Thursday 5th March 2009 (Series 60, Game 24)

[Chris Corby]

C1: Champion Kirk Bevins (3 wins, 350 points) a teacher in his first year and
C2: Challenger Peter Bennett from Birmingham who is a retired assistant head teacher (from the school of The Bash Street Kids?)
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Phil Hammond.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D T N I A E P O R
R02: H V T M F E O E B
R03: L D S A O I D A S
R04: R S C E S L I U R
R05: 100, 1, 2, 9, 7, 2. Target: 177.
TTT: HAVERICE - "This sort of person always get what they want"
R06: G N L D E S E R I
R07: C R N E U A T E S
R08: P A I P A L S N E
R09: K M T O E A R O G
R10: 25, 10, 1, 9, 5, 5. Target: 996.
TTT: SINKGRIT - "Hitting out at the ten pins perhaps"
R11: D T S A I E R A S
R12: E I M O T Y P A C
R13: F Z J R O U E O W
R14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 9, 10. Target: 818.
R15: N U N G I R D L E (conundrum)


Stand by by a blockbuster.........

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Enjoy the show. Jeff breaks with tradition and introduces DC before the contestants

Round 1: D T N I A E P O R

C1: PREDATION (18)
C2: PAINTED (7)
Score: 18–0 (max 18)

No messing from Captain Kirk here - warp factor 9 straight away



Round 2: H V T M F E O E B

C1: EMOTE (5)
C2: BEHOVE (6)
DC: THEME (5)
Score: 18–6 (max 24)

Surprisingly, Kirk doesn't go for BEHOVE which may prove costly....

Round 3: L D S A O I D A S

C1: DALASIS (7)
C2: ASSAIL (6)
Score: 25–6 (max 31)

.... and of course you knew that Dalasis was the basic currency of Gambia, didn't you?

Round 4: R S C E S L I U R

C1: CRUISERS (8)
C2: CURRIES (7)
DC: SCURRIES (8)
OT: SUCRIERS (8) SLURRIES (8)
Score: 33–6 (max 39)

Round 5: 100, 1, 2, 9, 7, 2. Target: 177.

C1: 177. (9+2)*7 + 100 (10)
C2: 177. (9+2)*7 + 100 (10)
Score: 43–16 (max 49)

Teatime teaser: HAVERICE -> ACHIEVER

Round 6: G N L D E S E R I

C1: REEDLINGS (18)
C2: grinder
DC: ENGIRDLES (18)
OT: ENGIRDLES (18) REEDLINGS (18)
Score: 61–16 (max 67)

Dr Phil knew that Reedlings were bearded tits, but Susie still looked it up anyway. Engirdles was spoken by Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Incidentally, although DC didn't comment, Grinder was not valid as there were not two R's in the selection.

Round 7: C R N E U A T E S

C1: UNCREATES (18)
C2: CURATES (7)
Score: 79–16 (max 85)

Two niners in a row (three altogether) from Kirk now - "We're getting a masterclass," says Jeff

Round 8: P A I P A L S N E

C1: SPANIEL (7)
C2: NAPPIES (7)
DC: ALPINES (7)
OT: PINEALS (7) APPEALS (7) APPLIES (7) PINESAP (7) NIPPLES (7)
Score: 86–23 (max 92)

Round 9: K M T O E A R O G

C1: TOERAG (6)
C2: MARKET (6)
"Tempted with a seven, Kirk?" asks Jeff. "Yes," says Kirk and utters the DC valid 7.
DC: MOORAGE (7)
Score: 92–29 (max 99)

Round 10: 25, 10, 1, 9, 5, 5. Target: 996.

C1: 996. (5-1)*10*25=1000 - (9-5) (10)
C2: 996. (5-1)*10*25=1000 - (9-5) (10)
Score: 102–39 (max 109)

Teatime teaser: SINKGRIT -> STRIKING

Round 11: D T S A I E R A S

C1: AIRDATES (8)
C2: STAIRS (6)
OT: RADIATES (8) ASSARTED (8) DIASTASE (8) DISASTER (8) DISRATES (8)

Airdates are transmission times for recorded TV porgrammes. Jeff says that he is embarrassed to admit that with 25 years' of TV experience he had never heard of the word!


Score: 110–39 (max 117)

Round 12: E I M O T Y P A C

C1: OPACITY (7)
C2: IMPACT (6)
DC: MYOPIC (6)
OT: APOMICT (7) PYAEMIC (7)
Score: 117–39 (max 124)

Round 13: F Z J R O U E O W

C1: WOOFER (6)
C2: WOOFER (6)
Score: 123–45 (max 130)

Round 14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 9, 10. Target: 818.

