Ep 407: Ann Russell, Peter Ghalayini (March 20, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


I'm going to digress for a moment here to note that 407 (the current episode number) is one of my favourite numbers.  It is one of four three-digit numbers that are equal to the sum of the cubes of their digits.  (i.e., 407 = 4³ + 0³ + 7³.)  The others aren't too difficult to find if anyone reading feels like trying to do so.


And now back to the show.  Ann mentions that when people come to Australia without English as their first language they are entitled to classes, but not everyone can get to those classes (perhaps because they have young children to look after, or they are infirm).  So she is part of a group of volunteers that go to the homes of such people a couple of hours a week "to get their English started".  They learn English, and the volunteers get to learn about other cultures, so it's win-win.

Tonight's challenger is Peter Ghalayini, a pastor who used to be an accountant; more precisely a credit manager.  During the time he was an accountant he was also a very active member of his church, and that led him to look at further work in the church.  He notes -- in contrast to when he was a credit manager -- that people are happy to see him come around now.

There's some more information about Peter here.


Peter gets off to a good start with a great word, and extends his lead when Ann declares an invalid word in the second round.  The next couple of rounds produce no change, but then Ann manages to edge into the lead in the last two letter rounds -- she had a good word in a tough mix, and then a very easy word in the last that Peter did not match; a little studying of RETSINA would have paid handsome dividends for him.  Ann draws further ahead in the last numbers round but the conundrum is still decisive.  Peter buzzes in first, but his answer is incorrect.  Ann eventually buzzes in with the correct answer to round off the win, 48 to 30.

I started off with well, then floundered in the second round.  My eventual answer turned out to be pretty reasonable, and the next two rounds also went all right.  I missed a word I should have seen in the fifth, but it was all mostly OK until the final numbers round, where I missed the obvious completely and declared a rather poor answer.  I took a while to see the right path on the conundrum, eventually getting there at the halfway point.  Overall it was a decent game marred by that last numbers round.