Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

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
Andy McGurn
Enthusiast
Posts: 272
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:53 pm

Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

Post by Andy McGurn »

Countdown recap for Monday 6 January 2014.

Nick introduces the show wishing everyone a happy new year. He notes that in the year that Countdown undertakes its 70th series it will also be his own 70th birthday. Rachel says that after a very busy 2013 she looks forward to a long lie down and a chance to catch up with some friends

C1: Champion Rod Chatfield (5 wins, 424 points.) Rod is a guesthouse owner from Ilfracombe. He won the last five games of series 69.
C2: Challenger Bobby Banerjee. Bobby is a recruitment consultant and Hull FC supporter. He tells Nick about his experience of “Wet Zorbing” during a trip to New Zealand.
DC: Susie Dent and John Inverdale.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T G N O E I D N T
R02: L S O T G A I F D
R03: 9, 10, 2, 7, 4, 25. Target: 378.
TTT: ANYDECOR - "Any decor is likely to be ruined if your child's done this to it"
R04: N Z H O E R T E F
R05: R B M S U E O Y S
R06: 75, 7, 4, 9, 5, 6. Target: 179.
R07: D S C N I E I E H
R08: V R T A O L S I O
R09: 100, 7, 3, 9, 6, 3. Target: 514.
TTT: SCARUNIT - "these are often drawn by hand but not with a pen or pencil"
R10: L R S D E A A K O
R11: N L T C E A I S P
R12: R B U D W E O X I
R13: M M D V R E U E E
R14: 10, 8, 6, 1, 2, 50. Target: 641.
R15: P E R F U M I S T (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: T G N O E I D N T

C1: DENTING (7)
C2: DENOTING (8)
DC: DOTTING (7)
Score: 0–8 (max 8)
Good opener for Bobby as Rod fails to notice he could have added the O to his word.


Round 2: L S O T G A I F D

C1: FLAGS (5)
C2: TOGAS (5)
DC: DOGSTAIL (8)
Score: 5–13 (max 16)
DC explain that a DOGSTAIL is a plant with spikey flower heads. The contestants spot fives which helps Bobby retain his 8 point lead.


Round 3: 9, 10, 2, 7, 4, 25. Target: 378.

C1: 378. (9+7)*(25-2)+10 (10)
C2: -
Score: 15–13 (max 26)
A good solid solve by Rod gives him the 2 point lead.


Teatime teaser: ANYDECOR -> CRAYONED


Round 4: N Z H O E R T E F

C1: FROZEN (6)
C2: FROZEN (6)
DC: NETHER, (6) THEREOF (7)
OT: OFTENER (7) THEREON (7)
Score: 21–19 (max 33)
Six from the contestants. DC spot the max with THEREOF.


Round 5: R B M S U E O Y S

C1: BUOYS (5)
C2: MOUSEY (6)
DC: MOUSERS (7)
OT: BOURSES (7) EMBRYOS (7)
Score: 21–25 (max 40)
Bobby takes the lead again with MOUSEY.
The Bourse (with a capital B) is the Paris Stock exchange, but in non-capitalised form a BOURSE is any stock market in any non-English speaking country, though it usually refers only to the stock exchange of the Gallic nation.


Round 6: 75, 7, 4, 9, 5, 6. Target: 179.

C1: 180.
C2: 179. (5*4*9)-(7-6) (10)
Score: 21–35 (max 50)
A fine solve by Bobby takes him 14 points ahead. Are Rod’s chances of octochampdom fading?


DC Guest: John Inverdale talks about anniversaries as 2014 is the 100th anniversary of he outbreak of WW1. He says that 1914 was a noteworthy year for many reasons and gives an example of the first ever scheduled flight which took off in 1914 and flew five feet above the sea.


Round 7: D S C N I E I E H

C1: INSIDE (6)
C2: CHIDES (6)
DC: INDICES (7)
OT: DEHISCE (7) HEINIES (7) INCISED (7) NICEISH (7)
Score: 27–41 (max 57)
Plenty of 7’s here but the contestants only manage 6. The verb DEHISCE is when a wound bursts open. The noun HEINE is an American slang term for one’s buttocks


Round 8: V R T A O L S I O

C1: solvator
C2: RATIOS (6)
DC: VIOLATORS (18)
Score: 27–47 (max 75)
Rod tries what seems like a pretty unlikely risk and Bobby increases his lead to 20 points.


Round 9: 100, 7, 3, 9, 6, 3. Target: 514.

