This was the first day on-screen, that the dictionary cull of July 2024 fully took effect, impacting the available letters round maxes going forward. However, some of the Teatime Teasers were written before the cull, so some are invalid, including the second teaser of this episode, clockless ☓.
C1: Champion Alex Call (7 wins, 665 points.)
C2: Challenger Sean Lincoln.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Osman .
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: H E T O S D E S M
R02: L T G A I E N V A
R03: 100, 4, 6, 7, 10, 5, . Target: 742.
TTT: BLASTOARS - "The bird's feeling well under par."
R04: T K I E I M R G S
R05: Y E N R O C L M E
R06: 75, 5, 10, 8, 9, 4. Target: 396.
R07: D U R E F S A L Q
R08: W N C I A I D T A
R09: 7, 10, 10, 6, 6, 5. Target: 494.
TTT: CELLSOCKS - "It's how you might describe all the casinos in Vegas."
R10: P G R N I E O L Z
R11: N E D P A E N T N
R12: L M T A U E W D U
R13: S I H T A C R I O
R14: 50, 9, 8, 5, 7, 2, . Target: 918.
R15: G L A U C O M A E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: H E T O S D E S M
Alex: HOSTED (6)
Sean: DEMOTES (7)
DC: METHODS (7)
OT: ETHOSES (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
A great start from our challenger Sean with his 7 demotes........a couple more 7s to be had.............nothing worth arguing over.........so play nicely
Round 2: L T G A I E N V A
Alex: VALETING (8)
Sean: VAGINAL (7)
DC: NAVIGATE (8)
OT: ALGINATE (8)
Score: 8–7 (max 15)
What a fantastic round for our champion Alex with his eight Valeting.............he hits back straight away and takes the lead
Round 3: 100, 4, 6, 7, 10, 5. Target: 742.
C1: 742. (100 + 6) × 7 (10)
C2: -
Score: 18–7 (max 25)
A piss easy numbers games for our champion Alex...................but not for our challenger Sean......HMM............I think I will Count some sheep !
Teatime teaser: BLASTOARS -> ALBATROSS
Round 4: T K I E I M R G S
Alex: STRIKE (6)
Sean: mirkies
DC: GRIMIEST (8)
OT: MIRKIEST (8)
Score: 24–7 (max 33)
Another fine round for Mr Call...................sadly it is not Sean's day as Susie disallows his 7..................over in DC they are desperately in need of a spring clean as their word is Grimiest
Round 5: Y E N R O C L M E
Alex: CLONER (6)
Sean: reclone
DC: COMELY (6) MERELY (6)
OT: CEREMONY (8)
Score: 30–7 (max 41)
Another fine round from our would be octo-champ Alex with his 6 Cloner...........sadly for our challenger Susie has to disallow reclone..........over in DC they have a couple of sixes.......
But from our recap writer..........she gets to show off with her eight Ceremony...........sorry Susie I am after your job !
Round 6: 75, 5, 10, 8, 9, 4. Target: 396.
C1: 396. (4 + 75) × 5 + 9 − 8 (10)
C2: 396. 5 × 75 + 8 ÷ 4 + 9 + 10 (10)
Score: 40–17 (max 51)
Nice and straightforward.............not too taxing............nothing to see as it bags our champion and challenger 10 points each.....I used a different method that is divisible by 4
10+9=19
19+5=24
75+24=99
99*4=396
Round 7: D U R E F S A L Q
Alex: REFUSAL (7)
Sean: FAULDS (6)*Wrongly allowed
DC: SQUARED (7)
OT: EARFULS (7) FARDELS (7) FERULAS (7)
Score: 47–17 (max 58)
Sevens all round..............nothing to see here so let's move on for now !
Round 8: W N C I A I D T A
Alex: TWAIN (5)
Sean: AWAIT (5)
DC: ANTACID (7)
Score: 52–22 (max 65)
Fives all round from our champion and challenger
Over in DC they come up with a badass 7 Antacid
Round 9: 7, 10, 10, 6, 6, 5. Target: 494.
C1: 494. 10 × 10 × 5 − 6 (10)
C2: 494. 10 × 10 × 5 − 6 (10)
Score: 62–32 (max 75)
Another easy one..............lets move on for now
Teatime teaser: CELLSOCKS -> CLOCKLESS
Round 10: P G R N I E O L Z
Alex: ELOPING (7)
Sean: prizing
DC: ZEROING (7)
OT: PIROGEN (7) PONGIER (7) PROLINE (7)
Score: 69–32 (max 82)
Next Please
Round 11: N E D P A E N T N
Alex: depend
Sean: PANNED (6)
DC: PENNANT (7) PENDANT (7) *In Round 11, Dictionary Corner did not specify whether they offered PENDANT or PENDENT – the subtitles indicated PENDANT.
OT: PENDENT (7) PENNATE (7) PENTANE (7)
Score: 69–38 (max 89)
Could the nerves be creeping up on our would be octo-champ Alex as Susie disallows his 6 Depend the word itself is valid but there is no extra D .........not that it matters as he has a rather healthy lead over our challenger Sean
There were quite a few Sevens to be had..................nothing worth arguing over...........but no extra points if you spot most of those !
Round 12: L M T A U E W D U
Alex: AMULET (6)
Sean: MALTED (6)
DC: MAULED (6) MUTUAL (6)
OT: UMLAUTED (8)
Score: 75–44 (max 97)
Sixes all round..............there was an 8 missed by all.........but not by our recap writer as she spots the only available 8 with Umlauted
Round 13: S I H T A C R I O
Alex: CHARIOTS (8)
Sean: CHOIRS (6)
DC: CHARIOTS (8) ACTORISH (8)
OT: AORISTIC (8) HARICOTS (8) HISTORIC (8) ORCHITIS (8) RACHITIS (8)
Score: 83–44 (max 105)
Our champion is on fire with his 8 Chariots as are DC and our very own recap writer..............quite a few eights to be had..........no extra points for spotting them all
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 film that is based on a true story about two British athletes that competed in the Paris Olympics in 1924 Eric Liddell who was born in 1902 but died in 1945 and Harold Abrahams who was born in 1899 but died in 1978 he overcame prejudice to compete in the 100M sprint.The Film itself was nominated for seven Academy Awards but won with four of those including best picture, best costume design, best screenplay and best musical score from the late Greek Composer Vangelis.
Round 14: 50, 9, 8, 5, 7, 2. Target: 918.
C1: 915. 9 × 2 × 50 + 8 + 7 (7)
C2: 915. 9 × 2 × 50 + 8 + 7 (7)
RR: 918. (50 × 2 + 7 − 5) × 9 (10)*The solution in Round 14 was provided by Osman.
Score: 90–51 (max 115)
A good 3 away solve from our champion and challenger that bags them both 7 points each..................
Our DC guest Richard Osman gets to shine and produce the perfect solution as does our recap writer
8-7=1
50+1=51
9*2=18
51*18=918
Round 15: G L A U C O M A E
C2 buzzes on 20.75 seconds to say GUACAMOLE which is correct.
Final Score: 90–61 (max 125)
Another great game between Alex and Sean, Firstly congratulations to Alex on becoming the third octo-champ of Series 90 his total of 755 points averages out at 94.375 points a game he will be provisional number 4th seed for now.........secondly take nothng away from sean he had some good spots but were not enough to match Alex. Paul will be happy with the goody bag but had the last laugh by solving the conundrum...........join me again when two new contestants grace the Countdown studios in the meantime it is bye for now.
