Tuesday 22 December 2015

NG 737

New game 737 is now available.

The re-run is episode 450, the Masters final.  Its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

The TV guide suggests that they will be continuing to show episodes after this, so I guess they'll be starting from the beginning again.  Or maybe they'll pick up from episode 101, like they should have originally?  Regardless, the timing is all a bit strange.

Monday 21 December 2015

NG 736

New game 736 is now available.

The re-run is episode 449; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Friday 18 December 2015

NG 735

New game 735 is now available.

The re-run is episode 448; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 17 December 2015

NG 734

New game 734 is now available.

The re-run is episode 447; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 16 December 2015

NG 733

New game 733 is now available.

The re-run is episode 446; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Tuesday 15 December 2015

NG 732

New game 732 is now available.

The re-run is episode 445; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 14 December 2015

Friday 11 December 2015

NG 730

New game 730 is now available.

The re-run is episode 443 (the last before the finals series); its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Thursday 10 December 2015

Wednesday 9 December 2015

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Monday 7 December 2015

Friday 4 December 2015

NG 725

New game 725 is now available.

The re-run is episode 438; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 3 December 2015

NG 724

New game 724 is now available.

The re-reun is episode 437; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

NG 723

New game 723 is now available.

The re-run is episode 436; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Tuesday 1 December 2015

NG 722

New game 722 is now available.

The re-run is episode 435; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 30 November 2015

NG 721

New game 721 is now available.

The re-run is episode 434; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Friday 27 November 2015

NG 720

New game 720 is now available.

The re-run is episode 433; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 26 November 2015

NG 719

New game 719 is now available.

The re-run is episode 432; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Monday 23 November 2015

Friday 20 November 2015

NG 715

New game 715 is now available.

The re-run is episode 428; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 19 November 2015

NG 714

New game 714 is now available.

The re-run is episode 427; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

NG 713

New game 713 is now available.

The re-run is episode 426; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

NG 712

New game 712 is now available.

The re-run is episode 425; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 16 November 2015

NG 711

New game 711 is now available.

The re-run is episode 424; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Friday 13 November 2015

NG 710

New game 710 is now available.

The re-run is episode 423; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 12 November 2015

NG 709

New game 709 is now available.  (Apologies for the lateness -- I thought I had queued this up, but apparently not.)

The re-run is episode 422; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 11 November 2015

NG 708

New game 708 is now available.

The re-run is episode 421; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

NG 707

New game 707 is now available.

The re-run is episode 420; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 9 November 2015

NG 706

New game 706 is now available.

The re-run is episode 419; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 26 October 2015

Two week hiatus

Looks like I'll be occupied a bit too much for the next fortnight.  Games will resume on November 9.

Friday 23 October 2015

NG 705

New game 705 is now available.

The re-run is episode 408; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 22 October 2015

NG 704

New game 704 is now available.

The re-run is episode 407; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Wednesday 21 October 2015

NG 703

New game 703 is now available.

The re-run is episode 406; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Tuesday 20 October 2015

NG 702

New game 702 is now available.

The re-run is episode 405; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Monday 19 October 2015

NG 701

New game 701 is now available.

The re-run is episode 404; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Friday 16 October 2015

NG 700

New game 700 is now available.

The re-run is episode 403; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 15 October 2015

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Monday 12 October 2015

Friday 9 October 2015

Thursday 8 October 2015

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Monday 5 October 2015

NG 691

New game 691 is now available.

The re-run is episode 394 (the first quarter final); its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Friday 2 October 2015

Thursday 1 October 2015

Wednesday 30 September 2015

Tuesday 29 September 2015

Monday 28 September 2015

Friday 25 September 2015

Thursday 24 September 2015

NG 684

New game 684 is now available.

And belatedly, the re-runs have been back on for a bit.  Today's re-run is episode 387; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Saturday 15 August 2015

NG 655

New game 655 is now available.  (Apologies for the lateness -- I thought I'd queued this up before heading out for the night, but I apparently forgot to.)

Monday 10 August 2015

Monday 3 August 2015

Hiatus this week

Apologies for the late notice; I'm taking this week off for blog purposes.  On the plus side, the re-runs resumed last week.

New games should resume on Monday next week.

Monday 13 July 2015

NG 636

New game 636 is now available.


Charity Letters and Numbers event

This is mostly a placeholder for participants to comment on their experience at the recent charity letters and numbers event.  Alternatively, if anyone wants to email me a post I'm happy to put up a guest post on their behalf.

