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.
Andre Sardone is back for his fifth night, and it's time for the usual question about technique. It's always a disappointing question from my point of view, and even worse this time when Andre drops the conversational ball. Richard asks if Andre has developed any techniques, and Andre's response is semantically equivalent to "yes", but without explaining what they are. There's just nowhere to go from there, so we move on to chat with the challenger.
Tonight's challenger is James Morris, a site manager for a construction company. James did a triathlon the previous weekend, and also does mountaineering and a range of other physial pursuits.
It was yet another very close game tonight. In fact, the contestants had equal scores for the first six rounds. It looked like we might well head into the conundrum with scores tied, but James found a longer word in round seven to take a small lead. Andre blanked on the last difficult numbers round, but James found a way to score points there and had suddenly won the game. Neither contestant was able to solve the conundrum, so the scoreline remained 52 to 40 in James' favour.
Showing posts with label Andre Sardone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andre Sardone. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Ep 203: Andre Sardone, Tony Moran (October 19, 2016; originally aired May 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.
It's the crucial fourth night for Andre. As of writing this, I have not seen the previous episode so I don't know how it went, but consulting the books suggests that his score was a very good 69 points. In the pre-game chat Richard says that it was a nail-biter, so his opponent must also have done well. Then the topic turns to chess, and we find out that Andre is the tournament director of the Bendigo chess club.
Tonight's challenger is Tony Moran, a school principal from Gunnedah, which Richard describes as "the home of the koalas". Tony is more precise, noting that Gunnedah claims to be "the koala capital of the world". They have had koalas in their schoolyard in the past (although not this year because there is construction going on), and often find them in the gum trees in the backyard. Richard asks if there is something particularly attractive to koalas about Gunnedah, to which Tony responds "lots of gum trees".
It was yet another close game for Andre tonight. He scooted out to an early lead in the first two letters rounds, but Tony gained ground back when Andre was not able to make progress on the first numbers round. The contestants matched each other over the next four rounds, then again Tony scored in the numbers while Andre was not able to get anywhere; that tied the scores going into the conundrum. Andre was able to solve that conundrum very quickly, though, giving him the win 51 to 41.
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 the crucial fourth night for Andre. As of writing this, I have not seen the previous episode so I don't know how it went, but consulting the books suggests that his score was a very good 69 points. In the pre-game chat Richard says that it was a nail-biter, so his opponent must also have done well. Then the topic turns to chess, and we find out that Andre is the tournament director of the Bendigo chess club.
Tonight's challenger is Tony Moran, a school principal from Gunnedah, which Richard describes as "the home of the koalas". Tony is more precise, noting that Gunnedah claims to be "the koala capital of the world". They have had koalas in their schoolyard in the past (although not this year because there is construction going on), and often find them in the gum trees in the backyard. Richard asks if there is something particularly attractive to koalas about Gunnedah, to which Tony responds "lots of gum trees".
It was yet another close game for Andre tonight. He scooted out to an early lead in the first two letters rounds, but Tony gained ground back when Andre was not able to make progress on the first numbers round. The contestants matched each other over the next four rounds, then again Tony scored in the numbers while Andre was not able to get anywhere; that tied the scores going into the conundrum. Andre was able to solve that conundrum very quickly, though, giving him the win 51 to 41.
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Ep 201: Andre Sardone, Jenny Lee (October 17, 2016; originally aired May 9, 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.
Andre Sardone returns for the new series, getting his turn in the champion's seat after the break for the finals. The pre-game talk is pretty much a non-event -- he is asked if he got up to anything creative, and responds that he did. But without giving any useful information, the conversation dies there. Contestants, this is not how to help out the show.
The first challenger for the new series is Jenny Lee, an engineering and science student. Jenny can solve a Rubik's cube, and her fastest time is forty-two seconds. (That's close to the winning time of the first speedcubing championship in 1981, which was thirty-eight seconds, but times have dropped greatly since then and the current record is an impressive 4.74 seconds, set by Mats Valk in 2016.) Richard asks Jenny about the number of possible combinations of a cube, which (unsurprisingly) she does not know offhand but guesses at 1032. That's not really a fair question, but for the record the actual figure is about 4.3*1019.
It ended up being a very close game. Jenny took the early lead when Andre's first word attempt was invalid, but Andre overtook her after the first numbers round. Jenny found her way back to the lead again in round five, only for Andre to once again get back in front due to the numbers. Andre extended his lead in the final numbers round, but the game was still up for grabs going into the conundrum. He ended up solving it first, for a 47 to 29 victory.
