Oh, you do?
Very well then...[/irritatingintroduction]
Countdown recap for Monday 12 July 2010.
C1: Champion Chris Barrow (1 win, 83 points.)
C2: Challenger Mark Oliver.
DC: Susie Dent and Shobna Gulati.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R W N E A U D L J
R02: R T E E S N I C N
R03: C L P O E I W D L
R04: D T S A E R O I F
R05: 100, 10, 10, 2, 8, 4. Target: 631.
TTT: ROCKPACT - "Break the vase you silly fool"
R06: N D T U E A N R O
R07: M S G E A O V M S
R08: T M E I P T E D Q
R09: R T X O U O T S E
R10: 75, 50, 8, 10, 9, 6. Target: 662.
TTT: BOBREADS - "Bob is engrossed in a book about sponges"
R11: P H I O I A G K S
R12: G N E B S A I R D
R13: L H Y E I A R T N
R14: 50, 1, 4, 6, 9, 8. Target: 210.
R15: C O I N E D J E T (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Chris Barrow is the current champ after disposing of the wonderful Doug Elkins on Friday. He is perhaps a stereotypical geek so should do well.
Mark Oliver is the challenger. He is a warehouse design consultant (just words) and lives in Henley, Warwickshire. His claim to fame is cofounding the WBA Supporters Club based in Thailand which has grown to a staggering 50 people. He one encountered an earthquake in Taipei. He won.
Joining Susie Dent in DC this week (well, for 2 days anyway) is Coronation Street's Shobna Gulati who is more voluptuous than I remember back when I watched her on the Street. She is filling in for Andrew Castle who was apparently late to the studio.
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: R W N E A U D L J
C1: WANDER (6)
C2: LAUNDER (7)
OT: LURDANE (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
First blood to Mark. Could be a good game today.
Round 2: R T E E S N I C N
C1: CRETINS (7)
C2: NESTER (6)
DC: ENTICES (7) ENTICERS (8)
OT: INCENTRES (18)
Score: 7–7 (max 25)
Appetising set of letters and as such they yielded a 9. A pretty tough one to spot though. Chris makes amends immediately to bring the scores level.
Round 3: C L P O E I W D L
C1: POLICED (7)
C2: POLICED (7)
DC: PILLOWED (8)
Score: 14–14 (max 33)
Well that's all I could see too but DC come up with a belter.
Round 4: D T S A E R O I F
C1: ROASTED (7)
C2: FASTER (6)
DC: FORTIES (7) ASTEROID (8)
Score: 21–14 (max 41)
The classic ASTEROID is the darren here and it's always disappointing when it is missed.
Round 5: 100, 10, 10, 2, 8, 4. Target: 631.
C1: 630. (8-2)*100+4*10-10 (7)
C2: 630. (8-2)*100+4*10-10 (7)
Score: 28–21 (max 48)
Even Rachel couldn't do this one so it must have been tough. Oh, it was impossible. Fair play to everyone then, I guess.
DC Guest Time: Shobna Gulati tells us a bit about what it's like working on a soap opera.
Teatime teaser: ROCKPACT -> CRACKPOT
Round 6: N D T U E A N R O
C1: TURNED (6)
C2: RUNNER (6)
DC: NATURED (7)
OT: UNATONED (8)
Score: 34–27 (max 56)
OK so this is where the controversy begins which goes unnoticed on the show. RUNNER (only one R) is not disallowed by Susie and as such 6 points are awarded to Mark. Mark's total remains with this false 6 points and it is not mentioned again in the show. Btw UNATONED is pretty sexy, eh? eh?
Round 7: M S G E A O V M S
C1: MOVES (5)
C2: GAMES (5)
DC: OMEGAS (6)
OT: SMEGMA (6)
Score: 39–32 (max 62)
The wonderful SMEGMA makes an appearance. I thought at one point Susie was about to say it but sadly she didn't (unless it was cut). If you don't wash your wing wang then your cock-a-doodle may pong. That's SMEGMA!
