So, we enter the second half of the year, or as we're probably calling it today, "Melting Pot".
Still, while we're getting some nice shade, let me entice you with today's recap. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 1 July 2015.
C1: Champion Pat "The Brain of Kildare" Lonergan (3 wins, 258 points.) A retired librarian from Newbridge, County Kildare.
C2: Challenger Kunal Saujani. A patent examiner from Cardiff.
DC: Susie Dent and Joe McElderry.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P S I A K T O U S
R02: H D O E N R G O A
R03: 75, 10, 1, 3, 9, 8. Target: 214.
TTT: SUPERKID - "The kid was super at climbing and often did this"
R04: L G E I R A I N D
R05: M S A E J N U I B
R06: 75, 3, 9, 8, 2, 3. Target: 410.
R07: S Y S E A E R F U
R08: T O M I D O C W U
R09: 25, 8, 7, 10, 4, 1. Target: 917.
TTT: URSAOVEN - "Ursa put the oven on, she couldn't wait to get eating"
R10: L T O I R S A U E
R11: V P O A H T U E D
R12: R M O T A P I E R
R13: G T O I F M A E T
R14: 75, 6, 2, 6, 4, 2. Target: 651.
R15: G E T I N H A R M (conundrum)
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Round 1: P S I A K T O U S
Pat: SPOUTS (6)
Kunal: PATIOS (6)
DC: OKAPIS (6)
OT: KATIPOS (7) PISTOUS (7) UTOPIAS (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
A pair of 6's for the contestants to begin, but a trio of 7's are left alone......
A KATIPO is a highly venomous New Zealand spider which is black with a red spot on the back, closely related to the American black widow.
(Latrodectus mactans katipo, family Theridiidae)
A PISTOU is a thick vegetable soup made with pistou, a sauce or paste made from crushed basil, garlic, and cheese, used especially in Provençal dishes.
Round 2: H D O E N R G O A
Pat: GROANED (7)
Kunal: GARDEN (6)
DC: OREGANO (7) DRAGOON (7)
OT: GADROON (7)
Score: 13–6 (max 14)
Pat may have GROANED, but it gets him the first lead.
A GADROON is a decorative edging on metal or wood formed by parallel rounded strips (reeding) like inverted fluting.
Round 3: 75, 10, 1, 3, 9, 8. Target: 214.
Pat: 214. (3 x 75) - 10 - 1 (10)
Kunal: 214. (75 x 3) - 9 - (10 - 8) (10)
Score: 23–16 (max 24)
Easy numbers, although Kunal tries to make it a bit harder........
Teatime teaser: SUPERKID -> PRUSIKED
Round 4: L G E I R A I N D
Pat: RAILING (7)
Kunal: DERAIL (6)
DC: DRAGLINE (8) DERAILING (18)
Score: 30–16 (max 42)
WHAT!? WHAT!?!? WHAT!?!?!? I have never seen anything like that before
When Kunal said DERAIL, I thought "What have you done?", and when Pat said RAILING, I thought "BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!" 
Round 5: M S A E J N U I B
Pat: JASMINE (7)
Kunal: SUNBEAM (7)
DC: BASENJI (7)
OT: JUMBIES (7)
Score: 37–23 (max 49)
Well, that's a bit better from our players. Shame that Nick's dog, Jasmine, has sadly departed though.....
In the West Indies, a JUMBIE is a spirit of a dead person, typically an evil one.
Round 6: 75, 3, 9, 8, 2, 3. Target: 410.
Pat: 415.
Kunal: 410. ((2 + 3) x 75) + (3 x 9) + 8 (10)
Score: 37–33 (max 59)
Kunal manages to get himself back into the game, even though he didn't seem to think he'd done it himself
Joe talks about his time on The Jump.
Round 7: S Y S E A E R F U
Pat: REFUSES (7)
Kunal: ASSURE (6)
Score: 44–33 (max 66)
Well, Pat returns immediately with a darrenic 7.
