Thursday 3rd September 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 34)

[Jon Corby]

Countdown recap for Thursday 3 September 2009.

C1: Champion Chris Davies (4 wins, 424 points.)
C2: Challenger Ross Mackenzie.
DC: Susie Dent and Paul Zenon.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D U S N O I T J O
R02: T S A O T S I E L
R03: N Y I O R S E M S
R04: H E A N R I L G D
R05: 25, 50, 3, 7, 10, 8. Target: 215.
TTT: GREYNAIL - "One should help you get the answer to this"
R06: Z D H E O C A E R
R07: L P R A E T A V M
R08: E I T B T E R I X
R09: C N K E A I T N S
R10: 75, 6, 8, 4, 5, 5. Target: 274.
TTT: NILSUGAR - "One should help you get the answer to this"
R11: M T D A E G I S R
R12: P E F T A E U P D
R13: L P R A B I E A N
R14: 25, 50, 75, 100, 9, 7. Target: 424.
R15: C I R C U S H E N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Champion Chris Davies returns for his 5th match, and as the number one (human) player on apterous he'll no doubt have his sights set on Andrew Hulme's top seeding. Of course, to do that he'll have to break the octo-record, and it's fair to say he's a little off that pace with an average of 106 so far. Chris is a charity shop worker from Greasby in Merseyside and is the very definition of multi-talented; he can play keyboards, drums, guitar and hard to get, and can solve a Rubik's Cube in under 25 candelas of light.

If he wants to progress further though, he's going to have to beat off another top UK Scrabbler (having already seen off Ed Rossiter last Friday). Today's challenger is Ross Mackenzie from Clackmannan in Clackmannanshire, who is the treasurer of the ABSP no less. When he's not Scrabbling, Ross is a finance assistant who is hoping to become a fully qualified accountant soon after studying for over eleven years. He's a top-notch oboist and would like to meet Jane Austen.

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: D U S N O I T J O

C1: STUDIO (6)
C2: STUDIO (6)
DC: JUDOIST (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)

Round 2: T S A O T S I E L

C1: TOTALISES (18)
C2: TOTALISES (18)
Score: 24–24 (max 25)

Round 3: N Y I O R S E M S

C1: SERMONS (7)
C2: REMISS (6)
DC: MOSSIER (7) ISOMERS (7)
OT: MERINOS (7) SENIORS (7) SONSIER (7) SENSORY (7)
Score: 31–24 (max 32)

Round 4: H E A N R I L G D

C1: HERALDING (18)
C2: HERALDING (18)
Score: 49–42 (max 50)

Round 5: 25, 50, 3, 7, 10, 8. Target: 215.

C1: 215. (50+25)*3-10 (10)
C2: 218.
Score: 59–42 (max 60)

Blimey. The highest score going into the break that I can remember.

Teatime teaser: GREYNAIL -> YEARLING

Round 6: Z D H E O C A E R

C1: DERECHO (7)
C2: REACHED (7)
Score: 66–49 (max 67)

Round 7: L P R A E T A V M

C1: MALAPERT (8)
C2: VARLET (6)
DC: PALMATE (7)
OT: VAMPLATE (8)
Score: 74–49 (max 75)

Another fantastic spot from Chris, and unfortunately for Ross it looks all but over as a contest at the halfway stage.

Round 8: E I T B T E R I X

C1: BITTIER (7)
C2: BITTIER (7)
DC: BETTER (6)
Score: 81–56 (max 82)

Round 9: C N K E A I T N S

C1: INSTANCE (8)
C2: CANNIEST (8)
DC: CATKINS (7)
OT: ANCIENTS (8) INSECTAN (8)
Score: 89–64 (max 90)

Round 10: 75, 6, 8, 4, 5, 5. Target: 274.

C1: 274. (75-5)*4-6 (10)
C2: 274. (75-5)*4-6 (10)
Score: 99–74 (max 100)

Teatime teaser: NILSUGAR -> SINGULAR

Round 11: M T D A E G I S R

C1: MAGISTER (8)
C2: MAGISTER (8)
DC: MARDIEST (8)
OT: MIGRATES (8) STERIGMA (8) READMITS (8) MIGRATED (8)
Score: 107–82 (max 108)

Round 12: P E F T A E U P D

C1: PUPATED (7)
C2: UPDATE (6)
Score: 114–82 (max 115)

Round 13: L P R A B I E A N

C1: AIRPLANE (8)
C2: PARABLE (7)
DC: PRALINE (7)
Score: 122–82 (max 123)

Round 14: 25, 50, 75, 100, 9, 7. Target: 424.

C1: 425. 75*7-100 (7)
C2: 425. (7+9)*25+100-75 (7)
RR: 425. (7)
OT: 424. (75-((100/50)*9))*7+25 (10)
Score: 129–89 (max 133)

Round 15: C I R C U S H E N

C1 buzzes on 1 second to say SCRUNCHIE which is correct.
Score: 139–89 (max 143)

A stunning performance from Chris, with 12 maxes in a row and 13 in total gives him the (joint) second highest ever score (to Julian Fell's 146), leaving poor Ross some 50 points adrift despite putting in a very solid performance with those two early nines which would have been plenty enough to see off most challengers. He must be cursing the luck of the draw...

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

[Derek Hazell]

If Carlsberg made predictive opening recap thread posts . . .



Edit: When I wrote that, and David put his quote below Jon had originally quoted Matthew Green's "Chris wins with 100-110 points. His opponent scores 40-50 but everyone agrees that if they had been playing someone other than Chris they would have potentially won a few games. Chris misses 2 or 3 maxes and one numbers game but throws in 4 or 5 very nice spots that only an apterite could know. Paul Xenon does a very average magic trick to which Susie acclaims 'Wow!' The challenger looks generally resigned to his fate from the start, Chris looks generally nervous throughout." from the spoiler thread and added ". . . apparently"

I've only just noticed that it's been replaced with the recap

[David Williams]

Apterous for me anyway, hasn't affected Countdown at all.