The Series 62 finals have arrived, and I'll be your guide for today's first quarter-final action. Enjoy. 
Countdown recap for Thursday 10 June 2010.
C1: No.8 Seed Claudia Tyson (6 wins, 545 points.) From Ampthill, Bedfordshire. She works as a civilian nurse.
C2: No.1 Seed Oliver Garner (8 wins, 802 points.) Apteforumite from New Malden, Surrey. He's a student at Tiffin's School.
DC: Susie Dent and John Inverdale.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: B L A I A N S O H
R02: N L D A U E T R O
R03: E D O S P R E B R
R04: A I S W N K A E S
R05: 25, 5, 3, 8, 2, 2. Target: 501.
TTT: DRESSNIL - "It's how some of you like to bring home the bacon"
R06: G V H X I A O R C
R07: D A E P R E M S A
R08: E E C Z T I W N C
R09: R D O U I T M E S
R10: 100, 1, 2, 7, 5, 10. Target: 251.
TTT: SETELVER - "Are these animals made of fake cowskin?"
R11: I O G N T E L V E
R12: R F L G U O I T U
R13: D S J Y A E I Q T
R14: 100, 2, 2, 7, 6, 10. Target: 444.
R15: S A I N T P I T A (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: B L A I A N S O H
C1: BLAINS (6)
C2: ABOLISH (7)
DC: HOBNAILS (8)
Score: 0–7 (max 8)
The No.1 seed takes an early lead with his 7, but DC show good early form by spotting the darrenic 8.
Round 2: N L D A U E T R O
C1: LAUNDER (7)
C2: TRUNDLE (7)
DC: EUROLAND (8)
OT: OUTLANDER (18)
Score: 7–14 (max 26)
WHAT
I watched this on my Sky+ and saw that 9 after one second, so fast-forwarded thinking that at least one of the contestants would have it, but no-one in the studio got it! (Well, maybe some people in the audience did.) Although, Oliver did say he had a safe 7, which makes me think if he had a mystery word, and what it was.....Round 3: E D O S P R E B R
C1: BORDERS (7)
C2: BORDERS (7)
DC: BEDSORE (7)
OT: DESORBER (8) RESORBED (8)
Score: 14–21 (max 34)
Round 4: A I S W N K A E S
C1: SWAINS (6)
C2: AWAKENS (7)
DC: WINKS (5) SWANKS (6)
Score: 14–28 (max 41)
Hmmm, an interesting collection of letters coming out there, an R might've made it more interesting. As it is, Oliver spots the darren to make his score double that of Claudia's.
Round 5: 25, 5, 3, 8, 2, 2. Target: 501.
C1: 501. ((8 / 2) x 5 x 25) + 3 - 2 (10)
C2: 501. ((8 / 2) x 5 x 25) + 3 - 2 (10)
Score: 24–38 (max 51)
After Susie's stomach rumble, John tells the story of the University Boat Race, which began on this day in 1829 and how the adjudicator of the 1877 race went missing after having a very good lunch, leaving the race in a dead heat.
Teatime teaser: DRESSNIL -> RINDLESS
Round 6: G V H X I A O R C
C1: CHOIR (5)
C2: VIRAGO (6)
Score: 24–44 (max 57)
Another brilliant darren by Oliver, and after the slowish start, he seems to have hit top gear now.
Round 7: D A E P R E M S A
C1: PARADES (7)
C2: AMPERES (7)
OT: DAMPERS (7) SMEARED (7) SPEARED (7)
Score: 31–51 (max 64)
Round 8: E E C Z T I W N C
C1: ENTICE (6)
C2: ENTICE (6)
Score: 37–57 (max 70)
Round 9: R D O U I T M E S
C1: OUTRIDES (8)
C2: MISROUTED (18)
Score: 37–75 (max 88)
Oliver makes up for missing OUTLANDER by bagging that brilliant 9. That's 4 darrens in his last 5 rounds for Oliver as well, and his 6th max in a row too.
Susie's Origin Of Words tells of the origin of "strike", as in trade disputes.
Round 10: 100, 1, 2, 7, 5, 10. Target: 251.
C1: 251. (100 x 2) + (5 x 10) + 1 (10)
C2: 251. (100 x 2) + (5 x 10) + 1 (10)
Score: 47–85 (max 98)
Teatime teaser: SETELVER -> LEVERETS
Round 11: I O G N T E L V E
C1: VIOLENT (7)
C2: VIOLENT (7)
DC: LENTIGO (7)
OT: GENTILE (7) TELOGEN (7) VEINLET (7) VETOING (7) VOLTING (7)
Score: 54–92 (max 105)
TELOGEN is the resting phase of the hair growth cycle following anagen (the active phase) and preceding shedding (the not-so-active phase).
Round 12: R F L G U O I T U
C1: FLIRT (5)
C2: FLOUR (5)
DC: FLORUIT (7)
Score: 59–97 (max 112)
Oliver's max run comes to an end, as DC spot the brilliant darrenic 7.
Round 13: D S J Y A E I Q T
C1: STEADY (6)
C2: STAYED (6)
Score: 65–103 (max 118)
And our No.1 seed is safely through to the semis after spotting one of the two available sixes.
Round 14: 100, 2, 2, 7, 6, 10. Target: 444.
C1: 444. (10 + 7 - 6 + 100) x (2 + 2) (10)
C2: 444. (10 + 7 - 6 + 100) x 2 x 2 (10)
Score: 75–113 (max 128)
The 3rd easy numbers game of the day puts Oliver in position to beat the highest score of the series, set by himself.
Round 15: S A I N T P I T A
C2 buzzes on 7.25 seconds to say ANTIPASTI which is correct.
Score: 75–123 (max 138)
And indeed he does, with that brilliant spot.
So, Oliver put in a commanding performance against Claudia, who certainly didn't embarrass herself today, but she was just up against a brilliant competitor.
Oliver will be back for my next recap on Wednesday, where he'll take on No.4 Seed Peter Zyss or our very own No.5 Seed Craig Chittenden in the first semi-final.
Join me for that next week.
Till then, good luck England on Saturday.
Bye bye!
Statistics Corner
Claudia:
Total score - 75
Raw score - 100
Total % of max - 54
Raw % of max - 72
Total average score per round - 5.0
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 7
Oliver:
Total score - 123
Raw score - 123
Total % of max - 89
Raw % of max - 89
Total average score per round - 8.2
Raw average score per round - 8.2
Number of maxes - 11
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62