Monday 28th October 2013 (Series 69, Prelim 79)

Round-by-round summaries of every game in recent series; for every series in the last 5 years, try cdb, the Countdown database. Obviously this forum contains spoilers!

Moderator: James Robinson

Post Reply
User avatar
Graeme Cole
Series 65 Champion
Posts: 2025
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:59 pm

Monday 28th October 2013 (Series 69, Prelim 79)

Post by Graeme Cole »

Countdown recap for Monday 28 October 2013.

C1: Champion Bradley Cates (6 wins, 660 points) is a student from Southport, who is possibly the greatest player not known to play on apterous since apterous was created. Over six games he's missed very little, and is two wins away from an effectively guaranteed place in the finals.
C2: Challenger Pat Burke is a civil servant from Dublin. Sometimes she plays tennis and golf. Watching today are her husband Liam and her children Glen and Rachel.
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Phil Hammond.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D I F U P O V R E
R02: B V M A I E T O R
R03: 50, 10, 2, 8, 3, 4. Target: 656.
TTT: TOPSERVE - "It won't be a top serve it you put your foot over the white line."
R04: N G S A I E T R O
R05: X A P I M E T C R
R06: 25, 4, 2, 6, 6, 10. Target: 299.
R07: T O G E L U N R G
R08: S T D I O E Q S I
R09: 50, 2, 2, 8, 4, 7. Target: 413.
TTT: ITSSPAIN - "It's not Spain, but they do play in bars alone."
R10: D B P E A O T F I
R11: R E S A P O J W N
R12: L S D A E O Y S E
R13: T I R E S A N M D
R14: 50, 9, 2, 3, 10, 8. Target: 461.
R15: A N T I B I N G O (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Enjoy the show.


Round 1: D I F U P O V R E

C1: PROVIDE (7)
C2: PROVED (6)
OT: POUFIER (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

Bradley's on a max game!


Round 2: B V M A I E T O R

C1: VIBRATE (7)
C2: TRIBE (5)
DC: ABORTIVE (8) AMBIVERT (8)
OT: VERBATIM (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 15)

And the max game is off. Dr Phil finds ABORTIVE, and Susie puts the pencam on AMBIVERT, which is a person who has a balance of introvert and extrovert personality traits.


Round 3: 50, 10, 2, 8, 3, 4. Target: 656.

C1: 656. (10+3)*50+4+2 (10)
C2: 656. (10+3)*50+4+2 (10)
Score: 24–10 (max 25)

No funny business from Bradley, who sticks with one large. Pat gets off the mark.


Teatime teaser: TOPSERVE -> OVERSTEP

Round 4: N G S A I E T R O

C1: groaniest
C2: groaniest
DC: ORGANISE (8) GANTRIES (8)
OT: ANGRIEST (8) GANISTER (8) GENITORS (8) INGRATES (8) NEGATORS (8) NOTARIES (8) NOTARISE (8) ORGANIST (8) RAGSTONE (8) RANGIEST (8) ROASTING (8) TASERING (8) TRIGONES (8)
Score: 24–10 (max 33)

Pat offers a nine, and so Bradley is pressured into offering his nine too. Sadly both players have fallen into the GROANIEST^ trap. Fifteen eights, but no nine here.


Round 5: X A P I M E T C R

C1: PRIMATE (7)
C2: PRIME (5)
OT: CAMPIER (7) MIXTAPE (7) PARETIC (7) PICRATE (7)
Score: 31–10 (max 40)

Bradley goes further out in front. PARETIC is the adjective relating to the medical condition PARESIS, and PICRATE is a salt or ester of PICRIC acid.


Round 6: 25, 4, 2, 6, 6, 10. Target: 299.

C1: 299. (10+2)*25-6/6 (10)
C2: 300.
Score: 41–10 (max 50)

Five small and one alleged large. Pat can only reach 300, which gives Bradley a greater lead.


Round 7: T O G E L U N R G

C1: LOUNGER (7)
C2: GRUNGE (6)
Score: 48–10 (max 57)

GRUNGE is a good word, but Bradley's more common LOUNGER takes the round. Nope, no TOGGLER^.


Round 8: S T D I O E Q S I

C1: IODISES (7)
C2: tries
DC: IDIOTS (6)
Score: 55–10 (max 64)

As if he's not playing well enough already, Bradley pulls out a DC beater with IODISES, while Pat is paid a visit by the phantom R.


Round 9: 50, 2, 2, 8, 4, 7. Target: 413.

C1: 413. (50+2)*8-(7-4) (10)
C2: 413. 50*8+4+2+7 (10)
Score: 65–20 (max 74)

Another straightforward one large. So far we've not seen Bradley pick much else, except for in his first game when he picked 6 small against Mark Hartnett and got ten points out of it. So far his only weakness appears to be four large - he lost both four large rounds against Sean D the other day.


Teatime teaser: ITSSPAIN -> PIANISTS


Round 10: D B P E A O T F I

C1: OPIATED (7)
C2: BAITED (6)
Score: 72–20 (max 81)

Bam, Bradley takes his third darren in a row.


Round 11: R E S A P O J W N

C1: respawn
C2: POWERS (6)
DC: SPAWNER (7) PERSONA (7) WEAPONS (7)
OT: ENWRAPS (7)
Score: 72–26 (max 88)

Well, this is surprising. Any computer gamer will know that RESPAWN is definitely a thing. It's been used in computer gaming for years, and I'm sure I remember it being used in gaming magazines as early as the 1990s. In a multiplayer game, when you die, you might start again in a different place on the map. This is called respawning. However, it's not in the ODE3, and more surprisingly, it isn't even in the online edition which Countdown will be using for adjudications from next year. So Pat takes the round with POWERS.


Round 12: L S D A E O Y S E

C1: LASSOED (7)
C2: DELAYS (6)
DC: YODELS (6)
OT: ASYLEES (7) ESSAYED (7)
Score: 79–26 (max 95)

ASYLEES looks like a strange word, but it seems obvious when you find out that an ASYLEE is someone who is seeking or has been granted political asylum. LASSOED ties up the game for Bradley.


Round 13: T I R E S A N M D

C1: MINARETS (8)
C2: STRAINED (8)
OT: DETRAINS (8) MARDIEST (8) MEDIANTS (8) RAIMENTS (8) RANDIEST (8) READMITS (8)
Score: 87–34 (max 103)

MINARETS takes a number of letters to make a nine, but D isn't one of them. MINARETS stems with A, B, C, G, L, N, P, T and U... how many nines can you spot?


Round 14: 50, 9, 2, 3, 10, 8. Target: 461.

C1: 461. 9*50+8+3 (10)
C2: 461. 9*50+8+3 (10)
Score: 97–44 (max 113)

Another easy numbers game. Conundrum time.


Round 15: A N T I B I N G O

Bradley buzzes on 20 seconds to say OBTAINING which is correct.
Final Score: 107–44 (max 123)

Difficult though it is to spot an -ING conundrum when ING is spelt out in the selection, Bradley finds it and takes the sixth century of his run. An eighth win by Bradley will almost certainly guarantee him a place in the quarter finals. I believe he's up against Horace Horlicks tomorrow.

Those of you going to COEDI, I'll see you this weekend. (First he wins series 64, then he gets a CO-event named after him. How does he do it?)


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=69
Post Reply