Friday 24th July 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 25)

[Phil Reynolds]

Countdown recap for Friday 24 July 2009.

C1: Champion Paul Varlaam (3 wins, 248 points.)
C2: Challenger Beryl Johnston.
DC: Susie Dent and Anton du Beke.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

Today is the last programme before Countdown takes its month-long summer break (returning 24 August). I find I've warmed to Paul as the week has gone on. He shows signs of mild ASD and evidently suffers quite badly from eczema, a painful and distressing condition; he seems a nice guy and, though he has played inconsistently (particularly in his first game), has pulled some pretty good spots out of the bag in the letters rounds. His opponent is Beryl, a recently retired occupational therapist from Walthamstow.


R01: N H A E T T L I S
R02: T A N F I G A R E
R03: L A S E Y T I D Q
R04: D A N M A E O T Z
R05: 75, 5, 7, 10, 4, 3. Target: 976.
TTT: HARKBOIL - "A rare sort of cabbage, perhaps found in Newcastle"
R06: L S P E I A R S O
R07: W U R M O T F E N
R08: N T O I P U S G A
R09: B R O K E N R I R
R10: 25, 9, 8, 3, 10, 1. Target: 332.
TTT: ALGAEGNU - "If it's strong, it's bad"
R11: M O L T A L S I G
R12: X B E U T N E D E
R13: P C I D O S V A D
R14: 100, 7, 7, 8, 2, 1. Target: 688.
R15: M I M E S D R U M (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: N H A E T T L I S

C1: HATES (5)
C2: INHALES (7)
DC: ENTAILS (7) THISTLE (7)
OT: HESITANT (8)
Score: 0–7 (max 8)

A good 7 for Beryl to take the advantage in the first round, but no one spots the darren 8.

Round 2: T A N F I G A R E

C1: FEARING (7)
C2: RATING (6)
DC: FAINTER (7) GRANITE (7) FRIGATE (7)
OT: AERATING (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 16)

Paul levels the score but, again, there was an 8 for the taking. Anton (aka Bruce Forsyth's love-child) evidently knows his target audience all too well, as he rather endearingly pronounces "granite" as "gran night".

Round 3: L A S E Y T I D Q

C1: DILATES (7)
C2: DILATES (7)
DC: STEADILY (8)
Score: 14–14 (max 24)

DC find the 8 this time, only to lose it again in the next round...

Round 4: D A N M A E O T Z

C1: MANDATE (7)
C2: DONATE (6)
OT: METAZOAN (8)
Score: 21–14 (max 32)

Round 5: 75, 5, 7, 10, 4, 3. Target: 976.

C1: -
C2: 970. 75 x 3 x 4 + 10 x 7 (5)
RR: 976. 75 x (10 + 3) + 5 - 4 (10)
Score: 21–19 (max 42)

This numbers round looked easy (and indeed it was) but, as Rachel points out, it helps to know your 75 times table.

Anton takes us up to the break by talking fondly about the judges on Strictly.

Teatime teaser: HARKBOIL -> KOHLRABI

Round 6: L S P E I A R S O

C1: SPARSE (6)
C2: SPIRALS (7)
DC: POLARISES (18)
Score: 21–26 (max 60)

Beryl regains the lead while DC redeem themselves with a lovely 9.

Round 7: W U R M O T F E N

C1: FORTUNE (7)
C2: FOMENT (6)
DC: REMOUNT (7)
OT: FORWENT (7) MOUNTER (7) TURFMEN (7)
Score: 28–26 (max 67)

And Paul snatches the lead back again in what is developing into quite a tense contest. TURFMEN, as you might expect, are devotees of horse racing, especially racehorse trainers or owners.

Round 8: N T O I P U S G A

C1: SPOUTING (8)
C2: SPOUTING (8)
DC: OPUNTIAS (8)
OT: UTOPIANS (8) POUTINGS (8)
Score: 36–34 (max 75)

A flat round this time; OPUNTIAS are a kind of cactus.

Round 9: B R O K E N R I R

C1: BROKEN (6)
C2: BROKER (6)
OT: BONIER (6) IRONER (6) KRONER (6) REBORN (6)
Score: 42–40 (max 81)

Everyone laughs as the first 6 letters are placed on the board; a shame the last letter wasn't a B.

OoW: Susie talks about the words "drum" and "ukulele".

Round 10: 25, 9, 8, 3, 10, 1. Target: 332.

C1: 332. 25 x (10 + 3) + 8 - 1 (10)
C2: -
Score: 52–40 (max 91)

Paul is pulling ahead now but there's still plenty of time for Beryl to turn the game around once more.

Teatime teaser: ALGAEGNU -> LANGUAGE

Round 11: M O L T A L S I G

C1: SLALOM (6)
C2: ALMOST (6)
DC: GALLIOTS (8)
OT: MAILLOTS (8)
Score: 58–46 (max 99)

An excellent spot by DC with one of the two available 8s: GALLIOTS are a kind of single-masted sailing vessel. MAILLOTS are either tights worn for dancing or gymnastics, cycling jerseys or women's one-piece swimsuits.

