Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are
some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be
considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in
the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean
my current or past performance.
We're running out of things to talk about, so Richard remarks to me that "you and your partner were actually youth champions in a very different area many years ago." As I heard him make that comment it struck me that it was misinterpretable (I worried that I might have left it similarly unclear when I submitted my checklist of points to talk about, but on checking I see that I did say "bridge partner" in my email), and I perhaps put a little too much emphasis into pointing out that it was my bridge partner. Together, we won the NSW State Youth Pairs bridge competition (which honestly involved a lot of luck, but I didn't manage to point that out very clearly); we then accepted the invitation to the Nationals and the more sensible order of things asserted itself as we got crushed, eventually finishing in 25th place (out of 26 pairs).
Tonight's challenger is Brett Edwards, a retired navy auditor, and his last appearance on TV was back in the eighties, on The Krypton Factor. Richard describes it as an ABC quiz show, but I think it was the New Zealand version (which the ABC did air, admittedly). It involved five different activities -- a mixture of mental and physical exertion -- and Brett got through to the semifinals, coming second to the eventual winner.
Brett was a bit of a dark horse leading up to this game; he tried to downplay his ability, but at the same point it was clear that he was doing well in the letters. His numerical abilities were unclear, although I thought I should have the edge if things got difficult.
It's an extremely close game; neither contestant can get clear of the other although David found longer words in four of the five rounds. The numbers prove unchallenging and it takes until round 7 before a split emerges, as Brett sees an eight that turns out to be riskier than he thought, and Geoff's seven gives him the lead going into the conundrum. But the conundrum is too easy, and Brett wins the buzzer race to squeak home by 66 to 63 -- the highest combined total of the series so far.
Geoff leaves after four shows with an average of over 60 points a game, but will it be enough to reach the finals? We'll find out in 65 more games...
This time around I do vastly better, of course -- every letters round is etched into my memory. As usual, I'd not remembered the numbers rounds; they were too easy in any case, negating my perceived better ability there. Brett used the challenger's advantage to good effect.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Ep 327: Geoff Bailey, Eddy Hill (November 29, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
The early show talk is about my job this time. I work as a computer programmer (or software engineer, depending on how fancy you want to sound) for the Computational Algebra Group in the mathematics department at Sydney University. We develop a computer algebra system (called Magma) that is a research tool allowing computations to be done with mathematical objects that are somewhat more esoteric and interesting than just numbers.
The challenger for today is Eddy Hill, another university student and trivia enthusiast. Every Wednesday he goes down to the local pub with the rest of his trivia team, who are called... well, it sounds to me like he says "Dringus and Drangus Comedy Team", but I'm not convinced I've heard it correctly. He says it is from the TV show Tim and Eric, which he is also an enthusiast of. (Googling suggests that "Dringus and Drungle" might be more correct... it's all pretty inconclusive, though.) He attributes the enthusiasm for trivia to just being bored on Wednesday nights.
Eddy was a standby contestant, unexpectedly called up to action when the scheduled contestant failed to show up and was uncontactable. As such, he may well have been missing out on some of the preparation that a scheduled contestant would have had.
Eddy starts off well behind -- his six-letter words are no match for the sevens and eights that Geoff finds -- and it's not until round 6 that he manages to get on the board. Geoff has a good game on the letters but unusually struggles twice with the numbers, on one of which Eddy outdoes him. Despite this, Geoff remains comfortably ahead and an extremely fast conundrum solution seals a comprehensive victory, 65 to 18.
There's definitely some memory help this second time around -- most notably in the second numbers round -- and it's those numbers which make the difference as the letters performance is identical. I hadn't recalled that this episode had two difficult numbers rounds in it. I'm not sure if I should claim the conundrum or not, but it's still a win in any case.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
The early show talk is about my job this time. I work as a computer programmer (or software engineer, depending on how fancy you want to sound) for the Computational Algebra Group in the mathematics department at Sydney University. We develop a computer algebra system (called Magma) that is a research tool allowing computations to be done with mathematical objects that are somewhat more esoteric and interesting than just numbers.
The challenger for today is Eddy Hill, another university student and trivia enthusiast. Every Wednesday he goes down to the local pub with the rest of his trivia team, who are called... well, it sounds to me like he says "Dringus and Drangus Comedy Team", but I'm not convinced I've heard it correctly. He says it is from the TV show Tim and Eric, which he is also an enthusiast of. (Googling suggests that "Dringus and Drungle" might be more correct... it's all pretty inconclusive, though.) He attributes the enthusiasm for trivia to just being bored on Wednesday nights.
Eddy was a standby contestant, unexpectedly called up to action when the scheduled contestant failed to show up and was uncontactable. As such, he may well have been missing out on some of the preparation that a scheduled contestant would have had.
Eddy starts off well behind -- his six-letter words are no match for the sevens and eights that Geoff finds -- and it's not until round 6 that he manages to get on the board. Geoff has a good game on the letters but unusually struggles twice with the numbers, on one of which Eddy outdoes him. Despite this, Geoff remains comfortably ahead and an extremely fast conundrum solution seals a comprehensive victory, 65 to 18.
There's definitely some memory help this second time around -- most notably in the second numbers round -- and it's those numbers which make the difference as the letters performance is identical. I hadn't recalled that this episode had two difficult numbers rounds in it. I'm not sure if I should claim the conundrum or not, but it's still a win in any case.
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 28 November 2011
Ep 326: Geoff Bailey, Tim Clay (November 28, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
On my second night it is revealed that I represented Australia in the 1988 IMO, in the bicentennial year when Canberra hosted it. I got involved in that through high school maths classes and an enrichment program that seeks out mathematically-talented students and helps them develop their potential. At the IMO I ended up with a bronze medal, corresponding to a position of equal 82nd out of 252 students.
Tonight's challenger is Tim Clay, a doctor of oncology at St Vincent's Hospital. He finds it a very rewarding specialty where you get to help a lot of people; he notes that patients who are meeting with an oncology doctor are often very fearful and need a lot of help and reassurance. Richard exposits for our benefit that oncology is cancer-related; Tim confirms this, and adds that he has recently been working in chemotherapy.
Tim was, I think, the most outgoing of the contestants on this day of filming. He certainly brought some entertainment to the process of describing his answers, and I perhaps lifted a little in response.
The contestants start equally (both missing a quite findable nine), and then Geoff pulls away in the next three rounds. Tim isn't able to make any inroads after that, and despite a decent conundrum solution ends up the loser as Geoff takes it 64 to 51.
This time around I remember the nine, and I'll take it anyway... just as well, as I had a mental lapse in a later letters round and couldn't find anything useful. So I'd probably have done worse than I did back then, of all things. Either I'm losing my edge, or I'm having trouble maintaining focus on episodes I've seen before. Possibly a bit of both... I was particularly finely honed around the start of this blog, and I'm a bit less focussed now.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
On my second night it is revealed that I represented Australia in the 1988 IMO, in the bicentennial year when Canberra hosted it. I got involved in that through high school maths classes and an enrichment program that seeks out mathematically-talented students and helps them develop their potential. At the IMO I ended up with a bronze medal, corresponding to a position of equal 82nd out of 252 students.
Tonight's challenger is Tim Clay, a doctor of oncology at St Vincent's Hospital. He finds it a very rewarding specialty where you get to help a lot of people; he notes that patients who are meeting with an oncology doctor are often very fearful and need a lot of help and reassurance. Richard exposits for our benefit that oncology is cancer-related; Tim confirms this, and adds that he has recently been working in chemotherapy.
Tim was, I think, the most outgoing of the contestants on this day of filming. He certainly brought some entertainment to the process of describing his answers, and I perhaps lifted a little in response.
The contestants start equally (both missing a quite findable nine), and then Geoff pulls away in the next three rounds. Tim isn't able to make any inroads after that, and despite a decent conundrum solution ends up the loser as Geoff takes it 64 to 51.
This time around I remember the nine, and I'll take it anyway... just as well, as I had a mental lapse in a later letters round and couldn't find anything useful. So I'd probably have done worse than I did back then, of all things. Either I'm losing my edge, or I'm having trouble maintaining focus on episodes I've seen before. Possibly a bit of both... I was particularly finely honed around the start of this blog, and I'm a bit less focussed now.
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Weekly summary: Episodes 321 to 325
Obviously a good set for me this week, but with memory coming into play several times that is not surprising. Daniel missed out on retiring by the barest of margins, but must surely make the finals based on what we've seen so far.
Current rankings:
There were no full monties (missed or otherwise), tough numbers, or impossible numbers this week. That seems unusual, and a little bland.
