Ep 272: Brydon Coverdale, Niall Donohue (March 3, 2015; originally aired September 13, 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.


Before we get to the contestant introductions tonight, David remarks that he was "poetically ambushed" last night (as I mentioned at the end of the write-up for episode 271).  He feels it is only fitting that he gets a chance to respond, which he does:

Letters are electric: They tell stories, excite.
They have flashes and fusions that sparkle all night.
Whereas numbers... are just numbers.

Heh.  I do recall that opening from him rather vividly; he set the joke up well, getting a good scansion going, only to drop it completely to emphasise the flatness that he associates with the numbers.  I had not recalled Lily's poem that prompted him to respond that way, however, so seeing the episodes again has restored some useful context.  That said, at the time I was perhaps a little miffed, and I composed this in response:

There's a beauty, when seen through math'matical eye,
In the simplicity of one, in the transcendence of π.
Or the dance of the primes; they've an endless supply
of curious and interesting patterns to spy.

Numbers lay the foundations on which we build high;
They guide us to truths that none may deny.
Language is fluid, tricksy, and sly;
Words may deceive, but the numbers... don't lie.

And now, back to our regular coverage.


Win or lose, this is Brydon's last night until the finals.  Richard asks about his highlights from the previous games; I guess I find this slightly better than asking about technique, but not by that much.  Brydon says that there were a couple of earlier games that went down to the conundrum, and he's not sure that he can handle another one of those.

Tonight's challenger is Niall Donohue, a worker in the energy industry.  That involves installing things like shower heads, light globes, or other things -- anything that can reduce the electricity requirements and carbon footprint.


Niall chanced a colloquialism in the first round, and that was a costly mistake.  The two contestants had equal-scoring results for the rest of the game, except for the last two numbers rounds.  Niall took the points on the first of those to take the lead at last, but Brydon did well on the last one to sneak back into first place.  With just four points separating the contestants going into the conundrum, we had the situation that Brydon was hoping to avoid.  They both struggled with it, but with just a few seconds left Niall buzzed in and it looked like Brydon's run was at an end.  However, Niall had done so out of desperation alone, and his answer was invalid.  Brydon scraped by thanks to that first round result, winning 52 to 48, and successfully retired.  We'll see him again in the finals.

I was in good shape until I tanked it on the last numbers round.  I also had my difficulties with the conundrum, but was glad to solve it and push my score into the seventies again.


As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 271: Brydon Coverdale, Karen Barber (March 2, 2015; originally aired September 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.


Brydon returns for his fifth night, and he's been getting better with each game.  Can he keep that progression up?  But first, we find out that Brydon's parents owned a dairy farm, and he lived there all through his childhood and then moved to the city.  Richard informs us that somehow, despite that upbringing, Brydon avoided ever milking a cow.  Brydon says that the main reason he was able to do that was that when he was thirteen he got a job off the farm, and that managed to get him out of it.

The first challenger of the week is Karen Barber, a primary school teacher.  She's been very busy lately looking for houses, and Richard asks what the typical weekend is like for her at the moment.  Karen states that it involves lots of research on the Internet on Friday night, picking out the possibilities and then walking through them.  She says they all tend to "blend to one".  Richard asks if she knows what she is looking for, and Karen says that they have a bit of an idea, but they often like each one they look at, so some kind of selection process is needed.


Karen may have been a little nervous, as her opening five-letter words were a bit off the pace.  In particular, her round two answer was easily extendable to a six-letter word (as Brydon showed).  Brydon took the early lead there, and then extended it when Karen missed a numbers option.  Brydon then found a good word in the fourth round to jump out to a thirty point lead, and there was no coming back from that deficit for Karen.  Karen did find better form after that point, matching Brydon in the remaining main rounds, but the damage was done.  Brydon did quite well to solve the conundrum, and cruised home with a 70 to 30 victory.  That sets him up to possibly become a retiring champion tomorrow.

