Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Hugh Davidson gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight, and we find out that Hugh used to play A-grade competition table tennis in Geelong, back when he was in high school. Richard asks how one trains for table tennis, and Hugh goes bizarrely off on a tanget saying that it's a weird sport that attracts weird people. Did part of the conversation get snipped? That made no sense as a response.
Tonight's challenger is Gabrielle Abel, an award-winning mechanic. Richard asks how that came about, and Gabrielle responds that it was during her apprenticeship (which she entered at what she describes as "quite an older age"). Her employer suggested that she enter for the award, so she did, and she says that it was mostly about being a good ambassador for the trade and the industry. (I'm not sure if this is her downplaying her abilities or not; it originally came across to me that way, but on reflection I am rather less certain of that interpretation.)
Gabrielle's award, incidentally, was the 2006 WA Motor Apprentice of the Year. I can also find a suggestion that she received an RAC Pre-Apprentice of the Year award, although I'm not able to track down more information on that. Earlier this year, She Skills had a post about Gabrielle.
Hugh started off by overreaching, trying an invalid nine in the first round. That gave Gabrielle a good lead, but Hugh won the next two rounds (aided by an invalid answer from Gabrielle to the first numbers round) to take a slender lead into the first break. The contestants shared the points in the following three rounds, and the match had the makings of a close game. But Hugh found the better answer in round seven, and then solved the target in round eight to give him a winning margin going into the conundrum. He did well to solve that, too, winning with 51 points to 22.
Showing posts with label Tough Numbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tough Numbers. Show all posts
Monday, 28 November 2016
Saturday, 26 November 2016
Ep 206: James Morris, Hugh Davidson (October 23, 2016; originally aired May 16, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
It's the third night for James Morris, and we hear that he helps out at sports camps, trying to encourage kids under thirteen to get out and run and enjoy playing sport, to get outdoors into the fresh air and try to get fit. It's something that he would like to continue to do when he retires from construction.
Tonight's challenger is Hugh Davidson, a freelance sound recordist who also hosts and produces his own community radio show. That show aired on Radio 3MBS in Melbourne. He mostly plays old recordings of piano music from the '30s, '40s, and '50s.
It's yet another close game tonight, with the contestants finding equal results in the first two letters rounds. James gained a small lead from the first numbers round, but a tough letters round that followed saw Hugh equalise. An invalid word from Hugh let James take the lead once more, then Hugh rallied in the second numbers round to take the lead for the first time in the game. He extended it in the final letters round, only for James to narrow the margin with the numbers. Hugh was very slightly ahead going into the conundrum, but that margin was enough to give him victory as neither was able to solve it, leaving the final scoreline as 32 to 30 in his favour.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
It's the third night for James Morris, and we hear that he helps out at sports camps, trying to encourage kids under thirteen to get out and run and enjoy playing sport, to get outdoors into the fresh air and try to get fit. It's something that he would like to continue to do when he retires from construction.
Tonight's challenger is Hugh Davidson, a freelance sound recordist who also hosts and produces his own community radio show. That show aired on Radio 3MBS in Melbourne. He mostly plays old recordings of piano music from the '30s, '40s, and '50s.
It's yet another close game tonight, with the contestants finding equal results in the first two letters rounds. James gained a small lead from the first numbers round, but a tough letters round that followed saw Hugh equalise. An invalid word from Hugh let James take the lead once more, then Hugh rallied in the second numbers round to take the lead for the first time in the game. He extended it in the final letters round, only for James to narrow the margin with the numbers. Hugh was very slightly ahead going into the conundrum, but that margin was enough to give him victory as neither was able to solve it, leaving the final scoreline as 32 to 30 in his favour.
Saturday, 1 October 2016
Ep 187: Tony Loui, Mark Povey (September 27, 2016; originally aired April 19, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
It's Tony Loui's fifth night, and Richard wheels out the question about strategy. Tony manages to give more of an answer than most contestants do, which is a nice change. With the letters, he tries to make the longest he can from the first five or six letters so that he has a four- or five-letter word, then builds from that. For the numbers, he tries to make it simple by using the biggest number first and get the closest that he can, and then adjust. That's certainly an approach that I advocate, and it works quite often.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Povey, a storeman who served in the Royal Australian Navy for twenty-one years. Richard asks about highlights of Mark's career in the navy; Mark does not get very specific, but does mention that he was on the ground for six months doing services with the United Nations in Mogadishu. Aside from that, just a lot of time spent away from home, and that is when his fondness for crosswords, particularly David's cryptics, blossomed. He has yet to finish one, but hopes to do so one day.
Things started out poorly for Tony, as he duplicated a letter in the first letters round. Mark capitalised on that swing by finding a good word in the second round, building a 13 point lead after just two rounds. But Tony rallied in the numbers, scoring points to narrow the gap to six. A shared round followed in the letters, then Tony levelled the scores in round five. The second numbers round was too difficult for both contestants, so they were tied going into the second break.
It looked like we were heading for a nailbiter of a finish, but Tony blew the game wide open by finding a full monty in the last letters game. Mark was still in with a chance, but the numbers were not cooperative for him and instead Tony extended his lead. The conundrum also turned out to be too hard for the contestants, so it was round seven that decided it all. Tony won by 49 points to 21, a winning margin that does not reflect most of the game.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
It's Tony Loui's fifth night, and Richard wheels out the question about strategy. Tony manages to give more of an answer than most contestants do, which is a nice change. With the letters, he tries to make the longest he can from the first five or six letters so that he has a four- or five-letter word, then builds from that. For the numbers, he tries to make it simple by using the biggest number first and get the closest that he can, and then adjust. That's certainly an approach that I advocate, and it works quite often.
Tonight's challenger is Mark Povey, a storeman who served in the Royal Australian Navy for twenty-one years. Richard asks about highlights of Mark's career in the navy; Mark does not get very specific, but does mention that he was on the ground for six months doing services with the United Nations in Mogadishu. Aside from that, just a lot of time spent away from home, and that is when his fondness for crosswords, particularly David's cryptics, blossomed. He has yet to finish one, but hopes to do so one day.
Things started out poorly for Tony, as he duplicated a letter in the first letters round. Mark capitalised on that swing by finding a good word in the second round, building a 13 point lead after just two rounds. But Tony rallied in the numbers, scoring points to narrow the gap to six. A shared round followed in the letters, then Tony levelled the scores in round five. The second numbers round was too difficult for both contestants, so they were tied going into the second break.
It looked like we were heading for a nailbiter of a finish, but Tony blew the game wide open by finding a full monty in the last letters game. Mark was still in with a chance, but the numbers were not cooperative for him and instead Tony extended his lead. The conundrum also turned out to be too hard for the contestants, so it was round seven that decided it all. Tony won by 49 points to 21, a winning margin that does not reflect most of the game.