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 68 | 76 | 76 | 66 | 66 |
| Champion | 45 | 42 | 7 | 32 | 48 |
| Challenger | 20 | 34 | 20 | 40 | 24 |
| David + Lily | 77 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 76 |
Current rankings:
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Chua | 44 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 36 | 52 | 300 |
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Alex van der Kooij | 42 | 51 | 35 | 25 | 153 | ||
| Peter Crop | 61 | 60 | 31 | 152 | |||
| Colin Jones | 36 | 56 | 19 | 111 |
There were no full monties (missed or otherwise), tough numbers, or impossible numbers this week. That seems unusual, and a little bland.
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Geoff Bailey | 55* | 1* | 55.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Daniel Chua | 300 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Karla Treves | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Sandy Clarke | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Mitchell Fly | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
Friday, 25 November 2011
Ep 325: Karla Treves, Geoff Bailey (November 25, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
Richard returns to the topic of zookeeping when he talks to Karla. She reveals that she loved visiting the zoo as a child and still does so today. She loves seeing the conservation and preservation efforts.
Challenging Karla tonight is, well, me. I'm described as a software engineer who loves participating in and creating puzzle hunts. I'm asked to explain them a bit better, and give a somewhat garbled explanation -- loosely speaking, events with puzzles designed to be solved by teams, usually over the course of a week. It's common these days for part of the puzzle to be working out what the puzzle is, to have to find and make sense of the hidden structure within the puzzle.
The puzzle hunt I have helped create is the CiSRA Puzzle Hunt, and I've enjoyed teaming up with the CiSRAns to take on the MUMS Puzzle Hunt and the SUMS Puzzle Hunt.
It's a bit of a nervous start for Geoff, as he misses an easy numbers get and mishears a letter to end up with an invalid word. Aside from that, his letters performance was generally better and he managed to solidify a lead by choosing less comfortable numbers selections (the advantage of the challenger), which is just as well as Karla solves the conundrum in double-quick time. Geoff wobbles home victorious, 55 to 37.
Things go much better the second time around, as you would expect. I still won't claim the conundrum because I recalled it so vividly, and Karla was so very fast. It's only by my previous mistakes that I beat myself, which is appropriate enough, although it was possible to do better.
The video player was quite uncooperative at first, but then settled down. Might have been congestion as many people tried to watch at once? I can hardly claim that my fan base is large enough for that. *grins*
... actually, I've had a few problems with it, including it tending to reset after a pause, which is very annoying. *sighs*
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I was a contestant on this episode. Obviously there are some parts I will remember strongly and my scoreline cannot remotely be considered a fair representation. I'll frequently refer to my past self in the third person, to avoid having to clarify all the time whether I mean my current or past performance.
Richard returns to the topic of zookeeping when he talks to Karla. She reveals that she loved visiting the zoo as a child and still does so today. She loves seeing the conservation and preservation efforts.
Challenging Karla tonight is, well, me. I'm described as a software engineer who loves participating in and creating puzzle hunts. I'm asked to explain them a bit better, and give a somewhat garbled explanation -- loosely speaking, events with puzzles designed to be solved by teams, usually over the course of a week. It's common these days for part of the puzzle to be working out what the puzzle is, to have to find and make sense of the hidden structure within the puzzle.
The puzzle hunt I have helped create is the CiSRA Puzzle Hunt, and I've enjoyed teaming up with the CiSRAns to take on the MUMS Puzzle Hunt and the SUMS Puzzle Hunt.
It's a bit of a nervous start for Geoff, as he misses an easy numbers get and mishears a letter to end up with an invalid word. Aside from that, his letters performance was generally better and he managed to solidify a lead by choosing less comfortable numbers selections (the advantage of the challenger), which is just as well as Karla solves the conundrum in double-quick time. Geoff wobbles home victorious, 55 to 37.
Things go much better the second time around, as you would expect. I still won't claim the conundrum because I recalled it so vividly, and Karla was so very fast. It's only by my previous mistakes that I beat myself, which is appropriate enough, although it was possible to do better.
The video player was quite uncooperative at first, but then settled down. Might have been congestion as many people tried to watch at once? I can hardly claim that my fan base is large enough for that. *grins*
... actually, I've had a few problems with it, including it tending to reset after a pause, which is very annoying. *sighs*
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Ep 324: Daniel Chua, Karla Treves (November 24, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Win or lose, this will be Daniel's last night (except for the finals series, which he seems likely to make). Richard asks about the highlights for him, and Daniel responds that it has been meeting the contestants, and that they've all been worthy opponents. Particularly Mitchell from last night, in that very close game.
Challenging Daniel is secondary school teacher Karla Treves. She is described as an animal lover, and if she had not become a teacher she might well have chosen zookeeping as a profession. She says that she "loves all creatures, great and small". Richard asks if this extends to both domestic and wild creatures; she remarks that her domestic Jack Russell is pretty wild.
My recollection of Karla is that she was fairly vivacious. She had just come back from France, where some of her schoolkids had been on a two-week (I think) excursion to various places there, although Lourdes is the only one I recall. Field trips have certainly changed since I was in school! She hadn't even had time to go home yet, which suggests that she might have been jetlagged but was bearing up pretty well.
It's yet another close game to finish things off. Daniel drops behind in the first letters round by missing a word he should have seen, but gets some back in the numbers to stay in touch. It's matching performances from each until the final numbers game, where Karla oddly misses and allows Daniel to get 9 points ahead. But she finds the conundrum quickly, and squeaks home with a victory, 53 to 52.
I was mostly on target here; I got thrown by one set of tricky letters in round 2, and beaten to the conundrum, but superior results in other rounds saw me comfortably home.
On another note, it looks like SBS has updated their video player; I hope this one manages to buffer data better, although to be fair I've had much less troubles recently than at times in the past.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Win or lose, this will be Daniel's last night (except for the finals series, which he seems likely to make). Richard asks about the highlights for him, and Daniel responds that it has been meeting the contestants, and that they've all been worthy opponents. Particularly Mitchell from last night, in that very close game.
Challenging Daniel is secondary school teacher Karla Treves. She is described as an animal lover, and if she had not become a teacher she might well have chosen zookeeping as a profession. She says that she "loves all creatures, great and small". Richard asks if this extends to both domestic and wild creatures; she remarks that her domestic Jack Russell is pretty wild.
My recollection of Karla is that she was fairly vivacious. She had just come back from France, where some of her schoolkids had been on a two-week (I think) excursion to various places there, although Lourdes is the only one I recall. Field trips have certainly changed since I was in school! She hadn't even had time to go home yet, which suggests that she might have been jetlagged but was bearing up pretty well.
It's yet another close game to finish things off. Daniel drops behind in the first letters round by missing a word he should have seen, but gets some back in the numbers to stay in touch. It's matching performances from each until the final numbers game, where Karla oddly misses and allows Daniel to get 9 points ahead. But she finds the conundrum quickly, and squeaks home with a victory, 53 to 52.
I was mostly on target here; I got thrown by one set of tricky letters in round 2, and beaten to the conundrum, but superior results in other rounds saw me comfortably home.
On another note, it looks like SBS has updated their video player; I hope this one manages to buffer data better, although to be fair I've had much less troubles recently than at times in the past.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Ep 323: Daniel Chua, Mitchell Fly (November 23, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
I suspect Daniel was running short of things to talk about, as Richard asks him if he has picked up any techniques from his previous four appearances. Daniel responds that he hasn't in the letters rounds, but for the numbers rounds he's come to like the "classroom" mix because the five small numbers provide some intricacies, while the large number helps get to larger targets.
Mitchell Fly is today's challenger, a year 12 student who is also studying mathematics part time at university. He is asked how he balances that workload, and says that it was difficult at first because he was trying to keep up with all the work from school and university; then he learned just to do the assignments for university and that was much easier. I admit to being a bit bemused by this statement, as I'm not sure whether he is saying that he has avoided some schoolwork, or some non-assignment university work. It seems to be working out for him, anyway.
Mitchell was pleasantly engaging during the group conversations in the green room. My memory of conversational specifics is long gone, alas.
It's a fairly close game, although low-scoring. The lead switches back and forth, with Mitchell's superior performance in the numbers giving him an edge; Daniel proves slightly more adept at the letters, however, and manages to solve the conundrum for a narrow 36 to 33 victory.
I definitely had some strong memories of this episode, but nothing that is likely to have affected the scoreline (except possibly avoiding an eight not listed). It was another case of solving a conundrum more quickly than I did at the time, but my recollection again is of solving it ahead of Daniel during the filming. With perfect numbers rounds, and letters rounds going as well as they could, this was a very easy victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
I suspect Daniel was running short of things to talk about, as Richard asks him if he has picked up any techniques from his previous four appearances. Daniel responds that he hasn't in the letters rounds, but for the numbers rounds he's come to like the "classroom" mix because the five small numbers provide some intricacies, while the large number helps get to larger targets.
