well played Neil, I thought it was going to be an easier match for you with that first nine.

I was hoping the exact same thing, which probably explains why I got so nervous when that didn't materialise.

It looked like Neil went walkabouts halfway through this game, could it be that it was too early in the morning for him?

Hmm, that game, despite being the first one recorded in the day, was recorded at about 1-2pm, so I can't really use that as an excuse, unfortunately.

[Tracey Lilly]

I missed both nines in the time.
Was so pleased to spot placates in round 1 until Neil's placentas.
Did spot ovular for a six in the final letters round.

Well done Neil and hard luck to your opponent who was trailing 33 points at one time and must have wondered why she bothered turning up.