Thursday, 23rd October 2008 (Series 59, Game 69)

[Jon Corby]

Countdown recap for Thursday 23 October 2008.

C1: Champion Charlie Reams (6 wins, 645 points.)
C2: Challenger Anne Jenkin.
DC: Susie Dent and Brian Capron.
CV: Carol Vorderman.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D R T P E U O E N
R02: Y F A I S D E X M
R03: R D Z R U I E T L
R04: O A B F R N O I R
R05: 25, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1. Target: 228.
TTT: ABOLDELF - "A picnic table or a bad hand can be this"
R06: T R A E T S O N A
R07: V G S C A E A M P
R08: C T E N S R I E O
R09: M N N K I E A S R
R10: 100, 5, 10, 9, 9, 4. Target: 356.
TTT: GAUNTELM - "Could it be the colour of violence?"
R11: G L S N I O I C E
R12: N D I O E W L O L
R13: H P D T U I E B S
R14: 5, 7, 1, 1, 4, 8. Target: 448.
R15: S E E B L O N D E (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

"You can't go wrong when you get an email about a little girl," says Des as he opens the show, which probably isn't quite true... ahem. But it's fine, it's nothing Glittery, this one's just about a digruntled little girl burying her neighbour's cat for eating her goldfish. We're not told whether she buried the feline alive or bludgeoned it to death first, but everyone laughs anyway.

So onto today's contestants! Our champion needs no introduction.

Really.

Today he's playing a very nervous looking Anne Jenkin who describes herself as "a lamb to the slaughter", and I'm sure we can all sympathise. Des reminds her of "David and Goliath" which may give her some hope. She's an IT trainer from Cheltenham, married to Bill, and enjoys the music of Leonard Cohen. Nice also to hear Neil "Slurms" MacKenzie (who'll hopefully hang in there for a place in the finals in a few months' time) get a mention, as he is Anne's top sportman.

Oh okay, the champ's called Charlie Reams, he's on 6 wins, and he's the dashing owner of this website, and also now my aching heart. *Swoon*

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: D R T P E U O E N

C1: POUNDER (7)
C2: REPUTED (7)
DC: PRETEND (7)
OT: DEUTERON (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

A deuteron is the nucleus of a deuterium atom, consisting of a proton and a neutron.

Round 2: Y F A I S D E X M

C1: DEISM (5)
C2: MIXED (5)
DC: ADMIXES (7)
Score: 12–12 (max 15)

Susie stresses the difference between 'mixes' and 'admixes' here, that being that admixing involves specifically mixing something with something else. An important distinction to recognise. Umm.....

Round 3: R D Z R U I E T L

C1: RUTILE (6)
C2: LITRE (5)
DC: DILUTER (7)
Score: 18–12 (max 22)

Round 4: O A B F R N O I R

C1: BRAIN (5)
C2: ROBIN (5)
DC: BARRIO (6)
OT: BORONIA (7)
Score: 23–17 (max 29)

A boronia is a sweet-scented Australian shrub which is cultivated for its perfume and for the cut-flower trade. A slow-scoring start from Charlie who doens't seem to have slipped into gear yet...

Round 5: 25, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1. Target: 228.

C1: 228. (5+4)*25+3 (10)
C2: 228. (5+4)*25+3 (10)
Score: 33–27 (max 39)

Brian leads us into the break with a nice story about a family watching a pirated DVD.

Teatime teaser: ABOLDELF -> FOLDABLE

Round 6: T R A E T S O N A

C1: TOASTER (7)
C2: TREASON (7)
DC: AEROSTAT (8)
Score: 40–34 (max 47)

An aerostat is an airship or hot-air balloon.

Round 7: V G S C A E A M P

C1: SAVAGE (6)
C2: ampages
DC: AGAPES (6)
OT: AGAVES (6) PAVAGE (6)
Score: 46–34 (max 53)

A good try from Anne, but the word is amperages.

Round 8: C T E N S R I E O

C1: ERECTIONS (18)
C2: RESECTION (18)
OT: SECRETION (18)
Score: 64–52 (max 71)

Nines aplenty; Charlie's ERECTIONS causes laughter (I know the feeling, sadly) and I think everyone's a little surprised when resection is also declared good.

Round 9: M N N K I E A S R

C1: SEMINAR (7)
C2: MANKIER (7)
DC: MANNERS (7)
OT: RAMEKINS (8)
Score: 71–59 (max 79)

Round 10: 100, 5, 10, 9, 9, 4. Target: 356.

C1: 356. (100-10-9/9)*4 (10)
C2: 356. (100-10)*4-9+5 (10)
Score: 81–69 (max 89)

Teatime teaser: GAUNTELM -> GUNMETAL

Round 11: G L S N I O I C E

C1: SILICONE (8)
C2: CLOSING (7)
DC: LEGIONS (7) COILING (7)
OT: CEILINGS (8) ECLOSING (8) ISOCLINE (8) ISOGENIC (8)
Score: 89–69 (max 97)

Charlie finally starts to give himself a bit of breathing space with an excellent spot. "Anne, you've gotta stop this," advises Des. "It'll take a bomb" she says, which isn't really in the 'David and Goliath' spirit encouraged by Des at the start...

Round 12: N D I O E W L O L

C1: WILLED (6)
C2: woollie
DC: WOOLLEN (7)
OT: EIDOLON (7) INDWELL (7)
Score: 95–69 (max 104)

Round 13: H P D T U I E B S

C1: DISPUTE (7)
C2: BUSTED (6)
DC: SUBEDIT (7)
Score: 102–69 (max 111)

Round 14: 5, 7, 1, 1, 4, 8. Target: 448.

C1: -
C2: 448. 8*7*(1+1)*4 (10)
Score: 102–79 (max 121)

Without checking, I confidently state this is probably the first numbers game which Charlie has perhaps failed to score on so far. Maybe.

Round 15: S E E B L O N D E

No one buzzes. The answer was NOSEBLEED.
Score: 102–79 (max 131)

A tough (well, ish) last numbers game a very difficult conundrum prevents Charlie from hitting another very high score, but he'll be pleased to come through a game which looked like being closer than it turned out in the end. Great fight from Anne though, and maybe she'll be wondering if she might have been able to rattle Charlie a little more by going for 6 small with her first numbers selection as well, as it turned out to be a profitable tactic.

Congrats to Charlie though - one more to go for octochampdom! Some nice banter at the end as well, in which Charlie doesn't want to reveal how much time he spends reading the dictionary at the risk of jeopardising his chances of getting a girlfriend, and cheekily encourages the ladies to write in. Great stuff to round off a thoroughly enjoyable show!

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=59

[Allan Harmer]

Great recap Jon.

It had me laughing at my pc screen and my wife thinking I've gone off my trolley

[Ben Hunter]

Cheeky Charlie.