c4countdown

Annedown V.

Countdown recap for Friday 2 July 2021.

"It's the end of my first week - Rachel, you're a maths genius, how many viewers have I lost?" She also says Damian takes them out to Canal Street on Fridays. (*grumbles about straight people invading gay bars*)

C1: Champion Daniel Crews (1 win, 79 points.) An accounts manager, and also a frock destroyer-- sorry, frock designer, although you might not have guessed judging by the outfit he's wearing, points out Anne.
C2: Challenger Roger Peak. Used to manage a career centre. Ex-kiwi.
DC: Susie Dent and Grace Dent. For at least the third time in the last month or so, Susie is wearing that flowery top with polka dots on the sleeves.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S W N U A E R L S
R02: M N G W A I I G O
R03: 25, 50, 9, 7, 3, 8. Target: 138.
TTT: CHAINBEG - "It sounds like the doctor's getting stuck on the shore."
R04: E O I S H P E D M
R05: S R P E A O T L T
R06: 100, 5, 10, 3, 4, 8. Target: 792.
R07: M D F S A U O E T
R08: N V D R O I A L U
R09: 100, 75, 7, 9, 1, 3. Target: 153.
TTT: PACTCASH - "Nothing to do with tennis, but the net and servers are involved."
R10: E I I C R Y C O K
R11: T S B F A A O E L
R12: T N P E A I G C A
R13: Z T S B E A I R M
R14: 100, 5, 9, 2, 8, 9. Target: 842.
R15: B A K E D C A R E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S W N U A E R L S

Daniel: LEARNS (6)
Roger: SWEARS (6)
DC: ANSWERS (7) WALRUSES (8)
Score: 6–6 (max 8, jos 8)
Darren-o-meter: 1/1 (100%)

Great start from DC, but just sixes for the contestants.

Round 2: M N G W A I I G O

Daniel: MOWING (6)
Roger: GAMING (6)
DC: MIAOWING (8)
Score: 12–12 (max 16, jos 16)
Darren-o-meter: 2/2 (100%)

Rinse and repeat: six for contestants, darrenic 8 for DC.

Anne interrupts proceedings to ask Daniel about the frocks.

Round 3: 25, 50, 9, 7, 3, 8. Target: 138.

Daniel: 140. 3 × 50 − 9 − (8​ − 7) (7)
Roger: 136. Mistake in working.
RR: 138. (50 − (8 − 7)) × 3 − 9​ (10)
Score: 19–12 (max 26, jos 26)

Roger does 134 rather than 136, giving Daniel a 7-point lead.

Teatime teaser: CHAINBEG -> BEACHING

Round 4: E O I S H P E D M

Daniel: IMPOSED (7)
Roger: DEPOSE (6)
DC: HEMIPODES (18)
Score: 26–12 (max 44, jos 44)
Darren-o-meter: 3/3 (100%)

Daniel extends his lead, whilst DC make it 3 darrens out of 3.

Round 5: S R P E A O T L T

Daniel: PRATTLES (8)
Roger: apostate (phantom A)
DC: APOSTLE (7) SPLATTER (8) PLATTERS (8)
OT: PALETOTS (8) PARTLETS (8) PETROSAL (8) PLOTTERS (8) PORTLETS (8) POTESTAL (8) PROSTATE (8) SPROTTLE (8)
Score: 34–12 (max 52, jos 52)
Darren-o-meter: 3/4 (75%)

The phantom A extends Daniel's lead further still.

Round 6: 100, 5, 10, 3, 4, 8. Target: 792.

Daniel: 792. ​100 × 8 − (5 + 3​) (10)
Roger: 792. ​100 × 8 − (5 + 3​) (10)
Score: 44–22 (max 62, jos 62)

thank u, next.

Anne plugs Grace's book, which Grace says is about her becoming a restaurant critic. "It's a proper job", she insists, although Anne isn't convinced. She also does taste testing on Masterchef, so Anne goes full Janet Street-Porter... "what if I don't like chilli"...

Round 7: M D F S A U O E T

Daniel: outmade (risky)
Roger: MODEST (6)
DC: FASTED (6) FEAST (5)
OT: DEFAMOUS (8)
Score: 44–28 (max 70, jos 68)
Darren-o-meter: 4/5 (80%)

Daniel's risky 7 is not valid, giving Roger six points back off the deficit, although there was an eight there as well.

Round 8: N V D R O I A L U

Daniel: radion (try)
Roger: DURIAN (6)
DC: ORDINAL (7) LARDON (6)
OT: DIURNAL (7) NAILROD (7) NODULAR (7) RODINAL (7)
Score: 44–34 (max 77, jos 75)
Darren-o-meter: 4/6 (67%)

Daniel makes another mistake, and the gap comes down to 10.

