C1: Champion Ed Rossiter (3 wins, 294 points.)
Ed is the Scrabble playing barman from Southampton, who would look nailed on to be an Octochamp most times, Little does he know that he is facing one of the top rated apterists and not dear old Rudolf Hucker in his cardie and slippers, as he would have expected.
C2: Challenger Chris Davies.
Chris is well known to us as one of the hardest working players on apterous and one of the toughest players to beat, He comes from Greasby in Merseyside and is a multi-talented musician, whose favourite instrument is the drums. He works as a volunteer in a charity shop and is a speed (Rubik) cuber.
DC: Susie Dent and Alastair Stewart.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G F M S O E E S L
R02: G P D O S E O E L
R03: A I A R T N F O M
R04: N Q S U O R L I I
R05: 9, 8, 6, 8, 1, 75. Target: 224.
TTT: NUNSMATH - "He's on the lookout for an easy target"
R06: D E A Y N I E P R
R07: T D A I J A E L N
R08: C N T S U I U E R
R09: T N W A E I S X R
R10: 4, 7, 1, 8, 100, 75. Target: 660.
TTT: TENINCON - "You're always this unless proven otherwise"
R11: T K B A E E L T A
R12: Z S R E A O D N E
R13: R M B O E I P D R
R14: 6, 6, 10, 5, 7, 100. Target: 968.
R15: I F F I S O U N D (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
This game promises to be a titanic battle and Chris will be one of the toughest nuts to crack.
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: G F M S O E E S L
C1: FLOGS (5)
C2: FLEES (5)
DC: SMOG GLOSS (5) MOLES (5)
OT: SOLFEGES (8)
Score: 5–5 (max 8)
SOLFEGES are musical exercises in singing using sol-fa syllables
Round 2: G P D O S E O E L
C1: SPOOLED (7)
C2: PLEDGES (7)
DC: POODLES (7) SPLODGE (7)
Score: 12–12 (max 15)
Round 3: A I A R T N F O M
C1: ANIMATOR (8)
C2: FORAMINA (8)
DC: TAMARIN (7)
Two fine spots showing off the skills of these two excellent wordsmiths.
FORAMINA are openings, holes or passages in bones.
Score: 20–20 (max 23)
Round 4: N Q S U O R L I I
C1: SIRLOIN (7)
C2: LIQUORS (7)
OT: RONQUILS (8)
RONQUILS are slender fish from the coastal waters of the North Pacific.
Score: 27–27 (max 31)
Round 5: 9, 8, 6, 8, 1, 75. Target: 224.
C1: 224. ((9-6)x75)-1 (10)
C2: 224. ((9-6)x75)-1 (10)
Score: 37–37 (max 41)
The first section finishes as expected in a tightly contested score draw, with no signs of weakness.
Alastair (Smugsie) Stewart starts off by defining the word 'reciprocity' in Sociological context, as illustrated by Bronislaw Malinowski in relation to the Trobriand Islanders, whose economic system depends on doing each other favours. Sounds like a bargain to me.
Unfortunately, his punchline is as lame as the proverbial duck and he receives a crouching ovation from the audience.
Teatime teaser: NUNSMATH -> HUNTSMAN
Round 6: D E A Y N I E P R
C1: pindaree
C2: PERINEA (7)
DC: REPINED (7)
OT: DEANERY (7) YEARNED (7) RIPENED (7)
Score: 37–44 (max 48)
The first mistake of the match as Ed takes a flier out of the left field to give Chris the lead. Is this a sign of the pressure starting to tell on Ed?
Round 7: T D A I J A E L N
C1: tailend
C2: LANDTIE (7)
Score: 37–51 (max 55)
Another mistake by Ed and a cracking spot by Chris to extend his lead to 14.
A LANDTIE is a beam supporting a wall or other vertical structure.
Round 8: C N T S U I U E R
C1: CISTERN (7)
C2: UNTIES (6)
DC: ENCRUST (7)
OT: CRETINS (7) CRUSTIE (7) ICTERUS (7) INCRUST (7) NUTSIER (7)
A nice spot by Ed to put him right back in it.
CUNTIER jumps off the page but unfortunately, no derivatives are listed for its colourful root. I thought I would slip that in
Score: 44–51 (max 62)
Round 9: T N W A E I S X R
C1: WAXIEST (7)
C2: RETAINS (7)
DC: TINWARE (7) TAWNIER (7)
OT: ANTSIER (7) NASTIER (7) RETINAS (7) RETSINA (7) STAINER (7) STEARIN (7) TWINERS (7) WINTERS (7) WAITERS (7) WARIEST (7) WANTERS (7)
Score: 51–58 (max 69)
Susie tells us of the origin of Greek words and it is interesting to hear that CALCULUS is derived from the small pebbles used for counting on an abacus
Round 10: 7, 1, 8, 100, 75. Target: 660.
C1: 660. Mistake in working.
C2: 660. 100+1+4=105x7=735-75 (10)
Score: 51–68 (max79)
Ed slips further back on a fairly easy numbers round to give Chris a healthy lead of 17 with 5 rounds to go. The pressure clearly affecting Ed far more than Chris.
Teatime teaser: TENINCON -> INNOCENT
Round 11: T K B A E E L T A
C1: TAKABLE (7)
C2: EATABLE (7)
DC: TAKEABLE (8)
Score: 58–75 (max 87)
Ed blows a great opportunity of getting right back into the game by missing the second E to make TAKEABLE. Surely that was the time for him to gamble.
Round 12: Z S R E A O D N E
C1: REASONED (8)
C2: REASONED (8)
Score: 66–83 (max 95)
Round 13: R M B O E I P D R
C1: PERIOD (6)
C2: BORDER (6)
DC: BROMIDE (7)
OT: PREMORBID (18)
PREMORBID is a medical term meaning preceding the symptoms of a disease or disorder. Not a regular apterous word and certainly not the easiest first opportunity for a nine, unless you are Dr Phil Hammond.
Score: 72–89 (max 113)
Round 14: 6, 6, 10, 5, 7, 100. Target: 968.
C1: 969. ((100-5)x10)+7+6+6 (7)
C2: 969. (100x10)-(6x5) (7)
RR: 968. ((100+6-5)x10)-(7x6) (10)
A tough numbers round and Chris does enough to clinch the match.
Score: 79–96 (max 123)
Round 15: I F F I S O U N D
C2 buzzes on 1 second to say DIFFUSION which is correct.
Score: 79–106 (max 133)
Chris is lightning fast on the buzzer and extends his lead to 27 at the end, leaving Ed totally deflated and almost speechless. To be fair, I have some sympathy for Ed, who would not normally have expected to meet an opponent of Chris's ability at that stage. Still, you have to beat the good players somewhere along the line and he was found wanting here.
This was an excellent opening game by Chris and a solid ton against a top player gives him a great springboard to go on and hopefully amass some big scores when weaker opponents and easier letters selections offer better chances for 9 letter words.
Chris finishes the show with some nifty finger work to solve the Rubilk cube in 20 seconds. A super effort under the cameras and very impressive. Nice work mate.
Best wishes to Chris on his quest for Octochamp staus and barring an unknown superstar emerging he should not have too much trouble inreaching the Finals.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61
