Ep 12: Stephen Farrelly, Sudesh Piyatissa (July 24, 2012; originally aired August 17, 2010)

Rounds: Here.

 
Disclaimer: While I have not seen this episode before, I did play through the blue book (episodes 1 to 50) around ten months ago when I was scheduled to be a contestant on the show.  Additionally, I did a quick flick through it a few months back to collect words for my posts about word validity.


Tonight Richard reveals that Stephen plays competitive lawn bowls.  Stephen notes that he has been doing so for twenty-five years; he took it up after his AFL days.  Richard asks what it is that appeals to him about the game, and Stephen responds that part of it is the way that the ball curves -- there are no straight lines.

Challenging Stephen is Sudesh Piyatissa, who is in his final year of studying medicine.  Sudesh would like to star in a comedy, but if that does not work out he will return to his fallback position of being a neurosurgeon.  His acting experience so far appears to be playing a superhero (with the power to see into the future) in a play for the Melbourne University Sri Lankan Students' Association.


Stephen got off to an unfortunate start with an invalid word, and Sudesh found good results in the next two rounds to take a twenty-three point lead at the first break.  Stephen managed to get ground back in the remaining letters rounds, and was ten points behind at the final numbers game.  His declared solution would have tied things up at the conundrum, but a careless error from him cost that chance and guaranteed Sudesh the win.  Both contestants buzzed in at approximately the same time, with Sudesh just being a fraction faster.  His answer was incorrect and so Stephen got the consolation prize of solving the conundrum, but Sudesh took the win 37 to 30.

I started out a little uncertain, but managed to find good answers just within time on the first three rounds.  Thereafter I settled down and cruised through the rest of the game, culminating in a reasonably fast solution to the conundrum and a very satisfactory optimal game.

Ep 11: Stephen Farrelly, Dawn Tuftan (July 23, 2012; originally aired August 16, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


Disclaimer: While I have not seen this episode before, I did play through the blue book (episodes 1 to 50) around ten months ago when I was scheduled to be a contestant on the show.  Additionally, I did a quick flick through it a few months back to collect words for my posts about word validity.


Richard follows up yesterday's chat with Stephen by asking him how writing a film script is different from other sorts of writing.  That does not work too well as a conversational gambit, as Stephen admits that he has not done any other writing before.

Tonight's challenger is Dawn Tuftan, a mother of two who is currently studying accounting by correspondence.  Dawn is a keen scuba diver, and in particular used to go on night dives.  Richard asks what the attraction of night diving is, and Dawn responds that they are amazing.  She imagines it is similar to the feeling one might get in space: You are weightless; it is dark; it is quiet; and you can only hear yourself breathing.  She adds that you can see some amazing marine life and it is very beautiful.  It can be a little eerie at first, but once you get used to it it is very tranquil and relaxing.


Honours were even on the first letters round, then Dawn got a minor lead in the second.  Stephen took the lead in the first numbers round, and extended it in the following letters round.  Little difference followed, and the five points that Stephen scored in the last numbers round were enough to guarantee him the win.  Neither was able to solve the conundrum, so the final scoreline was 30 to 15 in Stephen's favour.

I missed two eight-letter words today, the first of which I saw not long after time expired and the second of which would likely have eluded me for some time.  Aside from that I had optimal answers, and a decent game throughout.

Ep 10: Aaron Tyrrell, Stephen Farrelly (July 20, 2012; originally aired August 13, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


Disclaimer: While I have not seen this episode before, I did play through the blue book (episodes 1 to 50) around ten months ago when I was scheduled to be a contestant on the show.  Additionally, I did a quick flick through it a few months back to collect words for my posts about word validity.


Richard reveals that Aaron's first paying job was a column called "Grumpy Old Git".  Aaron explains that he was very excited to see that a writing job was up for grabs; he sent in an opinion piece as requested, and they responded that he would be great for the Grumpy Old Git column.  He was twenty-three at the time.

Challenging Aaron tonight is Stephen Farrelly, a management consultant who has also spent three years as a secondary school teacher.  Stephen is currently writing a comic screenplay set within the education department.  It is about an inept deputy vice principal who keeps getting promoted instead of demoted or sidelined.


Stephen got off to a good start with a best answer, then conceded most of that ground right back to Aaron when his next word was invalid.  Neither scored in the numbers round -- in fact, only one valid scoring total was declared all game, in part due to an error from each player -- and then points were swapped over the course of the rest of the letters rounds.  Stephen managed to get eight points ahead thanks to the numbers, but it was still anybody's game at the conundrum.  The conundrum proved too difficult for them both and Stephen scraped through with a 26 to 18 victory.

I did quite well to start with, including solving a numbers round that eluded Lily within time.  Sadly I dropped below optimal in the second very tough numbers round, but the chance to beat David and Lily was still there as Lily had also been stumped by it.  Alas, the conundrum was too hard for me and so I missed out on that chance.  Still, it was a decent game, conundrum aside, and another comfortable win.