Round 8: T M E I P T E D QRicky Pedia wrote:Smegma (Greek smēgma, "soap") is a combination of exfoliated (shed) epithelial cells, transudated skin oils, and moisture. It occurs in both male and female genitalia. In males, smegma helps keep the glans moist and facilitates sexual intercourse by acting as a lubricant.
C1: TEMPTED (7)
C2: TEMPTED (7)
DC: EMPTIED (7)
OT: EMITTED (7)
Score: 46–39 (max 69)
After solid 7's by both the score is separated by 7 points (which should really be 13 points but for the RUNNER hoo-ha)
Round 9: R T X O U O T S E
C1: STOUTER (7)
C2: TEXTS (5)
DC: TOUTERS (7) TOOTERS (7)
OT: EXTORTS (7) OUTSERT (7) URTEXTS (7)
Score: 53–39 (max 76)
With that excellent "risk" by Chris he is now 10+ points in front and as such eases the red faces of the Countdown team.
Susie's Origin of Words: Different from normal, Susie explores the origins of famous band names such as The Beatles, Depeche Mode, the B52's and Everything But the Girl. I suppose the question to ask is, will she cover the origin of 10cc's name?
Round 10: 75, 50, 8, 10, 9, 6. Target: 662.
C1: 662. 75*9-50/10-8 (10)
C2: 675.
Score: 63–39 (max 86)
And again Chris pulls away further as the Countdown team breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Teatime teaser: BOBREADS -> ABSORBED
Round 11: P H I O I A G K S
C1: SKIP (4)
C2: SOAP (4)
DC: OKAPIS (6)
OT: GOPAKS (6) GOPIKS (6) HOPAKS (6) KIPAHS (6) POISHA (6)
Score: 67–45 (max 92)
A pretty disgusting round here with the only recognisable (by me) 6 being OKAPIS. Therefore I will give you a rundown of what all these delightful words mean.
GOPAK - a lively Ukrainian dance
GOPIK - a monetary unit of Azerbaijan equal to 1/100th of a manat
HOPAK - as GOPAK (a lively Ukrainian dance)
KIPAH - is a variant of KIPPA which is that skullcap worn by JEWS!!
POISHA - a monetary unit of Bangladesh equal to 1/100th of a taka
That's the boring stuff out the way. Enjoy the game in its entirety now.
Round 12: G N E B S A I R D
C1: READINGS (8)
C2: READINGS (8)
DC: BRIGADES (8) BRIGANDS (8)
OT: ABRIDGES (8) BEADINGS (8) DEBASING (8) BEARDING (8) BEARINGS (8) REBASING (8) BRANDIES (8) GRADINES (8)
Score: 75–51 (max 100)
Anything but an 8 would have been a travesty with all these on offer. Chris is almost home and dry now as his lead is still 24 points (or 30 (OK WE GET IT NOW!!))
Round 13: L H Y E I A R T N
C1: HEARTILY (8)
C2: trailer
DC: INTERLAY (8) EARTHILY (8)
Score: 83–51 (max 108)
And a brilliant spot by Chris seals victory number 2 for him.
Round 14: 50, 1, 4, 6, 9, 8. Target: 210.
C1: 210. 50*4+9+1 (10)
C2: 210. 50*4+9+1 (10)
Score: 93–61 (max 118)
Icing on the cake for Chris as he sets himself up with a chance at a century.
Round 15: C O I N E D J E T
C1 buzzes on 12 seconds to say DEJECTION which is correct.
Score: 103–61 (max 128)
And he gets it. A pretty easy conundrum that Chris happily devours for 10 points taking him to a respectable 103 points.
What have we learnt from today's recap of Countdown?
- - Chris is not one of these 'geek chic' type people
- Andrew Castle is not very good at timekeeping
- Rachel Riley wore her "highest heels yet"
- Sheffield has hills
- Sunita from Corrie suddenly grew some breasts
- Susie Dent does make mistakes
(Although you may have to put up with me tomorrow as I think it is my turn in the Uruguay-Greece-Ghana rotation)
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62
