While James is away continuing his quest to appear on every quiz show on television, I'm here to bring you a guest recap.
C1: Champion Brett Davids (3 wins, 292 points) is a dentist from Wysall, Nottinghamshire. He's been doing well so far, and on Monday he came within one point of the highest score yet of the series.
C2: Challenger Andy Naylor is an account manager from Hendon. He also plays as batsman and wicket-keeper at Wealdstone Corinthians Cricket Club, for whom he has played a record 616 matches. Andy has previously appeared on the show in 2003, when he lost despite a score of 95.
DC: Susie Dent and Jonathan Edwards.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G R B N E O I D R
R02: E A O W N R M S C
R03: 25, 75, 50, 100, 5, 3. Target: 409.
TTT: LUTEAREA - "Hugh had dinner with a poet."
R04: I A O H P X N U S
R05: R D R F E A E M T
R06: 100, 50, 2, 7, 5, 3. Target: 504.
R07: B T J I A E R S L
R08: I E O G H V P T G
R09: 100, 75, 25, 50, 6, 3. Target: 894.
TTT: DEEPDOWN - "You'll find this deep down under the water."
R10: A E O M P T L Q A
R11: R P S D O E I N V
R12: S K T U A I E S L
R13: S D L N I O E A G
R14: 75, 5, 10, 7, 4, 3. Target: 877.
R15: P N I C O T I N E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G R B N E O I D R
C1: IGNORED (7)
C2: IGNORED (7)
DC: GROINED (7) BORDERING (18)
Score: 7–7 (max 18)
Brett and Andy IGNORED the nine-letter word BORDERING. Also available was GROINED, an architectural term.
Round 2: E A O W N R M S C
C1: MOANERS (7)
C2: ROMANCES (8)
Score: 7–15 (max 26)
Challenger Andy goes in front with the darrenic ROMANCES, which puts Brett behind for the first time in his run.
Round 3: 25, 75, 50, 100, 5, 3. Target: 409.
C1: 410. 100*3+25+75+50/5 (7)
C2: 403.
OT: 409. 75*5+(100+50/25)/3 (10)
Score: 14–15 (max 36)
409 eludes even Rachel - very well done if you got this. The solver found only two ways of doing it: 375 + 102/3 is one way (shown above), and the other way is to do (75 * (50 - 5) * 3 + 100) / 25.
Teatime teaser: LUTEAREA -> LAUREATE
Round 4: I A O H P X N U S
C1: PUNISH (6)
C2: AXIONS (6)
DC: ANXIOUS (7)
Score: 20–21 (max 43)
Still a close game as Andy misses ANXIOUS having found the regular Countdown word AXIONS.
Round 5: R D R F E A E M T
C1: DRAFTER (7)
C2: REFRAMED (8)
DC: RAFTERED (8) DREAMER (7) RETREAD (7)
Score: 20–29 (max 51)
Andy's not sure about REFRAMED, and he conjectures it might be a snooker term. It isn't, but you can REFRAME a picture, so Andy goes a further eight points in front.
Round 6: 100, 50, 2, 7, 5, 3. Target: 504.
C1: 504. 5*100+7-3 (10)
C2: 504. 5*100+7-3 (10)
Score: 30–39 (max 61)
A straightforward numbers game takes us into Jonathan Edwards' anecdote about a journalist misquoting him.
Round 7: B T J I A E R S L
C1: BRISTLE (7)
C2: lariest
DC: JAILERS (7) LIBRATES (8)
OT: TABLIERS (8)
Score: 37–39 (max 69)
This could be a costly error for Andy as he tries for LAIRIEST but spells it wrong, allowing Brett to get within two points.
The moon's wobbling as it orbits earth, by which it slightly changes which part of it we can see, is called its libration. LIBRATES was there for eight.
Round 8: I E O G H V P T G
C1: POET (4)
C2: OGIVE (5)
DC: HOGGET (6)
Score: 37–44 (max 75)
Andy shows he was paying attention yesterday as he finds OGIVE to extend his lead. Susie and Jonathan find HOGGET, which I thought was some kind of lamb dish. It's actually the sheep itself, I just only knew the term from when it's been served on a plate.
Round 9: 100, 75, 25, 50, 6, 3. Target: 894.
C1: 891.
C2: 894. (75/25)*3*100-6 (10)
Score: 37–54 (max 85)
Brett seems to know he's missed something obvious when he declares 891, and it falls to Andy to collect the ten points and put himself in an even more commanding position.
Teatime teaser: DEEPDOWN -> PONDWEED
Good to see the teaser paying homage to apterous's newest variant, introduced yesterday evening.
Round 10: A E O M P T L Q A
C1: MAPLE (5)
C2: PALMATE (7)
OT: OATMEAL (7)
Score: 37–61 (max 92)
Another good spot from Andy. PALMATE refers to a leaf with five or more lobes which radiate out from a point, and it shows he's been practising.
Round 11: R P S D O E I N V
C1: disproved
C2: PROVIDES (8)
DC: PONDERS (7) VENDORS (7) PRISONED (8)
OT: DISPROVE (8) OVERSPIN (8)
Score: 37–69 (max 100)
Brett tries for a nine, but uses the D twice. I wondered if he meant DISPROVEN^, but it turns out that's not in either. You can have PROVEN or DISPROVED, but not that.
Round 12: S K T U A I E S L
C1: SKATES (6)
C2: TALKIES (7)
DC: SULKIEST (8)
Score: 37–76 (max 108)
Andy seals the game with TALKIES - movies which aren't silent.
Round 13: S D L N I O E A G
C1: AGONISED (8)
C2: ALIGNED (7)
DC: GOLDEN (6) OLDIES (6)
OT: ALONGSIDE (18)
Score: 45–76 (max 126)
Brett finds AGONISED to close the gap a bit, but even finding the nine ALONGSIDE wouldn't have helped him now. Jonathan and Susie are pleased to offer GOLDEN OLDIES to Nick.
Round 14: 75, 5, 10, 7, 4, 3. Target: 877.
C1: 877. (3*4+75)*10+7 (10)
C2: 878.
Score: 55–76 (max 136)
With the game already in the bag, cricketer Andy seems to have declared and gone in for tea.
Round 15: P N I C O T I N E
Brett buzzes on 12 seconds to say INCEPTION which is correct.
Final Score: 65–76 (max 146)
Brett made an impressive gain of 28 points in the last three rounds, but Andy was too strong for him today. Words like PALMATE wouldn't be spotted by most players - he just needs to keep that standard up for another seven games and we might see him become the first octochamp of series 70.
James will be back tomorrow for his usual Thursday recap, where we'll see how Andy gets on in the champion's chair.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70