Tuesday 31st May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 79)

Round-by-round summaries of every game in recent series; for every series in the last 5 years, try cdb, the Countdown database. Obviously this forum contains spoilers!

Moderator: James Robinson

Post Reply
Tim Down
Acolyte
Posts: 141
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:45 am

Tuesday 31st May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 79)

Post by Tim Down »

Matthew MacCabe won the first game after Robin McKay’s impressive octorun ended and now faces Alasdair Haines.

C1: Champion Matthew MacCabe (1 win, 61 points.) A volunteer at a local advice centre in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland. A choir singer and a first dan black belt in jujutsu.
C2: Challenger Alasdair Haines. A Geography student at the University of Exeter. Plays for the University’s cricket and golf teams.
DC: Susie Dent and Chris Hollins.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: L H N E I U S R A
R02: S R L W T O E U A
R03: 25, 9, 4, 1, 2, 3. Target: 872.
TTT: ROGERMOW - "Roger had to mow the lawn frequently after applying this."
R04: S P V D T O I A E
R05: R X D I O U P N A
R06: 75, 7, 10, 3, 6, 1. Target: 962.
R07: G T B I O U S D A
R08: L T R Q T E O I P
R09: 75, 9, 4, 10, 4, 3. Target: 166.
TTT: SENDEELS - "She didn't have to work the dough with her hands; there was simply no point."
R10: C N R M S A E U I
R11: R K T A O E N S P
R12: R V N S F I E O I
R13: L M S U A E G L R
R14: 75, 1, 2, 7, 1, 4. Target: 234.
R15: D I Z I T E M P O (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

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: L H N E I U S R A

Matthew: HAILERS (7)
Alasdair: HAULIERS (8)
DC: URINALS (7) INHALERS (8)
OT: URANILES (8)
Score: 0–8 (max 8)

Impressive start from Alasdair, who starts with a max. Another available 8 was URANILES, an old spelling of URANYLS. URANYL is a cation present in some compounds of uranium.

Round 2: S R L W T O E U A

Matthew: TROWELS (7)
Alasdair: TROWELS (7)
DC: OUTWEARS (8)
OT: OESTRUAL (8) OUTSWEAR (8) OUTWALES (8) ROSULATE (8)
Score: 7–15 (max 16)

Trowels all round for the contestants. DC make a visit to the OUT-house to beat them.

Round 3: 25, 9, 4, 1, 2, 3. Target: 872.

Matthew: -
Alasdair: 872. (4 × 9 − 1) × 25 − 3 (10)
Score: 7–25 (max 26)

Matthew goes 1-large but blanks. It’s not a trivial one but Alasdair nails it to extend his lead. A promising start by him.

Teatime teaser: ROGERMOW -> GROWMORE

Round 4: S P V D T O I A E

Matthew: DEPOSIT (7)
Alasdair: DOPIEST (7)
DC: ADOPTIVE (8)
OT: DIOPTASE (8)
Score: 14–32 (max 34)

Solid 7s, outdone by DC’s 8.

Round 5: R X D I O U P N A

Matthew: AROUND (6)
Alasdair: AROUND (6)
DC: PANDOUR (7)
OT: PADRINO (7) PODURAN (7) PONIARD (7) PRUNOID (7)
Score: 20–38 (max 41)

Once again the contestants match each other while DC has a max, which this time is obscure and has many meanings.

Round 6: 75, 7, 10, 3, 6, 1. Target: 962.

Matthew: 962. (7 + 6) × 75 − 10 − 3 (10)
Alasdair: 962. (7 + 6) × 75 − 10 − 3 (10)
Score: 30–48 (max 51)

Alasdair chooses 1-large as well. It’s a reasonably easy one which both players get.

Chris talks about covering a car parking incident at McDonalds while working on Watchdog.

Round 7: G T B I O U S D A

Matthew: DOUBTS (6)
Alasdair: BIGOTS (6)
DC: OUTBIDS (7)
OT: AGOUTIS (7)
Score: 36–54 (max 58)

This round follows the pattern of the previous two letters rounds with solid 6s beaten by DC’s 7.

Round 8: L T R Q T E O I P

Matthew: POTTIER (7)
Alasdair: POTTIER (7)
DC: TRIPLET (7)
OT: PETROIL (7) PLOTTER (7) POITREL (7) POLITER (7) PORTLET (7) TRIOLET (7)
Score: 43–61 (max 65)

Once again the contestants get the same word but this time it’s a max.

Round 9: 75, 9, 4, 10, 4, 3. Target: 166.

Matthew: 166. 9 × 10 + 4 − 3 + 75 (10)
Alasdair: 166. 4 × 4 × 10 + 9 − 3 (10)
Score: 53–71 (max 75)

One large again and both players make light work of a potentially tricky low target. They’ve matched each other since the first break.

Teatime teaser: SENDEELS -> NEEDLESS

Round 10: C N R M S A E U I

Matthew: carmines
Alasdair: REMAINS (7)
DC: MANICURES (18)
OT: MUSCARINE (18)
Score: 53–78 (max 93)

But now Alasdair increases his lead when Matthew tries to pluralise a colour. I’m unsure what the rule is on this but this time his CARMINES are disallowed and Alasdair’s REMAINS win the round. DC spots a 9.

Round 11: R K T A O E N S P

Matthew: -
Alasdair: TANKERS (7)
DC: STONKER (7) PRONATES (8)
OT: OPERANTS (8) TROPANES (8)
Score: 53–85 (max 101)

Matthew slips further behind at just the wrong time when he declares an 8 only to discover that he’s used the R twice. He can’t afford another mistake.

Susie talks about gynaecology.

Round 12: R V N S F I E O I

Matthew: NOISIER (7)
Alasdair: fonies
DC: VERSION (7) REVISION (8)
Score: 60–85 (max 109)

A good spot from Matthew claws back some ground as Alasdair has a rare bad round.

Round 13: L M S U A E G L R

Matthew: MAULERS (7)
Alasdair: MAULERS (7)
DC: MULLERS (7)
OT: ALLURES (7) LAURELS (7) MALLEUS (7) MAUGERS (7) MAUGRES (7) MUSELAR (7) REGULAS (7) SEAGULL (7) SMALLER (7) SULLAGE (7)
Score: 67–92 (max 116)

A flat round yields max 7s for everyone and it’s all over for Matthew.

Round 14: 75, 1, 2, 7, 1, 4. Target: 234.

Matthew: 234. (4 − 1) × 75 + 7 + 2 (10)
Alasdair: 234. (75 + 1 + 2) × (4 − 1) (10)
Score: 77–102 (max 126)

A simple 1-large is well solved by both contestants.

Round 15: D I Z I T E M P O

Alasdair buzzes on 4 seconds to say EPITOMIZED which is incorrect.
Matthew buzzes on 7 seconds to say OPTIMIZED which is correct.
Final Score: 87–102 (max 136)

Alasdair looks confident as he buzzes in with his 10-letter word. Matthew cleans up but it’s too late.

A good solid performance from Alisdair as he starts with a century. Matthew played well too but made one or two more mistakes.

Join James to see if Alasdair can start building a run.

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