C1: 817. (100*9)-75=825-10+50/25 (7)
C2: 815.
OT: 818. 10*75=750+ (9+25=34*100/50)
Score: 130–45 (max 140)

Round 15: N U N G I R D L E

C2 buzzes on 17 seconds to say UNDERLING which is correct.
Score: 130–55 (max 150)

Look at that maximum total. Julian Fell has held the record 146 for years. It was within Kirk's grasp, that will sicken him - but for the rest of us, we can just marvel at a massive points total of 130 and a grand total for four games of 480!

I thought Charlie was going to get a mention at the end but Kirk seemed relucant to give him the nod. Charlie is Kirk's mate, his mentor, his mastur...... well enough said, but the exchange went something like this:

Dr Phil: Do you take the dictionary to bed with you?
Kirk: Not quite, no. The secret is practice really.
Dr Phil: How do you practice?
Kirk: There's a former contestant.. former champion.. in the final of the last series.. and he's got a web site and all the Countdowners and past champions practice there.

So a glorious moment to plug C4C by name and Apterous for his mate goes begging. But 130!! I think he's promoted to Admiral Kirk now.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=60

[Kai Laddiman]

Rd 14's solvable

[Chris Corby]

Rd 14's solvable

Thanks Kai, now edited to reflect this. Makes it a 150 max!

[Howard Somerset]

Love the recap, Chris. Glad to see you've kept it in the family.

Round 14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 9, 10. Target: 818.

C1: 817. (100*9)-75=825-10+50/25 (7)
C2: 815.
OT: 818. 10*75=750+ (9+25=34*50/25)
Score: 130–45 (max 140)

Still a problem here, though. In the OT solution, you've used 25 twice. The last little bit should be 100/50.

[Chris Corby]

Love the recap, Chris. Glad to see you've kept it in the family.

Round 14: 100, 25, 75, 50, 9, 10. Target: 818.

C1: 817. (100*9)-75=825-10+50/25 (7)
C2: 815.
OT: 818. 10*75=750+ (9+25=34*50/25)
Score: 130–45 (max 140)

Still a problem here, though. In the OT solution, you've used 25 twice. The last little bit should be 100/50.

Thanks Howard, edited - you can tell I am a newbie with this!

[Kirk Bevins]

Dr Phil: Do you take the dictionary to bed with you?
Kirk: Not quite, no. The secret is practice really.
Dr Phil: How do you practice?
Kirk: There's a former contestant.. former champion.. in the final of the last series.. and he's got a web site and all the Countdowners and past champions practice there.

So a glorious moment to plug C4C by name and Apterous for his mate goes begging. But 130!! I think he's promoted to Admiral Kirk now.

I purposefully avoided giving the URL out as I didn't want loads of kids from my school signing up. Those people that are interested how I practise will search for the forum so it will all be fine.

[Ian Fitzpatrick]

Excellent recap, it's good to get the asides as well as the game itself.

I wondered why Kirk didn't give the url, good thinking it would seem.
Bl**dy kids!

[Phil Reynolds]

I think he's promoted to Admiral Kirk now.

Let's hope Spock's words in The Wrath of Khan don't come back to haunt him:

"If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion."

[Dinos Sfyris]

Nice recap. I make his 4 day running total 127, 97, 126, 130 = 480 not 477.

[Paul Hammond]

One little thing missing from this excellent recap is the audible groan that Kirk lets out when Peter declares BEHOVE

[Chris Corby]

Nice recap. I make his 4 day running total 127, 97, 126, 130 = 480 not 477.

Thanks Dinos, edited AGAIN.

[Gavin Chipper]

Round 6: G N L D E S E R I

C1: REEDLINGS (18)
C2: grinder
DC: ENGIRDLES (18)
OT: ENGIRDLES (18) REEDLINGS (18)
Score: 61–16 (max 67)

Dr Phil knew that Reedlings were bearded tits, but Susie still looked it up anyway. Engirdles was spoken by Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Incidentally, although DC didn't comment, Grinder was not valid as there were not two R's in the selection.

Was GRINDER the one he declared as a 10?

[Michael Wallace]

Was GRINDER the one he declared as a 10?

Yeah - I was disappointed that Susie didn't say "I'm afraid that it's only 7, so we can't give you the points".