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Ep 137: Daniel Drumm, Samuel Hastings (June 30, 2016; originally aired February 8, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Daniel Drumm takes his turn in the champion's seat tonight, after his close win over Felix last night. Richard turns to the topic of the paper that Daniel recently had published (as I mentioned in the previous episode, that was Thermodynamic stability of neutral Xe defects in diamond), and asks what it was about. Daniel explains that it was on a particular defect in diamond, involving a xenon atom, adding that these defects are relatively simple to think about: You take a couple of atoms out and put something else in, and maybe a little bit of a hole. In response to Richard's followup question about utility, Daniel notes that this idea of making defects in any kind of semiconductor is the basis for all of modern electronics.
Tonight's challenger is Samuel Hastings, a lawyer, university lecturer, and business manager. Samuel lectures in both criminal law and trial advocacy, and notes that he is a lawyer by training. Richard asks whether trial advocacy is the process of teaching students how to stand up in court and present their case, and Samuel agrees: It covers how to prepare your case, strategy, and how to deliver the case in court. (As an aside, there's a video available here of Samuel talking about Curtin University's online study options.)
Daniel started off with a good word to take the lead, and should have gone further ahead in the second round. He was undone by the Macquarie, however, which did not list his choice and that let Samuel right back into the game. Samuel did well in the next numbers round to gain the lead going into the first break. Three flat rounds followed, and then Samuel found a good word to put him eleven points ahead with two rounds to play. Daniel needed unanswered points in the last numbers round, but it was a difficult one and the points were shared. Daniel did solve the conundrum quickly, but Samuel just barely had the win, 46 to 45.
Daniel Drumm takes his turn in the champion's seat tonight, after his close win over Felix last night. Richard turns to the topic of the paper that Daniel recently had published (as I mentioned in the previous episode, that was Thermodynamic stability of neutral Xe defects in diamond), and asks what it was about. Daniel explains that it was on a particular defect in diamond, involving a xenon atom, adding that these defects are relatively simple to think about: You take a couple of atoms out and put something else in, and maybe a little bit of a hole. In response to Richard's followup question about utility, Daniel notes that this idea of making defects in any kind of semiconductor is the basis for all of modern electronics.
Tonight's challenger is Samuel Hastings, a lawyer, university lecturer, and business manager. Samuel lectures in both criminal law and trial advocacy, and notes that he is a lawyer by training. Richard asks whether trial advocacy is the process of teaching students how to stand up in court and present their case, and Samuel agrees: It covers how to prepare your case, strategy, and how to deliver the case in court. (As an aside, there's a video available here of Samuel talking about Curtin University's online study options.)
Daniel started off with a good word to take the lead, and should have gone further ahead in the second round. He was undone by the Macquarie, however, which did not list his choice and that let Samuel right back into the game. Samuel did well in the next numbers round to gain the lead going into the first break. Three flat rounds followed, and then Samuel found a good word to put him eleven points ahead with two rounds to play. Daniel needed unanswered points in the last numbers round, but it was a difficult one and the points were shared. Daniel did solve the conundrum quickly, but Samuel just barely had the win, 46 to 45.
Monday, 25 July 2016
Ep 135: Felix Johnson, Nicky Henderson (June 28, 2016; originally aired February 4, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Felix Johnson gets his turn in the champion's seat, after last night's close win over Anna Gunn. Richard returns to the topic of Felix's acting ambitions, and asks whether he has a preference for stage or film acting. Felix responds that he only really has experience with stage acting so far, but he aspires to do all types of acting.
Tonight's challenger is Nicky Henderson, who works for a travel company, and has explored (and worked in) South-East Asia. Richard enquires about the attraction of that region for her, and Nicky explains that it is a combination of the blend of cultures and the food, but also the variety -- all the regions are quite different from each other.
Both contestants found the same answer in the first round, then Felix found a nice word in the second to take the early lead. Nicky struck back in the next two rounds to overtake him, then Felix bounced back in round five to retake the lead by a slender margin. The next numbers round was too difficult for both contestants, and they matched each other in the last letters round. The final numbers round again proved beyond them, due to an arithmetic slip on Nicky's part, so Felix carried that round five lead all the way into the conundrum. Neither ended up able to solve it, so Felix just got home by three points in a low-scoring contest, 27 to 24.
This was not one of my best games, by a long shot. I failed to solve any of the numbers rounds within time, nor even get within one. I also missed a very findable full monty, which is always disappointing. Fortunately for me the contestants also struggled, so I was OK on that front, but I finished way behind David and Lily.
Felix Johnson gets his turn in the champion's seat, after last night's close win over Anna Gunn. Richard returns to the topic of Felix's acting ambitions, and asks whether he has a preference for stage or film acting. Felix responds that he only really has experience with stage acting so far, but he aspires to do all types of acting.
Tonight's challenger is Nicky Henderson, who works for a travel company, and has explored (and worked in) South-East Asia. Richard enquires about the attraction of that region for her, and Nicky explains that it is a combination of the blend of cultures and the food, but also the variety -- all the regions are quite different from each other.
Both contestants found the same answer in the first round, then Felix found a nice word in the second to take the early lead. Nicky struck back in the next two rounds to overtake him, then Felix bounced back in round five to retake the lead by a slender margin. The next numbers round was too difficult for both contestants, and they matched each other in the last letters round. The final numbers round again proved beyond them, due to an arithmetic slip on Nicky's part, so Felix carried that round five lead all the way into the conundrum. Neither ended up able to solve it, so Felix just got home by three points in a low-scoring contest, 27 to 24.
This was not one of my best games, by a long shot. I failed to solve any of the numbers rounds within time, nor even get within one. I also missed a very findable full monty, which is always disappointing. Fortunately for me the contestants also struggled, so I was OK on that front, but I finished way behind David and Lily.
Friday, 10 June 2016
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.
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.
Sunday, 5 June 2016
Ep 117: Jack Dell, Janine Huan (June 2, 2016; originally aired January 11, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
It's Jack Dell's third night tonight, and Richard informs us that Jack used to be involved in amateur dramatics. Jack says that they did melodramas "and things like that" and he was sort of the comic hero. But now the only local theatre companies are singers, and no-one wants to hear him sing.
Challenging Jack tonight is Janine Huan, an integration aid in a primary school. Janine is also fond of cryptic crosswords, and in particular the ones that David makes. As she says, she likes David's ones in particular because most of the others have lots of anagrams in them, whereas David will challenge the solver with such things as Greek mythology, chemistry, and French. She does sometimes solve them, too.
(I'll add that I've noticed this pattern, too: Less experienced cryptic composers will generally head straight for an anagram as their first thought about how to clue a word. It makes them much more solvable when half the clues are anagrams. David, on the other hand, is much more parsimonious with them, generally only having a handful in each crossword.)
This game was quite the swinging one! Jack started out with an unanswered full monty, and that's often a death blow. Janine got a small amount back in the next round, but Jack took the points in the next two rounds to be twenty four points ahead at the halfway mark. Somehow, Janine rallied, and was the sole scorer in the remaining four main rounds; that not only enabled her to catch up, but also put her ahead by seven points going into the conundrum. We don't see turnarounds of that magnitude very often! But Jack just barely managed to hang on, solving the conundrum first to steal the victory, 40 to 37.
