Ep 300 [GF]: Jacob Davey, Jeremy Schiftan (June 7, 2012; originally aired October 21, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall much of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.  Two rounds were firmly fixed in my memory; I don't feel guilty about claiming them since I found the optimal results on those rounds the first time that I watched this episode.

So we come to the grand final of series three, and -- spoiler alert -- it is one of the most remarkable games I've ever watched.  So much so that when I was attending the filming of my episodes a couple of weeks later it was still being talked about by the cast and crew.  If you've not seen the episode you may wish to skip the spoilery summary below and go straight to the round-by-round descriptions.  It will still be here when you've finished.


As expected, there is not much to the pre-game chat, other than the contestants revealing how nervous they are.  It is mentioned again that there have been 99 full monties found already, so the potential is for the show's hundredth full monty to be found in this grand final.


The game started off quietly enough, with sevens to settle into things.  Jeremy gained an early lead in the second round, and extended it in the third when Jacob's choice of the balanced mix provided a very challenging target.  The contestants found identical results in the next two letters rounds, and once again Jeremy took the points in the second numbers round.  That put him a massive 27 points ahead at the second break and things looked very bleak for Jacob.

After the break, Jacob needed to outpoint Jeremy on his letters round to even have a chance.  He saw the potential for a full monty from the first eight letters, played for it, and got it.  Jeremy missed it, and that narrowed the margin to just 9 points.  Jacob still needed to at least match Jeremy on the last numbers round, something he had so far failed to do.  But this time the target proved too difficult for Jeremy, and Jacob did well to solve it and take a single point lead going into the conundrum.  As expected from a grand final conundrum, it was a difficult one.  But Jacob saw his way through to the answer before the halfway mark, completing a mammoth comeback for a 60 to 49 win.


Round 1: P N S L E I O R G

I had PENS, SPLINE (I was thinking of the mathematical term, which is not listed, but fortunately it is derived from a term that is: "a long, flexible strip of wood or the like used in drawing curves"; SPLINE can also be a verb), SPOILER, and REPOSING.  After time I noted RESOLING, and amused myself by coming up with definitions for the non-serious efforts PRELOSING and SLINGROPE.

Both contestants have found seven-letter words; Jeremy has SLOPING while Jacob has SPOILER.  David has gone with REPOSING for eight.

The other eight is SPONGIER; there's an amino acid PROLINE that would yield PROLINES if it is considered to be pluralisable.

Jacob: SPOILER
Jeremy: SLOPING
Me: REPOSING
David: REPOSING

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 0 (7), me 8


Round 2: M E S A T U N T A

I had SAME / MESA, STEAM, STAMEN, MUTATES, and ATTUNES.  No STATUEMAN, alas.  After time I noted MUTANTS as another seven.

This time Jacob has a "safe six" of TAMEST; that's not so safe given that Jeremy has found MUTANTS for seven, though.  I do wonder what Jacob's risky longer word was; in any case, first blood to Jeremy!

David has found MANTEAUS for eight, the plural of MANTEAU ("a mantle or cloak, especially one worn by women") which is another seven.

That looks like the only eight -- well done, David! -- and the other sevens are TAUTENS / TETANUS and MANTUAS (MANTUA: "a kind of loose gown formerly worn by women").

Jacob: TAMEST
Jeremy: MUTANTS
Me: MUTATES
David: MANTEAUS

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 7 (14), me 15


Round 3: Target 378 from 100 75 50 2 1 9

Jacob tries the risky balanced mix, which can be the most difficult in some ways.  The standard method would be to save the 2 and 1 and try to get to 375 from the rest; the fact that 5*75 is 375 is a bit tantalising, but ultimately a red herring.  I managed to find my way there with 378 = 9*50 - 75 + 2 + 1; this turns out to be the only solution, except for the pointless replacement of 50 by 100 - 50.

Jacob has ended up with 375; since (by implication) he did not have remaining numbers with which to usefully adjust closer, I will guess that this was 375 = (2 + 1)*(75 + 50).  But Jeremy has found the solution, extending his lead to a dangerous 17 points.  Lily has also found the solution.

Jacob: 375
Jeremy: 378
Me: 378
Lily: 378

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 17 (24), me 25


First break: ERASE END ("You sing this for someone else")

Hopefully they will appreciate your SERENADE.

David's talk is about the origins of nachos, as the original air date (October 21) is the International Day of the Nacho.


