Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 25 July 2012.
C1: Champion Chris Marshall (5 wins, 444 points.) An Apteforumite and (more importantly) Huddersfield Town fan from Brighouse, West Yorkshire.
C2: Challenger Karl Kwiatkowski. He is a murder-mystery actor and organiser. He owned a pet shop for 11 years and he also regularly attends Scrabble tournaments.
DC: Susie Dent and Nicky Campbell.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R S V A E O F A R
R02: E A N B R E S Y A
R03: D B T I E U Q A N
R04: I E T C J M I O D
R05: 25, 50, 100, 8, 9, 2. Target: 265.
TTT: LOADDECK - "The door is slammed shut on any form of progress"
R06: E I P H G O R N T
R07: R N G A E O C O T
R08: A U A W S T I E R
R09: H G P A E I T A D
R10: 100, 25, 10, 4, 6, 6. Target: 463.
TTT: MENDREAD - "Men dread working for this sort of boss"
R11: N C L E U O T E S
R12: O I U N D L N V E
R13: S T K I O E D O S
R14: 25, 75, 4, 9, 4, 8. Target: 187.
R15: B E A T L A T E X (conundrum)
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: R S V A E O F A R
C1: SAFER (5)
C2: RAVERS (6)
OT: VARROAS (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)
Another slow start by Chris, but he did it yesterday and won, so maybe it'll happen again...............
An impressive darrenic 7 is missed here.A VARROA is a small mite, Varroa jacobsoni, that is a parasite of the honeybee.
Round 2: E A N B R E S Y A
C1: BEANS (5)
C2: BARNEYS (7)
DC: BEANERY (7)
OT: BEANERS (7)
Score: 0–13 (max 14)
Well, those Scrabble tournaments have definitely come in use for Karl. Already a double-figure lead after 2 rounds. Are yesterday's exploits taking their toll on Chris, I wonder..............
Round 3: D B T I E U Q A N
C1: BANQUET (7)
C2: ANTIQUE (7)
DC: ANTIQUED (8)
Score: 7–20 (max 22)
Oooooooooooooh, Karl had the chance to go even further ahead, but he chickens out for the safer 7.
Round 4: I E T C J M I O D
C1: EMIT (4)
C2: DEMOTIC (7)
OT: MEIOTIC (7)
Score: 7–27 (max 29)
Crikey!!! Another impressive 7 by Karl. If his numbers are as good as his letters, then Chris is facing an uphill battle.............
In cell biology, MEIOTIC is the adjective of MEIOSIS, the part of the process of gamete formation, consisting of chromosome conjugation and two cell divisions, in the course of which the diploid chromosome number becomes reduced to the haploid.
Round 5: 25, 50, 100, 8, 9, 2. Target: 265.
C1: 265. ((9 + 2) x 25) - 8 - (100 / 50) (10)
C2: 259.
Score: 17–27 (max 39)
Well, at least Chris' 3 large hasn't deserted him yet. A 1st class solve and he's halved the deficit, just like that.
Nicky talks about his book, Blue-Eyed Son, his book about his own experiences of being adopted and getting back in touch with his birth parents.
Teatime teaser: LOADDECK -> DEADLOCK
Round 6: E I P H G O R N T
C1: PONGIER (7)
C2: HOPING (6)
DC: PHONE (5) PHONIER (7)
OT: GENITOR (7) PIROGEN (7) POINTER (7) PORTING (7) PROTEIN (7) REPOINT (7) RIGHTEN (7) TRIGONE (7)
Score: 24–27 (max 46)
Is that the smell of success heading Chris' way.............
Plenty of other 7's there. I'm sure Karl is HOPING that that's not a sign of things to come............PORTING is the changing of the size, shape, or location of the intake and exhaust ports in an internal-combustion engine, generally to improve performance.
