Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 26 September 2012.
C1: Champion Liam Shaw (7 wins, 625 points.) A customer services assistant for a supermarket from Skipton, North Yorkshire.
C2: Challenger Jessica "Qwizical" Pratesi. A 16-year-old forumite and student from Leyton, London. She is the reigning UK Youth Scrabble champion, after she regained the title this summer after she won it in 2010 (Interestingly, Series 62 champion, Oliver Garner, won it inbetween the two.
). She is also a gold medallist at the Mind Games Olympiad. She also loves chocolate and collects rubber ducks. (That sounds a bit quackers, doesn't it 
) Also a nice little fact is that both her parents, Mauro and Diane, are past contestants on this show, with differing levels of success in their stints in Series 65 & 20 respectively. (P.S. Before anyone asks, she isn't the first person to follow both her parents into appearing on the show, I think Vicky Smith from Series 61 has that honour. )DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan, in here for midweek, after Susie's eyes "magically" healed up.
RR: Rachel Riley, now also known as "Mrs. G", by Nick, not that that mattered, as she looked so stunningly hot today.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A U H D E R C A N
R02: S I T E V S O D L
R03: S I E N U E D S T
R04: P S R O E I A N H
R05: 25, 9, 8, 4, 6, 1. Target: 414.
TTT: SLIMRACE - "Races where the horses have slim chances of making it big"
R06: R N T D O E A E I
R07: M C A S O E X F N
R08: M T D O A I O S M
R09: A E R T G U I J E
R10: 7, 1, 2, 6, 9, 10. Target: 236.
TTT: FLICKFUN - "You won't need this on a short sleeve"
R11: R A U Y I E L S N
R12: G R I N P O A L N
R13: I R O E K B O V L
R14: 2, 4, 6, 6, 7, 10. Target: 451.
R15: A U G M E N T I D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: A U H D E R C A N
C1: unarched
C2: UNHEARD (7)
DC: raunched CHUNDER (7) CHARADE (7)
OT: CHURNED (7) DURANCE (7) HANDCAR (7) RANCHED (7) UNCARED (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
An unlucky start for the octochamp-elect, with a reasonably plausible 8 not being in.
Round 2: S I T E V S O D L
C1: SOVIETS (7)
C2: VIOLETS (7)
DC: DISSOLVE (8)
OT: SOLIDEST (8)
Score: 7–14 (max 15)
Liam gets onto the board with his SOVIETS, while Jessica blossoms some more with her VIOLETS, as DC DISSOLVE their competition with an 8.
Round 3: S I E N U E D S T
C1: STUDIES (7)
C2: DESTINE (7)
DC: DESTINES (8)
Score: 14–21 (max 23)
A very impressive 7 there from Jessica, but unfortunately, she could've stuck on the extra S for a darrenic 8. Interestingly, I was stuck on NUDISTS.
Round 4: P S R O E I A N H
C1: SHARPEN (7)
C2: SENHORA (7)
DC: APHORISE (8)
Score: 21–28 (max 31)
Following the French, we now have a Portuguese offering from Jessica. Unfortunately, no extra points for nice stylish flourishes.
Round 5: 25, 9, 8, 4, 6, 1. Target: 414.
C1: 414. ((9 + 8) x 25) - 6 - 4 - 1 (10)
C2: 412.
Score: 31–28 (max 41)
Oh dear, Jessica seems to have gone into a numbers mind lapse, by missing the fairly straightforward numbers here.
Alistair does a fantastic impression of the show's last host, Jeff Stelling, followed (by popular demand) with a verse about the great man.
Teatime teaser: SLIMRACE -> CLAIMERS
Round 6: R N T D O E A E I
C1: RETAINED (8)
C2: RATIONED (8)
DC: TRAINED (7) DERATION (8) ORDINATE (8)
OT: DETAINER (8) ORIENTED (8)
Score: 39–36 (max 49)
Nice and easy 8's here. Moving on.
Round 7: M C A S O E X F N
C1: FAXES (5)
C2: COAXES (6)
DC: CAMEOS (6) FOXES (5) MASON (5) SCONE (5)
OT: CANOES (6) MASCON (6) NOSEMA (6) OCEANS (6)
Score: 39–42 (max 55)
A MASCON is a MASsive CONcentration of high-density material beneath the surface of the moon.
