Hello again! I'm not James Robinson so apologies for that. Unfortunately he's still away so I'm afraid you're stuck with me.
Maybe another dazzling performance from the maestro in the champion's chair will cheer you up.C1: Champion Andy Platt (6 wins, 659 points.) An apte-forumite from Salford, he has six wins to his name, all with centuries and yesterday, he recorded his highest score so far, 116 against Alex Newton.
C2: Challenger Josh Young. A third-year (and final year) student from Newark (no jokes please), who is currently studying script writing in Sunderland. He hopes that this may take him into a TV career and he cheekily asks Nick if he has anything available.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Arnold.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R N H T O E A O G
R02: G X R N E A I S R
R03: 50, 75, 25, 100, 3, 3. Target: 536.
TTT: GOONCAST - "No mints but you need to be after eights here"
R04: M T R O E A L R I
R05: S J S D E O A I K
R06: 75, 50, 1, 7, 8, 8. Target: 390.
R07: F P Y D E O I F E
R08: V S W L E O E D O
R09: 50, 75, 7, 2, 8, 7. Target: 273.
TTT: APEXDOLE - "It sounds like the man from Warsaw has been sacked"
R10: C T I A E M G N V
R11: B T S N U E A I O
R12: D T H Q E A I R N
R13: S L N R U E A T N
R14: 5, 7, 6, 8, 1, 9. Target: 529.
R15: R O T T E N I N E (conundrum)
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Round 1: R N H T O E A O G
C1: ANOTHER (7)
C2: HOOTER (6)
DC: OREGANO (7) GHERAO (6)
OT: AGOROTH (7) NEGATOR (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
ANOTHER game, ANOTHER quick start by the champ as his seven edges out Josh's six.
Round 2: G X R N E A I S R
C1: RANGERS (7)
C2: REGAINS (7)
DC: EARRINGS (8) SEARING (7)
OT: GRAINERS (8)
Score: 14–7 (max 15)
Josh gets off the mark this time while DC steal the show with their EARRINGS.
Round 3: 50, 75, 25, 100, 3, 3. Target: 536.
C1: 536. (50 + 75 + (3 x 3)) x (100/25) (10)
C2: -
Score: 24–7 (max 25)
Andy's four large returns, as does his ability to solve trickyish ones. This one was not so obvious, so credit where credit is due.
Teatime teaser: GOONCAST -> OCTAGONS
Round 4: M T R O E A L R I
C1: REALTOR (7)
C2: RETAIL (6)
DC: TRAILER (7) LORIMER (7)
OT: ARMOIRE (7) LOAMIER (7) MALTIER (7) MOTLIER (7) RELATOR (7) RETIRAL (7) RETRIAL (7) ROTAMER (7)
Score: 31–7 (max 32)
Plenty of sevens, Andy finds one, Josh doesn't.
Round 5: S J S D E O A I K
C1: ADIOSES (7)
C2: KISSED (6)
OT: ADJIKOS (7)
Score: 38–7 (max 39)
A great seven from Andy which gives Susie a brief moment of hesitation before she decides to allow it.
Round 6: 75, 50, 1, 7, 8, 8. Target: 390.
C1: 390. (50 + 8) x 8 + 1 - 75 (10)
C2: 391.
Score: 48–7 (max 49)
Richard talks about his experiences on various filmsets, with his favourite being Dallas.
An awkward two large appears which requires a bit of craft and Andy finds a way to extend his lead to 41 already. This could be a long day for Josh.
Round 7: F P Y D E O I F E
C1: EDIFY (5)
C2: DOPEY (5)
DC: FIFED (5) piffed
OT: DEFFO (5) DEIFY (5) EFFED (5) EPODE (5) OFFED (5) OFFIE (5)
Score: 53–12 (max 54)
A rotten selection, let's hope for something better next time.
Round 8: V S W L E O E D O
C1: VOWELS (6)
C2: WELDS (5)
DC: ELVES (5) SOLVED (6)
OT: DELVES (6) DOWELS (6) LOOSED (6) OODLES (6) SLEWED (6) SLOWED (6) SOLOED (6) SOOLED (6) WOLVES (6)
Score: 59–12 (max 60)
Slightly better but still only loads of sixes, while I'm sure plenty of people were praying for a final I for VOWELISED, like I was. Instead, Andy offers a truncated version of that to edge out Josh again.
Round 9: 50, 75, 7, 2, 8, 7. Target: 273.
C1: 274.
C2: 273. 50 x 7 - 75 - 2 (10)
Score: 59–22 (max 70)
Who saw this coming? I didn't. Andy messes up a reasonably routine solve and Josh claws back ten points.
Teatime teaser: APEXDOLE -> POLEAXED
Round 10: C T I A E M G N V
C1: MAGNETIC (8)
C2: MATING (6)
DC: VINTAGE (7)
Score: 67–22 (max 78)
A superb darren from the champ who is pretty much home and dry now.
Round 11: B T S N U E A I O
C1: ISOBUTANE (18)
C2: BITES (5)
Score: 85–22 (max 96)
WWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Andy shows us some apterous magic by pulling a real rabbit out of the hat, for what has to be one of the best nines in the show's history. As soon as the four consonants came out, there was only one word in his mind and when the O came out, he must have been over the moon! Casual.
OoW: Susie explains the origins of "Bob's your uncle" and "Fanny's your aunt".
Round 12: D T H Q E A I R N
C1: TRAINED (7)
C2: TRAINED (7)
DC: HAIRNET (7) HANDIER (7)
OT: DETRAIN (7) THERIAN (7)
Score: 92–29 (max 103)
Quite a few sevens here and everyone finds at least one.
Round 13: S L N R U E A T N
C1: NEUTRALS (8)
C2: TUNNELS (7)
DC: TRUNNELS (8)
OT: ANNULETS (8) LANTERNS (8) UNLEARNS (8) UNLEARNT (8)
Score: 100–29 (max 111)
Andy secures his seventh century with two rounds still to go by spotting one of the several eights available. Josh is stuck on seven, although he could have added the R to his word, like DC did. Curiously, I had never come across that on the show or apterous before. It's the American version of a tre(e)nail apparently.
Round 14: 5, 7, 6, 8, 1, 9. Target: 529.
C1: 529. 7 x 8 x 9 + ((6 - 1) x 5) (10)
C2: -
Score: 110–29 (max 121)
If Josh was looking to have some fun with the six small, he didn't have much as he blanks it and Andy gets it spot on, to make up for the last numbers game. There's no stopping him today and he has the chance to improve on the 116 he got yesterday and record a new PB. He's only got two out of six conundrums so far though.
Round 15: R O T T E N I N E
C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say RETENTION which is correct.
Final Score: 120–29 (max 131)
Make that three from seven as Andy rounds off a commanding performance and records the highest score of the series so far. The only real blip was the third numbers game but still it's a 13-max-game. ISOBUTANE will be remembered for a long time. Spare a thought for Josh who is unlucky to get his name on the low scores page and against less formidable opposition, I'm sure he'd have been confortably clear of that. Tomorrow's the big one for Andy as one more win will secure him octochamp status and another score of 100+ will see him become only the seventh person to score centuries in all eight heats. I'd better warn you Andy, the last person to record seven centuries in his first seven games only scored 85 in his last game, so don't take anything for granted. Nobody mention who that was.
Join guest recapper Conor Travers tomorrow for the potentially momentous occasion. I'll be back on Tuesday when two different people will occupy the contestants' chairs. See you then! Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68