Thursday 17th April 2008 (Series 58, Game 73)

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
User avatar
Jon Corby
Moral Hero
Posts: 8018
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:36 am

Thursday 17th April 2008 (Series 58, Game 73)

Post by Jon Corby »

Countdown recap for Thursday 17th April 2008.

C1: Champion Diana Coull (2 wins, 153 points.)
C2: Challenger Len Marshall.
DC: Susie Dent and Jo Brand.
CV: Carol Vorderman.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: P N G E O U K D E
R02: R S O O T A N I W
R03: G E R O B E N M A
R04: C S E O D F A E G
R05: 100, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9. Target: 852.
TTT: TOPEATER - "It's not as long, but for some it's long enough"
R06: S L I O C S E T N
R07: R U N A C E J P R
R08: P S O A T U R E R
R09: T X M O A E T V R
R10: 50, 5, 9, 8, 6, 7. Target: 389.
TTT: NESTDIRT - "They're not Britney's spears, they're Britannia's."
R11: D M D I U O T T A
R12: S Z T E A S D I L
R13: F N D A E O R S B
R14: 25, 6, 7, 4, 1, 2. Target: 781.
R15: B U T C H B E S I (conundrum)


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

Nice opening to today's show; instead of the usual email read out by Des, Carol told us about a fantastic experience she enjoyed recently when she was a passenger in one of the Red Arrows (Red 1, no less), complete with photographs. Being Farnborough-based nearly my entire life I've seen plenty of the Red Arrows, and can only say "what a jammy cow". I've got some ace photographs of them swooping over my house and stuff if you'd like to see them :D

Anyway.

Diana is onto her third show now, although winning margins of 9 points and 1 point suggest that she might not be around for too much longer. Today she faces Len Marshall - I think. I don't think Des actually said Len's surname throughout the entire show, and there was never a particularly clear close-up of his nameplate either, but it looks about right. Len's from Stamford in Lincolnshire, married with two children, and is a former RAF pilot, to keep up today's aviation theme. His favourite hobby is playing bowls with his 86-year-old father, himself a former Countdown champion! Could he follow in his father's footsteps? As well as being a cool fighter pilot (nee-aaw pew pew pew) he's also dined with the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, and therefore quite frankly makes the rest of us look like insignificant little tossbags.

I'm not including any of Jo Brand's nonsense words either :x

Round 1: P N G E O U K D E
C1: ponged
C2: POUND (5)
DC: PONGED (6) OPENED (6)
OT: PONGEE (6) DENGUE (6)
Score: 0–5 (max 6)
Whoops! Diana gets off to a bad start declaring a perfectly good six as a five.
Pongee is a soft, unbleached type of Chinese fabric, and dengue (also dengue fever) is a tropical viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

Round 2: R S O O T A N I W
C1: RATIONS (7)
C2: STRAIN (6)
DC: WAITRONS (8)
OT: ORATIONS (8)
Score: 7–5 (max 14)

Round 3: G E R O B E N M A
C1: BORAGE (6)
C2: MANGER (6)
DC: EMBARGO (7)
OT: GERMANE (7) GOMBEEN (7) MEGARON (7)
Score: 13–11 (max 21)
Germane is an adjective meaning relevant to a subject under consideration. Gombeen is some odd Irish word meaning "involved in the lending of money at unreasonably high interest rates", and megaron is like Big Ron, but bigger. Mega, in fact. (It's the central hall of a large Mycenaean house.)

Round 4: C S E O D F A E G
C1: FEEDS (5)
C2: DEFACES (7)
DC: DOGFACES (8)
Score: 13–18 (max 29)
Nope, not a Jo Brand made-up word, but actually an old US word for a soldier.

Round 5: 100, 3, 7, 6, 8, 9. Target: 852.
C1: 852.100*9-6*8 (10)
C2: 852.(100+6)*8+7-3 (10)
Score: 23–28 (max 39)

Teatime teaser: TOPEATER -> OPERETTA

Round 6: S L I O C S E T N
C1: LESIONS (7)
C2: SECTIONS (8)
DC: SOLSTICE (8) STENCILS (8) LECTIONS (8)
OT: INCLOSES (8) ENTISOLS (8)
Score: 23–36 (max 47)
A lection is a reading, inclose is a (ghastly) variant of enclose, and entisol is a type of soil.

