Tonight we find out that Colin is one of several teachers across the state that organise maths games days (Colin teaches at Wesley College, incidentally). They get about two hundred students in a room and spend the day giving them maths puzzles, games, competitions, videos, and so on. Colin says that "it's just a chance to celebrate the exploration and the puzzling and the thinking... it's a lovely day."
Tonight's challenger is Colin Mallard, a senior data analyst for the Queensland government. In the last year Colin has managed to shed twenty kilograms of weight, which is quite impressive. It involved a lot of watching what he ate, and doing exercise every week. He says that the food side was easy, but the exercise was the hard part.
Obviously both contestants being named "Colin" has some potential for confusion. I will use their second initials to distinguish them; on the show Colin M agreed to be called "Col" to alleviate this.
Both contestants do well on the letters round, matching each other on all but one round; Colin S found a good six in a tough mix to gain the advantage there. But the numbers prove more decisive as Colin S solves all three of them while Colin M misses two completely, despite the low targets on offer. Colin S has won before the conundrum, and with neither solving it takes the win, 63 to 37.
I had troubles in this game, as I tried for a nine that wasn't valid in the first round; that left me eight points adrift from the start. I managed to get back in front fairly soon, but then that same good six from Colin S levelled the scores. I missed my chance to draw away in round seven, and the numbers offered no scope for advancement, so it was level-pegging going into the conundrum. I was slow again, but fortunately solved it to squeak home with a win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 366 to 370
It's been a week of decent-to-good letter solving, but with some careless misses on the numbers. I solved five of the six conundrums within time (Tuesday had two of them), although I was just beaten by a contestant on one of them. My totals this week were a little lower than they might have been, with contestants three times finding eight-letter words to beat me in those rounds. It's been a week with some great finds!
Maurie missed out on his chance to make the (current) top eight, and there was a fair amount of turnover in the champions this week. Once again, there's no change to the finals rankings.
The vowel mix this week was much better than the last one, although the contestants did not always exercise the best judgement as to how to go (from the point of view of making longer words possible). David did get a full monty at last, two weeks after his last one, but there was the potential for more with different choices of that final letter.
Each of the contestants this week averaged over 30, which I think is the first time that has happened. Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 66 | 60 | 56 | 66 | 70 |
| Champion | 22 | 21 | 14 | 33 | 29 |
| Challenger | 27 | 7 | 28 | 24 | 38 |
| David + Lily | 76 | 77 | 74 | 88 | 73 |
Maurie missed out on his chance to make the (current) top eight, and there was a fair amount of turnover in the champions this week. Once again, there's no change to the finals rankings.
| Sam Gaffney | 51 | 81 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 55 | 380 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerin White | 55 | 56 | 46 | 63 | 65 | 51 | 336 |
| Toby Baldwin | 59 | 48 | 54 | 43 | 48 | 44 | 296 |
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
| Daniel Chua | 44 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 36 | 52 | 300 |
| Sebastian Ham | 39 | 49 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 231 | |
| Geoff Bailey | 55 | 64 | 65 | 63 | 247 | ||
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 |
The vowel mix this week was much better than the last one, although the contestants did not always exercise the best judgement as to how to go (from the point of view of making longer words possible). David did get a full monty at last, two weeks after his last one, but there was the potential for more with different choices of that final letter.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Each of the contestants this week averaged over 30, which I think is the first time that has happened. Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Gaffney | 380 | 6 | 63.33 |
| Geoff Bailey | 247 | 4 | 61.75 |
| Jimmy Driscoll | 61 | 1 | 61.00 |
| Leanne Cox | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Kerin White | 336 | 6 | 56.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Geraldine Yam | 52 | 1 | 52.00 |
| Tim Clay | 51 | 1 | 51.00 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Daniel Chua | 300 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Lainie Mercieca | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Toby Baldwin | 296 | 6 | 49.33 |
| Susan Pickett | 97 | 2 | 48.50 |
| Matt Williams | 48 | 1 | 48.00 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Brett Edwards | 139 | 3 | 46.33 |
| Sebastian Ham | 231 | 5 | 46.20 |
| Brian McEvoy | 46 | 1 | 46.00 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Karla Treves | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Sandy Clarke | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Trevor Armstrong | 178 | 4 | 44.50 |
| Megan Marks | 133 | 3 | 44.33 |
| Maurie Williams | 176 | 4 | 44.00 |
| Colin Shnier | 44* | 1* | 44.00 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| Mark Arnold | 87 | 2 | 43.50 |
| John Day | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| John O'Connor | 125 | 3 | 41.67 |
| Nathan Dixon | 41 | 1 | 41.00 |
| Nick Mann | 41 | 1 | 41.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Richelle Patrick | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Cherie Brody | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Chris Miller | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Ann Vasconcelos | 73 | 2 | 36.50 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Angie Pearce | 71 | 2 | 35.50 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Paul Merry | 67 | 2 | 33.50 |
| Duncan Butler | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Mitchell Fly | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Cameron Tyson | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hiep Do | 98 | 3 | 32.67 |
| Susan Cumming | 32 | 1 | 32.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
| David Armstrong | 31 | 1 | 31.00 |
Ep 370: John O'Connor, Colin Shnier (January 27, 2012)
Richard asks John what he finds so satisfying about teaching really young children. (There's more behind this question than is apparent at this point, but we'll get to that soon.) John responds that the big satisfaction as a primary school teacher is to see massive changes in children over the course of a single year. His example is that if you can get a child reading well then it affects not only their English performance, but they are able to use it in maths and everything else.
Tonight's challenger is Colin Shnier, a secondary school mathematics teacher. Richard follows on from his question to John by asking Colin what he finds appealing about teaching to older children. Colin starts with some minor trash-talk about the first requirement being to fix what John (and his colleagues) have done; fortunately he is not serious, nor does anyone take him as such. Actually answering the question, Colin says that the continuation of that growth that John talked about is quite beautiful; Colin adds that he really loves working with teenagers because you get such an honesty of the feedback -- you can see immediately how they are thinking and feeling.
It's another close game tonight, with the letters rounds being a little parsimonious and the numbers serving up some difficult targets. Colin takes the lead in the first round, John gets some back and then loses that ground again in the middle rounds, and finally in the last letters round John finds a good word to hit the lead for the first time, by a single point. But Colin retakes the lead in the ensuing numbers round, and with neither solving the conundrum that makes Colin the winner by 44 points to 35.
I did as well as possible on the letters tonight (I believe) but once again missed a number solution that I should have found. I solved the conundrum relatively quickly, and overall it was a good game that was just short of being excellent.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tonight's challenger is Colin Shnier, a secondary school mathematics teacher. Richard follows on from his question to John by asking Colin what he finds appealing about teaching to older children. Colin starts with some minor trash-talk about the first requirement being to fix what John (and his colleagues) have done; fortunately he is not serious, nor does anyone take him as such. Actually answering the question, Colin says that the continuation of that growth that John talked about is quite beautiful; Colin adds that he really loves working with teenagers because you get such an honesty of the feedback -- you can see immediately how they are thinking and feeling.
It's another close game tonight, with the letters rounds being a little parsimonious and the numbers serving up some difficult targets. Colin takes the lead in the first round, John gets some back and then loses that ground again in the middle rounds, and finally in the last letters round John finds a good word to hit the lead for the first time, by a single point. But Colin retakes the lead in the ensuing numbers round, and with neither solving the conundrum that makes Colin the winner by 44 points to 35.
I did as well as possible on the letters tonight (I believe) but once again missed a number solution that I should have found. I solved the conundrum relatively quickly, and overall it was a good game that was just short of being excellent.
As usual, details after the jump.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Ep 369: John O'Connor, Nick Mann (January 26, 2012)
Richard tries to draw a parallel between John's old job (chief purser on a cruise ship) and his current one (primary school teacher); John remarks that the antics of some of the six- and seven-year olds are similar to those he has experienced with passengers in the past. Nonetheless, John is very happy with his late career shift to teaching.
Challenging John is Nick Mann, a personal injury lawyer. He says that there's a lot of medicine in the area of law that he deals with, so he has gone back to university for further study; he has just started a masters degree in health and medical law.