I gather that Anand was deemed the victor.  Congratulations, Anand!

Friday 3 July 2015

Thursday 2 July 2015

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Tuesday 30 June 2015

Monday 29 June 2015

Friday 26 June 2015

Thursday 25 June 2015

NG 624

New game 624 is now available (apologies for the delay).

The re-run is episode 354; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Wednesday 24 June 2015

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Monday 22 June 2015

Friday 19 June 2015

Thursday 18 June 2015

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Monday 15 June 2015

Sunday 14 June 2015

Poster for Charity Letters and Numbers event

As I mentioned recently, there is a charity Letters and Numbers event in Melbourne on July 12.  I've been sent a new poster for it, included below.  (A direct link to the original larger image is here.)


Friday 12 June 2015

Thursday 11 June 2015

Charity Letters and Numbers Event in Melbourne on July 12

For anyone in Melbourne, or who is suitable keen to have an excuse to travel to Melbourne, there is going to be a Letters and Numbers event there on July 12.  The event is to raise money for UNICEF's School-in-a-Box initiative.  David Astle will be moderating it, and I gather that several familiar players will be playing.  The flyer is below, and a link to the larger (and more readable) version is here.

Update: The organiser has provided further information; read his comment below for extended details.  The list of players is:
  • Sam Gaffney (Champion, Masters series; Champion, series 4)
  • Andrew Fisher (Champion, series 1)
  • Naween Fernando (Runner-up, series 1)
  • Jeremy Schiften (Runner-up, series 3)
  • Tamara McMahon (Semi-finalist, series 2)
  • Anthony Kendall (Semi-finalist, series 3)
  • Trevor Halsall (Australian Scrabble champion, 1994)
The eight spot is reserved for the winner of a pre-game competition between the audience members and Anand Bharadwaj (World Youth Scrabble champion, 2011).



NG 614

New game 614 is now available.

The re-run is episode 344; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Wednesday 10 June 2015

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Monday 8 June 2015

NG 611

New game 611 is now available.

The re-run is episode 341 (hi, Sam!).  Its rounds are here, and its writeup is here.


Friday 5 June 2015

NG 610

New game 610 is now available.

The re-run is episode 340; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.  And make sure to catch Monday's game, as it should be Sam's debut appearance.


Thursday 4 June 2015

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Monday 1 June 2015

Friday 29 May 2015

Thursday 28 May 2015

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Tuesday 26 May 2015

Monday 25 May 2015

Friday 22 May 2015

Thursday 21 May 2015

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Monday 18 May 2015

Friday 15 May 2015

Thursday 14 May 2015

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Tuesday 12 May 2015

NG 592

New game 592 is now available.

The re-run is episode 322; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

The previous re-run was episode 321; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Also, for those who are interested, this Friday's episode should be the one where I make my appearance.


Saturday 9 May 2015

Minor break

Belatedly, there will not be a new game for Friday; the MUMS puzzle competition has been killing me.  I'll resume on Tuesday (which will get the numbering back in sync with the weeks).

Meanwhile, the re-run is episode 320; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.

Thursday 7 May 2015

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Monday 4 May 2015

Friday 1 May 2015

Thursday 30 April 2015

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Tuesday 28 April 2015

Monday 27 April 2015

Friday 24 April 2015

Thursday 23 April 2015

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Monday 20 April 2015

Friday 17 April 2015

Thursday 16 April 2015

Wednesday 15 April 2015

NG 575

New game 575 is now available.  (I had the incorrect link earlier -- apologies; it should be fixed now.  The writeup will be delayed until tomorrow, however.)

The re-run is episode 303; its rounds are here, and its writeup is here.


Tuesday 14 April 2015

Monday 13 April 2015

Friday 10 April 2015

Ep 300 redux

Rounds: Here.

The previous writeup may be found here.

On Monday, I'll be resuming the "new games" -- I really need a better name for those.

Saturday 4 April 2015

Ep 295 redux

Rounds: Here.

The previous writeup may be found here.

Apologies for putting this up late -- I ended up busier than expected last night.  I hope everyone has a nice Easter!

Thursday 2 April 2015

Ep 294 redux

Rounds: Here.

The previous writeup may be found here.

I'm taking a break from providing new games until this final series is over.  After then, I'm likely to run new games in parallel with the links to the series four episodes, but we'll see how I go.  In any case, I will be linking to the older writeups (complete with links to rounds) for people's convenience.