Round 7: R U N A C E J P R
C1: PRANCER (7)
C2: PRANCER (7)
Score: 30–43 (max 54)
Kudos to both players for getting the only seven here. While it might not seem a particularly difficult one to spot, I reckon it took a bit of balls to go for it, as the only time you really hear the word used is as the name of one of St Nick's coursers.

Round 8: P S O A T U R E R
C1: PASTURE (7)
C2: PASTURE (7)
DC: RAPTURES (8)
OT: PTEROSAUR (18)
Score: 37–50 (max 72)

Round 9: T X M O A E T V R
C1: MATTER (6)
C2: MATTER (6)
DC: OVERTAX (7)
Score: 43–56 (max 79)

Round 10: 50, 5, 9, 8, 6, 7. Target: 389.
C1: 389.50*8-6-5 (10)
C2: 389.50*8-6-5 (10)
Score: 53–66 (max 89)

Teatime teaser: NESTDIRT -> TRIDENTS

Round 11: D M D I U O T T A
C1: OUTDID (6)
C2: ODIUM (5)
DC: DITTO (5) DIATOM (6)
Score: 59–66 (max 95)

Round 12: S Z T E A S D I L
C1: LAZIEST (7)
C2: LASTED (6)
DC: DILATES (7)
OT: DELISTS (7) DESALTS (7) DETAILS (7)
Score: 66–66 (max 102)

Round 13: F N D A E O R S B
C1: BROADENS (8)
C2: BROADENS (8)
OT: BANDORES (8)
Score: 74–74 (max 110)
A bandore (also bandora) is a kind of bass lute.

Round 14: 25, 6, 7, 4, 1, 2. Target: 781.
C1: 792.
C2: -
CV: 681. - (0)
OT: 781. (7*4+2+1)*25+6 (10)
Score: 74–74 (max 120)
Surprising to see both contestants AND Carol stumble on a fairly straightforward numbers games. Luckily Jo Brand came to the rescue with the above solution!

Round 15: B U T C H B E S I
C2 buzzes on 5 seconds to say CHUBBIEST which is correct.
Score: 74–84 (max 130)

So it's curtains for Diana after two victories, interestingly finishing with an equal for and against points tally of 227 over the three games. She mentioned a couple of days ago about wanting to appear on Des Chiffres et Des Lettres, and Des told her that at least she could say she won "three or four" over here. She may as well say she was series champion if she's going to lie about it. Another good close game though, top stuff and congratulations to Len ;)

Further summaries are at:
http://www.thecountdowncorral.com/cd/se ... ?series=58
Chris Corby
Devotee
Posts: 593
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:54 pm
Location: Farnborough, Hampshire

Re: Thursday 17th April 2008 (Series 58, Game 73)

Post by Chris Corby »

Corby wrote:Countdown recap for Thursday 17th April 2008.


Round 7: R U N A C E J P R
C1: PRANCER (7)
C2: PRANCER (7)
Score: 30–43 (max 54)
Kudos to both players for getting the only seven here. While it might not seem a particularly difficult one to spot, I reckon it took a bit of balls to go for it, as the only time you really hear the word used is as the name of one of St Nick's coursers.
I associate it more with your dancing style rather than an old reindeer.
User avatar
Joseph Bolas
Fanatic
Posts: 2446
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:19 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Thursday 17th April 2008 (Series 58, Game 73)

Post by Joseph Bolas »

Corby wrote:Kudos to both players for getting the only seven here. While it might not seem a particularly difficult one to spot, I reckon it took a bit of balls to go for it, as the only time you really hear the word used is as the name of one of St Nick's coursers.
I didn't think people would find PRANCER risky.
David O'Donnell
Series 58 Champion
Posts: 2010
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:27 pm
Location: Cardiff

Re: Thursday 17th April 2008 (Series 58, Game 73)

Post by David O'Donnell »

Joseph Bolas wrote:
Corby wrote:Kudos to both players for getting the only seven here. While it might not seem a particularly difficult one to spot, I reckon it took a bit of balls to go for it, as the only time you really hear the word used is as the name of one of St Nick's coursers.
I didn't think people would find PRANCER risky.

Corby's dancing probably is though.
Post Reply