John finds a couple of excellent words tonight, but gives back most of that ground in other letters rounds. The first numbers round proves difficult for both but Nick has just the better of it, while the others do not distinguish between the contestants; the net result is a slender two-point lead for Nick going into the conundrum. John solves it reasonably quickly, and gets his second win with a score of 49 points to 41.
I was slightly behind where I would have liked to be on both types of game, but still managed to forge a decent lead. I solved the conundrum very quickly for a change, for a workmanlike win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Challenging John is Nick Mann, a personal injury lawyer. He says that there's a lot of medicine in the area of law that he deals with, so he has gone back to university for further study; he has just started a masters degree in health and medical law.
John finds a couple of excellent words tonight, but gives back most of that ground in other letters rounds. The first numbers round proves difficult for both but Nick has just the better of it, while the others do not distinguish between the contestants; the net result is a slender two-point lead for Nick going into the conundrum. John solves it reasonably quickly, and gets his second win with a score of 49 points to 41.
I was slightly behind where I would have liked to be on both types of game, but still managed to forge a decent lead. I solved the conundrum very quickly for a change, for a workmanlike win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Ep 368: Angie Pearce, John O'Connor (January 25, 2012)
The talk with Angie is about how exciting the previous game was; we learn nothing new about her, alas.
Tonight's challenger is primary school teacher John O'Connor, but it's a previous job of his that Richard wants to talk about. John used to be the chief purser on a cruise ship whose typical occupancy was nearly four thousand guests and over a thousand crew. It's not necessarily the "fantasy world" that Richard suggests, but John concedes that it was like living in a village of its own. Apparently John was often mistaken for the captain as his uniform had quite a few bars on the sleeves.
There's some excellent letter play today, including an absolutely beautiful find from Angie. The net result is even on those, but John does slightly better in the numbers to take a slender lead into the conundrum. He solves the conundrum very quickly, and takes the win 41 to 28.
I had a good round today but with a careless blunder that rather took the shine off it. For the second time (when playing at home) I was just pipped to the conundrum, hearing the buzzer start to sound as I paused. Good work from John to get that, but I still had enough leeway for a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tonight's challenger is primary school teacher John O'Connor, but it's a previous job of his that Richard wants to talk about. John used to be the chief purser on a cruise ship whose typical occupancy was nearly four thousand guests and over a thousand crew. It's not necessarily the "fantasy world" that Richard suggests, but John concedes that it was like living in a village of its own. Apparently John was often mistaken for the captain as his uniform had quite a few bars on the sleeves.
There's some excellent letter play today, including an absolutely beautiful find from Angie. The net result is even on those, but John does slightly better in the numbers to take a slender lead into the conundrum. He solves the conundrum very quickly, and takes the win 41 to 28.
I had a good round today but with a careless blunder that rather took the shine off it. For the second time (when playing at home) I was just pipped to the conundrum, hearing the buzzer start to sound as I paused. Good work from John to get that, but I still had enough leeway for a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Ep 367: Paul Merry, Angie Pearce (January 24, 2012)
There's a little talk with Paul about the psychology of poker playing, but there's nothing of substance said.
Tonight's challenger is Angie Pearce, a retired teacher and quiz show aficionado. She has been on The Einstein Factor, Sale of the Century (twice, which may simply mean that she won once and returned the next day), Pass the Buck, The Weakest Link, Mastermind, Jeopardy, and a couple of others that slip her mind at the moment. Richard asks if she needed different talents or approaches to them, but as she points out they were mostly all games of general knowledge; the only other ability required was to buzz in first.
(As an aside, her appearance on The Einstein Factor was in episode ten of series two, originally aired on April 17, 2005; her special topic was "CS Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia". I was given the show's quiz book for Christmas, so I looked up the associated questions and was able to get 11 of the 15 correct, which I'm pleased with given how long it is since I last read them. Of course, I wasn't under the time pressure that she would have been (which was often exacerbated by Peter Berner stumbling over reading the questions), although I did aim to answer them quickly.)
Angie gets a good lead on Paul in the first two rounds -- in much the same way that Paul did to Maurie in yesterday's game -- but Paul reclaims it in the next two rounds due to good numbers work and an invalid word from Angie. The remaining letters rounds are equal and they trade results in the numbers, so the scores are all tied up going into the conundrum. It proves to be too difficult for them both so a second is required, and Angie solves that to take the victory, 43 to 33.
I had good letters performance today, but let myself down badly in the numbers. I solved the second conundrum but not the first, for what ended up being a very easy win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tonight's challenger is Angie Pearce, a retired teacher and quiz show aficionado. She has been on The Einstein Factor, Sale of the Century (twice, which may simply mean that she won once and returned the next day), Pass the Buck, The Weakest Link, Mastermind, Jeopardy, and a couple of others that slip her mind at the moment. Richard asks if she needed different talents or approaches to them, but as she points out they were mostly all games of general knowledge; the only other ability required was to buzz in first.
(As an aside, her appearance on The Einstein Factor was in episode ten of series two, originally aired on April 17, 2005; her special topic was "CS Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia". I was given the show's quiz book for Christmas, so I looked up the associated questions and was able to get 11 of the 15 correct, which I'm pleased with given how long it is since I last read them. Of course, I wasn't under the time pressure that she would have been (which was often exacerbated by Peter Berner stumbling over reading the questions), although I did aim to answer them quickly.)
Angie gets a good lead on Paul in the first two rounds -- in much the same way that Paul did to Maurie in yesterday's game -- but Paul reclaims it in the next two rounds due to good numbers work and an invalid word from Angie. The remaining letters rounds are equal and they trade results in the numbers, so the scores are all tied up going into the conundrum. It proves to be too difficult for them both so a second is required, and Angie solves that to take the victory, 43 to 33.
I had good letters performance today, but let myself down badly in the numbers. I solved the second conundrum but not the first, for what ended up being a very easy win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Ep 366: Maurie Williams, Paul Merry (January 23, 2012)
It's Maurie's fourth night, and the conversation is back to fishing. Richard asks what Maurie's "best version of fishing" is, and Maurie doesn't really answer that but does get to talk a bit about his various fishing activities. Where he lives ("in the bay" -- presumably Hervey Bay from later remarks) there's quite a long pier and they get some good mackerel and giant trevally there. But he and his kids like to go out to the reefs in his "small tinnie" (a boat with a lightweight metal hull, for any non-Australians who end up reading this) and catch some reef fish; every now and then they make it over to Fraser Island to catch some mud crabs and fresh prawns.
Tonight's challenge is Paul Merry, a mechanical engineer and poker player. He's been in Las Vegas as a professional poker player; he notes the benefits of being able to set your own hours, but the important (more profitable) games are on the weekend so that you have to work very hard then. A poker player's weekend is during the week, as he puts it.
Paul gets off to a flying start with fifteen unanswered points from the first two rounds. Maurie manages to gain back the ground in numbers rounds and the scores are tied at the second break. Maurie gets ahead in the letters, only for Paul to outdo him in the final numbers round. The one-point advantage that this gives Paul proves decisive as neither is able to solve the conundrum. Paul wins, 34 to 33.
I was slightly off the pace on the early letters rounds, and slow on the conundrum. although I got it; solid numbers play and a good final letters round saw me home for a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tonight's challenge is Paul Merry, a mechanical engineer and poker player. He's been in Las Vegas as a professional poker player; he notes the benefits of being able to set your own hours, but the important (more profitable) games are on the weekend so that you have to work very hard then. A poker player's weekend is during the week, as he puts it.
Paul gets off to a flying start with fifteen unanswered points from the first two rounds. Maurie manages to gain back the ground in numbers rounds and the scores are tied at the second break. Maurie gets ahead in the letters, only for Paul to outdo him in the final numbers round. The one-point advantage that this gives Paul proves decisive as neither is able to solve the conundrum. Paul wins, 34 to 33.