I found that first full monty thanks to Jack's body language, and thereafter was able to keep clear of both contestants. I slipped up in the first numbers round and missed a solution, but pegged that back when Lily likewise stumbled in the second. But my dreams of another tie with David and Lily were gone when I missed the game's second full monty. Oh, well, there's always next game...
It's Jack Dell's third night tonight, and Richard informs us that Jack used to be involved in amateur dramatics. Jack says that they did melodramas "and things like that" and he was sort of the comic hero. But now the only local theatre companies are singers, and no-one wants to hear him sing.
Challenging Jack tonight is Janine Huan, an integration aid in a primary school. Janine is also fond of cryptic crosswords, and in particular the ones that David makes. As she says, she likes David's ones in particular because most of the others have lots of anagrams in them, whereas David will challenge the solver with such things as Greek mythology, chemistry, and French. She does sometimes solve them, too.
(I'll add that I've noticed this pattern, too: Less experienced cryptic composers will generally head straight for an anagram as their first thought about how to clue a word. It makes them much more solvable when half the clues are anagrams. David, on the other hand, is much more parsimonious with them, generally only having a handful in each crossword.)
This game was quite the swinging one! Jack started out with an unanswered full monty, and that's often a death blow. Janine got a small amount back in the next round, but Jack took the points in the next two rounds to be twenty four points ahead at the halfway mark. Somehow, Janine rallied, and was the sole scorer in the remaining four main rounds; that not only enabled her to catch up, but also put her ahead by seven points going into the conundrum. We don't see turnarounds of that magnitude very often! But Jack just barely managed to hang on, solving the conundrum first to steal the victory, 40 to 37.
I found that first full monty thanks to Jack's body language, and thereafter was able to keep clear of both contestants. I slipped up in the first numbers round and missed a solution, but pegged that back when Lily likewise stumbled in the second. But my dreams of another tie with David and Lily were gone when I missed the game's second full monty. Oh, well, there's always next game...
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Ep 110: Matthew Thomason, Dane Watkins (May 24, 2016; originally aired December 31, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
Matthew Thomason gets a taste of the champion's seat, and it seems to be to his liking. Tonight we find out that Matthew once shared a stage with Dame Joan Sutherland. It was his professional stage debut, and he was working as a supernumerary (essentially, an extra), which he describes as "the lowest of the low [...] we stand around and keep very still, and try not to bump into people". The production was an opera called Adriana Lecouvreur. Matthew jokingly claims that at the first rehearsal he pulled Dame Joan aside, they had a chat, and agreed that she should do the singing and he should do the standing around, and that worked very well.
Tonights challenger is high school student Dane Watkins, who wants to study physiotherapy and eventually run his own clinic. Over the last couple of years Dane has gotten into subjects such as physical education, which he says is about the theory and biomechanics of how the body works, how to heal it and prevent ourselves from damaging it any further. (I must say, that's a far cry from what P.E. was when I was at school.) He has found that he loves it, and he would like to grow up and learn how to apply that to help people involved in sports such as the ones he competes in himself.
At the start of round six there's another snippet revealed: Chris Scholten-Smith, the show's very first champion from episode 1, was Dane's English teacher in year 7. Dane watched all his episodes, and apparently Chris had a big fan base back at school.
It's one of those soul-crushing games for Dane tonight -- Matthew just kept finding options that were marginally better. It took until round six before Dane managed to get on the board at all, and I'm sure it was a relief! Matthew scored points in every round, including a quick conundrum solution, and unsurprisingly finished greatly ahead, 64 to 15.
My game was mostly good, but once again it would have been so much better with an extra few seconds on the clock. Three times I found better words just after the expiration of time, and one of those even eluded David's eagle eye, so that's a very rare chance to outdo him lost. Lily stumbled in the last numbers round so that I ended up tying her and David on the solo score, but that just emphasises how much I needed to find those better words faster and so outdo them. Maybe next time...
Matthew Thomason gets a taste of the champion's seat, and it seems to be to his liking. Tonight we find out that Matthew once shared a stage with Dame Joan Sutherland. It was his professional stage debut, and he was working as a supernumerary (essentially, an extra), which he describes as "the lowest of the low [...] we stand around and keep very still, and try not to bump into people". The production was an opera called Adriana Lecouvreur. Matthew jokingly claims that at the first rehearsal he pulled Dame Joan aside, they had a chat, and agreed that she should do the singing and he should do the standing around, and that worked very well.
Tonights challenger is high school student Dane Watkins, who wants to study physiotherapy and eventually run his own clinic. Over the last couple of years Dane has gotten into subjects such as physical education, which he says is about the theory and biomechanics of how the body works, how to heal it and prevent ourselves from damaging it any further. (I must say, that's a far cry from what P.E. was when I was at school.) He has found that he loves it, and he would like to grow up and learn how to apply that to help people involved in sports such as the ones he competes in himself.
At the start of round six there's another snippet revealed: Chris Scholten-Smith, the show's very first champion from episode 1, was Dane's English teacher in year 7. Dane watched all his episodes, and apparently Chris had a big fan base back at school.
It's one of those soul-crushing games for Dane tonight -- Matthew just kept finding options that were marginally better. It took until round six before Dane managed to get on the board at all, and I'm sure it was a relief! Matthew scored points in every round, including a quick conundrum solution, and unsurprisingly finished greatly ahead, 64 to 15.
My game was mostly good, but once again it would have been so much better with an extra few seconds on the clock. Three times I found better words just after the expiration of time, and one of those even eluded David's eagle eye, so that's a very rare chance to outdo him lost. Lily stumbled in the last numbers round so that I ended up tying her and David on the solo score, but that just emphasises how much I needed to find those better words faster and so outdo them. Maybe next time...
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Ep 108: David Waddell, Jodi Knight (May 20, 2016; originally aired December 29, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
David Waddell gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight, and Richard reveals that it is David's wedding anniversary tonight. (I'm guessing that was the airdate rather than the date of filming, although they would have been fairly close at that point -- the show's organisers only found out quite late that they were being renewed after the end of the first series.) Four years ago he married "[his] lovely wife Jen". He proposed to her during a climb of the Sydney harbour bridge, right at the top of it.
Tonight's challenger is Jodi Knight, a radiography student and education worker who describes herself as "sports crazed". Jodi plays basketball and tennis, and coaches cricket. That's all we find out -- it was a strangely short introduction.
To avoid confusion between the Davids, I will be referring to David Astle as DA for the rest of this writeup.
Jodi took a small risk in the first round that paid off, and then the next round was split. Both contestants rather strangely ended up with invalid answers to the first numbers round, but then Jodi stretched her lead with an excellent find in round 4. Shared rounds followed -- the remaining numbers rounds were too easy to be useful -- and again both contestants had invalid answers in round 7. Jodi was safe going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the scoreline remained at 48 to 33 in her favour.
I was not able to find my best options that well, and only those invalid answers from Jodi kept me close. Thanks to those I was just a point behind going into the conundrum, and fortunately managed to solve it to scramble home to the win. Phew!
