Tuesday 23 June 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 2)

[Mike Brown]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 23 June 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 2)

C1: Champion Jacqueline Baker (5 wins, 443 points.)
C2: Challenger Nilesh Patel (a credit controller from Bristol.)
DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

Better late than never, it’s time for the low-down on the second game brought to you from the lighter, brighter Manchester studio. Can Jackie make it six wins on the trot or will Nilesh make a successful raid on the teapot store? Let’s go!

R01: D S C M E A I T O
R02: Y P P E A E N P H
R03: S R L R O U E J E
R04: M T S G I O E S U
R05: 75, 4, 6, 3, 9, 10. Target: 486.
TTT: RODNURSE - "This game is definitely not for squares."
R06: T N N A O E M F I
R07: Z R R L A A O G N
R08: S K N R O O I D L
R09: B S D L O I U G E
R10: 50, 10, 8, 7, 4, 3. Target: 106.
TTT: BLAMEONE - "What a cannibal might use on the garden."
R11: H R X T A I O C A
R12: C T L I E A D R T
R13: D R D B E O E I P
R14: 100, 7, 2, 3, 3, 7. Target: 346.
R15: D A T A B L E A P (conundrum)



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Round 1: D S C M E A I T O

C1: MASCOT (6)
C2: COASTED (7)
DC: DOMESTIC (8) ATOMISED (8)
Score: 0–7 (max 8)

Not a good start for Jackie as Nilesh coasts into an early lead. If to put someone into a coma was to comatise someone, there’d be a nine, but it isn’t, so there isn’t. So there.

Round 2: Y P P E A E N P H

C1: phoney
C2: HAPPEN (6)
DC: PEAHEN (6)
Score: 0–13 (max 14)

A dull round, despite the near-appearance of EPIPHANY, but it enables the young Bristolian to pull further ahead. Might this be Jackie’s swansong?

Round 3: S R L R O U E J E

C1: JURORS (6)
C2: LURES (5)
DC: JOULES (6)
OT: LOUSER (6) RESOLE (6) ROUSER (6) SOURER (6) RULERS (6) SORREL (6)
Score: 6–13 (max 20)

So flat it’s practically horizontal, but at least JB breaks her duck.

Round 4: M T S G I O E S U

C1: GUSSET (6)
C2: GUISES (6)
DC: MOUSIEST (8)
Score: 12–19 (max 28)

“I hate that word, but it’s fine,” quips Susie re Jackie’s offering of GUSSET. EGOISTS was a nice one for seven.

Round 5: 75, 4, 6, 3, 9, 10. Target: 486.

C1: -
C2: 486. (75 + 6) x (10 - 4) (10)
Score: 12–29 (max 38)

Mrs Baker blobs on a pretty straightforward numbers game and it’s starting to look bad for her as we go to the break. But first, Tim Vine regales us with tales of panto, including his debut as half of a pantomime wasp, apparently. Or was that just an excuse for another pun? With him, it’s sometimes hard to tell!

Teatime teaser: RODNURSE -> ROUNDERS

Round 6: T N N A O E M F I

C1: NATION (6)
C2: MENTION (7)
DC: NOMINATE (8)
Score: 12–36 (max 46)

Round 7: Z R R L A A O G N

C1: GROAN (5)
C2: GROAN (5)
DC: ANALOG (6) ORGANZA (7)
OT: GRANOLA (7)
Score: 17–41 (max 53)

Susie explains that ANALOG is “a difficult one” (because as a noun, it’s an American spelling, but as an adjective, it’s O.K.), whereas ORGANZA is a rather nice fabric, often used for wedding gowns. Lord of the Rings fans might have spotted ARAGORN^; Harry Potter fans might have preferred ARAGON^.

Round 8: S K N R O O I D L

C1: DRINKS (6)
C2: DRINKS (6)
DC: SKIDOO (6) INDOORS (7)
OT: SINDOOR (7) SORDINO (7)
Score: 23–47 (max 60)

SINDOOR isn’t the entrance to a brothel, rather it’s the red pigment used to make the spot on the forehead of married Hindu women. And a SORDINO isn’t a poorly dinosaur, it’s a damper for a musical instrument.

Round 9: B S D L O I U G E

C1: BUDGIES (7)
C2: GLIDES (6)
DC: DOUBLES (7) OBLIGED (7)
OT: BLOUSED (7) BLUDGES (7) BODGIES (7) BOLIDES (7) BOUGIES (7) OBLIGES (7)
Score: 30–47 (max 67)

Jackie pulls the gap back to 17: is this the start of a fightback?

OoW: Susie discusses (rather interestingly, I thought) the fact that the rather illogical sounding ‘head over heels’ was originally the rather more appropriate ‘heels over head’, until someone realised the former sounded better.

