Hello again Countdown fanatics! Once again, I'm standing in for James Robinson, who has gone to watch his beloved Terriers.
Thanks to him for doing my usual Tuesday slot yesterday. Today we have two contestants from the 9-round era. Let's see if they still have the skills. 
C1: Series 44 semi-finalist Dave (originally known as David) Hoskisson (7 wins, 2 defeats, 475 points excluding tiebreaks, all 9-rounders.) An IT service manager from Liverpool, he is a member of Mensa and the British Association of Scrabble Players. Years ago, he did a parachute jump in a bid to get over his fear of heights. He says it was a fantastic experience but he's still scared of heights. He won six games in Series 44 in 2001 and this was enough to make the finals. He was beaten by John Rainsden in the semis. In his fourth game, he did a "Rawlo" by going into the conundrum ten points behind and eventually winning on a tiebreak conundrum.
C2: Series 13 semi-finalist Mike Whiteoak (6 wins, 2 defeats, 469 points, all 9-rounders excluding masters game.) A fundraiser from Barkingside, Essex, he has raised money for the London Air Ambulance service. He is also the organiser of the Essex Scrabble League. He used to sell ice creams in Dartmoor and eat them if he couldn't sell them.
Not a bad job. He has a similar record to Dave as he too was beaten in the semi finals, by Kevin Nelson. He only won five heats in Series 13 in 1987 though before being beaten by Edinburgh Countdown Club founder and chairman Nita Marr. During his heats, he registered scores of 79 on his debut and later 80, two of the highest during the 9-round era.DC: Susie Dent and Mark Foster.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P J E R I M O D A
R02: T L F I O A S E I
R03: B N E D O L E C A
R04: M R H L A U E S G
R05: 25, 4, 10, 10, 5, 5. Target: 615.
TTT: DIMEDUST - "Pepper likes jumping up and down in this type of puddle"
R06: W T M H I O E L A
R07: P B A I S R U N E
R08: K T R S O E I D A
R09: T V E W E G O N I
R10: 25, 5, 4, 10, 3, 9. Target: 252.
TTT: GGHINNIE - "You might find a geegee or a hinny doing this"
R11: R Y A M O D I P E
R12: T R F S O I O G E
R13: N L E C A T O S A
R14: 25, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10. Target: 575.
R15: N E E D Y O G L E (conundrum)
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: P J E R I M O D A
C1: ADMIRE (6)
C2: PRIMED (6)
DC: MAJORED (7)
OT: EMPORIA (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
DC get one of the sevens while Dave and Mike get off to an even start.
Round 2: T L F I O A S E I
C1: loafiest
C2: FOLIATES (8)
Score: 6–14 (max 15)
Mike's eight forces Dave into a risk which fails to pay off. LOAFIEST isn't even valid in Scrabble and Mike shoots into an eight point lead.
Round 3: B N E D O L E C A
C1: ENABLED (7)
C2: candela
DC: CLEANED (7)
OT: BLANCOED (8)
Score: 13–14 (max 23)
Eight points suddenly becomes one though as he uses a phantom second A, which ENABLED Dave to catch up. An interesting eight is missed by everyone.
BLANCO is there as a verb, meaning to whiten equipment with blanco, which is a white powder.
Round 4: M R H L A U E S G
C1: HAULERS (7)
C2: LAUGHS (6)
Nick: MAULERS (7)
DC: LAUGHERS (8)
Score: 20–14 (max 31)
Ouch, this is no laughing matter for Mike. He decides to play it safe and doesn't risk LAUGHERS, which would have been a great darren. Dave takes the lead for the first time with his seven. There's still a long way to go but how costly will Mike's decision to play it safe be?
Round 5: 25, 4, 10, 10, 5, 5. Target: 615.
C1: 615. 5 x 5 x 25 - 10 (10)
C2: 615. 5 x 5 x 25 - 10 (10)
Score: 30–24 (max 41)
As the numbers came out, it looked like there might be an interesting first numbers game on the cards. However, the new CECIL (or whatever you want to call it) has other ideas as both contestants add ten points to their tallies with ease.
Mark talks about his involvement with last year's Olympics and how he was impressed with how the public got involved. He carried the Olympic torch in Southend for about 400 metres.
