So, for the last time in a while, it's time to sit back and enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 7 March 2013.
C1: Champion Philip Jarvis (2 wins, 179 points.) An Apteforumite from Hunsworth, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. He works for the West Yorkshire Fire Service. In his younger days, he worked at Yorkshire's oldest pork butchers,
C2: Challenger Sam McElhinney. A T-shirt maker from Leeds, but originally from Galway, Republic of Ireland. He previously worked as an ice marshall at an ice rink back in Ireland.
DC: Susie Dent and Chris Packham.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R N Q S E A I C J
R02: R P E S L O E T F
R03: R T M G U A E I N
R04: P E O S L K A R U
R05: 75, 7, 10, 8, 4, 1. Target: 802.
TTT: CUSHYNET - "These are perfect if you fancy a bit on the side"
R06: P E I M O S H R E
R07: T V D E U A C O G
R08: E S G I D V M E U
R09: T S N P A E A O M
R10: 100, 25, 50, 7, 10, 6. Target: 621.
TTT: NEARLASS - "Hoards of weapons on the north bank, perhaps?"
R11: T C R X I U E L O
R12: E D W A I T N H A
R13: T B F E I O R D E
R14: 10, 7, 10, 2, 9, 1. Target: 801.
R15: H E F U L L U N P (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: R N Q S E A I C J
C1: CRANES (6)
C2: CARNIES (7)
DC: ARSENIC (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
Sam gets off the block straight away with his offering of CARNIES.
Round 2: R P E S L O E T F
C1: PETRELS (7)
C2: replots
DC: FLORETS (7)
OT: ELOPERS (7) LOFTERS (7) PETROLS (7) RESPELT (7) SPELTER (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 14)
But, Philip gets back in immediately, as Sam's choice of replots isn't there, unfortunately..........
A LOFTER (or LOFTING IRON) is a golf club whose head has a sloped face, for lofting the ball.
SPELTER is another name for zinc, especially in the form of ingots.
Round 3: R T M G U A E I N
C1: MATURING (8)
C2: RUMINATE (8)
DC: ARGUMENT (8) GERANIUM (8)
OT: EMIGRANT (8)
Score: 15–15 (max 22)
It's clearly EIGHT o'clock now with all these 8's suddenly appearing
Round 4: P E O S L K A R U
C1: POLKAS (6)
C2: POLKAS (6)
DC: SPARKLE (7)
OT: LEPROUS (7) PARLOUS (7) PAROLES (7) PELORUS (7) PERUSAL (7) PRESOAK (7) REPOSAL (7)
Score: 21–21 (max 29)
And now we have a plethora of 7's, not that the contestants seemed to notice, as they were both too busy doing the POLKA.
A PELORUS (or DUMB COMPASS
) is a device for measuring in degrees the relative bearings of observed objects.Round 5: 75, 7, 10, 8, 4, 1. Target: 802.
C1: 801.
C2: 802. (75 x 10) + (8 x 7) - 4 (10)
Score: 21–31 (max 39)
So, the deadlock breaks again, and as before, it's Sam who gets the advantage with his solve of 802. Clearly Philip needs to get his maths brain operational again, or he'll be in serious trouble.......................
Chris talks about the recent surge of urban foxes, thanks to the scavenging of discarded rubbish, as well as annoying pests.
Teatime teaser: CUSHYNET -> CHUTNEYS
Round 6: P E I M O S H R E
C1: PROMISEE (8)
C2: POSHER (6)
DC: HEROISM (7)
OT: REIMPOSE (8)
Score: 29–31 (max 47)
But, his letters brain is still showing no signs of malfunctioning with an exceptional spot of PROMISEE for 8.
Round 7: T V D E U A C O G
C1: OCTAVE (6)
C2: DEVOUT (6)
DC: AVOCET (6)
OT: COUVADE (7)
Score: 35–37 (max 54)
A few 6's, including yet another bird offering from DC, but there was a darrenic 7 lying around..............
COUVADE is a practice among some peoples, as the Basques of Spain, in which a man, immediately preceding the birth of his child, takes to his bed in an enactment of the birth experience and subjects himself to various taboos usually associated with pregnancy.
Round 8: E S G I D V M E U
C1: DEMISE (6)
C2: MIDGES (6)
NH: GUIDES (6)
DC: DEVISE (6)
OT: SEGUED (6) SIEVED (6) SMIDGE (6) SMUDGE (6) VEGIES (6)
Score: 41–43 (max 60)
The joy of SIX, visually displayed here.
