Tuesday 27th May 2014 (Series 70, prelim 89)

[Callum Todd]

Countdown recap for Wednesday 28 May 2014.

C1: Champion Samir Pilica (4 wins, 407 points.) An apterite who is looking very impressive so far, with an excellent 12-max game yesterday.
C2: Challenger Andrew Sullivan. From Halifax. Come on Yorkshire!
DC: Susie Dent and Julia Bradbury.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T S G Z O E A N I
R02: R Y A E T Q N O L
R03: 50, 25, 7, 10, 9, 9. Target: 759.
TTT: FEDLIMES - "They fed on limes and caused mass devastation"
R04: R D A E V T O H P
R05: M H X T I O E L I
R06: 75, 3, 9, 2, 4, 7. Target: 854.
R07: N T P S O A I L E
R08: F R N U O A B R U
R09: 25, 100, 9, 6, 10, 6. Target: 476.
TTT: THESASGO - "The SAS might go in to rescue these people"
R10: G T L E I O M J T
R11: D W S N E I O D I
R12: R G E A C S E N I
R13: G S V P E U O F E
R14: 50, 10, 3, 9, 8, 5. Target: 843.
R15: U N I L A P D O G (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: T S G Z O E A N I

Samir: AGONIZES (8)
Andrew: TEASING (7)
DC: TANGOES (7)
OT: TZIGANES (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)

Good start from Samir here.

Round 2: R Y A E T Q N O L

Samir: ORNATELY (8)
Andrew: NOTARY (6)
DC: NEATLY (6)
Score: 16–0 (max 16)

And a very good second round with another eight, this one darrenic and harder to spot.

Round 3: 50, 25, 7, 10, 9, 9. Target: 759.

Samir: 759. (50+25)x10+9 (10)
Andrew: -
Score: 26–0 (max 26)

Samir shows he can do the numbers as well as the letters, and has a very healthy early lead.

Teatime teaser: FEDLIMES -> MEDFLIES

Round 4: R D A E V T O H P

Samir: POTHEAD (7)
Andrew: PORTED (6)
DC: ADOPTER (7) READOPT (7)
OT: HARDTOP (7)
Score: 33–0 (max 33)

Nick is bemused by the word POTHEAD as Samir extends his lead even further.

Round 5: M H X T I O E L I

Samir: MOTILE (6)
Andrew: LIMIT (5)
DC: MOXIE (5)
OT: EOLITH (6)
Score: 39–0 (max 39)

Another good spot sees Samir establish a dominant position.

Round 6: 75, 3, 9, 2, 4, 7. Target: 854.

Samir: 856. (75+9+2)x(7+3)-4 (7)
Andrew: -
RR: 854. (75+3)x(9+2)-4 (10)
Score: 46–0 (max 49)

For the first time in the game, Samir has dropped a maximum. But he still extends his lead as two away is enough to beat his opponent this time. Rachel has the exact solution.

Round 7: N T P S O A I L E

Samir: SEALPOINT (18)
Andrew: PANTILES (8)
DC: TOENAILS (8)
Score: 64–0 (max 67)

Wow, an excellent apterous-common nine has seen Samir's lead shoot up to a huge total of 64. Andrew is unlucky here, he did very well to get such a good eight, and couldn't have been expected to see that nine. Well played, Samir.

Round 8: F R N U O A B R U

Samir: forran
Andrew: URBAN (5)
OT: ARBOUR (6) AUBURN (6)
Score: 64–5 (max 73)

Now it's Samir's turn to be unlucky, as a lot of the FORE - words in the dictionary can drop the E to become FOR- words (FOR(E)DID, FOR(E)GO, etc.), but unfortunately for him FORERAN doesn't follow that rule. Andrew won't be complaining though, as Samir's misfortune as given him his first points of the day. DC refrain from giving us the sixes as Julia wants Andrew to savour his victory over this round. A nice touch.

Round 9: 25, 100, 9, 6, 10, 6. Target: 476.

Samir: 476. Mistake in working.
Andrew: 476. (10+9)x25+6/6 (10)
Score: 64–15 (max 83)

Well after going 64-0 down Andrew joked that he should just give up there and then, but since then he's won 15-0 over rounds as Samir makes a mistake on the numbers. Comeback on?

Teatime teaser: THESASGO -> HOSTAGES

Round 10: G T L E I O M J T

Samir: GIMLET (6)
Andrew: TOILET (6)
DC: MOTTLE (6)
OT: MOTILE (6)
Score: 70–21 (max 89)

A six from Andrew, a different six from Samir, and another different six from DC. The fourth six available there was MOTILE, which we have already seen today.

Round 11: D W S N E I O D I

Samir: IONISED (7)
Andrew: DISOWNED (8)
DC: DOWNSIDE (8) DISENDOW (8)
OT: SIDEWIND (8)
Score: 70–29 (max 97)

It's getting late in the day now and a niner may be required, but if Andrew had any thoughts of making a grand comeback he's certainly going the right way about it. A very good eight spot here sees him close the gap on Samir.

Round 12: R G E A C S E N I

Samir: INCREASE (8)
Andrew: CREASING (8)
DC: AGENCIES (8)
OT: GENERICS (8)
Score: 78–37 (max 105)

Andrew needed to win this round to stay in the game but despite his maximum, Samir manages to level him. Eights all round.

Round 13: G S V P E U O F E

Samir: VOGUES (6)
Andrew: -
Score: 84–37 (max 111)

Having finally succumbed to defeat after a hard fight, Andrew can't spot anything worthwhile here, so Samir takes the spoils with a darrenic six.

Round 14: 50, 10, 3, 9, 8, 5. Target: 843.

Samir: 843. (9+8)x50-(10-3) (10)
Andrew: 842.
Score: 94–37 (max 121)

The victory is rounded off with a numbers solve to extend his lead by ten points.

Round 15: U N I L A P D O G

Samir buzzes on 1.5 seconds to say UPLOADING which is correct.
Final Score: 104–37 (max 131)

And to finish, a quick conundrum solve takes Samir over the 100 mark. A very good game that, with Andrew recovering from a slow start to show glimpses of hope just after the midway point but unfortunately it was too little, too late. Another excellent performance from Samir sees him storm onto 5 wins, averaging over 100 points per game. Before Samir showed up, Mark Murray was looking reasonably comfortable as the #1 contender for this series, but now it is surely a two horse race at the least.

But first, Samir must finish to job and rack up at least one more win to get himself into the finals. Can he do that? Join James tomorrow to find out.

Statistics
Raw score: Samir 111 - Andrew 69
Maximums: Samir 11 - Andrew 4

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70

[Peter Mabey]

Alt 2nd numbers: (4+7)x(75-9-3-2)=854

[Callum Todd]

Alt 2nd numbers: (4+7)x(75-9-3-2)=854

I make that 671.

[Peter Mabey]

Alt 2nd numbers: (4+7)x(75-9-3-2)=854

I make that 671.

I was trying to do (75-14)x14, but cocked it up