c4countdown

Countdown recap for Tuesday 27 January 2009 (C of C QF4).

C1: Champion Kai Laddiman (10 wins, 1001 points.)
C2: Champion Nick Wainwright (12 wins, 1131 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Paul Zenon.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

The last quarter-final of the Championship of Champions between Series 59 semi-finalist Kai and Series 56 champion Nick is upon us, and it’s a tough one to call! Let’s see what happened...

R01: Q R F A O T A E N
R02: T S G D I U A E A
R03: A R Z E L E A T D
R04: S N C B O A I I I
R05: 100, 25, 7, 9, 5, 3. Target: 501.
TTT: PALEBONE - "A tall runner in more ways than one."
R06: M S N T E A O E E
R07: S I T I D L I S O
R08: G B D L O E E C R
R09: A U N X S O C I P
R10: 6, 3, 8, 9, 2, 8. Target: 440.
TTT: RIOTCLAN - "A string of rip-offs in the sky, perhaps."
R11: S D U E R E T O N
R12: M D N S O A A A U
R13: E P T I E T K U P
R14: 100, 8, 1, 2, 6, 7. Target: 972.
R15: A C U T S K I R T (conundrum)

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Round 1: Q R F A O T A E N

C1: ORNATE (6)
C2: AORTA (5)
Score: 6–0 (max 6)

Round 2: T S G D I U A E A

C1: DIGEST (6)
C2: AGISTED (7)
DC: GAUDIEST (8)
Score: 6–7 (max 14)

Round 3: A R Z E L E A T D

C1: RELATED (7)
C2: RELATED (7)
DC: TREADLE (7)
OT: AERATED (7) ALERTED (7) ALTERED (7) LAZARET (7) TEAZLED (7)
Score: 13–14 (max 21)

Round 4: S N C B O A I I I

C1: BIONIC (6)
C2: CABINS (6)
DC: CASINO (6) BIONICS (7)
Score: 19–20 (max 28)

Paul Zenon seemed to go on about The Six Million Dollar Man as if Kai hadn’t just said BIONIC, or maybe it was just me... come to think of it, have you ever seen the programme, Kai?

Round 5: 100, 25, 7, 9, 5, 3. Target: 501.

C1: 501. (100x5)-(9-7)+3 (10)
C2: 501. (100x5)+7+3-9 (10)
Score: 29–30 (max 38)

Paul does a magic trick, which I’m still trying to fathom. Any ideas?

Teatime teaser: PALEBONE -> BEANPOLE

Round 6: M S N T E A O E E

C1: MEANEST (7)
C2: MEANEST (7)
DC: MEANEST (7)
OT: EASEMENT (8)
Score: 36–37 (max 46)

Round 7: S I T I D L I S O

C1: DISTILS (7)
C2: IDIOTS (6)
Score: 43–37 (max 53)

Great spot from Kai to put him back in the lead.

Round 8: G B D L O E E C R

C1: LODGER (6)
C2: LODGER (6)
DC: BOLDER (6) BODGER (6)
OT: CODGER (6) COLDER (6) CORBEL (6) CREOLE (6) GLOBED (6) LEDGER (6) RECODE (6)
Score: 49–43 (max 59)

Susie and Paul seemed to hint that BODGER might be rude in Australian English, but I can’t see it myself – unless there’s a more suspect definition than “slightly dodgy or inferior” that hasn’t yet made it into the dictionary!

Round 9: A U N X S O C I P

C1: COUSIN (6)
C2: ANXIOUS (7)
Score: 49–50 (max 66)

OoW: Susie discusses the new cuisine, “smushi”, a fusion of Danish and Japanese food.

Round 10: 6, 3, 8, 9, 2, 8. Target: 440.

As already pointed out by Martin in the spoiler thread, Nick asked for six from the third row, but Rachel took them all from the second. Not that it matters...

C1: 440. ((6x9)+3-2)x8 (10)
C2: 440. (9x8x6)+8 (10)
Score: 59–60 (max 76)

Teatime teaser: RIOTCLAN -> CONTRAIL

Round 11: S D U E R E T O N

C1: DENTURES (8)
C2: DEUTERONS (18)
OT: UNSORTED (8) UNRESTED (8)
Score: 59–78 (max 94)

Good work from Nick and a cornucopia of eights (well, three or four) for good measure.

Round 12: M D N S O A A A U

C1: DAMSON (6)
C2: MOUNDS (6)
DC: NOMADS (6)
OT: OSMUNDA (7)
Score: 65–84 (max 101)

An OSMUNDA is a fern-like plant; I was really chuffed with SANDMAN until I realised there was only one N

Round 13: E P T I E T K U P

C1: PETITE (6)
C2: PIPE (4)
OT: PIPETTE (7)
Score: 71–84 (max 108)

Round 14: 100, 8, 1, 2, 6, 7. Target: 972.