I was slightly off the pace on the early letters rounds, and slow on the conundrum. although I got it; solid numbers play and a good final letters round saw me home for a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 361 to 365
It's been an adequate week, with some missed possibilities that I should have seen, particularly in the numbers, but it finished on a decided high note thanks to a fully monty. I also solved all the conundrums this week, although on the Monday I was just beaten by a contestant on time.
Trevor couldn't get past the four-game barrier, and does not make it into the rankings. Maurie has a chance to tomorrow, but for this week there's no change.
It's been a tough week for the full monties, in part due to excessively vowel-happy contestants; all but one letters round had four (or in one case, five) vowels, and that one with only three had a Y in it. There was only one full monty available all week with the selected mixes, but another three cases where staying with three vowels would have produced one (plus an unlikely but possible fourth where the next consonant is not known). I really hope that next week's contestants manage a better balance.
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 61 | 57 | 72 | 57 | 78 |
| Champion | 33 | 16 | 24 | 35 | 16 |
| Challenger | 17 | 54 | 30 | 35 | 10 |
| David + Lily | 78 | 73 | 77 | 74 | 73 |
Trevor couldn't get past the four-game barrier, and does not make it into the rankings. Maurie has a chance to tomorrow, but for this week there's no change.
| Sam Gaffney | 51 | 81 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 55 | 380 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerin White | 55 | 56 | 46 | 63 | 65 | 51 | 336 |
| Toby Baldwin | 59 | 48 | 54 | 43 | 48 | 44 | 296 |
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
| Daniel Chua | 44 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 36 | 52 | 300 |
| Sebastian Ham | 39 | 49 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 231 | |
| Geoff Bailey | 55 | 64 | 65 | 63 | 247 | ||
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 |
It's been a tough week for the full monties, in part due to excessively vowel-happy contestants; all but one letters round had four (or in one case, five) vowels, and that one with only three had a Y in it. There was only one full monty available all week with the selected mixes, but another three cases where staying with three vowels would have produced one (plus an unlikely but possible fourth where the next consonant is not known). I really hope that next week's contestants manage a better balance.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Gaffney | 380 | 6 | 63.33 |
| Geoff Bailey | 247 | 4 | 61.75 |
| Jimmy Driscoll | 61 | 1 | 61.00 |
| Leanne Cox | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Kerin White | 336 | 6 | 56.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Geraldine Yam | 52 | 1 | 52.00 |
| Tim Clay | 51 | 1 | 51.00 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Daniel Chua | 300 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Lainie Mercieca | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Toby Baldwin | 296 | 6 | 49.33 |
| Susan Pickett | 97 | 2 | 48.50 |
| Matt Williams | 48 | 1 | 48.00 |
| Maurie Williams | 143* | 3* | 47.67 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Brett Edwards | 139 | 3 | 46.33 |
| Sebastian Ham | 231 | 5 | 46.20 |
| Brian McEvoy | 46 | 1 | 46.00 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Karla Treves | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Sandy Clarke | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Trevor Armstrong | 178 | 4 | 44.50 |
| Megan Marks | 133 | 3 | 44.33 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| Mark Arnold | 87 | 2 | 43.50 |
| John Day | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| Nathan Dixon | 41 | 1 | 41.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Richelle Patrick | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Cherie Brody | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Chris Miller | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Ann Vasconcelos | 73 | 2 | 36.50 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Duncan Butler | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Mitchell Fly | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Cameron Tyson | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hiep Do | 98 | 3 | 32.67 |
| Susan Cumming | 32 | 1 | 32.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
| David Armstrong | 31 | 1 | 31.00 |
Ep 365: Maurie Williams, Raluca Dorobantu (January 20, 2012)
The chat with Maurie tonight is essentially just a comment about him playing against his son in the previous game. So far, all we've really heard about him is that he likes fishing; surely that's not the extent of things?
Challenging Maurie is Raluca Dorobantu, described simply as a student. She speaks several languages: Romanian (her native language), English, French, and she's studying Spanish at the moment.
It's an unusual performance from both contestants, with only five- or six-letter words being found in some reasonably cooperative mixes. Maurie has just slightly the better of it -- I can't help but wonder how difficult it is for Raluca to play this game in a non-native language, particularly with three others to ignore at the same time -- and neither shows convincing form in the numbers but again Maurie comes out ahead. That gives him an unbeatable lead going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the final scoreline is 46 to 27 in his favour.
I had a great letters performance today, including finding a full monty that David missed. My numbers performance let me down, however, as I ended up quite far from the target in one round and missed an easy minor adjustment in another; in both cases a little more time would have improved matters markedly -- I was just too slow, alas. Still, the power of a full monty is large, and gave me my third (and largest) win over the David + Lily combination (in solo scoring, that is).
As usual, details after the jump.
Challenging Maurie is Raluca Dorobantu, described simply as a student. She speaks several languages: Romanian (her native language), English, French, and she's studying Spanish at the moment.
It's an unusual performance from both contestants, with only five- or six-letter words being found in some reasonably cooperative mixes. Maurie has just slightly the better of it -- I can't help but wonder how difficult it is for Raluca to play this game in a non-native language, particularly with three others to ignore at the same time -- and neither shows convincing form in the numbers but again Maurie comes out ahead. That gives him an unbeatable lead going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the final scoreline is 46 to 27 in his favour.
I had a great letters performance today, including finding a full monty that David missed. My numbers performance let me down, however, as I ended up quite far from the target in one round and missed an easy minor adjustment in another; in both cases a little more time would have improved matters markedly -- I was just too slow, alas. Still, the power of a full monty is large, and gave me my third (and largest) win over the David + Lily combination (in solo scoring, that is).
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 364: Maurie Williams, Matt Williams (January 19, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
There's a shake-up of the usual introductory format tonight because the challenger is Matt Williams -- Maurie's son! Matt is a university student studying I.T., but the conversation with them both is just the usual competitive statements that you might expect in such a situation. We do learn later (from Matt, but presumably Maurie agrees) that Maurie is better at the letters rounds, Matt at the numbers rounds, and for the conundrum Maurie "has it in the bag".
Despite those remarks, the letters are almost balanced, with each winning one round (Matt winning due to Maurie trying a risky word, admittedly). Matt shows slightly better form on the numbers, but misses a trivial adjustment in the last round that would have seen him safe going into the conundrum. As it goes he has a six point advantage, but Maurie lives up to expectations by solving the conundrum less than four seconds in. That gives Maurie a lucky win, 52 to 48.
I was solid on the numbers, but wobbly on the letters tonight. I made up for it a little by solving the conundrum effectively instantly, and combined with the last numbers round that made the margin somewhat more flattering than it probably deserved.
As usual, details after the jump.
There's a shake-up of the usual introductory format tonight because the challenger is Matt Williams -- Maurie's son! Matt is a university student studying I.T., but the conversation with them both is just the usual competitive statements that you might expect in such a situation. We do learn later (from Matt, but presumably Maurie agrees) that Maurie is better at the letters rounds, Matt at the numbers rounds, and for the conundrum Maurie "has it in the bag".
Despite those remarks, the letters are almost balanced, with each winning one round (Matt winning due to Maurie trying a risky word, admittedly). Matt shows slightly better form on the numbers, but misses a trivial adjustment in the last round that would have seen him safe going into the conundrum. As it goes he has a six point advantage, but Maurie lives up to expectations by solving the conundrum less than four seconds in. That gives Maurie a lucky win, 52 to 48.
I was solid on the numbers, but wobbly on the letters tonight. I made up for it a little by solving the conundrum effectively instantly, and combined with the last numbers round that made the margin somewhat more flattering than it probably deserved.
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Ep 363: Susan Pickett, Maurie Williams (January 18, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
On Susan's second night it's revealed that she has been on several gameshows before, many years ago. She lists Wheel of Fortune, Concentration, and Catchphrase, and is about to add another but gets cut off by Richard (she paused too long, making it seem like she had finished, before she attempted to resume the list). She won at least some of them, according to her StarNow profile, although the only show she mentions explicitly is Letters and Numbers.