Mitchell Fly is today's challenger, a year 12 student who is also studying mathematics part time at university. He is asked how he balances that workload, and says that it was difficult at first because he was trying to keep up with all the work from school and university; then he learned just to do the assignments for university and that was much easier. I admit to being a bit bemused by this statement, as I'm not sure whether he is saying that he has avoided some schoolwork, or some non-assignment university work. It seems to be working out for him, anyway.
Mitchell was pleasantly engaging during the group conversations in the green room. My memory of conversational specifics is long gone, alas.
It's a fairly close game, although low-scoring. The lead switches back and forth, with Mitchell's superior performance in the numbers giving him an edge; Daniel proves slightly more adept at the letters, however, and manages to solve the conundrum for a narrow 36 to 33 victory.
I definitely had some strong memories of this episode, but nothing that is likely to have affected the scoreline (except possibly avoiding an eight not listed). It was another case of solving a conundrum more quickly than I did at the time, but my recollection again is of solving it ahead of Daniel during the filming. With perfect numbers rounds, and letters rounds going as well as they could, this was a very easy victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Ep 322: Daniel Chua, Sandy Clarke (November 22, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is a twin, and when he and his twin were babies they were apparently able to communicate in their own babble that they understood. (Or, the cynical part of me says, they believed that they understood.)
The challenger for this episode is Sandy Clarke, a statistical consultant; this means that she helps to interpret data from various projects, determining what results are meaningful. She gives an example of a recent project on music therapy, where they were looking at physiological changes in response to musical stimulus and deciding if outcomes were likely to be more than just chance.
I got to interact with Sandy somewhat at the filming, too. My recollection is that she was personable and pleasant to chat with, and she certainly seemed to enjoy her work.
It's a very close game tonight; in fact only the first round separated the contestants. If Sandy had been a bit more familiar with the "retsina mix" then she would probably have tied that one up as well. There was another chance to get clear, in a numbers round that oddly neither contestant managed to get anything for, but the opportunity was lost and Daniel was ahead going into the conundrum. It was still anyone's game, but with the conundrum proving elusive Daniel lived to play another day, 53 to 45.
Obviously my performance is suspect here, but I think that only shows up in the conundrum. If memory serves me correctly I managed it relatively quickly back then, but not nearly as quickly as this time around. Aside from that, I'd managed to get ahead in enough rounds for a comfortable win, which again matches my recollections of performance on the day.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is a twin, and when he and his twin were babies they were apparently able to communicate in their own babble that they understood. (Or, the cynical part of me says, they believed that they understood.)
The challenger for this episode is Sandy Clarke, a statistical consultant; this means that she helps to interpret data from various projects, determining what results are meaningful. She gives an example of a recent project on music therapy, where they were looking at physiological changes in response to musical stimulus and deciding if outcomes were likely to be more than just chance.
I got to interact with Sandy somewhat at the filming, too. My recollection is that she was personable and pleasant to chat with, and she certainly seemed to enjoy her work.
It's a very close game tonight; in fact only the first round separated the contestants. If Sandy had been a bit more familiar with the "retsina mix" then she would probably have tied that one up as well. There was another chance to get clear, in a numbers round that oddly neither contestant managed to get anything for, but the opportunity was lost and Daniel was ahead going into the conundrum. It was still anyone's game, but with the conundrum proving elusive Daniel lived to play another day, 53 to 45.
Obviously my performance is suspect here, but I think that only shows up in the conundrum. If memory serves me correctly I managed it relatively quickly back then, but not nearly as quickly as this time around. Aside from that, I'd managed to get ahead in enough rounds for a comfortable win, which again matches my recollections of performance on the day.
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Ep 321: Daniel Chua, Philip McNally (November 21, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is hoping to major in mathematics and Japanese. When asked why that combination, he responds that mathematics is close to his heart -- he really does like it a lot. That certainly meets with my approval! As for Japanese, Daniel talks about the difference in cultural perspective: Japan is a culture that really embraces maths, or as he puts it: Mathematicians are cool in Japan! He makes mention of TV shows about physicists solving crimes using mathematics, which he says is unique; that's not the most clear-cut claim given that NUMB3RS has a very similar synopsis, but I can certainly believe that the shows are vastly different.
Challenging Daniel is Philip McNally, a logistics manager who hopes to represent Australia in lawn bowls. He's been playing for three years now, and loves the team aspect in particular. He tried to qualify for the Australian Open last year and only just missed out. Richard brings up the perception that bowls is only for retirees, remarking that it's not actually the case. Philip agrees, saying that there are many young players nowadays, and it's a good game for them because they are fearless. Philip's son is very good at it, but won't take it up because he says it is social suicide -- Philip hopes to talk him around eventually.
As I mentioned in the post about becoming a contestant, I met both Daniel and Philip that day. I didn't get that much of a chance to chat with Daniel once the filming started, but he did a great job of putting us new contestants at our ease, displaying a wonderful attitude. I was able to have more of a chat with Philip, which I also enjoyed. Overall, what characterises the show for me is how pleasant everyone was; everyone hoped to do well, but I didn't perceive any aggressive competitive streaks.
Daniel manages to outdo Philip in early letters rounds, and an invalid word can't hold him back. With a perfect effort on the numbers Daniel is comfortably uncatchable by the time the conundrum rolls around; neither can solve it, and the final score is 56 to 30.
I have a suspicion that I might have actually done better when I was in the audience. There was definitely an eight that I missed this time that I found then, and a more obvious seven than the disputable one that I had for one round. Sadly, I didn't keep my jottings; I wish that I had, now. In any case, my recollection is that I won from the audience, and I did so again this time.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is hoping to major in mathematics and Japanese. When asked why that combination, he responds that mathematics is close to his heart -- he really does like it a lot. That certainly meets with my approval! As for Japanese, Daniel talks about the difference in cultural perspective: Japan is a culture that really embraces maths, or as he puts it: Mathematicians are cool in Japan! He makes mention of TV shows about physicists solving crimes using mathematics, which he says is unique; that's not the most clear-cut claim given that NUMB3RS has a very similar synopsis, but I can certainly believe that the shows are vastly different.
Challenging Daniel is Philip McNally, a logistics manager who hopes to represent Australia in lawn bowls. He's been playing for three years now, and loves the team aspect in particular. He tried to qualify for the Australian Open last year and only just missed out. Richard brings up the perception that bowls is only for retirees, remarking that it's not actually the case. Philip agrees, saying that there are many young players nowadays, and it's a good game for them because they are fearless. Philip's son is very good at it, but won't take it up because he says it is social suicide -- Philip hopes to talk him around eventually.
As I mentioned in the post about becoming a contestant, I met both Daniel and Philip that day. I didn't get that much of a chance to chat with Daniel once the filming started, but he did a great job of putting us new contestants at our ease, displaying a wonderful attitude. I was able to have more of a chat with Philip, which I also enjoyed. Overall, what characterises the show for me is how pleasant everyone was; everyone hoped to do well, but I didn't perceive any aggressive competitive streaks.
Daniel manages to outdo Philip in early letters rounds, and an invalid word can't hold him back. With a perfect effort on the numbers Daniel is comfortably uncatchable by the time the conundrum rolls around; neither can solve it, and the final score is 56 to 30.
I have a suspicion that I might have actually done better when I was in the audience. There was definitely an eight that I missed this time that I found then, and a more obvious seven than the disputable one that I had for one round. Sadly, I didn't keep my jottings; I wish that I had, now. In any case, my recollection is that I won from the audience, and I did so again this time.
As usual, details after the jump.
Weekly summary: Episodes 316 to 320
A much better week for me than last week; the only score below 60 was the result of two invalid words. It features my highest score this series, although it's still a long way short of my personal best -- need to get two nine-letter words for that, and the opportunities don't come that often, even when I do see them!
Not much joy on the full monty front this week, either. I haven't complained that much recently about the contestants' choices, though, so it looks like just one of those things.
I've added a collation by average score per game. I'm pleased to see two contestants that I thought had potential unfortunately cut short place highly on this: Ryan Sutton, topping the chart, and Natasha Podesser coming in at fifth place. Both of them are ahead of sixth place Shaun Ellis, who is comfortably in first place under the standard ranking.
Current rankings:
Other statistics:
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game (an arbitrary cutoff, I know):
Not much joy on the full monty front this week, either. I haven't complained that much recently about the contestants' choices, though, so it looks like just one of those things.
I've added a collation by average score per game. I'm pleased to see two contestants that I thought had potential unfortunately cut short place highly on this: Ryan Sutton, topping the chart, and Natasha Podesser coming in at fifth place. Both of them are ahead of sixth place Shaun Ellis, who is comfortably in first place under the standard ranking.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 61 | 64 | 59 | 77 | 69 |
| Champion | 45 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 28 |
| Challenger | 45 | 40 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| David + Lily | 87 | 88 | 76 | 75 | 78 |
Current rankings:
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Alex van der Kooij | 42 | 51 | 35 | 25 | 153 | ||
| Peter Crop | 61 | 60 | 31 | 152 | |||
| Colin Jones | 36 | 56 | 19 | 111 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game (an arbitrary cutoff, I know):
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Daniel Chua | 103* | 2* | 51.50 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
Ep 320: Daniel Chua, Kane Gross (November 18, 2011)
OK, the SBS website fixed their bad links and I finally got to play through Friday's episode. Enjoy!