Round 7: R N G A E O C O T
C1: TRANCE (6)
C2: coagent
DC: CARTOON (7) OCTAGON (7) COGNATE (7)
OT: CORONAE (7) CORONET (7) ENACTOR (7) NEGATOR (7) OREGANO (7)
Score: 30–27 (max 53)
Oh dear, Karl's Scrabble exploits have cost him here, as coagent, while fine in the CSW is not even in the OED3
Round 8: A U A W S T I E R
C1: WAITERS (7)
C2: WAITERS (7)
DC: WARIEST (7)
OT: ATRESIA (7)
Score: 37–34 (max 60)
A couple of similar 7's here.
ATRESIA is the congenital absence, or the pathological closure, of an opening, passage, or cavity.
Round 9: H G P A E I T A D
C1: HATED (5)
C2: HEPTAD (6)
DC: PITHEAD (7)
OT: ADIPATE (7)
Score: 37–40 (max 67)
A very nice spot by Karl, who has turned his 3 point deficit to a 3 point advantage.
An ADIPATE is a salt or ester of adipic acid.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of some more 1912 words, "airbrushed", "nosedive", (the now unused) "aviette", "chav" and "bling".
Round 10: 100, 25, 10, 4, 6, 6. Target: 463.
C1: 464. (100 + 10 + 6) x 4 (7)
C2: 460.
RR: 463. ((6 + 6 + 100) x 4) + 25 - 10 (10)
Score: 44–40 (max 77)
Oh dear, Karl's numbers brain has gone walkabouts again, letting Chris retake the lead.
Teatime teaser: MENDREAD -> DEMANDER
Round 11: N C L E U O T E S
C1: STOLEN (6)
C2: lentous
DC: CONSULTEE (18)
Score: 50–40 (max 95)
Oh dear, another Scrabble 7 puts Karl 10 off the pace now, but DC make us quickly forget that fact with a supremely good 9. There was me happy getting NOCTULES for 8.
Round 12: O I U N D L N V E
C1: LINED (5)
C2: UNLOVED (7)
DC: UNOILED (7)
OT: UNLINED (7) UNLIVED (7)
Score: 50–47 (max 102)
Ooooooooooh, Karl is refusing to lie down and has shrunk the gap down to 3 with his UNLOVED 7, but Chris might feel a bit peeped off, as he could've stuck the UN in front of his word too for a 7.
Round 13: S T K I O E D O S
C1: STOKES (6)
C2: STOKES (6)
DC: STOOKED (7)
OT: KETOSIS (7) OSTEOID (7) SKIDOOS (7)
Score: 56–53 (max 109)
They're sticking together in this round, so a tense final 2 rounds are on the cards....................
KETOSIS is the accumulation of excessive ketones in the body, as in diabetic acidosis.
OSTEOID is an adjective meaning bonelike.
Round 14: 25, 75, 4, 9, 4, 8. Target: 187.
C1: 187. ((25 + 75) x (8 / 4)) - 9 - 4 (10)
C2: 191.
Score: 66–53 (max 119)
Well, the possibility of an interesting climax, like yesterday's game is eradicated thanks to the perfect solve by Chris, which gives him his 6-pack.
Round 15: B E A T L A T E X
C1 buzzes on 3.75 seconds to say BATTLEAXE which is correct.
Final Score: 76–53 (max 129)
And Chris unsheathes his BATTLEAXE to finish the job off. Chris was definitely under the kosh from the word go, but thanks to determination, some Scrabble-only words, and Karl leaving his calculator at home, he managed to get through in the end.
He now has 6 wins under his belt, and is he can keep focused enough, he should hopefully be able to make it to 8 wins on Friday.
I'll be back tomorrow to see if he can reach the magical 7 tomorrow.
So, till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Chris:
Total score - 76
Raw score - 100
Total % of max - 59
Raw % of max - 78
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 5
Karl:
Total score - 53
Raw score - 78
Total % of max - 41
Raw % of max - 60
Total average score per round - 3.5
Raw average score per round - 5.2
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67