Tuesday 15th April 2014 (Series 70, prelim 66)

[Callum Todd]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 15 April 2014.

C1: Champion Mark Murray (3 wins, 343 points.) He beat the excellent apterite Ciaran McCarthy 120-104 yesterday in a thriling contest. However he may be hoping that he doesn't do quite as well today, as Nick says that if he does he'll have to give us a rendition of his favourite song, which is Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon.
C2: Challenger Jim Sales.
DC: Susie Dent and Louise Minchin.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: N P C T E A O E A
R02: M B O I E S B S R
R03: 100, 25, 1, 8, 2, 5. Target: 959.
TTT: BEERSCAM - "Does this to an old friend or an opportunity"
R04: D L U E I V M W A
R05: X N N U O H E F A
R06: 75, 3, 5, 9, 9, 4. Target: 270.
R07: O U I N R Z O E S
R08: N S I O E C L R P
R09: 50, 100, 10, 1, 1, 3. Target: 651.
TTT: DARKNAME - "This plant was said to be dead against moving"
R10: D R I O A D T E S
R11: M T R U O I D E O
R12: S N E O A G R V E
R13: T J P S A O I F E
R14: 25, 1, 7, 2, 8, 8. Target: 729.
R15: C A M E L A C I D (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: N P C T E A O E A

Mark: POTENCE (7)
Jim: OCTANE (6)
OT: ACETONE (7) CATENAE (7) PATONCE (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

Good start from Mark, spotting one of the four sevens available.

Round 2: M B O I E S B S R

Mark: BOSSIER (7)
Jim: sobbier
DC: MOBBERS (7)
OT: BOMBERS (7) ISOMERS (7) MOSSIER (7)
Score: 14–0 (max 14)

It's a decent effort by Jim, but unfortunately sobbier is not a word, so Mark doubles his lead.

Round 3: 100, 25, 1, 8, 2, 5. Target: 959.

Mark: 959. (100+25-5)x8-1 (10)
Jim: 955.
Score: 24–0 (max 24)

A good numbers solve from Mark means he is yet to drop a point, while his opponent is yet to score one.

Teatime teaser: BEERSCAM -> EMBRACES

Round 4: D L U E I V M W A

Mark: MILDUE (6)
Jim: WAIVED (6)
DC: VALUED (6) WAILED (6) MAILED (6)
OT: MIAULED (7)
Score: 30–6 (max 31)

Jim gets on the scoreboard here by equaling Mark with a six. The darrenic seven MIAULED is missed by DC, although there's nothing wrong with that as it is a strange word. It's another spelling of MIAOWED or MEOWED. Amazing that so many spellings of that are in the dictionary.

Round 5: X N N U O H E F A

Mark: ANNEX (5)
Jim: ANNEX (5)
DC: HENNA (5)
OT: FOEHN (5) XENON (5)
Score: 35–11 (max 36)

Five is the max here, and all four of them are fairly nice words.

Round 6: 75, 3, 5, 9, 9, 4. Target: 270.

Mark: 270. Mistake in working.
Jim: 272. Mistake in working.
RR: 270. (9+9)x5x3 (10)
Score: 35–11 (max 46)

Both contestants get their working out a bit mixed up here so unfortunately nobody scores any points. Rachel shows us how it's done.

Round 7: O U I N R Z O E S

Mark: SNOOZIER (8)
Jim: SOONER (6)
DC: EROSION (7)
OT: OZONISER (8)
Score: 43–11 (max 54)

Good spot from Mark here. There is an anagram of SNOOZIER available here, which is OZONISER.

Round 8: N S I O E C L R P

Mark: CONSPIRE (8)
Jim: PRINCES (7)
DC: REPLICONS (18) EPSILON (7)
Score: 51–11 (max 72)

Four of the five vowels in the alphabet would have produced a nine here if they had come out as the last letter. Jim goes for a consonant though, but luckily P also makes a nine. Not so luckily, both contestants miss it, and Mark's eight beats Jim's seven. DC spot the nine though, which is REPLICONS.

