Tuesday 14th January (Series 70, prelim 7)

[Callum Todd]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 14th January 2014.

Nick starts the show by talking about photographers.

C1: Bobby Banerjee, now on 6 wins after achieving his first century yesterday with a 104-41 win over Ray Sykes.
C2: Ciaran Crawley, an Irish apterite who was briefly in an R.E.M tribute band and is now in a trad music group.
DC: Susie Dent and Helen Skelton.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: G N H S T E I O R
R02: M A T U P I L E Z
R03: 75, 25, 3, 2, 5, 4. Target: 163
TTT: INSTANCE - “The shrewdest of all the tins, perhaps.”
R04: T I H O L E R A S
R05: V D J R U I O P E
R06: 50, 2, 4, 5, 8, 2. Target: 875
R07: X L F A O R M E U
R08: T O G A P I N E S
R09: 75, 100, 25, 5, 2, 9. Target: 139
TTT: NEARCLUE - "The nearest you’ll get to a clue is to look to the skies."
R10: R O F E D I R O K
R11: P T U S A E D U R
R12: G I B O S E H O D
R13: M W N S A E I E L
R14: 75, 2, 1, 2, 9, 6. Target: 739
R15: Y U C C I P O N G (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: G N H S T E I O R

C1: rehosting x
C2: HORNIEST (8)
DC: HORSING (7), HOSTING (7), SHORTING (8)
OT: GENITORS (8), RIGHTENS (8), TRIGONES (8)
Score: 0-8 (max 8)

Bobby might have been quite excited when he thought he had a nine, but when it was disallowed Ciaran was left the most excited with HORNIEST.

Round 2: M A T U P I L E Z

C1: PLUME (5)
C2: UPTME (6)
DC: IMPALE (6)
OT: AMULET (6), IMPUTE (6), LIMPET (6), MULETA (6), PLUTEI (6)
Score: 0-14 (max 14)

Ciaran is on form here and spots one of the six sixes to extend his lead.

A few interesting words available here: a LIMPET is a type of marine mollusc that clings tightly to rocks, a MULETA is the red cloth used by a matador in bullfighting, and PLUTEI are “the planktonic larva of some echinoderms, being somewhat triangular with lateral projections.”

Round 3: 75, 25, 3, 2, 5, 4. Target: 163

C1: 163. (5+2)x75-4x3.
C2: 163. (75+4)x2+5
Score: 10-24 (max 24)

A straightforward numbers round sees Bobby get some points on the board, and Ciaran make it three maximums out of three.

Teatime teaser: INSTANCE -> CANNIEST

Round 4: T I H O L E R A S

C1: HOLSTER (7)
C2: LOATHERS (8)
DC: HOLIEST (7), HORSETAIL (18)
Score: 10-32 (max 42)

A good eight spot from Ciaran continues his 100% winning record against Bobby on the letters, but he misses the nine-letter word HORSETAIL, which is not the horse of a tail but a plant with a hollow jointed stem producing spores and cones at the tips of the shoots.

Round 5: V D J R U I O P E

C1: PROVIDE (7)
C2: POURED (6)
Score: 17-32 (max 49)

Bobby spots the darrenic seven to beat Ciaran on letters for the first time and closes the gap to 15 points.

Round 6: 50, 2, 4, 5, 8, 2. Target: 875

C1: 874. (50x2+5+4)x8+2
C2: 0
RR: ((8x2-2)x5x50)/2
Score: 24-32 (max 59)

A tricky numbers round stumps Ciaran, but Bobby is able to get one away for seven points. Rachel shows us how it’s done with a sky-high solution.

Helen tells a story about when she once went kite-skiing and nearly booked an illicit photographer for her wedding.

Round 7: X L F A O R M E U

C1: FORMULAE (8)
C2: FORMULAE (8)
DC: FEMUR (5), ARMFUL (6), LOAFER (6), FORMULA (7)
OT: FUMAROLE (8)
Score: 32-40 (max 67)

An excellent spot from both contestants means that the 8-point gap remains. FUMAROLE is also there for another eight.

Round 8: T O G A P I N E S

C1: POSTING (7)
C2: PONGIEST (8)
DC: PINOTAGE (8)
Score: 32-48 (max 75)

Ciaran gets another letters maximum there to extend his lead. Dictionary corner get PINOTAGE, which you cannot add an S onto the end of, unfortunately.

Round 9: 75, 100, 25, 5, 2, 9. Target: 139

C1: 139. 100+25+5+9
C2: 139. 100+25+5+9

Score: 42-58 (max 85)

Bobby tries to mix things up with three large but it’s a fairly simple one and both contestants solve it.

Teatime teaser: NEARCLUE -> CERULEAN

Round 10: R O F E D I R O K

C1: FORKED (6)
C2: ROOFER (6)
DC: DORKIER (7)
Score: 48-64 (max 92)

The darrenic seven is spotted by DC but missed by the contestants, whose sixes maintain the 16-point gap.

Round 11: P T U S A E D U R

C1: PAUSED (6)
C2: UPDATES (7)
DC:PASTURED (8)
Score: 41-71 (max 100)

Ciaran’s seven beats Bobby’s six and Nick realises for the first time that Bobby is in trouble. Dictionary Corner beat both contestants with a darrenic eight.

Susie’s Origins of Words tells us about eponyms and the notorious hangman Thomas Derek.

Round 12: G I B O S E H O D

C1: HOODIES (7)
C2: BOOGIES (7)
DC: GOODIES (7)
OT: BODGIES (7), BOODIES (7), BOOGIED (7), DOOBIES (7), GOODISH (7)
Score: 55-78 (max 107)

Plenty of sevens available there in a flat round.

Round 13: M W N S A E I E L

C1: winless x
C2: MEANIES (7)
DC: ENAMELS (7), MENIALS (7)
OT: INWALES (7), MEALIES (7), NEMESIA (7), SEMINAL (7)
Score: 55-85 (max 114)

Bobby needed to win this round to have a chance of staying in it, but he uses a phantom S and it’s game over. Ciaran had a seven anyway, and establishes a 30-point gap with only two rounds left to play.

Round 14: 75, 2, 1, 2, 9, 6. Target: 739

C1: 739. (6-1)x2x(75-2)+9
C2: 740
Score: 65-85 (max 124)

The result may be a forgone conclusion by now, but Bobby stays sharp on the numbers to close the gap a little bit.

Round 15: Y U C C I P O N G (conundrum)

C2 buzzes on 2.0 seconds to say OCCUPYING which is correct.
Final Score: 65-95 (max 134)

A strong opening performance from Ciaran, sealed with a swift conundrum solve, sees him progress into tomorrow’s game. Let’s hope he can do well and get a few more wins under his belt. Join the King of recaps, James Robinson, tomorrow to see how he gets on.

It’s a shame to see Bobby go; he was a very warm character on screen, incredibly humble in defeat, and clearly had a good amount of Countdown ability. But with 6 wins, he may well be back in five to six months’ time for the finals.

Statistics Corner

C1: Bobby Banerjee
Total score - 65
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 48.51
Raw % of max - 67.16
Total average score per round - 4.33
Raw average score per round - 6.00
Number of maxes - 6

C2: Ciaran Crawley
Total score - 95
Raw score - 101
Total % of max - 70.90
Raw % of max - 75.37
Total average score per round - 6.33
Raw average score per round - 6.73
Number of maxes - 9

Further summaries at: http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70