C1: 972. (100+8)x(7+2) (10)
C2: 972. (100+6+2)x(8+1) (10)
Score: 81–94 (max 118)

Round 15: A C U T S K I R T

C1 buzzes on 1 second to say TRACKSUIT which is correct.
Score: 91–94 (max 128)

Great stuff from both players and a shame that there had to be a loser, but then that’s Countdown. Nick commented that he’d rather not have been playing a twelve-year old and Jeff pointed out that there would have been no shame in losing to one; I suspect Nick was also referring to the fact that beating one always feels slightly beastly. Still, when they’re of Kai’s standard, maybe it’s not quite so bad. Discuss.

Three games to go this week and I’m sure we have yet more treats in store...

Recap brought to you by the Budaxupis Brothers.

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

Nice work!

Only way I can think of that the first trick could be done would be if Rachel got handed a different piece of paper than the one the numbers were written on.
And didn't Nick only declare PIPE or something in R13?

Innis Carson wrote:And didn't Nick only declare PIPE or something in R13?

Quite right. The recap shows him scoring 6 points on that round, but in fact he scored 0 and his final score at the end of the game was 94, not 100.

Great recap Mike.

I just checked on 4OD, and by the time it had loaded Innis had posted what I was checking anyway.

Nick declared 4 with Pipe, Kai won the round, so Nick needs 6 points off his score - it ends 91-94.

Dan Vanniasingham wrote:Great recap Mike.

I just checked on 4OD, and by the time it had loaded Innis had posted what I was checking anyway.

Nick declared 4 with Pipe, Kai won the round, so Nick needs 6 points off his score - it ends 91-94.

Kai lost it by only three points despite Nick getting the niner. An amazing effort from Kai, superb in fact. His BIONIC was to Richard's CAFETERIA in their game with the similar disaster.

What a contest this is! The standard is staggering.

Congratulations to Nick though and now everyone know the semi-finalists

Innis Carson wrote:Nice work!

Only way I can think of that the first trick could be done would be if Rachel got handed a different piece of paper than the one the numbers were written on.
And didn't Nick only declare PIPE or something in R13?

Ah, good thinking... that was almost certainly what he did. Apologies for the recap error; UPKEEP was one of the words I got! Duly fixed...

Innis Carson wrote:Nice work!

Only way I can think of that the first trick could be done would be if Rachel got handed a different piece of paper than the one the numbers were written on.
And didn't Nick only declare PIPE or something in R13?

You don't see the 4 numbers that were written down, so really all that trick relied on was Rachel saying a 5-digit number, therefore I think Rachel knew the 5-digit number beforehand and just had to remember it.

Joseph Bolas wrote:You don't see the 4 numbers that were written down, so really all that trick relied on was Rachel saying a 5-digit number, therefore I think Rachel knew the 5-digit number beforehand and just had to remember it.

Entirely possible, I agree, and it did cross my mind. However, I hope Innis's suggestion is correct, as at least it suggests a modicum of skill on the part of Mr Zenon!

Joseph Bolas wrote:You don't see the 4 numbers that were written down, so really all that trick relied on was Rachel saying a 5-digit number, therefore I think Rachel knew the 5-digit number beforehand and just had to remember it.

No, the trick relied on Rachel not seeing the 4 numbers that were written down, and therefore having no way of knowing that the piece of paper Paul handed her wasn't the one that Jeff, Nick, Kai and Susie had written on. (Although it was pretty obvious. Otherwise why not simply ask them each to call out a number and for Rachel to write them down and add them up?) Your way requires Rachel to be an accomplice in the trick, which is entirely unnecessary.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Joseph Bolas wrote:You don't see the 4 numbers that were written down, so really all that trick relied on was Rachel saying a 5-digit number, therefore I think Rachel knew the 5-digit number beforehand and just had to remember it.

No, the trick relied on Rachel not seeing the 4 numbers that were written down, and therefore having no way of knowing that the piece of paper Paul handed her wasn't the one that Jeff, Nick, Kai and Susie had written on. (Although it was pretty obvious. Otherwise why not simply ask them each to call out a number and for Rachel to write them down and add them up?) Your way requires Rachel to be an accomplice in the trick, which is entirely unnecessary.

Plus, as anyone in the audience will testify, Rachel was rather flustered at being asked to do the addition under pressure and got it wrong the first time, forcing a retake, which would have been a bit pointless if she knew the answer already.

Phil Reynolds wrote:No, the trick relied on Rachel not seeing the 4 numbers that were written down

It also, to a certain degree, depends on the 4th & final person NOT choosing to write a number down that is larger than 31505, and realising this when the answer is read out. Given the "two of spades sunglasses" debacle, I think PZ was fairly safe selecting Susie to be this last person...

The floor manager Jay had to cue her with the right answer, having seen what would happen in the trick.