Rounds: Here.
Richard opens the contestant chat by asking what kind of magicians Daniel admires; Daniel responds that he likes magicians that don't try to outsmart the audience, but focus on entertainment, on keeping them happy and mystified. I'm not entirely sure about the distinction being drawn here between outsmarted and mystified, but certainly magic should be first and foremost about entertainment.
Daniel's challenger today is Kane Gross, a creative arts student who has recently founded a new literary and arts journal with his wife. It's currently online only, but they hope to move to a print version early next year.
Both contestants move in lockstep for the first five rounds, but then Kane fades and Daniel takes the remaining main rounds, ending up a 59 to 34 point victor. The numbers were a bit friendlier this time, but Daniel was able to use them more effectively. They both could have done more with the early letters rounds, but the latter ones (and the conundrum) were trickier than average.
I was mostly on target this game; I just missed out on one eight-letter word, and decided not to risk another, but aside from that I tracked well. I had a tough time with the conundrum, but unravelled it with three seconds left to cap off a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Rounds: Here.
Richard opens the contestant chat by asking what kind of magicians Daniel admires; Daniel responds that he likes magicians that don't try to outsmart the audience, but focus on entertainment, on keeping them happy and mystified. I'm not entirely sure about the distinction being drawn here between outsmarted and mystified, but certainly magic should be first and foremost about entertainment.
Daniel's challenger today is Kane Gross, a creative arts student who has recently founded a new literary and arts journal with his wife. It's currently online only, but they hope to move to a print version early next year.
Both contestants move in lockstep for the first five rounds, but then Kane fades and Daniel takes the remaining main rounds, ending up a 59 to 34 point victor. The numbers were a bit friendlier this time, but Daniel was able to use them more effectively. They both could have done more with the early letters rounds, but the latter ones (and the conundrum) were trickier than average.
I was mostly on target this game; I just missed out on one eight-letter word, and decided not to risk another, but aside from that I tracked well. I had a tough time with the conundrum, but unravelled it with three seconds left to cap off a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Becoming a contestant
Friday's analysis will have to wait, as the SBS website is accidentally showing next Monday's episode instead; hopefully they will get that sorted out soon! This is a reasonable time to talk about why the next week's episodes will be difficult to score sensibly: I was at the filming of them. In fact, I'll make an appearance on next Friday's episode, as I was not just an audience member but also a contestant. I'm going to omit most of the details as I don't wish to spoil any unaired episodes, but hopefully there will be some small points of interest in the following.
Earlier this year, inspired by an online friend who has taken some steps outside her comfort zone, I decided that I would audition for the show. I was busy with some project at work at the time, but once that was finished I filled out and sent in the contestant registration form (available from the show's website here). I had no idea how long it would take to hear back from them, so I went about things and almost-forgot about it. It was a pleasant surprised when some time later I got the email inviting me to an audition at the SBS studios in Artarmon.
(As I understand it, originally auditions were only held in Melbourne. Recently they branched out to Sydney, and I think that they have held one in Brisbane. The locations that they will hold auditions at is information that I hope they will provide on their website eventually, as it is key for some potential contestants. Similarly for filming locations, as audience members would want to know this; it's currently all in Melbourne but I understand there is a possibility of a Sydney filming at some point.)
I won't go into the audition process, but I don't think it will give anything away to say that it does involve playing several rounds of the game (but not against anyone). I arrived somewhat early, and got to meet a few of the other hopefuls, and have several pleasant chats. Ryan Sutton from episode 316 was one of those I met there, and we got on fairly well; Toby Baldwin from episode 330 was another.
Another reasonably obvious thing is that they will want to know things about you, so that they can assess your potential to be interesting on TV. It's worth thinking about a few things in advance (as I did, although I'm not sure that they were that interesting).
All in all, the audition was a fairly enjoyable process, with time to socialise with like-minded others there, and a chance to play the game in what feels like more realistic circumstances. If you think you'd like to participate, then I'd certainly encourage you to give it a go. The results aren't final; if you don't get a callback then you can keep practicing at home and audition again another time.
I knew that I'd done very well on the technical part of the audition; not quite as well as possible, but definitely well above average. So I was very pleased, but honestly not completely surprised, when sometime later I got contacted to arrange my appearance on the show.
The filming took place in the ABC studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne; apparently it's the same studio that is used for Spicks & Specks (although not any longer, alas). Getting there early again allowed time to chat with the other contestants of the day; with a week's worth of episodes filmed in a day, there's a minimum of six contestants needed. If there's the possibility of a retiring champion (as there was this time, with Daniel Chua returning after two victories) then a standby seventh may be required.
The day's contestants were a lovely bunch, and Daniel in particular did a great job of putting us at ease and making us feel welcome. That allowed people to get over any nerves and just focus on having a good time.
Since I was going to make my appearance on the last show of the day, I spent most of it in the audience (or the green room). So did the other contestants, of course, except when in make-up or competing. There's a wonderful energy on the set, and most of the crew play along with the game also -- pens and small pads of paper are distributed to audience members -- calling out suggestions for words to David during the filming breaks, and trying to good-naturedly one-up each other.
Just being in the audience was a very enjoyable day, and it's thoroughly recommended to anyone who has the time and is in the vicinity. They sometimes have school visits in the mid-morning sessions, but otherwise there are plenty of seats available and enthusiastic clappers are always welcome.
I won't say much about the process of the game itself -- best experienced in person -- but I will note that David and Lily are both just as good as they are portrayed. There's no computers or extra time thinking involved, they come up with their answers in the same thirty seconds as the contestants. (OK, there's a tiny amount of extra time while Richard asks the contestants what they have, but that's not quality thinking time. The real advantage that Lily and David have over contestants -- aside from their ability, of course -- is not needing to write answers down. But I digress.)
What I do want to say again is that it was a very pleasant time, even aside from getting a chance to play. It was good to meet Richard, David, and Lily, of course, but also all of the other members of the crew. Most of my interactions were with those who I think of as the contestant wranglers: Gillian, Rochelle, and Josie; then there were Maureen, Monica, and Sue in make-up, Nee in wardrobe, Voula and Emma on the show floor, Brose who kept the audience entertained, Steve from security, and I'm sure I've overlooked others that I met for which I apologise. A very friendly bunch all, and I want to thank them for making the experience a good one for me, and I'm sure for the other contestants also.
Earlier this year, inspired by an online friend who has taken some steps outside her comfort zone, I decided that I would audition for the show. I was busy with some project at work at the time, but once that was finished I filled out and sent in the contestant registration form (available from the show's website here). I had no idea how long it would take to hear back from them, so I went about things and almost-forgot about it. It was a pleasant surprised when some time later I got the email inviting me to an audition at the SBS studios in Artarmon.
(As I understand it, originally auditions were only held in Melbourne. Recently they branched out to Sydney, and I think that they have held one in Brisbane. The locations that they will hold auditions at is information that I hope they will provide on their website eventually, as it is key for some potential contestants. Similarly for filming locations, as audience members would want to know this; it's currently all in Melbourne but I understand there is a possibility of a Sydney filming at some point.)
I won't go into the audition process, but I don't think it will give anything away to say that it does involve playing several rounds of the game (but not against anyone). I arrived somewhat early, and got to meet a few of the other hopefuls, and have several pleasant chats. Ryan Sutton from episode 316 was one of those I met there, and we got on fairly well; Toby Baldwin from episode 330 was another.
Another reasonably obvious thing is that they will want to know things about you, so that they can assess your potential to be interesting on TV. It's worth thinking about a few things in advance (as I did, although I'm not sure that they were that interesting).
All in all, the audition was a fairly enjoyable process, with time to socialise with like-minded others there, and a chance to play the game in what feels like more realistic circumstances. If you think you'd like to participate, then I'd certainly encourage you to give it a go. The results aren't final; if you don't get a callback then you can keep practicing at home and audition again another time.
I knew that I'd done very well on the technical part of the audition; not quite as well as possible, but definitely well above average. So I was very pleased, but honestly not completely surprised, when sometime later I got contacted to arrange my appearance on the show.
The filming took place in the ABC studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne; apparently it's the same studio that is used for Spicks & Specks (although not any longer, alas). Getting there early again allowed time to chat with the other contestants of the day; with a week's worth of episodes filmed in a day, there's a minimum of six contestants needed. If there's the possibility of a retiring champion (as there was this time, with Daniel Chua returning after two victories) then a standby seventh may be required.