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Ep 293: Shaun Ellis, Patrick Clark (April 1, 2015; originally aired October 12, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


Shaun gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight for the last game before the finals start.  Richard lets us know that Shaun is a keen poker player.  Shaun expands on that by saying he is trying it as a hobby with the hopes of making it into a career one day.  Shaun adds that he has had "a million" jobs in his life, and none of them have involved sitting at home in his pyjamas, drinking coffee, and doing maths puzzles all day.  Richard points out that -- based on Shaun's previous game -- he does not exactly have a poker face.  Shaun laughs and agrees, and responds that that is why he plays poker online.

Tonight's challenger is Patrick Clark, a neuroscience student.  Patrick is very interested in the brain and the nervous system and how it all comes together.  There's really not much more content than that, I'm afraid -- Patrick is doing that thing of responding to Richard's questions, but not expanding on them of his own accord.  That's a common enough habit, but in a situation like this you need to be a bit more expansive.


The contestants started off by sharing a round, and then Shaun was a bit too risky in the second round and Patrick gained a modest lead.  Some more shared rounds followed, and then Shaun levelled the scores on a reasonably awkward letters round.  Another pair of shared rounds maintained the trend -- there really wasn't much to choose between the contestants -- but Patrick found the better option in the last numbers round to be ahead going into the conundrum.  Shaun rallied, though, solving that conundrum in good time to finish victorious, 56 to 53.

I was a bit off my game tonight, and it was reflected in the low maximum count.  Fortunately I managed to do enough to see off the contestants, although I was not able to get nearly as far clear as I should have done.


As usual, details after the jump.

Round 1: N T O E S R H E U

I had TONE, STONE, STONER, THRONES / SHORTEN, ENTHUSE, rightly rejected ENTHUSER, and SHOUTER.  RENTHOUSE seemed unlikely to be a single word, so that was the best that I managed.  After time I noted some other sevens of UNHORSE and TENURES / TUREENS.

It's seven from each contestant, with Patrick finding HUNTERS while Shaun has HORNETS.  David has gone one better, finding SOUTHERN for eight.  He wished that Shaun had tried a final consonant, as a D would have allowed SHORTENED for nine.  I wish that, too, as I'd seen the potential for that (and its anagram DETHRONES)

The other eight is HEREUNTO.  The other sevens are SOUTHER, NEUTERS / RETUNES, OUTSEEN, SHUNTER, REHOUSE, THEREON, TONSURE, HETEROS, and ESTRONE (variant spelling of OESTRONE (a certain hormone).

Shaun: HORNETS
Patrick: HUNTERS
Me: SHORTEN
David: SOUTHERN

Scores: 7 apiece


Round 2: S D B C I O A E M

I had BIDS, DISCO, BASIC, BODIES, COMEDIA (variant spelling of KOMEDYA: "a once-popular Philippine dramatic form dealing with the conflict between Christians and Moors in early medieval Europe"), and COMEDIAS.  After time I noted some other sevens of AMOEBIC, MEDICOS, and CODEIAS (CODEIA being another name for CODEINE).

Patrick has BODIES for six, while Shaun goes out on a limb, tentatively suggesting COMBIES.  Alas for him, COMBI is listed but without a specific plural form, so the plural is inferred to be COMBIS.  David has found BODICES for his seven.

So I've got the consolation of outdoing David, although the legitimacy of COMEDIAS is a bit uncertain.  I'm counting it, though. *chuckles*  COMEDIAS is the only eight, with the remaining seven being AMEBOID (variant spelling of AMOEBOID).

Shaun: [invalid -- COMBIES]
Patrick: BODIES
Me: COMEDIAS
David: BODICES

Scores: Shaun 7, Patrick 7 (13), me 15


Round 3: Target 312 from 25 100 75 4 9 3

Getting close with 3*100 is easy enough, and a tweak got me to the target with 312 = (100 + 4)*3.

Both contestants have solved this, with different methods.  Shaun went with 312 = 3*100 + (75/25)*4, while Patrick opted for 312 = 25*9 + 75 + 3*4.  Richard jumps in to demonstrate that he has found a tweaked solution; it turns out to be the same one that I listed.  Lily has also tweaked, but a different way: 312 = (75 + 3)*4.

