Weekly summary: Episodes 444 to 450 (Masters Series)

An inaccurate title, as I've combined the two short weeks of the Masters series into a longer one. It all started out pretty well for me, matching David and Lily in the first game.  Then two games where I had invalid answers kept me from nearing that target, but I still managed to beat the contestants.  The remaining games I lost, though, in each case on the conundrum by probably a tenth of a second or less.  Frustrating, but the conundrums have always been the weakest part of my game.

	QF1	QF2	QF3	QF4	SF1	SF2	GF
Me	68	60	70	53	48	39	43
Champion	30	49	42	28	33	54	43
Challenger	38	22	50	58	56	39	46
David + Lily	78	75	87	78	77	76	75
Me (solo)	78	60	80	76	69	69	50

In the series three finals summary I commented that the finals brought out the full monties, but that seems not so much the case this time around.  Just two possibilities over the entire series, only one of which was found.  There were some quite challenging number mixes, but Lily was equal to almost all of them, and the exception she solved soon afterwards.

	QF1	QF2	QF3	QF4	SF1	SF2	GF
Full Monties			1					1
Missed Full Monties					1			1
Tough Numbers		1						1
Impossible Numbers								0

Results from the quarterfinals were pretty good, but took somewhat of a dive thereafter.  The conundrum performance is both better and worse than it might seem -- most of those solutions were quite quick, but also just fractionally slower than the contestants.  It was only in the second quarterfinal that I managed to solve it first.  Several invalid answers in this series, but at least in the quarterfinals they were bolstered by some good results otherwise.

	QF1	QF2	QF3	QF4	SF1	SF2	GF
Maximums: L	4	3	3	3	2	4	3
N	3	2	3	3	2	1	1
C	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
Invalid: L	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
N	-	1	-	-	-	-	1

Ep 450 [M1] [GF]: Sam Gaffney, Matthew Thomason (June 27, 2012)

Not that anyone reading this needs the reminder, but it's still very much meaningful to vote and comment at http://lanfans.org/ if you want SBS to resume producing Letters and Numbers.


Rounds: Here.


Two very worthy contestants in tonight's grand final, but of course so were all of the contestants in the Masters Series.  Because of the way the seedings work, although Matthew started out as a lower seed than Sam he will be taking the champion's position; that is because the bracket he was in included the number one seed Andrew Fisher.

Matthew got to this point by beating Tony Loui 65 to 50 in an effective rematch of the series two grand final, and then beating Toby Baldwin 63 to 47 in his semifinal.  Both matches came down to the conundrum, which Matthew solved in 2.5s and 2s respectively.  Along the way he has found some great words in tough mixes, including EPISTLES, PANELED, and TOUCHÉ.  He has struggled a bit when the numbers are tough, although he has been perhaps a bit fortunate that four of the six numbers rounds he has faced so far were very easy.

Sam started off with a sound 62 to 35 victory over Jeremy Schiftan, the largest winning margin of the Masters Series (and one of only two games in which the result was decided before the conundrum).  It is also the only match of the Masters Series so far where the conundrum was not solved, incidentally.  He then had a very tough game against the formidable Naween Fernando, which he won 54 to 39 thanks to a massive last section comeback and a one second conundrum solution.

Sam has been a bit out of touch with the words so far this series, at least compared to the form I've come to expect from him (which is understandable, as he's gotten better since then, just like I have since my time on the show); that said, his find of HISTONE in the last letters round against Naween was excellent.  Sam has excelled in the numbers, just missing out once so far with a one-away solution on a target that was also too tough for Lily to solve within time.

So it's a contrast in abilities, with the letters currently favouring Matthew but the numbers being all Sam.  And this time Sam is in the challenger's seat, where he would much prefer to be; that gives him two selections on the numbers, and you can bet he will continue to go for the heavyweight mix that has served him so well.  It's likely to come down to the conundrum, and with the contestants being so fast, anyone could win it.


Of course, I'm about to spoil the result.  *chuckles*  Do feel free to skip this section.

The match started easily enough with a shared seven, but Matthew scooted ahead in the second round when Sam's risky play turned out to be invalid.  The first numbers round was too easy to provide a challenge for anyone, and then Matthew stretched his lead with another good find in the letters.  That was danger territory for Sam, but the remaining letters rounds were shared and his number mixes saw him get ahead at last.  Sam took a precious three point lead into the conundrum, but he buzzed in early with an invalid answer to give Matthew a chance.  Matthew was not able to capitalise on that mistake after all, and Sam scraped home with a 46 to 43 victory to become the grandest of the show's champions.

It feels a bit anticlimactic to talk about my results, but I mostly kept track with Matthew.  My words were decent (as were his), but Sam's superior play in the heavyweight mixes told and I had to get the conundrum.  I was ultimately too slow to do so, and so finished with a 3-4 record on the series.

Ep 449 [M1] [SF2]: Sam Gaffney, Naween Fernando (June 26, 2012)

I'm still plugging http://lanfans.org/ of course -- if you've not voted, please head over there and register your support for the show.  So far it has attracted a very nice amount of attention, but it could always use more.