To SEGUE is to continue at once with the next musical section or composition (often used as a musical direction).
Round 9: T S N P A E A O M
C1: POSTMAN (7)
C2: POSTMAN (7)
NH: POSTMEN (7)
DC: PEASANT (7)
OT: MOPANES (7) NAMASTE (7) SMETANA (7) TAMPONS (7)
Score: 48–50 (max 67)
And for a sequel, the joy of seven 7's.
NAMASTE is a conventional Hindu expression on meeting or parting, used by the speaker usually while holding the palms together vertically in front of the bosom.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "Subbuteo", named after the hobby, a type of buzzard, "mockingbird", "osprey" and "bittern".
Round 10: 100, 25, 50, 7, 10, 6. Target: 621.
C1: 622. (6 x 100) + 25 - (10 - 7) (7)
C2: 622. (6 x 100) + 25 - (10 - 7) (7)
RR: 621. (100 x 7) - 50 - 25 - (10 - 6) (10)
Score: 55–57 (max 77)
A 50/50 selection (as I like to call 3 large on here
) from Sam, but it does nothing to widen the gap, as they are both 1 above, but luckily the maths queen is on hand to show us how it's done. Teatime teaser: NEARLASS -> ARSENALS
Round 11: T C R X I U E L O
C1: COULTER (7)
C2: clouter
DC: CORTILE (7)
OT: CLOTURE (7) OUTLIER (7) UTRICLE (7)
Score: 62–57 (max 84)
I felt very sorry for Sam in this one, as I thought clouter sounded like a brilliant shout. But, Philip is certainly happy that it's not in, as he takes the lead for the first time today thanks to his COULTER.
A UTRICLE is a small sac or baglike body, as an air-filled cavity in a seaweed.
Round 12: E D W A I T N H A
C1: AWAITED (7)
C2: WAITED (6)
OT: TANIWHA (7)
Score: 69–57 (max 91)
OUCH!!! After the unfortunate event of the last round, cruelty befalls Sam again, as he forgets to stick the extra A on the front of WAITED, giving Philip a lead of a dozen at this crucial stage....................
Round 13: T B F E I O R D E
C1: BEFORE (6)
C2: BRIEFED (7)
DC: ORBITED (7) EDITOR (6)
OT: DEBRIEF (7)
Score: 69–64 (max 98)
Oooooooooooh, Sam makes up for his oversight in the last round, with a good 7 at a critical stage.
Round 14: 10, 7, 10, 2, 9, 1. Target: 801.
C1: 800. (10 - 2) x (9 + 1) x 10 (7)
C2: 800. (7 + 1) x 10 x 10 (7)
RR: 801. (((7 + 2) x 10) - 1) x 9 (10)
Score: 76–71 (max 108)
So, from 3 large to 6 small at this stage is definitely a gamble from Sam, but it doesn't resolve everything, as both contestants get the simple 1 away.
So, for the first time in Series 68, we head to a CRUCIAL CONUNDRUM!!!!
Round 15: H E F U L L U N P
C2 buzzes on 2 seconds to say UNHELPFUL which is correct.
Final Score: 76–81 (max 118)
And a very tight game finishes with a new champion
Philip, generous in defeat, put a up a valiant effort, and was very unlucky to be up against an opponent who clearly has a lot of skill. Even though it's a shorter series than normal, I have a feeling that Philip's 2 wins won't be enough for him to reach the finals, which are presumably at the end of June like normal.
Sam will return tomorrow, when either Heather or Tom (not sure who is actually doing it.
) will provide the recap entertainment. I'll return by the end of the weekend with the long-awaited recap of the 25-Hour Countdown Marathon between Mark Deeks & Innis Carson.
But, I have no regular recaps next week thanks to the Cheltenham Festival restricting Countdown to just Monday, and I've already given over my next 2 weeks lots of recaps over to the others because of my forthcoming holiday, so my next official recap will be on Wednesday 3rd April, after I've made a detour to CO:REA on my return on March 30th.
So, till then, have a good time, and see you soon.
Statistics Corner
Philip:
Total score - 76
Raw score - 95
Total % of max - 64
Raw % of max - 81
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 6.3
Number of maxes - 7
Sam:
Total score - 81
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 69
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 5.4
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 8
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68