Wednesday 23rd November 2011 (Series 65, Prelim 103)

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Wednesday 23rd November 2011 (Series 65, Prelim 103)

Post by James Robinson »

So, you want to know if yesterday's challenger who became champion can still be champion by defeating today's challenger to stop her becoming tomorrow's returning champion :?:

You asked for it. :lol: :P

Countdown recap for Wednesday 23 November 2011.

C1: Champion Alex Morton (1 win, 82 points.) From Sale, Greater Manchester. His favourite place in the world is Cuba, where he went for his honeymoon, and particularly enjoyed the capital, Havana.
C2: Challenger Julie Healey. From Gloucester, where she co-owns a carpet cleaning business with her husband. She enjoys online Scrabble, and says the most daring thing she has ever done was crawl through a tunnel in the Pyramids :!: :shock: 8-)
DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine.
RR: Rachel Riley, looking very perky in her "Wilma Flintstone dress" as Jeff calls it. ;)
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: G L N A E W R O T
R02: T E I N S O R A L
R03: P F D O A E T P D
R04: R N M I E A G T E
R05: 50, 100, 2, 7, 10, 9. Target: 271.
TTT: SEESPACE - "Do they run away from little green vegetables?"
R06: B T V A E I Z S T
R07: Q N R A O T S I E
R08: A E E K L C F R M
R09: S R D I E D I T V
R10: 25, 100, 1, 8, 10, 4. Target: 472.
TTT: ROYALEGG - "It has a face like thunder and can be rather wet"
R11: R S G O A O T C I
R12: N S M U A I L N A
R13: P S X E I S R N E
R14: 25, 75, 5, 6, 1, 1. Target: 541.
R15: H A M N F R I E S (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: G L N A E W R O T

C1: WRANGLE (7)
C2: WRANGLE (7)
DC: TANGELO (7)
OT: GLOATER (7) LEGATOR (7) NEGATOR (7) WAGONER (7) WANGLER (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)

A nice flat start to today's proceedings. :)

Round 2: T E I N S O R A L

C1: RELATIONS (18)
C2: RATIONS (7)
DC: SNOT (4) ORIENTALS (18) TENSORIAL (18)
Score: 25–7 (max 25)

The classic straightforward 9's appear, and one of them is virtually spelt out :!: But, Julie is just stuck with her measly RATIONS, while Tim is suffering with his SNOT. :lol:

Round 3: P F D O A E T P D

C1: TAPPED (6)
C2: TAPPED (6)
DC: ADOPTED (7)
Score: 31–13 (max 32)

A darrenic 7 is in the mix, but the contestants are happy being TAPPED up.

Round 4: R N M I E A G T E

C1: MEETING (7)
C2: MEETING (7)
DC: GERMINATE (18)
Score: 38–20 (max 50)

Another 9 available here taking the possible up to a half-century already. 8-)

Round 5: 50, 100, 2, 7, 10, 9. Target: 271.

C1: 270. (2 x 100) + (10 x 7) (7)
C2: 270. (2 x 100) + (10 x 7) (7)
RR: 271. ((50 - 10) x 7) - 9 (10)
Score: 45–27 (max 60)

Plenty of ways to get 1 away either side, but there are some ways to get it bang on, and Rachel sees one of them.

Tim goes all machine gun with lots of quick-fire puns. :D

Teatime teaser: SEESPACE -> ESCAPEES

Round 6: B T V A E I Z S T

C1: BITES (5)
C2: STAVE (5)
DC: BATISTE (7)
OT: BATTIES (7) STATIVE (7)
Score: 50–32 (max 67)

A few odd 7's around, but the contestants stick on 5.

STATIVE is an adjective meaning expressing a state or condition, and usually used in simple, not progressive, tenses.

Round 7: Q N R A O T S I E

C1: RETAINS (7)
C2: NASTIER (7)
DC: NOTARISE (8)
OT: NOTARIES (8)
Score: 57–39 (max 75)

Last year of course, SENORITA would've been fine too. I was personally surprised that Julie didn't go RATIONS again, but that's probably just me.