Shaun: 312
Patrick: 312
Me: 312
Richard: 312
Lily: 312

Scores: Shaun 17, Patrick 17 (23), me 25


First break: DIME TEAT ("Find the answer and find peace")

Peace is hopefully the result if you MEDITATE.

David's talk is about a few words (or terms) notionally related to insects: 'paparazzo', 'Vespa', 'WASP', and 'carmine'.  He also mentions 'vermillion', but points out that its derivation is from worms, not insects.


Round 4: N F D R I A E U G

I had FIND, DRAIN, FRIEND, FIGURED, READING / GRAINED, and was briefly tempted by FRAUDING (not valid) but decided against it.  After time I noted FEUDING as another seven.

The contestants have each found seven-letter words; Shaun has READING while Patrick has GRAINED.  David has found FEARING and GUNFIRE for his sevens, and points out that FRAUDING is not valid.

There is an eight to be had, though: ARGUFIED (ARGUFY: "to argue or wrangle").  The other sevens are UNFIRED, GAUDIER, FRINGED, GRADINE (variant spelling of GRADIN: "one of a series of steps or seats raised one above another") / DERAIGN ("to dispose troops for (battle)"), URANIDE, REFUGIA (plural of REFUGIUM: "an area where an organism can survive during a period of unfavourable conditions"), and DUNGIER*.

Shaun: READING
Patrick: GRAINED
Me: FIGURED
David: FEARING, GUNFIRE
Best: ARGUFIED

Scores: Shaun 24, Patrick 24 (30), me 32


Round 5: O I E W L T E S P

I had WILE, TOWEL, TOWELS, EPISTLE, and angsted over EPISTOLE (not valid).  I knew there was a valid anagram of those letters, but was pretty sure that EPISTOLE was not it.  Just after time expired I finally saw it: PETIOLES (PETIOLE: "the stalk by which a leaf is attached to the stem").  I was just a bit too slow, alas.

Patrick has been limited to SPOIL for five, but Shaun gets the points and ties up the scores with his find of TOWELS.  David has found EPISTLE, but also PETIOLES.

The other eight is SWEETLIP (also SWEETLIPS, any of various fishes).  The other sevens are PETIOLE, PEEWITS, POETISE, and PELITES (PELITE: "any clay rock").

Shaun: TOWELS
Patrick: SPOIL
Me: EPISTLE
David: EPISTLE, PETIOLES

Scores: Shaun 24 (30), Patrick 24 (30), me 39


Round 6: Target 550 from 100 50 25 75 8 1

Patrick chooses the heavyweight mix (which he calls the "dysfunctional family mix"), and I imagine Sam being pleased.  Then the target turns out to be divisible by 25 and I imagine Sam being disappointed.  Heh.  I started off with 550 = (8 + 75/25)*50, then found the simpler 550 = 8*75 - 50.

It comes as little surprise that both contestants have solved this, using the second of the solutions that I did.  It was also Lily's solution.  However, David pipes up with a solution of his own: 550 = (8 - 75/25)*100 + 50.  It's been good to see the hosts getting involved in the numbers tonight.

Shaun: 550
Patrick: 550
Me: 550
Lily: 550
David: 550

Scores: Shaun 34 (40), Patrick 34 (40), me 49


Second break: HAND BEAD ("Helps tame your mane")

Just swap the endings around to find HEADBAND.


Round 7: H F C R O E U T K

I had FORCE, FOURTH, TUCKER, and ROCKET.  After time I noted CHOKER as another six, and then finally spotted TOUCHER (amongst other meanings it is a term from lawn bowls) for seven.

The contestants continue to be well matched, each finding sixes.  Patrick has TUCKER -- he calls it "a delectable six" -- while Shaun ripostes with TOUCHÉ.  David points out the sevens of TOUCHER / RETOUCH, and then the very interesting seven of FUTHORK ("the runic alphabet").

The other sevens are COUTHER and FUTHORC (variant spelling of FUTHORK).

Shaun: TOUCHÉ
Patrick: TUCKER
Me: FOURTH
David: TOUCHER / RETOUCH, FUTHORK

Scores: Shaun 40 (46), Patrick 40 (46), me 55


Round 8: Target 484 from 75 100 25 7 1 4

With the contestant's scores tied, the conundrum is going to matter whatever happens here.  But there is still position to be jockeyed for, of course.  Patrick tries the balanced mix this time, which has been surprisingly popular recently.  I struggled to make anything with this, eventually settling for one away with 483 = 4*100 + 75 + 7 + 1.  It took a little while after time before I realised that 121 could be made in another way than 100 + 25 - 4, and so found the solution 484 = (100 + 7*75/25)*4.  That turns out to be the only solution.