Challenging Susan is Maurie Williams, a sales manager and very keen fisherman. Richard asks what it is about fishing that really appeals to Maurie; Maurie responds that it's the hunt (insert your own Rex Hunt joke here), the catch, the chase... I admit that I don't really associate either hunting or chasing with fishing (unless, perhaps, using a speargun rather than a fishing line), but I can see how some aspects of it -- particularly the sometimes hours-long struggle to land a fish which is capable of exerting more force than the breaking strain of the line -- could evoke similar feelings.
It's a close match, with Susan getting off to an early lead in the letters; Maurie is able to get back exactly the same amount in later letters rounds (assisted by an error from Susan). The numbers produce what could have been the key difference, with Maurie scoring a 5 early on and Susan a 7 at the end. That is a two point advantage to Susan going into the conundrum, which is always a preferable place to be. As time ticks down she must be feeling better about things, but with just five seconds left on the clock Maurie finds the answer and takes the win, 45 points to 37.
I was a touch off in the letters -- missing a seven that I should have seen (and have seen before) -- and struggled with one of the numbers rounds, but other than that I was in pretty good shape. The conundrum was a little awkward, but I got there soon enough to seal a good win.
As usual, details after the break.
On Susan's second night it's revealed that she has been on several gameshows before, many years ago. She lists Wheel of Fortune, Concentration, and Catchphrase, and is about to add another but gets cut off by Richard (she paused too long, making it seem like she had finished, before she attempted to resume the list). She won at least some of them, according to her StarNow profile, although the only show she mentions explicitly is Letters and Numbers.
Challenging Susan is Maurie Williams, a sales manager and very keen fisherman. Richard asks what it is about fishing that really appeals to Maurie; Maurie responds that it's the hunt (insert your own Rex Hunt joke here), the catch, the chase... I admit that I don't really associate either hunting or chasing with fishing (unless, perhaps, using a speargun rather than a fishing line), but I can see how some aspects of it -- particularly the sometimes hours-long struggle to land a fish which is capable of exerting more force than the breaking strain of the line -- could evoke similar feelings.
It's a close match, with Susan getting off to an early lead in the letters; Maurie is able to get back exactly the same amount in later letters rounds (assisted by an error from Susan). The numbers produce what could have been the key difference, with Maurie scoring a 5 early on and Susan a 7 at the end. That is a two point advantage to Susan going into the conundrum, which is always a preferable place to be. As time ticks down she must be feeling better about things, but with just five seconds left on the clock Maurie finds the answer and takes the win, 45 points to 37.
I was a touch off in the letters -- missing a seven that I should have seen (and have seen before) -- and struggled with one of the numbers rounds, but other than that I was in pretty good shape. The conundrum was a little awkward, but I got there soon enough to seal a good win.
As usual, details after the break.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Late posts due to illness
I'm currently unwell, so updates may be erratic for a while. I have played tonight's game (episode 363) but the post will have to wait until I have the energy for it. I may even delay playing the next few until better. On the other hand, I may find a little energy tomorrow and write up the results; it all depends how I feel.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Ep 362: Trevor Armstrong, Susan Pickett (January 17, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
It's Trevor's fourth night; if he can win this then he will probably make the finals. Richard asks about the patterns that Trevor has been choosing; Trevor responds that in the letters he looks for -ING, -S, -ED, and -ER. In the numbers (as is clear from his play) he has been practicing with the four large mix.
Challenging Trevor is professional home renovator Susan Pickett. Richard asks how many homes so far, and Susan has to think about this, emerging with the answer of "four or five". She adds that they have moved house a lot. She does carpentry, tiling, painting, and her favourite power tool is the mitre saw.
Trevor is way off the pace in this game, as Susan outdoes him considerably in the main rounds. This is in part due to Trevor declaring two invalid answers for the letters; he never finds a valid word longer than six and only finds his way to the numerical target once. He ends up still on zero after five rounds, and that's infeasible to recover from. Susan does well in each facet of the game, especially in what were some unproductive mixes (although that's partly her doing), and her numbers performance was very good tonight. Neither solves the conundrum (although Trevor had a try at it), and Susan takes a very comfortable victory 60 to 16.
I had a subjectively bad game tonight, missing some words I should have found and a target that I should have got. In fact, I was behind going into the conundrum; the only other times that has happened are against Sam (although episode 340 was close, where I only managed a single point advantage over Jimmy Driscoll at that stage). When Trevor buzzed in to solve it I thought my chances were gone, but luckily for me he was incorrect and I solved it within the remaining time to take a somewhat fortunate win.
As usual, details after the jump.
It's Trevor's fourth night; if he can win this then he will probably make the finals. Richard asks about the patterns that Trevor has been choosing; Trevor responds that in the letters he looks for -ING, -S, -ED, and -ER. In the numbers (as is clear from his play) he has been practicing with the four large mix.
Challenging Trevor is professional home renovator Susan Pickett. Richard asks how many homes so far, and Susan has to think about this, emerging with the answer of "four or five". She adds that they have moved house a lot. She does carpentry, tiling, painting, and her favourite power tool is the mitre saw.
Trevor is way off the pace in this game, as Susan outdoes him considerably in the main rounds. This is in part due to Trevor declaring two invalid answers for the letters; he never finds a valid word longer than six and only finds his way to the numerical target once. He ends up still on zero after five rounds, and that's infeasible to recover from. Susan does well in each facet of the game, especially in what were some unproductive mixes (although that's partly her doing), and her numbers performance was very good tonight. Neither solves the conundrum (although Trevor had a try at it), and Susan takes a very comfortable victory 60 to 16.
I had a subjectively bad game tonight, missing some words I should have found and a target that I should have got. In fact, I was behind going into the conundrum; the only other times that has happened are against Sam (although episode 340 was close, where I only managed a single point advantage over Jimmy Driscoll at that stage). When Trevor buzzed in to solve it I thought my chances were gone, but luckily for me he was incorrect and I solved it within the remaining time to take a somewhat fortunate win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Ep 361: Trevor Armstrong, Chris Miller (January 16, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Richard talks a bit more about Trevor's swimming, and how he does it all over the world. He asks why Trevor does that, and more or less gets a rehash of the first night's comments about what Trevor likes about swimming. Trevor says that recently he went to Vanuatu, and at the capital (Port Vila) he swam around the Iririki island (a distance of about 3.2 kilometres). Trevor adds: "29, 30 degree water temperature, coral fish, what more could you ask for?"
Tonight's challenger is Chris Miller, an accountant and keen traveller. Chris hails from London, and did about two months of travelling around Australia when he first arrived here. He spent a lot of time on the east coast of Queensland; in particular, driving from Brisbane to Cairns and swimming along the Great Barrier Reef. He describes the experience as fantastic and amazing, and says that he met a lot of great people.
It's a very close game from both contestants: They have identical results in three of the five letters rounds, and anagrams in another. They each get one of the numbers rounds, and then both miss the last completely, meaning that it's just a single round of difference going into the conundrum. Trevor was ahead, and solves the conundrum quickly to get his third win, 53 to 37.
I did OK, but stumbled in the second round and then was just a touch slow on the conundrum so that Trevor just beat me to it. The rest was good (just one letter short of optimal) and strong numbers results in particular saw me comfortably home.
As usual, details after the break.
Richard talks a bit more about Trevor's swimming, and how he does it all over the world. He asks why Trevor does that, and more or less gets a rehash of the first night's comments about what Trevor likes about swimming. Trevor says that recently he went to Vanuatu, and at the capital (Port Vila) he swam around the Iririki island (a distance of about 3.2 kilometres). Trevor adds: "29, 30 degree water temperature, coral fish, what more could you ask for?"
Tonight's challenger is Chris Miller, an accountant and keen traveller. Chris hails from London, and did about two months of travelling around Australia when he first arrived here. He spent a lot of time on the east coast of Queensland; in particular, driving from Brisbane to Cairns and swimming along the Great Barrier Reef. He describes the experience as fantastic and amazing, and says that he met a lot of great people.
It's a very close game from both contestants: They have identical results in three of the five letters rounds, and anagrams in another. They each get one of the numbers rounds, and then both miss the last completely, meaning that it's just a single round of difference going into the conundrum. Trevor was ahead, and solves the conundrum quickly to get his third win, 53 to 37.
