Let's see if history can be made today.
Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 16 August 2012.
C1: Champion Grant Waters (7 wins, 652 points.) An Apteforumite from Maidstone, Kent, but originally from Carluke, near Glasgow. (Just like to mention that, as we have a works in Falkirk at the company I work for, as well a subsidiary in Carluke itself.
)C2: Challenger Andy Rossall. A newly-qualified mathematics teacher from Maghull, Merseyside. He also likes cooking vegan food, which Dave explains is quite tricky for a number of obvious reasons.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Myers.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R S T E A I Z E G
R02: F T N I E A R L E
R03: V A G M G U E A D
R04: F Y N O I E S K A
R05: 25, 1, 1, 3, 4, 9. Target: 784.
TTT: DOGHATER - "His job is to look after Billy the Kid"
R06: S H B L O U E D A
R07: S M I E B R O A S
R08: T D S J O I E W A
R09: R L C V O U I E X
R10: 50, 75, 25, 2, 10, 6. Target: 349.
TTT: PUMASAIR - "It's a new pouch, as opposed to an old bag"
R11: D S T O E I C A T
R12: R L T N E O E T O
R13: M R M A I A I P R
R14: 50, 100, 25, 9, 10, 2. Target: 636.
R15: H I D E C R A C K (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: R S T E A I Z E G
C1: ZESTIER (7)
C2: GAITERS (7)
DC: STAGIER (7)
OT: AGISTER (7) RESTAGE (7) SERIATE (7) TRIAGES (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
Seven sevens.
An AGISTER is someone who give lodgings to someone.
Round 2: F T N I E A R L E
C1: TREENAIL (8)
C2: REINFLATE (18)
DC: TRENAIL (7)
OT: INTERLEAF (18)
Score: 7–25 (max 25)
WOAH! WOAH!! WOAH!!! Grant is in trouble here. A super 9 spot by Andy means that Grant will have to get his "A game" out here.
An INTERLEAF is an additional leaf, usually blank, inserted between or bound with the regular printed leaves of a book, as to separate chapters or provide room for a reader's notes.
Round 3: V A G M G U E A D
C1: MUGGED (6)
C2: DAMAGE (6)
OT: GAUGED (6) GAVAGE (6) MAGGED (6)
Score: 13–31 (max 31)
Another round of flatness.
GAVAGE is forced feeding, as by a flexible tube and a force pump.
Round 4: F Y N O I E S K A
C1: KNIFE (5)
C2: SNAKE (5)
DC: FAKIES (6)
OT: ENOKIS (6) KAYOES (6) KINASE (6) KNIFES (6) KOINES (6) SNAKEY (6) SNEAKY (6)
Score: 18–36 (max 37)
Loads of 6's here. A bit unlucky for Grant, not going with KNIFES, but is that going to be costly, even at this early stage...............
An ENOKI is a thin, long-stemmed and tiny-capped white mushroom, Flamma velutipes, native to the northern mountain ranges of Japan and prized as a food.
KINASE is a transferase that catalyzes the phosphorylation of a substrate by ATP (Adenosine triphosphate).
A KOINE is an amalgam of Greek dialects, chiefly Attic and Ionic, that replaced the Classical Greek dialects in the Hellenistic period and flourished under the Roman Empire.
Round 5: 25, 1, 1, 3, 4, 9. Target: 784.
C1: 777. (((3 x 9) + 4) x 25) + 1 + 1 (5)
C2: 777. (((3 x 9) + 4) x 25) + 1 + 1 (5)
RR: 784. ((25 + 1) x (9 + 1) x 3) + 4 (10)
Score: 23–41 (max 47)
A little bugger of a numbers here, especially if you don't get the trick. So, just the 5 points for both here.
Dave talks about the new Hairy Bikers series going down the Mississippi river for the Food Channel.
Teatime teaser: DOGHATER -> GOATHERD
Round 6: S H B L O U E D A
C1: BLUSHED (7)
C2: BLUSHED (7)
DC: DOUBLES (7)
OT: ALBEDOS (7) BEHOLDS (7) BLOUSED (7) BUSLOAD (7) SHOALED (7) SUBHEAD (7)
Score: 30–48 (max 54)
Another super flat round.
A SUBHEAD is a title or heading of a subdivision, as in a chapter, essay, or newspaper article.
