Rounds: Here.
This is Mark's crucial fourth night, and Richard wheels out the question about strategy. Mark says that in the numbers he does not think you need more than one large number if you are reasonably good at your times table, so he tends to go with the classroom mix. That is kind of true, as the statistics show that the single large number mix is very solvable in general, but it misses the point a little. More large numbers do not make it easier (or in the case of two large numbers, not significantly easier); in fact, they tend to make it harder. The different mixes expose different facets of numberwork, and it's about choosing a mix that works for you and hopefully not for your opponent.
Tonight's challenger is Ian Phillips, a government management consultant. He has done a lot of travel "with a focus on wildlife", according to Richard. Richard asks about Ian's most exciting wildlife moment; Ian responds that about twenty years ago he spent three months in East Africa. He got close to leopards, elephants, hippopotamuses... but probably the best of all was sitting within arm's length of a mountain gorilla in the wild.
In a sense, it was closer than the final scoreline might suggest. Mark started off with an invalid word to give Ian an early lead, but took the lead right back in the next letters round. Ian forged ahead again in the first numbers round, but it was the full monty in round five that effectively ensured him the win. Mark managed to pull back ten points in the final numbers round, but it was too late by that point. The conundrum proved beyond both contestants, and Ian became the new champion with a 57 to 40 victory.
I had spent the afternoon trying to solve puzzles as part of the MUMS puzzle hunt, and possibly my brain was a bit tired. Whatever the reason, I started off with a poor effort (made poorer by a conservative play) in the first round, and that turned out to be the spoiler for another optimal game. I was a bit behind the pace on several rounds but managed to come good just in time (the closest being the full monty that I only just got down), and solved the conundrum relatively quickly. So it ended up being a very good game after all, and I don't know whether that was in spite of or because of the other puzzle solving.
Showing posts with label Mark Potter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Potter. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Ep 430: Mark Potter, Susan Morrison (April 20, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
This is Mark's third night, and Richard drops some hints about his Scrabble ability. Mark explains that he grew up in a large family and playing board games was one of their major recreational activities; Scrabble in particular was a family favourite. Then a couple of decades back Mark noticed that there was a Scrabble championship as part of the Moomba festival. He entered it, and ended up coming second in his group. He was pretty thrilled with that, and it is a fine result for his first tournament.
Challenging Mark tonight is Susan Morrison, a wedding celebrant. Richard asks what the highlights of such an occupation are. Susan says that she has only been doing it for the last few years, but it is always a lot of fun. She makes particular mention of surprise weddings, where the guests may be unaware that a wedding is about to take place. (The soon-to-be-married couple know, of course!)
Both contestants had some good finds in the letters and some gains for each, but Mark had the better of it. The numbers proved the real difference, however, as Susan's last two attempts were invalid; had her declarations been correct then that would have been a relative gain of 27 points to her, which is obviously huge. Mark also outpointed her on the first numbers round, and by the time they reached the conundrum he was 30 points ahead. It proved to be difficult and neither solved it, so Mark retained that margin in a 51 to 21 victory.
I had mostly good results tonight, but should have done better in round four. Round three broke my streak of best numbers results, but aside from those two rounds I picked up all that I could. I managed to see the right solution to the conundrum fairly early, and although I could have done better I've certainly avoided the poor Friday games of the last couple of weeks.
This is Mark's third night, and Richard drops some hints about his Scrabble ability. Mark explains that he grew up in a large family and playing board games was one of their major recreational activities; Scrabble in particular was a family favourite. Then a couple of decades back Mark noticed that there was a Scrabble championship as part of the Moomba festival. He entered it, and ended up coming second in his group. He was pretty thrilled with that, and it is a fine result for his first tournament.
Challenging Mark tonight is Susan Morrison, a wedding celebrant. Richard asks what the highlights of such an occupation are. Susan says that she has only been doing it for the last few years, but it is always a lot of fun. She makes particular mention of surprise weddings, where the guests may be unaware that a wedding is about to take place. (The soon-to-be-married couple know, of course!)
Both contestants had some good finds in the letters and some gains for each, but Mark had the better of it. The numbers proved the real difference, however, as Susan's last two attempts were invalid; had her declarations been correct then that would have been a relative gain of 27 points to her, which is obviously huge. Mark also outpointed her on the first numbers round, and by the time they reached the conundrum he was 30 points ahead. It proved to be difficult and neither solved it, so Mark retained that margin in a 51 to 21 victory.
I had mostly good results tonight, but should have done better in round four. Round three broke my streak of best numbers results, but aside from those two rounds I picked up all that I could. I managed to see the right solution to the conundrum fairly early, and although I could have done better I've certainly avoided the poor Friday games of the last couple of weeks.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Ep 429: Mark Potter, Jack Maloney (April 19, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
On Mark's second night we find out that he is a fan of the Tour de France; that lets Richard sneak in a quick plug for SBS's coverage of the event. Richard asks if Mark would like to be there and watch it; Mark responds that once he stops paying school fees -- which is still a few years away yet -- he is planning to get a van and follow the whole course; it is something that he has been wanting to do for a long time.
Tonight's challenger is Jack Maloney, a high school student. Jack is 17 years old, and has been a keen football and basketball player. He has been playing basketball for around eight or nine years, and now he also umpires and coaches it. The team he coaches is a group of under-14's, who are the juniors of the Melbourne Tigers.
It was quite a tough night on the letters; Jack found a couple of good sevens, but Mark matched him on one of those and picked up ground with a pair of sixes in other rounds. But it was the numbers rounds where Mark shone, proving my comments from yesterday incorrect and gaining a solid advantage there. The net result was that he was safe going into the conundrum. It proved to be a difficult one that neither solved, and Mark won by 51 points to 29.
