C1: Champion Chris Butler (3 wins, 287 points), an apterite whom some of you will know from COLIN a few weeks ago. So far he's got three scores in the nineties.
C2: Challenger Peter Lee, a senior meteorological officer from Dublin, and also an apterite and fan of Father Ted. Besides having excellent taste in classic sitcoms, Peter appeared on the show way back in 2002, when despite scoring 93 points he was beaten by eventual semi-finalist Kevin Thurlow on a crucial conundrum. Today he receives a rare second chance at the teapot.
DC: Susie Dent and Ann Widdecombe.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: B E R Z A N S O A
R02: V Y R E A O B S E
R03: R I E K C D I S A
R04: D F H E I O C D N
R05: 4, 2, 7, 10, 7, 6. Target: 163.
TTT: BRINGTHE - "Bring the sunshine to a seaside town, perhaps?"
R06: R P L S U O O L E
R07: I T Q E H M U S O
R08: N W P E I T E C T
R09: S M A N I A F R O
R10: 100, 3, 7, 10, 1, 5. Target: 532.
TTT: KIDRANTS - "The kid rants at me and calls me this unpleasant name."
R11: D I G S O D T E E
R12: D N X R O I U M I
R13: R T E L A R I U G
R14: 100, 7, 4, 9, 4, 8. Target: 330.
R15: B S U R E O V I T (conundrum)
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Round 1: B E R Z A N S O A
C1: REASON (6)
C2: BEZOARS (7)
OT: ABRAZOS (7) BORANES (7) BRAZENS (7) BRONZES (7) ZAREBAS (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
Good opening word from Peter there. A BEZOAR is a small stony concretion that might form in the stomach of an animal. An ABRAZO is a US term for an embrace, a BORANE is a chemical compound of boron, and a ZAREBA is a thorn perimeter fence in Sudan and neighbouring countries.
Round 2: V Y R E A O B S E
C1: BRAVES (6)
C2: BEAVERS (7)
DC: VERBOSE (7)
OT: AEROBES (7) BRAVOES (7) OBEYERS (7) OBSERVE (7) OBVERSE (7) OVERSEA (7) ROSEBAY (7)
Score: 0–14 (max 14)
Peter increases his lead. Rachel stands next to the word BEAVERS grinning. Ann Widdecombe draws on her parliamentary experience and finds VERBOSE.
Round 3: R I E K C D I S A
C1: DIARIES (7)
C2: DIARISE (7)
DC: CARDIES (7)
OT: AIRSICK (7) AIRSIDE (7) DAIRIES (7) DARKIES (7) DICKERS (7) DICKIER (7) DICKIES (7) RADICES (7) SIDECAR (7)
Score: 7–21 (max 21)
Peter goes on to invoke Nick's ire by offering one of those Americanisms. Susie and Ann stick with the steadfastly British CARDIES.
Round 4: D F H E I O C D N
C1: CONFIDED (8)
C2: finched
Score: 15–21 (max 29)
Chris pulls back some points with this darrenical spot.
Round 5: 4, 2, 7, 10, 7, 6. Target: 163.
C1: 163. (4+6+7)*10-7 (10)
C2: 163. (4+6+7)*10-7 (10)
Score: 25–31 (max 39)
Chris picks his usual six small, and it's not the hardest selection. Ten points each, and Ann tells us about the dance she would have performed with Anton du Beke on Strictly Celebrity Come Pratting About On Ice or whatever it was, had they reached the final. It would have involved them being suspended in mid-air above the stage for the whole performance.
Teatime teaser: BRINGTHE -> BRIGHTEN
Round 6: R P L S U O O L E
C1: LOOPERS (7)
C2: LEPROUS (7)
OT: PELORUS (7) PULLERS (7)
Score: 32–38 (max 46)
A LOOPER is a caterpillar, and LEPROUS refers to leprosy. A PELORUS is a sighting device used on a ship to calculate bearings. Still a close game with some good quality play.
Round 7: I T Q E H M U S O
C1: QUIETS (6)
C2: MISQUOTE (8)
Score: 32–46 (max 54)
Peter pulls out a word which even dictionary corner didn't spot - MISQUOTE - and goes even further ahead.
Round 8: N W P E I T E C T
C1: ENTICE (6)
C2: pectine
OT: PINCETTE (8)
Score: 38–46 (max 62)
But Peter's dodgy spelling of PECTIN lets Chris catch up a bit. Lurking unnoticed is a PINCETTE, which is a small pair of tweezers.
Round 9: S M A N I A F R O
C1: INFORMS (7)
C2: MANOIRS (7)
DC: FORAMINA (8)
Score: 45–53 (max 70)
A drawn round for the contestants here, but Susie finds the excellent FORAMINA, which is the plural of FORAMEN. It's an opening, hole or passage, especially in a bone.
Susie tells us about the origin of the word CORNUCOPIA - a horn of plenty. So the Greek myth goes, a careless young Zeus accidentally broke the horn off a goat, and replaced it with a horn that granted wishes by way of compensation. He was probably also showing off a bit, if you ask me.
Round 10: 100, 3, 7, 10, 1, 5. Target: 532.
C1: 532. (100+7)*5-3 (10)
C2: 532. (7-1)*(100-10)-(5+3) (10)
Score: 55–63 (max 80)
Peter's one large selection leaves him still eight in front.
Teatime teaser: KIDRANTS -> STINKARD
Round 11: D I G S O D T E E
C1: DIGESTED (8)
C2: DIGESTED (8)
DC: DODGIEST (8)
Score: 63–71 (max 88)
DIGESTED for Chris and Peter, and Ann again calls on her years in politics to pick out DODGIEST.
Round 12: D N X R O I U M I
C1: MOUND (5)
C2: MOURN (5)
DC: IDIOM (5)
OT: MIDIRON (7)
Score: 68–76 (max 95)
An unpromising selection, and only fives in the studio. MIDIRON, a golf club, was there for seven. Eight points still the gap.
Round 13: R T E L A R I U G
C1: REGULAR (7)
C2: LIGATURE (8)
Score: 68–84 (max 103)
Peter extends his lead to 16, and he's now within touching distance of the teapot. He'll probably be hoping for an easy one large next...
Round 14: 100, 7, 4, 9, 4, 8. Target: 330.
C1: 331. 4*100-(8*9+4-7) (7)
C2: 331. (100+9)*(7-4)+4 (7)
RR: 330. (9*7+100)*(8/4)+4 (10)
Score: 75–91 (max 113)
And it's actually very difficult, but both players are one away, which means Peter is assured of winning the Countdown teapot he missed out on ten years ago. Rachel shows us her method just before the closing credits.
Round 15: B S U R E O V I T
C2 buzzes on 1 second to say OBTRUSIVE which is correct.
Final Score: 75–101 (max 123)
An amusing scramble, and Peter spots it instantly to win the game, the teapot and his first century.
Apparently we're in for a few battles of the apterites at the moment, which is reassuring to see. My advice to any apterite who was thinking of applying but fears the Sword of Damo-cles might fall is to apply whenever you want to, and let the Countdown team take it from there. They're actually very nice people. Yes, even him.
It's also good to see that the door isn't entirely closed to past contestants. Not only does it let those who didn't do themselves justice many years ago get another shot at the teapot, but also it's been pointed out a few times that plenty of good quality contestants who aren't the stereotypical under-30 geeky aptonerd(*) have already been on quite a while ago, so giving them another shot helps balance out the demographics a little.
Nick bids us farewell and invites us to join him again tomorrow, same time, same place, BSUREOVIT.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66
(*) The kind who read that and think "pronated". Yes, I include myself.