Monday 24th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 26)

[Kai Laddiman]

Countdown recap for Monday 24 August 2009.

C1: Champion Paul Varlaam (4 wins, 322 points.)
C2: Challenger Richard Savaker.
DC: Susie Dent and Alastair Stewart.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

Welcome back! Countdown is here again! Paul is halfway through his bid to become an octochamp, and with Hulme before him, and Chris Davies coming up the day after his possible 8th game, we could potentially have 3 octochamps in a row! He'll have to get past Richard first though.

R01: G E S T O S N E R
R02: M F A I U W O R N
R03: K N A D T E Z M A
R04: R I A B E N R O P
R05: 100, 9, 6, 3, 6, 10. Target: 687.
TTT: FREEDUMP - "Used common sense, perhaps."
R06: L S U I A Y E T H
R07: T I N M E G L I T
R08: D V A E A P D S N
R09: F G O R P I D A T
R10: 25, 1, 4, 1, 7, 5. Target: 798.
TTT: SKIPTREE - "Lively, just like the other pig."
R11: Q D O T L E S R A
R12: L C O I U E T L B
R13: X N O S T E S J A
R14: 50, 8, 2, 5, 2, 7. Target: 596.
R15: S E T N I G H T S (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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(At last, you can) Enjoy the show.

Round 1: G E S T O S N E R

C1: STRONG (6)
C2: STONE (5)
DC: ENGROSS (7) REGENTS (7)
OT: SONGSTER (8)
Score: 6–0 (max 8)

A very iffy start from Richard gives Paul a headstart, while DC miss the darrenic 8.

Round 2: M F A I U W O R N

C1: WOMAN (5)
C2: UNFAIR (6)
DC: UNIFORM (7) INFOWAR (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 15)

Richard pulls back some points though to level the scores, while DC get both 7s.

Round 3: K N A D T E Z M A

C1: MANDATE (7)
C2: TANKED (6)
Score: 13–6 (max 22)

This is the second time Paul has declared MANDATE, except that this time it is the darren.

Round 4: R I A B E N R O P

C1: BARREN (6)
C2: banter
DC: AIRBORNE (8)
Score: 19–6 (max 30)

Richard plays dodgily again to give Paul a 13-point advantage. Great spot from DC IMO.

Round 5: 100, 9, 6, 3, 6, 10. Target: 687.

C1: 687. 6 x 100 + 9 x 10 - 3 (10)
C2: 687. (100 + 10 + 3) x 6 + 9 (10)
Score: 29–16 (max 40)

Alastair Stewart talks about Alastair Campbell, football and Muslims.

Teatime teaser: FREEDUMP -> PERFUMED

Round 6: L S U I A Y E T H

C1: EASILY (6)
C2: SALUTE (6)
DC: HASTILY (7)
OT: HYALITE (7) LATEISH (7)
Score: 35–22 (max 47)

Round 7: T I N M E G L I T

C1: MELTING (7)
C2: MINGLE (6)
OT: EMITTING (8)
Score: 42–22 (max 55)

Everyone misses the not too difficult max, while Paul extends his lead further.

Round 8: D V A E A P D S N

C1: SADDEN (6)
C2: evades
DC: DEADPAN (7) deadpans
OT: PAVANES (7)
Score: 48–22 (max 62)

Oooh! Susie slips up, mentioning the plural of the verbal form of DEADPAN, which is DEAD-PAN. Richard yet again sees a phantom letter, and Paul rockets ahead.

Round 9: F G O R P I D A T

C1: PROFIT (6)
C2: GROAT (5)
DC: PAROTID (7)
Score: 54–22 (max 69)

Er, the game isn't over yet... Not quite anyway...

OoW: Susie talks about Chinese words.

Round 10: 25, 1, 4, 1, 7, 5. Target: 798.

C1: 799. 4 x 25 x (7 + 1) - 1 (7)
C2: 800.
Score: 61–22 (max 76)

An impossible numbers game give Paul yet more points, and Richard's starting to look dead and gone.

Teatime teaser: SKIPTREE -> PERKIEST

Round 11: Q D O T L E S R A

C1: LOADERS (7)
C2: LASTER (6)
DC: LEOTARDS (8) LODESTAR (8)
OT: DELATORS (8)
Score: 68–22 (max 84)

And, once more, both contestants have missed LEOTARDS. (Yeh, OK, I missed TANGELOS, but...)

Round 12: L C O I U E T L B

C1: BULLET (6)
C2: BILLET (6)
DC: BOUCLE (6)
OT: BOULLE (6) LOBULE (6) CITOLE (6) COLLET (6) COLLIE (6) OCELLI (6) CULLET (6) LOCULE (6) LOCULI (6) LUCITE (6) LUETIC (6)
Score: 74–28 (max 90)

Flat. Which confirms that Paul has won.

Round 13: X N O S T E S J A

C1: NESTS (5)
C2: STONES (6)
DC: SEXTONS (7)
Score: 74–34 (max 97)

Richard finally gets STONES to scrape some consolation points, but the contest ended a while ago, it seems.

Round 14: 50, 8, 2, 5, 2, 7. Target: 596.

C1: 596. (7 + 5) x 50 - 2 - 2 (10)
C2: -
Score: 84–34 (max 107)

Richard blobs some fairly simple numbers to open the gap up to 50.

Round 15: S E T N I G H T S

C1 buzzes on 2 seconds to say TIGHTNESS which is correct.
Score: 94–34 (max 117)

Very well played from Paul today, getting his best score. He may yet still be an octochamp! Find out how he does tomorrow with dinos_the_conotter!

Statistics Corner

C1:
Total score - 94
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 80
Raw % of max - 89
Total average score per round - 6.3
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 6

C2:
Total score - 34
Raw score - 69
Total % of max - 29
Raw % of max - 59
Total average score per round - 2.3
Raw average score per round - 4.6
Number of maxes - 2

TTFN!

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

[Dinos Sfyris]

dinos_the_conotter

I hear he's an expert in TEEN ORTHODONTICS

[Kai Laddiman]

dinos_the_conotter

I hear he's an expert in TEEN ORTHODONTICS

Ooh...

[Jon Corby]

ESTROGEN for a DC-beater and OT-equaller in Round 1.

I'm joking, obviously.