I did OK, but stumbled in the second round and then was just a touch slow on the conundrum so that Trevor just beat me to it. The rest was good (just one letter short of optimal) and strong numbers results in particular saw me comfortably home.
As usual, details after the break.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 356 to 360
It's been another mixed week for me, but better than the last one. I managed to tie the David/Lily combination once and might have a second time as it was unclear whether Lily was close to an impossible target or not. Once again, though, the week ended on a lower note with some quite findable answers missed. Also like last week, I only managed to get two of the conundrums -- I hope next week goes better!
Kerin won her sixth game this week, putting her into second place and leaving me in a very precarious seventh position. She's the fourth retiring champion this series, and there's still a fair few games until the finals.
Other statistics:
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 65 | 77 | 67 | 63 | 68 |
| Champion | 49 | 35 | 39 | 39 | 26 |
| Challenger | 39 | 24 | 24 | 45 | 20 |
| David + Lily | 77 | 77 | 74 | 87 | 77 |
Kerin won her sixth game this week, putting her into second place and leaving me in a very precarious seventh position. She's the fourth retiring champion this series, and there's still a fair few games until the finals.
| Sam Gaffney | 51 | 81 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 55 | 380 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerin White | 55 | 56 | 46 | 63 | 65 | 51 | 336 |
| Toby Baldwin | 59 | 48 | 54 | 43 | 48 | 44 | 296 |
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
| Daniel Chua | 44 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 36 | 52 | 300 |
| Sebastian Ham | 39 | 49 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 231 | |
| Geoff Bailey | 55 | 64 | 65 | 63 | 247 | ||
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 0 | |||||
| Impossible Numbers | 1 | 1 |
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Gaffney | 380 | 6 | 63.33 |
| Geoff Bailey | 247 | 4 | 61.75 |
| Jimmy Driscoll | 61 | 1 | 61.00 |
| Leanne Cox | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Kerin White | 336 | 6 | 56.00 |
| Trevor Armstrong | 109* | 2* | 54.50 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Geraldine Yam | 52 | 1 | 52.00 |
| Tim Clay | 51 | 1 | 51.00 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Daniel Chua | 300 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Lainie Mercieca | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Toby Baldwin | 296 | 6 | 49.33 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Brett Edwards | 139 | 3 | 46.33 |
| Sebastian Ham | 231 | 5 | 46.20 |
| Brian McEvoy | 46 | 1 | 46.00 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Karla Treves | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Sandy Clarke | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Megan Marks | 133 | 3 | 44.33 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| Mark Arnold | 87 | 2 | 43.50 |
| John Day | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| Nathan Dixon | 41 | 1 | 41.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Richelle Patrick | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Cherie Brody | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Ann Vasconcelos | 73 | 2 | 36.50 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Duncan Butler | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Mitchell Fly | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Cameron Tyson | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hiep Do | 98 | 3 | 32.67 |
| Susan Cumming | 32 | 1 | 32.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
| David Armstrong | 31 | 1 | 31.00 |
Ep 360: Trevor Armstrong, Cameron Tyson (January 13, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
In addition to his swimming endeavours, Trevor has played badminton for over forty years; he was also a state and national selector for the sport for some years, helping to select the team to represent Australia.
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Tyson, a screenwriting student. He's looking at both cinema scripts and television scripts; he enjoys writing comedy the most, and his ideal situation would be to end up writing a sitcom.
Trevor manages to edge out Cameron on a couple of the letters rounds, but otherwise they are mostly matched there. It's the numbers where this competition could have been cracked wide open, with neither really managing to come to grips with them. The net result is equal points, and Trevor's letters lead sees him home, a good conundrum solution extending the lead for a 56 to 33 win.
I started well, but then fell away after the first third of the game, missing solutions I should have seen in each of the next five rounds. A fast solve of the conundrum helped me feel better about it, but this could easily have been a lot better.
As usual, details after the jump.
In addition to his swimming endeavours, Trevor has played badminton for over forty years; he was also a state and national selector for the sport for some years, helping to select the team to represent Australia.
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Tyson, a screenwriting student. He's looking at both cinema scripts and television scripts; he enjoys writing comedy the most, and his ideal situation would be to end up writing a sitcom.
Trevor manages to edge out Cameron on a couple of the letters rounds, but otherwise they are mostly matched there. It's the numbers where this competition could have been cracked wide open, with neither really managing to come to grips with them. The net result is equal points, and Trevor's letters lead sees him home, a good conundrum solution extending the lead for a 56 to 33 win.
I started well, but then fell away after the first third of the game, missing solutions I should have seen in each of the next five rounds. A fast solve of the conundrum helped me feel better about it, but this could easily have been a lot better.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 359: Trevor Armstrong, Geraldine Yam (January 12, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Two new contestants tonight, after Kerin's successful retirement yesterday. Taking the champion's position is Trevor Armstrong, a retiree and competitive swimmer. Richard mentions that Trevor has swum all his life and played water polo, and asks about the long-distance swimming that Trevor does. Trevor responds that he has done a lot of open-water swimming in the last few years, most recently along the coast of Turkey. He thinks that swimming is a good way to meet people and stay healthy.
In the challenger's position is Geraldine Yam, an in-house lawyer for the University of Adelaide. In that capacity, she may give advice on topics ranging from intellectual property to contracts to disputes. She enjoys the variety of the job; every day is different.
There's several difficult letter mixes tonight, and with the first two numbers being extremely easy it proves impossible to separate the contestants until the seventh round. Geraldine just manages to pull ahead but Trevor counters in the next round, taking a precious one-point lead into the conundrum. Neither contestant manages to solve it, and Trevor takes the victory, 53 to 52.
I felt off my game tonight, although it showed up most clearly in the first round. It wasn't until the final numbers round that I managed to draw safely away; this was just as well as the conundrum likewise eluded me. It was a tough game tonight, with David doing very well.
As usual, details after the jump.
Two new contestants tonight, after Kerin's successful retirement yesterday. Taking the champion's position is Trevor Armstrong, a retiree and competitive swimmer. Richard mentions that Trevor has swum all his life and played water polo, and asks about the long-distance swimming that Trevor does. Trevor responds that he has done a lot of open-water swimming in the last few years, most recently along the coast of Turkey. He thinks that swimming is a good way to meet people and stay healthy.
In the challenger's position is Geraldine Yam, an in-house lawyer for the University of Adelaide. In that capacity, she may give advice on topics ranging from intellectual property to contracts to disputes. She enjoys the variety of the job; every day is different.
There's several difficult letter mixes tonight, and with the first two numbers being extremely easy it proves impossible to separate the contestants until the seventh round. Geraldine just manages to pull ahead but Trevor counters in the next round, taking a precious one-point lead into the conundrum. Neither contestant manages to solve it, and Trevor takes the victory, 53 to 52.
I felt off my game tonight, although it showed up most clearly in the first round. It wasn't until the final numbers round that I managed to draw safely away; this was just as well as the conundrum likewise eluded me. It was a tough game tonight, with David doing very well.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Ep 358: Kerin White, Zac Newnham (January 11, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
It's Kerin's last night (until the finals, anyway); Richard wheels out the question about techniques. Kerin starts with the numbers, where she remarks that she finds the usual family mix the easiest, and she really dislikes the six-small option. That's a close match for the solving probability, so no real surprise there. With the letters, she likes to get those four consonants out first; it helps her envisage possible words from the start. I have to say, it was nice of her to tell her opponent how he should make his selections in order to put her out.
Speaking of whom, tonight's challenger is Zac Newnham, a pathology student who has written two novels. The first was a drama/romance novel (he describes it as "not what an eighteen-year-old boy would write", but he did); the second is a wartime drama novel, set at home -- it's about the consequences of war, of coming back from war and what happens to the people who have gone to one. He has not yet put them out for publication, but he hopes to be able to do so in a few years' time.
Zac finds a couple of decent words, but is mostly outdone by Kerin who is in good form for her final night, at least with the letters. The numbers don't go so well, but a careless error from Zac takes away his chance of a recovery, and a final rat pack selection leaves them both stumped. With neither solving the conundrum Kerin still manages to get the half-century, taking the game 51 to 24 and becoming the season's fourth retiring champion. (And second-highest scorer, too.)