Round 10: 50, 10, 8, 7, 4, 3. Target: 106.

C1: 106. ((10 - 8) x 50) + 7 - (4 - 3) (10)
C2: 106. ((10 - 8) x 50) + 7 - (4 - 3) (10)
JS/RR: 106. (8 x 7) + 50 (10)
Score: 40–57 (max 77)

Teatime teaser: BLAMEONE -> BONEMEAL

Round 11: H R X T A I O C A

C1: CHARIOT (7)
C2: CHARIOT (7)
DC: HARICOT (7)
Score: 47–64 (max 84)

I thought Jackie was slightly unfairly mocked (OK, so it was probably more of a gentle teasing) by Dictionary Corner for considering THORAXIC, when she was probably thinking about the very similar-sounding adjective THORACIC, which is perfectly fine.

Round 12: C T L I E A D R T

C1: dictater
C2: RATTLED (7)
DC: ARTICLED (8)
OT: LACERTID (8) DETRITAL (8) LATTICED (8)
Score: 47–71 (max 92)

Jackie thinks it’s time to up the ante with the risky DICTATER. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed and things are now looking decidedly iffy. A LACERTID is a lizard. Most European lizards are lacertids, apparently. Let no one accuse the recaps of not being educational!

Round 13: D R D B E O E I P

C1: derobed
C2: PROBED (6)
DC: PERIOD (6)
OT: BEDDER (6) BIDDER (6) BODIED (6) BOERIE (6) BORIDE (6) BREDIE (6) DERIDE (6) DOPIER (6) ERODED (6) PRIDED (6)
Score: 47–77 (max 98)

More sixes in this round than you can shake a stick at (unless it’s a very large one, in which case it would probably be a small tree), and it’s also all over for Jackie with two rounds still to go.

Round 14: 100, 7, 2, 3, 3, 7. Target: 346.

C1: 346. (3 x 100) + (7 x 7) - 3 (10)
C2: 346. (3 x 100) + (7 x 7) - 3 (10)
Score: 57–87 (max 108)

At odds of 999-1, all of today’s numbers game targets have ended in a 6.

Round 15: D A T A B L E A P

C1 buzzes (with the new, slightly different Mancunian buzzer sound) on 7 seconds to say ADAPTABLE which is correct.
Score: 67–87 (max 118)

It’s bye-bye for now to Jackie, but hopefully she’ll be back for the quarter-finals in December. In the first on-screen mention of Countdown’s move to Manchester, Jeff asks her if she’s had a chance to see the city. “I’ve had a walk round, yeah,” she replies, before the Stellmeister goes on to suggest that the Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington may have been following her performances on the show, as she is also from Mansfield.

That’s it for now, see you in two recap-weeks’ time for another slice of Countdown history.

Recap Credits:

Commentary and inter-round rambling – Kid Mole
Donkey work – Kai Mole (to whom many thanks)
Make-up – Janette Anderson and Amy Fletcher

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61

[Dinos Sfyris]

Lord of the Rings fans might have spotted ARAGORN^; Harry Potter fans might have preferred ARAGON^.

I think someone's done a confunding spell on you, Mike, as you've mixed up your garden variety Aragog with your lesser fictional character Eragon

Otherwise great recap. Glad Kid Mole is back in action

[Charlie Reams]

Lord of the Rings fans might have spotted ARAGORN^; Harry Potter fans might have preferred ARAGON^.

I think someone's done a confunding spell on you, Mike, as you've mixed up your garden variety Aragog with your lesser fictional character Eragon

Otherwise great recap. Glad Kid Mole is back in action

Or maybe he was thinking of the Lord of the Rings character Aragorn.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Or maybe he was thinking of the Lord of the Rings character Aragorn.

Erm...

Harry Potter fans might have preferred ARAGON^.

[Mike Brown]

I think someone's done a confunding spell on you, Mike, as you've mixed up your garden variety Aragog with your lesser fictional character Eragon

Admittedly, I was originally thinking of the spidery Aragog, but Aragon was nevertheless a character in Harry Potter - albeit one only mentioned in the Prisoner of Azkaban computer game!!

[Dinos Sfyris]

Admittedly, I was originally thinking of the spidery Aragog, but Aragon was nevertheless a character in Harry Potter - albeit one only mentioned in the Prisoner of Azkaban computer game!!

Now we know what you're up to when you're not recapping

[Mike Brown]

Admittedly, I was originally thinking of the spidery Aragog, but Aragon was nevertheless a character in Harry Potter - albeit one only mentioned in the Prisoner of Azkaban computer game!!

Now we know what you're up to when you're not recapping

It's all lies, I tell you! Although I did watch all three LOTR films in the last few days...