I found maximal answers in most of the main rounds, before stumbling in round 8.  Brydon beat me to the conundrum solution by a good ten seconds or so, and in the end I would have to say I was lucky to scrape by with the win over him.  Still, I did manage it, so my current streak continues.


As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 270: Brydon Coverdale, Michael Lithgow (February 27, 2015; originally aired September 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.


Brydon has the crucial fourth game tonight; a victory here gives him a good chance of making the finals, but a loss likely keeps him out.  Richard wheels out my least favourite question, asking Brydon about his technique in the game.  There's really nothing any contestant can answer that is enlightening, and that's pretty much the case here.  It always comes across as a lost opportunity to learn more about the contestants, and always makes me wonder if they did not provide enough talking points.

Tonight's challenger is Michael Lithgow, a water sampler and competition snooker player.  Richard asks for more information, and Michael obliges.  He works for an independent laboratory that does water sampling for Melbourne Water; that is their main client.  They do routine testing for the reservoirs, water tanks, and taps all around greater Melbourne to make sure it is clean and safe.  As for the snooker, Michael got into that when he turned 18 -- his father plays snooker with the RSL competition in Melbourne, so once he was old enough his father could take him there and teach him.


Just like yesterday's game, Brydon gets sevens to his opponent's sixes in the first two rounds.  It's pretty much all Brydon thereafter, too, as Michael declares an invalid word after the first break and round five also goes seven-six to Brydon.  The first two numbers rounds were fairly simple, but the last one was more difficult than the family mix usually produces.  Again Brydon navigated the hazards well while Michael faltered.  The conundrum was too difficult for both, but Brydon had still managed to get his score into the sixties, winning 61 to 27.

I did reasonably well myself, just two letters rounds shy of maximal.  (Admittedly, on one of those my actual choice might have caused derision in the at-home audience.)  When the last numbers round turned out to be too troublesome for Lily I even ended up unexpectedly ahead in the solo game.  The conundrum was tricky, and for a while I thought another solo victory would slip away from me, but I got there with just two seconds left to round off a very good week for me on the game.


As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 269: Brydon Coverdale, Sasha Quilty (February 26, 2015; originally aired September 8, 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.


Brydon is back for his third night, and we find out that another possible career path he would enjoy is travel writing.  He has been to around twenty-five countries now, and he would like to keep travelling as much as he can.  Richard asks if there is any particular writer's style that Brydon would like to model himself on.  Brydon notes that Bill Bryson has always made him laugh, so he would love to have his job as well: Travel writing with humour, as Richard puts it.

Tonight's challenger is Sasha Quilty, a hot rod fan who is currently building one of her own.  Apparently there's other people working on the same car as well, as she says that they are building it in three different locations at the moment -- parts here, parts there.  Eventually it should all come together to be a beautiful blue hot rod.


The scoreline may not reflect the closeness of this game.  Brydon won the first two rounds with seven letter words to Sasha's six (the reverse of how yesterday's game started), but most of the rest of the rounds were shared.  Sasha was unable to close that early lead, however, and Brydon extended his lead in the last numbers round to guarantee victory.  Sasha solved the conundrum first, but Brydon was the winner, 56 to 45.

I had a good game, except for one major omission: I got lost on one numbers round and ended up not getting anything down in time.  Ouch.  I was just short of maximal on the rest, however, and still managed to score in the seventies.


Brief details after the jump.

Ep 268: Brydon Coverdale, Miles Tilly (February 25, 2015; originally aired September 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.


Brydon takes his turn in the champion's seat, and Richard opens the conversation by suggesting that Brydon would like David's job.  Specifically, he would like to be a crossword composer if he were not a cricket journalist.  Brydon agrees that he is interested in that, adding that the challenge is getting everything to fit where you want it.  While I agree that is part of it, it feels to me somewhat lesser a challenge than creating the fiendish but (mostly) fair clues that David does.

