And I hope you enjoy this recap.
Countdown recap for Thursday 17 February 2011.
C1: Champion Mark Jones (1 win, 89 points.) From Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He likes American football, basketball and Liverpool F.C. His favourite place is New York City, even though he hasn't been there yet. He's also a fan of the New York Yankees, but certainly not the Mets
C2: Challenger Ned Pendleton. An Apteforumite from London. Over the last 18 months, he has been travelling around China, Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, France, South Africa, India and America. His favourite place is Paris, where he lived for a year.
DC: Susie Dent and Debra Stephenson.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: C S F I U A B R O
R02: L U G I O D J S E
R03: T R Y I E A S L C
R04: F O N U A T G M E
R05: 50, 6, 4, 8, 4, 2. Target: 427.
TTT: GEENIGEL - "Nigel probably won't look too good in this"
R06: R I K E A D W G P
R07: L X P E O A T N E
R08: H A R O E N T S I
R09: T S T O A E H G I
R10: 75, 25, 50, 100, 3, 5. Target: 242.
TTT: SETPROOF - "You'll find these on ships, sugar pie, honey bunch"
R11: S D S E A E L S I
R12: V E R I E T M R O
R13: D N V E I A M S B
R14: 75, 25, 100, 50, 5, 9. Target: 229.
R15: P O L Y T H E N E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: C S F I U A B R O
C1: CURIOS (6)
C2: caribous
DC: CARIBOU (7) FABRICS (7) FIBROUS (7)
OT: CABRIOS (7) CARIOUS (7) CURIOSA (7) RUBISCO (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)
Ooooh, a very unfortunate start for Ned, as the plural of CARIBOU is CARIBOU.
RUBISCO is a plant protein which fixes carbon in photosynthetic organisms and accepts oxygen in place of carbon dioxide.
Round 2: L U G I O D J S E
C1: OLDIES (6)
C2: goldies
DC: JOULES (6) LODGES (6)
OT: DOGIES (6) EJIDOS (6) GLIDES (6) GUIDES (6) GUILDS (6) JUDGES (6) LOUSED (6) SOULED (6) SOILED (6) SLUDGE (6)
Score: 12–0 (max 13)
Ned was going for GOLDIES, maybe he might be going for home, as he still can't score yet.
An EJIDO is a Mexican farm communally owned and operated by the inhabitants of a village on an individual or cooperative basis.
Round 3: T R Y I E A S L C
C1: REALITY (7)
C2: CASTLE (6)
DC: RECITALS (8) ARTICLES (8) LITERACY (8)
Score: 19–0 (max 21)
3 good 8's spotted by DC, but 7 will do for Mark.
Round 4: F O N U A T G M E
C1: MONTAGE (7)
C2: MONTAGE (7)
DC: MEGATON (7)
OT: AUGMENT (7) MUTAGEN (7) MAGNETO (7)
Score: 26–7 (max 28)
Ned finally gets off the board with his nice MONTAGE.
Round 5: 50, 6, 4, 8, 4, 2. Target: 427.
C1: 426. Mistake in working.
C2: 428. ((50 + 4) x 8) - 4 (7)
RR: 427. ((50 + 4) x 8) - ((6 + 4) / 2) (10)
Score: 26–14 (max 38)
A fully even numbers selection with an odd target. The mathematician's nightmare
As Mark fluffs up, Rachel reveals that if Ned had slightly altered his method, he could have achieved the full 10 points.
Debra talks about how she perfected her skills of impressions, particularly with ones who have Scottish accents, such as Lorraine Kelly and Kirsty Young, as well as people with other odd traits, such as Katie "Jordan" Price.
Teatime teaser: GEENIGEL -> NEGLIGEE
Round 6: R I K E A D W G P
C1: PAIRED (6)
C2: GAWKIER (7)
OT: GARPIKE (7) PAWKIER (7)
Score: 26–21 (max 45)
Ooooh, has Ned turned the corner
He is now just 5 points behind, after being seemingly dead and buried 3 rounds ago.A GARPIKE (or GARFISH or even GAR) is any primitive freshwater elongated bony fish of the genus Lepisosteus, of North and Central America, having very long toothed jaws and a body covering of thick scales.
