Well, let's put it this way, unless an earthquake cracks Manchester any time soon, Jack Worsley will have to keep his guard up.............
Enjoy what will surely be another blockbuster.
Countdown recap for Thursday 14 June 2012.
C1: Champion Jonathan "The Kid" Rawlinson (3 wins, 337 points.) An Apteforumite from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He will be going to Cambridge University in October. He's a classically trained pianist and plays the violin for his local orchestra.
C2: Challenger Max Eyre. An IT consultant from Southend-on-Sea, Essex. She went to Southend High School, the same school as our Rach.
She plays hockey for Southendian Girls Hockey Club.DC: Susie Dent and Saira Khan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A X E R I N E R S
R02: N A C P O I S T U
R03: A D U G E W A P E
R04: M A Q I P U T E R
R05: 25, 6, 1, 2, 7, 7. Target: 928.
TTT: BIOSHELL - "The total cost of footwear for the bird, perhaps?"
R06: D I R E C B A N E
R07: O S I T E L I U C
R08: S O Z E S I N T F
R09: E T A S E R A I K
R10: 50, 25, 9, 7, 3, 3. Target: 241.
TTT: IMMERSED - "Immersed in water, but not quite boiled"
R11: O M E S O H A T E
R12: L U D E J R O N E
R13: O W I D E H O D E
R14: 75, 100, 50, 3, 9, 4. Target: 492.
R15: P L A T T A P I E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: A X E R I N E R S
C1: NEARER (6)
C2: SEXIER (6)
DC: NEARER (6)
OT: EARNERS (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
Jonathan continues his weird pattern of 11, 1, 11, 1. (In case you can't work out, that's the round when Jonathan first dropped points.
)Round 2: N A C P O I S T U
C1: ACUPOINTS (18)
C2: CAPTIONS (8)
Score: 24–6 (max 25)
Now that's what I call sticking the needle in.
Brilliant 9 from "The Kid". Round 3: A D U G E W A P E
C1: GAWPED (6)
C2: GAWPED (6)
Score: 30–12 (max 31)
Simple darrenic 6 here.
Round 4: M A Q I P U T E R
C1: PARQUET (7)
C2: quiter
DC: TEMPURA (7)
OT: PRATIQUE (8)
Score: 37–12 (max 39)
A brilliant darrenic 8 is missed by all here, but Jonathan keeps on wheeling out the brilliant words.
A PRATIQUE is a license or permission to use a port, given to a ship after quarantine or on showing a clean bill of health.
Round 5: 25, 6, 1, 2, 7, 7. Target: 928.
C1: 925. (((7 - 2) x 6) + 7) x 25 (7)
C2: -
RR, just before the break: 928. (7 x 7 x (25 - 6)) - 1 - 2 (10)
Score: 44–12 (max 49)
Well, Jonathan's 100% record in the numbers ends, he could even have added the 1 to his 925 (admittedly for no more points), but it even takes Rachel a bit more time to get this one.
Saira talks about a recent health scare she had, which she thought was stomach cancer, but it turned out to be............... trapped wind.
Teatime teaser: BIOSHELL -> SHOEBILL
Round 6: D I R E C B A N E
C1: DERACINE (8)
C2: BRAINED (7)
Score: 52–12 (max 57)
C'est superb
Carrying on the French theme gets Jonathan more and more points. Round 7: O S I T E L I U C
C1: UTILISE (7)
C2: COILS (5)
DC: OILIEST (7) CUTIES (6) SOLICIT (7)
OT: CITOLES (7) COLITIS (7) ELICITS (7) OCULIST (7)
Score: 59–12 (max 64)
Half a dozen 7's and Jonathan UTILISEs one of them to extend his lead even further.
A CITOLE (or CITTERN) is an old musical instrument related to the guitar, having a flat, pear-shaped soundbox and wire strings.
COLITIS is inflammation of the colon.
