Enjoy. 
Countdown recap for Thursday 14 April 2016.
C1: Champion Ann Dibben (2 wins, 224 points.) A company director from Haslemere, Surrey, and a mum to 2-year-old Alice.
C2: Challenger John Billitteri. A semi-professional singer from Bristol, who goes by the name of Frankie Johns during the weekends, while he's performing. He has also raised money for Help for Heroes in his time.
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: K D A H E U S R I
R02: E A E N W R T U N
R03: 100, 75, 7, 2, 4, 3. Target: 748.
TTT: MAULGENT - "Not fifty shades of grey, just the one"
R04: O E R J R S O I B
R05: D W M U E T O I N
R06: 100, 25, 9, 7, 1, 10. Target: 258.
R07: F C U A S E D O P
R08: A U G R M S I O L
R09: 25, 75, 8, 2, 4, 6. Target: 421.
TTT: DUDEOVER - "The hungry dude's meal was over, it was all gone in seconds"
R10: A A S Y P B E A L
R11: P N I O S A T E N
R12: I A E T R H M G T
R13: C N G I O E Q S I
R14: 50, 25, 9, 7, 3, 4. Target: 153.
R15: H E C A N S U L K (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: K D A H E U S R I
Ann: RESIDUA (7)
John: sheard
DC: SHIRKED (7) DARKISH (7)
OT: AIRSHED (7) DARKIES (7) DREKISH (7) DUIKERS (7) DUSKIER (7) HUSKIER (7) SHADIER (7) SHAKIER (7) SHARKED (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
A brilliant 7 to start from Ann, while John's offering wasn't quite there....
An AIRSHED is a mountain ridge or other topographical feature which divides an airflow into distinct parts.
Round 2: E A E N W R T U N
Ann: TENURE (6)
John: ENTER (5)
DC: TANNER (6) TENNER (6) NATURE (6)
OT: UNEATEN (7)
Score: 13–0 (max 14)
Ann is clearly hoping her TENURE in the champions' chair will extend beyond this game, or should we say the pie remains UNEATEN.
Round 3: 100, 75, 7, 2, 4, 3. Target: 748.
Ann: 749. (100 + 4 + 3) x 7 (7)
John: -
RR: 748. ((7 + 3) x 75) - 2 (10)
Score: 20–0 (max 24)
Oh dear, a bad miss by the players here, but Ann extends her lead with John nowhere to be seen....
Teatime teaser: MAULGENT -> GUNMETAL
Round 4: O E R J R S O I B
Ann: OBOES (5)
John: ROSIER (6)
DC: SOBER (5) BRIERS (6)
OT: BORERS (6) RESORB (6) RIBOSE (6) ROBERS (6)
Score: 20–6 (max 30)
John gets into the game with a ROSIER offering.
Round 5: D W M U E T O I N
Ann: MINUTED (7)
John: downton
DC: DOWNTIME (8)
OT: MUNDOWIE (8) OMNITUDE (8)
Score: 27–6 (max 38)
Oh dear, oh dear, a double phantom burst from John, sees Ann's lead go back into the 20's.
A MUNDOWIE is an informal Australian term for a footstep.
Round 6: 100, 25, 9, 7, 1, 10. Target: 258.
Ann: 258. (25 x 10) + 7 + 1 (10)
John: 258. (25 x 10) + 7 + 1 (10)
Score: 37–16 (max 48)
Quite interesting seeing John actively celebrating getting the numbers during the 30 seconds with Ann playing ball too.
Alistair talks about "the disappearing hyphen".
Round 7: F C U A S E D O P
Ann: FOCUSED (7)
John: FOCUSED (7)
DC: DEFOCUS (7) UPCASED (7)
OT: PEASCOD (7) UPCODES (7)
Score: 44–23 (max 55)
Now, we're all FOCUSED again.
To UPCODE is to assign an inaccurate billing code to a medical procedure or treatment to increase reimbursement.
Round 8: A U G R M S I O L
Ann: GIRASOL (7)
John: groals
DC: GRAMS (5) GOURAMIS (8)
OT: MILAGROS (8) SOLARIUM (8)
Score: 51–23 (max 63)
Another beautiful word from Ann here, and she's clearly making her mark on this game.