I had a disappointing night on the numbers, ending up one off the target each time. But my wordwork was acceptable, and I cruised home comfortably against the contestants.
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.
Andre Sardone returns for the new series, getting his turn in the champion's seat after the break for the finals. The pre-game talk is pretty much a non-event -- he is asked if he got up to anything creative, and responds that he did. But without giving any useful information, the conversation dies there. Contestants, this is not how to help out the show.
The first challenger for the new series is Jenny Lee, an engineering and science student. Jenny can solve a Rubik's cube, and her fastest time is forty-two seconds. (That's close to the winning time of the first speedcubing championship in 1981, which was thirty-eight seconds, but times have dropped greatly since then and the current record is an impressive 4.74 seconds, set by Mats Valk in 2016.) Richard asks Jenny about the number of possible combinations of a cube, which (unsurprisingly) she does not know offhand but guesses at 1032. That's not really a fair question, but for the record the actual figure is about 4.3*1019.
It ended up being a very close game. Jenny took the early lead when Andre's first word attempt was invalid, but Andre overtook her after the first numbers round. Jenny found her way back to the lead again in round five, only for Andre to once again get back in front due to the numbers. Andre extended his lead in the final numbers round, but the game was still up for grabs going into the conundrum. He ended up solving it first, for a 47 to 29 victory.
I had a disappointing night on the numbers, ending up one off the target each time. But my wordwork was acceptable, and I cruised home comfortably against the contestants.
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Ep 193: James Couti, Andre Sardone (October 5, 2016; originally aired April 27, 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.
James Coutie gets his turn in the champion's seat, for the last game before the finals. James has just finished his sixth season of lifesaving; he started of with normal lifesaving, then transitioned into teaching it. He says that he mainly teaches the First Aid Awards now (I'm not sure what that is -- there is a UK organisation by that name, but presumably that is not what is meant), but he also does other things like Emergency Response, where he gets to ride jet skis.
Tonight's challenger is Andre Sardone, a roof plumber and Richard informs us that Andre has turned roof plumbing into a more creative endeavour. Andre explains that he has always been good at drawing and painting, but about six years ago he decided to create artworks out of Colorbond steel (his chosen material in roof plumbing). He creates wall-hanging artworks out of it: Like paintings, but instead of painting colours, he cuts shapes and layers them together to create an image. (Unfortunately, Andre's website seems to be under construction at the time of writing this post, but a few older examples of his art can be found elsewhere, such as on this page.)
Andre bolted to an early lead by finding good seven-letter words in the first two rounds whereas James only managed five-letter words. A win in the first numbers round from Andre saw him 19 points ahead at the first break. James rallied a bit in the second third, finding one longer word in round four and then sharing the points in round five. Andre squashed that recovery by solving the second numbers round, though, and was 22 points ahead at the second break. That left James needing to outscore Andre on the last letters round, but his five-letter word was not sufficient to the task. Neither was able to score in the final two rounds, and Andre won, 42 to 13.
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.
James Coutie gets his turn in the champion's seat, for the last game before the finals. James has just finished his sixth season of lifesaving; he started of with normal lifesaving, then transitioned into teaching it. He says that he mainly teaches the First Aid Awards now (I'm not sure what that is -- there is a UK organisation by that name, but presumably that is not what is meant), but he also does other things like Emergency Response, where he gets to ride jet skis.
Tonight's challenger is Andre Sardone, a roof plumber and Richard informs us that Andre has turned roof plumbing into a more creative endeavour. Andre explains that he has always been good at drawing and painting, but about six years ago he decided to create artworks out of Colorbond steel (his chosen material in roof plumbing). He creates wall-hanging artworks out of it: Like paintings, but instead of painting colours, he cuts shapes and layers them together to create an image. (Unfortunately, Andre's website seems to be under construction at the time of writing this post, but a few older examples of his art can be found elsewhere, such as on this page.)
Andre bolted to an early lead by finding good seven-letter words in the first two rounds whereas James only managed five-letter words. A win in the first numbers round from Andre saw him 19 points ahead at the first break. James rallied a bit in the second third, finding one longer word in round four and then sharing the points in round five. Andre squashed that recovery by solving the second numbers round, though, and was 22 points ahead at the second break. That left James needing to outscore Andre on the last letters round, but his five-letter word was not sufficient to the task. Neither was able to score in the final two rounds, and Andre won, 42 to 13.
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