The day's contestants were a lovely bunch, and Daniel in particular did a great job of putting us at ease and making us feel welcome. That allowed people to get over any nerves and just focus on having a good time.
Since I was going to make my appearance on the last show of the day, I spent most of it in the audience (or the green room). So did the other contestants, of course, except when in make-up or competing. There's a wonderful energy on the set, and most of the crew play along with the game also -- pens and small pads of paper are distributed to audience members -- calling out suggestions for words to David during the filming breaks, and trying to good-naturedly one-up each other.
Just being in the audience was a very enjoyable day, and it's thoroughly recommended to anyone who has the time and is in the vicinity. They sometimes have school visits in the mid-morning sessions, but otherwise there are plenty of seats available and enthusiastic clappers are always welcome.
I won't say much about the process of the game itself -- best experienced in person -- but I will note that David and Lily are both just as good as they are portrayed. There's no computers or extra time thinking involved, they come up with their answers in the same thirty seconds as the contestants. (OK, there's a tiny amount of extra time while Richard asks the contestants what they have, but that's not quality thinking time. The real advantage that Lily and David have over contestants -- aside from their ability, of course -- is not needing to write answers down. But I digress.)
What I do want to say again is that it was a very pleasant time, even aside from getting a chance to play. It was good to meet Richard, David, and Lily, of course, but also all of the other members of the crew. Most of my interactions were with those who I think of as the contestant wranglers: Gillian, Rochelle, and Josie; then there were Maureen, Monica, and Sue in make-up, Nee in wardrobe, Voula and Emma on the show floor, Brose who kept the audience entertained, Steve from security, and I'm sure I've overlooked others that I met for which I apologise. A very friendly bunch all, and I want to thank them for making the experience a good one for me, and I'm sure for the other contestants also.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Ep 319: Sushma Garudadwajan, Daniel Chua (November 17, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
On Sushma's second night she tells us that she wants to visit Egypt, and in particular to see the pyramids. She's fascinated by the feat of engineering that they represent, having been constructed before the wheel was even invented. That's what she says, anyway, but if you can trust Wikipedia on this then wheeled vehicles pre-dated the Egyptian pyramids by 700 years or more. Not that I had any idea about that before looking it up, I should add.
Richard suggests that her engineering background might give her a better perspective on the magnitude of the work that the pyramids represent. Sushma points out that her background is that of an electrical engineer, so it seems unlikely that it will grant her any special insight. There is some amusement at this.
Challenging Sushma is Daniel Chua, another university student -- it feels like we've had a lot of those recently -- who loves magic shows and even performs some of his own tricks. Some card-work, some stage-work, although nothing at the level of sawing people in half, apparently.
Five- and six-letter words are all that the contestants find today, but Daniel's consistent sixes give him a lead. With the numbers not playing favourites, Daniel is uncatchable going into the conundrum but finds it quickly anyway for a 44 to 22 point victory.
I had an excellent game today, including only the second time I've outdone Lily on the numbers. With good letter performance too, and a faster conundrum solve, I cruised to a comprehensive victory. In fact, if I'd just seen an eight a little earlier I could have claimed to outscore the David/Lily combination, which is a target very much worth aiming at. Maybe another time...
As usual, details after the jump.
On Sushma's second night she tells us that she wants to visit Egypt, and in particular to see the pyramids. She's fascinated by the feat of engineering that they represent, having been constructed before the wheel was even invented. That's what she says, anyway, but if you can trust Wikipedia on this then wheeled vehicles pre-dated the Egyptian pyramids by 700 years or more. Not that I had any idea about that before looking it up, I should add.
Richard suggests that her engineering background might give her a better perspective on the magnitude of the work that the pyramids represent. Sushma points out that her background is that of an electrical engineer, so it seems unlikely that it will grant her any special insight. There is some amusement at this.
Challenging Sushma is Daniel Chua, another university student -- it feels like we've had a lot of those recently -- who loves magic shows and even performs some of his own tricks. Some card-work, some stage-work, although nothing at the level of sawing people in half, apparently.
Five- and six-letter words are all that the contestants find today, but Daniel's consistent sixes give him a lead. With the numbers not playing favourites, Daniel is uncatchable going into the conundrum but finds it quickly anyway for a 44 to 22 point victory.
I had an excellent game today, including only the second time I've outdone Lily on the numbers. With good letter performance too, and a faster conundrum solve, I cruised to a comprehensive victory. In fact, if I'd just seen an eight a little earlier I could have claimed to outscore the David/Lily combination, which is a target very much worth aiming at. Maybe another time...
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Ep 318: David Bradley, Sushma Garudadwajan (November 16, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Richard segues from some early banter about food to ask David B about how he met his wife, since it turns out that he met her in an all-you-can-eat buffet at Las Vegas. He was apparently impressed at how she "kept going back, and back, and back"... I hope she's not upset at having this said about her on national television!
During their honeymoon in China, David B apparently met someone from Sydney who was representing Australia in the International Mathematics Olympiad. It was hosted by China back in July 1990, so David B has been married for over twenty years. More relevantly to me, I represented Australia in the 1988 IMO, and had a role in training, tutoring, and selecting the 1990 team. So I have a tenuous connection through that person, which from his remarks would have been either Joseph Lau or Dominic Yip. If memory serves me correctly, this was the first Australian team where every member gained a medal -- a fine performance from all involved. (More details about Australia's IMO teams can be found in the Australian Mathematics Trust's webpages.)
Tonight's challenger is Sushma Garudadwajan, who is an engineer and tennis fan. Her favourite player is Roger Federer, and she even got to see him live at the Rod Laver Arena when he won the final of the 2010 Australian Open against Andy Murray.
Both contestants seem to struggle a little with the letters, but the numbers really cause some difficulties. Although not quite as many as the show suggests, I think, as you'll see in round 3. David B leads for most of the match, but a stumble in the final numbers round allows Sushma a chance, and when she gets the conundrum quickly she has a last-round victory 40 to 37.
I had two invalid words this game, which is a bit disconcerting, as well as a numbers round that I'd have liked to do better on. But the other rounds were all better than the contestants managed, and I ended up with a comfortable victory. It's nice to see the numbers rounds mattering in this format, unlike (mostly) Countdown.
As usual, details after the jump.
Richard segues from some early banter about food to ask David B about how he met his wife, since it turns out that he met her in an all-you-can-eat buffet at Las Vegas. He was apparently impressed at how she "kept going back, and back, and back"... I hope she's not upset at having this said about her on national television!
During their honeymoon in China, David B apparently met someone from Sydney who was representing Australia in the International Mathematics Olympiad. It was hosted by China back in July 1990, so David B has been married for over twenty years. More relevantly to me, I represented Australia in the 1988 IMO, and had a role in training, tutoring, and selecting the 1990 team. So I have a tenuous connection through that person, which from his remarks would have been either Joseph Lau or Dominic Yip. If memory serves me correctly, this was the first Australian team where every member gained a medal -- a fine performance from all involved. (More details about Australia's IMO teams can be found in the Australian Mathematics Trust's webpages.)
Tonight's challenger is Sushma Garudadwajan, who is an engineer and tennis fan. Her favourite player is Roger Federer, and she even got to see him live at the Rod Laver Arena when he won the final of the 2010 Australian Open against Andy Murray.
Both contestants seem to struggle a little with the letters, but the numbers really cause some difficulties. Although not quite as many as the show suggests, I think, as you'll see in round 3. David B leads for most of the match, but a stumble in the final numbers round allows Sushma a chance, and when she gets the conundrum quickly she has a last-round victory 40 to 37.
I had two invalid words this game, which is a bit disconcerting, as well as a numbers round that I'd have liked to do better on. But the other rounds were all better than the contestants managed, and I ended up with a comfortable victory. It's nice to see the numbers rounds mattering in this format, unlike (mostly) Countdown.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Ep 317: Peter Crop, David Bradley (November 15, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Tonight we find out that Peter is a keen traveller, too, although perhaps not quite as keen as Colin. He'd like to go cycling through the countries of Europe, particularly the flatter ones. Heh. He mentions the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and parts of Germany and France.
Going up against him is property developer David Bradley, who is also a long-distance runner. Like Peter, he'd prefer flatter terrain. David is in training for an Iron Man race, and it certainly sounds like it would take considerable training: A 3.8 kilometre swim, followed by a 180 km bike ride, and to cap it off a 42.2 kilometre marathon. Ouch!
Neither contestant is particularly convincing on the letters, with fours, fives, or sixes that should have been longer. David manages to outdo Peter in the numbers to make up for lost ground on the letters, but it's still anyone's game going into the conundrum. It's a tough one tonight, and nobody gets it, so David unseats Peter with a score of 40 points to 31.