In Mexico and among Hispanic Americans, a MILAGRO is a small object, frequently an ornament or piece of jewellery, representing the subject of a petitionary prayer, usually fastened to the image of the Virgin or of a saint to strengthen the petition or to give thanks that the petition has been granted.
Round 9: 25, 75, 8, 2, 4, 6. Target: 421.
Ann: 421. (6 x 75) - 25 - 4 (10)
John: 422.
Score: 61–23 (max 73)
Well, Ann gets this numbers game spot on this time, and her lead is getting bigger and bigger by the second.....
Teatime teaser: DUDEOVER -> DEVOURED
Round 10: A A S Y P B E A L
Ann: PAYABLE (7)
John: BALES (5)
DC: SAYABLE (7) PAYABLES (8)
Score: 68–23 (max 81)
Ann stays safe with the 7, although the plural 8 was there.
Round 11: P N I O S A T E N
Ann: PANTIES (7)
John: POINTS (6)
DC: PIANOS (6) OPINES (6) ENATIONS (8)
OT: NASONITE (8) OPINANTS (8) PAEONINS (8) PANTINES (8) PENATINS (8) PENTOSAN (8)
Score: 75–23 (max 89)
Now Ann has decided to show us her PANTIES....
NASONITE is a trigonal silicate and chloride of calcium and lead, Ca4Pb6(Si2O7)3Cl2, which forms prismatic crystals and occurs as white or grey granular masses.
An OPINANT is a person who opines or forms an opinion.
PAEONIN is a bright red anthocyanin pigment occurring in the petals of red peonies and in certain other plants.
A PANTINE is a puppet-like toy, usually of pasteboard, consisting of a figure of a human being (sometimes a caricature of a famous person) with a jointed body and limbs moved by pulling a thread or wire.
PENATIN (or NOTATIN) is the enzyme glucose oxidase, a flavoprotein which catalyses the oxidation of glucose to d-glucono-δ-lactone and hydrogen peroxide, and which is produced by various microfungi (especially Penicillium species).
PENTOSAN (or PENTOSANE) is polysaccharide whose constituent monosaccharides are pentoses.
Round 12: I A E T R H M G T
Ann: MIGRATE (7)
John: MITHER (6)
DC: GATHER (6) MATTER (6) MEGAHIT (7)
OT: MARTITE (7) MITRATE (7) RAGTIME (7) RATHITE (7) THERMIT (7) TIGHTER (7)
Score: 82–23 (max 96)
And that's the game wrapped up for Ann with that 7.
MARTITE is a form of haematite occurring in octahedral or dodecahedral crystals, pseudomorphous after magnetite.
MITRATE is an adjective meaning having the shape of a mitre or bonnet.
RATHITE is any of a group of minerals that consist of complex sulpharsenites of lead, often with thallium and other elements, and occur in crystalline dolomite in the Binnental in Valais, Switzerland.
THERMIT (or THERMITE) is a mixture of finely powdered aluminium and iron oxide that produces a very high temperature on combustion, used in welding and for incendiary bombs.
Round 13: C N G I O E Q S I
Ann: COGNISE (7)
John: SINGE (5)
OT: ISOGENIC (8)
Score: 89–23 (max 104)
A risky pay by Ann, but it's a great 7 points for her, and she's now in line for a hat-trick of centuries too.
Round 14: 50, 25, 9, 7, 3, 4. Target: 153.
Ann: 153. (3 x 50) + 7 - 4 (10)
John: 153. (3 x 50) + 7 - 4 (10)
Score: 99–33 (max 114)
Good to see the enthusiastic celebrating during the 30 seconds from John again, as he gets his first points since round 7.
Round 15: H E C A N S U L K
No one buzzes. The answer was UNSHACKLE.
Final Score: 99–33 (max 124)
Oh dear, Ann stays on the dreaded 99, as she can't UNSHACKLE the scramble for the conundrum....
But, 3 wins and 323 points from her first 3 appearances is a pretty good start. Can she keep this momentum up for another 5 shows I wonder
I'll be back soon for another recap. Bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Ann:
Total score - 99
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 80
Raw % of max - 84
Total average score per round - 6.6
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 6
John:
Total score - 33
Raw score - 67
Total % of max - 27
Raw % of max - 54
Total average score per round - 2.2
Raw average score per round - 4.5
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=74