Ep 375: Alice Wheeler, Cem Gurkan (February 3, 2012)

Alice likes to rock-climb "anywhere there's cliffs".  She likes the climbing up, but she likes abseiling down even more -- she absolutely loves that feeling of falling down.

Tonight's challenger is bank manager Cem Gurkan.  Before becoming a bank manager he has had several somewhat different jobs: He used to own a cafe; he was the manager of a toy store; and his first job was as an analyst in a small start-up high-tech company.


Alice hits the fourth game wall here; three of her first four letters rounds are invalid, and the valid one is beaten by Cem's selection.  She is 27 points behind after the first five rounds, and although Cem follows up with some invalid options of his own to allow her closer, the final numbers round is too easy and Cem has an unbeatable lead going into the conundrum.  Once again it remains unsolved -- it has been a tough week for the conundrums! -- and Cem takes the game 47 points to 33.

This was another case of me finding answers around the point that time ran out, but today I mostly had enough time to get them written down.  I actually had a pretty good game except for one round where the only seven I managed to find turned out to be invalid.  I still could have lost the game at the conundrum stage, but fortunately I solved it to seal the win.

As usual, details after the break.

Ep 374: Alice Wheeler, Pam Fichtner (February 2, 2012)

As mentioned yesterday, Alice came to Australia at 18 to study.  Her parents followed about a year later and now have a farm where they breed alpacas.  This is partly responsible for Alice's interest in textiles; she says that she has always loved sewing, but once they started getting wool from the alpacas she learned everything she could about it.  (Presumably "it" means the wool in this context.)

Tonight's challenger is Pam Fichtner, who works for the bureau of statistics.  She is also an occasional extra in TV shows.  Richard asks what it is like, and she responds that you need a lot of patience.  She adds that she has been a patient quite often on All Saints, so she got to have a bit of a sleep now and then.  She had to wake up at the right times, however.


It's sixes and sevens from the contestants tonight, with a bit each way.  The first two numbers rounds provide no separation, and scores are level at the second break.  What seemed like a risky play in the final letters round comes off for Alice, and when Pam cannot get near the target in the final numbers round Alice has the win.  The conundrum eludes them both -- it's only been solved once this week -- and that makes the final scoreline 53 to 39 in Alice's favour.

I had a decent game tonight, finding both full monties within time... but one of them only at the last moment without enough time to finish writing it down.  Still, I was mostly in pretty decent touch with the letters.  Once again the numbers could have used a little improvement, but it wasn't a case of overlooking something obvious this time (or so I claim).  The conundrum likewise eluded me tonight, but the full monty success kept me happy and comfortably ahead.

As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 373: Alice Wheeler, Paul de Boer (February 1, 2012)

Tonight we learn that Alice came to Australia (from England) at the age of eighteen, having decided to go to university here (more specifically in Fremantle, so presumably it was the University of Notre Dame).  That's quite a big decision, really, given that she has stayed since.

Challenging Alice tonight is Paul de Boer, an account manager.  The theme of discussing countries of origin continues; Paul was born in the Netherlands and came over to Australia when he was eight.  Somewhat stereotypically (he says "ironically"), he grew up on a tulip farm.


There wasn't that much to choose between the contestants on the letters today -- they were equal except for one instance where Alice declared an invalid word.  They were a little off the pace there, with mostly sixes where sevens or eights were available, but not overly so.  Neither solved the conundrum, and the real difference came from the numbers where Paul failed to score -- each time being just a little bit further away than Alice (or in one case, having an invalid answer).  Alice never got closer than three, but that was enough.  If Paul's invalid answer had been correct then the scores would have ended up tied, but as it was Alice won the game, 42 to 30.

I had a mixed and ultimately unsatisfactory game.  I ended up with seven points from all but one of the main rounds, which was passable in some of the letters rounds but not so good in the numbers.  Against that I did solve the conundrum in what felt like decent time for a change.  The net result was that I almost kept the contestants scoreless, but failed to find some better-scoring options that I should have seen.

As usual, details after the break.

Ep 372: Colin Shnier, Alice Wheeler (January 31, 2012)

Colin doesn't necessarily believe it, but the family myth (as he puts it) is that when he was four his parents used to have him perform mathematical calculations at dinner parties.  Whether or not that is true, he does know that he has always enjoyed playing with numbers in his head.

Tonight's challenger is Alice Wheeler, another primary school teacher.  There's mention (contrasted with the mathematics games days that Colin has organised) of how she loves to get her students doing things with textiles, fabrics, and sewing.  She comments that generally the students don't get a chance to do much with that, so they find it very exciting.


Colin has a lot of trouble in the letters rounds tonight -- his first two words are invalid, for instance -- and Alice finds good words throughout to have Colin well behind.  The numbers don't give Colin enough room to gain back lost ground, and Alice has the victory well in hand before the conundrum.  She solves it quickly, winning by 61 points to 37.  (And semi-fulfilling my prediction about Colin losing to a conundrum, except that she outscored him sufficiently in the main rounds.)

I had a terrible game today; my mind just kind of shut down.  I missed several chances, and conceded crucial points that I would not have on a better day.  I went into the conundrum only ten points ahead, and was my usual slow self in solving it.  Since Alice solved it more quickly, the result is the first draw of the blog (although I have little doubt that a second conundrum would have seen me lose).

As usual, details after the jump.