Round 9: 100, 75, 7, 9, 1, 3. Target: 153.

Daniel: 150.
Roger: 153. (9 − 7) × 75 + 3​ (10)
Score: 44–44 (max 87, jos 85)

Daniel will be kicking himself. He was squandered a 22-point lead in 3 rounds, and now it's game on.

Teatime teaser: PACTCASH -> CAPTCHAS

Round 10: E I I C R Y C O K

Daniel: COCKIER (7)
Roger: COCKIER (7)
Score: 51–51 (max 94, jos 92)
Darren-o-meter: 5/7 (71%)

Darren spotted by both contestants.

Round 11: T S B F A A O E L

Daniel: BLOATS (6)
Roger: BLEATS (6)
DC: OBLATES (7)
OT: ABLATES (7) ASTABLE (7) BOATELS (7) FOLATES (7) OBLATAS (7)
Score: 57–57 (max 101, jos 99)
Darren-o-meter: 5/8 (63%)

Sixes for the contestants whilst DC sees one of the 6 available 7s.

Susie covers some of her favourite etymologies including eavesdrop and muscle.

Round 12: T N P E A I G C A

Daniel: goating (risk) (phantom O; invalid anyway)
Roger: CAPTAIN (7)
DC: PAGINATE (8)
OT: PAGEANTIC (18)
Score: 57–64 (max 119, jos 107)
Darren-o-meter: 6/9 (67%)

Whilst it's possible that Daniel said COATING rather than GOATING (which has a phantom G as well), Susie said it was invalid anyway as well as a phantom O. So it's wrong on two grounds. That gives Roger a 7-point lead, but everyone misses the 9, presumably relating to PAGEANT.

Round 13: Z T S B E A I R M

Daniel: BARMIEST (8) (try)
Roger: BREAMS (6)
OT: AMBRITES (8)
Score: 65–64 (max 127, jos 115)
Darren-o-meter: 6/10 (60%)

One of Daniel's risks and tries finally pays off with BARMIEST giving him a one-point lead.

Roger decides to take it to the conundrum and not to gamble.

Round 14: 100, 5, 9, 2, 8, 9. Target: 842.

Daniel: 841. Mistake in working.
Roger: -
RR: 842. (100 + 5) × 8 + 2​ (10)
Score: 65–64 (max 137, jos 125)

Deary me. That's not exactly vintage Countdown, as both contestants completely stuff an easy numbers round.

Crucial it is!

Round 15: B A K E D C A R E

Daniel buzzes on 10.5 seconds but blanks.
Roger does not buzz.
Susie gives the answer, which was BREADCAKE.
Final Score: 65–64 (max 147, jos 135)

Daniel buzzes but doesn't offer anything. Roger doesn't even buzz. This is a horrible conundrum as the CAKEBREAD trap would have been far too easy to fall into, and it's Susie who gives the answer.

Daniel will be back on Monday, hanging onto the champion's chair by the skin of his teeth. Join us again for Countdown. Goodbye.


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 2:11 pm This is a horrible conundrum as the CAKEBREAD trap would have been far too easy to fall into, and it's Susie who gives the answer.

As Martyn Simpson did in this game!

Damian, it's a joke on my part rather than a complaint I have personally, but many others do genuinely have such a grievance, so I will clarify that for you.

As I'm sure you know, a gay bar whose target market is LGBT+ people. The one I used to go to in Brighton, for example, had lots of rainbow decarations and brightly-coloured drinks as well as music stuck in 1987. Some (I would even tentatively say "many") gay people dislike straight people coming into their bars. "Straightwashing" is the term for it: the suggestion being that LGBT+ people, but I suppose it could apply to all minority groups, need "safe spaces" whereupon they can exist in a segregated environment.

Thanks for that, Rhys.
'Straightwashing' is a new one on me.
I do know, having grown up in Blackpool, that the 'pink pound' (a term used by the gay community, not me), wasn't enough to keep many of the gay bars and clubs open (Funny Girls etc), and they were heavily reliant on straight people splashing their cash too and probably still are.
Those who grumble about it are perhaps the same folk who scream for inclusivity.

NB - username Countdown Team, created by me, was done in irony many years ago when i posted about the 30th Birthday Championships on here, as i was the only member of staff at the time, following a bout of redundancies at ITV. I don't speak for the show, merely myself. I think i'll change the username.

Toodles.

Countdown Team wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:26 amthey were heavily reliant on straight people splashing their cash too and probably still are.

Probably depends on a case-by-case basis pre-pandemic (the bar I alluded to above would cope perfectly well), but I think given the pandemic this hasn't ever been truer.

Countdown Team wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:26 am 'Straightwashing'

This one’s hit the headlines again in the “pink” press: https://www.attitude.co.uk/article/tikt ... WxkL-9Lt10