Round 4: R I D O S E M F U

Oh, dear, I got lost a bit on this one.  I ended up with RODS, RIDES, and FORMED.  I'd spent a bit of time looking at a possible -IFORM ending, but the only appropriately sounding one was DEIFORM.  I did not like this enough to write it down (an error; it is valid, and means "godlike; divine"), and somehow did not see to simply drop the I and get DEFORM.  After time I did, finding DEFORMS for seven, checking up on DEIFORM, and adding MOUSIER as another.  I'd like to think that the first time I played this I found DEFORMS.

Both contestants have found MOUSIER for seven; David could not better it, and has opted for DEFORMS.

The other sevens are SERFDOM and MISDOER -- clearly I'm not paying enough attention, as I mentioned that recently in episode 297.  But there is an eight: DIMEROUS ("consisting of or divided into two parts").

[Update: In a comment, Shannon Newton found SOREDIUM: "an asexual reproductive unit of a lichen consisting of a mass of algal cells enveloped in a network of hyphae".  Great find, Shannon!]

Jacob: MOUSIER
Jeremy: MOUSIER
Me: FORMED
David: DEFORMS

Scores: Jacob 7 (14), Jeremy 24 (31), me 25


Round 5: A O E D R G N I S

I'll just make an aside here that the current scores in the three-way game (7, 24, 25) form a Pythagorean triple.

Anyway, onto the round.  I recalled this from the first airing, where I also found the best answer.  Still, I went through the motions to find ROAD, RAGED, DRAGON, ORANGE, READING, READINGS, and ORGANISED / GRANDIOSE.  After time I recalled that ORGANDIES was the third possibly full monty from these letters.

The first time I played this episode I did find ORGANISED, no doubt aided by ORGANISES showing up in episode 297.

Both contestants have found READINGS for eight.  David has found that hundredth full monty with GRANDIOSE, and he notes that ORGANISED is also there.

The other eights are AGONISED / DIAGNOSE, ORGANDIE, ORGANISE, ANEROIDS (aneroid barometers), and DERAIGNS (DERAIGN: "to dispose troops for (battle)") / GRADINES (GRADINE: "one of a series of steps or seats raised one above another").

Jacob: READINGS
Jeremy: READINGS
Me: ORGANISED
David: GRANDIOSE, ORGANISED

Scores: Jacob 7 (22), Jeremy 24 (39), me 43


Round 6: Target 268 from 25 100 10 5 1 9

Jeremy sticks with the family mix, and gets a surprisingly challenging target for such a low one.  I considered the offsets for the standard method, getting 7 and 18.  The latter seemed more promising, being 2*9, and fortunately some tweaking solved the rest.  My solution was 268 = (10/5)*(100 + 25 + 9).

Jacob is one away with 269 -- perhaps 10*(25 + 1) + 9 -- but Jeremy has found that solution above.  That gives him a commanding 27 point lead, and while the game is not technically lost for Jacob it is very nearly so.  He does seem a little despondent when he confesses to being one away after Jeremy has said he has the target.

Another approach to this target would be to make that offset of 18 as (100 - 10)/5.  That is a powerful technique that is not always easy to see, and in this case would lead to 268 = 10*25 - (100 - 10)/5, where one of those 10's is 9 + 1.

Update: A solution I found while reviewing this post some time later is to make it as 100 + 168; that was worth investigating because 168 has a few factors.  It is the number of hours in the week and thus 7*24, which leads to 268 = 100 + (9 - 10/5)*(25 - 1).

Jacob: 269
Jeremy: 268
Me: 268

Scores: Jacob 7 (22), Jeremy 34 (49), me 53


Second break: VITAL GIN ("Watch a crawling insect")

That insect being the ANT of VIGILANT.


Round 7: T C P R E A I D E

Jacob is in a heap of trouble at this point.  He must outdo Jeremy to have a chance, and needs at least a seven-letter word, preferably an eight.  Even then, the numbers could easily spell his doom once more.  Still, one step at a time...

I recalled this round, too, but again I went through the motions.  I had PERT, CARPET, PICRATE, and I recall that when this round first aired I had seen the potential full monty and willed for a final E.  Jacob had clearly done the same, and had the advantage of being in control of the letters.  He asked for a final vowel with some emphasis, and it was the E, and so I had PREDICATE for nine.  I also noted CARPETED for an eight.

Jacob is happily rewarded for his foresight, and finishes writing at the one second mark.  He has a quick glance at Jeremy, folds his arms and leans back in his chair for a moment.  He adopts a less casual posture again, checking his work, but he cannot refrain from cheerful expressions and a generally satisfied demeanour.  His only concern at this point is whether Jeremy can find the full monty in time, and he does not seem to have done so.

