Ep 318: David Bradley, Sushma Garudadwajan (November 16, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Richard segues from some early banter about food to ask David B about how he met his wife, since it turns out that he met her in an all-you-can-eat buffet at Las Vegas.  He was apparently impressed at how she "kept going back, and back, and back"... I hope she's not upset at having this said about her on national television!

During their honeymoon in China, David B apparently met someone from Sydney who was representing Australia in the International Mathematics Olympiad.  It was hosted by China back in July 1990, so David B has been married for over twenty years.  More relevantly to me, I represented Australia in the 1988 IMO, and had a role in training, tutoring, and selecting the 1990 team.  So I have a tenuous connection through that person, which from his remarks would have been either Joseph Lau or Dominic Yip.  If memory serves me correctly, this was the first Australian team where every member gained a medal -- a fine performance from all involved.  (More details about Australia's IMO teams can be found in the Australian Mathematics Trust's webpages.)

Tonight's challenger is Sushma Garudadwajan, who is an engineer and tennis fan.  Her favourite player is Roger Federer, and she even got to see him live at the Rod Laver Arena when he won the final of the 2010 Australian Open against Andy Murray.


Both contestants seem to struggle a little with the letters, but the numbers really cause some difficulties.  Although not quite as many as the show suggests, I think, as you'll see in round 3.  David B leads for most of the match, but a stumble in the final numbers round allows Sushma a chance, and when she gets the conundrum quickly she has a last-round victory 40 to 37.

I had two invalid words this game, which is a bit disconcerting, as well as a numbers round that I'd have liked to do better on.  But the other rounds were all better than the contestants managed, and I ended up with a comfortable victory.  It's nice to see the numbers rounds mattering in this format, unlike (mostly) Countdown.

As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 317: Peter Crop, David Bradley (November 15, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Tonight we find out that Peter is a keen traveller, too, although perhaps not quite as keen as Colin.  He'd like to go cycling through the countries of Europe, particularly the flatter ones.  Heh.  He mentions the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and parts of Germany and France.

Going up against him is property developer David Bradley, who is also a long-distance runner.  Like Peter, he'd prefer flatter terrain.  David is in training for an Iron Man race, and it certainly sounds like it would take considerable training: A 3.8 kilometre swim, followed by a 180 km bike ride, and to cap it off a 42.2 kilometre marathon.  Ouch!


Neither contestant is particularly convincing on the letters, with fours, fives, or sixes that should have been longer.  David manages to outdo Peter in the numbers to make up for lost ground on the letters, but it's still anyone's game going into the conundrum.  It's a tough one tonight, and nobody gets it, so David unseats Peter with a score of 40 points to 31.

I was similarly unconvincing on the letters, failing to outright win any letters round despite some familiar words in the mix, with a particularly poor oversight in round 4.  Solid numbers rounds saw me comfortably home, however, and despite not solving the conundrum I notched up another score in the 60's.  I perhaps eased up a bit too early, as I missed the best chance I've had at a nine yet -- I was writing it down as time ran out.  So close!

As usual, details after the jump.