David Waddell gets his turn in the champion's seat tonight, and Richard reveals that it is David's wedding anniversary tonight. (I'm guessing that was the airdate rather than the date of filming, although they would have been fairly close at that point -- the show's organisers only found out quite late that they were being renewed after the end of the first series.) Four years ago he married "[his] lovely wife Jen". He proposed to her during a climb of the Sydney harbour bridge, right at the top of it.
Tonight's challenger is Jodi Knight, a radiography student and education worker who describes herself as "sports crazed". Jodi plays basketball and tennis, and coaches cricket. That's all we find out -- it was a strangely short introduction.
To avoid confusion between the Davids, I will be referring to David Astle as DA for the rest of this writeup.
Jodi took a small risk in the first round that paid off, and then the next round was split. Both contestants rather strangely ended up with invalid answers to the first numbers round, but then Jodi stretched her lead with an excellent find in round 4. Shared rounds followed -- the remaining numbers rounds were too easy to be useful -- and again both contestants had invalid answers in round 7. Jodi was safe going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the scoreline remained at 48 to 33 in her favour.
I was not able to find my best options that well, and only those invalid answers from Jodi kept me close. Thanks to those I was just a point behind going into the conundrum, and fortunately managed to solve it to scramble home to the win. Phew!
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Ep 107: Kathryn James, David Waddell (May 19, 2016; originall aired December 28, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
It's Kathryn James' third night on the show, and we find out that she likes to read. And in particular, she recently bought a copy of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Remember that fad? It will certainly provide her with a lot of suggestions for upcoming reading material, although Kathryn indicates that it will not be the entirety of her reading list.
Tonight's challenger is David Waddell, a secondary school teacher who is currently studying a masters of divinity. In response to Richard's questioning, David explains that it is a graduate degree in theology for someone with a degree in a different discipline. He intends to use it to go over to Africa and do some aid and development work in Malawi, Mozambique, or Tanzania.
As a minor policy change from previous writeups, I'll be referring to David Astle as DA in the rest of this writeup to avoid confusion over which David is meant.
It was a close game tonight, with some good back-and-forth from the contestants. David took the first advantage, but Kathryn struck back in the second round to take the lead, then extended it in the numbers. Both contestants did well in the next letters round, and David managed to close the gap to just one point in the following one. A couple of matched efforts followed, then Kathryn extended her lead on the last numbers round, putting her eight points ahead going into the conundrum. It was a good position to be in, but not quite good enough: David solved the conundrum first, sneaking home for victory, 38 to 36.
I dropped a few maxima tonight, but it was the numbers ones that made me unhappy. They were findable, and I solved both of them shortly after time. I just need to be a bit faster! If I had found the solutions I would have outpointed DA and Lily -- a very rare occurrence!
It's Kathryn James' third night on the show, and we find out that she likes to read. And in particular, she recently bought a copy of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Remember that fad? It will certainly provide her with a lot of suggestions for upcoming reading material, although Kathryn indicates that it will not be the entirety of her reading list.
Tonight's challenger is David Waddell, a secondary school teacher who is currently studying a masters of divinity. In response to Richard's questioning, David explains that it is a graduate degree in theology for someone with a degree in a different discipline. He intends to use it to go over to Africa and do some aid and development work in Malawi, Mozambique, or Tanzania.
As a minor policy change from previous writeups, I'll be referring to David Astle as DA in the rest of this writeup to avoid confusion over which David is meant.
It was a close game tonight, with some good back-and-forth from the contestants. David took the first advantage, but Kathryn struck back in the second round to take the lead, then extended it in the numbers. Both contestants did well in the next letters round, and David managed to close the gap to just one point in the following one. A couple of matched efforts followed, then Kathryn extended her lead on the last numbers round, putting her eight points ahead going into the conundrum. It was a good position to be in, but not quite good enough: David solved the conundrum first, sneaking home for victory, 38 to 36.
I dropped a few maxima tonight, but it was the numbers ones that made me unhappy. They were findable, and I solved both of them shortly after time. I just need to be a bit faster! If I had found the solutions I would have outpointed DA and Lily -- a very rare occurrence!
Friday, 27 February 2015
Ep 270: Brydon Coverdale, Michael Lithgow (February 27, 2015; originally aired September 9, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Brydon has the crucial fourth game tonight; a victory here gives him a good chance of making the finals, but a loss likely keeps him out. Richard wheels out my least favourite question, asking Brydon about his technique in the game. There's really nothing any contestant can answer that is enlightening, and that's pretty much the case here. It always comes across as a lost opportunity to learn more about the contestants, and always makes me wonder if they did not provide enough talking points.
Tonight's challenger is Michael Lithgow, a water sampler and competition snooker player. Richard asks for more information, and Michael obliges. He works for an independent laboratory that does water sampling for Melbourne Water; that is their main client. They do routine testing for the reservoirs, water tanks, and taps all around greater Melbourne to make sure it is clean and safe. As for the snooker, Michael got into that when he turned 18 -- his father plays snooker with the RSL competition in Melbourne, so once he was old enough his father could take him there and teach him.
Just like yesterday's game, Brydon gets sevens to his opponent's sixes in the first two rounds. It's pretty much all Brydon thereafter, too, as Michael declares an invalid word after the first break and round five also goes seven-six to Brydon. The first two numbers rounds were fairly simple, but the last one was more difficult than the family mix usually produces. Again Brydon navigated the hazards well while Michael faltered. The conundrum was too difficult for both, but Brydon had still managed to get his score into the sixties, winning 61 to 27.
I did reasonably well myself, just two letters rounds shy of maximal. (Admittedly, on one of those my actual choice might have caused derision in the at-home audience.) When the last numbers round turned out to be too troublesome for Lily I even ended up unexpectedly ahead in the solo game. The conundrum was tricky, and for a while I thought another solo victory would slip away from me, but I got there with just two seconds left to round off a very good week for me on the game.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Brydon has the crucial fourth game tonight; a victory here gives him a good chance of making the finals, but a loss likely keeps him out. Richard wheels out my least favourite question, asking Brydon about his technique in the game. There's really nothing any contestant can answer that is enlightening, and that's pretty much the case here. It always comes across as a lost opportunity to learn more about the contestants, and always makes me wonder if they did not provide enough talking points.
Tonight's challenger is Michael Lithgow, a water sampler and competition snooker player. Richard asks for more information, and Michael obliges. He works for an independent laboratory that does water sampling for Melbourne Water; that is their main client. They do routine testing for the reservoirs, water tanks, and taps all around greater Melbourne to make sure it is clean and safe. As for the snooker, Michael got into that when he turned 18 -- his father plays snooker with the RSL competition in Melbourne, so once he was old enough his father could take him there and teach him.
Just like yesterday's game, Brydon gets sevens to his opponent's sixes in the first two rounds. It's pretty much all Brydon thereafter, too, as Michael declares an invalid word after the first break and round five also goes seven-six to Brydon. The first two numbers rounds were fairly simple, but the last one was more difficult than the family mix usually produces. Again Brydon navigated the hazards well while Michael faltered. The conundrum was too difficult for both, but Brydon had still managed to get his score into the sixties, winning 61 to 27.
