Countdown series 64 episode 3: Adam Gillard, Fran Dyson (August 1, 2012; originally aired January 12, 2011)

SBS has messed up and has the content of episode 18 in place of episode 19, so there'll be a delay on that episode.  Meanwhile, here's results for Wednesday's Countdown episode.

The c4countdown recap for this episode is here.


Round 1: N L E A G F I Y P

I had LANE, GLEAN / ANGLE, FLAYING, PLAYING, and LEAFING.

Gavin has LEAPING, and Adam has the very nice FINAGLE ("to practice deception or fraud").  The remaining sevens are PEALING and YELPING

Gavin: LEAPING
Adam: FINAGLE
Me: PLAYING
DC: PLAYING

Scores: 7 apiece


Round 2: L E D A S O J E G

I had LEAD, DEALS, GLADES, SEALED, and DOSAGE.  But the seven from this mix is ELODEAS (ELODEA being a type of plant).

Gavin: DOSAGE
Adam: SEALED
Me: DOSAGE
DC: DOSAGE

Scores: 13 apiece


Round 3: M R I E F T O C A

I had MIRE / RIME, FIRE, TIMER / MERIT, MORTICE, and FORMATE.  Just after time I saw FORMICATE ("to swarm with moving beings, as ants") for nine.

Adam has COMFIER for another seven, with DC noting MORTICE and EROTICA.  The remaining sevens are FORMICA / ACIFORM ("needle-shaped") and FOAMIER.

Gavin: FACTOR
Adam: COMFIER
Me: MORTICE
DC: MORTICE, EROTICA

Scores: Gavin 13, Adam 20, me 20


Round 4: S O R E Q E M A N

I had ROSE, MANORS / RANSOM, and MOREENS.  I was not sure about the latter, and I think that it would not be allowed in Countdown which is much stricter about mass nouns, so I stayed with a feeble six.  (MOREEN: "a heavy fabric of wool, or wool and cotton, commonly watered, used for curtains, petticoats, etc.".)

Everyone else has found sevens, with DC's option being one that I've never managed to find in practice but the other two should have been found.

Gavin: MOANERS
Adam: RENAMES
Me: MANORS
DC: OARSMAN

Scores: Gavin 20, Adam 27, me 20


Round 5: Target 847 from 25 6 7 10 1 8

Using the standard method naturally leads to a two away 849 = (7*6 - 8)*25 - 1.  A little after time I improved that to one away with 848 = (7 - 1)*(6*25 - 10) + 8, and then finally noticed the factor of 7.  It still took me a while to use it effectively, but eventually I emerged with 847 = (8*(25 - 10) + 1)*7, which turns out to be Rachel's solution.  Just now I have found the more obvious (from the factorisation) solution 847 = 7*(10 + 1)*(25 - 6 - 8).

No answer from Gavin, and Adam had the same 849 that I did.

Gavin: [no answer]
Adam: 849
Me: 849
RR: 847

Scores: Gavin 20, Adam 34, me 27


First break: EAT GREEN ("He won't eat his greens; he prefers junk food")

The clue guided away from GENERATE and to TEENAGER.


Round 6: D O S U W E T S R

I had DOWSE, OUSTED, DETOURS, DROWSES, and wondered about OUTDRESS but rejected it.  After time I noted TRUSSED as another seven.

Various sevens from the others, and the potential eight is WORSTEDS, with the usual mass noun concern.

Gavin: DOWSERS
Adam: SOUREST
Me: DETOURS
DC: ROUSTED

Scores: Gavin 27, Adam 41, me 34


Round 7: D R O A P N U S I

I had ROAD, APRON, PARDON, PARDONS, and DINOSAUR.  The other eight to be found here is PONIARDS (daggers).

Gavin: PARDONS
Adam: PARDONS
Me: DINOSAUR
DC: DINOSAUR

Scores: Gavin 27 (34), Adam 41 (48), me 42


Round 8: T A G U B E S I T

I had ABUT / TUBA, TUBAS, STATUE, and BUTTIES.  This is one of those cases where the Macquarie lists BUTTY (British colloquial with a couple of meanings, including a sandwich) but omits the plural form.  That's just poor.  I'm counting it anyway, since the contestants get to score it.

After time I noted BATTUES (BATTUE being a type of hunt) that I mentioned recently in the Letters and Numbers recaps.  I'd also noticed that BAGUETTES was almost there, but had not known that BAGUETS was an acceptable alternative spelling.

It's BUTTIES all round, as is to be expected from a British show.

Gavin: BUTTIES
Adam: BUTTIES
Me: BUTTIES
DC: BUTTIES, BATTIES (meaning not explained)

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 48 (55), me 49


Round 9: X S E I W N O T S

I had WISE, WINES / SWINE, NOISE, TWINES, TOXINS, SEXTONS, and SNOWIEST.  The other sevens are WITNESS, NOSIEST, TOXINES (TOXINE being an acceptable variant spelling of TOXIN), WISENTS (WISENT being another name for the aurochs or European bison), and Gavin's TOWNIES.

Gavin: TOWNIES
Adam: SNOWIEST
Me: SNOWIEST

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 56 (63), me 57


Round 10: Target 848 from 50 2 6 2 1 4

I went with the standard method first and found 848 = (2*6 + 4 + 1)*50 - 2, which is also Adam's solution, and then used the factor of 8 to get 848 = 2*4*(2*50 + 6).

Gavin: 850
Adam: 848
Me: 848

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 66 (73), me 67


Second break: ALSO BEER ("This pair are used to hanging around studs")

A nicely indirect clue for EARLOBES.


Round 11: T P A O B A V T U

A very unhelpful mix; I had BOAT and ABOUT.  The other five in this mix is PUTTO ("a representation of a young naked boy, often as a cherub or cupid with wings, in Renaissance and baroque painting and sculpture").

The contestants invent a pair of sixes.

Gavin: [invalid: OUTBAT]
Adam: [invalid: BOPATA]
Me: ABOUT
DC: ABOUT, PATTA (not listed in the Macquarie)

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 66 (73), me 72


Round 12: R E N A L I H N R

I had EARN / NEAR, LEARN, and INHALER.  The other seven is HERNIAL.

Gavin: ALIEN
Adam: RAILER
Me: INHALER
DC: INHALER

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 66 (79), me 79


Round 13: V G E O R C E H R

I had GROVE, GROCER, and RECOVER.  The other sevens are COVERER, HOVERER, and COHERER ("an obsolete device for detecting radio waves [...]").

Gavin: VERGER
Adam: RECOVER
Me: RECOVER

Scores: Gavin 34 (41), Adam 73 (86), me 86


Round 14: Target 301 from 75 4 6 2 9 4

Lots of solutions to this with the result being only one away from 4*75; I went with 301 = 4*75 + 9 - 6 - 2, which was also Gavin's solution.  Adam's variation was 301 = 75*4 + 4 - 6/2.

Gavin: 301
Adam: 301
Me: 301

Scores: Gavin 44 (51), Adam 83 (96), me 96


Round 15: W O K C A N F R Y

I saw the WORK fragment, and it seemed like there was only one plausible answer.  I contemplated if there was another possibility, but I'd forgotten the need for speed and Adam buzzed in while I was doing that.  Whoops!

Gavin: [no answer]
Adam: FANCYWORK (5s)
Me: FANCYWORK (6s)

Final scores: Gavin 44 (51), Adam 93 (106), me 96