I was similarly unconvincing on the letters, failing to outright win any letters round despite some familiar words in the mix, with a particularly poor oversight in round 4. Solid numbers rounds saw me comfortably home, however, and despite not solving the conundrum I notched up another score in the 60's. I perhaps eased up a bit too early, as I missed the best chance I've had at a nine yet -- I was writing it down as time ran out. So close!
As usual, details after the jump.
Tonight we find out that Peter is a keen traveller, too, although perhaps not quite as keen as Colin. He'd like to go cycling through the countries of Europe, particularly the flatter ones. Heh. He mentions the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and parts of Germany and France.
Going up against him is property developer David Bradley, who is also a long-distance runner. Like Peter, he'd prefer flatter terrain. David is in training for an Iron Man race, and it certainly sounds like it would take considerable training: A 3.8 kilometre swim, followed by a 180 km bike ride, and to cap it off a 42.2 kilometre marathon. Ouch!
Neither contestant is particularly convincing on the letters, with fours, fives, or sixes that should have been longer. David manages to outdo Peter in the numbers to make up for lost ground on the letters, but it's still anyone's game going into the conundrum. It's a tough one tonight, and nobody gets it, so David unseats Peter with a score of 40 points to 31.
I was similarly unconvincing on the letters, failing to outright win any letters round despite some familiar words in the mix, with a particularly poor oversight in round 4. Solid numbers rounds saw me comfortably home, however, and despite not solving the conundrum I notched up another score in the 60's. I perhaps eased up a bit too early, as I missed the best chance I've had at a nine yet -- I was writing it down as time ran out. So close!
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Ep 316: Peter Crop, Ryan Sutton (November 14, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
David tries to stump Peter with some music trivia of his own. He asks him what 80's British band was named after a villain in the film Barbarella? That's a fairly easy one; I recall watching the movie with friends and a great deal of merriment was had each time the villainous scientist's name was said. The band is Duran Duran, and Peter has no trouble with this question.
Challenging Peter today is economics student and sports statistician Ryan Sutton. He is asked what his job involves and makes it sounds like one of the best jobs ever, in that he sits back, relaxes, watches sport, and occasionally presses buttons.
I auditioned for Letters and Numbers earlier this year, and met Ryan during the audition; I had quite a pleasant chat with him and a couple of other hopefuls. I was glad to see that he made it onto the show, and it will be interesting to see if I recognise anyone else in the upcoming episodes.
It's a very close game throughout, with the numbers unchallenging and the word advantage shifting back and forth. Ryan takes a seven point lead into the conundrum, and when he buzzes in I think he has the round wrapped up. But Ryan's guess is not correct and the extra time this gives his opponent may have proven decisive as Peter gets the answer with six seconds to go, winning his second game by 60 points to 57.
I was in decidedly mixed form today, dropping behind in the words twice and missing a longer option in a third round that I wish I had spotted. The numbers offered no chance to catch up, and I went into the conundrum much like Ryan, ahead but by less than a winning margin. Fortunately I managed to get the answer before either could buzz in, taking another nervous victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
David tries to stump Peter with some music trivia of his own. He asks him what 80's British band was named after a villain in the film Barbarella? That's a fairly easy one; I recall watching the movie with friends and a great deal of merriment was had each time the villainous scientist's name was said. The band is Duran Duran, and Peter has no trouble with this question.
Challenging Peter today is economics student and sports statistician Ryan Sutton. He is asked what his job involves and makes it sounds like one of the best jobs ever, in that he sits back, relaxes, watches sport, and occasionally presses buttons.
I auditioned for Letters and Numbers earlier this year, and met Ryan during the audition; I had quite a pleasant chat with him and a couple of other hopefuls. I was glad to see that he made it onto the show, and it will be interesting to see if I recognise anyone else in the upcoming episodes.
It's a very close game throughout, with the numbers unchallenging and the word advantage shifting back and forth. Ryan takes a seven point lead into the conundrum, and when he buzzes in I think he has the round wrapped up. But Ryan's guess is not correct and the extra time this gives his opponent may have proven decisive as Peter gets the answer with six seconds to go, winning his second game by 60 points to 57.
I was in decidedly mixed form today, dropping behind in the words twice and missing a longer option in a third round that I wish I had spotted. The numbers offered no chance to catch up, and I went into the conundrum much like Ryan, ahead but by less than a winning margin. Fortunately I managed to get the answer before either could buzz in, taking another nervous victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
Friday, 11 November 2011
Weekly summary: Episodes 311 to 315
Both highs and lows this week, and I was pushed to the conundrum twice -- overall, I think I prefer the consistency of last week. We did see the first unattainable target from a numbers round; the nine-letter words were a bit sparse this week, with only two of them to be found.
This was very much a week for the challengers, with only Colin managing to defend the carry-over champion position. That was in Tuesday's match against Natasha Podesser, who only barely lost.
Current rankings:
Other statistics:
This was very much a week for the challengers, with only Colin managing to defend the carry-over champion position. That was in Tuesday's match against Natasha Podesser, who only barely lost.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 76 | 59 | 63 | 38 | 67 |
| Champion | 13 | 42 | 12 | 13 | 33 |
| Challenger | 17 | 47 | 34 | 28 | 48 |
| David + Lily | 78 | 77 | 82 | 89 | 75 |
Current rankings:
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Alex van der Kooij | 42 | 51 | 35 | 25 | 153 | ||
| Colin Jones | 36 | 56 | 19 | 111 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 0 | |||||
| Impossible Numbers | 1 | 1 |
Ep 315: Michael Nichols, Peter Crop (November 11, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
On Michael's second night we learn that he developed some of his number skills on car journeys while looking at the number plates on other cars, and finding the prime factors of the numbers on them. David's equivalent is finding anagrams in street signs, and I can relate to both activities.
Tonight's challenger is another I.T. student, Peter Crop. He is described as a "trivia aficianado", and likes to think that he does well. His best categories are geography, history, sport, and music, particularly 70's music trivia. Asked for an example of the latter, he comes up with the following: Which musician was born Chaim Weitz, and with which band is he associated?" This stumps Richard and David, and they are interested to learn that the answer is Gene Simmons from KISS.
The game is a relatively high-scoring one for both contestants, starting out even in the first three rounds. Then Michael falls behind in the remaining letters rounds, and with the numbers rounds not posing enough challenge he cannot come back; he finds the conundrum and gets to the half-century, but Peter is the victor with a scoreline of 61 points to 50.
I missed the longest word in one round, but otherwise did as well as feasible. With Peter also doing well, though, that miss meant that a conundrum solve would give him a win. With the evidence suggesting that he was good at word-finding, I nervously buzzed in early before double-checking what I thought I'd seen, and was relieved that I was correct. So another win to round out the week, and a reassuring result after yesterday's effort.
As usual, details after the jump.
On Michael's second night we learn that he developed some of his number skills on car journeys while looking at the number plates on other cars, and finding the prime factors of the numbers on them. David's equivalent is finding anagrams in street signs, and I can relate to both activities.
Tonight's challenger is another I.T. student, Peter Crop. He is described as a "trivia aficianado", and likes to think that he does well. His best categories are geography, history, sport, and music, particularly 70's music trivia. Asked for an example of the latter, he comes up with the following: Which musician was born Chaim Weitz, and with which band is he associated?" This stumps Richard and David, and they are interested to learn that the answer is Gene Simmons from KISS.
The game is a relatively high-scoring one for both contestants, starting out even in the first three rounds. Then Michael falls behind in the remaining letters rounds, and with the numbers rounds not posing enough challenge he cannot come back; he finds the conundrum and gets to the half-century, but Peter is the victor with a scoreline of 61 points to 50.
I missed the longest word in one round, but otherwise did as well as feasible. With Peter also doing well, though, that miss meant that a conundrum solve would give him a win. With the evidence suggesting that he was good at word-finding, I nervously buzzed in early before double-checking what I thought I'd seen, and was relieved that I was correct. So another win to round out the week, and a reassuring result after yesterday's effort.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Ep 314: Timothy Clarke, Michael Nichols (November 10, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
In today's episode we find out that Timothy's school held a Letters & Numbers competition between the maths teachers and the English teachers. They ran it much like the show, and the maths teachers won -- although Timothy adds that it was a narrow victory. He may be saying that to appease David, who declares himself not happy about the result, but Lily looks pleased.
Timothy's challenger is Michael Nichols, an I.T. trainer whose goal is to ride a scooter into every European country. A motorised scooter, that is -- it's not some Crockett Cooke-like endeavour. This desire has its origins in that many years back he did some motorbiking around Europe and he likes the idea of doing it again in more comfort. So far the closest he's come (on scooter, that is) is going to Tasmania, which at least involved crossing some water (as he puts it).