Round 12: X B E U T N E D E

C1: EXTEND (6)
C2: EXTEND (6)
DC: EXEUNTED (8)
Score: 64–52 (max 107)

A curious one, this. In the theatre, EXEUNT is a stage direction meaning "they exit". However, ODE2r lists it simply as a verb, which under the rules of the game means you can add "-ED" for the past tense, even though there's no context in which you'd ever use it (you'd say "they exited", not "they exeunted").

Round 13: P C I D O S V A D

C1: DISCO (5)
C2: AVOIDS (6)
OT: CADDIS (6) CAPSID (6) PSOCID (6) SPODIC (6)
Score: 64–58 (max 113)

Beryl reduces Paul's lead to just 6 points. Several unusual 6s to be had from this selection, the meanings of which you can look up for yourselves (I don't see why I should have to do everything for you).

Round 14: 100, 7, 7, 8, 2, 1. Target: 688.

C1: 688. 100 x 7 - (7 + 8 - 2 - 1) (10)
C2: -
Score: 74–58 (max 123)

Paul takes the final numbers round to seal the game and his fourth consecutive victory.

Round 15: M I M E S D R U M

No one buzzes. The answer was MIDSUMMER.
Score: 74–58 (max 133)

With that very apt conundrum, Countdown bids us farewell, packs up its bucket and spade and heads off for its summer hols. Can Paul make it to octochampdom on his current form when series 61 returns? Only time will tell. See you in four weeks.

Today's recap brought to you by swine flu-induced insomnia. Flowers, cards etc. to the usual address.

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

[Kai Laddiman]

Phil, do you do every Friday now? Cos most days I watch and write a recap for the wiki, but I can send the bare bones textcap to you if you would like.

[Phil Reynolds]

Phil, do you do every Friday now? Cos most days I watch and write a recap for the wiki, but I can send the bare bones textcap to you if you would like.

No, I do alternate Fridays with Allan Harmer. Previously when I've done recaps I've also added the wikicap; but I noticed today that you'd already done it (which saved me some effort at least as I was able to copy-and-paste the selections over! I thought at first it would also save me from actually having to watch the programme, but then I remembered that the wikicap doesn't include all of DC's suggestions, or distinguish between DC maxes and others).

If you really want to do the wikicap every day, then I suppose you could send me the text recap for me to embroider upon. (But why just me? Why not send it to whoever is scheduled to do that day's recap?) The only snag with that is that, if I haven't used the recap writer myself, I don't get the whizzo form at the end that allows me to submit the recap to the database with all the fields filled in. It also seems a bit pointless for you to enter all the data into the recap writer yourself, given that, regardless of who writes the recap, the wiki version gets saved for you or Howard to submit. Maybe you just like filling in forms...

On balance, I think I'd prefer to do the data entry myself - that way, if it's wrong, it's my own responsibility. I'll leave updating the wiki to you and Howard, and you can either use the wikicap that gets saved when I press the button, or enter the data all over again for yourself - your choice!

[Kai Laddiman]

But why just me? Why not send it to whoever is scheduled to do that day's recap?

Just wondering, cos I PMd Allan about it :S

On balance, I think I'd prefer to do the data entry myself - that way, if it's wrong, it's my own responsibility. I'll leave updating the wiki to you and Howard, and you can either use the wikicap that gets saved when I press the button, or enter the data all over again for yourself - your choice!

That's OK.

[Phil Reynolds]

I've now edited the OP to flesh out the recap.

[Charlie Reams]

It also seems a bit pointless for you to enter all the data into the recap writer yourself, given that, regardless of who writes the recap, the wiki version gets saved for you or Howard to submit.

Yes, it really is pointless. The wiki version gets saved automatically to a "secret location" and Howard moves it to the wiki a few days later. If you really like writing wikicaps, Kai, it would be much more useful for you to fill in some of these.

[Kai Laddiman]

It also seems a bit pointless for you to enter all the data into the recap writer yourself, given that, regardless of who writes the recap, the wiki version gets saved for you or Howard to submit.

Yes, it really is pointless. The wiki version gets saved automatically to a "secret location" and Howard moves it to the wiki a few days later. If you really like writing wikicaps, Kai, it would be much more useful for you to fill in some of these.

Sorry, I'm just overly eager to get it done for completeness. And also I get scared when doing older recaps cos it's a different dictionary, but should I worry?

[Charlie Reams]

Sorry, I'm just overly eager to get it done for completeness. And also I get scared when doing older recaps cos it's a different dictionary, but should I worry?

No need to apologise, I don't mind if you really want to do it. But you shouldn't worry about older recaps; as long as the set the Series box correctly, the Recap Writer will switch to the correct dictionary automatically (except the really old ones, where it might well suggest words which wouldn't have been valid at the time, but we can always fix that later).

[Kai Laddiman]

FAO Mike Brown:

I also have the textcap for this. Do you want it or shall I leave it?