Monday 5th March 2012 (Series 66, Prelim 41)

Graeme Cole · Post by **Graeme Cole** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:43 pm

Countdown recap for Monday 5 March 2012.

C1: Champion Ben Rollett (1 win, 87 points) from Bury St Edmunds is a student of Sports Business Management.
C2: Challenger Andy Russell is a university librarian from Brighton, with two children watching at home.
DC: Susie Dent and Pam Ayres.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: Y M D I A O N C U
R02: S T E G D A E O B
R03: C A T D E O V T I
R04: K R Q A E O T P N
R05: 75, 100, 25, 3, 8, 1. Target: 323.
TTT: STOICCAR - "It's not an angry parasite, it's a type of puzzle."
R06: J M R N I U E R L
R07: A A H G M O T N I
R08: S R Z O A S I T U
R09: L N T E I M S A E
R10: 25, 100, 7, 6, 9, 4. Target: 927.
TTT: MINIBOAT - "It's all about the desire to achieve."
R11: R L S O E A D W I
R12: R P C O E I S N D
R13: L A S E T B U R P
R14: 50, 75, 7, 9, 6, 1. Target: 266.
R15: S A U C Y M I L L (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: Y M D I A O N C U

C1: MOUND (5)
C2: maundy
DC: DAMN DYNAMIC (7)
OT: MANICOU (7) MONADIC (7) NOMADIC (7)
Score: 5–0 (max 7)

A tricky selection to start off with causes Andy to declare an invalid six - Maundy is only in the dictionary with a capital M. A MANICOU is a West Indian term for an opossum, and MONADIC is the adjective from MONAD meaning the number one, or an indivisible entity.

Round 2: S T E G D A E O B

C1: DEBATES (7)
C2: BOASTED (7)
DC: GOATEES (7) BODEGAS (7)
OT: DOTAGES (7) GOATEED (7) SABOTED (7)
Score: 12–7 (max 14)

Andy gets off the mark. Susie finds BODEGAS, which are shops selling wine and food in Spanish-speaking countries.

Round 3: C A T D E O V T I

C1: DICTATE (7)
C2: caveat
DC: AVOCET (6)
Score: 19–7 (max 21)

Ben the champ strides ahead further with DICTATE, but now Andy's seeing phantom duplicates. Hopefully he won't do that too often.

Round 4: K R Q A E O T P N

C1: TANKER (6)
C2: pranker
DC: PRONATE (7)
OT: OPERANT (7) PROTEAN (7)
Score: 25–7 (max 28)

Susie and Pam come up with the familiar Countdown word PRONATE, while Ben can only offer a six, but Andy's made the same mistake again, and this time the word isn't in the dictionary either (the correct word is PRANKSTER).

Round 5: 75, 100, 25, 3, 8, 1. Target: 323.

C1: 324. 100*3+25-1 (7)
C2: 322. Mistake in working.
RR: 323. (100+8)*3-1 (10)
Score: 32–7 (max 38)

Both contestants declare one away, but Andy is the unfortunate recipient of a hat-trick of phantoms as he tries to use the 3 twice.

Pam reads us a poem about failing to get to sleep.

Teatime teaser: STOICCAR -> ACROSTIC

Round 6: J M R N I U E R L

C1: INJURE (6)
C2: RULER (5)
DC: INJURER (7)
Score: 38–7 (max 45)

I don't know if Ben was thinking of putting the R on the end of INJURE, but it would have been fine. INJURER is an American term meaning what you'd expect it to, someone who injures. Nick prefers the word "assailant".

Round 7: A A H G M O T N I

C1: MATING (6)
C2: HATING (6)
DC: MOATING (7)
OT: ANGIOMA (7) ANIMATO (7) MAHONIA (7)
Score: 44–13 (max 52)

Sixes for Andy and Ben, but the dubious-sounding MOATING is perfectly acceptable - it's listed as a verb meaning to surround something with a moat. An ANGIOMA is a medical term meaning an "abnormal growth produced by the dilatation or new formation of blood vessels". ANIMATO is a musical direction meaning "animated" and a MAHONIA is an evergreen shrub.

Round 8: S R Z O A S I T U

C1: RATIOS (6)
C2: RATIOS (6)
DC: SAUTOIRS (8)
Score: 50–19 (max 60)

Andy's got rid of the double vision but still has quite a bit of ground to make up. SAUTOIRS are necklaces made by a long gold chain and set with jewels. Susie observes they might go well with your moat from the previous round. I've never seen someone wear a necklace and a moat at the same time, but Susie could be trying to start a fashion trend.

Round 9: L N T E I M S A E

C1: ENTAILS (7)
C2: mentalise
DC: MEALIEST (8)
OT: AILMENTS (8) MANLIEST (8) MATINEES (8) MELANITE (8) TALESMEN (8)
Score: 57–19 (max 68)

Very unlucky for Andy here. It looks like a nineworthy selection, but there isn't one there. Andy's offering of MENTALISE^ isn't listed in the dictionary even though MENTALISM and MENTALIST are. Ben mops up another seven points.

Origins of Words. For all you cheeky scallywags who skip over this section, you missed what I thought was quite an interesting one today. The greeting "man" as we know it today was popularised by black Americans after emancipation from slavery. Slaves were always addressed as "boy", so when they were freed they took great pride in addressing each other as "man" instead.

Round 10: 25, 100, 7, 6, 9, 4. Target: 927.

C1: 927. 9*100+25-(6-4) (10)
C2: 927. (100+7-4)*9 (10)
Score: 67–29 (max 78)

Numbers time - ten points apiece here.

Teatime teaser: MINIBOAT -> AMBITION

Round 11: R L S O E A D W I

C1: worldies
C2: swords
DC: DARIOLES (8)
Score: 67–29 (max 86)

Move along, nothing to see here...

Round 12: R P C O E I S N D

C1: COPIERS (7)
C2: COINERS (7)
DC: PRINCE (6) CONSPIRED (18)
Score: 74–36 (max 104)

I wouldn't have been sure about COINERS, but it's fine - a maker of counterfeit coins is a coiner, as is someone who makes up new words. Susie and Pam have been anaspeptic, frasmotic and compunctuous enough to find a nine, though.

Round 13: L A S E T B U R P

C1: BRUTAL (6)
C2: BLASTER (7)
DC: PLASTER (7) PUBERTAL (8)
OT: BALUSTER (8)
Score: 74–43 (max 112)

Andy wins this round, but it's here that he falls out of contention for the game. PUBERTAL was a teaser recently - it's the adjective relating to puberty.

Round 14: 50, 75, 7, 9, 6, 1. Target: 266.

C1: 266. (6-1)*50+9+7 (10)
C2: 266. (6-1)*50+9+7 (10)
Score: 84–53 (max 122)

Andy checks Ben's paper. "Are you happy?" says Nick, as he is accustomed to doing. "Well, I'm not happy, but he's got it right", says Andy jokingly.

Round 15: S A U C Y M I L L

C2 buzzes on 11 seconds to say MUSICALLY which is correct.
Final Score: 84–63 (max 132)

Andy grabs the conundrum to finish on 63. It could have been quite different had he not made those unfortunate mistakes early on, but it's Ben who'll be sitting in the champion's chair tomorrow.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66