Ep 15: Rob York, Andrew Fisher (July 27, 2012; originally aired August 20, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


Disclaimer: This is one of the most well-known games of the show's run; I have seen this episode before (and the latter part twice), although quite some time ago.  There are three letters rounds that I recalled (for reasons that will be obvious in due course), and I'll mention those at the time.  Additionally, I played through the blue book (episodes 1 to 50) around ten months ago when I was scheduled to be a contestant on the show and I did a quick flick through it a few months back to collect words for my posts about word validity.


Rob was in a rock and roll band in the '90s, which Richard uses to segue back to Rob's appearance in musical comedy mentioned yesterday.  Richard asks if Rob has a favourite on-stage musical, and Rob responds that it is a hard question, but that Oklahoma! is the one.

Tonight's challenger is Andrew Fisher, an auditor who has represented both the UK and Australia in Scrabble many times, and his aim is to win the World Scrabble Championship.  Richard remarks that it is quite a serious commitment to Scrabble, and Andrew agrees.  A little later in the conversation it is mentioned that Andrew has co-written a book about how to win Scrabble.

Andrew adds that he has been playing for quite a few years now and has competed in the World Scrabble Championship a few times but never come better than fifth (which he did in both 1999 and 2001), so he would like to go a few better the next time he tries.  He certainly accomplished that, coming second in 2011.


Andrew got off to a significant lead in the first two letters rounds and then three shared rounds followed, including the first full monty found by a contestant -- in fact, it was found by both contestants for a double first.  Andrew extended his lead in the next numbers round and found another full monty in the last letters round.  He finished it all off with a fast solution to the conundrum, and a very impressive 95 to 42 win.  That game score of 95 is still a record, incidentally.

I missed the best option in the first round, but was back on track in the second.  The three remaining letters rounds were the ones that I recalled, and the numbers rounds were not too difficult.  I solved the conundrum faster than Andrew, although obviously I may be memory-aided on that front and I think he was taking a reasonably relaxed approach to it at that stage.  It's hard to read much into all of this given that I recalled some significant rounds, of course.


Round 1: H L A C D I A R S

A duplicated vowel and no E makes this an awkward mix; it wasn't helping that I kept getting distracted by the not-quite-there PILCHARDS.  As it was, I had CLAD, RADIAL, and RADIALS; I was a touch unsure as to whether the noun sense (of a radial-ply tyre) would be listed, but fortunately it is.  After time I noted CHAIRS as a more findable six that I had overlooked.

Rob has CHAIR for five, somehow forgetting to pluralise it, but Andrew has found RADICALS for eight.  David has also found RADICALS.

That is the only eight; the other sevens are RADICAL, DAHLIAS, and ASCARID (one of a family of nematode worms) / ACARIDS (ACARID: "any animal belonging to the Acari (or Acarina), an order of arachnids including the mites, ticks, etc.").

Rob: CHAIR
Andrew: RADICALS
Me: RADIALS
David: RADICALS

Scores: Rob 0, Andrew 8, me 0


Round 2: E O E R C T P Q N

I had CORE and PERCENT.  I know from various Countdown games that I have played through that PERCENT is not valid there, but that it is listed in the Macquarie as an acceptable variant of PER CENT.

Rob has CREEP for five, but Andrew has found POTENCE for seven.  A very nice spot, that.  David has opted for PERCENT, drawing attention to its validity as an alternative form.

The other seven is PRECENT, a backformed verb from PRECENTOR ("someone who leads a church choir or congregation in singing").

So an early lead of 15 points to Andrew; Rob's numberwork was reasonably week last game, but can he get some ground back on them nonetheless?

Rob: CREEP
Andrew: POTENCE
Me: PERCENT
David: PERCENT

Scores: Rob 0, Andrew 15, me 7


Round 3: Target 296 from 50 25 75 3 7 8

I overcomplicated this, but got there nonetheless; my solution was 296 = (7 - 3)*75 - 8*25/50.  As time was running out I saw a solution working up from below, but just could not quite get it finished in time: 296 = 8*25 + 75 + 3*7.

Both contestants have ended up four away with the solution 300 = (75 + 25)*3.  That's a little unusual, as subtracting the seven would have let them get one closer, but Rob is on the board at last.

Lily demonstrates the simpler approach that I should have seen: Retain the (7-3) for the final offset of 4, and see if 300 can be made with the rest.  That gave her the solution 296 = 8*50 - (75 + 25) - (7 - 3).

Rob: 300
Andrew: 300
Me: 296
Lily: 296

Scores: Rob 0 (7), Andrew 15 (22), me 17


First break: ACID RANG ("An item of clothing named after an earl")

While checking up on possible words in the first round my eye had drifted over CARDIGAN, so this was particularly easy for me this time.

David's talk is about the word cocktail.


Round 4: G T S F I A U M E

This is the first of the rounds that I recall.  When I first played it I wanted a final E for FATIGUES and then realised that FUMIGATES was even better.  This time, not surprisingly, I found FIST, AGIST ("to take in and feed or pasture (livestock) for payment"), FUMIGATES, and FATIGUES.  I'm comfortable claiming this full monty since I know I found it the first time.

Both contestants have also found FUMIGATES -- the first time that one contestant has done so, let alone both.  Richard's explanation of the scoring yesterday turns out to have been well-timed!  (Rob does that thing I hate of setting down the pen and gazing around all "nothing more to be done" about things.  Not that it mattered here, I guess, since Andrew had found it possibly even earlier.)

The other eight is FUMIGATE, and the other sevens are FATIGUE, AUGITES (AUGITE being a mineral), FUMIEST, and GAMIEST / SIGMATE ("having the form of the Greek sigma or the letter S").

