P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to Jason and all our other American Countdowners.
Countdown recap for Thursday 26 November 2009.
C1: Champion Jennifer Bett (3 wins, 280 points.) From Edinburgh, Scotland. She has a 6-year-old son. She is currently studying for a black belt in Kuk Sool Won, a Korean form of martial arts. She has won a gold medal at the British Martial Arts Championships.
C2: Challenger Graham Jones. From Whixall, Shropshire. He is a modern languages graduate. His favourite place is Siena, Italy, where he lived for 5 months during his studies. He likes guitar bass music and the US comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. He is also a distant relative of Fletcher Christian, who famously led the "Mutiny On The Bounty".
DC: Susie Dent and David Lloyd.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P S L E E U E L S
R02: T M S O E A M D I
R03: O I U O G W R Z D
R04: P N M I E E N C A
R05: 25, 100, 50, 6, 5, 3. Target: 456.
TTT: ROGUEHAG - "A wild guess as to how old the fibre is"
R06: G C K O I E D R O
R07: L H I A E Y D S P
R08: S T F I A I L N E
R09: T R T A O A E N R
R10: 75, 5, 8, 4, 3, 7. Target: 930.
TTT: LEAFMESS - "Looking exactly like me, perhaps"
R11: T Y B R I A O Q A
R12: J R T U I E N D I
R13: X R G R A E E T C
R14: 100, 3, 7, 3, 7, 2. Target: 775.
R15: M U C H T I M E S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: P S L E E U E L S
C1: SPELLS (6)
C2: SLEEPS (6)
DC: PULSES (6)
OT: UPSELLS (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
Round 2: T M S O E A M D I
C1: DEMIST (6)
C2: ATOMISED (8)
DC: IMMODEST (8)
OT: MISMATED (8)
Score: 6–14 (max 15)
Graham atomises his opponent to take a nice early lead.
Round 3: O I U O G W R Z D
C1: GOURD (5)
C2: dingo
DC: ODOUR (5) ZOOID (5)
OT: DROOG (5) GORDO (5) DURZI (5) GUIRO (5)
Score: 11–14 (max 20)
Graham's phantom N puts Jennifer back into the game, but there's nothing better than 5 here.
A DROOG is another name for a young ruffian coined by Anthony Burgess in Clockwork Orange.
A GUIRO is a South American instrument using (appropriately) a hollowed gourd with a serrated surface that is scraped with a stick.
Round 4: P N M I E E N C A
C1: MANNIE (6)
C2: PACEMEN (7)
OT: PENANCE (7) PINNACE (7)
Score: 11–21 (max 27)
A PINNACE is a light sailing ship.
Round 5: 25, 100, 50, 6, 5, 3. Target: 456.
C1: 456. (100 x 5) - 50 + 6 (10)
C2: 455.
Score: 21–21 (max 37)
Graham inexplicably misses a relatively simple numbers game to put the scores back to level terms.
David tells the story about the time he was being persuaded to ditch his atlases for a sat-nav.
Teatime teaser: ROGUEHAG -> ROUGHAGE
Round 6: G C K O I E D R O
C1: cookier
C2: CROOKED (7)
DC: CORKED (6)
OT: ERGODIC (7)
Score: 21–28 (max 44)
Graham regains the lead as Jennifer's risky 7 just crumbles.
ERGODIC is a mathematical term that underlies statistical methods used in modern dynamics and atomic theory.
Round 7: L H I A E Y D S P
C1: HAILED (6)
C2: DISPLAY (7)
DC: SPLAYED (7) HELIPADS (8)
OT: LADYSHIP (8)
Score: 21–35 (max 52)
Round 8: S T F I A I L N E
C1: FAINTS (6)
C2: INFLATES (8)
DC: FINALIST (8) LITANIES (8)
OT: ALIENIST (8) FINALISE (8)
Score: 21–43 (max 60)
An ALIENIST is either an old term for a doctor who specialises in mental illness, but nowadays it means an expert witness in a sanity trial.
Round 9: T R T A O A E N R
C1: rotater
C2: TORRENT (7)
DC: TARTARE (7)
OT: AERATOR (7) NARRATE (7)
Score: 21–50 (max 67)
Jennifer's horror show continues as that's the 5th letters round in a row in which she has failed to score.
In honour of Susie recently being asked to present a prize at a tiddlywinks contest, today's Origin Of Words tells of the origins of the word "tiddlywink".
Round 10: 75, 5, 8, 4, 3, 7. Target: 930.
C1: 932. ((8 + 4) x 75) + (7 x 5) - 3 (7)
C2: 936.
RR: 930. ((75 x 4) + (8 + 7 - 5)) x 3 (10)
Score: 28–50 (max 77)
At least Jennifer's numbers skills haven't deserted her today, as she recovers some points back.
Teatime teaser: LEAFMESS -> SELFSAME
Round 11: T Y B R I A O Q A
C1: TRAY (4)
C2: ABORT (5)
DC: AIRBOAT (7)
Score: 28–55 (max 84)
Make that 6 in a row, although DC do good to find the darrenic 7.
Round 12: J R T U I E N D I
C1: INJURED (7)
C2: UNTRIED (7)
DC: INTRUDE (7)
OT: UNTIDIER (8)
Score: 35–62 (max 92)
Jennifer gets her first points from a letters round since Round 3, but it looks like Graham is going to be the new champ.
Round 13: X R G R A E E T C
C1: GREATER (7)
C2: RETRACE (7)
OT: CATERER (7) TERRACE (7) EXCRETA (7)
Score: 42–69 (max 99)
Graham becomes the new champ after a flat round.
Round 14: 100, 3, 7, 3, 7, 2. Target: 775.
C1: 775. ((100 + 7 + 3) x 7) + 3 + 2 (10)
C2: 775. ((100 + 7 + 3) x 7) + 3 + 2 (10)
Score: 52–79 (max 109)
Round 15: M U C H T I M E S
C2 buzzes on 4 seconds to say CHUMMIEST which is correct.
Score: 52–89 (max 119)
Well, Jennifer's nightmare game has come to an end. She won't be gracing the finals in a couple of weeks.
That last place will either go to Graham, Jacqueline Baker or someone we haven't even seen yet who will be competing within the next week.
Who will it be
By the time of my recaps next week, we should have a clearer idea of who it will be.Until next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Jennifer:
Total score - 52
Raw score - 80
Total % of max - 44
Raw % of max - 67
Total average score per round - 3.5
Raw average score per round - 5.4
Number of maxes - 4
Graham:
Total score - 89
Raw score - 101
Total % of max - 75
Raw % of max - 85
Total average score per round - 5.9
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 8
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61