Round 8: T O M I D O C W U
Pat: WOOD (4)
Kunal: MOOT (4)
DC: WOODCUT (7)
Score: 48–37 (max 73)
Stuck on 4 here, although an extension to Pat's WOOD, would've given the darrenic 7. Interestingly, if you then take the remaining 2 letters and turn them into N's, then you have COUNTDOWN!!!
Round 9: 25, 8, 7, 10, 4, 1. Target: 917.
Pat: 915. (25 x 4 x (10 - 1)) + 8 + 7 (7)
Kunal: 915. Mistake in working.
RR: 917. (((25 + 8) x 4) - 1) x 7 (10)
Score: 55–37 (max 83)
Oh dear, oh dear, poor Kunal realises he has made a mistake, but Pat makes a possibly bigger one, as he decides to use 10 - 1 to make the 9, rather that 8 + 1, which would've left the 10 and 7 to get to the total...........
Teatime teaser: URSAOVEN -> RAVENOUS
Round 10: L T O I R S A U E
Pat: TAILORS (7)
Kunal: LOITERS (7)
DC: OUTLIERS (8)
Score: 62–44 (max 91)
Plenty of 7's available, but DC spot the darrenic 8.
Round 11: V P O A H T U E D
Pat: VOTED (5)
Kunal: DEVOUT (6)
DC: VAPED (5) POTHEAD (7)
Score: 62–50 (max 98)
Kunal slowly comes back into the game thanks to his DEVOUT answer, while DC go darrenic with a POTHEAD.
Susie's Origins of Words talks about words to do with "Fascism".
Round 12: R M O T A P I E R
Pat: TAMPER (6)
Kunal: PRIMATE (7)
DC: IMPORTER (8)
OT: IMPERATOR (18)
Score: 62–57 (max 116)
Well, well, well........., just 5 points in it now
A 9 is missed by everyone too.....An IMPERATOR is a Roman commander (a title conferred under the Republic on a victorious general and under the Empire on the emperor).
Round 13: G T O I F M A E T
Pat: MOTIF (5)
Kunal: fattie
OT: AMIGO (5) FETTA (5) GOTTA (5) IMAGE (5) IMAGO (5) MATTE (5) METTA (5) MOTET (5) MOTTE (5) OMEGA (5) TATIE (5) TOTEM (5)
Score: 67–57 (max 121)
5's aplenty here, although Kunal certainly had me convinced that there was a 6 there, but it's not complete danger for him, as the gap is still 10 points......
Round 14: 75, 6, 2, 6, 4, 2. Target: 651.
Pat: 648.
Kunal: 650. (75 - 6 - 4) x (6 + 2 + 2) (7)
RR: 651. ((75 + 6) x 4 x 2) + (6 / 2) (10)
Score: 67–64 (max 131)
Now, this is getting interesting............ Kunal's one away rules out the possibility of a tiebreak conundrum, but it's still going to be a CRUCIAL CONUNDRUM
Is Pat's run about to come to an end, I wonder........ 
Round 15: G E T I N H A R M
Pat buzzes on 21 seconds to say "No, I haven't got it", which is incorrect.
Kunal does not buzz.
The answer was NIGHTMARE.
Final Score: 67–64 (max 141)
A late buzz from Pat looks to have ended the debate......., but instead he blanks out
Fortunately for him, Kunal can't capitalise and Pat escapes the NIGHTMARE scenario............So, Pat has made it to 4 wins, which takes him above James Judge in the embryonic table to 2nd place, just 1 win behind Rhys Benjamin. Can he make it 5 in a row tomorrow
Join Tracey for that.Join me next week, when 2 people, neither of whom will be Pat take their places in the Countdown chairs.
Statistics Corner
Pat:
Total score - 67
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 48
Raw % of max - 65
Total average score per round - 4.5
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 4
Kunal:
Total score - 64
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 45
Raw % of max - 58
Total average score per round - 4.3
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 3
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=73