Shaun is four away with 480; I'll take a wild guess that it was 7*75 - 25 - 100/(4 + 1).  But Patrick has managed to get to just two away with 486 = (100 + 1)*4 + 75 + 7.  A rare instance of tweaking from a contestant!  Lily has found the solution to this round; well done, Lily.

Shaun: 480
Patrick: 486
Me: 483
Lily: 484

Scores: Shaun 40 (46), Patrick 40 (53), me 62


Round 9: QUIT GNATS

With the -ING, QU-, and a probable double T there was little rearrangement left to do to find the answer of SQUATTING.  Shaun managed to get there in good time, and so survived a very close game.

Shaun: SQUATTING (3.5s)
Patrick: [no answer]
Me: SQUATTING (1.5s)

Scores: Shaun 40 (56), Patrick 40 (53), me 72


There was very little to choose between the two contestants tonight.  A little each way, and the conundrum decided it all.  I admit that I was glad to see Shaun win; he has been entertaining to watch.  Bad luck to Patrick; it's rare that a contestant scores over fifty points and still loses.  Not that I'd know anything about that. *cough*

Tuesday 31 March 2015

Ep 292: Deborah Kemper, Shaun Ellis (March 31, 2015; originally aired October 11, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


Deborah gets her first turn in the champion's seat, after her victory over Matthew yesterday.  Richard reveals that Deborah had a special anniversary recently, and asks her to tell us about it.  Apparently, a little while ago (from when the show was filmed) Deborah's 20th wedding anniversary was approaching, and her husband sat her down one day and said that he had been saving money -- where in the world would she like to go?  They ended up choosing a twenty-day cruise around the Mediterranean.

Tonight's challenger is Shaun Ellis, an online data producer whose goal is to live and work in New York.  Richard asks what the attraction of New York is; Shaun responds that he went there on his honeymoon last year for seven fantastic weeks, and when he came back to Australia he missed some of the things he had become used to: a 24-hour chemist a block away, things open all the time, and $5 cabs across town.  He can't wait to get back to that kind of living situation.  He told his brother, Cameron, about how great it was; Cameron had fewer ties, and just upped and moved to New York in response.  Now he posts on Facebook to tell Shaun what he is up to.


The contestants start out with a shared round, then Shaun took the lead in round two.  He then extended it in round four to move clear by more than the conundrum.  Deborah was not able to make any headway on that until the last letters round, where Shaun went against his instincts by gambling on a British colloquialism.  It was not valid, and that opened the door for Deborah.  But Shaun slammed it shut again by finding a good solution to the last numbers round, and was safe going into the conundrum.  Neither contestant managed to solve it, and Shaun won through, 43 to 27.

As usual, details after the jump.

Monday 30 March 2015

Ep 291: Matthew Magain, Deborah Kemper (March 30, 2015; originally aired October 10, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


We've got two new contestants today, since Anthony successfully retired on Friday.  First up in the champion's position is Matthew Magain, a web and phone application designer.  But in addition to that he has written and published a children's book, called Charlie Weatherburn and the Flying Machine.  Matthew says that it is based on an Australian mathematician names Charles Weatherburn, who lived in the early 1900s and was "quite a giant" in the fields of vector analysis and differential geometry; the central character in the book was inspired by him.

And in the challenger's seat we have Deborah Kemper, an accountant who plays indoor soccer.  Richard asks why indoor rather than outdoor; Deborah explains that her husband and son were playing it, and decided that it was time to get her involved with some sport.  She plays defence when she plays.


Points were shared in the first round, and then Matthew took the lead in round two.  He extended it further with an excellent find in round five, but that was the last piece of good news for him.  Deborah solved both remaining numbers rounds while he did not, and Matthew misheard a letter in the last letters round to end up with an invalid answer.  Neither contestant could solve the conundrum, but even if Matthew could have it would not have been enough.  Deborah became the new champion with a scoreline of 43 to 32.


As usual, details after the break.

Sunday 29 March 2015

Weekly summary: Episodes 286 to 290

It was a week of good scoring for me, with all scores above 70 again.  There must be something about Mondays, as it was my least-good day and it feels like that has been a trend recently.  The second half of the week went quite well, as I managed a tie with David and Lily on Wednesday and Friday.  It is possible that I would have done so on Thursday also, as the only difference was a very difficult numbers round that we did not find Lily's answer for.


