Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 10 March 2011.
C1: Champion Andy McGurn (2 wins, 158 points.) An Apteforumite from Leeds. He works as a social worker. He loves tennis, snooker and travelling. He says it his ambition to go to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, which will take place during his 40th birthday.
C2: Challenger Pam Hill. From Bolton, Lancashire. She's a retired cabin crew member of British Airways. Nowadays, she is a novellist and has just finished her first novel, Origins, which she is hoping to get published. The most daring thing she has ever done is to spend the day in a Los Angeles police patrol car on a ridealong. I'd have thought it would've been doing The Krypton Factor assault course, which she did in 1991. (That's not mentioned on this show, that's just a bit of knowledge kept in the back of head.
)DC: Susie Dent and John Parrott.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: R S N A O E T U I
R02: Q S E O T M U R D
R03: S L D A I A G I O
R04: R N E I R T A E N
R05: 50, 75, 10, 4, 7, 5. Target: 107.
TTT: MICRONET - "It'll help you have a depressing conversation"
R06: M H E U G R I S M
R07: B D B A I A T O U
R08: R G I E N X I N T
R09: K T P A O I S L G
R10: 25, 1, 5, 1, 9, 6. Target: 205.
TTT: DONSWALL - "Don's wall was built in a certain part of Scotland"
R11: H S D E I E C A E
R12: J V A I M T A E P
R13: L F N O U E C S Y
R14: 25, 5, 9, 6, 8, 9. Target: 519.
R15: D A N D B E A N O (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: R S N A O E T U I
C1: NOTARISE (8)
C2: SUITOR (6)
DC: ROUTINES (8) URINATES (8)
OT: NOTARIES (8) RAINOUTS (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)
Pam seems happy with her 6, but Andy trumps her with one of the many available 8's.
Round 2: Q S E O T M U R D
C1: DETOURS (7)
C2: quoters
DC: TORQUES (7)
OT: DOUREST (7) QUESTOR (7) ROQUETS (7) ROUSTED (7) STORMED (7) TORQUED (7)
Score: 15–0 (max 15)
Pam's attempt of quoters proves unfruitful, as Andy is still on a perfect course as he did with his start against Adam yesterday.
A QUESTOR (or QUAESTOR) is a Roman who was one of two subordinates of the consuls serving as public prosecutors in certain criminal cases.
Round 3: S L D A I A G I O
C1: ADAGIOS (7)
C2: ADAGIOS (7)
Score: 22–7 (max 22)
A nice darrenic 7 sees Pam get off the board.
Round 4: R N E I R T A E N
C1: retainer (declared as 9)
C2: TERRAIN (7)
DC: RETAINER (8)
OT: INERRANT (8)
Score: 22–14 (max 30)
AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Andy becomes only the 2nd known person to declare an inaccurate 9, and Pam is now suddenly back in with a shout.
INERRANT means free from error.
Round 5: 50, 75, 10, 4, 7, 5. Target: 107.
C1: 107. ((50 / 5) x 10) + 7 (10)
C2: 107. ((10 / 5) x 50) + 7 (10)
Score: 32–24 (max 40)
Plenty of ways of getting this one, as both go for virtually the same route.
John talks about his time with the legend of snooker, the late Alex "Hurricane" Higgins.
Teatime teaser: MICRONET -> INTERCOM
Round 6: M H E U G R I S M
C1: SHIMMER (7)
C2: GUMMIER (7)
DC: HUMMERS (7)
OT: GIMMERS (7) GUMMIES (7) GUSHIER (7) IMMURES (7) MEGRIMS (7) MUSHIER (7)
Score: 39–31 (max 47)
Pancake time
To IMMURE is to enclose within walls.
A MEGRIM is a fit of depression, as well as a disease of horses or cattle.
Round 7: B D B A I A T O U
C1: OUTBID (6)
C2: ABOUT (5)
DC: BIODATA (7)
Score: 45–31 (max 54)
A nice darrenic 7 from DC, as Andy OUTBIDs Pam by one to extend his lead again.