It's a bit of a scrappy game, this one. Timothy continues to be very weak on the numbers, and isn't nearly as good on the letters as he was yesterday. On the other hand Michael doesn't do much better with the letters; his superior numbers performance sees him safely home, though, 40 points to 25.
I had my worst game so far, I believe. I dropped points on two letters rounds, and failed to reach the target on two of the numbers rounds, including missing an obvious one-point improvement that would have kept a safe lead intact. All this culminated in a conundrum that I failed to solve, and fortunately neither did Michael or I would have had to score a tie. All in all, very poor on my part, and I'm extremely fortunate to have scraped through with the win.
As usual, details after the jump.
In today's episode we find out that Timothy's school held a Letters & Numbers competition between the maths teachers and the English teachers. They ran it much like the show, and the maths teachers won -- although Timothy adds that it was a narrow victory. He may be saying that to appease David, who declares himself not happy about the result, but Lily looks pleased.
Timothy's challenger is Michael Nichols, an I.T. trainer whose goal is to ride a scooter into every European country. A motorised scooter, that is -- it's not some Crockett Cooke-like endeavour. This desire has its origins in that many years back he did some motorbiking around Europe and he likes the idea of doing it again in more comfort. So far the closest he's come (on scooter, that is) is going to Tasmania, which at least involved crossing some water (as he puts it).
It's a bit of a scrappy game, this one. Timothy continues to be very weak on the numbers, and isn't nearly as good on the letters as he was yesterday. On the other hand Michael doesn't do much better with the letters; his superior numbers performance sees him safely home, though, 40 points to 25.
I had my worst game so far, I believe. I dropped points on two letters rounds, and failed to reach the target on two of the numbers rounds, including missing an obvious one-point improvement that would have kept a safe lead intact. All this culminated in a conundrum that I failed to solve, and fortunately neither did Michael or I would have had to score a tie. All in all, very poor on my part, and I'm extremely fortunate to have scraped through with the win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Ep 313: Colin Jones, Timothy Clarke (November 9, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
As indicated by Lily at the end of last night's episode, today is David Astle's birthday, his fiftieth in fact. Happy birthday, David!
Colin is back for his third night; we learn that in addition to being a keen traveller, he is also fond of many sports. Not quite 39, though! He describes himself more as a jack of all trades, master of none type, but does mention two activities that are presumably his current favourite: Kayaking around Manly and the Sydney Harbour, and beach volleyball. These certainly fit in well with the fact that he lives next to a beach.
Challenging Colin today is Timothy Clarke, a secondary school English and Media teacher, whose passion is performing and singing. So much so that he has even written a cabaret, a one-man show (well, plus a pianist) that he is presumably hoping to put on soon.
Timothy seems to have a definite word advantage over Colin, and soon forges ahead. He struggles with the numbers, however, and Colin gains some ground back. But Colin ends up too far behind going into a conundrum round that neither contestant solves, and Timothy wins, 34 to 19.
I had trouble getting clear of Timothy in this game, in part because of round 2 (read the details there). It was only his failure in the numbers that gave me a commanding lead, and with a late conundrum solve the final scoreline flatters me more than it should. This had potential to be my first 80-point game since I started this blog, but I missed the key full monty.
As usual, details after the jump.
As indicated by Lily at the end of last night's episode, today is David Astle's birthday, his fiftieth in fact. Happy birthday, David!
Colin is back for his third night; we learn that in addition to being a keen traveller, he is also fond of many sports. Not quite 39, though! He describes himself more as a jack of all trades, master of none type, but does mention two activities that are presumably his current favourite: Kayaking around Manly and the Sydney Harbour, and beach volleyball. These certainly fit in well with the fact that he lives next to a beach.
Challenging Colin today is Timothy Clarke, a secondary school English and Media teacher, whose passion is performing and singing. So much so that he has even written a cabaret, a one-man show (well, plus a pianist) that he is presumably hoping to put on soon.
Timothy seems to have a definite word advantage over Colin, and soon forges ahead. He struggles with the numbers, however, and Colin gains some ground back. But Colin ends up too far behind going into a conundrum round that neither contestant solves, and Timothy wins, 34 to 19.
I had trouble getting clear of Timothy in this game, in part because of round 2 (read the details there). It was only his failure in the numbers that gave me a commanding lead, and with a late conundrum solve the final scoreline flatters me more than it should. This had potential to be my first 80-point game since I started this blog, but I missed the key full monty.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 312: Colin Jones, Natasha Podesser (November 8, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Colin Jones returns for his second game, and we find out that he is quite the keen traveller; so far, he's visited 39 different countries! Asked what has "scored the highest", he responds that he has been to Africa twice, and most recently to Botswana before the world cup soccer. He found it beautiful, and makes specific mention of the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park.
In the challenger's seat today is Natasha Podesser, a university student majoring in criminology and Indonesian. Richard asks where she thinks that her interest in criminology and law enforcement will take her; she's not sure yet, maybe forensics or corrections. When queried about how Indonesian ties in, Natasha remarks that she's hoping that she'll find something that she's actually interested in during her university study. Certainly university is the place to do that.
I recognise the signs of a Scrabble player, and settle in for a difficult game. Natasha manages an early lead over Colin, but despite him declaring an invalid word she can't quite shake him; then she stumbles on the later numbers rounds to put him back in contention. Colin ends up only one point behind at the conundrum, and a very quick answer gives him the victory, 56 to 47.
This was almost a perfect game for me; I missed one letters round (I was writing down the eight as time ran out), and was ever-so-fractionally behind Colin on the conundrum. Superior results on the numbers games saw me comfortably home despite that, and again it's possible that I would have beaten David in a head-to-head, depending on his numbers performance. That's a few good games in a row for me, so I'm happy.
As usual, details after the jump.
Colin Jones returns for his second game, and we find out that he is quite the keen traveller; so far, he's visited 39 different countries! Asked what has "scored the highest", he responds that he has been to Africa twice, and most recently to Botswana before the world cup soccer. He found it beautiful, and makes specific mention of the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park.
In the challenger's seat today is Natasha Podesser, a university student majoring in criminology and Indonesian. Richard asks where she thinks that her interest in criminology and law enforcement will take her; she's not sure yet, maybe forensics or corrections. When queried about how Indonesian ties in, Natasha remarks that she's hoping that she'll find something that she's actually interested in during her university study. Certainly university is the place to do that.
I recognise the signs of a Scrabble player, and settle in for a difficult game. Natasha manages an early lead over Colin, but despite him declaring an invalid word she can't quite shake him; then she stumbles on the later numbers rounds to put him back in contention. Colin ends up only one point behind at the conundrum, and a very quick answer gives him the victory, 56 to 47.
This was almost a perfect game for me; I missed one letters round (I was writing down the eight as time ran out), and was ever-so-fractionally behind Colin on the conundrum. Superior results on the numbers games saw me comfortably home despite that, and again it's possible that I would have beaten David in a head-to-head, depending on his numbers performance. That's a few good games in a row for me, so I'm happy.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Ep 311: Alex van der Kooij, Colin Jones (November 7, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Alex returns for his fourth night, and Richard comments that Alex has been a church organist for many years. Alex says that organ music has grown on him but that it's not a very popular instrument these days "because 'organ' has the same letters as 'groan'".
Challenging Alex tonight is Colin Jones, a crew assignment officer for New South Wales Railways. There is some discussion about how stressful the logistics can get when there is some kind of infrastructure failure.
There's not too much to separate the contestants as far as words go, but Alex's weakness with the numbers is highlighted in this game -- he fails to score any points at all, even when Colin has an invalid answer. Aided by a very quick conundrum solution, Colin becomes the new champion with a score of 46 to 25.
My performance was all right here, and might even have given me a victory against David depending on how well he handled the numbers. In any event, I scored points in every round for an easy victory, and my highest score so far this series.
As usual, details after the jump.
Alex returns for his fourth night, and Richard comments that Alex has been a church organist for many years. Alex says that organ music has grown on him but that it's not a very popular instrument these days "because 'organ' has the same letters as 'groan'".
Challenging Alex tonight is Colin Jones, a crew assignment officer for New South Wales Railways. There is some discussion about how stressful the logistics can get when there is some kind of infrastructure failure.
There's not too much to separate the contestants as far as words go, but Alex's weakness with the numbers is highlighted in this game -- he fails to score any points at all, even when Colin has an invalid answer. Aided by a very quick conundrum solution, Colin becomes the new champion with a score of 46 to 25.
My performance was all right here, and might even have given me a victory against David depending on how well he handled the numbers. In any event, I scored points in every round for an easy victory, and my highest score so far this series.
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Weekly summary: Episodes 306 to 310
Overall a better performance this week -- in the sixties in each game -- but maybe the mixes were just friendlier. Certainly I stayed further ahead of the contestants this time, with the closest margin this week being 35 points, compared with 10 from last week (and due to the conundrum, at that).