I did reasonably well myself, just two letters rounds shy of maximal. (Admittedly, on one of those my actual choice might have caused derision in the at-home audience.) When the last numbers round turned out to be too troublesome for Lily I even ended up unexpectedly ahead in the solo game. The conundrum was tricky, and for a while I thought another solo victory would slip away from me, but I got there with just two seconds left to round off a very good week for me on the game.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Ep 268: Brydon Coverdale, Miles Tilly (February 25, 2015; originally aired September 7, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Brydon takes his turn in the champion's seat, and Richard opens the conversation by suggesting that Brydon would like David's job. Specifically, he would like to be a crossword composer if he were not a cricket journalist. Brydon agrees that he is interested in that, adding that the challenge is getting everything to fit where you want it. While I agree that is part of it, it feels to me somewhat lesser a challenge than creating the fiendish but (mostly) fair clues that David does.
Opposing Brydon is Miles Tilly, a musician who is currently working on his fourth album. Richard notes that Miles' second album got a nomination for an award at an international competition. Miles expands on that to note that his second album release was nominated for Best Electronic Release at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards (he goes by the handle "Audiosauce"). Richard asks about the style of music involved; Miles responds that it is mainly "chilled-out", with a little bit of Latin and samba styles.
It was yet another close game tonight; Miles gained the upper hand early with two good letters rounds, although I feel that Brydon probably should have done better. But a gap in Miles' technique in the numbers round saw Brydon reduce the deficit, and a good round five result put Brydon a single point ahead at last. Miles got those points right back in the next numbers round, then miscued by essaying a rat pack in the final numbers round. Brydon handled it deftly, and moved into the conundrum ahead but not safe. He did well to solve it, too, and finished the winner, 47 to 33.
I had a good night on the letters, but flailed around a bit on the numbers. I can take some consolation in that Lily also had troubles with one of them, at least. Despite those difficulties I still managed a total in the 70's, which is always nice to have.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Brydon takes his turn in the champion's seat, and Richard opens the conversation by suggesting that Brydon would like David's job. Specifically, he would like to be a crossword composer if he were not a cricket journalist. Brydon agrees that he is interested in that, adding that the challenge is getting everything to fit where you want it. While I agree that is part of it, it feels to me somewhat lesser a challenge than creating the fiendish but (mostly) fair clues that David does.
Opposing Brydon is Miles Tilly, a musician who is currently working on his fourth album. Richard notes that Miles' second album got a nomination for an award at an international competition. Miles expands on that to note that his second album release was nominated for Best Electronic Release at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards (he goes by the handle "Audiosauce"). Richard asks about the style of music involved; Miles responds that it is mainly "chilled-out", with a little bit of Latin and samba styles.
It was yet another close game tonight; Miles gained the upper hand early with two good letters rounds, although I feel that Brydon probably should have done better. But a gap in Miles' technique in the numbers round saw Brydon reduce the deficit, and a good round five result put Brydon a single point ahead at last. Miles got those points right back in the next numbers round, then miscued by essaying a rat pack in the final numbers round. Brydon handled it deftly, and moved into the conundrum ahead but not safe. He did well to solve it, too, and finished the winner, 47 to 33.
I had a good night on the letters, but flailed around a bit on the numbers. I can take some consolation in that Lily also had troubles with one of them, at least. Despite those difficulties I still managed a total in the 70's, which is always nice to have.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Ep 264: Rachel Furness, Ajanthan Jegatheeswaran (February 19, 2015; originally aired September 1, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Rachel is back for her second night, and it is revealed that she has a young daughter called Lily; also a son named Noah, but that name lacks the obvious connection to the show. Both children are huge fans of Lily Serna, and (young) Lily told Rachel to be sure to let (older) Lily know that Rachel had her own little Lily at home. Phew, that's too many uses of "Lily" in the sentence, but there's only so much I can do.
Tonight's challenger is Ajanthan Jegatheeswaran, an architect whose ambition is to own his own company providing disaster relief housing. Richard notes the specificity of that ambition, and asks why that is so. Ajanthan explains that his family left a war-torn country to come to Australia, so wants to be able to give something back to people less fortunate than they were.
Ajanthan was the first to score, finding a nice word in the first round while Rachel lagged behind. She took the second round, though, reducing his lead to just a single point. Two shared rounds followed, but then Rachel really hit her stride, finding a good word and an exceptional numbers solution. Ajanthan's choice in the final letters round was invalid, and that guaranteed Rachel the win. Both solved the final numbers round, and the conundrum was too difficult for everyone, so the margin remained large in Rachel's favour: 54 points to 32.
I had an excellent game, hitting maximums in all of the main rounds. One of those was that same numbers round that Rachel did so well on, and as Lily faltered there I was actually ahead on the solo total going into the conundrum. All I needed to do was solve it to have that great rarity of the win against David and Lily... but for the fourth game in a row the conundrum was too difficult for me. Frustrating!
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Rachel is back for her second night, and it is revealed that she has a young daughter called Lily; also a son named Noah, but that name lacks the obvious connection to the show. Both children are huge fans of Lily Serna, and (young) Lily told Rachel to be sure to let (older) Lily know that Rachel had her own little Lily at home. Phew, that's too many uses of "Lily" in the sentence, but there's only so much I can do.
Tonight's challenger is Ajanthan Jegatheeswaran, an architect whose ambition is to own his own company providing disaster relief housing. Richard notes the specificity of that ambition, and asks why that is so. Ajanthan explains that his family left a war-torn country to come to Australia, so wants to be able to give something back to people less fortunate than they were.
Ajanthan was the first to score, finding a nice word in the first round while Rachel lagged behind. She took the second round, though, reducing his lead to just a single point. Two shared rounds followed, but then Rachel really hit her stride, finding a good word and an exceptional numbers solution. Ajanthan's choice in the final letters round was invalid, and that guaranteed Rachel the win. Both solved the final numbers round, and the conundrum was too difficult for everyone, so the margin remained large in Rachel's favour: 54 points to 32.
I had an excellent game, hitting maximums in all of the main rounds. One of those was that same numbers round that Rachel did so well on, and as Lily faltered there I was actually ahead on the solo total going into the conundrum. All I needed to do was solve it to have that great rarity of the win against David and Lily... but for the fourth game in a row the conundrum was too difficult for me. Frustrating!
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Ep 258: Cameron Begley, Emily Hawker (February 11, 2015; originally aired August 24, 2011)
Rounds: Here. (Sorry for the delay; SBS's content delivery was having troubles again, only getting a small way into the video before failing. It was better after dinner.)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor. However, for other reasons one of the rounds was spoiled for me, which I'll get to in due course.
Cameron is back, taking his turn in the champion's seat. Richard reminds us again about how tight the last game was, and there's a little chitchat about that. It's appropriate, I guess, but it does rob us of the chance to find out more about Cameron.
Tonight's challenger is -- oh, hey, it's Emily! I recognised her, and that meant I recalled a comment Sam made about one of her games, and that meant I knew what was going to happen in one round. But I digress. Emily has a degree in linguistics and finance, and Richard observes that seems to be a perfect combination for Letters and Numbers. Hard to argue with that! Emily started off in finance, and specifically studied Japanese and French for a while, but then decided that the study of language was more interesting than the study of languages themselves.