Round 8: A E E K L C F R M

C1: CALMER (6)
C2: mackrel
DC: MACKEREL (8) FRECKLE (7)
Score: 63–39 (max 83)

Oh dear, Julie makes a complete mess of the MACKEREL here, and instead of possibly closing the gap to just 10, it's widened to 24. :oops: :oops:

Round 9: S R D I E D I T V

C1: DIVERTS (7)
C2: TIDIER (6)
DC: DIVIDERS (8)
Score: 70–39 (max 91)

Alex now presses forward his advantage further with his 7, while DC stick together, rather than split up with their darrenic 8.

Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of words associated with the children's TV classic, "Scooby-Doo".

Round 10: 25, 100, 1, 8, 10, 4. Target: 472.

C1: 472. Mistake in working.
C2: 473. ((4 + 1) x 100) - 25 - (10 - 8) (7)
RR: 472. (100 - (10 x 4) - 1) x 8 (10)
Score: 70–46 (max 101)

Oh dear, Alex needs to get some writing lessons, as they seem to be costing him some easy points in the numbers rounds..........

Note also for Tim's joke during that: I think I've got 472. Well, I've got the last bit, "Equals 472". :lol: :lol:

Teatime teaser: ROYALEGG -> GARGOYLE

Round 11: R S G O A O T C I

C1: COATS (5)
C2: CARGO (5)
DC: COATIS (6) GASTRIC (7)
OT: ORGASTIC (8)
Score: 75–51 (max 109)

Jeff attempts a Tim Vine-esque pun with "Is GASTRIC banned?" But, in headline news, a very interesting darrenic 8 is missed by all here, as the contestants stick on 5.

Round 12: N S M U A I L N A

C1: ANIMALS (7)
C2: UNMANS (6)
DC: SNAIL (5)
OT: ALUMINA (7) ANNUALS (7) MANUALS (7)
Score: 82–51 (max 116)

Alex's leads returns to above 30, as Tim continues to work at SNAIL pace. :lol: :oops:

ALUMINA (or ALUMINIUM OXIDE) is the natural or synthetic oxide of aluminum, Al2O3 , occurring in nature in a pure crystal form as corundum.

Round 13: P S X E I S R N E

C1: EXPRESS (7)
C2: EXPIRES (7)
OT: RIPENESS (8)
Score: 89–58 (max 124)

No-one may have shown off their ripeness, but like yesterday, Alex has his 2nd win in the bag with 2 rounds to go.

Round 14: 25, 75, 5, 6, 1, 1. Target: 541.

C1: 539. Mistake in working.
C2: 544. ((6 + 1) x 75) + 25 - (5 + 1) (7)
RR: 540. (7)
OT: 540. (75 + 25 + 6 + 1 + 1) x 5 (7)
Score: 89–65 (max 131)

A nasty numbers to finish with their, as Alex messes up again, and Julie eventually manages to get her method down.

Round 15: H A M N F R I E S

No one buzzes. The answer was FISHERMAN.
Final Score: 89–65 (max 141)

Complete silence again, a bit of a difference compared to the last few shows certainly.

Not the best of shows, but Alex did what he had to do, and really that early 9 killed the game off so early on, especially after Julie botched her own MACKEREL declaration.

Oh well, join me tomorrow to see if Alex can continue his run.

Or join me in a bit for Monday's recap which Rhys has informed me that he can't do this week.

So, bye bye for now.

Statistics Corner

Alex:
Total score - 89
Raw score - 89
Total % of max - 63
Raw % of max - 63
Total average score per round - 5.9
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 3

Julie:
Total score - 65
Raw score - 84
Total % of max - 46
Raw % of max - 60
Total average score per round - 4.3
Raw average score per round - 5.6
Number of maxes - 2

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=65
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