C1: -
C2: 518. (9+3-7)*100+(6*3) (7)
RR: (after the advert break) 514. ((7*9)+3+3)*6+100 (10)
Score: 27–54 (max 85)
Bobby’s four away gives him a 27 point lead going into the final third of the game. Its a tough one and Rachel needs the 30 seconds plus the advert break to find the solution.


Teatime teaser: SCARUNIT -> CURTAINS
“These are often drawn by hand but not with a pen or pencil”


Round 10: L R S D E A A K O

C1: SLAKED (6)
C2: RELOADS (7)
DC: ORDEALS (7) LOADERS (7)
OT: KRAALED (7)
Score: 27–61 (max 92)
Rod may be getting nervous now as he misses some fairly easy-to-spot sevens. Bobby takes full advantage and extends his lead further...


Round 11: N L T C E A I S P

C1: PLAINEST (8)
C2: PLANETS (7)
DC: PANTILES (8) PELICANS (8)
OT: CAPELINS (8) PANICLES (8)
Score: 35–61 (max 100)
..but a max round by Rod enables him to recover some ground. It might not be all over yet.
CAPELINS are a species of fish found off the north Atlantic coast. PANICLES are loose branching clusters of flowers.


OoW – Susie talks about the origin of the word cookies in computer terms


Round 12: R B U D W E O X I

C1: BOXIER (6)
C2: WIDER (5)
DC: WEIRDO (6)
OT: BORIDE (6) BROWED (6) BURIED (6)
Score: 41–61 (max 106)
Rod makes up more ground of the challenger with the risky BOXIER. With his record on conundrums a comeback win is still a realistic possibility.


Round 13: M M D V R E U E E

C1: revued
C2: DEMURE (6)
DC: REDEEM (6)
OT: REEVED (6) VEERED (6)
Score: 41–67 (max 112)
The invalid REVUED means its all over for Rod and that Bobby is the new champion.


Round 14: 10, 8, 6, 1, 2, 50. Target: 641.

C1: -
C2: 641. (50-8-2)*(10+6)+1 (10)
Score: 41–77 (max 122)
An excellent solve by Bobby increases his score to a more respectable 77. Rod is unable to declare anything. Can he gain some consolation by retaining his perfect conundrum record.


Round 15: P E R F U M I S T

C1 buzzes on 12 seconds to say FRUMPIEST which is correct.
Final Score: 51–77 (max 132)
Rod finishes his run off with his seventh conundrum solve. I would assume this is a record for a contestant with only five wins. Maybe my predecessor in the Monday recap slot could confirm this.
Bobby is the new champion. Join the reigning SERIES champion tomorrow to see if he can get a second win.



Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70
Last edited by Andy McGurn on Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:43 am, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Jason Larsen
Postmaster General
Posts: 3902
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Seattle, Washington

Re: Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

Post by Jason Larsen »

All right! Series 70! Here we go in 2014!

John's Jovial Jingling Joys: Wow, what an observant thing for him to notice it has been almost 100 years since the first scheduled airline flight took off! On another similar note, I had heard that a flight in some Middle Eastern country made a very impressive and spectacular landing. I wonder why something like that would make the news!
Round 9: Great work, Rachel. My thumbs are going all the way up to the Arctic Circle after that numbers solution!
Origins of Words: Has Susie been looking at Channel 4's website? If so, that would be an interesting coincidence!
Conundrum: Were Rod and Bobby reading too much into it? I think so. Unfortunately, that's what happens when you observe good players and you get a feel for how they play the game. Fortunately, Rod noticed the obvious solution.
Closing: John, you're a funny guy. Do they have 401k plans in Britain?

So, in the end, too many gutsy moves cost Rod the game. Let's see how Bobby does tomorrow. If he faces a dynamite player then, his reign as champion does not look very promising. But, maybe he'll face a player as unlucky as Rod was. I guess that was just the case today.

It was an average start to the new year, and I'm confident things will get better if we see some players who I've seen play Countdown before for sure. You know who you are. Now, we just have to hope that you don't lose your nerve so we won't be surprised at your performance.

Go get 'em, people.

Hopefully, we'll get that bang tomorrow.
User avatar
Matt Morrison
Post-apocalypse
Posts: 7822
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:27 pm
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

Post by Matt Morrison »

Excellent review Jason.
User avatar
Jennifer Steadman
Kiloposter
Posts: 1245
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Kent
Contact:

Re: Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Jason, I'd really like to see you recap some more games.
"There's leaders, and there's followers, but I'd rather be a dick than a swallower" - Aristotle
User avatar
Jason Larsen
Postmaster General
Posts: 3902
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Seattle, Washington

Re: Monday 6th January 2014 (Series 70 prelim 1)

Post by Jason Larsen »

I will take you up on that and promise you Jen
Post Reply