Letters and Numbers final - Australian Countdown

[Oliver Garner]

[url=ttp://aphis99.livejournal.com/93141.html#cutid1]From Andrew Fisher's blog - Enjoy[/url]
Countdown recap for Thursday 16 December 2010.

C1: Challenger Andrew Fisher. Andrew appeared on Series 8 of Countdown and won the second series of Countdown Masters. He has also excelled at Scrabble both here and Down Under, recently finishing 6th at the famed Causeway Challenge in Malaysia.
C2: Challenger Naween Fernando. Another top Scrabble player, who came 10th at the Causeway Challenge.
DC: David Astle.
LS: Lily Serna.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: E I E T N C S K T
R02: O A A I G S F L T
R03: 100, 2, 3, 8, 9, 5. Target: 314.
R04: O E A U D B T Y I
R05: A E I C P R M B P
R06: 25, 100, 7, 2, 10, 9. Target: 199.
R07: E E I C S H N G R
R08: 50, 75, 100, 4, 5, 4. Target: 638.
R09: D U M P Y N O S E (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: E I E T N C S K T

C1: NECKTIES (8)
C2: NECKTIES (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)

Both contestants showing off their anagramming skills there.

Round 2: O A A I G S F L T

C1: OTALGIAS (8)
C2: saligot
OT: GALIOTS (7) OTALGIA (7) SOLATIA (7)
Score: 16–8 (max 16)

Andrew confessed it was risky, would not have been OK in ODE.

Round 3: 100, 2, 3, 8, 9, 5. Target: 314.

C1: 314. 100*3+9+5 (10)
C2: 314. (100+5)*3+8-9 (10)
Score: 26–18 (max 26)

Round 4: O E A U D B T Y I

C1: DUBIETY (7)
C2: DUBIETY (7)
OT: BOUTADE (7) (not good in the Macquarie dictionary used)
Score: 33–25 (max 33)

Round 5: A E I C P R M B P

C1: EPICARP (7)
C2: EPICARP (7)
OT: CAMPIER (7) CRAPPIE (7)
Score: 40–32 (max 40)

Round 6: 25, 100, 7, 2, 10, 9. Target: 199.

C1: 199. 100*2-10+9 (10)
C2: 199. 100*2-10+9 (10)
Score: 50–42 (max 50)

Round 7: E E I C S H N G R

C1: CHEERING (8)
C2: cheesing
OT: ENRICHES (8) GREENISH (8) SHEERING (8)
Score: 58–42 (max 58)

Another strange omission of the Macquarie dictionary.

Round 8: 50, 75, 100, 4, 5, 4. Target: 638.

C1: 629.
C2: 638. (4+4)*(75+5)-100/50 (10)
Score: 58–52 (max 68)

Round 9: D U M P Y N O S E

C1 buzzes on 1 second to say PSEUDONYM which is correct.
Score: 68–52 (max 78)

So hours before Jack's triumph here in the UK, Andrew goes down in history Down Under.

NB - Andrew didn't provide details of how the first two numbers games were solved and I have chosen the most obvious method. The episode is up on SBS's (the channel it is on) website but it Geoblocked me.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-14

[Andrew Fisher]

Thanks for the plug...I'm not sure how the max increased by 20 points after CHEERING though!

Naween chose a fiddlier method for his 314, which I think was basically (105 x 3) - (9 - 8)

[Oliver Garner]

Thanks for the plug...I'm not sure how the max increased by 20 points after CHEERING though!

Naween chose a fiddlier method for his 314, which I think was basically (105 x 3) - (9 - 8)

Cheers for that. In the recapping software, there is not a preset mode for the Aussie format so I had to adapt it from the old-style 14-round finals format and forgot to take out the 1st conundrum. Have corrected both things.

[Michael Wallace]

Thanks for this Oliver, appreciated. And well done Andrew - what did you win?

[Josh Hurst]

Someone from Australia who uses apterous told me that the standard on the Australian version of Countdown was pretty poor in comparison to ours. The guy must've been talking bullshit, cos this is ace stuff. Well played both.

[Ryan Taylor]

Someone from Australia who uses apterous told me that the standard on the Australian version of Countdown was pretty poor in comparison to ours. The guy must've been talking bullshit, cos this is ace stuff. Well played both.

Completely agree. NECKTIES, DUBIETY and EPICARP all in one game plus 100% on the numbers for Naween and a crucial conundrum solved in 1 second. Promising stuff from just the first series. Good work Oliver by the way.

[Peter Mabey]

As Dumpynose is the PSEUDONYM of Chris Brougham, a regular crossword setter for the Spectator etc., I had no difficulty in solving the conundrum instantly

[Ryan Taylor]

As Dumpynose is the PSEUDONYM of Chris Brougham, a regular crossword setter for the Spectator etc., I had no difficulty in solving the conundrum instantly

Ah nice knowledge, love that!

[Andrew Fisher]

The prize was a magnificent trophy. Alas, SBS does not have a very large budget for anything much, though they will be shipping out a couple of commentators for Eurovision next May.

As for the conundrum - yes, I was familiar with the Spectator setter, but in response I would say (1) my record on conundrums was pretty good; (2) familiarity with the name DUMPYNOSE does not mean you know it forms an anagram of PSEUDONYM; (3) I also solved the backup conundrum in similar time offscreen.

I would agree that the general standard on L&N is lower than that seen on Countdown these days, and nobody would find things like CERASTIUM or that extraordinary numbers get from the Countdown semifinal. Probably much the same as the earlier UK series, pre-Apterous etc. At this stage, nobody has yet done a serious review of Macquarie to extract the playable words (I flicked through it and found some gems like EASYBEAT, SIHEYUAN, FLOURBAG etc but never got to wield anything particularly spectacular)

[Jon Corby]

Can't believe 'cheesing' isn't in. You might have also heard of it being called "the cheese game", "vitamin cheese", or "Mary Jane piss in your face fun time".