Let's see if we are still on the way to giving you that little extra bit of Christmas cheer. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 6 December 2012.
C1: Champion Sohail Virdi (4 wins, 355 points.) An Apterite from Blackburn, Lancashire.
C2: Challenger Chris Broadway. A retired computer programmer from Maesteg, Mid Glamorgan. He enjoys country walks and visiting historic sites, his favourite of those being Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. He's a Scrabble player, a lover of classical music and a member of the University of the 3rd Age, who seem to brought a considerable following to the recording today.
DC: Susie Dent and Paul "The Zenon" Zenon.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: C P S I O I V D E
R02: F D K A T E R S U
R03: N D R E O E B N V
R04: Z N U N A P R I E
R05: 25, 3, 9, 4, 2, 1. Target: 793.
TTT: TAINTIVY - "It's not a play on words, it's a word about a play"
R06: H B N T A O U M E
R07: P C T O E A S G E
R08: R D A G I L O D E
R09: S R T A E O H P E
R10: 75, 25, 9, 6, 2, 9. Target: 601.
TTT: SETPOINT - "No tennis, but his racket may lead to court"
R11: Q L N U E I J C W
R12: F A R S E M T I H
R13: G M S A O A D S E
R14: 50, 25, 9, 4, 3, 5. Target: 737.
R15: L I N G O W O L F (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: C P S I O I V D E
C1: COPIES (6)
C2: POISED (6)
DC: SPICED (6) VIDEOS (6) EPISODIC (8)
Score: 6–6 (max 8)
Plenty of 6's around in the first round, but DC get off to a very impressive start with their darrenic 8.
Round 2: F D K A T E R S U
C1: SKATED (6)
C2: DARKEST (7)
DC: SKATER (6)
OT: STRAFED (7)
Score: 6–13 (max 15)
Chris takes the first lead with his DARKEST offering to date.
Round 3: N D R E O E B N V
C1: DEBONE (6)
C2: ROVED (5)
OT: ENROBED (7) REDBONE (7)
Score: 12–13 (max 22)
But, like yesterday, once you strike on Sohail, he strikes back immediately, thanks to his 6.
A REDBONE is an American hound having a red coat, used in hunting raccoons, bears, cougars, and wildcats.
Round 4: Z N U N A P R I E
C1: PUNIER (6)
C2: PANNIER (7)
Score: 12–20 (max 29)
But it seems that the same applies to Chris, as he comes back in straight away with a darren.
Round 5: 25, 3, 9, 4, 2, 1. Target: 793.
C1: 795. ((9 - 1) x 4 x 25) - 3 - 2 (7)
C2: -
RR: 793. ((25 - 3) x 4 x 9) + 1 (10)
Score: 19–20 (max 39)
A bit of a tricky numbers game, but while Chris is all at sea, Sohail gets to within 2 (although he could've got 1 closer with a little modification), but luckily Rachel is on hand to solve it for us all.
"The Zenon" involves Nick in today's trick, using his previous experience as a church altarboy, in collecting 5 silver crowns and "magically disappearing" them and reappearing them all over Nick's person.
Teatime teaser: TAINTIVY -> NATIVITY
Round 6: H B N T A O U M E
C1: BOATMEN (7)
C2: AMOUNT (6)
DC: HAMBONE (7)
OT: UMBONATE (8)
Score: 26–20 (max 47)
Sohail takes the lead for the first time thanks to his BOATMEN, although there's a very impressive 8 waiting in the wings.
UMBONATE is an adjective meaning having an umbo (a boss on a shield, as one at the center of a circular shield.) or projecting boss.
Round 7: P C T O E A S G E
C1: CAPOTES (7)
C2: POSTAGE (7)
OT: APOGEES (7) COATEES (7) ECOTAGE (7) GOATEES (7) POTAGES (7) SEPTAGE (7) TOECAPS (7)
Score: 33–27 (max 54)
Seven heaven all around in this round.
A COATEE is a close-fitting short coat, especially one with tails or skirts.