I had seven excellent rounds, and then the ratpack likewise defeated me. I was unable to solve a tough conundrum so the round fizzled out; against that, I found a nine that eluded everyone, although I am in part relying on the show's laxness about plurals. More on that in the appropriate round. (For anyone keeping track of statistics, even if it were ruled invalid I would still scrape home a three-point victory on this game.)
As usual, details after the jump.
It's Kerin's last night (until the finals, anyway); Richard wheels out the question about techniques. Kerin starts with the numbers, where she remarks that she finds the usual family mix the easiest, and she really dislikes the six-small option. That's a close match for the solving probability, so no real surprise there. With the letters, she likes to get those four consonants out first; it helps her envisage possible words from the start. I have to say, it was nice of her to tell her opponent how he should make his selections in order to put her out.
Speaking of whom, tonight's challenger is Zac Newnham, a pathology student who has written two novels. The first was a drama/romance novel (he describes it as "not what an eighteen-year-old boy would write", but he did); the second is a wartime drama novel, set at home -- it's about the consequences of war, of coming back from war and what happens to the people who have gone to one. He has not yet put them out for publication, but he hopes to be able to do so in a few years' time.
Zac finds a couple of decent words, but is mostly outdone by Kerin who is in good form for her final night, at least with the letters. The numbers don't go so well, but a careless error from Zac takes away his chance of a recovery, and a final rat pack selection leaves them both stumped. With neither solving the conundrum Kerin still manages to get the half-century, taking the game 51 to 24 and becoming the season's fourth retiring champion. (And second-highest scorer, too.)
I had seven excellent rounds, and then the ratpack likewise defeated me. I was unable to solve a tough conundrum so the round fizzled out; against that, I found a nine that eluded everyone, although I am in part relying on the show's laxness about plurals. More on that in the appropriate round. (For anyone keeping track of statistics, even if it were ruled invalid I would still scrape home a three-point victory on this game.)
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Ep 357: Kerin White, Richelle Patrick (January 10, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Apparently Kerin slept poorly last night, in anticipation of these next games. She tried reading a book to relax, but all these nine-letter words and prefixes and suffixes kept jumping out at her. It wasn't relaxing at all! (I can certainly relate to that; at my peak of involvement in the game, and still somewhat now, my mind was disassembling words like that all the time. It's the Tetris effect in action.)
Tonight's challenger is Richelle Patrick, a personal trainer and receptionist. A few years back (and possibly still now) she was involved in duathlons, both as an organiser and participant. Richard remarks that we don't hear much about duathlons, and I agree; I was thinking it was another term for a biathlon, in fact, but the sports turn out to be different. As Richelle explains, a duathlon is a bit like a triathlon but without a swim leg; it involves a run, a cycle, and another run -- she gives distances of 10km, 40km, and 5km respectively, but those may vary among duathlons.
Richelle starts off with an invalid word, and does poorly in the first numbers round. Kerin extends her lead in the next letters round to be ahead by 24 points after four rounds. That's hard to recover from, and while Richelle gets a little back she fails to take the opportunity presented in the last numbers round and Kerin is safe going into the conundrum. Kerin solves it in the dying seconds to finish off a comprehensive victory, 65 to 38.
I kept track with David and Lily throughout, and while I was slow to solve the conundrum I got there at the fifteen second mark. That's about as good as possible, really -- there was one longer word to be found as it turns out, but I'd not heard of it before and really the only blemish is the slowness of the conundrum solve. A nice game tonight.
As usual, details after the jump.
Apparently Kerin slept poorly last night, in anticipation of these next games. She tried reading a book to relax, but all these nine-letter words and prefixes and suffixes kept jumping out at her. It wasn't relaxing at all! (I can certainly relate to that; at my peak of involvement in the game, and still somewhat now, my mind was disassembling words like that all the time. It's the Tetris effect in action.)
Tonight's challenger is Richelle Patrick, a personal trainer and receptionist. A few years back (and possibly still now) she was involved in duathlons, both as an organiser and participant. Richard remarks that we don't hear much about duathlons, and I agree; I was thinking it was another term for a biathlon, in fact, but the sports turn out to be different. As Richelle explains, a duathlon is a bit like a triathlon but without a swim leg; it involves a run, a cycle, and another run -- she gives distances of 10km, 40km, and 5km respectively, but those may vary among duathlons.
Richelle starts off with an invalid word, and does poorly in the first numbers round. Kerin extends her lead in the next letters round to be ahead by 24 points after four rounds. That's hard to recover from, and while Richelle gets a little back she fails to take the opportunity presented in the last numbers round and Kerin is safe going into the conundrum. Kerin solves it in the dying seconds to finish off a comprehensive victory, 65 to 38.
I kept track with David and Lily throughout, and while I was slow to solve the conundrum I got there at the fifteen second mark. That's about as good as possible, really -- there was one longer word to be found as it turns out, but I'd not heard of it before and really the only blemish is the slowness of the conundrum solve. A nice game tonight.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 356: Kerin White, Brian McEvoy (January 9, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
The SBS website continues to be cooperative about showing the video; I'll stop mentioning it unless it turns bad again.
Kerin really likes the works of Stephen King and Dean Koontz; she's always "hanging out for the next book to be released". She likes the genre, and also that there is often a twist in their stories.
Challenging Kerin is construction worker Brian McEvoy. Brian is Irish, but his wife was born in Melbourne; four years ago they decided to take a year's break and visit Melbourne, and they've stayed ever since. Brian likes Melbourne a lot more than Ireland; he remarks that the weather is much better.
It's neck and neck from the two contestants for six rounds, with decent finds throughout from both. Kerin just manages to draw away in round seven, and then finds an excellent solution in round eight to deliver the knockout blow. Neither contestant can solve the conundrum -- Brian buzzes in with an incorrect guess -- and Kerin gets her fourth win, 63 to 46.
I had a bad miss in the second round, and made a mess of the conundrum similarly to Brian. Fortunately some other solid finds in the letters rounds kept me ahead for the win.
As usual, details after the jump.
The SBS website continues to be cooperative about showing the video; I'll stop mentioning it unless it turns bad again.
Kerin really likes the works of Stephen King and Dean Koontz; she's always "hanging out for the next book to be released". She likes the genre, and also that there is often a twist in their stories.
Challenging Kerin is construction worker Brian McEvoy. Brian is Irish, but his wife was born in Melbourne; four years ago they decided to take a year's break and visit Melbourne, and they've stayed ever since. Brian likes Melbourne a lot more than Ireland; he remarks that the weather is much better.
It's neck and neck from the two contestants for six rounds, with decent finds throughout from both. Kerin just manages to draw away in round seven, and then finds an excellent solution in round eight to deliver the knockout blow. Neither contestant can solve the conundrum -- Brian buzzes in with an incorrect guess -- and Kerin gets her fourth win, 63 to 46.
I had a bad miss in the second round, and made a mess of the conundrum similarly to Brian. Fortunately some other solid finds in the letters rounds kept me ahead for the win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 351 to 355
It's been a mixed week for me, starting off quite well and (sans conundrum on Tuesday) staying very close to the combined David/Lily score. In fact on Wednesday I just pipped them -- only the second time this series that I have managed to do so. Things went downhill come Thursday, though, and the week finished on a disappointing note. This may have been my worst week for conundrums, too, only managing to solve two of the five.
Sebastian made it to a fifth game, pushing me down a spot in the rankings. Kerin has a chance of doing the same, too -- she just needs to win Monday's game. I'm still clinging to that sixth position, but it looks shakier and shakier as the series winds on. Note that Kerin has already scored enough to ensure that she'll eliminate Alex van der Kooij from the running even if she loses, so she makes it onto the rankings table even though Alex has technically played more games than her at this point.