Rounds: Here.


The second semifinal is tonight, to determine who will go up against Matthew Thomason in the grand final.  It promises to be a tough match, with Sam Gaffney exceptional on the numbers and Naween Fernando unlikely to be beaten on the letters.  With all due respect to Matthew, I expect that the winner of this match will win the series.  It's letters vs. numbers, and I can tell you that it is a cracking match.  If for some reason you read these recaps without watching the show first, skip the next bit where I summarise and skip to the round-by-round breakdown.  Better yet, go and watch the show.


The show started out ominously for Sam as Naween found the longer word in the first round.  The next round gave him a chance to settle his nerves with the best result not too challenging, but his only chance to choose the numbers turned out to be too easy.  That would have been very worrying, and Naween continued his good play to forge ahead in the next two letters rounds.  That put Sam 22 points behind, meaning that even if he got best results from the numbers he was going to need the conundrum in order to win.

Naween was in control of those numbers, and aimed for the easier options.  But fortune smiled on Sam in both of them, as they were more challenging than they might have seemed and he was able to get those crucial points.  Naween faltered in the last letters round as his extensive vocabulary proved a drawback, and Sam was actually ahead going into the conundrum; that was certainly not looking likely at the halfway point!  But victory would still go to whoever solved the conundrum, and both players had been amazingly fast on them throughout.  Indeed, with only a second in the clock one of them buzzed in for the win... it was Sam, no doubt very relieved to get into the final with a 54 to 39 victory.

I played much like Naween, as it turns out.  My letters results were at least his equal, although on the last letters round only because his choice was invalid.  I had some difficulty with the final two numbers rounds, ending up one away each time.  I feel that I should have solved them, mind you, but I overlooked a couple of options.  I still had a chance at the conundrum, but for the fourth game in a row a contestant's buzzer sounded just as I paused -- I really am getting sick of that!  So that's three wins and three losses for me in this Masters series; one chance left to swing the balance...

Ep 448 [M1] [SF1]: Toby Baldwin, Matthew Thomason (June 25, 2012)

A reminder to go and support Letters and Numbers at http://lanfans.org/ if you have not already done so, and to also follow the other suggestions there to promote the show.  It's gathering momentum, but still needs a lot of help to spread the word.


Rounds: Here.


So, onto the first semifinal, where Toby Baldwin takes on Matthew Thomason.  Both contestants defeated series champions in order to make it this far, with Toby pulling off the upset of the series when he played very well to beat the formidable Andrew Fisher in the first quarterfinal.  Matthew faced Tony Loui in his quarterfinal -- a rematch of the series two grand final -- and prevailed in mirror fashion to Tony's earlier win in that grand final.


The match started with a surprisingly difficult letters round, and Matthew did well to take an early lead there.  He extended it in the second round when Toby fell victim to a phantom letter, but thereafter the contestants kept pace with each other for a while.  Toby gained back some crucial ground in the second numbers game to get within range, and with the remaining main rounds shared the game was alive at the conundrum.  Matthew solved it very quickly once again to ensure his place in the grand final with a 63 to 47 victory.

I had a poor start to the game, and I was not quite able to recover from it.  I picked up enough to be just a little ahead of Matthew going into the conundrum, but for the third game in a row I was just beaten to the solution, pausing as the contestant's buzzer sounded.  That's my second loss of the Masters Series, and the games are only getting tougher at this point.

Ep 447 [M1] [QF4]: Jacob Davey, Naween Fernando (June 22, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


The final quarterfinal sees series 3 champion Jacob Davey take on Naween Fernando, the runner-up from series 1.  Jacob had that memorable comeback win against Jeremy Schiftan, but he cannot afford to get in a similar situation this time -- Naween is just too good on the letters for that.

Richard mentions that Naween has found three full monties and solved seven conundrums while on the show, which is certainly indicative of the above.  Jacob is going to need some help from the numbers, and unfortunately for him he is technically the higher seed so he only gets to choose once.


The game went pretty much as expected: Jacob started off on the back foot as Naween opened with a couple of good words, but Jacob's choice of a rat pack in the first numbers round paid off to get him back within striking distance.  Naween stretched the lead in the next round, but his mistake in the second numbers round allowed Jacob to close again.  Once more Naween found an excellent word to move into safe territory, and the final numbers round turned out to be trivial.  That guaranteed Naween the victory, but he solved the conundrum in very quick time to round out the win, 58 to 35.

I was just short of top form today, and in the end I conceded a fraction too much.  The numbers rounds gave me the expected advantage, but a couple of missed words meant that Naween was only five points behind me going into the conundrum.  That was always going to be a problem, and although I solved the conundrum in quick time, Naween had just buzzed in as I managed to pause.  That's my first loss of the Masters Series, and I am disappointed but not too surprised.

Ep 446 [M1] [QF3]: Tony Loui, Matthew Thomason (June 21, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


Tonight the seedings have worked out so that we see a repeat of the series two grand final.  That time only two main rounds distinguished the contestants, with Matthew gaining in a letters round and Tony striking back in the numbers.  It came down to the conundrum, which Tony solved to win.  How will it shake out this time?

