), so it must be SERIES 81 FINALS TIME!!!Also worth mentioning that Nick did give a brief mention to the unfortunate #9 seed Corrina Attwood, who has become the first octochamp to not take part in a series finals, as her score was too low to make the cut...
Countdown recap for Thursday 12 December 2019.
C1: #1 Seed James "The Manchester Marvel" Haughton (8 games, 8 wins, 958 points.) An Apterite and applied maths PhD student at the University of Manchester.
C2: #8 Seed David "The Moreton Mauler" Law (8 games, 8 wins, 700 points.) A retired bank official from Moreton, Merseyside, but originally from Oxford.
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S R N F A E O I U
R02: A O I E R D T M N
R03: 100, 75, 25, 50, 5, 9. Target: 208.
TTT: DINETONIC - "You could tell me was a heavy smoker, his moustache turned orange."
R04: A U O I J R S V C
R05: R X N G E O U B I
R06: 25, 10, 3, 10, 6, 5. Target: 142.
R07: T R N D O A U S E
R08: O A I E M N T C N
R09: 25, 100, 3, 6, 10, 4. Target: 975.
TTT: FASTDIANE - "Diane was fast, and she often closed her eyes and pictured herself winning the Olympic gold."
R10: U A I E T H D S T
R11: G S N L I A I O S
R12: A E O E T P R W G
R13: R T L W O E I A O
R14: 50, 9, 5, 8, 3, 2. Target: 339.
R15: K I W I C A B I L (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S R N F A E O I U
James: NEFARIOUS (18)
David: REASON (6)
DC: INSOFAR (7)
Score: 18–0 (max 18)
Round 2: A O I E R D T M N
James: MONRADITE (18)
David: ADROIT (6)
DC: DOMAINE (7)
Score: 36–0 (max 36)
Round 3: 100, 75, 25, 50, 5, 9. Target: 208.
James: 208. (((50 x 100) + 75) / 25) + 5 (10)
David: 208. Mistake in working.
Score: 46–0 (max 46)
Teatime teaser: DINETONIC -> NICOTINED
Round 4: A U O I J R S V C
James: ACOURIS (7)
David: VARIOUS (7)
DC: SAVIOUR (7)
OT: ACRIOUS (7) CARIOUS (7) CURIOSA (7)
Score: 53–7 (max 53)
Round 5: R X N G E O U B I
James: ROUGINE (7)
David: BINGER (6)
DC: BOXING (6) BURGEON (7)
OT: BOURGIE (7) RIGBONE (7)
Score: 60–7 (max 60)
Round 6: 25, 10, 3, 10, 6, 5. Target: 142.
James: 142. (6 x 25) - (10 - (10 / 5)) (10)
David: 142. (6 x 25) - (5 + 3) (10)
Score: 70–17 (max 70)
Jon does a Donald Trump reverberation of the famous "Sunscreen" song by Baz Luhrmann from 20 years ago.
Round 7: T R N D O A U S E
James: UNROASTED (18)
David: unroasted (not written down)
Score: 88–17 (max 88)
Round 8: O A I E M N T C N
James: MACONITE (8)
David: NOMINATE (8)
DC: ENACTION (8) CINEMA (6)
OT: MONACTINE (18)
Score: 96–25 (max 106)
Round 9: 25, 100, 3, 6, 10, 4. Target: 975.
James: 975. (100 x 10) - 25 (10)
David: 975. (100 x 10) - 25 (10)
Score: 106–35 (max 116)
Teatime teaser: FASTDIANE -> FANTASIED
Round 10: U A I E T H D S T
James: ATHEIST (7)
David: HATTED (6)
DC: SITUATED (8)
Score: 113–35 (max 124)
Round 11: G S N L I A I O S
James: SAILING (7)
David: SAILINGS (8)
DC: LIAISONS (8)
OT: AISLINGS (8) LASSOING (8)
Score: 113–43 (max 132)
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "cookies" (as in the computer term).
Round 12: A E O E T P R W G
James: OPERATE (7)
David: PORTAGE (7)
OT: POTAGER (7) PROTEGE (7)
Score: 120–50 (max 139)
Round 13: R T L W O E I A O
James: AEROTOW (7)
David: RETAIL (6)
DC: LOITER (6) ORIOLE (6) TAILOR (6)
Score: 127–50 (max 146)
Round 14: 50, 9, 5, 8, 3, 2. Target: 339.
James: 339. ((50 - 9) x 8) + (3 x 2) + 5 (10)
David: 339. ((5 + 2) x 50) - (8 + 3) (10)
Score: 137–60 (max 156)
Round 15: K I W I C A B I L
James buzzes on 11.5 seconds to say BAILIWICK which is correct.
Final Score: 147–60 (max 166)
CRIKEY BLIMEY!!! Now that's the way to start the series finals!!! James becomes only the second person after Dylan to have a perfect first half of 46 points, and gets three AWESOME 9's, and to round it off, achieves the HIGHEST EVER SCORE IN A SERIES FINALS, and the THIRD HIGHEST SCORE OF ALL TIME!!!
(Quite amazing to think that all the top three scores were done in 2019 
)The gauntlet is thrown.... (mic drop)
Join us tomorrow as #2 seed Jamie Wing takes on #7 seed Tom Silverlock.
Statistics Corner
James:
Total score - 147
Raw score - 154
Total % of max - 89
Raw % of max - 93
Total average score per round - 9.8
Raw average score per round - 10.3
Number of maxes - 12
David:
Total score - 60
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 36
Raw % of max - 54
Total average score per round - 4.0
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 6
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=81