Current rankings:
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 63 | 62 | 60 | 65 | 60 |
| Champion | 20 | 27 | 10 | 29 | 24 |
| Challenger | 14 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 0 |
| David + Lily | 94 | 84 | 86 | 76 | 88 |
Current rankings:
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Alex van der Kooij | 42 | 51 | 35 | 128 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Friday, 4 November 2011
Ep 310: Alex van der Kooij, Sujaya Parvathi (November 4, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
In his third night, Alex is revealed to be a keen cyclist. He's been cycling for 70 years, and like Crockett Cooke from episode 302, has done the Great Victorian Bike Ride -- although presumably not on a tricycle!
Challenging Alex tonight is Sujaya Parvathi, a software developer with a degree in microbiology and genetics. Richard thinks that it is an interesting combination, with software dealing with non-living computers, whereas biology by definition deals with the alive.
On the personal front, it's been a bad day today, and I'm not feeling in great form for this game. It shows a couple of times, but neither contestant is having a very good game -- there's three invalid words declared, and only one valid target number (even that was five away from the target) -- and I run out to a comfortable victory.
Sujaya may perhaps have been a little overwhelmed by the filming process, as her only points came from two of Alex's three invalid answers. In a low-scoring game Alex gets the conundrum to bring some respectability to his total (35 to 12), but I don't think either would be particularly satisfied with their performance.
As usual, details after the jump.
In his third night, Alex is revealed to be a keen cyclist. He's been cycling for 70 years, and like Crockett Cooke from episode 302, has done the Great Victorian Bike Ride -- although presumably not on a tricycle!
Challenging Alex tonight is Sujaya Parvathi, a software developer with a degree in microbiology and genetics. Richard thinks that it is an interesting combination, with software dealing with non-living computers, whereas biology by definition deals with the alive.
On the personal front, it's been a bad day today, and I'm not feeling in great form for this game. It shows a couple of times, but neither contestant is having a very good game -- there's three invalid words declared, and only one valid target number (even that was five away from the target) -- and I run out to a comfortable victory.
Sujaya may perhaps have been a little overwhelmed by the filming process, as her only points came from two of Alex's three invalid answers. In a low-scoring game Alex gets the conundrum to bring some respectability to his total (35 to 12), but I don't think either would be particularly satisfied with their performance.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Ep 309: Alex van der Kooij, Adrian Lonigro (November 3, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Alex returns after yesterday's close game; it is revealed that he is a cryptic crossword fan, which must make David happy. Alex has written guides for people to help them get into the mindset of how to solve cryptic crosswords (distributed to his students at the University of the Third Age, I believe). Richard mentions David's book Puzzled which also has a similar theme -- I must acquire a copy at some point.
Today's challenger is student teacher Adrian Lonigro, whose ambition is to become a commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest. He has apparently loved it ever since he first watched it back in 1993 (he was nine at the time), and has watched it every year since, as well as some of the older ones. He's not been to one in person, but he has attended the Swedish and Danish national finals.
Prior to the second round, Lily mentions that the Eurovision Song Contest is a big event in her family, too, and in fact they have a tradition of filling out a spreadsheet with all of their votes. In the post-show chat Lily also mentions that her favourite Eurovision character is Epic Sax Guy (part of Moldova's 2010 entry).
This is another close match for Alex, but he was ahead going into the conundrum and solving it sealed his victory over Adrian, 51 to 38.It didn't feel like a very convincing performance from either competitor, though, with six-letter words being the order of the day.
On the other hand, I was not always able to find the better options in time, and with a failure on one numbers round my final score of 65 is perhaps more flattering than it should be. The highlight here was once again finding a longer word than David, although the reverse happened twice. No full monty this game, which dooms the grand slam but the Clayton's one is still alive.
As usual, details after the jump.
Alex returns after yesterday's close game; it is revealed that he is a cryptic crossword fan, which must make David happy. Alex has written guides for people to help them get into the mindset of how to solve cryptic crosswords (distributed to his students at the University of the Third Age, I believe). Richard mentions David's book Puzzled which also has a similar theme -- I must acquire a copy at some point.
Today's challenger is student teacher Adrian Lonigro, whose ambition is to become a commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest. He has apparently loved it ever since he first watched it back in 1993 (he was nine at the time), and has watched it every year since, as well as some of the older ones. He's not been to one in person, but he has attended the Swedish and Danish national finals.
Prior to the second round, Lily mentions that the Eurovision Song Contest is a big event in her family, too, and in fact they have a tradition of filling out a spreadsheet with all of their votes. In the post-show chat Lily also mentions that her favourite Eurovision character is Epic Sax Guy (part of Moldova's 2010 entry).
This is another close match for Alex, but he was ahead going into the conundrum and solving it sealed his victory over Adrian, 51 to 38.It didn't feel like a very convincing performance from either competitor, though, with six-letter words being the order of the day.
On the other hand, I was not always able to find the better options in time, and with a failure on one numbers round my final score of 65 is perhaps more flattering than it should be. The highlight here was once again finding a longer word than David, although the reverse happened twice. No full monty this game, which dooms the grand slam but the Clayton's one is still alive.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 308: Nick Terry, Alex van der Kooij (November 2, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Nick is back for his fourth time, remarking that last night's very close game against James was a heart-stopper.
Challenging Nick today is octogenarian Alex van der Kooij, who teaches at the University of the Third Age.
A close match for the contestants tonight, coming down to a difficult conundrum that neither was able to solve. With Nick having fallen a little behind -- he must be ruing that second numbers game -- Alex took the victory by 42 to 35, leaving Nick with a four-game total of 217. It's a bit thin, but it might possibly get him to the finals.
This was a good game for me, managing to find two words longer than David's selections. With a perfect turn on the numbers, it's one of the very rare instances where I might possibly have outpointed him in a head-to-head match. It was certainly a comfortable victory over both contestants.
As usual, details after the jump.
Nick is back for his fourth time, remarking that last night's very close game against James was a heart-stopper.
Challenging Nick today is octogenarian Alex van der Kooij, who teaches at the University of the Third Age.
A close match for the contestants tonight, coming down to a difficult conundrum that neither was able to solve. With Nick having fallen a little behind -- he must be ruing that second numbers game -- Alex took the victory by 42 to 35, leaving Nick with a four-game total of 217. It's a bit thin, but it might possibly get him to the finals.
This was a good game for me, managing to find two words longer than David's selections. With a perfect turn on the numbers, it's one of the very rare instances where I might possibly have outpointed him in a head-to-head match. It was certainly a comfortable victory over both contestants.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Ep 307: Nick Terry, James Godfrey (November 1, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Nick returns for his third night, and it is revealed that he used to be an aeronautical engineer. He joined Rolls Royce in the UK for a while, working on engines for the Tornado aircraft, before "turning to the dark side and becoming an accountant". But he says that the best job he ever had was probably a summer spent working in a toy shop.
Facing Nick tonight is keen water polo player James Godfrey, who is currently studying for his masters of social development.
It's a very close game tonight, with James pushing Nick all the way, and they were tied going into the conundrum round. With six seconds left Nick found the solution, giving him his third win in a row and a healthy scoreline of 55 to 45. Could we have two retiring champions in a row? If he does make it, he is very likely to overtake Shaun on aggregate. We'll know by the end of the week, at any rate.
As for me, I had a flawed performance today. I got off to an early lead and then took my eye off the ball at the end when I was almost uncatchable, failing to find one of several eights in the letters, and flubbing the numbers round. But with Nick not spotting the full monty I was safe, and I solved the conundrum comfortably ahead of him to finish 35 points ahead.
Looks like I continue to struggle with the numbers; having to write down a close answer for safety interrupts the thinking process!
As usual, details after the jump.
Nick returns for his third night, and it is revealed that he used to be an aeronautical engineer. He joined Rolls Royce in the UK for a while, working on engines for the Tornado aircraft, before "turning to the dark side and becoming an accountant". But he says that the best job he ever had was probably a summer spent working in a toy shop.
Facing Nick tonight is keen water polo player James Godfrey, who is currently studying for his masters of social development.
It's a very close game tonight, with James pushing Nick all the way, and they were tied going into the conundrum round. With six seconds left Nick found the solution, giving him his third win in a row and a healthy scoreline of 55 to 45. Could we have two retiring champions in a row? If he does make it, he is very likely to overtake Shaun on aggregate. We'll know by the end of the week, at any rate.
As for me, I had a flawed performance today. I got off to an early lead and then took my eye off the ball at the end when I was almost uncatchable, failing to find one of several eights in the letters, and flubbing the numbers round. But with Nick not spotting the full monty I was safe, and I solved the conundrum comfortably ahead of him to finish 35 points ahead.
Looks like I continue to struggle with the numbers; having to write down a close answer for safety interrupts the thinking process!
As usual, details after the jump.
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