C1: Champion Hamish Williamson (1 win, 134 points.)
C2: Challenger Heather Bolam.
DC: Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: C R O I G E D I T
R02: L E I P S T E W O
R03: U H S E N O D A B
R04: Z R H J I E U R P
R05: 50, 1, 10, 8, 8, 2. Target: 140.
TTT: SARIFERN - "Desists from humming these over and over"
R06: S N M E U O X L O
R07: L D A E T C A S T
R08: I N I V K D A I T
R09: U A D S M E I M R
R10: 100, 50, 6, 9, 6, 10. Target: 534.
TTT: SADPURGE - "Improve your exam results to a better standard"
R11: T F N E E M R O P
R12: L Q E I N F A A B
R13: T G E A R O P T E
R14: 50, 100, 9, 7, 5, 8. Target: 579.
R15: L A X I T Y S U E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Yes, you did read that right. Hamish has one win and a whopping 134 points. That wasn't a tpyo. (That was though.) Not only is it the highest score so far of the series, it is also the highest debut score ever according to Jeff. Us purists prefer to call it "highest score by a challenger in a heat game", as not only is it clearly more punchy, it's also more accurate. He of course took this crown from Kirk "The Kirkulator" Bevins who achieved it earlier this series, leaving poor Kirk "The Bevatron" Bevins to stew for another five years or so before he can have another shot at it. Anyway, the pedantry over the title is because Hamish is yet another player having a second crack - he first appeared back in 1999, and like Kirk "The Bevulator" Bevins, lost his first game but is allowed back on because he was under 18 at the time. It's clearly been a tough ten years for him.
Hamish is from Helensburgh in Dumbartonshire, he loves playing the piano, horse racing and modern politics, is the president of the Dumbarton Concord Chess Club and is one cool motherfucker according to Jim Bentley. And he'd know.
Looking to take the title of "highest debut score" and "highest score by a challenger in a heat game" in one fell swoop, thus seeing Hamish hold it for even less time than Kirk "The Kirkatron" Bevins, is Heather Bolam. She's from Oxford and is studying maths at Durham University. She enjoys riding, reading the historical thriller novels of Robert Goddard, and describes herself as adventurous, loyal, and focused.
Round 1: C R O I G E D I T
C1: CREDIT (6)
C2: DICIER (6)
DC: GOITRED (7) CORDITE (7)
OT: DIORITE (7) ERGODIC (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)
A few countdown favourites pass unnoticed by the contestants here. Ergodic is some mathematical term that I don't understand.
Round 2: L E I P S T E W O
C1: EPISTLE (7)
C2: PISTOL (6)
DC: PISTOLE (7) PEEWITS (7)
OT: PETIOLES (8) SWEETLIP (8)
Score: 13–6 (max 15)
A petiole is the stalk that joins a leaf to a stem, and a sweetlip (or sweetlips) is a fish. One suspects that Susie would have not mentioned this one if she had spotted it, as Gyles would probably use it to make some lurid reference to her labia, the obsequious perv.
Round 3: U H S E N O D A B
C1: ABOUNDS (7)
C2: HUSBAND (7)
OT: SUBHEAD (7)
Score: 20–13 (max 22)
Round 4: Z R H J I E U R P
C1: PURER (5)
C2: PRIZE (5)
OT: HIRER (5) RIPER (5)
Score: 25–18 (max 27)
Round 5: 50, 1, 10, 8, 8, 2. Target: 140.
C1: 140. (1+8)*10+50 (10)
C2: 140. (8+8-2)*10 (10)
Score: 35–28 (max 37)
Teatime teaser: SARIFERN -> REFRAINS
Round 6: S N M E U O X L O
C1: LEMONS (6)
C2: LOOSEN (6)
DC: MELONS (6) LUMENS (6)
OT: UNLOOSE (7)
Score: 41–34 (max 44)
Unloose is a verb (meaning to let free) as opposed to just meaning 'tight'. I expect this wasn't mentioned so that Gyles couldn't make the same point, and use it to make some lewd comparison with the walls of Susie's vagina, the simpering lech.
Round 7: L D A E T C A S T
C1: CASTLED (7)
C2: CASTLE (6)
DC: LACTATES (8)
OT: LACTATED (8)
Score: 48–34 (max 52)
Surprisingly LACTATES does get a mention, so one can only assume that the subsequent attempts by Gyles to coax milk out of Susie's pert nipples (the fawning degenerate) were left on the cutting room floor.
Round 8: I N I V K D A I T
C1: DAVIT (5)
C2: TANK (4)
DC: VIAND (5) AVIDIN (6)
Score: 53–34 (max 58)
Round 9: U A D S M E I M R
C1: DIMMERS (7)
C2: DREAMS (6)
DC: MEDIUMS (7) DUMMIES (7) ADMIRES (7) MERMAIDS (8)
Score: 60–34 (max 66)
Neb gets a cheeky namecheck during Susie's origin of words.
Round 10: 100, 50, 6, 9, 6, 10. Target: 534.
C1: 536.
C2: 534. 6*100-50-(10+6) (10)
Score: 60–44 (max 76)
Teatime teaser: SADPURGE -> UPGRADES
Round 11: T F N E E M R O P
C1: FERMENT (7)
C2: portmen
OT: FOMENTER (8)
Score: 67–44 (max 84)
Round 12: L Q E I N F A A B
C1: FABLE (5)
C2: ABELIAN (7)
Score: 67–51 (max 91)
Susie breathes a majora sigh of relief as there are no rude words to be made out of this selection with which Gyles can sexually intimidate her
Great Darrenic spot by Heather hauls her back into contention.
Round 13: T G E A R O P T E
C1: PROTEGE (7)
C2: TEAPOT (6)
DC: OPERATE (7) OPERETTA (8)
Score: 74–51 (max 99)
Round 14: 50, 100, 9, 7, 5, 8. Target: 579.
C1: 578. Mistake in working.
C2: 574. 5*100+50+7+8+9 (7)
OT: 579. 5*100+8*9+7
Score: 74–58 (max 109)
Round 15: L A X I T Y S U E
C2 buzzes on 8 seconds to say SEXUALITY which is correct.
Score: 74–68 (max 119)
So Hamish lives to fight another day, and Heather may well kick herself over a few missed chances as she ends up just 6 points behind, which is the closest she has been to Hamish's score since round 1. Not quite the fireworks of yesterday's showing by Hamish, so Kirk "The Penetrator" Bevins can probably rest a little easier that no more of his records are likely to fall during Hamish's run. Indeed Hamish isn't that confident of winning many more, since he declares that he'll be back in Dumbartonshire on Monday to play his next chess match
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=60
Best recap of the year so far!
