Countdown recap for Thursday 28 March 2013.
C1: Champion Andy Platt (7 wins, 779 points.) from Salford. This is his last game for a while, regardless of the result.
C2: Challenger Bob Windsor is Andy's third opponent from Cambridgeshire, living in Six Mile Bottom (it lies in a valley bottom and is six miles from Newmarket Racecourse). He's married with five cats, and holds a Guinness World Record certificate pertaining to the most siblings who served in World War II: his father Arthur and brothers Albert, Jim, Bill, Sid, Wally, Tom, Dick and Harry.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Arnold.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
So, Andy is unique in that his prelim run has straddled two different formats (when Countdown changed from 9 to 15 rounds at the end of Series 45, Geraldine Hylands finished her octorun and went straight into the series finals). No format conversion formula has been proposed yet, but we hear Gevin is working on one. Here's quick list of the points he'll need to equal certain people's octototals: 96 pts, Chris Wills; 101 pts, David O'Donnell; 111 pts, myself; 113 pts, Chris Davies; 117 pts, Ed McCullagh; 119 pts, Eoin Monaghan; 124 pts, Adam Gillard and 128 pts, Craig Beevers.
R01: M T S R E U O E A
R02: M E I B S G D O P
R03: 75, 25, 100, 50, 10, 2. Target: 216.
TTT: CORNHEAD - "All at sea but going nowhere"
R04: C E U N E A D N E
R05: T S P R I A I U Z
R06: 50, 10, 3, 2, 5, 8. Target: 273.
R07: S C M K E A U X I
R08: H O S A R T O V I
R09: 50, 75, 25, 100, 3, 6. Target: 854.
TTT: NOTMUSIC - "Yearning for Dracula, one two three four six"
R10: J G D A P I R L E
R11: D S T N A U E I S
R12: T E R N A E S A H
R13: N T R V E O E I F
R14: 100, 50, 75, 25, 5, 6. Target: 249.
R15: U C F O R L O R N (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: M T S R E U O E A
C1: MATURES (7)
C2: amortise
DC: REMOTES (7)
OT: AUSTERE (7) EMOTERS (7) MAESTRO (7) MEASURE (7) METEORS (7) ROSEATE (7) STEAMER (7) STRUMAE (7) TEAMERS (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
It's a flat looking selection, but Bob declares 8. Unfortunately, he's used a phantom I and he'll now need to amortize a seven point debt in this game.
Round 2: M E I B S G D O P
C1: IMPOSED (7)
C2: IMPOSED (7)
OT: BODGIES (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 14)
Both players score with 7. Bodgies are members of an Antipodean youth subculture in the 1950s.
Round 3: 75, 25, 100, 50, 10, 2. Target: 216.
C1: 216. (100*50+75*2)/25+10 (10)
C2: -
Score: 24–7 (max 24)
Something like (100+10-2)*(50/25) might be the more mundane route, but Andy uses an extension of the 203 trick to solve it whilst Bob draws a blank.
Teatime teaser: CORNHEAD -> ANCHORED
Round 4: C E U N E A D N E
C1: DUENNA (6)
C2: CANNED (6)
DC: NUANCED (7)
Score: 30–13 (max 31)
The max game is off as DC go one better with NUANCED.
Round 5: T S P R I A I U Z
C1: SPIRIT (6)
C2: UPSTAIR (7)
DC: TAPIRS (6)
Score: 30–20 (max 38)
Boom. It's game on again, as Bob spots the darrenical Andy-beater UPSTAIR. DC have TAPIRS, and a tapir looks like this.
Round 6: 50, 10, 3, 2, 5, 8. Target: 273.
C1: 273. 50*5+10*2+3 (10)
C2: -
Score: 40–20 (max 48)
Bob goes for 1 large, but blanks again whereas Andy is spot on. Suddenly the gap is 20 and it's an uphill task for Bob to claw this one back.
