It's been a couple of weeks since I last recapped and quite a few champions have come and gone since then. What a week this has been, starting with Bobby Johnson who really looked like he was going to take the Countdown world by storm until he stumbled into our apterite Mark Murray yesterday. Will Mark Murray continue his run today after a brilliant score of 115 yesterday? He is up against Chris Newbury.Countdown recap for Friday 11 April 2014.
C1: Champion Mark Murray (1 win, 115 points.) An apterite originally from Dublin but he now lives in Bristol. He works for Ovo Energy and has four Border Terriers.
C2: Challenger Chris Newbury. A Psychology student at Bristol University, likes playing golf.
DC: Susie Dent and Michael Whitehall.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P L H U I E T K I
R02: B R N O A E D H L
R03: 3, 1, 4, 7, 100, 75. Target: 164.
TTT: USESARMS - "The use of arms is very important in their profession."
R04: R T S O A U R X I
R05: D N L O E O S A R
R06: 4, 5, 1, 1, 2, 75. Target: 147.
R07: S D P V E A O S C
R08: S N M I E A P J N
R09: 8, 1, 4, 1, 25, 100. Target: 727.
TTT: PATCHING - "Patching up their differences over a bedtime drink perhaps."
R10: S D I E I R G T G
R11: Y M F A O U T M G
R12: Z R E O A F N P S
R13: T D T C I O I N U
R14: 3, 2, 4, 7, 4, 100, . Target: 110.
R15: D E L V E O P E N (conundrum)
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Round 1: P L H U I E T K I
Mark: LITHE (5)
Chris: pleit
DC: TULIP (5)
OT: KILTIE (6) KLEPHT (6) PLUTEI (6)
Score: 5–0 (max 6)
Good start for Mark. In a low scoring round he gets 5 with LITHE as Chris has 'pleit' disallowed.
Round 2: B R N O A E D H L
Mark: BLANDER (7)
Chris: LOANED (6)
DC: HANDLER (7) BROADEN (7) BLONDER (7) HALBERD (7)
OT: BANDEROL (8)
Score: 12–0 (max 14)
A BLANDER round for Mark this time as Chris LOANED him 7 points.
Round 3: 3, 1, 4, 7, 100, 75. Target: 164.
Mark: 164. (100+75) - (7+4) (10)
Chris: 164. (100+75) - (7+4) (10)
Score: 22–10 (max 24)
An easy numbers sees both players get 10 points.
Teatime teaser: USESARMS -> MASSEURS
Round 4: R T S O A U R X I
Mark: SUITOR (6)
Chris: ROAST (5)
DC: SAUTOIR (7)
Score: 28–10 (max 31)
Mark is a SUITOR as Chris gets ROASTed in this round.
Round 5: D N L O E O S A R
Mark: LARDOONS (8)
Chris: LENDS (5)
OT: SOLANDER (8)
Score: 36–10 (max 39)
Chris LENDS a hand but it is Mark who LARDOONS for 8 points.
Round 6: 4, 5, 1, 1, 2, 75. Target: 147.
Mark: 147. (75-1) x 2 -1 (10)
Chris: 147. (75x2) - (4-1) (10)
Score: 46–20 (max 49)
Another 10 points for both players in another easy numbers round.
Michael Whitehall talks about when he was agent to Elaine Stretch.
Round 7: S D P V E A O S C
Mark: posades
Chris: PAVED (5)
DC: PASSED (6) SPACED (6)
OT: COPSES (6) PASEOS (6) SCAPES (6) SCOPAE (6) SCOPED (6) SCOPES (6) SOAPED (6) SPACES (6) SPADES (6) VADOSE (6)
Score: 46–25 (max 55)
Mark looks for a variant spelling to posadas and declares 'posades', but unfortunately it isn't there. Chris finally scores on letters. A magnificent 5 points with PAVED.
Round 8: S N M I E A P J N
Mark: PIEMAN (6)
Chris: MEANS (5)
DC: JASMINE (7) MANNIES (7) NINJAS (6)
Score: 52–25 (max 62)
Chris had the MEANS for a 5, but Mark was the PIEMAN and scored 6 points.
Round 9: 8, 1, 4, 1, 25, 100. Target: 727.
Mark: 727. (100+4) x (8-1) -1 (10)
Chris: 728.
Score: 62–25 (max 72)
A perfect numbers game for Mark as he increases his lead further. Chris only managed 728.
Teatime teaser: PATCHING -> NIGHTCAP
Round 10: S D I E I R G T G
Mark: DIGGERS (7)
Chris: TIRED (5)
DC: DIRTIES (7)
OT: DITSIER (7) TRIGGED (7)
Score: 69–25 (max 79)
The game is getting TIRED for Chris now, as Mark calls in the DIGGERS for 7.
Round 11: Y M F A O U T M G
Mark: GAMMY (5)
Chris: - (0)
DC: GOUT GOUTY (5)
OT: FUGATO (6)
Score: 74–25 (max 85)
Chris fails to offer anything in a difficult round. Mark offers GAMMY for 5.
Susie talks about the origin of the phrase 'wine has legs'.
Round 12: Z R E O A F N P S
Mark: PERSONA (7)
Chris: FEARS (5)
DC: PROFANES (8)
Score: 81–25 (max 93)
Chris FEARS another disaster here. Perfectly justified as Mark has the PERSONA to score another 7.
Round 13: T D T C I O I N U
Mark: DICTION (7)
Chris: DICTION (7)
DC: TUITION (7) CONDUIT (7)
OT: NOCTUID (7)
Score: 88–32 (max 100)
Both players get DICTION for 7. The first (and only) shared letters round. Game over now I'm afraid for Chris, but the writing was on the wall long ago.
Round 14: 3, 2, 4, 7, 4, 100. Target: 110.
Mark: 110. 100 + 7 + 3 (10)
Chris: 110. 100 + 7 + 3 (10)
Score: 98–42 (max 110)
A third easy numbers round. At least it keeps the score respectable for Chris.
Round 15: D E L V E O P E N
Mark buzzes on 2 seconds to say ENVELOPED which is correct.
Final Score: 108–42 (max 120)
Mark gets the conundrum to record his 2nd century with 108 points.
So it's a second win for Mark Murray. He's proving quite formidable with 223 points now from just 2 games. Who will stop him? Well fellow apterite Ciaran McCarthy is with us on Monday. Will this be Mark's undoing? Join Andy McGurn on Monday to find out. And that's about it from me for this week. I'll be back next Friday with what promises to be a very 'Good Friday'
Thank you once again for reading and have a great week. Goodbye for now. Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70
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