Monday 5th October 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 56)

[Howard Somerset]

Countdown recap for Monday 5 October 2009.

C1: Champion David Kurdynowski (1 win, 66 points.)
C2: Challenger Tony Leverton.
DC: Susie Dent and Martin Lewis.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

David now moves over to the champion's chair, having come through to win his first game on Friday with just eight seconds to spare. Will today's game be as close? Challenging David is Tony, an IT recruitment director, from Brandesburton, near Hornsey in East Yorkshire. Until appearing on Countdown, Tony's main claim to fame has been playing table football with Ozzy Osbourne.
Returning for a second spell in Dictionary Corner is money saving expert Martin Lewis. Hopefully he'll be giving us all some tips on how we can best get through the recession.

R01: N T O K G O I N E
R02: P S R I A E T M S
R03: Q A N T U M E O S
R04: L S D E I O T B P
R05: 25, 5, 5, 7, 8, 4. Target: 865.
TTT: COOLNESS - "Comfort someone about their games machine."
R06: P N T A I A N P L
R07: V E I O C D U R T
R08: W Y C E E I D L E
R09: S R N E A R A R U
R10: 75, 1, 8, 8, 7, 9. Target: 286.
TTT: HOTWOMEN - "There are probably several hot women where you live."
R11: N D O E O T B E F
R12: R S N A A O L H A
R13: E O I R G F Z E S
R14: 50, 100, 3, 3, 1, 9. Target: 286.
R15: U L E V E R T O N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: N T O K G O I N E

C1: tokening
C2: NOTION (6)
DC: TONKING (7)
OT: KONGONI (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)

David slips behind from the start. Maybe he's planning a late run, as in his first game.

Round 2: P S R I A E T M S

C1: PRIMATES (8)
C2: PRIMATES (8)
DC: SMARTIES (8)
OT: ASTERISM (8) IMPRESTS (8) PASTIMES (8) PASTRIES (8) PIASTRES (8) RASPIEST (8) TRAIPSES (8) STAMPERS (8)
Score: 8–14 (max 15)

Nice set of letters there with a whole load of 8s. But the 9 proved illusive.

Round 3: Q A N T U M E O S

C1: MOUNTS (6)
C2: AMOUNTS (7)
DC: SEAMOUNT (8)
Score: 8–21 (max 23)

Nice Darren from DC, and Tony moves further ahead.

Round 4: L S D E I O T B P

C1: SLOPED (6)
C2: DEPOSIT (7)
DC: BEDPOST (7) DESPOIL (7) DOPIEST (7)
OT: BOLDEST (7) BOLIDES (7) POSITED (7) TOPSIDE (7) DIPOLES (7) SPOILED (7) PILOTED (7) PIOLETS (7) PISTOLE (7)
Score: 8–28 (max 30)

Round 5: 25, 5, 5, 7, 8, 4. Target: 865.

C1: 866. 7 x 5 x 25 - 5 - 4 (7)
C2: -
RR: 865. (25 x 7 - 8 / 4) x 5 (10)
Score: 15–28 (max 40)

David closed the gap a little before the first break.

Rather than give us some money saving tips, today Martin Lewis talked about the star rating system for hotels, surprising both Susie and Jeff regarding the qualfications for a five-star hotel. So we have to wait until tomorrow to hear about how we can beat the recession.

Teatime teaser: COOLNESS -> CONSOLES

Round 6: P N T A I A N P L

C1: PAINT (5)
C2: PLANTAIN (8)
Score: 15–36 (max 48)

A further advance for Tony with another Darren

Round 7: V E I O C D U R T

C1: COURTED (7)
C2: COURTED (7)
DC: DIVORCE (7) OUTDRIVE (8)
Score: 22–43 (max 56)

Round 8: W Y C E E I D L E

C1: weedle
C2: delice
DC: DEWILY (6)
OT: CEILED (6) DECILE (6) CLEWED (6) WIDELY (6) WIELDY (6) EYELID (6)
Score: 22–43 (max 62)

Maybe the fact the the final E came out of the consonant box threw the contestants' concentration, resulting in them both going for invalid words.

Round 9: S R N E A R A R U

C1: ARREARS (7)
C2: EARNS (5)
Score: 29–43 (max 69)

Martin picked up on the financial connection with ARREARS, but didn't comment about EARNS having a similar connection. But this round sees David fighting back.