Emily got off to a cracking start with a full monty, and an unanswered full monty is generally enough of an advantage to win regardless of what else goes on. But Emily kept piling on the points, while Cameron was unable to make any progress at all. His first two words were deemed invalid (one of them should technically have been accepted, by my reading), and indeed he never managed to match Emily in the letter rounds. Unlike last night, the numbers did not save him; he was only able to manage five points overall, while Emily steamed past sixty. The game was over at the second break, which is extremely early for that to happen. The conundrum proved too difficult for both contestants, preventing Emily from reaching the 70's, but she was very happy with her 67 to 5 victory.
It's a rare day when two full monties are available, but that was the case here. I found them both, but the second one was the "prior knowledge" case I've alluded to; without that knowledge, I am pretty sure I would not have seen it within time. Aside from that, I matched David and Lily throughout, and had decent conundrum speed to boot. Just one tough numbers round marred the optimal result, but it was still very good and put my final total into the 90's.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor. However, for other reasons one of the rounds was spoiled for me, which I'll get to in due course.
Cameron is back, taking his turn in the champion's seat. Richard reminds us again about how tight the last game was, and there's a little chitchat about that. It's appropriate, I guess, but it does rob us of the chance to find out more about Cameron.
Tonight's challenger is -- oh, hey, it's Emily! I recognised her, and that meant I recalled a comment Sam made about one of her games, and that meant I knew what was going to happen in one round. But I digress. Emily has a degree in linguistics and finance, and Richard observes that seems to be a perfect combination for Letters and Numbers. Hard to argue with that! Emily started off in finance, and specifically studied Japanese and French for a while, but then decided that the study of language was more interesting than the study of languages themselves.
Emily got off to a cracking start with a full monty, and an unanswered full monty is generally enough of an advantage to win regardless of what else goes on. But Emily kept piling on the points, while Cameron was unable to make any progress at all. His first two words were deemed invalid (one of them should technically have been accepted, by my reading), and indeed he never managed to match Emily in the letter rounds. Unlike last night, the numbers did not save him; he was only able to manage five points overall, while Emily steamed past sixty. The game was over at the second break, which is extremely early for that to happen. The conundrum proved too difficult for both contestants, preventing Emily from reaching the 70's, but she was very happy with her 67 to 5 victory.
It's a rare day when two full monties are available, but that was the case here. I found them both, but the second one was the "prior knowledge" case I've alluded to; without that knowledge, I am pretty sure I would not have seen it within time. Aside from that, I matched David and Lily throughout, and had decent conundrum speed to boot. Just one tough numbers round marred the optimal result, but it was still very good and put my final total into the 90's.
As usual, details after the jump.
Friday, 6 February 2015
Ep 255: Judithe Hall, Brad Tucker (February 6, 2015; originally aired August 19, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Judithe returns after yesterday's solid win over Shyam. Richard asks how the unusual spelling of her first name came about; Judithe explains that both of her parents had names with an 'e' on the end, and decided that she should not be left out. There's a little further banter about possible other names with 'e' appended.
Tonight's challenger is Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist. Richard mentions the terms "dark energy" and "supernovae" and asks if that is the kind of thing that Brad studies. Brad affirms that, explaining that the supernovae (which he describes as "bright stellar explosions") are used to figure out what dark energy is. He adds that they think that dark energy is a force that is causing the universe to expand, and indeed to increase in that expansion.
It was quite the close game tonight. Brad did not seem as comfortable on the letters as he would have liked, but fortunately for him Judithe did not quite match her performance from yesterday. She twice picked up a small lead from the letter rounds, but each time Brad was able to gain back that ground on the numbers. It turned out that both contestants were tied going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the tiebreaker conundrum was wheeled out. Time ticked down again, then in an echo of yesterday's game Judithe found the solution with only a handful of seconds left on the clock. She scraped by with the win, 51 to 41.
I had an excellent game tonight, except for a bit of a brain freeze on the last numbers round. Brad liked the heavyweight mix, which is sure to make Sam happy but I seem to be a bit rusty on it. That stopped me from having an optimal game, and fretting over that may have contributed to my poor performance on the second conundrum. Still, my score made it into the eighties, and that's a rare occurrence.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Judithe returns after yesterday's solid win over Shyam. Richard asks how the unusual spelling of her first name came about; Judithe explains that both of her parents had names with an 'e' on the end, and decided that she should not be left out. There's a little further banter about possible other names with 'e' appended.
Tonight's challenger is Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist. Richard mentions the terms "dark energy" and "supernovae" and asks if that is the kind of thing that Brad studies. Brad affirms that, explaining that the supernovae (which he describes as "bright stellar explosions") are used to figure out what dark energy is. He adds that they think that dark energy is a force that is causing the universe to expand, and indeed to increase in that expansion.
It was quite the close game tonight. Brad did not seem as comfortable on the letters as he would have liked, but fortunately for him Judithe did not quite match her performance from yesterday. She twice picked up a small lead from the letter rounds, but each time Brad was able to gain back that ground on the numbers. It turned out that both contestants were tied going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it the tiebreaker conundrum was wheeled out. Time ticked down again, then in an echo of yesterday's game Judithe found the solution with only a handful of seconds left on the clock. She scraped by with the win, 51 to 41.
I had an excellent game tonight, except for a bit of a brain freeze on the last numbers round. Brad liked the heavyweight mix, which is sure to make Sam happy but I seem to be a bit rusty on it. That stopped me from having an optimal game, and fretting over that may have contributed to my poor performance on the second conundrum. Still, my score made it into the eighties, and that's a rare occurrence.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Ep 253: Martin Gabor, Shyam Subramaniam (February 4, 2015; originally aired August 17, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Martin has reached the crucial fourth night, and Richard's asks about his consistent choice of the "perfect match" number mix, and any other game techniques he has developed. There's nothing much of note in Martin's response, and again I have to wonder whether he provided the show with the requested interesting facts about himself. Certainly we've not found out much about him so far in these chats.
Standing in Martin's way is Shyam Subramaniam, an aspiring novelist with a master's degree in accounting. Shyam was an enthusiastic coin collector when he was younger, starting from around the age of 14, when his uncle travelled a lot in Africa and returned with all sorts of interesting coins. By the time Shyam was 18 he had managed to acquire coins from around a hundred different countries. He's since grown out of the obsession, but he certainly loved it at the time.
It's a close game tonight; Martin gets an early lead with a good find in round 1, but then risks too much in the second round and gives it mostly back. He pulls away in the next two rounds, but Shyam manages to peg him back a little in the second numbers round, and the game is alive going into the conundrum. Shyam solves it staggeringly quickly, and gets the come-from-behind win, 47 to 44.
I was off my game somewhat, with two bad misses. I can partly attribute that to attempting to play this at two in the morning; lesson learned. But solid results throughout were good enough to see me clear despite the conundrum (which I solved quickly by my standards, but not nearly fast enough to beat Shyam).