Other statistics:
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 69 | 76 | 75 | 59 | 52 |
| Champion | 27 | 38 | 40 | 37 | 35 |
| Challenger | 21 | 40 | 38 | 18 | 17 |
| David + Lily | 72 | 88 | 74 | 74 | 87 |
Sebastian made it to a fifth game, pushing me down a spot in the rankings. Kerin has a chance of doing the same, too -- she just needs to win Monday's game. I'm still clinging to that sixth position, but it looks shakier and shakier as the series winds on. Note that Kerin has already scored enough to ensure that she'll eliminate Alex van der Kooij from the running even if she loses, so she makes it onto the rankings table even though Alex has technically played more games than her at this point.
| Sam Gaffney | 51 | 81 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 55 | 380 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toby Baldwin | 59 | 48 | 54 | 43 | 48 | 44 | 296 |
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
| Daniel Chua | 44 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 36 | 52 | 300 |
| Sebastian Ham | 39 | 49 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 231 | |
| Geoff Bailey | 55 | 64 | 65 | 63 | 247 | ||
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Kerin White | 55 | 56 | 46 | 157 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Gaffney | 380 | 6 | 63.33 |
| Geoff Bailey | 247 | 4 | 61.75 |
| Jimmy Driscoll | 61 | 1 | 61.00 |
| Leanne Cox | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Kerin White | 157* | 3* | 52.33 |
| Tim Clay | 51 | 1 | 51.00 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Daniel Chua | 300 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Lainie Mercieca | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Toby Baldwin | 296 | 6 | 49.33 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Brett Edwards | 139 | 3 | 46.33 |
| Sebastian Ham | 231 | 5 | 46.20 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Karla Treves | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| Sandy Clarke | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Megan Marks | 133 | 3 | 44.33 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| Mark Arnold | 87 | 2 | 43.50 |
| John Day | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| Nathan Dixon | 41 | 1 | 41.00 |
| 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 |
| Cherie Brody | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Ann Vasconcelos | 73 | 2 | 36.50 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Duncan Butler | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Mitchell Fly | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Hiep Do | 98 | 3 | 32.67 |
| Susan Cumming | 32 | 1 | 32.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
| David Armstrong | 31 | 1 | 31.00 |
Ep 355: Kerin White, John Day (January 6, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
The SBS website continues to be fast for me today; this is reassuring!
Tonight it's mentioned that Kerin makes platelet and plasma donations regularly. Unlike whole blood donations, the red blood cells are returned during the process which enables donors to give much more frequently; Kerin donates every fortnight. More information about the different types of donation may be found on the Red Cross blood donation website.
(I could swear that one of the contestants that I met during my time on the show also talked about this, but it may not have made it to air. I think it was Tim Clay, if so.)
Tonight's challenger is John Day, an analyst for a national food company who loves "the great outdoors". He had an unusual experience a few years back when he was scuba diving in New Zealand. The group he was in surfaced, and about a hundred metres from the boat was a pod of killer wales that just swam past them. That sounds awe-inspiring, and perhaps somewhat frightening.
It's another very close game tonight; the contestants each concede a round of each type to the other, but the difference is in the details: Kerin came out the better in the exchanges, giving her a precious four point lead going into the conundrum. The conundrum eludes both contestants, and Kerin survives to play another day, with a winning score of 46 to 42.
I had a shocking game tonight, missing several easily found words and deciding against the full monty. Combining those with an accidental early buzzer press on the conundrum made it a dire day for me on the words. The one small positive was getting the numbers correct each time, and that enabled me to limp home safely for an unconvincing win.
As usual, details after the jump.
The SBS website continues to be fast for me today; this is reassuring!
Tonight it's mentioned that Kerin makes platelet and plasma donations regularly. Unlike whole blood donations, the red blood cells are returned during the process which enables donors to give much more frequently; Kerin donates every fortnight. More information about the different types of donation may be found on the Red Cross blood donation website.
(I could swear that one of the contestants that I met during my time on the show also talked about this, but it may not have made it to air. I think it was Tim Clay, if so.)
Tonight's challenger is John Day, an analyst for a national food company who loves "the great outdoors". He had an unusual experience a few years back when he was scuba diving in New Zealand. The group he was in surfaced, and about a hundred metres from the boat was a pod of killer wales that just swam past them. That sounds awe-inspiring, and perhaps somewhat frightening.
It's another very close game tonight; the contestants each concede a round of each type to the other, but the difference is in the details: Kerin came out the better in the exchanges, giving her a precious four point lead going into the conundrum. The conundrum eludes both contestants, and Kerin survives to play another day, with a winning score of 46 to 42.
I had a shocking game tonight, missing several easily found words and deciding against the full monty. Combining those with an accidental early buzzer press on the conundrum made it a dire day for me on the words. The one small positive was getting the numbers correct each time, and that enabled me to limp home safely for an unconvincing win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 354: Kerin White, David Armstrong (January 5, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Maybe it's just coincidence, but after SBS sorted out their issues with the previous episode on the website, I actually managed to get this current one in appropriate time (i.e., no freezes or timeouts). Hopefully this signifies something having been fixed, as opposed to a once-off fluke.
Kerin has two sons, aged eleven and thirteen, and they like to compete against her when they all watch Letters and Numbers. When they beat her, particularly on the numbers, they certainly let her know.
Tonight's challenger is David Armstrong, a traffic controller and competitive pool player. He's been playing competitive pool for around six years and enjoys playing in the Victorian pool competitions. His team won a grand final "last week" in the Eastern District Pool League. (It's a bit difficult to find results properly given online; his team is the Manhattan Eightball Club, but I don't know which division he was referring to.)
David adds that he feels very fortunate because in Victoria they have some of the best pool players in the world and you can just go down to a local pub, meet a world-class player, and learn something from them.
It's a bit of a messy game today; no contestant gets longer than six in the letters rounds (admittedly two of them were just that hard), and the target is only reached once in the numbers. Kerin gets off to a fast start, and is up by twenty-two points after the first three rounds. David manages to get a little back at the end, but it's too little too late, and Kerin's excellent conundrum solution rounds out her victory, 56 to 31.
I felt somewhat off my game today, although in retrospect I did mostly keep up. The two letters rounds where I dropped a point (relative to David) were quite gettable, so that makes them stand out more. The conundrum eluded me within regulation time as well, but I was still enough ahead by that point to take the win.
Obviously David Armstrong's name is going to cause difficulties in the following, as I can't even use initials to distinguish between him and David Astle. (It's a minor relief that he did not win, although that's selfish of me.) I'll be resolving this by using David Astle's full name in the following.
As usual, details after the jump.
Maybe it's just coincidence, but after SBS sorted out their issues with the previous episode on the website, I actually managed to get this current one in appropriate time (i.e., no freezes or timeouts). Hopefully this signifies something having been fixed, as opposed to a once-off fluke.
Kerin has two sons, aged eleven and thirteen, and they like to compete against her when they all watch Letters and Numbers. When they beat her, particularly on the numbers, they certainly let her know.
Tonight's challenger is David Armstrong, a traffic controller and competitive pool player. He's been playing competitive pool for around six years and enjoys playing in the Victorian pool competitions. His team won a grand final "last week" in the Eastern District Pool League. (It's a bit difficult to find results properly given online; his team is the Manhattan Eightball Club, but I don't know which division he was referring to.)
David adds that he feels very fortunate because in Victoria they have some of the best pool players in the world and you can just go down to a local pub, meet a world-class player, and learn something from them.
It's a bit of a messy game today; no contestant gets longer than six in the letters rounds (admittedly two of them were just that hard), and the target is only reached once in the numbers. Kerin gets off to a fast start, and is up by twenty-two points after the first three rounds. David manages to get a little back at the end, but it's too little too late, and Kerin's excellent conundrum solution rounds out her victory, 56 to 31.
I felt somewhat off my game today, although in retrospect I did mostly keep up. The two letters rounds where I dropped a point (relative to David) were quite gettable, so that makes them stand out more. The conundrum eluded me within regulation time as well, but I was still enough ahead by that point to take the win.