Opposing Brydon is Miles Tilly, a musician who is currently working on his fourth album.  Richard notes that Miles' second album got a nomination for an award at an international competition.  Miles expands on that to note that his second album release was nominated for Best Electronic Release at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards (he goes by the handle "Audiosauce").  Richard asks about the style of music involved; Miles responds that it is mainly "chilled-out", with a little bit of Latin and samba styles.


It was yet another close game tonight; Miles gained the upper hand early with two good letters rounds, although I feel that Brydon probably should have done better.  But a gap in Miles' technique in the numbers round saw Brydon reduce the deficit, and a good round five result put Brydon a single point ahead at last.  Miles got those points right back in the next numbers round, then miscued by essaying a rat pack in the final numbers round.  Brydon handled it deftly, and moved into the conundrum ahead but not safe.  He did well to solve it, too, and finished the winner, 47 to 33.

I had a good night on the letters, but flailed around a bit on the numbers.  I can take some consolation in that Lily also had troubles with one of them, at least.  Despite those difficulties I still managed a total in the 70's, which is always nice to have.


As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 267: Anushan Jegatheeswaran, Brydon Coverdale (February 24, 2015; originally aired September 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.


Anushan is back for his third night, and getting past that has been a bit of a problem for contestants recently.  But before we find out about that, Richard notes that Anushan has "musical inclinations", as he puts it.  Anushan explains that he plays the mridangam -- Richard asks for the name again, and fair enough, too (I'm glad I have transcripts to work from!) -- which is a kind of double-sided drum.  It's a classical Indian instrument, and Anushan has been learning it for about ten years.

Tonight's challenger is Brydon Coverdale, a cricket journalist.  Brydon has been on five tours around the world to watch and cover the cricket; he mentions in particular that he went to the 2011 World Cup earlier that year, which was in India and Sri Lanka.  That was 7 or 8 week's worth, and great fun.  He certainly enjoys his career!


The contestants were very closely matched tonight.  They tied the first three letters rounds, and each one won of the others.  The numbers were similarly close, and the small differences in their results shook out to give Brydon a slender two point lead going into the conundrum.  It was anyone's game to win, but ultimately the conundrum was too difficult for both.  Brydon becomes the new champion, winning 43 to 41.

I had a mental slip in round one that cost me the best answer, but otherwise did pretty well.  The semi-highlight was finding a word (an hour or so after time, mind you) that David did not get.  This week is definitely going much better than last week -- I hope the trend continues!


As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 297 [QF4]: Jeremy Schiftan, Brydon Coverdale (June 4, 2012; originally aired October 18, 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.


In this last quarterfinal we finally get to learn some new things about the contestants, at least of a sort.  It does make a nice change from the recital of their previous performances on the show.

In the champion's seat is fourth seed Jeremy Schiftan, a student and musician.  Since his time on the show, Jeremy has been travelling around Europe.  His highlights were the sunshine in Spain, and Ghent in Belgium; he has friends in Ghent that he met in previous travels through Europe.

In the challenger's position is fifth seed Brydon Coverdale, a cricket journalist.  Richard notes that (when this episode originally aired) the summer of cricket is about to get underway.  Brydon agrees, and says that he is about to go to South Africa to cover the Australian tour there, and that he thinks Capetown has just about the most beautiful cricket ground in the world.  (I'll make an aside here that the Australian cricket tour of South Africa started about a week before this episode first aired, but the point of filming was around two months prior.)


It was a tight game for much of it, with the contestants equal at the first break.  Jeremy scooted ahead in the second third, courtesy of a longer word and a solution to the numbers round.  The last letters game could have turned that on its head but produced no swing, and Brydon needed to outdo Jeremy on the final numbers game to have a chance.  He managed to do so, and set up a potential double conundrum round by going into it precisely ten points behind Jeremy.  But neither was able to solve the conundrum, and Jeremy made his way into the semifinals (to face Colin) with a 51 to 41 victory.

I was in decent shape, but missed a couple of trickier longer words along the way.  And then the final letters round I missed an answer I should have seen, which took the gloss off things a little.  I solved the conundrum reasonably early, and ended up an easy victor in the end.