MonTueWedThuFri
Me7266698378
Champion4544382543
Challenger2727252017
David + Lily7776798578
Me (solo)7273798378


Anthony obviously dominated the week, winning every game with a score of fifty or more.  He had a particularly close game on Thursday but got through it to become a retiring champion.  The limited leaderboard looks like this:

Anthony Kendall575151635072344
Brydon Coverdale434756617052329
Paul Breen603631645336280
Tina Rose7246635729267
Martin Gabor56585244220
Judithe Hall625143156
Emily Hawker675329149
Anushan Jegatheeswaran504741138

Thursday was the eventful day, with two potential full monties (only one of which was found) and an impossible numbers game due to Michael's choice of the rat pack.


MonTueWedThuFri
Full Monties11
Missed Full Monties11
Tough Numbers0
Impossible Numbers11

I picked up one more maximum in each category than last week, so that's progress of a sort.  I wish I were doing a bit better on the numbers, though.  Still, I had two maximal games and one game that was only one round short of maximal, so it's going well enough.


MonTueWedThuFri
Maximums: L35545
N22323
C11111
Invalid: L-----
N-----


Contestants sorted by average score:


TotalGamesAverage
Anthony Kendall344657.33
Martin Gabor220455.00
Brydon Coverdale329654.83
Tina Rose267553.40
Judithe Hall156352.00
Emily Hawker149349.67
Michael Stone49149.00
Niall Donohue48148.00
Billy Browne47147.00
Paul Breen280646.67
Anushan Jegatheeswaran138346.00
Sasha Quilty45145.00
Rebecca Skovron89244.50
Glenn Pile43143.00
Kim Butcher31131.00
Brad Tucker41141.00
Angela Miezis80240.00
Daniel McNamara40140.00
Scott Ingram78239.00
Jodi-Ann Menzies77238.50
Shyam Subramaniam72236.00
Sneha Pereira36136.00
Surya Raviganesh36136.00
Geoff Walker71235.50
Kathryn Bickerton34134.00
Miles Tilly33133.00
Samantha McLaine65232.50
Cathy Bickerton32132.00
Ajanthan Jegatheeswaran32132.00
Kim Butcher31131.00
David Lowden31131.00
Emma Watson31131.00
Karen Barber30130.00
Johanna Riley30130.00
Cormac Murtagh58229.00
Jonathan Prout29129.00
Matthew Matten28128.00
Michael Lithgow27127.00
Barry Cook26126.00
Tim Hoffman26126.00
Cameron Begley51225.50
Denver Quadros16116.00

Friday 27 March 2015

Ep 290: Anthony Kendall, Jonathan Prout (March 27, 2015; originally aired October 7, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


Anthony returns for his last night until the finals.  Richard goes with a variation of the technique question, asking whether any of Anthony's training techniques for the half-marathons have helped him develop the mental stamina that has been on display here.  The answer, more-or-less, is that there is no connection.

Standing in the way of Anthony's successful retirement is Jonathan Prout, a mathematics and science teacher who also conducts historical walking tours of Melbourne.  Richard rather bizarrely says that we'll probably get to hear about those walking tours at some stage, which would only be true if Jonathan wins.  In any case, Richard takes tonight's chat in another direction by noting that Jonathan is a big karaoke fan.  Jonathan enthuses that he loves karaoke; a couple of years ago he was on a cruise and entered a karaoke competition that they held.  He made the top five and had to sing in front of 650 passengers.  His competition was an NFL anthem singer, a Russian opera singer, a Canadian jazz singer, and an Albury music teacher.  As Richard observes, that's some tough competition!  Jonathan is a little embarrassed to reveal that the song he sang was I'm Just a Gigolo.


The contestants shared points in the first two rounds, but then it was all Anthony.  He took unanswered points in the next four rounds, and his last six rounds were all maximal.  Jonathan recovered a little late in the piece to share the last two main rounds, and was only just a little slower at the conundrum, but the result was Anthony's best game so far and a 72 to 29 victory.  Anthony successfully retired, and will be back in a week or so for the finals.


As usual, details after the jump.