Jeremy has found DECREPIT for eight -- normally an excellent find, but since he declared second he called this "only an eight" -- while Jacob announces that he has the 102nd full monty with PREDICATE.  (Which suggests that both finds from the previous letters round were being counted in the running tally; I'm not sure whether I feel that is appropriate or not.)  That's a vital gain right when he needed it, and very importantly means that he can afford to tie Jeremy on the next numbers round and he will still have a chance.

Jeremy must have thought his odds were very good when he found DECREPIT -- only a full monty could leave Jacob a chance.  But it was there, and Jacob was good enough to spot the option early on, and so the game suddenly comes alive.

The other eight here is a rather anticlimactic DEPICTER.

Incidentally, this round was what I was thinking of when I commented in episode 198 that I was surprised to see PREDICATE show up there.  I'd recalled it from this grand final, but not that it was present during the series two finals.

Jacob: PREDICATE
Jeremy: DECREPIT
Me: PREDICATE

Scores: Jacob 25 (40), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


Round 8: Target 279 from 25 100 10 5 9 1

Jeremy notes that it worked well for him last time, so he goes with the same family mix.  That's reasonable enough, as he did outpoint Jacob last time with such.  A more complicated option might have been tempting to me if I were in his situation, though -- just coming out ahead guarantees the win, and even if Jacob gets points he can only lead at the conundrum if he solves it exactly.  I'm not sure what the right strategy is.

I'll note something that I've complained about before (or after, in a sense, since it was in later episodes): Lily has drawn exactly the same numbers again, albeit in a different order.  She has taken them from the same slots in the board, and the crew do not randomise them between rounds.  We don't get random selections this way, and that's a bit disappointing.

Once more the target is low, very near the previous round.  It would have been handy to think more about it, alas.  I went through some very confused thought processes, which mostly boiled down to wanting an odd multiple of 25, but all the odd numbers had the wrong value mod 4 -- we could get 25, 125, or 225, but not 175 or 275, at least not directly.  In the end I was left with a three-away 276 = 9*25 + 5*10 + 1.

After time I paid attention to the factor of 9 and found 279 = 9*(25 + 5 + 1).  Having done so, I was quite certain that this was what I did the first time I saw this episode -- bother.  Somewhat later I found another solution by using the "divide a large number by 5" trick: 279 = 25*10 + 100/5 + 9.

Jacob finishes writing at the 25 second mark, flashing that smile of relief as he checks the board; clearly he has solved it, and knows that he will still be in contention going into the conundrum, and may even be leading.

As it turns out, Jeremy was not able to get within the scoring range.  Jacob has found the solution using the factor of 9, and that gets him to a point ahead of Jeremy -- the first time that Jacob has been in front all match.  That is a vast improvement to his situation in just two rounds!

Lily has made the standard method work, and I feel extremely foolish for missing that.  Her solution is 279 = (10 + 1)*25 + 9 - 5.  Really, just stopping to work out that the required multiplier for the 25 was 11 (to get to 275) would guide one to that solution.  I have overlooked that step many times, causing me to miss solutions, and this was one of those.

Jacob: 279
Jeremy: [not in range]
Me: 276
Lily: 279

Scores: Jacob 35 (50), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


Round 9: ENROL BILE

So down to the conundrum, and against all early indications, Jeremy must solve this to win.  I got lost on the -IBLE ending, and that was no good.  Jacob starts writing the letters down after four seconds, which seems like a reasonable division of time; Jeremy sticks with staring at the monitor throughout.  Jacob's technique pays dividends, as he finds the solution at the 14 second mark.  I started the backup timer, but all up it took me 46 seconds before I managed to solve this.

Jacob: REBELLION (14s)
Jeremy: [no answer]
Me: [no answer]

Final scores: Jacob 45 (60), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


What a finish that was!  Jacob kept Jeremy scoreless in the last three rounds for a 38 to 0 comeback that gave him the win by 11 points.  He needed that badly, too, after the ground conceded early on when Jeremy found his way to good solutions in the numbers.  A memorable game, and the stuff that finals should be made of.

Jeremy manages to take it in good spirit, and Jacob is still shaking.  After a little time to collect himself, Jacob manages to give a short impromptu speech very nicely praising Jeremy, and the entire cast and crew for the environment that they produce on the show.  I emphatically agree, and hearty congratulations to both finalists for a gripping game.