C1: Champion Mick O'Brien (2 wins, 162 points). Back for his third appearance after his narrow win over Robin Mackay on Friday.
C2: Challenger Wendy Gabriel, a charity shop volunteer from Greenwich and a fan of live music.
DC: Susie Dent and Fiona Armstrong.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A O I G S T D E Q
R02: T N I A H R E D I
R03: S L O E C D U A F
R04: R L E O N R L U E
R05: 25, 9, 4, 10, 7, 3. Target: 585.
TTT: NOREFUTE - "Five and nine, but not the Brighton line."
R06: S M I U P C A S E
R07: A O H M X G E I R
R08: A T N E I S L O W
R09: E A R K U E N S D
R10: 100, 10, 6, 10, 2, 3. Target: 460.
TTT: CASHNETS - "Small clips of songs heard in weightlifting."
R11: I S O E Z J T A R
R12: E P F I N A M O T
R13: R E A D T C U R I
R14: 100, 8, 7, 1, 6, 6. Target: 322.
R15: C I R C L E O N E (conundrum)
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Round 1: A O I G S T D E Q
C1: DOTAGES (7)
C2: DIGEST (6)
DC: GODETIAS (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)
Susie explains that DOTAGES has always been a borderline case - normally you talk about people in their dotage rather than in their dotages. However, the dictionary doesn't say anything to the effect that you can't pluralise it, so seven points to Mick.
Round 2: T N I A H R E D I
C1: HAIRNET (7)
C2: TRAINED (7)
OT: DAINTIER (8)
Score: 14–7 (max 16)
Everyone misses DAINTIER, but Wendy is off the mark now.
Round 3: S L O E C D U A F
C1: FOCUSED (7)
C2: CLOSED (6)
OT: DEFOCUS (7) SOLACED (7)
Score: 21–7 (max 23)
Mick's pulled further ahead - FOCUSED can be spelt with one S or two.
Round 4: R L E O N R L U E
C1: ROLLER (6)
C2: ROLLER (6)
DC: UNROLL (6) ENROL (5)
OT: ENROLLER (8)
Score: 27–13 (max 31)
Two rollers for our contestants. ENROLLER sounds like one of those perfectly reasonable agent nouns that's never in the dictionary, but it's fine.
Round 5: 25, 9, 4, 10, 7, 3. Target: 585.
C1: -
C2: 593. 25*4*(9-3)-7 (5)
RR: 585. (4*10+25)*9 (10)
Score: 27–18 (max 41)
Wendy moves back to nine behind with a numbers solution that evaded Mick.
Guest Fiona Armstrong explains how she's always being mistaken for Angela Rippon. Can't say I see the resemblance, but umpteen members of the public in hotel corridors can't all be wrong.
Teatime teaser: NOREFUTE -> FOURTEEN
Round 6: S M I U P C A S E
C1: CAMPUS (6)
C2: CASES (5)
DC: CAMPUSES (8) SPACE (5) SPICE (5) AUSPICES (8)
OT: ESCAPISM (8)
Score: 33–18 (max 49)
Mick extends his lead with CAMPUS, but doesn't notice that you can also have the plural. Never mind, he's now 15 ahead.
Round 7: A O H M X G E I R
C1: MIXER (5)
C2: HOMAGE (6)
DC: GHERAO (6)
OT: GAMIER (6) HEGIRA (6) HOAGIE (6) HOAXER (6) HOMIER (6) IMAGER (6) MAIGRE (6) MIRAGE (6) MOHAIR (6)
Score: 33–24 (max 55)
Wendy pulls it back by spotting one of the many sixes in this selection. Susie points out GHERAO, which is a kind of inside-out strike practised in India. The workers siege the employers inside the building until their demands are met.
Round 8: A T N E I S L O W
C1: ENTAILS (7)
C2: SALIENT (7)
DC: TOENAILS (8)
OT: TOWLINES (8)
Score: 40–31 (max 63)
Mick and Wendy make the same seven letters into two different words and it's still anyone's game.
Round 9: E A R K U E N S D
C1: DARKENS (7)
C2: DUNKERS (7)
OT: KNEADERS (8) UNDERSEA (8)
Score: 47–38 (max 71)
Wendy's risky offering of DUNKERS is fine - one who dips a biscuit in some tea, or a basketball term. People following the news about the Mariana Trench exploration today might have spotted UNDERSEA. I wasn't listening to the news very well, but I think the gist of it is that James Cameron is being pestered into revealing whom he took for dinner.
Origins of words: the term "diehard" dates back to condemned criminals on the gallows - if they struggled and refused to die quietly, they were said to "die hard". British Army officer William Inglis demanded the same attitude from his soldiers, which they duly gave, and they were then known as "the diehards". The word was thus given its present-day meaning.
Round 10: 100, 10, 6, 10, 2, 3. Target: 460.
C1: 460. Mistake in working.
C2: 460. 100*(10-2*3)+6*10 (10)
Score: 47–48 (max 81)
Whoops. Mick tries to use the 6 twice, then corrects himself and uses the 2 twice instead. Wendy's in front now, and it seems we're in for a close match.
Teatime teaser: CASHNETS -> SNATCHES
Round 11: I S O E Z J T A R
C1: tories
C2: joister
DC: ROSE AORIST (6)
OT: OSTERIA (7)
Score: 47–48 (max 88)
You need a capital T for Tories, and Wendy's attempt sounds plausible but that isn't in either.
An OSTERIA is a small Italian restaurant, new in ODE3. Susie finds AORIST, which is "a past tense of a verb (especially in Greek), which does not contain any reference to duration or completion of the action". It's a slightly more interesting alternative to RATIOS.
Round 12: E P F I N A M O T
C1: PAINT (5)
C2: PIMENTO (7)
DC: AMNIOTE (7)
OT: PTOMAINE (8)
Score: 47–55 (max 96)
Wendy increases her lead further with an old Countdown favourite. The elusive darrenical eight PTOMAINE is an old chemical term referring to bad-tasting compounds in putrefying food.
Round 13: R E A D T C U R I
C1: CURATED (7)
C2: RECRUIT (7)
DC: TRADUCE (7)
OT: TRADUCER (8)
Score: 54–62 (max 104)
Sevens all round here. Looks like there may be more, and there is - turns out you can be a TRADUCER.
Round 14: 100, 8, 7, 1, 6, 6. Target: 322.
C1: 321. (6/(8-6))*(100+7) (7)
C2: -
RR: 322. ((100-8)*7)/2 (10)
Score: 61–62 (max 114)
Argh. It's not the most straightforward selection, and Mick comes up with a good 321 solution - but afterwards he realises he's gone one away with a 1 left behind and thrown away three points.
Wendy is now one point ahead. The lights dim and we go into a crucial conundrum...
Round 15: C I R C L E O N E
C2 buzzes on 27.5 seconds to say ENCLOSURE which is...
... incorrect, but did you spot something odd there? Mick's got just over two seconds to save the game...
C1 does not buzz.
The answer was RECONCILE.
Final Score: 61–62 (max 124)
But he doesn't, and I'm sure Wendy wouldn't mind me saying she was rather fortunate to have won this one. Mick's mistake in the last numbers round is what ultimately costs him the game, and he becomes the fifth player in a row to go out with two wins. Nevertheless, he goes home with the coveted Countdown Teapot. Wendy survives to face a new challenger tomorrow.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66
