Countdown recap for Wednesday 30 June 2010.
C1: Champion Ben Cooke (1 win, 90 points.) An Apterite from Tatton Hall, Chester, Cheshire, but is currently a student at the University Of York, where he is studying economics and finance. He also enjoys football, squash, cricket and hill walking. One notable hill he has climbed is Mount Kilimanjaro, which he claims is pretty easy until the steep bit right at the end.
C2: Challenger Ryan Loughborough. An Apterite from Durham, although he was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and grew up in Devon.
He works in admin support for his local county council and is studying computing at Sunderland University. His ambitions are to become a video games programmer and meet the authors Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman. He also won a Cutest Baby Competition in 1992. (Not sure what to make of that 
)DC: Susie Dent, looking pretty in pink and Tim Vine, hopefully doing pretty good jokes.
RR: Rachel Riley, just pretty, nothing else.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: Y D S U E O T T N
R02: R V A U Z M S A U
R03: D G D I E I S C O
R04: E S W G O I D S E
R05: 50, 8, 7, 9, 6, 4. Target: 402.
TTT: OWNBROOM - "On a man's face, it's where two become one"
R06: R T T E I A N M O
R07: N M S A E O X R A
R08: E A D G R B E I N
R09: F K P A O E V R L
R10: 75, 9, 6, 8, 2, 1. Target: 347.
TTT: DARERANT - "He didn't dare rant, he just told the story in a nice way"
R11: H L F A O A P R O
R12: P H J A E N U E L
R13: R L S U I I R N E
R14: 100, 25, 3, 8, 1, 4. Target: 591.
R15: C A R O L M U L E (conundrum)
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: Y D S U E O T T N
C1: SNOUTED (7)
C2: STUNTED (7)
DC: STUDENTY (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
DC spot the slightly odd looking darren missed by both our student contestants.
Round 2: R V A U Z M S A U
C1: RAMS (4)
C2: RAMS (4)
DC: AURAS (5)
OT: ARUMS (5) RAMUS (5) ASURA (5) MAARS (5) MARAS (5) RASAM (5) VARUS (5)
Score: 11–11 (max 13)
Pffff, eight 5's available and I've only heard of one of them
An ARUM is any of several Old World plants, such as the cuckoopint, of the genus Arum, having basal, arrowhead-shaped leaves.
A RAMUS is a branch of a plant, vein or bone, etc.
An ASURA is a god or demon in Indian mythology.
A MAAR is a circular volcanic landform resulting from explosive ash eruptions.
A MARA (also known as a Patagonian hare) is a burrowing, gray, long-eared and long-legged cavy of the genus Dolichotis, native to South America.
A VARUS is an abnormal angulation of a bone or joint, with the angle pointing away from the midline.
That's quite a lot of definitions. Please stay with us. We'll be back with the action shortly.
Round 3: D G D I E I S C O
C1: coded (declared as 6)
C2: DISCOED (7)
OT: DISCOID (7) GIDDIES (7) IODIDES (7) IODISED (7)
Score: 11–18 (max 20)
Ryan finds one of the 7's available, as Ben miscounts his 5 as a 6.
DISCOID means having the form of a discus or disc.
Round 4: E S W G O I D S E
C1: WEDGIES (7)
C2: WEDGIES (7)
OT: SWEDGES (7)
Score: 18–25 (max 27)
There's me being happy with WEDGES
I think someone will probably have to give me a WEDGIE for missing that.Round 5: 50, 8, 7, 9, 6, 4. Target: 402.
C1: 402. (50 x 8) + 6 - 4 (10)
C2: 402. (50 x 8) + 6 - 4 (10)
Score: 28–35 (max 37)
Continuing with his "Living In The Modern World" theme, Tim talks about mobile phones, and why we don't go back to just plain old shouting.
Teatime teaser: OWNBROOM -> MONOBROW
Round 6: R T T E I A N M O
C1: NATTIER (7)
C2: MINARET (7)
DC: TOMATINE (8)
OT: AMORETTI (8) MARTINET (8) TENTORIA (8)
Score: 35–42 (max 45)
Tim becomes the star of the round with his messing around with the pencam while giving the definition of TOMATINE.
AMORETTI is the plural of AMARETTO, which is a little cupid.
A MARTINET is someone who stubbornly adheres to methods or rules.
TENTORIA (plural of TENTORIUM) are extensions of one of the membranes covering the cerebrum which, with the transverse fissure, separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum.
Round 7: N M S A E O X R A
C1: MOANERS (7)
C2: MOANERS (7)
DC: NAMES (5) OARSMEN (7)
OT: OARSMAN (7)
Score: 42–49 (max 52)
Round 8: E A D G R B E I N
C1: BREEDING (8)
C2: BREEDING (8)
DC: GABERDINE (18)
Score: 50–57 (max 70)
GABERDINE
Round 9: F K P A O E V R L
C1: PROVE (5)
C2: PLOVER (6)
DC: OVERLAP (7)
Score: 50–63 (max 77)
A tricky selection sees Ryan extend his lead while DC find the darren.
Susie's Origin Of Words tells of the origin of the phrase "warts and all".
Round 10: 75, 9, 6, 8, 2, 1. Target: 347.
C1: 350. Mistake in working.
C2: 348. Mistake in working.
RR: 347. (((8 - 6 + 75) x 9) + 1) / 2 (10)
Score: 50–63 (max 87)
A lesson in how not to fudge it up in full view here. With 2 not written down solutions, both contestants misdeclare their targets and get no points for it. It actually took Rachel until after the break to give us this very interesting solution.
Teatime teaser: DARERANT -> NARRATED
Round 11: H L F A O A P R O
C1: FLORA (5)
C2: HOOPLA (6)
DC: ALPHA (5)
OT: APOLAR (6) LOOFAH (6)
Score: 50–69 (max 93)
Ryan throws rings around Ben with that 6.
Round 12: P H J A E N U E L
C1: unpeel
C2: PANEL (5)
DC: PEAHEN (6)
Score: 50–74 (max 99)
Ouch, Ben's guess isn't in, but if there was an extra ED, it would've created a nice 8. As it is, DC spots the darren and Ryan's 5 extends his lead to 24 points.
Round 13: R L S U I I R N E
C1: LINERS (6)
C2: RUINS (5)
DC: INSURER (7) SURLIER (7)
OT: INLIERS (7) RESILIN (7)
Score: 56–74 (max 106)
Ben keeps himself in with a faint chance with that 6.
RESILIN is an elastic substance of cross-linked protein chains found in the cuticles of many insects, especially in the wings.
Round 14: 100, 25, 3, 8, 1, 4. Target: 591.
C1: 592. ((3 + 4 - 1) x 100) - 8 (7)
C2: 591. Mistake in working.
RR: 591. ((100 - 25 - 1) x 8) - (4 - 3) (10)
Score: 63–74 (max 116)
Oh dear. 125 x 4 doesn't equal 600.
But, unfortunately for Ben, his 1 away is too little, too late and Ryan will be the new champion.Round 15: C A R O L M U L E
C2 buzzes on 1 second to say MOLECULAR which is correct.
Score: 63–84 (max 126)
Woah, that was fast
Ryan does the fastest solve of the series and wins despite his late collapse.Can he win tomorrow against another Apterite in Jonathan Wynn
Well, at least Apterous will be in a Wynn, Wynn situation tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow for the result.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Ben:
Total score - 63
Raw score - 73
Total % of max - 50
Raw % of max - 58
Total average score per round - 4.2
Raw average score per round - 4.9
Number of maxes - 3
Ryan:
Total score - 84
Raw score - 89
Total % of max - 67
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 5.6
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 6
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63