It seems that my habit of an end-of-week drop in performance is continuing, as tough letters today kept me from finding the maximums within time. It is a minor consolation that neither did David. Still, I have solved every numbers round so far, which must stand me in good stead. The conundrum was too hard for me to get within time, but in any case I blew my chance with a reflexive buzz at the one second mark. I'd managed to do enough for the win regardless, although that final letters round could be quite costly against some players.
On Mark's second night we find out that he is a fan of the Tour de France; that lets Richard sneak in a quick plug for SBS's coverage of the event. Richard asks if Mark would like to be there and watch it; Mark responds that once he stops paying school fees -- which is still a few years away yet -- he is planning to get a van and follow the whole course; it is something that he has been wanting to do for a long time.
Tonight's challenger is Jack Maloney, a high school student. Jack is 17 years old, and has been a keen football and basketball player. He has been playing basketball for around eight or nine years, and now he also umpires and coaches it. The team he coaches is a group of under-14's, who are the juniors of the Melbourne Tigers.
It was quite a tough night on the letters; Jack found a couple of good sevens, but Mark matched him on one of those and picked up ground with a pair of sixes in other rounds. But it was the numbers rounds where Mark shone, proving my comments from yesterday incorrect and gaining a solid advantage there. The net result was that he was safe going into the conundrum. It proved to be a difficult one that neither solved, and Mark won by 51 points to 29.
It seems that my habit of an end-of-week drop in performance is continuing, as tough letters today kept me from finding the maximums within time. It is a minor consolation that neither did David. Still, I have solved every numbers round so far, which must stand me in good stead. The conundrum was too hard for me to get within time, but in any case I blew my chance with a reflexive buzz at the one second mark. I'd managed to do enough for the win regardless, although that final letters round could be quite costly against some players.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Ep 428: Carey McManus, Mark Potter (April 18, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Carey takes up the champion's position, and Richard asks him about his beer-brewing activities. Carey and a friend like to brew their own beer, as it turns out. They brew all sorts of beers, but they have a particular favourite which is a dark ale. They do the brewing at his friend's house, which is on Batman street in Fitzroy, and consequently they call their dark ale the Dark Knight.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Potter, who is a warehouse manager for a plumbing company. Mark is also fascinated with gardening, and in particular with the gardens of Edna Walling. As he points out, Edna is a very famous landscape gardener who has done a lot of work all around Australia and has an enclave in Mooroolbark in Victoria that is very well-known also. Richard asks what kind of things characterised her gardens; Mark responds that she used lots of English types of trees, and she worked out where to plant them by throwing a potato -- where it landed was where she would plant the tree. This becomes a running joke throughout the night.
At a later point in the show Richard raises the topic of Mark's house. Mark relates that the property had a feel... the garden and the house had a feel of what they'd been looking for for quite a number of years. Mark did quite a bit of investigation and eventually found the garden plans for his house in the Victorian State Library. They were in a section of the library devoted to Edna Walling -- he had managed to acquire one of her gardens! It was a great feeling, as you might imagine.
It was another close game with very little to separate the contestants. Mark gained a lead in the second letters round, only for Carey to level the scores again in the following numbers round. Thereafter they were matched until the final letters round, where a phantom letter saw Carey come undone. He had a chance to get back the lead in the numbers round but made a mistake there also, and Mark was in front going into the conundrum. It proved to be a very awkward mix and neither solved it; that gave Mark the win, 41 to 35... the same scoreline that Carey won with on the previous night.
I very nearly had another optimal game, but was about a second or two short of time in the first round, and arguably the same in the second. Thereafter it went smoothly up until the conundrum. I had an awful time of it but finally saw the answer with three seconds left on the clock. That's three solid nights for me this week, and I'm pretty happy about that.
Carey takes up the champion's position, and Richard asks him about his beer-brewing activities. Carey and a friend like to brew their own beer, as it turns out. They brew all sorts of beers, but they have a particular favourite which is a dark ale. They do the brewing at his friend's house, which is on Batman street in Fitzroy, and consequently they call their dark ale the Dark Knight.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Potter, who is a warehouse manager for a plumbing company. Mark is also fascinated with gardening, and in particular with the gardens of Edna Walling. As he points out, Edna is a very famous landscape gardener who has done a lot of work all around Australia and has an enclave in Mooroolbark in Victoria that is very well-known also. Richard asks what kind of things characterised her gardens; Mark responds that she used lots of English types of trees, and she worked out where to plant them by throwing a potato -- where it landed was where she would plant the tree. This becomes a running joke throughout the night.
At a later point in the show Richard raises the topic of Mark's house. Mark relates that the property had a feel... the garden and the house had a feel of what they'd been looking for for quite a number of years. Mark did quite a bit of investigation and eventually found the garden plans for his house in the Victorian State Library. They were in a section of the library devoted to Edna Walling -- he had managed to acquire one of her gardens! It was a great feeling, as you might imagine.
It was another close game with very little to separate the contestants. Mark gained a lead in the second letters round, only for Carey to level the scores again in the following numbers round. Thereafter they were matched until the final letters round, where a phantom letter saw Carey come undone. He had a chance to get back the lead in the numbers round but made a mistake there also, and Mark was in front going into the conundrum. It proved to be a very awkward mix and neither solved it; that gave Mark the win, 41 to 35... the same scoreline that Carey won with on the previous night.
I very nearly had another optimal game, but was about a second or two short of time in the first round, and arguably the same in the second. Thereafter it went smoothly up until the conundrum. I had an awful time of it but finally saw the answer with three seconds left on the clock. That's three solid nights for me this week, and I'm pretty happy about that.
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