C1: Champion Cate Henderson (3 wins, 276 points.)
C2: Challenger Gerald Conley.
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Gaunt.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: E A O J Z R N N F
R02: S K A E G L P I R
R03: E O A N C X D I W
R04: U E R P F T S I O
R05: 50, 4, 1, 6, 4, 8. Target: 568.
TTT: DRAKEHEN - "Felt a strong desire for Marvin the guitarist"
R06: I T L H G S A U E
R07: O A E N M D R I T
R08: B L R N E A E P O
R09: I I E T S V U N M
R10: 100, 75, 5, 9, 1, 2, . Target: 702.
TTT: OPALJEAN - "Spice up your life with a hot green Mexican"
R11: E A I C M S Q E G
R12: D S N U A H C T E
R13: U E A Y L R D R N
R14: 25, 6, 10, 3, 10, 6, . Target: 446.
R15: U N C L O G L I D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Big day today in the Riley household - Rachel notches up her fiftieth Countdown appearance (naturally this applies to Jeff as well) and little brother Alex hits 21. Champion Cate is onto her fourth show now, and is looking a good bet to become that rare thing, a female octochamp. Very solid all round game (letters slightly better than numbers maybe) and it's certainly gonna take a good'un to stop her. She's a retired probation officer from Portland. In Dorset? Yes, that's right. So is today's challenger, Gerald Conley, up to the task? He's a retired lecturer from Braintree in Essex, married with 2 kids who enjoys chess, bridge, golf, cricket and classical music.
Also making his debut today is Jon Gaunt, who I know very little about. He's a Sun columnist apparently, which doesn't inspire confidence. Oh god, he's also just explained that he speaks his mind and just says "what most people are thinking but too scared to say in 'politically correct Britain'".
On with the show!
Round 1: E A O J Z R N N F
C1: FEAR (4)
C2: nears
DC: FROZEN (6) FANNER (6)
Score: 4–0 (max 6)
Tricky first round and an inauspicious start by the challenger.
Round 2: S K A E G L P I R
C1: PARKIES (7)
C2: pilers
DC: SPARKLE (7)
OT: GARPIKES (8)
Score: 11–0 (max 14)
Garpikes are garfishes. Which are fishes.
Round 3: E O A N C X D I W
C1: coxwain
C2: DEACON (6)
DC: DIOXANE (7)
Score: 11–6 (max 21)
Cate's turn to offer an invalid word (it's coxswain) enabling Gerald to get his first points on the board and close the gap.
Round 4: U E R P F T S I O
C1: PROFITS (7)
C2: RIPOSTE (7)
DC: PITEOUS (7) POUTERS (7)
OT: FORTIES (7) FUSTIER (7) SURFEIT (7) PERITUS (7) PISTEUR (7) PETROUS (7) POSTURE (7) PROTEUS (7) SPOUTER (7) TROUPES (7) POUTIER (7) SPORTIF (7) PROFUSE (7) ROPIEST (7) SOUPIER (7)
Score: 18–13 (max 28)
A lot of sevens from a selection which looked like it should have yielded more.
Round 5: 50, 4, 1, 6, 4, 8. Target: 568.
C1: 562. (6+4+1)*50+4+8 (5)
C2: 562. (6+4+1)*50+4+8 (5)
RR: 568. (4*6+50-4+1)*8 (10)
Score: 23–18 (max 38)
Top solvage by Rach (I did it like that too
)Teatime teaser: DRAKEHEN -> HANKERED
Round 6: I T L H G S A U E
C1: ALIGHTS (7)
C2: LAUGHS (6)
OT: LATEISH (7) LIGATES (7) SLEIGHT (7) UGLIEST (7)
Score: 30–18 (max 45)
Round 7: O A E N M D R I T
C1: TRAINED (7)
C2: TRAINED (7)
DC: ORDINATE (8)
OT: DERATION (8) RATIONED (8) DOMINATE (8) MEDIATOR (8)
Score: 37–25 (max 53)
Round 8: B L R N E A E P O
C1: ENABLER (7)
C2: PAROLEE (7)
DC: BEANPOLE (8) OPERABLE (8)
OT: OPENABLE (8) ROPEABLE (8) PERONEAL (8)
Score: 44–32 (max 61)
Peroneal means relating to or situated in the outer side of the calf of the leg.
Round 9: I I E T S V U N M
C1: MINUTES (7)
C2: UNITIES (7)
DC: MUTINIES (8)
OT: MINIVETS (8)
Score: 51–39 (max 69)
Minivets are birds - boldly patterned Asian cuckoo-shrikes, to be more precise.
Round 10: 100, 75, 5, 9, 1, 2. Target: 702.
C1: 701.
C2: 702. (75-5)*(9+1)+2 (10)
Score: 51–49 (max 79)
Gerald closes right up with a neat solution, which I hadn't seen as I'd gone for the *9 approach.
Teatime teaser: OPALJEAN -> JALAPENO
Round 11: E A I C M S Q E G
C1: MAGICS (6)
C2: MAGICS (6)
DC: IMAGES (6)
OT: AGEISM (6) AMICES (6)
Score: 57–55 (max 85)
An amice is a cloth/cape thing worn by some religious types.
Round 12: D S N U A H C T E
C1: STAUNCHED (18)
C2: HAUNTED (7)
DC: SCATHED (7) UNSCATHED (18)
Score: 75–55 (max 103)
Just as Gerald was starting to turn the screw, Cate pulls out a great spot to finally give her some breathing space...
13: U E A Y L R D R N
C1: UNDERLAY (8)
C2: LAUNDER (7)
DC: LAUNDRY (7)
Score: 83–55 (max 111)
...and then kills the game stone dead with another great spot.
Round 14: 25, 6, 10, 3, 10, 6. Target: 446.
C1: 446. 6*3*25-10+6 (10)
C2: -
Score: 93–55 (max 121)
Round 15: U N C L O G L I D
C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say COLLUDING which is correct.
Score: 103–55 (max 131)
Awesome strong finish by Cate - Gerald had pulled to within 2 points with 4 rounds to go, and ended up losing by 48! Cate notches up her first century with her fourth win, and surely only a fool would bet against her going all the way...
(thanks to my daughter Amy for doing the recapping today while I stuffed my face with chilli jacket potatoes
)Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=60