Rob: FUMIGATES
Andrew: FUMIGATES
Me: FUMIGATES

Scores: Rob 18 (25), Andrew 33 (40), me 35


Round 5: R T I B D A E C O

This is another round that I recalled; I had DIRT, BRAID, BAITER, TRIBADE, BACTEROID ("any of various minute rodlike or branched organisms, many of which are bacteria, as in the root nodules of nitrogen-fixing plants"), ORBITED / DEORBIT, and BROCADE.  I emphatically did not find BACTEROID the first time (but did get one of the many sevens); I know it from this episode only, although I have since kept an eye out for it.  I think I would find it if it turned up again, but it's obviously dubious for me to claim it now so I'm ignoring it this time for scoring purposes.

It's sevens from both contestants, with Rob having the explosive CORDITE and Andrew the chemical CARBIDE.  Andrew remarked that he would "stick with a seven", so he presumably saw at least one longer word that would be legal in Scrabble but was not sure it would be in the Macquarie.  David has found BACTEROID for the nine, and that makes two potential full monties in a row.

There are a lot of sevens in this mix, but the two eights are BORACITE (another mineral) and CERATOID (I mentioned this in episode 361; it means "hornlike; horny").

Rob: CORDITE
Andrew: CARBIDE
Me: BROCADE
David: BACTEROID

Scores: Rob 25 (32), Andrew 40 (47), me 42


Round 6: Target 477 from 75 25 4 5 1 2

The target is 2 away from a multiple of 25, so the general approach is clear and there must be enough flexibility to reach it with those numbers.  I went with 477 = 5*75 + 4*25 + 2 at first (this is later revealed to be Lily's solution) and then wrote down the alternative 477 = 4*(5 - 1)*25 + 75 + 2.  Near the end of time I spotted the factor of 9 and that it could be used, but did not quite manage to get the ensuing solution down in time: 477 = (5 + 4)*(75 - 25 + 2 + 1)

Rob is one off the pace with 476, but Andrew has reached the target with 477 = (25 + 75 - 4)*5 - (2 + 1).  A handy result, and I think this marks the first time a contestant has used a solution that involves "tweaking"; that's less surprising in this instance, given Andrew's UK background -- he'll have seen it on Countdown often enough.

Rob: 476
Andrew: 477
Me: 477
Lily: 477

Scores: Rob 25 (32), Andrew 50 (57), me 52


Second break: QUAY TINT ("An amount, size, or weight")

A straight definition for QUANTITY; apropos of nothing, I note that doubling the I would allow ANTIQUITY.


Round 7: A I N E G T R H U

This is the third of the rounds that I recall.  This time I had GAIN, GIANT, GRANITE, EARTHING (EARTH as a verb is "Electricity to establish an earth for (a device, circuit, etc.); join (a conductor) to earth"), and NAUGHTIER.  The first time I played it I found EARTHING well before time, and NAUGHTIER somewhere around the edge of time; I do not recall if I got it written down in time or not, or even if I was writing answers down at that point.  I was also primed to expect a nine-letter word so it is once more a dubious result, but a somewhat defensible one.

Rob, with some amusement since Andrew has declared nine, has the seven of HURTING; Andrew has NAUGHTIER for his second full monty of the game, and the third potential one in a row.  David's comments are a little unclear, but I think his intended meaning is that he had EARTHING but once Andrew declared a nine then David saw NAUGHTIER just before it was said.  In any case, great solving from Andrew!

The other eights are anagrams of EARTHING: HEARTING (HEART being listed with an archaic verb meaning of "to encourage") / INGATHER.  That last is the best to remember, if possible, as it can be extended by an S.

Rob: HURTING
Andrew: NAUGHTIER
Me: NAUGHTIER
David: EARTHING, NAUGHTIER

Scores: Rob 25 (32), Andrew 68 (75), me 70


Round 8: Target 320 from 75 25 1 10 2 5

A very easy numbers round finishes off the main rounds.  I started with 320 = (25 + 5 + 2)*10, then explored other ideas to get 320 = 5*75 - 25 - (2 + 1)*10 and 320 = (75 - 10 - 1)*5.  After time I noted a final solution of 320 = (5*75/25 + 1)*2*10.

Both contestants have solved this; Rob used the first of those solutions, while Andrew found yet another way with 320 = (10 + 2 + 1)*25 - 5.

Rob: 320
Andrew: 320
Me: 320

Scores: Rob 35 (42), Andrew 78 (85), me 80


Round 9: MINI SPOOL

The IMP- and -SION fragments stood out for me, and somewhat to my surprise I had the solution before Andrew.  On the other hand, he was clearly pretty relaxed about the game at this point, and I had seen this conundrum before even if I did not recall it.  Still, nice to get it done.

Rob: [no answer]
Andrew: IMPLOSION (3s)
Me: IMPLOSION (2s)

Final scores: Rob 28 (42), Andrew 78 (95), me 90


Great play from both contestants, and particularly from Andrew who demonstrated complete mastery of the letters and good form with the numbers -- the first contestant to really look capable in both facets of the game.  His game score of 95 set a record that still stands, and there have not been that many opportunities to overtake it -- at least two nine-letter words would be required.  Unsurprisingly, this game also has the highest combined total so far, although it will be overtaken at some point.

With three full monties available in this game and quite solvable numbers throughout, this game is hard to beat in terms of potential score.  As far as I know, only the amazing episode 378 had more potential to it.


As I've mentioned a few times, my score today is clearly not a fair representation.  If I would not have found NAUGHTIER in time then Andrew would have beaten me in the head-to-head by 78 to 72.  I genuinely don't know if I found it properly the first time or not.