Is that a bad omen or not, I wonder
Here we go, enjoy. 
Countdown recap for Thursday 6 February 2014.
C1: Champion Andy Gardner (6 wins, 504 points.) An accountant from Reading, Berkshire.
C2: Challenger Martin Hamill. From Lenadoon, Belfast. He once walked back from Derry to Belfast, as he ran out of money, after spending the last of it betting on a horse that finished 2nd place.................
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: N R K E I O S L T
R02: B D A I R N E T S
R03: 100, 75, 6, 10, 8, 2. Target: 353.
TTT: THISSIDE - "Definitely the best looking piece of tableware"
R04: J R G I U O D L E
R05: S D T U O A P C E
R06: 50, 8, 2, 10, 3, 2. Target: 505.
R07: N F A O D S A E S
R08: M O N O F E T D N
R09: 1, 10, 8, 1, 5, 4. Target: 353.
TTT: CALLMARY - "Call Mary and have a very emotional conversation"
R10: S P I O Z R E T I
R11: M R G A E I M S H
R12: Y P N E U O M W H
R13: B R A E O T P D E
R14: 50, 4, 2, 1, 10, 8. Target: 162.
R15: D I N D I E S E L (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: N R K E I O S L T
C1: trinkles
C2: LINKERS (7)
DC: TINKLES (7) SNORKEL (7) RETINOL (7) STINKER (7) STONKER (7)
OT: ENTISOL (7) KIRTLES (7) LENTISK (7) LINTERS (7) LOITERS (7) LORNEST (7) NOSTRIL (7) ONLIEST (7) ORIENTS (7) STONIER (7) TINKERS (7) TOILERS (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
Loadsa loadsa 7's here, but Andy's misguided belief that trinkles is in, sees him fall behind from the off...............
A KIRTLE is a woman's loose gown, worn in the Middle Ages.
A LENTISK is an evergreen shrub of the Mediterranean region that is cultivated for its resin.
LINTERS are short cotton fibres that stick to seeds after a first ginning.
Round 2: B D A I R N E T S
C1: STRAINED (8)
C2: STRAINED (8)
DC: BANDITS (7) BRANDIES (8) BANDIEST (8) ANTBIRDS (8)
OT: BANISTER (8) BARTENDS (8) DETRAINS (8) RANDIEST (8) TRIBADES (8)
Score: 8–15 (max 15)
Plenty of 8's here, although the contestants seem to prefer to be STRAINED, rather than be the RANDIEST ones there.
Round 3: 100, 75, 6, 10, 8, 2. Target: 353.
C1: 360.
C2: 357. ((6 / 2) x 100) + 75 - 10 - 8 (7)
RR: 353. ((100 + 75) x 2) + ((10 + 8) / 6) (10)
Score: 8–22 (max 25)
He might've ditched the 3 large picks from yesterday, but Andy's numbers are still very suspect, with him 7 away, letting Martin double his lead, while Rachel does the rest.
Teatime teaser: THISSIDE -> DISHIEST
Round 4: J R G I U O D L E
C1: LODGER (6)
C2: GUIDER (6)
DC: GLORIED (7)
OT: GODLIER (7) GUILDER (7)
Score: 14–28 (max 32)
A LODGER and a GUIDER from the contestants, which leaves DC feeling GLORIED.
Round 5: S D T U O A P C E
C1: SPOUTED (7)
C2: OUTPACED (8)
OT: OUTPACES (8)
Score: 14–36 (max 40)
Another great spot by Martin and he already has a commanding lead in this game............
Round 6: 50, 8, 2, 10, 3, 2. Target: 505.
C1: 505. (50 x 10) + 8 - 3 (10)
C2: 505. (50 x 10) + 3 + 2 (10)
Score: 24–46 (max 50)
.........which is maintained thanks to the easy numbers game.
Jon does a whole range of impressions, based on requests from the audience, including Adrian Chiles, Les Dawson, Paul O'Grady and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Round 7: N F A O D S A E S
C1: SOFAS (5)
C2: FADES (5)
DC: SEASON (6)
OT: ANODES (6) FOSSAE (6) SEDANS (6) SONDES (6)
Score: 29–51 (max 56)
Nothing much in the impressive stakes, with just 5's and 6's in this one.
