Tuesday 19th April 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 55)

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Tim Down
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Tuesday 19th April 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 55)

Post by Tim Down »

Ann Dibben has been sweeping aside all competition for 5 games now. How will today's challenger Neville Spiers get on?

C1: Champion Ann Dibben (5 wins, 543 points). A company director from Haslemere, Surrey, and mum to 2-year-old Alice.
C2: Challenger Neville Spiers, a business and property consultant from Borehamwood in Hertfordshire with an interest in politics.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Myers.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T S I L A E R L O
R02: S R L A O P M U P
R03: 75, 50, 100, 10, 4, 3. Target: 776.
TTT: VICSCREE - "Does the gynaecologist stop here after a long drive?"
R04: S I D Z R A I A T
R05: N R O F I A N E S
R06: 3, 2, 3, 10, 4, 5. Target: 327.
R07: H R O S I A T I U
R08: X B K A V E A G N
R09: 100, 25, 50, 2, 10, 2. Target: 169.
TTT: HOTSPICE - "It's not a hot spice, but it could come in handy if you're chilly."
R10: E U S Q D I T G D
R11: B R E G O A M U R
R12: V T E O N C P E C
R13: Y N I E T O L A T
R14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 8, 3. Target: 281.
R15: G I R T H B O N E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: T S I L A E R L O

Ann: TALLIES (7)
Neville: SALTIER (7)
DC: LITERALS (8) REALLOTS (8) TALLIERS (8)
OT: LORILETS (8) ROTELLIS (8) TROLLIES (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

A promising-looking selection yields a 7 for both players. DC have three of the available 8s.

LORILETS: A LORILET is another term for fig parrot, a very small short-tailed Australasian parrot, with mainly green plumage and a coloured head, feeding on soft fruit.
ROTELLIS: A variety of pasta made in the shape of small wagon-wheels.

Round 2: S R L A O P M U P

Ann: POPULAR (7)
Neville: PARLOUS (7)
DC: POPLARS (7)
OT: PROSULA (7)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)

New round, same result. The contestants have different 7s, and this time they couldn’t have done any better.

PROSULA: From early music, a phrase, sentence, or longer text set to the individual notes or note-groups of a pre-existent melisma.

Round 3: 75, 50, 100, 10, 4, 3. Target: 776.

Ann: 776. (75 + 3) × 10 − 4 (10)
Neville: 776. (75 + 3) × 10 − 4 (10)
Score: 24–24 (max 25)

A relatively straightforward 3-large selection is solved without fuss by both players and it’s a strong start from Neville against someone of Ann’s calibre.

Teatime teaser: VICSCREE -> CERVICES

Round 4: S I D Z R A I A T

Ann: STADIA (6)
Neville: radials
DC: DIARIST (7)
OT: ARTIADS (7)
Score: 30–24 (max 32)

The deadlock is broken as Neville writes down an L instead of… what? … and declares RADIALS, which would have been good if the letters had been there. Ann takes the lead with her STADIA although DC beat that with DIARIST. Bonus imaginary points to Neville for his charming reaction to being told there was no L in the selection.

There was also an obscure anagram of DIARIST, ARTIADS. An artiad is an element or radical whose valency is represented by an even number. Contrasted with perissad [further research left to the reader].

Round 5: N R O F I A N E S

Ann: FANNIES (7)
Neville: SINNER (6)
DC: INFERNOS (8) INSOFAR (7)
Score: 37–24 (max 40)

Ann looks a little coy about it but can thank FANNIES for extending her lead. A great spot from DC with INFERNOS.

Round 6: 3, 2, 3, 10, 4, 5. Target: 327.

Ann: 327. (5 + 4 + 2) × 3 × 10 − 3 (10)
Neville: -
Score: 47–24 (max 50)

Neville goes 6-small. I like his style. It’s a gettable one but sadly he blanks and Ann nails it.

Dave discusses the practicalities of living in France.

Round 7: H R O S I A T I U

Ann: AUTHORS (7)
Neville: hirsuit
OT: HISTRIO (7) ROUTISH (7) SAUTOIR (7)
Score: 54–24 (max 57)

Neville misspells HIRSUTE and suddenly the game is getting away from him, as often seems to happen after a strong start by a challenger. Ann maxes with AUTHORS.

HISTRIO: a variant of HISTRION, an actor.

Round 8: X B K A V E A G N

Ann: BEGAN (5)
Neville: VEGAN (5)
DC: BANKAGE (7)
Score: 59–29 (max 64)

A nasty selection yields 5s for the contestants while DC has BANKAGE, which is payment levied for the use of the banks of a river or other watercourse, especially for landing or storing goods.

Round 9: 100, 25, 50, 2, 10, 2. Target: 169.

Ann: 169. 100 + 50 + 25 − 10 + 2 + 2 (10)
Neville: 169. 100 + 50 + 25 − 10 + 2 + 2 (10)
Score: 69–39 (max 74)

Another easy 3-large, another 10 points each.

Teatime teaser: HOTSPICE -> POSTICHE

Round 10: E U S Q D I T G D

Ann: SQUIDGED (8)
Neville: STUDIED (7)
Score: 77–39 (max 82)

Neville’s STUDIED is respectable but is SQUIDGED by Ann’s pleasing offering.

Round 11: B R E G O A M U R

Ann: ARMOUR (6)
Neville: UMBRAGE (7)
DC: BEGORRA (7) EMBARGO (7)
OT: MARRUBE (7) RAMBOUR (7) REOGRAM (7) UROGRAM (7)
Score: 77–46 (max 89)

Neville wins a round with an excellent spot but is surely too far behind to mount a serious challenge at this stage.

Susie talks about food-related idioms in various languages.

Round 12: V T E O N C P E C

Ann: CONCEPT (7)
Neville: CONVECT (7)
OT: POTENCE (7)
Score: 84–53 (max 96)

7s all round, which is as good as you could get.

Round 13: Y N I E T O L A T

Ann: TONALITE (8)
Neville: ELATION (7)
DC: TONALITY (8)
Score: 92–53 (max 104)

Neville’s ELATION is good but Ann pulls out a fine specimen from the Apterite’s Big Bag of Obscure Minerals to seal the game. Fun stat: Ann and Neville did not declare the same word in any round.

Round 14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 8, 3. Target: 281.

Ann: 281. (100 − 8) × 3 + (75 + 50) ÷ 25 (10)
Neville: 281. (100 − 8) × 3 + (75 + 50) ÷ 25 (10)
Score: 102–63 (max 114)

Neville goes 4-large, because why not. It’s a non-trivial one but both players solve it nicely.

Round 15: G I R T H B O N E

Ann buzzes on 1 second to say BOTHERING which is correct.
Final Score: 112–63 (max 124)

Ann has been great on conundrums and is once again seriously speedy on this (admittedly easy) one.

After a tight start Ann’s consistency and a bit of brilliance made this a comfortable and impressive win. Neville can count himself unlucky to come up against her as on that performance he would have beaten a lot of contestants. Ann’s up to 6 wins and on this form looks bound for octochampocity. Join James for her next game.

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=74
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