Monday 24th February 2014 (series 70 prelim 36)

[Andy McGurn]

Countdown recap for Monday 24 February 2014.

C1: Champion Andy Naylor (3 wins, 278 points.) Now on three wins, the reigning champion has also made 616 appearances for Wellstone Corinthians cricket club. This has included playing for the team abroad when they have travelled as far as Cyprus

C2: Challenger Elli Hanmer. An English and Maths tutor from Sunderland who swam in the English channel on Christmas day.

DC: Susie Dent and Janet Street-Porter.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: E O I M T D R B A
R02: D S M U O I N T E
R03: 1, 4, 5, 4, 3, 25. Target: 576.
TTT: MOONYEAR - "its about getting to know whats above you"
R04: R C A S P E A R G
R05: O E I N D G S Z M
R06: 7, 9, 5, 8, 1, 50. Target: 281.
R07: T R N O E O S D I
R08: P V T R A U E O N
R09: 9, 5, 2, 7, 1, 50. Target: 645.
TTT: ICHANCED - "I chanced at deception in order to reach my goal"
R10: A E I J H F R A T
R11: E O H G I E Q K D
R12: A U O R B L I S R
R13: N O H I V E L U T
R14: 8, 5, 7, 2, 75, 100. Target: 336.
R15: C U R V E D O N E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: E O I M T D R B A

C1: ORBITED (7)
C2: ABORTED (7)
DC: BROMIDE (7)
Rachel: MEDIATOR (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

Seven’s for the contestants in the opening round. Rachel outshines Susie on the letters here, spotting the only max word in the selection.


Round 2: D S M U O I N T E

C1: DEMOUNTS (8)
C2: MOUNTED (7)
DC: DISMOUNT (8)
OT: MUDSTONE (8)
Score: 15–7 (max 16)

Many ways of adding letters to the word MOUNT to score points here. The champions longer MOUNT-related word gives him the first lead of the game.


Round 3: 1, 4, 5, 4, 3, 25. Target: 576.

C1: 576. ((4*5)+3)*25+1 (10)
C2: -
Score: 25–7 (max 26)

The champion extends his lead as Elli misses a not too difficult numbers game.


Teatime teaser: MOONYEAR -> AERONOMY

Round 4: R C A S P E A R G

C1: CAPERS (6)
C2: SCRAPER (7)
DC: SCARPER (7)
OT: CARPERS (7) GRASPER (7) PARERGA (7) SPARGER (7)
Score: 25–14 (max 33)

Nice max by Elli to reduce the early lead.
PARERGA is the plural of PARERGON which is a piece of work that is supplementary to or a by-product of a larger work.


Round 5: O E I N D G S Z M

C1: SMIDGEON (8)
C2: MINGES (6)
DC: SMIDGEN (7)
Score: 33–14 (max 41)

Strong stuff by the champ, as he outshines JSP by knowing an alternative spelling of her word that’s a SMIDGEON longer.


Round 6: 7, 9, 5, 8, 1, 50. Target: 281.

C1: 280. (50+7-9)*(5+1)-8 (7)
C2: -
RR: 281. ((8*5)*7+1 (10)
Score: 40–14 (max 51)

Another seven points takes the champion further ahead, but he can’t get it spot on and Rachel shows him the way here.



Round 7: T R N O E O S D I

C1: STEROID (7)
C2: STONIER (7)
DC: INDOORS (7)
OT: DETORSION (18)
Score: 47–21 (max 69)

Routine sevens from both contestants and DC, but all miss the awesome nine here. DETORSION is the evolutionary reversion of a group to a primitive linear body plan.


Round 8: P V T R A U E O N

C1: OPERANT (7)
C2: NATURE (6)
DC: PRONATE (7)
OT: PROTEAN (7) VAUNTER (7) PARVENU (7)
Score: 54–21 (max 76)

The game is developing into a cakewalk for the champion, as Elli once again fails to match him…


Round 9: 9, 5, 2, 7, 1, 50. Target: 645.

C1: 645. ((7*2)-1)*50-5 (10)
C2: -
Score: 64–21 (max 86)

…even more so now as that solve takes him to a 43 point lead



Teatime teaser: ICHANCED -> CHICANED

Round 10: A E I J H F R A T

C1: FATHER (6)
C2: FATHER (6)
DC: FATHER (6)
OT: HETAIRA (7)
Score: 70–27 (max 93)

DC (as well as the contestants) only spot FATHER here and nothing else. Unbeknownst to them all there is a 7 in this selection. HETAIRA is a Greek word meaning a courtesan.

Round 11: E O H G I E Q K D

C1: HIKED (5)
C2: HEDGE (5)
OT: DOGIE (5) GEODE (5) GEOID (5) HOKED (5) KEDGE (5) OGEED (5)
Score: 75–32 (max 98)

Very flat round sees the gap remain the same.



Round 12: A U O R B L I S R

C1: ARBOURS (7)
C2: RAILS (5)
DC: LABOURS (7)
OT: BAILORS (7) BARRIOS (7) BURIALS (7) RAILBUS (7)
Score: 82–32 (max 105)


Our champion continues to demonstrate just how good a wordsmith he is. He has already sealed victory in this game and despite still only being on four wins, he already looks well on course to become the series first octochamp.



Round 13: N O H I V E L U T

C1: OUTLIVE (7)
C2: NOVEL (5)
DC: OUTLINE (7) HOTLINE (7)
OT: INVOLUTE (8)
Score: 89–32 (max 113)

INVOLUTE is a term from geometry referring to a curve obtained from an existing curve. (I think it has other meanings as well).


Round 14: 8, 5, 7, 2, 75, 100. Target: 336.

C1: 336. (100+75-7)*2 (10)
C2: 335.
Score: 99–32 (max 123)

Ten more points for the champ means he can get the highest score of the series if he gets the conundrum…


Round 15: C U R V E D O N E

C1 buzzes on 7 seconds to say UNCOVERED which is correct.
Final Score: 109–32 (max 133)


And with that conundrum solve the champ becomes a half octochamp. I would say that unless he gets real unlucky and meets a top apterite, he definitely has a great chance to reaching octochampdom. Join Callum tomorrow to see if the run continues.



Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70
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[Ian Volante]

R9 needs a "-5".

[Andy McGurn]

R9 needs a "-5".

and now it has one. Thank you Ian.

[Jack Worsley]

R08: P U T R A U E O N

[...]

Round 8: P U T R A U E O N

C1: OPERANT (7)
C2: NATURE (6)
DC: PRONATE (7)
OT: PROTEAN (7)
Score: 54–21 (max 76)

The first U should be a V, meaning that VAUNTER and PARVENU are also maxes.

[Andy McGurn]

R08: P U T R A U E O N

[...]

Round 8: P U T R A U E O N

C1: OPERANT (7)
C2: NATURE (6)
DC: PRONATE (7)
OT: PROTEAN (7)
Score: 54–21 (max 76)

The first U should be a V, meaning that VAUNTER and PARVENU are also maxes.

Thanks Jack. It must be due to bad handwriting on my NOTEPAD. Even more bizarre is the fact that VAUNTER was the word I spotted myself in that round.