Obviously David Armstrong's name is going to cause difficulties in the following, as I can't even use initials to distinguish between him and David Astle. (It's a minor relief that he did not win, although that's selfish of me.) I'll be resolving this by using David Astle's full name in the following.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Ep 353: Mark Arnold, Kerin White (January 4, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Richard asks about Mark's sporting activities tonight; Mark notes that, coming from England as he does, the sport in question is football (the soccer variety). He has played indoor soccer for eleven years, and outdoor for seven. He has coached and refereed junior soccer for a year, and also refereed indoor soccer; it's not clear if this last is at the junior level or not.
Challenging Mark tonight is legal secretary Kerin White. Back in year twelve she won a book voucher as a prize for maths and used it to buy a dictionary. As you might imagine, this endears her immensely to David. In fact, the dictionary was a first edition of the Macquarie so that ties in nicely to the show.
It's a pretty good game from both contestants, with some decent finds in the letters rounds and nice close results in the numbers. Kerin gets a bit of a break in rounds five and six, but Mark gets some of it back on the final numbers round. Either contestant can win it going into the conundrum but it's Kerin who solves it, and takes the victory 55 to 40.
I had a good game too, with my solo score outpointing the David & Lily combination for the first time in a long while (courtesy of a missed numbers solution from Lily). The two longer words that David found were not ones I would necessarily have risked (I saw one of them, in fact), so I'm pretty satisfied with this result.
As usual, details after the jump.
Richard asks about Mark's sporting activities tonight; Mark notes that, coming from England as he does, the sport in question is football (the soccer variety). He has played indoor soccer for eleven years, and outdoor for seven. He has coached and refereed junior soccer for a year, and also refereed indoor soccer; it's not clear if this last is at the junior level or not.
Challenging Mark tonight is legal secretary Kerin White. Back in year twelve she won a book voucher as a prize for maths and used it to buy a dictionary. As you might imagine, this endears her immensely to David. In fact, the dictionary was a first edition of the Macquarie so that ties in nicely to the show.
It's a pretty good game from both contestants, with some decent finds in the letters rounds and nice close results in the numbers. Kerin gets a bit of a break in rounds five and six, but Mark gets some of it back on the final numbers round. Either contestant can win it going into the conundrum but it's Kerin who solves it, and takes the victory 55 to 40.
I had a good game too, with my solo score outpointing the David & Lily combination for the first time in a long while (courtesy of a missed numbers solution from Lily). The two longer words that David found were not ones I would necessarily have risked (I saw one of them, in fact), so I'm pretty satisfied with this result.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Unfortunate delays
For whatever reason, Wednesday's episode (353) has not yet made an appearance on the website (as of a bit after 11pm Wednesday night, AEST), so I've not had a chance to watch it yet. This means that the post will have to wait until Thursday at least, which may cause cascade delays all the way to the weekend. Hopefully SBS will sort out their issues soon.
Ep 352: Sebastian Ham, Mark Arnold (January 3, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Sebastian has visited 66 different countries, which seems like a lot to me. Richard asks if there was any region that he particularly enjoyed; Sebastian responds that he likes bits and pieces from everywhere, but he would love to get back to Nepal and the Himalayas, and maybe trek into Tibet.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Arnold, a maintenance fitter and sports enthusiast. But we're not going to talk about either of those things (although Richard mentions in passing that Mark has been a coach and referee in the past), but about what Richard calls Mark's "deep dark passion". Which is... carpentry. Mark says that his main job is using metals, but at home he likes to use wood. His current project is making his own (self-designed) wardrobe doors, and in the past he has made coffee tables, bookcases, and a magazine rack (and possibly other unmentioned items, of course).
It's a relatively close match tonight, with the letters performances being a bit above average (although both contestants fall victim to an invalid eight in one round); Mark has the better of them, but his early stumble in the numbers keeps Sebastian in contention until the final numbers round, where Sebastian is too far away and Mark takes the unassailable lead going into the conundrum. He needed it, too, as Sebastian does very well to solve a tough conundrum. Mark just barely takes the victory, 47 to 45.
I'm pretty happy with my perforance tonight -- finding a nine will do that. Two letters rounds could have gone better, but I might not have risked those words even if I'd seen them. The conundrum, on the other hand, eluded me for the first time in a long while. An unanswered nine is always a commanding advantage, though, and I ran out a comfortable winner once more.
As usual, details after the jump.
Sebastian has visited 66 different countries, which seems like a lot to me. Richard asks if there was any region that he particularly enjoyed; Sebastian responds that he likes bits and pieces from everywhere, but he would love to get back to Nepal and the Himalayas, and maybe trek into Tibet.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Arnold, a maintenance fitter and sports enthusiast. But we're not going to talk about either of those things (although Richard mentions in passing that Mark has been a coach and referee in the past), but about what Richard calls Mark's "deep dark passion". Which is... carpentry. Mark says that his main job is using metals, but at home he likes to use wood. His current project is making his own (self-designed) wardrobe doors, and in the past he has made coffee tables, bookcases, and a magazine rack (and possibly other unmentioned items, of course).
It's a relatively close match tonight, with the letters performances being a bit above average (although both contestants fall victim to an invalid eight in one round); Mark has the better of them, but his early stumble in the numbers keeps Sebastian in contention until the final numbers round, where Sebastian is too far away and Mark takes the unassailable lead going into the conundrum. He needed it, too, as Sebastian does very well to solve a tough conundrum. Mark just barely takes the victory, 47 to 45.
I'm pretty happy with my perforance tonight -- finding a nine will do that. Two letters rounds could have gone better, but I might not have risked those words even if I'd seen them. The conundrum, on the other hand, eluded me for the first time in a long while. An unanswered nine is always a commanding advantage, though, and I ran out a comfortable winner once more.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Ep 351: Sebastian Ham, Cherie Braude (January 2, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Richard reveals that Sebastian does some fundraising; Sebastian explains that once a year he organises (or helps organise -- there's some suggestion of others being involved) a tribute night for a friend who passed away three years ago. This raises money for the Surfrider Foundation, which Sebastian explains is geared towards protecting and nurturing and cleaning the oceans, Australia-wide. (Which I take to mean the coastal environs all around Australia, but I'm sure they can explain it better.)
Tonight's challenger is Cherie Braude, a receptionist and musician. She'd like to play in a band, but she plays the flute. Richard asks if there is much call for flutes in bands aside from "the old Jethro Tull". She responds that it was her inspiration, in fact, and hopes that something will come of it.
It's a bit of a messy game tonight, with several of the letters rounds delivering very awkward mixes to work with. Cherie falls behind in the first two rounds, and thereafter is unable to catch up. The second round was a particularly bad miss, as were the last two numbers rounds where all she needed to get was within ten to have a chance of victory. She wasn't able to do so, though, and Sebastian escapes with a very lucky win, 40 to 37.
I missed a couple of things I should have found tonight, particularly in the second numbers round. That's always disappointing, but there was some decent finds in the letters and a fast conundrum solve to redeem it, and a solid victory once more.
As usual, details after the jump.
Richard reveals that Sebastian does some fundraising; Sebastian explains that once a year he organises (or helps organise -- there's some suggestion of others being involved) a tribute night for a friend who passed away three years ago. This raises money for the Surfrider Foundation, which Sebastian explains is geared towards protecting and nurturing and cleaning the oceans, Australia-wide. (Which I take to mean the coastal environs all around Australia, but I'm sure they can explain it better.)
Tonight's challenger is Cherie Braude, a receptionist and musician. She'd like to play in a band, but she plays the flute. Richard asks if there is much call for flutes in bands aside from "the old Jethro Tull". She responds that it was her inspiration, in fact, and hopes that something will come of it.
It's a bit of a messy game tonight, with several of the letters rounds delivering very awkward mixes to work with. Cherie falls behind in the first two rounds, and thereafter is unable to catch up. The second round was a particularly bad miss, as were the last two numbers rounds where all she needed to get was within ten to have a chance of victory. She wasn't able to do so, though, and Sebastian escapes with a very lucky win, 40 to 37.
I missed a couple of things I should have found tonight, particularly in the second numbers round. That's always disappointing, but there was some decent finds in the letters and a fast conundrum solve to redeem it, and a solid victory once more.
As usual, details after the jump.
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