I'm back in my regular slot this week after my sojourn on Thursday duty last week. This week has seen Michael McDowell beaten after 4 games by Paul Talmey, who himself was beaten yesterday by the current champion Ellen Baker. She faces Sharif Nashashibi today in her first defence of her crown. Enjoy.Countdown recap for Friday 3 October 2014.
C1: Challenger Ellen Baker. A graduate, who works for an organic food magazine called Jelly Deals from Basingstoke, Hampshire.
C2: Challenger Sharif Nashashibi. A Journalist, Personal Trainer and a DJ, well as Sharif says, variety is the spice of life.
DC: Susie Dent and Margaret Mountford.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P M S E O D L I S
R02: T K S A U T D E O
R03: 6, 4, 1, 8, 3, 25. Target: 152.
TTT: SAMSTREE - "It sounds like he consumes a lot of food thanks to this muscle."
R04: S J R E A T O S G
R05: U S L N I R L E S
R06: 10, 3, 5, 9, 7, 100. Target: 183.
R07: T Y T R I E C R I
R08: S H E P I R N E V
R09: 7, 3, 9, 4, 25, 75. Target: 133.
TTT: HACKCABS - "You can get this at the supermarket, but you can't buy it."
R10: N F D O U A M P I
R11: H O A N T N E F L
R12: R V A T E O N L B
R13: I E G R M O G B I
R14: 8, 6, 6, 4, 2, 100. Target: 166.
R15: T H I S L A G E R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: P M S E O D L I S
Ellen: SLIDES (6)
Sharif: PISSED (6)
DC: DESPOILS (8) DIMPLES (7)
OT: IMPLODES (8) MIDSOLES (8)
Score: 6–6 (max 8)
Ellen SLIDES into this round. As I was in the audience for this game, I can tell you Sharif got PISSED in this round, and we're only at Round 1 for goodness sake
Round 2: T K S A U T D E O
Ellen: TASKED (6)
Sharif: TOASTED (7)
DC: OUTDATES (8)
OT: TAKEOUTS (8)
Score: 6–13 (max 16)
Ellen was TASKED with a 6, but Sharif TOASTED a 7 to take the lead.
Round 3: 6, 4, 1, 8, 3, 25. Target: 152.
Ellen: 152. (6 x 25) + 3 - 1 (10)
Sharif: 152. (6 x 25) + (8/4) (10)
Score: 16–23 (max 26)
A perfect 10 on the numbers for both players.
Teatime teaser: SAMSTREE -> MASSETER
Round 4: S J R E A T O S G
Ellen: STAGERS (7)
Sharif: ROASTS (6)
DC: STORAGE (7) TOERAGS (7)
OT: ORGEATS (7) SERTAOS (7)
Score: 23–23 (max 33)
Ellen levels the scores with STAGERS for 7, as Sharif gets ROASTS for 6.
Round 5: U S L N I R L E S
Ellen: LINERS (6)
Sharif: SULLIES (7)
DC: SULLENS (7)
OT: ILLNESS (7) INSURES (7) NURSIES (7) SILENUS (7) SUNRISE (7)
Score: 23–30 (max 40)
Sharif SULLIES back into the lead with 7 points, as Ellen gets LINERS for 6.
Round 6: 10, 3, 5, 9, 7, 100. Target: 183.
Ellen: 183. (10 x 9) + 100 - 7 (10)
Sharif: 183. (10 x 9) + 100 - 7 (10)
Score: 33–40 (max 50)
A perfect 10 for both players as 183 is soundly achieved.
Margaret tells a story about the Goddess of the Dawn.
Round 7: T Y T R I E C R I
Ellen: TRITE (5)
Sharif: CRITTER (7)
Score: 33–47 (max 57)
Sharif extends his lead with CRITTER for 7, as Ellen gets TRITE for just 5.
Round 8: S H E P I R N E V
Ellen: SHIVER (6)
Sharif: PENSIVE (7)
DC: INVERSE (7) HERPES (6)
OT: ENVIERS (7) HENRIES (7) INHERES (7) PEEVISH (7) PREVISE (7) REPINES (7) SHRIVEN (7) VERSINE (7)
Score: 33–54 (max 64)
A PENSIVE round for Sharif as he is now 21 points in front. It makes Ellen SHIVER to think her champion's crown is slipping away from her.
Round 9: 7, 3, 9, 4, 25, 75. Target: 133.
Ellen: 133. (75 + 25) + (9 x 4) - 3 (10)
Sharif: 134.
Score: 43–54 (max 74)
Sharif misses the numbers by 1, enabling Ellen to claw back 10 points as she gets 133.
Teatime teaser: HACKCABS -> CASHBACK
Round 10: N F D O U A M P I
Ellen: FOUND (5)
Sharif: unpaid
DC: IMPOUND (7)
Score: 48–54 (max 81)
Another slip by Sharif and Ellen is back in the game. She FOUND a 5, while Sharif got what he thought was an 'unpaid' 7, but it was only a 6.
Round 11: H O A N T N E F L
Ellen: FLOAT (5)
Sharif: - (0)
DC: ETALON (6)
OT: HALFTONE (8)
Score: 53–54 (max 89)
Sharif declares 4, but then responds with 'I've lost it, sorry' when asked to declare, which enables Ellen to get within a point with FLOAT for 5.
Susie talks about the origin of hopscotch and blind man's buff.
Round 12: R V A T E O N L B
Ellen: BLOATER (7)
Sharif: BLOATER (7)
DC: VERONAL (7)
OT: BEVATRON (8)
Score: 60–61 (max 97)
It's a BLOATER for both players, and 7 points a piece.
Round 13: I E G R M O G B I
Ellen: BOGGIER (7)
Sharif: BIGGER (6)
Score: 67–61 (max 104)
Sharif gets a BIGGER word, but it's only 6, as Ellen gets BOGGIER for 7 to take the lead.
Round 14: 8, 6, 6, 4, 2, 100. Target: 166.
Ellen: 166. (6 + 2) x 8 + 100 + (6 - 4) (10)
Sharif: 166. (6 + 4) x 6 + 100 + (8 - 2) (10)
Score: 77–71 (max 114)
A perfect 10 for both players, and a crucial conundrum looms....
Round 15: T H I S L A G E R
No one buzzes. The answer was GHASTLIER.
Both players draw a blank in the conundrum, so it goes to a gentleman in the audience. Not me for a change
Final Score: 77–71 (max 124)
So after a slow-ish start, Ellen has a fantastic finish to come out on top in a close game. Sharif was well ahead, but fell away once things started to go wrong from Round 9 onwards. Which all means Ellen carries her bat on into next week. Will she carry on her run? Well if she is going to become an Octochamp, she'll meet our apterite Dan McColm on Wednesday. I'm sure she'll have no trouble at all beating him though
Andy McGurn will be here on Monday for Ellen's 3rd game, and I'll be back next Friday. Until then, thank you very much for reading, and goodbye. Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71
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