A SONDE is a rocket, balloon, or rockoon (rocket balloon) used as a probe for observing phenomena in the atmosphere.
Round 8: M O N O F E T D N
C1: MOONED (6)
C2: MOONED (6)
DC: FOOTMEN (7)
Score: 35–57 (max 63)
Now, both our contestants have decided to MOON.
Such a practice that wouldn't be acceptable if you were FOOTMEN, I guess......... Round 9: 1, 10, 8, 1, 5, 4. Target: 353.
C1: 353. ((8 - 1) x 5 x 10) + 4 - 1 (10)
C2: -
Score: 45–57 (max 73)
Well, after the 6 small success yesterday, Andy decides to deploy that tactic in the hope of getting back in the game, and it works!!! The gap shrinks to 12 just like that.
Teatime teaser: CALLMARY -> LACRYMAL
Round 10: S P I O Z R E T I
C1: ROPIEST (7)
C2: sportie
DC: RIPOSTE (7)
OT: TIPSIER (7) ZOISITE (7)
Score: 52–57 (max 80)
And now it's down to 5, as Martin seems to think sportie is fine with the -IE ending................
ZOISITE is a grey, brown, or pink mineral consisting of hydrated calcium aluminium silicate in orthorhombic crystalline form.
Round 11: M R G A E I M S H
C1: MIRAGES (7)
C2: SHIMMER (7)
DC: MISHEAR (7) HAMMERS (7) GAMMIER (7)
OT: GAMMERS (7) GIMMERS (7) GRAMMES (7) HAMMIER (7) HEGIRAS (7) IMAGERS (7) MEGRIMS (7) RAMMIES (7) SHAMMER (7)
Score: 59–64 (max 87)
Plenty of 7's yet again, and this game is still on a knife-edge.....................
A GAMMER is a dialect word for an old woman, now chiefly humorous or contemptuous.
A MEGRIM is a flatfish, Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis, of the turbot family, having a yellowish translucent body up to 50cm (20") in length, found in European waters, and caught for food.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "mad as a hatter" and "keep it under your hat".
Round 12: Y P N E U O M W H
C1: WOMEN (5)
C2: PHONEY (6)
DC: PHENOM (6)
OT: EUPHONY (7)
Score: 59–70 (max 94)
Well, that could be very crucial, as that PHONEY answer from Martin now sees his lead jump up to 11 points.
Round 13: B R A E O T P D E
C1: PROBATE (7)
C2: ABORTED (7)
DC: READOPT (7) OPERATED (8)
OT: PROBATED (8)
Score: 66–77 (max 102)
A couple more 7's put Martin in control now, but why did Andy not stick the D on the end of PROBATE...............
Round 14: 50, 4, 2, 1, 10, 8. Target: 162.
C1: 162. (50 x 4) - ((10 + 8 + 1) x 2) (10)
C2: 162. ((4 - 1) x 50) + 10 + 2 (10)
Score: 76–87 (max 112)
And that simple 1 large means we have a new champion.
Round 15: D I N D I E S E L
C2 buzzes on 18 seconds to say LINSEED which is incorrect.
C1 does not buzz.
The answer was SIDELINED.
Final Score: 76–87 (max 122)
Well, Martin buzzing in with a 7 for the conundrum is a bit of a letdown at the end of the day, but at least it wasn't crucial, I guess. So, it goes to the audience, and lo and behold, the person selected is Paul Worsley
(Now, there's someone who could do good on the show. )So, the curse of the 7th show has struck again this series, and Andy finds himself in 3rd position in the early table (I still say early, as there are only 7 people on it at the moment.), and so his place in the finals is by no way certain at this point. Can Martin be the first person to make it to the promised land of octochampdom.............
Anthony will be with you tomorrow to see if he can take the next step............
I'll be back next Wednesday for the next installment.
So, till then, have a good weekend, and see you soon. Bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Andy:
Total score - 76
Raw score - 94
Total % of max - 62
Raw % of max - 77
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 6.3
Number of maxes - 6
Martin:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 87
Total % of max - 71
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 5.8
Number of maxes - 6
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70