Susie decided to talk about words an phrases concerned with wealth. Today telling us that "striking it rich" and "pan out" come from gold prospecting, and that "sterling health" and "ring true" from coinage.

Round 10: 75, 1, 8, 8, 7, 9. Target: 286.

C1: -
C2: -
RR: 288. (7)
OT: 285. (8 x (7 - 1) - 8) x 9 - 75 (7)
Score: 29–43 (max 76)

A tricky numbers game stumped both contestants. Indeed the target of 286 proved to be impossible.

Teatime teaser: HOTWOMEN -> HOMETOWN

Round 11: N D O E O T B E F

C1: BOOTED (6)
C2: DENOTE (6)
DC: FOOTBED (7)
Score: 35–49 (max 83)

Round 12: R S N A A O L H A

C1: ARSON (5)
C2: LOANS (5)
DC: ALOHAS (6)
OT: ASHLAR (6) LAHARS (6) HALONS (6)
Score: 40–54 (max 89)

DC's offering of ALOHAS even beat CountMax. So we can expect an updated version of JimDic very soon.

Round 13: E O I R G F Z E S

C1: FORGES (6)
C2: FORGES (6)
DC: FOGIES (6) ORGIES (6)
OT: FRIEZES (7)
Score: 46–60 (max 96)

Still 14 points behind, David has got to win both the remaining rounds.

Round 14: 50, 100, 3, 3, 1, 9. Target: 286.

C1: 287. 3 x 100 - (9 + 3 + 1) (7)
C2: 287. 3 x 100 - (9 + 3 + 1) (7)
RR: 286. (100 - 3) x 3 - 50 / (9 + 1) (10)
Score: 53–67 (max 106)

286 couldn't be found in the last round, so we get another try. I wonder if somebody forgot to prime Cecil. Anyway, both contestants are just one away, so it's game to Tony.


Round 15: U L E V E R T O N

C2 buzzes on 6 seconds to say VOLUNTEER which is correct.
Score: 53–77 (max 116)

And Tony gets the conundrum, when his surname is embedded in the scramble.

Another game with a comparitively low max.

Statistics Corner

David:
Total score - 53
Raw score - 70
Total % of max - 46
Raw % of max - 60
Total average score per round - 3.5
Raw average score per round - 4.7
Number of maxes - 2

Tony:
Total score - 77
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 66
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 4


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61

[Hugh Binnie]

ALOHAS is invalid (on Apterous).

[Charlie Reams]

Round 6: P N T A I A N P L

C1: PAINT (5)
C2: PLANTAIN (8)
Score: 15–36 (max 48)

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

[Howard Somerset]

Round 6: P N T A I A N P L

C1: PAINT (5)
C2: PLANTAIN (8)
Score: 15–36 (max 48)

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

Only one thing for it, Charlie. She has to go.

[Howard Somerset]

ALOHAS is invalid (on Apterous).

Yes. The dictionary which Apterous uses is, I believe, the same as the one which CountMax (as mentioned in the recap) uses. However, the ODE2r, which Countdown uses, does permit the plural of ALOHA, and my guess is that the Apterous dictionary will be updated to allow ALOHAS very shortly.

[James Robinson]

Round 6: P N T A I A N P L

C1: PAINT (5)
C2: PLANTAIN (8)
Score: 15–36 (max 48)

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

What are her first 2 languages incidentally?

[Michael Wallace]

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

What are her first 2 languages incidentally?[/quote]
Sexy and phwoar.

[Charlie Reams]

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

What are her first 2 languages incidentally?

Brazilian Portuguese and German.

[Sue Sanders]

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this. Oh the humiliation.

What are her first 2 languages incidentally?

Brazilian Portuguese and German.

Mind you, if she grew up in Brazil (?) and she'd missed it, wouldn't that have been the equivilent of you missing TEANSONBOAST?
I spotted it quickly - I spent a month in Costa Rica last year!

[Phil Reynolds]

My girlfriend, seeing Countdown for the second time ever and speaking English as her third language, beat me with this.

What are her first 2 languages incidentally?

Brazilian Portuguese and German.

I thought it was Charley's aunt that came from Brazil, not Charlie's girlfriend.

[Charlie Reams]

I thought it was Charley's aunt that came from Brazil, not Charlie's girlfriend.

I grew up in the Fens, we like to keep it in the family round here.