PAWKIER derives from PAWKY, which means cunning or sly.
Round 7: L X P E O A T N E
C1: PLANET (6)
C2: POLENTA (7)
DC: POLEAXE (7) ANTELOPE (8)
OT: EXOPLANET (18)
Score: 26–28 (max 63)
And Ned now takes the lead with the Countdown favourite. Like me, DC think they come up trumps with ANTELOPE for 8, but there is a brilliant 9 lurking around.
An EXOPLANET is a planet that orbits a star in a solar system other than that of Earth.
Round 8: H A R O E N T S I
C1: HORNIEST (8)
C2: HOARIEST (8)
DC: HORTENSIA (18) SENHORITA (18)
Score: 34–36 (max 81)
A double 9 attack by DC, as the contestants stay on 8.
Round 9: T S T O A E H G I
C1: TOASTIE (7)
C2: goatiest
DC: HOSTAGE (7) GHETTOS (7)
OT: EGOTIST (7) HOAGIES (7) HOTTIES (7)
Score: 41–36 (max 88)
Oooooh, we give GOATIEST as OK on here, but Susie seems to think it has to be specified in the dictionary, but only GOATY is in the dictionary, meaning more bad news for Ned.
Susie's Origins Of Words focuses on common misspellings, such as "whets", "restaurateur", "mischievous" and "Middlesbrough".
Round 10: 75, 25, 50, 100, 3, 5. Target: 242.
C1: 240.
C2: 242. 75 + 25 + 50 + 100 - 3 - 5 (10)
Score: 41–46 (max 98)
People say that learning the odd multiples on 4 large can sometimes help, but this one proves that basic addition and subtraction are just as vital. Note for Mark there.
Teatime teaser: SETPROOF -> FORETOPS
Round 11: S D S E A E L S I
C1: LASSIE (6)
C2: LEASED (6)
DC: SEASIDES (8) DISEASES (8)
OT: SIDELESS (8)
Score: 47–52 (max 106)
Both get 6, but DC get the anagrammed 8's. Interestingly, Mark could've added the extra S to pluralise LASSIE. Could that be crucial
Round 12: V E R I E T M R O
C1: OVERTIME (8)
C2: REMOTER (7)
OT: OVERTIRE (8)
Score: 55–52 (max 114)
Mark retakes the lead with a very good 8 spot. You need to keep your eyes on this game, as just about anything is possible.
Round 13: D N V E I A M S B
C1: BANDIES (7)
C2: BANDIES (7)
DC: INVADES (7)
OT: MAIDENS (7) MEDIANS (7) MEDINAS (7) SIDEMAN (7)
Score: 62–59 (max 121)
A pancake round means that Ned's 2nd numbers is well crucial now.
Round 14: 75, 25, 100, 50, 5, 9. Target: 229.
C1: 230.
C2: 229. 75 + 100 + 50 + 9 - 5 (10)
Score: 62–69 (max 131)
Deary me, Mark hasn't learned from the last numbers and misses out on a simple addition and subtraction answer. So, Ned has the leas as we head into the crucial conundrum.
Round 15: P O L Y T H E N E
No one buzzes. The answer was TELEPHONY.
Final Score: 62–69 (max 141)
And no-one buzzes in with the answer to the conundrum in a conundrum, and Ned wins by.... 7. What if Mark had added the S to LASSIE. What would the 2nd conundrum have brought
Well, we'll never know and Ned is now the champion by the skin of his teeth, but he deserved it after his horrific start.
Join Mike tomorrow to see if he can make 2 out of 2.
I'll be celebrating tomorrow. What exactly will become obvious, but till next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Mark:
Total score - 62
Raw score - 88
Total % of max - 44
Raw % of max - 62
Total average score per round - 4.1
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 5
Ned:
Total score - 69
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 49
Raw % of max - 58
Total average score per round - 4.6
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64