Round 7: S C M K E A U X I
C1: CAESIUM (7)
C2: MISCUE (6)
DC: SMACK (5) CAMIES (6)
Score: 47–20 (max 55)
Andy extends his lead with the darrenical chemical CAESIUM, a reactive alkali metal. Richard Arnold has some smack, and Susie has CAMIS, which seem to be some sort of women's clothing. I'm intrigued, and a google search later I've found an absolute bargain.
Round 8: H O S A R T O V I
C1: ARIOSO (6)
C2: RATIOS (6)
DC: TOVARISH (8)
Score: 53–26 (max 63)
Both contestants have a six, but DC are on fire with TOVARISH (also TOVARICH), a Russian term for a comrade.
Round 9: 50, 75, 25, 100, 3, 6. Target: 854.
C1: 853. (3+6)*100-50+75/25 (7)
C2: 853. (3+6)*100-50+75/25 (7)
RR: 854. (50+3)*75/25*6-100 (10)
Score: 60–33 (max 73)
Andy eschews 2 large (because it sucks) and goes back to 4 large. But both he and Bob can only get one away, however Rachel cleans up with a good solve.
Teatime teaser: NOTMUSIC -> MISCOUNT
Round 10: J G D A P I R L E
C1: JAILED (6)
C2: pilaged
DC: PREDIAL (7)
Score: 66–33 (max 80)
Bob's dodgy seven is just that. Pillaged requires both L's, and so Andy extends his lead with JAILED. PREDIAL means relating to land or its products, but it can also be a noun: a predial slave or labourer.
Round 11: D S T N A U E I S
C1: SUSTAINED (18)
C2: SAINTED (7)
DC: SUNDAES (7)
Score: 84–33 (max 98)
Boom. A common word, but harder to spot than it looks (though 8-year-old Tanmay Dixit solved it as a conundrum). It kills the game off, and Andy's quest for eight centuries is looking very good.
Round 12: T E R N A E S A H
C1: SERENATA (8)
C2: HEARTENS (8)
DC: EASTERN (7)
OT: ARSENATE (8) HETAERAS (8)
Score: 92–41 (max 106)
Two good eights from each player. A SERENATA is a cantata with a pastoral subject. A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment (e.g. Bach cantata). HETAERAS were the educated, sophisticated female companions (cough) of Ancient Greece.
Round 13: N T R V E O E I F
C1: OVERFINE (8)
C2: vintner
DC: FERVENT (7)
Score: 100–41 (max 114)
Vintner is a great word but needs two N's, but it's irrelevant as Andy spots and risks the darren.
Round 14: 100, 50, 75, 25, 5, 6. Target: 249.
C1: 249. 50*5-100/(75+25) (10)
C2: 249. 50*5-100/(75+25) (10)
Score: 110–51 (max 124)
Bob decides to exit in style with 4 large, and makes no mistake - nor does Andy. This had a wholly additive solution: 100+50+75+25-6+5. I make it that 1.793% of 4 large numbers games admit wholly additive solutions.
Round 15: U C F O R L O R N
C1 buzzes on 1.5 second to say which is incorrect.
C2 buzzes on 2 seconds to say FLOUNCER which is incorrect.
The answer was CORNFLOUR.
Andy buzzes in quickly, both once again realizes he's got it wrong. Bob doesn't hang around and buzzes straight after to say FLOUNCER, which isn't enough letters, uses a made-up E and isn't in the dictionary. However, he's given a good account of himself: he'll rue imagining an I in what was a flat selection - first round nerves perhaps - and the first two numbers game which were both gettable - as otherwise he'd have stayed in the game well into the third part.
As it is, Andy has won eight with a total of 889, just one behind the cut-off point for greatness. He's scored a century in every game, recorded the highest ever total winning margin of 565 (beating Eoin Monaghan's) and inflicted the lowest ever total score of his opponents in 324 (beating Jonathan Rawlinson's). So that's this series sewn up. Except not quite: apterite Giles Hutchings is debuting as soon as next Wednesday. So watch that.
Final Score: 110–51 (max 134)
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68
Thursday 28th March (Series 68, Prelim 15)
Moderator: James Robinson