Thursday 26 March 2015

Ep 289: Anthony Kendall, Michael Stone (March 26, 2015; originally aired October 6, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


This is Anthony's fifth night, and Richard wheels out a variant of the technique question, asking why Anthony makes the choices that he does.  Anthony says that with the letters he just likes to keep the consonants and the vowels together.  As for the numbers, he goes for the classroom mix because he finds it easier to have it dictated which large number will be used.  That's a point that often eludes contestants: The easiest mix, in terms of most games being solvable, is the two-large one.  But the single large number option is only barely behind it (each mix has approximately 98% of games solvable), and can be easier to work with since there is no need to choose which large number to work with.  I'd certainly recommend it as the option for any contestants who were not too comfortable with the numbers (if the show were still going, anyway).

Tonight's challenger is Michael Stone, a software programmer.  Richard says that Michael has the "extraordinary" talent of being able to recite the decimal version of one-seventh to as many decimal places as one wishes.  I thought he was going to say "of pi", and the switch to one-seventh took me by surprise.  It's also a joke, as the decimal expansion repeats after only six digits (0.142857142857...) so there's very little memorisation required.  Well, that's a tiny bit amusing, but is that really the most interesting thing he could come up with?  A shame, if so.


Anthony got a small lead in the first round when Michael tried an invalid answer; that proved to be a costly mistake.  The next few rounds were shared, then the tables were reversed in round five as Anthony had the invalid answer; that tied up the scores.  Another shared round followed, and we went into the second break with the scores level.  Michael stumbled in the last letters round with another invalid answer, and Anthony capitalised on Michael's error by doing very well in the last numbers round to take the points and guarantee his victory.  Michael got the consolation prize of solving the conundrum, but Anthony scraped home with the win, 50 to 49.


As usual, details after the jump.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Ep 288: Anthony Kendall, David Lowden (March 25, 2015; originally aired October 5, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


This is the crucial fourth night for Anthony: A win here will very likely get him to the finals, particularly if he can keep his average up.  But first, Richard lets us know that Anthony used to be very competitive in rugby, and asks if he still plays it.  Anthony responds that he had to give up rugby some time ago; he grimaces as he says it was due to too many knee injuries.  As Richard observes, they've obviously been fixed if Anthony is doing all that running!  In fact, as Anthony explains, it was the reason he got into running in the first place.  Part of going through his many knee reconstructions (I wince at the thought) meant that he had to run to get back to fitness in order to be able to play sport.  Somewhere along the way he became enthused by the running itself and turned that into his sport of choice.

Tonight's challenge is David Lowden, a police officer who has proudly completed a couple of marathons.  That is two full marathons, as he points out, but since then he has cut back and now does half-marathons, just like Anthony.  He jokingly suggests that if the scores are tied at the end they should do a lap around the block to settle it.


David found an excellent word to take the initial lead, but then fell victim to a misheard (or mis-seen) letter and had an invalid answer in the second round.  A couple of shared rounds followed, but Anthony took the lead in round five and extended it in round six.  David was more than a conundrum's worth behind going into the final numbers round, so he tried to shake things up with a rat pack.  But Anthony navigated it better to be safe going into the conundrum.  He put the finishing touch on the victory with a fast solution to the conundrum, and the 63 to 31 victory gets him to his fifth game and likely into the finals.

In the rest of this write-up, I'll use "David" to refer to David Astel, and "David L" to refer to David Lowden.


As usual, details after the jump.

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Ep 287: Anthony Kendall, Cathy Peck (March 24, 2015; originally aired October 4, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


It's Anthony's third game tonight, and Richard returns to the topic of Anthony's running; as we heard before, Anthony will be running his 20th half-marathon this weekend.  Richard asks how many full marathons Anthony has run, and it turns out that there was only one, a couple of years ago.  There is reference to a joking comment that David made in an earlier game -- that Anthony could save time by doing ten full marathons instead of twenty half-marathons -- and Anthony points out that it does not work like that.

Tonight's challenger is Cathy Peck, a retired school teacher.  This is not the first time that Cathy has been on television: Fifty years ago, she was on a show called Desmond Tester's Cabbage Quiz; as she explains it, if you got an answer correct then you got prizes.  However, you had to stand and hold the prizes in your hand.  If you dropped a prize, then you were given a cabbage in its place.  And it was very difficult holding cabbages and prizes.