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
Martin has reached the crucial fourth night, and Richard's asks about his consistent choice of the "perfect match" number mix, and any other game techniques he has developed. There's nothing much of note in Martin's response, and again I have to wonder whether he provided the show with the requested interesting facts about himself. Certainly we've not found out much about him so far in these chats.
Standing in Martin's way is Shyam Subramaniam, an aspiring novelist with a master's degree in accounting. Shyam was an enthusiastic coin collector when he was younger, starting from around the age of 14, when his uncle travelled a lot in Africa and returned with all sorts of interesting coins. By the time Shyam was 18 he had managed to acquire coins from around a hundred different countries. He's since grown out of the obsession, but he certainly loved it at the time.
It's a close game tonight; Martin gets an early lead with a good find in round 1, but then risks too much in the second round and gives it mostly back. He pulls away in the next two rounds, but Shyam manages to peg him back a little in the second numbers round, and the game is alive going into the conundrum. Shyam solves it staggeringly quickly, and gets the come-from-behind win, 47 to 44.
I was off my game somewhat, with two bad misses. I can partly attribute that to attempting to play this at two in the morning; lesson learned. But solid results throughout were good enough to see me clear despite the conundrum (which I solved quickly by my standards, but not nearly fast enough to beat Shyam).
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Ep 252: Martin Gabor, Matthew Matten (February 3, 2015; originally aired August 16, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
This is Martin's third night, and it is revealed that his ambition is to be a rugby league commentator. Richard asks what Martin thinks his chances are, and Martin jokingly notes that Ray Warren is expected to retire in the next few years, and Martin will be available. That's perhaps unfortunate timing for Martin -- by the time this show aired, but almost certainly after it was filmed, Ray Warren had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which perhaps gives an unintended edge to the remarks.
Facing off against Martin is Matthew Matten, a lab technician and self-confessed LEGO nut. At the moment he is working on building a model of Saint Basil's Cathedral. Richard asks about the scale of this project, and Matthew explains that the proportions are going to be as though the minifigs were person-sized, so he expects it to end up around a metre to a metre-and-a-half tall. That's quite the project!
Both contestants struggle somewhat on the numbers tonight, each making an invalid go of the first (very difficult) numbers round. Honours on the remaining numbers rounds are mostly even but slightly tilted in Martin's favour, but it's the words that carry him safely to victory, as he finds some good eights to move well clear. He rounds it off by solving the conundrum, sealing a 52 to 28 victory.
I also struggled a little, feeling off my game today. I mentally froze in round 3 and only just got myself unstuck in time for an adequate result. I missed a couple of longer words that I might have found on a better day, too. Against that, I found a solution (two, in fact) that eluded Lily, and I solved the conundrum reasonably quickly to end up in the mid-sixties again for a safe win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor.
This is Martin's third night, and it is revealed that his ambition is to be a rugby league commentator. Richard asks what Martin thinks his chances are, and Martin jokingly notes that Ray Warren is expected to retire in the next few years, and Martin will be available. That's perhaps unfortunate timing for Martin -- by the time this show aired, but almost certainly after it was filmed, Ray Warren had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which perhaps gives an unintended edge to the remarks.
Facing off against Martin is Matthew Matten, a lab technician and self-confessed LEGO nut. At the moment he is working on building a model of Saint Basil's Cathedral. Richard asks about the scale of this project, and Matthew explains that the proportions are going to be as though the minifigs were person-sized, so he expects it to end up around a metre to a metre-and-a-half tall. That's quite the project!
Both contestants struggle somewhat on the numbers tonight, each making an invalid go of the first (very difficult) numbers round. Honours on the remaining numbers rounds are mostly even but slightly tilted in Martin's favour, but it's the words that carry him safely to victory, as he finds some good eights to move well clear. He rounds it off by solving the conundrum, sealing a 52 to 28 victory.
I also struggled a little, feeling off my game today. I mentally froze in round 3 and only just got myself unstuck in time for an adequate result. I missed a couple of longer words that I might have found on a better day, too. Against that, I found a solution (two, in fact) that eluded Lily, and I solved the conundrum reasonably quickly to end up in the mid-sixties again for a safe win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Ep 88: Leif Cooper, Phil Moore (originally aired December 1, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
I've changed my mind despite previous comments, so here's the details for episode 88 earlier than forecast. For anyone who has not yet seen it due to it being skipped for the US election coverage, here are the links again: Part 1; part 2; part 3. Thanks again to commentor Victor for finding this. Also, in case it was missed, here is the episode 90 post.
Leif returns for the important fourth-night showdown, although this season has had many six-game contestants and even four wins may not be enough. Richard wheels out the technique question, noting that Leif always starts with a consonant in the letters rounds. Leif agrees, and expands on this although it honestly does not make a lot of sense to me: He likes the vowels split up rather than clumped, and there are more consonants than vowels, so he chooses the consonant first. That is kind of backwards, really; if he started off with a vowel then he could spread the vowels out further. But perhaps he also dislikes clumps of consonants.
Tonight's challenger is Phil Moore, an I.T. manager who has lived on three different continents. His father was an aircraft engineer so the family travelled a lot when Phil was young (presumably the job involved his father working in rather different locations). He was born in France, then moved to the United Kingdom, then Africa (first South Africa, then Zimbabwe), then back to the United Kingdom, and finally settled in Australia at last. It's left him with an interest in travel, but it's not so easy now as he has two young children.
Phil took the lead in the first round with a word which turns up a lot in this game but can be hard to spot. Leif struck back in the second round, finding the unique best answer. Three shared rounds followed (neither contestant having any luck with the numbers round), then Leif extended his lead in the next numbers round. Phil was able to get back some of that ground in the final letters round, and then both solved the last rather easy numbers round. Leif was ahead but not safe going into the conundrum, and his usual technique of writing down the letters worked against him, as Phil solved it while Leif was still doing so. Phil won the game, 45 to 37.
I had a rather mixed game, starting off with a good find but then missing many better options. In fact, I did not get another maximum until the last numbers round; the other two numbers rounds included rather bad mental slips from me and I ended up two away in each case. The better words were rather findable in most cases, too, so overall this was not a good result. I did manage to beat Phil to the conundrum solution, but only just. It was a somewhat disappointing game, to be honest, but I had managed to do enough for the win.
I've changed my mind despite previous comments, so here's the details for episode 88 earlier than forecast. For anyone who has not yet seen it due to it being skipped for the US election coverage, here are the links again: Part 1; part 2; part 3. Thanks again to commentor Victor for finding this. Also, in case it was missed, here is the episode 90 post.
Leif returns for the important fourth-night showdown, although this season has had many six-game contestants and even four wins may not be enough. Richard wheels out the technique question, noting that Leif always starts with a consonant in the letters rounds. Leif agrees, and expands on this although it honestly does not make a lot of sense to me: He likes the vowels split up rather than clumped, and there are more consonants than vowels, so he chooses the consonant first. That is kind of backwards, really; if he started off with a vowel then he could spread the vowels out further. But perhaps he also dislikes clumps of consonants.
