Let's find out.
Countdown recap for Thursday 16 December 2010.
C1: No.2 Seed Eoin "The Banbridge Bullet" Monaghan (9 wins, 1,025 points.) A 14-year-old Apteforumite from Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland. He earned his place in the semi-final by beating #7 Seed Niall Young by a score of 127-45 last Friday.
C2: No.3 Seed Daniel "The Manchester Marauder" Pati (9 wins, 932 points.) An Apteforumite from Manchester. He earned his place in the semi-final by beating #6 Seed Tom Rowell by a score of 92-67 on Monday.
DC: Susie Dent and Paul Zenon.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A E I D G P W I C
R02: P O I G E F O Z S
R03: E I O H S R T E T
R04: W A P E N A N S M
R05: 50, 7, 9, 4, 6, 7. Target: 843.
TTT: ORALMIME - "It may make you think fondly of Albert"
R06: L I R A T I N O E
R07: E O E S T K R N O
R08: N A M I T E T O G
R09: E O U L T B V D E
R10: 4, 2, 9, 9, 3, 7. Target: 806.
TTT: FOCALMEN - "On paper, this dancer looks pretty hot"
R11: A E O N C L D C I
R12: S I J E N A M S R
R13: U E A L R X O U T
R14: 50, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Target: 780.
R15: L A L A D U N C E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: A E I D G P W I C
C1: PACED (5)
C2: WIPED (5)
DC: GAWPED (6)
Score: 5–5 (max 6)
Hmmm, a start of 5's, as the darrenic 6 is left for DC to spot.
Round 2: P O I G E F O Z S
C1: FOGIES (6)
C2: POGOES (6)
Score: 11–11 (max 12)
Both 6's spotted in this one, but is something big lurking round the corner.....
Round 3: E I O H S R T E T
C1: THEORISE (8)
C2: theorise (not written down)
OT: ISOTHERE (8) THEORIES (8) THEORIST (8)
Score: 19–11 (max 20)
AARGH!!! Daniel forgets to mention beforehand that he didn't write down his 8, so Jeff has to disqualify him from that one, giving Eoin the first lead in the game.
An ISOTHERE is a line on a weather map or chart connecting points that have the same mean summer temperature.
Round 4: W A P E N A N S M
C1: PAEANS (6)
C2: PAEANS (6)
DC: NEWSMAN (7)
Score: 25–17 (max 27)
Another darren missed by the contestants here, although finding a 7 there from that lot would've been brilliant anyway.
Round 5: 50, 7, 9, 4, 6, 7. Target: 843.
C1: 843. ((7 + 6 + 4) x 50) - 7 (10)
C2: 843. ((7 + 6 + 4) x 50) - 7 (10)
Score: 35–27 (max 37)
Nice simple numbers to start off with today.
Paul tries to pull off a Houdini by doing a trick involving a photo frame and a wallet and a picture of Harry Houdini.
Teatime teaser: ORALMIME -> MEMORIAL
Round 6: L I R A T I N O E
C1: RELATION (8)
C2: RELATION (8)
DC: ORIENTAL (8)
OT: INERTIAL (8)
Score: 43–35 (max 45)
The old favourites of RELATION/ORIENTAL appears yet again.
Round 7: E O E S T K R N O
C1: OESTRONE (8)
C2: STONKER (7)
DC: KETONES (7)
Score: 51–35 (max 53)
Round 8: N A M I T E T O G
C1: TOMATINE (8)
C2: TEAMING (7)
DC: MEGATON (7) MONTAGE (7)
Score: 59–35 (max 61)
Double darren 8's from Eoin here, and all of a sudden his lead is tripled within 2 rounds.
Round 9: E O U L T B V D E
C1: DOUBLET (7)
C2: DOUBLET (7)
DC: VOLUTED (7) BELOVED (7)
OT: BOULTED (7) EVOLUTE (7) VELOUTE (7)
Score: 66–42 (max 68)
A truly flat round for once today. Possibly the last chance for pancakes this year....
An EVOLUTE is a geometrical term for the locus of the centers of curvature of, or the envelope of the normals to, another curve.
A VELOUTE is a smooth white sauce made with meat, poultry, or fish stock.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the astrological words "Jupiter"
"jovial", "Mars" "martial", "Mercury" mercurial" and "Venus" "venereal".Round 10: 4, 2, 9, 9, 3, 7. Target: 806.
C1: 806. ((7 + 3) x 9 x 9) - 4 (10)
C2: 806. ((7 + 3) x 9 x 9) - 4 (10)
Score: 76–52 (max 78)
Daniel tries a 6 small gamble, but a nice easy one crops up.
Teatime teaser: FOCALMEN -> FLAMENCO
Round 11: A E O N C L D C I
C1: CONCEAL (7)
C2: CLONED (6)
DC: CONICAL (7) CALCINE (7) CALCINED (8)
Score: 83–52 (max 86)
Eoin's lead extends past 30, as DC after double-checking a definition discovered the darrenic 8.
Round 12: S I J E N A M S R
C1: SEMINARS (8)
C2: SEMINARS (8)
DC: JASMINES (8)
Score: 91–60 (max 94)
Round 13: U E A L R X O U T
C1: TORULAE (7)
C2: TORULAE (7)
DC: ROULEAUX (8)
Score: 98–67 (max 102)
Eoin was wondering about ROULEAUX for 8, which would've been an awesome darren to spot. As it is, he sticks to his 7 to seal the game.
Round 14: 50, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Target: 780.
C1: 780. ((5 x 50) + 6 + 4) x 3 (10)
C2: 780. (50 x 3 x 5) + ((1 + 4) x 6) (10)
Score: 108–77 (max 112)
A nice 1 large gives Eoin his 10th century and the chance to get his 8th conundrum solve of his run.
Round 15: L A L A D U N C E
C1 buzzes on 28.25 seconds to say DUALLANCE which is incorrect.
C2 does not buzz.
The answer was CALENDULA.
Final Score: 108–77 (max 122)
But it's not to be, as Eoin buzzes in with just under 2 seconds to go, with an incorrect answer. But, no matter, he's done his job today and sealed a very good win over Daniel, who probably never really recovered after that unfortunate incident in round 3.
So, tomorrow is the Series 63 Grand Final between #1 Seed Jack "The Desford Destroyer" Hurst and #2 Seed Eoin "The Banbridge Bullet" Monaghan.
A final between 2 10-time winners who have had a century in all 20 of their games that they have played in. This final is probably one of the hardest to call, but whoever wins that win deservedly be the rightful champion of this phenomenally brilliant series.
So, that's me done for 2010, meaning that my next recap will be the 3rd game of Series 64, which is on January 12th, 2011.
So, I hope all of you wonderful people have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Till next year, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Eoin:
Total score - 108
Raw score - 108
Total % of max - 89
Raw % of max - 89
Total average score per round - 7.2
Raw average score per round - 7.2
Number of maxes - 10
Daniel:
Total score - 77
Raw score - 97
Total % of max - 63
Raw % of max - 80
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 6.5
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63