Ep 125: Oli Bryant, Avi Chanales (June 14, 2016; originally aired January 21, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


In the pre-show chat, David mentions that it was Richard's birthday yesterday, and there's the usual television fauxness of asking what he did for an event that was still in the future at the time of screening.  Richard says that he and Alison went out to a nice dinner "to celebrate [his] 73rd birthday".  That prompts some laughter from David, as Richard is overstating things somewhat -- it would have been his 55th birthday.

Anyway, on to the contestants.  It is Oli Bryant's final night tonight, and we definitely are out of conversational topics since Richard asks him about highlights from the experience so far.  Oli says that he thought the numbers were his strength, so he is particularly pleased by some of the words that he has found; he then spins out a sentence using several of his better finds.

Standing between Oli and successful retirement is Avi Chanales, an American student currently studying in Australia.  Avi majors in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, and in response to Richard's question explains that this is the study of the higher mental functions of the brain, such as attention, memory, and language.


We were set for a close game, with the contestants finding matching results in the first three rounds.  Then Oli faltered, his five-letter words not enough to match Avi's sevens, and Avi had a potentially winning lead at the second break.  A tough letters round offered little scope for advancement, but it was Avi who navigated the final numbers round better and ensured his victory.  Neither could solve the conundrum, and Avi won the game, 53 to 32.

I started out well enough, but felt a little off-kilter once David found a full monty that I did not.  I dropped a few maxima after that point, culminating in a complete miscalculation in the final numbers round that left me nothing to declare.  I did solve the conundrum to bring some respectability to my solo total, and fortunately I had done enough to beat the contestants, but I'm never happy about scoring zero in a round.

Ep 124: Oli Bryant, Rob Carter (June 13, 2016; originally aired January 20, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Oli Bryant returns for his fifth night, hoping to secure his place in the finals.  Richard makes a passing reference to Oli's playing of lawn bowls, but then wheels out that tired question about strategy.  I guess it was inevitable, when it did not turn up yesterday.  Oli responds that the longer you are on, the more you relax, which I think is true; certainly the first game is often the hardest in its way.  He then amuses by picking up the pen and commenting that normally it would have been chewed down, but since it is intact he seems to be doing rather well.

Tonight's challenger is Rob Carter, who has been a CEO across four business sectors and is now an alliance facilitator.  Richard picks up on that last term and asks what it involves; Rob explains that when a series of companies come together to work on projects they effectively create a virtual organisation, and it is his job to help them work together.  He adds that it is all about people, relationships, and behaviours, and it is not simple because all the participants come from their own cultures and business traditions.


Once more it is a rather one-sided affair.  The contestants shared points on the first round, but that was as close as it ever got.  Rob twice fell victim to phantom letters, and in the second numbers round he used a number twice as well.  That let Oli get to a sizeable lead, and Rob was not able to come back.  He did find a good word in round seven to take points there, but the damage had been done.  Oli rounded it off by solving the conundrum, scoring above fifty again to win, 54 to 20.

I was all over the place this game, only able to find one maximum in the main rounds.  I did not solve a single numbers round (although one of the targets was genuinely unreachable).  The sole highlights were finding two longer words than David did, although I did not risk one of them.  My solo total of 59 points is the lowest I've had this series.  The lesson here, I think, is that I should not play at one in the morning.

Ep 123: Oli Bryant, Vanessa Rule (June 10, 2016; originally aired January 19, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Oli Bryant is back for the crucial fourth night: A good win here should ensure his place in the finals, but a loss will almost certainly prevent him from making them.  But first, there's some chat to get to, and for a nice change the fourth game chat is not about technique.  Instead, Richard informs us that Oli is a highly competitive lawn bowls player, and asks how that came about.  Oli explains that it started a couple of years ago -- "the day after a night before", he puts it -- when he had been at a wedding and a few friends got together the next day for breakfast.  They decided that it would be a good idea to get some fresh air and play some lawn bowls.  And that seems to be it; we don't find out anything to suggest this was more than a once-off.  Oh, well.