Round 8: R G I E N X I N T
C1: RENTING (7)
C2: RENTING (7)
DC: EXITING (7)
OT: INTEGRIN (8)
Score: 52–38 (max 62)
This time the darrenic 8 is missed, as 7's are top brass here.
INTEGRIN is any of various glycoproteins that are found on cell surfaces (as of white blood cells or platelets), that are composed of two dissimilar polypeptide chains, that are receptors for various proteins which typically bind to the tripeptide ligand consisting of arginine, glycine, and aspartic acid, that promote adhesion of cells (as T cells) to other cells (as endothelial cells) or to extracellular material (as fibronectin or laminin), and that mediate various biological processes (as phagocytosis, wound healing, and embryogenesis).
I'm taking a breather now, as I'm suffering from a brain overload
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Now we return to your regular recap entertainment.
Round 9: K T P A O I S L G
C1: KATIPOS (7)
C2: PATIOS (6)
OT: GALIOTS (7) GALIPOT (7) TOPSAIL (7)
Score: 59–38 (max 69)
Another fantastic spot by Andy. Clearly those hours on that brilliant Countdown-training website are paying him nice dividends.
A GALIOT is a small ketchlike sailing vessel used for trade along the coast of Germany and nearby countries.
A GALIPOT is a type of turpentine exuded on the stems of certain species of pine.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origin of "talk of the devil".
Round 10: 25, 1, 5, 1, 9, 6. Target: 205.
C1: 205. ((9 - 1) x 25) + 5 (10)
C2: 205. ((9 - 1) x 25) + 5 (10)
Score: 69–48 (max 79)
Another simple numbers sees Andy surpass his total from yesterday's show.
Teatime teaser: DONSWALL -> LOWLANDS
Round 11: H S D E I E C A E
C1: CHEESED (7)
C2: CASHED (6)
DC: DEHISCE (7)
OT: DECEASE (7)
Score: 76–48 (max 86)
Pam might be CHEESED off now, but Andy is just pulling away even further now. Surely not another meltdown is upon us....
Round 12: J V A I M T A E P
C1: AVIATE (6)
C2: aptive
Score: 82–48 (max 92)
Unlikely now, although it's slightly unfortunate that Pam missed this aviation related darren here.
Round 13: L F N O U E C S Y
C1: FLOUNCES (8)
C2: FLOUNCES (8)
DC: CONFUSE (7)
Score: 90–56 (max 100)
And that's a wrap for Andy, as win #3 is his.
Round 14: 25, 5, 9, 6, 8, 9. Target: 519.
C1: 519. ((9 + 9 + 8 - 5) x 25) - 6 (10)
C2: -
Score: 100–56 (max 110)
And that's a ton up for the champion, but can he solve the conundrum, which does seem to be his weak point at the moment, with a record of 0/2.
Round 15: D A N D B E A N O
C1 buzzes on 21.5 seconds to say ABANDONED which is correct.
Final Score: 110–56 (max 120)
Make that 1/3, although he might be ashamed that it took him over two-thirds of the time to solve it.
But, that's just a minor blip on what has been another impressive performance. Is he octochamp material though.....
I think so, but we will have to be patient, as Countdown will be off for most of next week.Join Mike tomorrow to see if Andy will be a half-octochamp.
On Monday, is a Countdown special between two of the show's most loved contestants from Series 62, Lee Graham and the series runner-up, Nicki Sellars. As Ryan is still off indefinitely, I'll be filling his place for this special for 2 good reasons.
1. I've not done a special (granted none of the others have either).
2. As you know, my Countdown withdrawal symptoms can be quite horrific if kept off the show for too long, so a nice recap should keep me in check for a few extra days, while the horses go trotting around some racecourse.
So, till Monday, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Andy:
Total score - 110
Raw score - 110
Total % of max - 92
Raw % of max - 92
Total average score per round - 7.4
Raw average score per round - 7.4
Number of maxes - 12
Pam:
Total score - 56
Raw score - 79
Total % of max - 47
Raw % of max - 56
Total average score per round - 3.7
Raw average score per round - 5.3
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64
