Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 18 January 2012.
C1: Challenger Mark Murphy. An IT consultant from Edinburgh. He likes Scrabble, quizzes, rugby league, and is a life-member of CAMRA (the CAmpaign for Real Ale). He also helped make a music single that raised £100,000 for charity. He also cooked 80,000 chickens during his Saturday job at his local market.
C2: Challenger Nick Evans. A VIP chauffeur from Macclesfield, Cheshire. He once managed a casino in Russia and also rowed 1,500 miles down Siberia's rivers in an inflatable dinghy.
DC: Susie Dent and John Suchet.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S N D I O I C A S
R02: T O G A N E S O N
R03: R G U T H O A C I
R04: L E R O N E Z V U
R05: 100, 25, 6, 8, 7, 3. Target: 893.
TTT: NICEDENT - "A nice girl like Susie would never behave along these lines"
R06: S A M E S U T E R
R07: R A E P K W A E N
R08: R I T A M E D U F
R09: N Y T E A H O A T
R10: 100, 2, 3, 7, 8, 4. Target: 599.
TTT: HUNTGIGS - "It'll certainly help you with your aim in life"
R11: W L G I E M P U A
R12: T E M I S U X O S
R13: D F A I E L R D I
R14: 25, 8, 7, 2, 1, 2. Target: 384.
R15: B I D E T L O O S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S N D I O I C A S
C1: ICONS (5)
C2: asconds
DC: CASINOS (7)
OT: ACIDOSIS (8)
Score: 5–0 (max 8)
Nick gets some early jitters as he seems to have fused ABSCONDS and ASCENDS to make the illegal asconds. Mark does get on board with his 5, but there was an 8 lurking too, and I think Nick will be super kicking himself for missing CASINOS, if you look at the above.
ACIDOSIS is a blood condition in which the bicarbonate concentration is below normal.
Round 2: T O G A N E S O N
C1: AGENTS (6)
C2: stonage
DC: TONNAGES (8)
Score: 11–0 (max 16)
Nick definitely seems to be hitting rocky ground with his guesses, as he is still at rock bottom, while Susie seems to have changed her mind about TONNAGES again.........
Round 3: R G U T H O A C I
C1: GOTHIC (6)
C2: ROUGH (5)
DC: HARICOT (7) CHARIOT (7)
OT: HAIRCUT (7)
Score: 17–0 (max 23)
A few 7's here, but Mark's 6 extends his lead further in these early stages.
Round 4: L E R O N E Z V U
C1: NEVER (5)
C2: LOVER (5)
DC: ZONULE (6)
OT: ELEVON (6) EVZONE (6) LOUVRE (6) OEUVRE (6) UNREEL (6) UNROVE (6) VELOUR (6) VENULE (6) ZONURE (6)
Score: 22–5 (max 29)
Loadsa loadsa 6's here, admittedly odd ones, but Nick is off the mark with his 5.
An ELEVON is a control surface functioning both as an elevator and as an aileron.
An EVZONE is a member of an elite infantry corps in the Greek army.
A VENULE is a small vein.
A ZONURE is any one of several of South African lizards of the genus Zonura, common in rocky situations.
Round 5: 100, 25, 6, 8, 7, 3. Target: 893.
C1: 893. ((6 + 3) x 100) - 7 (10)
C2: 888.
Score: 32–5 (max 39)
The mouth has dropped open massively
How the heck do you miss 893, and only get FIVE AWAY 
John talks about his nationwide talks about Beethoven and how he collected jokes about him, yet he only found 2
Teatime teaser: NICEDENT -> INDECENT
Round 6: S A M E S U T E R
C1: MASTERS (7)
C2: amusers
DC: AMUSES (6) STEAMERS (8) MEASURES (8)
OT: MASSETER (8) MEATUSES (8) REASSUME (8)
Score: 39–5 (max 47)
This is definitely not amusing for Nick, another illegal word, and he's still on 5...........