Round 7: S M I E B R O A S
C1: BOSSIER (7)
C2: REMISS (6)
DC: ISOBARS (7)
OT: AMBRIES (7) BASSIER (7) BIOMASS (7) BRAISES (7) BRASSIE (7) ISOMERS (7) MOSSIER (7) SAMBOES (7) SARMIES (7)
Score: 37–48 (max 61)
Grant claws his way back in with his BOSSIER offering. Can he finish off the job in the second half, I wonder
An AMBRY (or ARMARIUM) is a recess in the wall of a church or a cupboard in the sacristy where sacred vessels, books, vestments, etc., are kept.
Round 8: T D S J O I E W A
C1: TOADIES (7)
C2: JOISTED (7)
OT: IODATES (7) WAISTED (7)
Score: 44–55 (max 68)
More flatness.
Round 9: R L C V O U I E X
C1: CLOVER (6)
C2: CLOVER (6)
DC: LUREX (5)
OT: CERVIX (6) COLURE (6) LOURIE (6) LOUVRE (6) RECOIL (6) VELOUR (6) VOICER (6)
Score: 50–61 (max 74)
Lots of flatness still. There was me actually thinking that CLOVER was still not in, as it used to be plural only a while ago.
A COLURE is either of two great circles of the celestial sphere intersecting each other at the poles, one passing through both equinoxes and the other through both solstices.
A LOUVRE is any of a set of horizontal parallel slats in a door or window, sloping outwards to throw off rain and admit air.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "tabby cats".
Round 10: 50, 75, 25, 2, 10, 6. Target: 349.
C1: 350. ((6 - 2) x 75) + 50 (7)
C2: 350. (50 x 6) + 75 - 25 (7)
RR: 349. ((25 - 2) x 10) + 75 + 50 - 6 (10)
Score: 57–68 (max 84)
Another tricky numbers selection which even stumps Rachel till after the break.
Teatime teaser: PUMASAIR -> MARSUPIA
Round 11: D S T O E I C A T
C1: COASTED (7)
C2: DICTATES (8)
DC: TOADIES (7) DACOITS (7)
Score: 57–76 (max 92)
Well, well, well, Andy pulls out a brilliant darren, which even DC (and me) don't get. (I actually thought of cottised, but then remembered that it was taken out, and only the 1 T in it now.............
)Round 12: R L T N E O E T O
C1: NOTELET (7)
C2: LOOTER (6)
DC: ROOTLET (7)
OT: TERNLET (7)
Score: 64–76 (max 99)
Well, Grant makes amends immediately, and the gap is now down to a dozen.
Round 13: M R M A I A I P R
C1: IMPAIR (6)
C2: PRAM (4)
OT: MARARI (6) MARRAM (6)
Score: 70–76 (max 105)
And now it's half a dozen thanks to that IMPAIR. Is this going to be one of the greatest comebacks ever
A MARARI is a a Māori name for butterfish.
MARRAM is a grass, Ammophila arenaria, having matted, creeping rhizomes, grown on sandy shores of Europe, North America, and Australia to bind the sand.
Round 14: 50, 100, 25, 9, 10, 2. Target: 636.
C1: 634.
C2: 635. ((9 - 2) x 100) - 50 - 25 + 10 (7)
RR: 636. 9 + 2 + 25 + (10 x 50) + 100 (10)
Score: 70–83 (max 115)
Ack, unfortunately, Grant can't get as close as Andy, and the maths teacher (who hasn't solved one of these numbers games today (although they are admittedly toughies)) has beaten our octochamp-elect with a round to spare. Yet again, our Rach needs the extra time to solve this one too.
Round 15: H I D E C R A C K
No one buzzes. The answer was DECKCHAIR.
Final Score: 70–83 (max 125)
Well, luckily for Grant, that early miss with KNIFES wasn't that crucial, as neither player can solve the conundrum.
So, Grant unfortunately sticks on 7 wins, which leaves him at #3 on the leaderboard, and that's despite scoring 8 maxes today too
We should see him back at the end of the series, but miracles have happened before, so we better not count our chickens yet.
Now, because of horse racing and the Paralympics, Countdown is going on an extended summer break, with the exception of the 8 out of 10 Cats rematch a week on Friday.
So, like Captain Oates famously said, "I'll be some time", but unlike Captain Oates, "I will return soon".
So, until we meet again in the near future, bye bye for now, and have a brill summer.
Statistics Corner
Grant:
Total score - 70
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 56
Raw % of max - 74
Total average score per round - 4.7
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 8
Andy:
Total score - 83
Raw score - 99
Total % of max - 64
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.6
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67