Tonight's challenger is Phil Moore, an I.T. manager who has lived on three different continents. His father was an aircraft engineer so the family travelled a lot when Phil was young (presumably the job involved his father working in rather different locations). He was born in France, then moved to the United Kingdom, then Africa (first South Africa, then Zimbabwe), then back to the United Kingdom, and finally settled in Australia at last. It's left him with an interest in travel, but it's not so easy now as he has two young children.
Phil took the lead in the first round with a word which turns up a lot in this game but can be hard to spot. Leif struck back in the second round, finding the unique best answer. Three shared rounds followed (neither contestant having any luck with the numbers round), then Leif extended his lead in the next numbers round. Phil was able to get back some of that ground in the final letters round, and then both solved the last rather easy numbers round. Leif was ahead but not safe going into the conundrum, and his usual technique of writing down the letters worked against him, as Phil solved it while Leif was still doing so. Phil won the game, 45 to 37.
I had a rather mixed game, starting off with a good find but then missing many better options. In fact, I did not get another maximum until the last numbers round; the other two numbers rounds included rather bad mental slips from me and I ended up two away in each case. The better words were rather findable in most cases, too, so overall this was not a good result. I did manage to beat Phil to the conundrum solution, but only just. It was a somewhat disappointing game, to be honest, but I had managed to do enough for the win.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Ep 86: Leif Cooper, Brett Newton (November 5, 2012; originally aired November 29, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
Leif Cooper gets his turn in the champion's seat after a very impressive turn on the letters in the previous episode. Richard asks what got Leif into his line of work; Leif explains that he had always been good at maths and science at school, and found chemistry particularly interesting. Naturally enough, when he did his bachelor of science he focused on chemistry, and it all followed from that; he got a job at a lab and now here he is, somewhat further down the path.
Tonight's challenger is Brett Newton, who has been a secondary school mathematics teacher for seven years. Brett recently spent a year teaching in the United Kingdom; he enjoyed that greatly, getting to do a lot of travel including a few castle trips. The personal highlight was a trip to LEGOLAND for his son's birthday, and the highlight of the whole trip was Christmas at Disneyland in France.
The letter mixes were rather miserly today, but Leif still did pretty well on them, including an excellent word in round four. A trivial numbers round to start was followed by two very tough ones; Leif made errors on both of those but it was not enough to let Brett catch up. Leif was comfortably ahead going into the conundrum, and solved it late in the piece to push his score over the half century and finish with a 53 to 19 win.
I was back to rather erratic form, alas. The tough mixes were hard to get much traction on, and I missed finding two better options within time. I also struggled with the numbers, although fortunately for my ego so did Lily; they were genuinely difficult. I did manage to solve the conundrum relatively quickly, avoiding setting a new worst record on the maximum count. I wobbled home victorious, but certainly Leif has been the best competitor on the letters for some weeks and these games are getting a bit chancy.
Leif Cooper gets his turn in the champion's seat after a very impressive turn on the letters in the previous episode. Richard asks what got Leif into his line of work; Leif explains that he had always been good at maths and science at school, and found chemistry particularly interesting. Naturally enough, when he did his bachelor of science he focused on chemistry, and it all followed from that; he got a job at a lab and now here he is, somewhat further down the path.
Tonight's challenger is Brett Newton, who has been a secondary school mathematics teacher for seven years. Brett recently spent a year teaching in the United Kingdom; he enjoyed that greatly, getting to do a lot of travel including a few castle trips. The personal highlight was a trip to LEGOLAND for his son's birthday, and the highlight of the whole trip was Christmas at Disneyland in France.
The letter mixes were rather miserly today, but Leif still did pretty well on them, including an excellent word in round four. A trivial numbers round to start was followed by two very tough ones; Leif made errors on both of those but it was not enough to let Brett catch up. Leif was comfortably ahead going into the conundrum, and solved it late in the piece to push his score over the half century and finish with a 53 to 19 win.
I was back to rather erratic form, alas. The tough mixes were hard to get much traction on, and I missed finding two better options within time. I also struggled with the numbers, although fortunately for my ego so did Lily; they were genuinely difficult. I did manage to solve the conundrum relatively quickly, avoiding setting a new worst record on the maximum count. I wobbled home victorious, but certainly Leif has been the best competitor on the letters for some weeks and these games are getting a bit chancy.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Ep 80: Christopher Weldon, Jasper Johnson (October 26, 2012; originally aired November 19, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
Christopher Weldon gets his turn in the champion's seat after his good come-from-behind victory over Peter Smith last night. Richard mentions that Christopher is an acting graduate as well as a writer, and that he has melded those two facets together as he has written at least one script. Christopher says that he would like to do more scriptwriting; he has written one play already. He admits that it might sound impressive but the play only went for ten minutes, so he can call himself a playwright with very little effort. He'd like to write more things, and jokingly adds that he particularly wants to write anything that he can put himself in and be funny and then have people love him...
Tonight's challenger is Jasper Johnson, a year twelve student and the show's youngest competitor so far. Jasper's grandmother is from Germany; she lives in Australia, but Jasper has always wanted to visit Germany. Early last year (2009) he got the opportunity to do so as an exchange student; his school has a sister school in Hamburg, which is in the north of Germany. He was there for three months, made many new friends and generally had an exciting experience.
Jasper got the early lead in the first round, and a couple of shared rounds followed. There was an exchange of points in the middle letters rounds, and then more matched results all the way up to conundrum. For the second time Christopher was seven points behind going into the conundrum, and once again he solved it quickly to take the win, 54 to 51.
I had a reasonable game, missing several tough maxima in the middle section but otherwise doing well enough. Christopher was too fast for me on the conundrum again, but this time there was only a second in it. Fortunately I'd managed to do enough in the rest of the rounds to finish comfortably ahead.
Christopher Weldon gets his turn in the champion's seat after his good come-from-behind victory over Peter Smith last night. Richard mentions that Christopher is an acting graduate as well as a writer, and that he has melded those two facets together as he has written at least one script. Christopher says that he would like to do more scriptwriting; he has written one play already. He admits that it might sound impressive but the play only went for ten minutes, so he can call himself a playwright with very little effort. He'd like to write more things, and jokingly adds that he particularly wants to write anything that he can put himself in and be funny and then have people love him...
Tonight's challenger is Jasper Johnson, a year twelve student and the show's youngest competitor so far. Jasper's grandmother is from Germany; she lives in Australia, but Jasper has always wanted to visit Germany. Early last year (2009) he got the opportunity to do so as an exchange student; his school has a sister school in Hamburg, which is in the north of Germany. He was there for three months, made many new friends and generally had an exciting experience.
Jasper got the early lead in the first round, and a couple of shared rounds followed. There was an exchange of points in the middle letters rounds, and then more matched results all the way up to conundrum. For the second time Christopher was seven points behind going into the conundrum, and once again he solved it quickly to take the win, 54 to 51.
I had a reasonable game, missing several tough maxima in the middle section but otherwise doing well enough. Christopher was too fast for me on the conundrum again, but this time there was only a second in it. Fortunately I'd managed to do enough in the rest of the rounds to finish comfortably ahead.
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