Round 8: S O Z E S I N T F
C1: SOFTENS (7)
C2: FOISTS (6)
DC: NOSIEST (7) INFESTS (7)
OT: FITNESS (7) SOFTIES (7)
Score: 66–12 (max 71)
More and more 7's around, but Max can't seem to see anything good here.
Round 9: E T A S E R A I K
C1: SERIATE (7)
C2: steakier
DC: RETAKES (7) KARATE (6)
OT: AERATES (7) ATRESIA (7) KEISTER (7)
Score: 73–12 (max 78)
Now Max goes into desperation mode to try and stay in touch, which backfires big time.
ATRESIA is the congenital absence, or the pathological closure, of an opening, passage, or cavity.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the nursery rhyme, "Little Miss Muffet".
Round 10: 50, 25, 9, 7, 3, 3. Target: 241.
C1: 241. ((7 - 3) x 25) + (3 x 50) - 9 (10)
C2: 250.
Score: 83–12 (max 88)
250!!??
Crikey, blimey. Jonathan decides to show off in style too. Teatime teaser: IMMERSED -> SIMMERED
Round 11: O M E S O H A T E
C1: MAHOES (6)
C2: SMOOTH (6)
DC: SOOTHE (6)
OT: SMOOTHE (7)
Score: 89–18 (max 95)
And at this early junction, Jonathan has wrapped up the game already, which also means that he has qualified for the finals too.
Round 12: L U D E J R O N E
C1: URODELE (7)
C2: jouled
OT: ROUNDEL (7)
Score: 96–18 (max 102)
DC seem to actually be working into overtime now thanks to Jonathan's brilliantly brilliant offerings, but at least we're actually seeing DC use the dictionary a lot today.
Round 13: O W I D E H O D E
C1: HOODIE (6)
C2: HOODED (6)
DC: WOODED (6)
Score: 102–24 (max 108)
All three 6's present and accounted for, as Jonathan seals his 4th ton in a row.
Round 14: 75, 100, 50, 3, 9, 4. Target: 492.
C1: 491. ((75 + 50) x 4) - 9 (7)
C2: -
RR: 492. ((50 - 4) x 9) + 75 + 3 (10)
Score: 109–24 (max 118)
Another stinky selection of numbers comes up, but Rachel manages to excel herself again, well, in regulation time this time.
Round 15: P L A T T A P I E
C1 buzzes on 4.5 seconds to say PALPITATE which is correct.
Final Score: 119–24 (max 128)
And another conundrum solve, that's one record that he hasn't lost today.
A winning margin of 95 points is also one of the top 10 highest margins in the history of the game, and even though, it was ONLY a 10-maxer today, it's still a 10-MAXER.
As I said earlier, his 4 wins now mean that he has definitely been confirmed as the last of the 8 finalists for the series finals, which start in a week's time.
He joins Jack Worsley, Peter Lee, Suzi Purcell, Victoria James, Nick Hall, Mark Murphy and Rob Gibney in the end of season shoot-out for the Series 66 Championship. He's currently No.8, although a score of over 30 tomorrow will put him above Rob.
I'll be back in the recapper's chair on Wednesday for the last preliminary, which if things go to plan, will more than likely be Jonathan's octochamp show. Then, the following day is the first quarter-final, which could easily see Jonathan still in the hot-seat, if he is the #1 seed. That would mean he would play Rob, who will be #8 seed, if what I mentioned above happens.
So, we now head into the final stages, and I handover the torch to Thomas for the Friday Recap tomorrow.
I'll be back on Wednesday, as the Series heads towards a dramatic conclusion............., we hope.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Jonathan:
Total score - 119
Raw score - 119
Total % of max - 93
Raw % of max - 93
Total average score per round - 7.9
Raw average score per round - 7.9
Number of maxes - 10
Max:
Total score - 24
Raw score - 55
Total % of max - 19
Raw % of max - 43
Total average score per round - 1.6
Raw average score per round - 3.7
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66