SEPTAGE is the waste or sewage in a septic tank.
Round 8: R D A G I L O D E
C1: GLORIED (7)
C2: RAILED (6)
DC: GRIDDLE (7)
OT: DARIOLE (7) DODGIER (7) GIRDLED (7) GLADDER (7) GODLIER (7) RADIOED (7) ROADIED (7)
Score: 40–27 (max 61)
More 7 heaven, except for Chris, unfortunately.
Round 9: S R T A E O H P E
C1: repaste
C2: HEARSE (6)
DC: PREHEATS (8) OPERATES (8)
OT: EPHORATES (18)
Score: 40–33 (max 79)
Oh dear, Sohail's memory seems to disappeared from him, as he forgets the brilliant PROTEASE that he got on Tuesday's show.
And just to rub salt into the wound, his 7 offering is illegal, letting Chris get back into it. Nice 9 missed by the way. Susie's Origins Of Words seems to have me in mind today, as we delve into the works of Ian Fleming's master creation, James Bond 007, and words relating to the Bond novels, which are: "nightingale floors", "kling kling birds", "stingers", "negronis", "crème du menthe", "SMERSH", "chink", "effleurage" and "Scissors, Stones".
Round 10: 75, 25, 9, 6, 2, 9. Target: 601.
C1: 601. ((6 + 2) x 75) + (9 / 9) (10)
C2: 601. ((6 + 2) x 75) + (9 / 9) (10)
Score: 50–43 (max 89)
Nice and simple numbers keeps this game pretty tight heading into Part 3.
Teatime teaser: SETPOINT -> NEPOTIST
Round 11: Q L N U E I J C W
C1: WINCE (5)
C2: QUINCE (6)
OT: CINQUE (6) CLIQUE (6) LUCINE (6) NUCLEI (6)
Score: 50–49 (max 95)
Almost as bad as the last letters from yesterday, but it's good enough for Chris, whose jammy 6 cuts the gap down to a single digit.
Round 12: F A R S E M T I H
C1: SHIFTER (7)
C2: MITHERS (7)
DC: ATHEISM (7)
OT: FAIREST (7) FATHERS (7) FIRMEST (7) HAMSTER (7) HASTIER (7) HERMITS (7) MAESTRI (7) MISHEAR (7) RATFISH (7)
Score: 57–56 (max 102)
Seven o'clock again in this round.
A RATFISH is a chimaera, Hydrolagus colliei, of the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California, having a ratlike tail.
Round 13: G M S A O A D S E
C1: DAMAGES (7)
C2: AMASSED (7)
DC: MASSAGED (8)
Score: 64–63 (max 110)
DAMAGES AMASSED here, but no killer blow yet. Are we inevitably heading towards a crucial conundrum
Round 14: 50, 25, 9, 4, 3, 5. Target: 737.
C1: 737. (5 x 3 x 50) - 9 - 4 (10)
C2: 737. (5 x 3 x 50) - 9 - 4 (10)
Score: 74–73 (max 120)
Indeed we are thanks to that fairly easy one.
Round 15: L I N G O W O L F
C1 buzzes on 2.25 seconds to say FOLLOWING which is correct.
Final Score: 84–73 (max 130)
And it's Sohail who's first in to solve and make it 5 wins out of 5. These last 3 shows have been stern tests for him, but he has passed through all of them with flying colours, and it's definitely not inconceivable that he could make it a full set of octochamps by winning the next 3 games.
He does have to face another Apterite tomorrow in Rachael Moran, but can he make it 6 of the best tomorrow
Join Thomas for that.
Next week, because of the horse racing on the Friday, the first 2 quarter-finals will be moving forward by a day, so I'll be covering both of those next week.
So, till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Sohail:
Total score - 84
Raw score - 101
Total % of max - 65
Raw % of max - 78
Total average score per round - 5.6
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 6
Chris:
Total score - 73
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 56
Raw % of max - 69
Total average score per round - 4.9
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=67