Tonight's challenger is Vanessa Rule, a secondary maths teacher with a degree in astrophysics.  Richard enquires what prompted the interest in astrophysics, and Vanessa responds that she loves maths and being able to apply her maths skills to something so fascinating just seemed like a great idea.


Oli took the early lead with a good find in round one.  A tough mix in round two saw both contestants choose invalid words, then Oli navigated the numbers better in round three to be fifteen points ahead at the first break.  Oli extended that lead in the next two letters rounds, before Vanessa finally got on the board in the second numbers round.  The gap was far too great by that point, and an invalid answer from Oli in the last numbers round was too late to matter.  Oli did well to solve the conundrum again, sealing a 55 to 15 victory.

I had an almost-maximal game tonight, just dropping the one.  David found a better option there, so I missed out on the tie, but it's been a good week for me so far.

Ep 122: Oli Bryant, Basil Theophilos (June 9, 2016; originally aired January 18, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


It's Oli Bryant's third night tonight, and we find out that he has relatively recently become an Australian citizen; he is originally from a village called Hale, south of Manchester.  Richard remarks that his parents and grandparents came from near Manchester -- Congleton and Macclesfield -- so they have something in common.

Tonight's challenger is Basil Theophilos, a retired computer software developer and masseur, who still teaches computers to adults.  Richard suggests that it would be fascinating to teach computers to people who may be completely unfamiliar with them, and asks how old some of those students are.  Basil says that the oldest woman was 89, and the oldest man was 93.  He adds that, at the end of the first lesson, the 89-year-old came up to him and asked where she could go to buy a computer.


The contestants started off equal in the first two letters rounds, then Oli took a small lead when Basil faltered on the first numbers round.  The next letter round was shared, but thereafter it was all Oli.  Basil did not score after that point, and the final scoreline was an impressive 60 to 18 in Oli's favour.

I matched David and Lily throughout, with the only blemish being a slightly slow conundrum solution.  There was one better answer to be had, so it was not a maximal game, but a tie is rare and I'm glad to have it.

Ep 121: Oli Bryant, Ben Ripley (June 8, 2016; originally aired January 17, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Oli Bryant is back, in the champion's chair this time.  The word seems to have gotten around about his name, and the nameplate now reads Oli.  Richard asks how Oli ties in sustainability and environmental concerns with his photography; Oli explains that the idea is to raise awareness through portrayal and imagery.  For example, of mining in the Kakadu area, or the proposed desalination plants in Victoria.

Tonight's challenger is Ben Ripley, who works in publishing and has written several books for children.  Those are non-fiction titles, and most recently he's done some books on invention; in particular, he has one coming out soon.  (That would be Freaky Fact or Fiction Inventions, which came out two and a half months after this episode aired.)  Ben adds that the most fun to be had with that (as an author) was making up some of the "facts".


The contestants started out evenly matched, and went into the first break with tied scores.  Oli managed to get a small lead in the next letters round, but again the next two rounds were matched; a surprisingly difficult numbers round that stumped both contestants certainly contributed to that.  In the last letters round Oli again managed to take unanswered points, and that put him more than a conundrum's worth ahead, a potentially winning margin.  He sealed it by solving the final numbers round; Ben solved the conundrum, but Oli won the game, 46 to 32.

I had some difficulties, missing out on some findable longer words in the letters round.  I also dropped some points on the middle numbers round, but that's less troublesome -- it was hard enough that I actually outdid Lily on that round.  Despite my complaints, I still was able to solidly outpoint the contestants and round it out by solving the conundrum quickly.

