c4countdown

Countdown recap for Thursday 22 January 2009.

C1: Champion Steven Briers (9 wins, 1036 points.)
C2: Champion David O'Donnell (12 wins, 1259 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Alastair Stewart.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T G R D I A E L O
R02: I A E W S R N N A
R03: S R C D L I O E A
R04: I O E T P S K A X
R05: 75, 100, 50, 8, 9, 1. Target: 633.
TTT: SHETRIPS - "She trips because these pants are so low"
R06: O A A M R G N U S
R07: M L M D I O O A E
R08: I E E C D P S I T
R09: N N H S A E A C O
R10: 25, 75, 100, 50, 9, 9. Target: 432.
TTT: EASYFILM - "The fifth month goes quickly for these creatures"
R11: N T P N A O E I J
R12: E U O G T S R H Z
R13: P F Y T Q E U E A
R14: 75, 25, 50, 100, 4, 7. Target: 401.
R15: S E A P Y T H O N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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A truly epic contest surely awaits today. Don't be fooled by the stats at the top of the page which show David with 3 more wins and over 200 more points scored, this is gonna be close and it's gonna be IMMENSE. Both were number one seeds in their series, and while Steven made a surprise quarter-final exit in his while David went on to victory, both look pretty evenly matched going into this game.

In the quarter-finals David edged past James Hurrell (who led for part of the game) with a lightning-quick crucial conundrum, whereas Steve cantered (sorry Debbi) to victory having spotted the only niner of the tournament so far (ANTIPODES) in the very first round.

Jeff does a brilliant build-up to the game as well, with a good minute-long monologue about how the competition is really coming alive, detailing the enormous pressure on both the guys' shoulders. I was pissing myself sat in the audience


Sit back. Enjoy. But don't try and compete unless you're some kind of masochist...


Round 1: T G R D I A E L O

C1: IDOLATER (8)
C2: IDOLATER (8)
OT: TAILORED (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)

Round 2: I A E W S R N N A

C1: WINNERS (7)
C2: WINNERS (7)
DC: ANSWER (6) INSANE (6)
Score: 15–15 (max 15)

Round 3: S R C D L I O E A

C1: DARIOLES (8)
C2: DARIOLES (8)
OT: CALORIES (8) CARIOLES (8) CORDIALS (8) IDOCRASE (8) RADICLES (8)
Score: 23–23 (max 23)

Round 4: I O E T P S K A X

C1: POXIEST (7)
C2: KATIPOS (7)
Score: 30–30 (max 30)

Round 5: 75, 100, 50, 8, 9, 1. Target: 633.

C1: 633. 50*9+100+75+8 (10)
C2: 633. (75-1)*8-9+50 (10)
Score: 40–40 (max 40)

Teatime teaser: SHETRIPS -> HIPSTERS

Round 6: O A A M R G N U S

C1: SAGUARO (7)
C2: SAMANGO (7)
OT: ANGORAS (7) MARGOSA (7) OARSMAN (7) ORGANUM (7) SANGOMA (7)
Score: 47–47 (max 47)

Two amazing words from Steven and David, I'd never heard of either of them. Saguaro is a type of cactus, whereas a samango is a type of monkey.

Round 7: M L M D I O O A E

C1: LOOMED (6)
C2: MAILED (6)
DC: MEDIAL (6)
OT: DILEMMA (7)
Score: 53–53 (max 54)

David told me later that he'd actually thought "...final E for DILEMMA" after the A came out... and then promptly forgot all about it. D'oh. Maybe Jeff's introduction didn't help...

Round 8: I E E C D P S I T

C1: PESTICIDE (18)
C2: DESPITE (7)
Score: 71–53 (max 72)

WOW. It was always gonna take something special to separate them, and it turned out to be this double-darren niner. A great spot from Steve.

Round 9: N N H S A E A C O

C1: OCEANS (6)
C2: CANOES (6)
DC: NACHOS (6)
OT: ANCONES (7) CHANSON (7) HOSANNA (7)
Score: 77–59 (max 79)

Three sevens missed. How shit are these guys?

Round 10: 25, 75, 100, 50, 9, 9. Target: 432.

C1: 432. (75-25)*9-(100/50)*9 (10)
C2: 432. (75/25)*(100+50)-9-9 (10)
Score: 87–69 (max 89)

Teatime teaser: EASYFILM -> MAYFLIES

Round 11: N T P N A O E I J

C1: PINNATE (7)
C2: ENATION (7)
OT: PONTINE (7)
Score: 94–76 (max 96)

Round 12: E U O G T S R H Z

C1: ROUGHEST (8)
C2: ROUGHEST (8)
DC: ZEROTH (6)
Score: 102–84 (max 104)

Round 13: P F Y T Q E U E A

C1: EQUATE (6)
C2: EQUATE (6)
Score: 108–90 (max 110)

Round 14: 75, 25, 50, 100, 4, 7. Target: 401.

C1: 401. 100*4+(50+25)/75 (10)
C2: 401. 100*4+75/(50+25) (10)
Score: 118–100 (max 120)

An easy final numbers game means it's curtains for David, and he sportingly concedes the tie with a handshake about 15 seconds into the round.

Round 15: S E A P Y T H O N

C2 buzzes on 0.5 seconds to say PANTYHOSE which is correct.
Score: 118–110 (max 130)

Another instant conundrum spot from David gives him the third highest losing score ever(and DILEMMA wouldn't have made any difference to the result, if anything it might have been worse to lose by a single point!) - both players scored in 14 of the 15 rounds, achieving 12 maxes each. Ridiculously high standard for a game that would have been a very worthy final. Congratulations to Steve as he marches on to the semi-final on Wednesday to take on either Kai or Nick, while David heads for the bar, with praise for the exceptionally sporting and gracious way he took what must have been an agonising defeat.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-15

Jon Corby wrote: Round 4: I O E T P S K A X

C1: KATIPOS (7)
C2: POXIEST (7)
Score: 30–30 (max 30)

Round 12: E U O G T S R H Z

C1: ROUGHEST (8)
C2: ROUGHEST (8)
DC: ZEROTH (6)
Score: 102–84 (max 104)

I think you have the declarations the wrong way round for Round 4. Also, for round 12, Susie (mistakenly) said she was beaten by them both with TOUGHEST. Of course, she meant ROUGHEST.

Kirk Bevins wrote:I think you have the declarations the wrong way round for Round 4. Also, for round 12, Susie (mistakenly) said she was beaten by them both with TOUGHEST. Of course, she meant ROUGHEST.

You're absolutely right mate, I'll fix that. I did think half way through doing it actually that I wasn't really concentrating fully on who was C1 and C2, so it's quite surprising if that's the only one. I should have definitely got that one though because in the audience I listed the sevens in that round and told my sister that DoD would go for KATIPOS

I missed Susie saying that - could she have said TOUGHER? And could she have pronounced 'zeroth' (ie 3rd,2nd,1st,0th) any more bizarrely?

I'm not sure, but I think this was QF1, as opposed to 2.

Kai Laddiman wrote:I'm not sure, but I think this was QF1, as opposed to 2.

No, definitely QF2. QF1 is today.

Jon Corby wrote:I missed Susie saying that - could she have said TOUGHER?

I've just watched the game, and certainly she said TOUGHEST, intending ROUGHEST, of course.

Loved the recap btw

Caramba. Typically I've had my busiest week at work in a decade and missed these.