A MASSETER is a short, thick, masticatory muscle, the action of which assists in closing the jaws by raising the mandible or lower jaw.
A MEATUS is an opening or foramen, especially in a bone or bony structure, as the opening of the ear or nose.
Round 7: R A E P K W A E N
C1: W****R (6)
C2: weakener
DC: AWAKEN (6) REAWAKEN (8)
Score: 45–5 (max 55)
Nick H's reaction to W****R was something to behold, but Nick E's brilliant 8 is quickly flattened, as there are only 2 E's in the selection.
Round 8: R I T A M E D U F
C1: MATURED (7)
C2: FARMED (6)
DC: FRUITED (7)
OT: MURIATE (7) READMIT (7)
Score: 52–5 (max 62)
FINALLY!!!!!! A max in a letters game for a contestant!!!!!!! Took their time, didn't they
Round 9: N Y T E A H O A T
C1: ATONE (5)
C2: ATONE (5)
DC: NOTATE (6)
OT: ANATTO (6) HYAENA (6) TETANY (6)
Score: 57–10 (max 68)
Nick has managed to double his score, but 10 is still in danger of breaking the lowest male score on the show.
An ANATTO (or ANNATTO), otherwise known as the lipstick tree, is a small tree, Bixa orellana, of tropical America.
TETANY is a state marked by severe, intermittent tonic contractions and muscular pain, due to abnormal calcium metabolism.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the phrases, "to show a leg" and "to show the white feather".
Round 10: 100, 2, 3, 7, 8, 4. Target: 599.
C1: 599. (2 x 3 x 100) - (8 - 7) (10)
C2: 599. ((2 + 4) x 100) - (8 - 7) (10)
Score: 67–20 (max 78)
Well, Nick has evaded that dubious record, but he's surely just trying to give some respectability to his score now.
Teatime teaser: HUNTGIGS -> GUNSIGHT
Round 11: W L G I E M P U A
C1: MAPLE (5)
C2: ampule
DC: PLUMAGE (7) MAGILP (6) MEGILP (6)
Score: 72–20 (max 85)
Oh dear, that's 5 out of 9 illegal words for Nick now, as he's gone American now.
Round 12: T E M I S U X O S
C1: SMITES (6)
C2: MOUSES (6)
DC: MOUSIEST (8)
Score: 78–26 (max 93)
Oh dear, that just sums up Nick's day, he gets MOUSES, but misses the darrenic MOUSIEST, which also means that Mark has won the game too.
Round 13: D F A I E L R D I
C1: FAILED (6)
C2: FIDDLIER (8)
DC: AIRFIELD (8)
OT: LADIFIED (8)
Score: 78–34 (max 101)
When I heard the word, "Eight", come out of Nick E's mouth, I feared the worst, but surprises even myself with that brilliant 8. I myself was reminiscing with AIRFIELD, whose plural was available in my 2nd debut.
Round 14: 25, 8, 7, 2, 1, 2. Target: 384.
C1: 384. (25 - 1) x 8 x 2 (10)
C2: 386.
Score: 88–34 (max 111)
Oh dear, just when I thought Nick had bought himself some respectability, he misses another sitter in the numbers. Dear, oh dear.
Round 15: B I D E T L O O S
C1 buzzes on 19.75 seconds to say BLOODIEST which is correct.
Final Score: 98–34 (max 121)
Even that took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to get, but Marc has got that to win the game. On paper, 98 seems a good score, but when you dig in further, it's pretty bad when you consider that his 5 maxes, were the conundrum, all 3 numbers and only ONE letters game. A person of Jack's quality would've creamed both players today in all honesty.
But, can he show off some better skill tomorrow
Join me for that.So, till then, good afternoon.
Statistics Corner
Mark:
Total score - 98
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 81
Raw % of max - 86
Total average score per round - 6.5
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 5
Nick:
Total score - 34
Raw score - 59
Total % of max - 28
Raw % of max - 49
Total average score per round - 2.3
Raw average score per round - 3.9
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66