Countdown Recap: Thursday 23 April 2009

[Chris Corby]

Countdown recap for Thursday 23 April 2009.

C1: Champion James Robinson (2 wins, 196 points)
Jeff introduces him as a big Bond fan, so “It's Robinson, James Robinson”. A member on here of course, so we all hope he can make it three in a row, apart from:
C2: Challenger Patrick McCurdie.
An office print manager from Glasgow, an aspiring film-maker but he wouldn't show his films to his mum apparently. Now Jeff wants to see them....
DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine. And when we all campaigned on here a few months ago for Tim to be a guest, weren't we all right to do so? He is tremendous and very gracious towards Susie, giving her all the credit (well, some guests don't).
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: I A I S R P W E N
R02: P Q H O O E D G Y
R03: V L M R U I N A E
R04: S F M A E C N A P
R05: 1, 2, 9, 3, 6, 10. Target: 337.
TTT: ARMYSORE - "Used in cooking in this old house perhaps"
R06: T J R I A I E P T
R07: I A E R S L H T L
R08: N F X O E I R R B
R09: D M S U A E L N I
R10: 1, 4, 7, 10, 10, 25. Target: 216.
TTT: ARKVOWEL - "An easy win without needing to run"
R11: T C M T O U T O I
R12: K D N A E O R N S
R13: E E I S T R S D D
R14: 50, 4, 3, 10, 8, 6. Target: 892.
R15: P A D R E S I L L (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: I A I S R P W E N

C1: INSPIRE (7)
C2: respawn
DC: ASPIRIN (7) WASPIER (7) WISPIER (7)
OT: PAIRWISE (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Round 2: P Q H O O E D G Y

C1: HOOPED (6)
C2: HOOPED (6)
DC: PHOOEY (6)
OT: POOHED (6) POGOED (6)
Score: 13–6 (max 14)

Round 3: V L M R U I N A E

C1: MINERAL (7)
C2: MINERAL (7)
DC: UNALIVE (7)
OT: VELARIUM (8)
Score: 20–13 (max 22)

Round 4: S F M A E C N A P

C1: SPACEMAN (8)
C2: SPACEMAN (8)
DC: CANAPES (7)
Score: 28–21 (max 30)

Round 5: 1, 2, 9, 3, 6, 10. Target: 337.

C1: -
C2: 337. 9+2=11x3=33x10=330+6+1 (10)
Score: 28–31 (max 40)

Teatime teaser: ARMYSORE -> ROSEMARY

Round 6: T J R I A I E P T

C1: PIRATE (6)
C2: PIRATE (6)
DC: PATTER (6) PITTER (6)
OT: PARTITE (7)
Score: 34–37 (max 47)

Round 7: I A E R S L H T L

C1: TILLERS (7)
C2: HALTERS (7)
DC: LITERALS (8) HILLSTAR (8)
OT: TALLIERS (8) THILLERS (8)
Score: 41–44 (max 55)

Round 8: N F X O E I R R B

C1: briner
C2: FOXIER (6)
DC: BONFIRE (7) FIREBOX (7)
OT: FORERIB (7)
Score: 41–50 (max 62)

Round 9: D M S U A E L N I

C1: DENIALS (7)
C2: SUNDIAL (7)
DC: MAUDLIN (7)
OT: MUSLINED (8)
Score: 48–57 (max 70)

Round 10: 1, 4, 7, 10, 10, 25. Target: 216.

C1: 216. 25-4=21x10=210+(7-1) (10)
C2: 216. 25-(10-7)x10=220-4 (10)
Score: 58–67 (max 80)

Teatime teaser: ARKVOWEL -> WALKOVER

Round 11: T C M T O U T O I

C1: TOUT (4)
C2: TOUT (4)
DC: TUTTI (5)
OT: TOMTIT (6) MOTTO (5)
Score: 62–71 (max 86)

Round 12: K D N A E O R N S

C1: ADORNS (6)
C2: RANKED (6)
DC: DARKENS (7) SNARK (5)
Score: 68–77 (max 93)

Round 13: E E I S T R S D D

C1: RESISTED (8)
C2: REDDEST (7)
DC: EDITRESS (8)
OT: DESISTED (8)
Score: 76–77 (max 101)

Round 14: 50, 4, 3, 10, 8, 6. Target: 892.

C1: 892. 3x6x50=900-8 (10)
C2: 892. 3x6x50=900-8 (10)
Score: 86–87 (max 111)

Round 15: P A D R E S I L L

C1 buzzes on 29 seconds but hasn't really got an answer. Jeff asks him for one, there's a bit of mumbling, but the real time is up to 40 seconds before James says RASPILLED which is wrong
C2 does not buzz.
The answer was SPIRALLED.
Score: 86–87 (max 121)

So James cannot make it three in a row and loses by just one point. Can he be forgiven for attempting a reverse Hansford by buzzing in when he hasn't got an answer immediately at hand? “Brinkmanship” Jeff called it, James agreed.

Some gems from Tim during the show:
“I was standing on my window sill the other day. I thought, if I slip, it's curtains, but if I fall the other way, it's certain death.”
“One-armed butlers: they can take it but they can't dish it out”

You may be surprised to hear that Tim was actually quite nervous the day before recording. I was sat in a pub with him and suggested we try a game of Countdown to give him a bit of practice.
I had a lager and he was drinking Claret. After we selected the letters, he said “5” and I picked up his bottle of Claret and held it to my ear before declaring “8”. He said, “How did you get an 8 after holding my bottle to your ear?” and I said, “I heard it through the grape, Vine.”




Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=60

[Matt Morrison]

Haha, amazing Chris. I just laughed out loud at your closing pun.

[Phil Reynolds]

Some gems from Tim during the show:
“I was standing on my window sill the other day. I thought, if I slip, it's curtains, but if I fall the other way, it's certain death.”
“One-armed butlers: they can take it but they can't dish it out”

One of my favourites (can't remember if it was yesterday or the day before as I watched them back-to-back): "I've got a sponge front door. Hey, don't knock it."

[Chris Corby]

Some gems from Tim during the show:
“I was standing on my window sill the other day. I thought, if I slip, it's curtains, but if I fall the other way, it's certain death.”
“One-armed butlers: they can take it but they can't dish it out”

One of my favourites (can't remember if it was yesterday or the day before as I watched them back-to-back): "I've got a sponge front door. Hey, don't knock it."

Thanks Matt, I want your babies.

And Phil, that joke (plus quite a few others heard this week, including Jeff's stolen "bar code" joke) is on this clip that I referred to when I did my bit to get Tim on the show. See it again...........now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eshR-WpdYDM

[Kirk Bevins]

I quite like Tim Vine after watching Countdown but oh my god, I just watched that clip that was linked here and I can't stand it. Every line was "so...." and he was rattling off memorised one liners. That's not comedy - that's memory. I could memorise those and tell them and I'm not even remotely funny.

[Charlie Reams]

I could memorise those and tell them and I'm not even remotely funny.

...exactly.

[Chris Corby]

I could memorise those and tell them and I'm not even remotely funny.

...exactly.

[Steve Durney]

I could memorise those and tell them and I'm not even remotely funny.

...exactly.

He doesn't just memorise them, he writes them as well! Most of what a comedian perfoms is memorised!!