Teatime teaser: DIMEDUST -> MUDDIEST
Round 6: W T M H I O E L A
C1: LOATHE (6)
C2: WEALTH (6)
DC: HEMIOLA (7)
Score: 36–30 (max 48)
Plenty of sixes about but only one musical seven hidden in there, which is found by the corner.
Round 7: P B A I S R U N E
C1: UPRAISE (7)
C2: UPRAISE (7)
DC: URBANISE (8)
Score: 43–37 (max 56)
Another tied round with seven apiece but once again, DC go one better with their darrenic eight.
Round 8: K T R S O E I D A
C1: EDITORS (7)
C2: ASTEROID (8)
DC: DORKIEST (8)
Score: 43–45 (max 64)
Mike retakes the lead with the classic Countdown word ASTEROID.
Round 9: T V E W E G O N I
C1: VETOING (7)
C2: VOWING (6)
Score: 50–45 (max 71)
Dave responds in the best possible way by spotting the only seven in the selection, meaning the lead changes hands again. VETOING is a very good spot from those letters.
OoW: Susie talks about the need for new words referring to nieces and nephews collectively, as well to partners over 30.
Round 10: 25, 5, 4, 10, 3, 9. Target: 252.
C1: 252. 25 x 10 + 5 - 3 (10)
C2: 252. (25 + 3) x 9 (10)
Score: 60–55 (max 81)
Too easy again!
Teatime teaser: GGHINNIE -> NEIGHING
Round 11: R Y A M O D I P E
C1: PYRAMID (7)
C2: DREAMY (6)
DC: EMPORIA (7) MYOPIA (6)
OT: MYRIAPOD (8) PYODERMA (8)
Score: 67–55 (max 89)
This could a pivotal moment in the match as for the first time, the gap between the two players is greater than ten. Dave spots PYRAMID to give himself a little breathing space, meaning Mike has it all to do now. Interestingly, DC spot EMPORIA this time after missing it in round 1. There were a couple of beaters available though. PYODERMA was casually spotted in the audience by Series 60 champion Kirk Bevins. It is a skin infection with the formation of pus. I spotted MYRIAPOD but only after Dave said PYRAMID and remembering the stemmer. They are arthropods of a group which includes centipedes and millipedes.
Round 12: T R F S O I O G E
C1: GOOFIEST (8)
C2: GOOFIEST (8)
Score: 75–63 (max 97)
Both players spot the darren, which surprisingly beats DC. Mike really needs something in the last letters round.
Round 13: N L E C A T O S A
C1: COASTAL (7)
C2: LACTONES (8)
OT: ANALECTS (8)
Score: 75–71 (max 105)
And he gets it! The gap is narrowed to just four points thanks to Mike's chemical offering. This contest is well and truly back on!
A LACTONE is an organic compound containing the ester group -OCO- as part of a ring.
Round 14: 25, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10. Target: 575.
C1: 575. (10 + 9 + 4) x 25 (10)
C2: 575. (6 x 4 - (10 - 9)) x 25 (10)
Score: 85–81 (max 115)
Not CECIL's best day as this round completes a hattrick of easy numbers games for today. This means that for the third time in three days this week, the outcome will be decided by a crucial conundrum.
Round 15: N E E D Y O G L E
No one buzzes. The answer was GOLDENEYE.
Final Score: 85–81 (max 125)
The clock ticks and ticks and agonisingly for Mike, time runs out and the conundrum goes unsolved. The answer GOLDENEYE continues the James Bond theme, after seeing MOONRAKER as yesterday's conundrum. Dave is the winner of today's close contest and he will face Neil Zussman in the last round of 16 match in three weeks. Commiserations to Mike who played well himself and on another day, could have emerged as the victor himself. A good game between two worthy competitors.
Once again next week, I will not be doing my usual Tuesday recap slot. Instead, James and I have swapped again and I will be back in exactly one week. My next recap will feature a contest between two of the greatest players Countdowners of all time. Had it not been for Paul Gallen, next week's game would have been a repeat of the CoC final in 2006. Join me next Wednesday for Conor Travers v Mark Tournoff, do not miss it!
As for the rest of this week, tomorrow sees Series 65 champion Graeme Cole take on some weirdo from Blackpool (No, I'm not talking about Damian
). Friday sees another clash between two series champions as Series 38 winner John Ashmore battles it out with Series 60 champ Kirk Bevins for a nice easy last 16 tie against Innis Carson.See you all next week!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-16