Anthony took the first letters round, but his invalid answer in round two let Cathy almost catch up.  The points were shared in the first numbers round, but Anthony outscored Cathy in the next two letters rounds and it looked like he might run away with the match.  Again the points were shared in the numbers round, and then Cathy found the best option in the last letters round to claw her way back into contention.  Unfortunately, she made a simple error when writing her numbers answer in the last numbers round, and what should have been shared points again (and a chance for her to win if she solved the conundrum) turned into disaster.  Neither contestant could solve the conundrum, and Anthony registered his third win, 51 to 32.


As usual, details after the jump.

Monday 23 March 2015

Ep 286: Anthony Kendall, Glenn Pile (March 23, 2015; originally aired October 3, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.


Anthony gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight.  As mentioned before, Anthony is a keen long-distance runner, and Richard asks what sort of distance Anthony likes to run.  Anthony responds that he mainly does half marathons, and he expects to be doing his twentieth this weekend.

Tonight's challenger is Glenn Pile, an operations manager who has completed over 600 parachute jumps.  That seems like a goodly number!  Richard suggests that it is quite a few jumps; Glenn says that there are many thousand-jumpers in the field, but six hundred is "reasonable".  Glenn used to jump competitively, and managed to get to the national level, coming runner-up in the national competition.  That was all pre-children, though -- he does not jump any more.


Anthony won the first two letter rounds, but Glenn took the first numbers round to close the gap.  Then Anthony drew away again in the next numbers round to be a dangerous eleven points clear at the halfway mark.  The next three rounds were shared, so Glenn needed unanswered points in the last numbers round to have a chance.  But it went Anthony's way instead and ensured Anthony's victory.  Glenn took the consolation prize of solving the conundrum, but the win was Anthony's, 51 to 43.


As usual, details after the jump.

Weekly summary: Episodes 281 to 285

Starting off the week with a few monties kept my scores high; a poor set of numbers results meant that Wednesday's results were not quite as good as they could have been.  I once again finished the week on a strong note, as it was only my overreach for another full monty that stopped me tying with David and Lily.


MonTueWedThuFri
Me8878796370
Champion1620281014
Challenger10012735
David + Lily8988867678
Me (solo)8885796370


Tina had a good run in the early part of the week, but finally went down to Samantha on Thursday.  Tina's scoring was erratic -- spread moderately evenly between 29 and 72 -- but she got to the important fifth game and maintained a good average.  Samantha was defeated by Anthony on Friday, so once again Friday produces a turnover.  The limited leaderboard looks like this:

Brydon Coverdale434756617052329
Paul Breen603631645336280
Tina Rose7246635729267
Martin Gabor56585244220
Judithe Hall625143156
Emily Hawker675329149
Anushan Jegatheeswaran504741138
Rachel Furness355440129

There was a full monty available on each of the first three days of the week, but that was it as far as interesting features went.  David's hopes were briefly raised, only to be dashed on Thursday.


MonTueWedThuFri
Full Monties1113
Missed Full Monties0
Tough Numbers0
Impossible Numbers0

I had a very good week with the letters maximums, and it would have been even better if I had not tried for the full monty on Friday  The numbers results in the middle of the week were a little disappointing, however.  I did manage to get four of the five conundrums, though, so that's a pleasing outcome.


MonTueWedThuFri
Maximums: L45453
N32123
C111-1
Invalid: L----1
N-----


Contestants sorted by average score:


TotalGamesAverage
Anthony Kendall*57157.00
Martin Gabor220455.00
Brydon Coverdale329654.83
Tina Rose267553.40
Judithe Hall156352.00
Emily Hawker149349.67
Niall Donohue48148.00
Billy Browne47147.00
Paul Breen280646.67
Anushan Jegatheeswaran138346.00
Sasha Quilty45145.00
Rebecca Skovron89244.50
Rachel Furness129343.00
Brad Tucker41141.00
Angela Miezis80240.00
Daniel McNamara40140.00
Scott Ingram78239.00
Jodi-Ann Menzies77238.50
Shyam Subramaniam72236.00
Sneha Pereira36136.00
Surya Raviganesh36136.00
Geoff Walker71235.50
Kathryn Bickerton34134.00
Miles Tilly33133.00
Samantha McLaine65232.50
Ajanthan Jegatheeswaran32132.00
Kim Butcher31131.00
Emma Watson31131.00
Karen Barber30130.00
Johanna Riley30130.00
Cormac Murtagh58229.00
Matthew Matten28128.00
Michael Lithgow27127.00
Barry Cook26126.00
Tim Hoffman26126.00
Cameron Begley51225.50
Denver Quadros16116.00