And Jessica's 3 point deficit now turns into a 3 point advantage with her 6.
Round 8: M T D O A I O S M
C1: MOIST (5)
C2: MIMOSA (6)
DC: MASTOID (7)
OT: ATOMISM (7) DIATOMS (7) MADTOMS (7) MIDMOST (7)
Score: 39–48 (max 62)
And that lovely MIMOSA gives Jessica a lead of 9. Wouldn't mind a MIMOSA myself actually.
A MADTOM is any of several tadpolelike, freshwater catfishes of the genus Noturus, of the central and eastern U.S., having a poisonous pectoral spine: some are threatened or endangered.
Round 9: A E R T G U I J E
C1: GUITAR (6)
C2: GUITAR (6)
DC: GAITER (6) TRIAGE (6)
OT: ARGUTE (6) AUGITE (6) JAEGER (6)
Score: 45–54 (max 68)
Just 6 sixes here.
ARGUTE means being sharp or shrill.
An AUGITE is a silicate mineral, chiefly of calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum: a dark-green to black variety of monoclinic pyroxene, characteristic of basic rocks.
A JAEGER is any of several rapacious seabirds of the family Stercorariidae that pursue weaker birds to make them drop their prey.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "galvanising".
Round 10: 7, 1, 2, 6, 9, 10. Target: 236.
C1: -
C2: 236. Mistake in working.
RR: 236. ((6 x 10) - 1) x (9 - 7) x 2 (10)
Score: 45–54 (max 78)
An interesting tactic by Jessica here, and it almost paid off too, as Liam went blank, but Jessica messes up her method right at the end.
Teatime teaser: FLICKFUN -> CUFFLINK
Round 11: R A U Y I E L S N
C1: URINALS (7)
C2: URINALS (7)
DC: UNEASILY (8) INSULAR (7)
Score: 52–61 (max 86)
Both the contestants seem to be taking the......... you know what, with their URINALS here. A weird darrenic 8 was available, but Jessica's lead is still at 9 points.
Round 12: G R I N P O A L N
C1: PAROLING (8)
C2: PAROLING (8)
OT: PANGOLIN (8)
Score: 60–69 (max 94)
Both are PAROLING, although Liam just got by the skin of his teeth.
A PANGOLIN is any mammal of the order Pholidota, of Africa and tropical Asia, having a covering of broad, overlapping, horny scales and feeding on ants and termites.
Round 13: I R O E K B O V L
C1: BOILER (6)
C2: LOOKER (6)
DC: BOILOVER (8)
Score: 66–75 (max 102)
Hmmm, I wonder what Jessica was thinking of. If it was a BOILOVER, then she'd be within striking distance of an impressive victory.
Round 14: 2, 4, 6, 6, 7, 10. Target: 451.
C1: 450. (7 + 2) x ((6 / 6) + 4) x 10 (7)
C2: 452. (((7 x 6) + 4) x 10) - (6 + 2) (7)
RR: 451. (((2 x 4 x 10) - 6) x 6) + 7 (10)
Score: 73–82 (max 112)
Another tricky numbers game, especially when you've got to find an odd target with just the one odd number, and surprise, surprise, the contestants are one away either side.
So, like with his first game, Liam is a conundrum away from defeat, but like his first game, will he solve the conundrum to get his win..............
Round 15: A U G M E N T I D
C1 buzzes on 5 seconds to say MAGNITUDE which is correct.
Final Score: 83–82 (max 122)
AND HE DOES!!!!!
Well, well, well, after an amazing display by Jessica, which should be highly commended, she unfortunately has fallen short at the last, and instead we have Liam win his 8th show to become the 3rd octochamp of the series.
Liam has been very impressive in his run, and is definitely deserving of his place on the leaderboard. His 708 points take him above Chris Marshall in the standings, so he enters at #2 in the standings for now, but for how long will he stay there for
Hard luck to Jessica, who if she had a bit of better luck in the numbers, would've been a more than deserving winner of today's game. Maybe she'll be allowed back in a few years time...........
So, join me tomorrow for 2 new competitors taking on the Countdown challenge.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Liam:
Total score - 83
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 68
Raw % of max - 76
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 5
Jessica:
Total score - 82
Raw score - 89
Total % of max - 67
Raw % of max - 73
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67