Round 9: 50, 100, 10, 1, 1, 3. Target: 651.

Mark: 651. (10-3)x100-50+1 (10)
Jim: 650.
Score: 61–11 (max 82)

Mark gets the numbers to put him a whopping 50 points ahead. We've seen many contestants gather a bit of momentum so far this series, but Mark is surely the most impressive yet.

Teatime teaser: DARKNAME -> MANDRAKE

Round 10: D R I O A D T E S

Mark: TODDIES (7)
Jim: ASTEROID (8)
DC: ROASTED (7)
OT: DISRATED (8) ROADSIDE (8)
Score: 61–19 (max 90)

An uncharacteristic miss here from Mark, and Jim looks deservedly pleased with the applause he receives here. Beating a player like Mark in any round isn't easy, so doing it with a nice 8 like ASTEROID is certainly doing it in style.

Round 11: M T R U O I D E O

Mark: MOTORED (7)
Jim: MOTORED (7)
DC: DETOUR (6) OUTRIDE (7)
OT: DOOMIER (7) MOIDORE (7) MOODIER (7) OUTRODE (7)
Score: 68–26 (max 97)

Sevens for everyone here in a nice flat round.

Round 12: S N E O A G R V E

Mark: ENGRAVES (8)
Jim: GREENS (6)
DC: GRAVES (6) ONAGERS (7) OVERAGES (8)
OT: AVENGERS (8)
Score: 76–26 (max 105)

Mark regains the 50 point lead with a good eight, ENGRAVES, which has an anagram, AVENGERS. DC get the other eight available, which is OVERAGES.

Round 13: T J P S A O I F E

Mark: OPIATES (7)
Jim: FIESTA (6)
OT: ATOPIES (7) FEIJOAS (7) POTJIES (7)
Score: 83–26 (max 112)

Mark extends his sizable lead even further with OPIATES for seven. It has an anagram, ATOPIES.

POTJIES are South African cast-iron cooking pots, normally with three legs and a lid. FEIJOAS are evergreen shrubs that bear edible green fruit resembling guavas. They are native to tropical South America and cultivated in New Zealand.

Round 14: 25, 1, 7, 2, 8, 8. Target: 729.

Mark: 725. ((2+1)x7+8)x25 (7)
Jim: -
RR: 729. (7x8+25)x(8+1) (10)
Score: 90–26 (max 122)

Mark's four away is close enough to get himself some more points here. Rachel takes a bit of extra time but gets there in the end with a nice solve.

Round 15: C A M E L A C I D

Mark buzzes on 1 second to say ACCLAIMED which is correct.
Final Score: 100–26 (max 132)

And Mark wraps up another impressive performance with a speedy conundrum solve, and ensures that he just makes it over the line for a fourth century in as many games. The way he's playing at the moment, defeating tough oppositon in close games at times, and simply dominating games at other times, like today, he certainly looks like octochamp material. And surely nobody, even the series' only octochamp thusfar, Andy Naylor, would fancy taking him on in the finals. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, he's only half-way to octochampdom so far, and we don't know what could be waiting for him. Apterite Pete Steg is due to appear on the show at some time within the next two weeks, although luckily for Pete (or perhaps luckily for Mark?), he might not sit in the challenger's chair until Mark's reign in the champion's chair has come to an end.

Join James tomorrow to see if Mark can maintain his excellent form. Also, it can't be too long until we see James on Fifteen to One. I forget the exact date, but I think it's quite soon now, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Statistics
Raw score: Mark 107 - Jim 57
Maximums: Mark 10 - Jim 3

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

[James Robinson]

Join James tomorrow to see if Mark can maintain his excellent form. Also, it can't be too long until we see James on Fifteen to One. I forget the exact date, but I think it's quite soon now, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

It's the day after your next recap, Callum. But thanks for the plug.