Hello, sorry I'm not James Robinson but he's still away so I'll have to do.
C1: Champion Stuart Scholes (1 win, 78 points.) A retired pharmacist from Liverpool, he won the battle of two new contestants yesterday by beating David Lockett 78-73 on the unsolved crucial conundrum OVERSPEND.
C2: Challenger Dave Fielding. A trainee teaching assistant from Eccleston but he used to sing in pubs and clubs for a living. He is a huge fan of George Michael and Sir Tom Jones.
DC: Susie Dent and Jo Brand.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: E I D T L G A T O
R02: N S I B U N O E G
R03: 75, 25, 10, 8, 6, 1. Target: 328.
TTT: ICEHILLS - "Icy hills would be cold but these are quite the opposite"
R04: T C P A O E S N T
R05: R D A I E T N V U
R06: 25, 5, 3, 2, 9, 5. Target: 314.
R07: S R H A O E G F I
R08: N R H A E M G I K
R09: 25, 9, 4, 6, 7, 4. Target: 770.
TTT: ARMYHAKE - "David the boxer might occasionally throw this"
R10: M O P E Z R U I M
R11: A O A S T R E D S
R12: J O I T X E R N C
R13: A O E S L B T U S
R14: 25, 7, 2, 5, 9, 3. Target: 303.
R15: T W O B E I N G S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: E I D T L G A T O
C1: GODETIA (7)
C2: GLOATED (7)
DC: DATELOG X LIGATED (7) DOTTLE (6)
OT: TOADLET (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
A nice start by everyone, including an interesting attempt from Jo Brand, who seems puzzled that DATELOG^ isn't in. Stuart comes up with the old favourite GODETIA.
Round 2: N S I B U N O E G
C1: GENIUS (6)
C2: BUNNIES (7)
DC: NOSEBUNG X BUNIONS (7) IGNEOUS (7)
OT: BENISON (7) BOUGIES (7) ENSUING (7) GUENONS (7) GUNNIES (7)
Score: 7–14 (max 14)
Dave takes the lead thanks to his BUNNIES.
Round 3: 75, 25, 10, 8, 6, 1. Target: 328.
C1: -
C2: 325. (6 - 1 + 8) x 25 (7)
RR: 328. (25 + 6 + 10 ) x 8 (10)
Score: 7–21 (max 24)
Stuart blanks so Dave doubles his lead and Rachel shows off her 41 times tables.
Teatime teaser: ICEHILLS -> CHILLIES
Round 4: T C P A O E S N T
C1: PATTENS (7)
C2: PATENTS (7)
DC: STOATPEN X CAPSTONE (8)
OT: OPENCAST (8)
Score: 14–28 (max 32)
Two solid sevens from the contestants and a very good eight by the corner.
Round 5: R D A I E T N V U
C1: UNVARIED (8)
C2: VARIANT X
DC: URINATED (8) VETDRAIN X
OT: DURATIVE (8) INDURATE (8)
Score: 22–28 (max 40)
Dave uses a phantom second A but it's irrelevant as Stuart gets himself back in the game with a super eight while Susie takes the (fill in the gap) with her eight. Jo tries to continue the theme but with the illegal VETDRAIN^.
Round 6: 25, 5, 3, 2, 9, 5. Target: 314.
C1: 312. (3 + 9) x 25 + 5 + 5 + 2 (7)
C2: 315 X
RR: 314. (25 - 2) x (9 + 5) - (5 + 3) (10)
Score: 29–28 (max 50)
Dave declares one away but quickly realises that he's made a mistake so Stuart takes the narrowest of leads with his two away. Rachel inevitably is on target.
Jo talks about possets in medieval times, which were apparently milk curdled with ale and how there were different types of posset.
Round 7: S R H A O E G F I
C1: HOARSE (6)
C2: HOARSE (6)
DC: HAGFIRE X RAGFISH (7)
OT: FORAGES (7) GARFISH (7) GHERAOS (7) HEGIRAS (7) HOAGIES (7) OARFISH (7) OGREISH (7)
Score: 35–34 (max 57)
A few sevens around but both players are HOARSE. Jo's attempt of HAGFIRE^ is again invalid. Has anyone else noticed that Jo has a habit of forgetting to pluralise her made up words?
Round 8: N R H A E M G I K
C1: HEARING (7)
C2: MARKING (7)
DC: HERNIA (6) REMAKING (8)
Score: 42–41 (max 65)
Both score again but miss the darrenic REMAKING. Stuart's making progress though as he spots the exact word that his opponent beat him with in the corresponding round yesterday.
Round 9: 25, 9, 4, 6, 7, 4. Target: 770.
C1: -
C2: -
RR: 770. ((25 - 9) x 4 + 6) x (7 + 4) (10)
Score: 42–41 (max 75)
A double blank from the contestants but Rachel shows us the importance of factorisation.
Teatime teaser: ARMYHAKE -> HAYMAKER
Round 10: M O P E Z R U I M
C1: IMPURE (6)
C2: PREMIUM (7)
DC: MUMROPE X EMPORIUM (8)
Score: 42–48 (max 83)
A very impressive spot by DC here. Dave's PREMIUM is very nice too and it's enough for him to regain the lead.
Round 11: A O A S T R E D S
C1: ASSORTED (8)
C2: ROASTED (7)
DC: TORSADES (8)
OT: ASSARTED (8)
Score: 50–48 (max 91)
Stuart responds in the best possible way and the lead changes hands again.
OoW: Susie continues her lectures on medieval surnames that are still in use today.
Round 12: J O I T X E R N C
C1: JOINTER (7)
C2: JOINTER (7)
OT: INJECTOR (8)
Score: 57–55 (max 99)
Everyone spots JOINTER but misses INJECTOR.
Round 13: A O E S L B T U S
C1: STABLES (7)
C2: BUSTLES (7)
DC: BLOUSES (7) ABSOLUTES (18)
Score: 64–62 (max 117)
Seven points apiece again but DC hit the jackpot with a nine.
Round 14: 25, 7, 2, 5, 9, 3. Target: 303.
C1: 303. (9 + 3) x 25 + 5 - 2 (10)
C2: 303. (9 + 3) x 25 + 5 - 2 (10)
Score: 74–72 (max 127)
Dave plays it safe for the last numbers round and it works as the target is fairly simple. Like yesterday, the conundrum is crucial.
Round 15: T W O B E I N G S
C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say BESTOWING which is correct.
Final Score: 84–72 (max 137)
Stuart gets it within three seconds and keeps his place in the champion's chair. Like yesterday, he was given a tough test as Dave certainly turned out to be a worthy opponent. Stuart's scores are fairly low so he'll surely have to win again tomorrow to keep his finals hopes alive. One man who'll be hoping that it doesn't happen will be apte-forumite Peter Fenton as a third win for Stuart tomorrow will knock him out of contention, unless someone else drops out. I have no idea who's due to do the recap so join whoever it is tomorrow for the final show of the week. I'll be back on Tuesday for my next installment. See you all then!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68