Well, I'm about to reveal the answer, and there's not really much spoiler space here. *chuckles*  Although I shall note that Richard called it "remarkable" that the seedings worked out to have the two of them facing each other again.  It's not, really -- assuming that the runners-up are essentially randomly distributed, the chance of at least one rematch was 62.5%; it would have been more remarkable if there had not been one.


Things went a little similarly to that previous match, in fact.  Once again, Matthew took the lead in the first round, but this time he extended it in the second round.  Tony struck back in a later numbers round to get within striking distance, and either could have won at the conundrum.  But this time it was Matthew who was ahead, and Matthew who solved the conundrum first.  That gave him the victory, 65 to 50.

I did pretty well tonight, including finding the full monty.  But I had another invalid word today, and one that genuinely surprised me.  Further investigation pretty much confirms that I made up the usage that I came up with, so that was odd.  Aside from that, only one main round was non-optimal (I'd seen the best option but discounted it), and I was just pipped to the conundrum by Matthew.  I was comfortably home thanks to the rest of the good results, though, and so far the quarterfinals have been kind to me.

Ep 445 [M1] [QF2]: Sam Gaffney, Jeremy Schiftan (June 20, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


This quarterfinal pitches Sam Gaffney (series 4 champion) against Jeremy Schiftan, the runner-up from series 3.  Since his last appearance, Jeremy has graduated from his arts degree with a linguistics major.  That makes David happy, of course.


The contestants ended up mostly matched on the letters, although Sam did have the better of one round.  But his superior numberwork told, and just like in his grand final he knew that he was safe once he solved the final numbers round.  The conundrum eluded both contestants, and Sam got through to the next round with a 62 to 35 victory.

I had a mixed effort tonight; I had several optimal answers, but two invalid rounds cost me dearly.  I was fortunate to still be a point ahead going into the conundrum after that, but happily was able to solve the conundrum in decent time to escape with the win.

Ep 444 [M1] [QF1]: Andrew Fisher, Toby Baldwin (June 19, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


Finally we are back to new episodes, and more specifically the inaugural Masters series.  While it has been nice to get a reminder of contestants from previous series, I felt the repeats really began to wear towards the end; maybe next time (I'm certainly hoping that there is a next time!) they can just air the Masters Series immediately at the end of the regular series.  I think that will work out better overall, to be honest.

A note about numbering: The website is calling this episode 444, and that is fair enough, I guess.  But it is going to mess up the convenient ordering of episodes into groups of a hundred, so I wish they had applied a different numbering to it.  I was tempted to invent my own numbering, but that would lead to confusion later down the track; maybe they will come up with some new numbering of their own and I can adjust these accordingly.


Anyway!  New episodes!  Finalists from each series so far!  Are you excited?  I am!


There's no real sense of the seedings, so I'll take the games as they come.  The first contestant in the champion's seat is Andrew Fisher, the series champion from series 1; Richard notes that Andrew's debut score of 95 is still the single-game record.  It is mentioned that Andrew came second in the 2011 World Scrabble Championships, confirming his outstanding ability with the letters.

Rather surprisingly, the challenger's position is occupied by Toby Baldwin, one of the semifinalists from series 4.  It seems that Alan Nash -- the runner-up from that series -- was not able to make it, so Toby was called in as the next in line.  (Well, that's a guess on my part; maybe they also asked Daniel Chua, the other semifinalist.)  So it looks like I just needed eight people to be unable to make it, and I could have been asked. *chuckles*

Andrew is hot stuff with the letters, and I strongly expect him to pick up a good many points over Toby on those.  I'm including the conundrum in that, of course -- Andrew usually solves it within a couple of seconds.  The numbers could go a bit each way -- it really depends how they fall.  Toby has the advantage of choosing the numbers twice, and he'll need to exercise that option well in order to win.  Andrew is definitely vulnerable on the numbers, although he gets close quite often; Toby should be better overall on them, but has had his problems there -- during his main run of six episodes he had five invalid numbers solutions, and another round where he did not get within scoring range.  If he repeats that kind of performance tonight then he will really struggle.


Indeed, the episode mostly went as expected: Andrew picked up points in the first two letters rounds, but then Toby shortened the gap to five in the first numbers round.  A split letters round followed, and then Andrew pulled away once more, only for Toby to close up in the ensuing numbers round.  Another split letters round followed -- Andrew clearly had a riskier play that he avoided, and quite reasonably so -- and once again Toby took the points in the numbers round to be ahead at the conundrum.  And then... the very surprising occurred: Andrew did not solve the conundrum quickly.  In fact, time just kept on ticking away, and it looked like Toby would win by default.  Just shy of the 24 second mark, Toby buzzed in with the correct answer to take the underdog win, 52 to 37.

I had a very good game, marred only by being very slow on the conundrum -- I only just barely solved it within time (and that was after Toby had done so).  But all my answers were optimal aside from a moderately obscure word in the first round that eluded everyone, and quite against my expectations I cruised to a comfortable win.  The lack of potential full monties may well have been a factor; there was not even a sniff of one to be had, although some of the mixes were tantalising.