Ep 120: Peter Stephenson, Oli Bryant (June 7, 2016; originally aired January 14, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Peter Stephenson gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight, and the talk is about his marathon-running again.  Or rather, about one particular marathon that he would like to run.  As Peter explains, the Médoc region in south-west France is one of the main wine-producing regions of France.  They have a marathon there, where not only are there the normal water stations, but there are also wine-tasting stations as well.  (In fact, the situation appears to be rather more elaborate than that, at least according to this participant's description.)

Tonight's challenger is Oli Bryant, a sustainability consultant with a backround in economics and a passion for photography.  (His nameplate reads Oliver, but Richard notes that he prefers to be called Oli, so we'll go with that form.)  Oli takes photos mainly of urban and street landscapes.  His interest in photography developed at a very young age -- his stepmother was a professional photographer and Oli used to spend hours in the darkroom learning the different processes involved in turning film into photos.  Since then, he has had a couple of exhibitions in cafes and restaurants, which he hopes to continue.


It was a somewhat one-sided game tonight; Peter chanced risky words in the first two rounds, both of which were invalid.  When Oli outdid him in the first numbers round, the difference was suddenly an alarmingly large 22 points at the first break.  Peter managed to match Oli in the next two letters rounds, but again Oli drew clear on the numbers round.  The remaining main rounds were shared but the damage had long been done.  Oli finished it off by solving the conundrum, scoring points in every round on his way to victory, 71 to 29.

I managed to find a few better answers than Oli, happily putting me safely ahead at the conundrum.  I was even very briefly ahead of David and Lily when David uncharacteristically missed some better options in the first letters round, but he soon made that up.  I managed to beat Oli to the conundrum, posting another score in the seventies for a good start to the week.

Ep 198 [SF1]: Tony Loui, Oli Bryant (May 25, 2012; originally aired May 4, 2011)

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a factor.


There's little more to be learned about the contestants; Richard mentions that Tony found two nine-letter words during his time on the show, and that Oli had a combined score of 318 from his six main games.


There was some good play from both contestants again tonight, including them each finding the full monty.  The letters rounds went in Tony's favour -- Oli had three five-letter words, which is rarely a good sign -- and there was a bit each way in the numbers which also advantaged Tony.  But Oli had done just enough to have a chance, going into the conundrum nine points behind.  In the end Tony was the one who solved it, and his 67 to 48 win put him into the final.

I found good answers again tonight, including a risky play that worked out for unexpected reasons.  In the main rounds the only bobble was that I ended up one-away on the tough last numbers round, but everything else was optimal.  I had troubles with the conundrum again, almost buzzing in with a wrong answer and catching myself in time.  I finally saw the answer and buzzed in first, then unpaused to see Tony buzz a tiny fraction of a second later.  A close one!

Ep 196 [QF3]: Barry Harridge, Oli Bryant (May 23, 2012; originally aired May 2, 2011)

Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a factor.


Taking the champion's seat in this third quarterfinal is retired mathematics teacher Barry Harridge, the third seed.  Richard notes that in Barry's first episode he solved all three of the numbers rounds and found a nine-letter word.  Barry does not remember that part so much as having done some silly things in later games.

In the challenger's seat is sixth seed Oli Bryant, a sustainability consultant.  Oli solved four of the six conundrums during his time on the show.


There were some good results from each, and a lot of adjustments to the relative difference in scores as only the last numbers round yielded shared points.  Barry had the better of the letters, helped along by a good eight-letter word in the second round and a couple of invalid offerings from Oli; on the other hand, Barry also had an invalid word in one round and could not match Oli's seven-letter word in the first round.  The net result from the letters was seven points to Barry, but he conceded seventeen points to Oli in the numbers and trailed by precisely ten points going into the conundrum.  That could have led to a tiebreaker conundrum, but Oli was the first to solve it, sealing the win by 47 points to 27.

I did fairly well, finding best results on the letters rounds, although not always the most common ones.  I bobbled slightly on the second numbers round, and failed to solve the conundrum within time, but otherwise had optimal results and a fairly solid win.