Weekly summary: Episodes 201 to 205

I had a fairly shaky restart to the game, finishing ten points behind on the solo totals in an unusual way, missing out on all three numbers rounds.  Things picked up thereafter, and I even managed to get a solo win over David and Lily on Thursday.  I was not able to play Tuesday's game since SBS did not make it available on their website for some reason.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	62		75	75	74
Champion	11		27	10	46
Challenger	24		17	10	24
David + Lily	72		79	74	76
Me (solo)	62		75	75	74

Andre got to a fifth game before falling to James, who saw out the week with a pair of identical winning scores.

Andre Sardone	42	47	69	51	40		249
James Morris*	52	52					104
Des Mullen	45						45
Tony Moran	41						41
Jenny Lee	29						29

It was an uneventful week, with no full monties on offer and all numbers rounds solved by Lily.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties						0
Missed Full Monties						0
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

I was consistent on my letters performance this week, dropping only one maximum in each game.  The numbers started out somewhat shakily, as I failed to hit any maximum on Monday and still missed one on Wednesday.  The week finished strongly as I finally hit my stride on the numbers, and I solved all of the conundrums presented to me.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	4		4	4	4
N	0		2	3	3
C	1		1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
James Morris*	104	2	52.00
Andre Sardone	249	5	49.80
Des Mullen	45	1	45.00
Tony Moran	41	1	41.00
Jenny Lee	29	1	29.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 191 to 193

Looks like I forgot to put up the weekly summary from the end of the previous series.  I don't remember much about it, but I have the statistics.  It looks like I had a particularly good game on Tuesday, anyway.

	Mon	Tue	Wed
Me	74	96	64
Champion	6	0	7
Challenger	0	10	17
David + Lily	76	95	74
Me (solo)	74	96	64

Andre Sardone won the last game before the finals, becoming the carryover champion for the next series.  The leaderboard for the finals is unchanged.

Tony Loui	52	83	44	62	49	52	342
Tamara McMahon	54	64	63	52	54	48	335
Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Victor Tung	44	29	51	43	47	42	256
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258

Tuesday offered two full monties, which was nice.  Tuesday and Wednesday also each had an impossible numbers round, making it a difficult set of numbers for the week.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties		2		2
Missed Full Monties				0
Tough Numbers				0
Impossible Numbers		1	1	2

I managed to get optimal results on the numbers in these three games, which is very pleasing.  I also had optimal results on the letters in the last two games, and Tuesday's game was completely optimal.  I also managed to outscore David and Lily on that one, which was nice.

	Mon	Tue	Wed
Maximums: L	2	5	5
N	3	3	3
C	1	1	0

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Tony Loui	342	6	57.00
Tamara McMahon	335	6	55.83
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Tom Fooks	133	3	44.33
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Robyn Lee	86	2	43.00
Victor Tung	256	6	42.67
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Andre Sardone*	42	1	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Kylie Thompson	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Paula Messer	77	2	38.50
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Ralph Lurie	35	1	35.00
Helen Hewitt	34	1	34.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Alison Crowe	33	1	33.00
Chris Cincotta	32	1	32.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
Howard Smith	62	2	31.00
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Gillian Stevens	31	1	31.00
Alex Ford	30	1	30.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Jon Avotins	29	1	29.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Kapil Chauhan	28	1	28.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Phillip Gao	27	1	27.00
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
James Couti	53	2	26.50
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Steve Simmons	25	1	25.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Preeti Goel	23	1	23.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Daniel Goff	21	1	21.00
Laurence Guttman	21	1	21.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Mark Povey	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Dan Boxshall	14	1	14.00
Cathy Henry	14	1	14.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00
Lexi Wright	0	1	0.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 186 to 190

I had a vastly more consistent week this time, always being close to David and Lily even if I only managed to equal them once.  That's always something to be happy about, though!  I've had a pretty good run this series, although I think it's safe to say I would not have done nearly as well at the time of airing.  Keeping this blog going has unquestionably improved my game.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	76	84	63	73	66
Champion	51	36	46	21	7
Challenger	20	15	31	38	35
David + Lily	77	84	77	75	77
Me (solo)	76	84	73	73	73

Tony went all the way, taking the top spot as he had seemed likely to do, and pushing Greg off the leaderboard.  Robyn won on Thursday, but then lost to Kylie; there's not enough games left before the finals for Kylie to get onto the leaderboard, so the top eight for the finals are now determined.

Tony Loui	52	83	44	62	49	52	342
Tamara McMahon	54	64	63	52	54	48	335
Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Victor Tung	44	29	51	43	47	42	256
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258

Only one full monty was available this time, a sharp decline after the five from last week.  A numbers round proved to be too tough for Lily on Tuesday, and the rareness of that demonstrates just how very good she is.  There was also an impossible target on Thursday, but there's not much to be said about that.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties		1				1
Missed Full Monties						0
Tough Numbers		1				1
Impossible Numbers				1		1

I feel decent about my letters performance this week, but I did drop a couple more numbers maxima than I should have -- I just have to spot those better options within time.  I did solve all five conundrums within time, although Gillian did just beat me to the answer on Wednesday.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	4	5	3	3	3
N	3	2	2	3	2
C	1	1	1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Kylie Thompson*	58	1	58.00
Tony Loui	342	6	57.00
Tamara McMahon	335	6	55.83
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Tom Fooks	133	3	44.33
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Robyn Lee	86	2	43.00
Victor Tung	256	6	42.67
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Paula Messer	77	2	38.50
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Ralph Lurie	35	1	35.00
Helen Hewitt	34	1	34.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Alison Crowe	33	1	33.00
Chris Cincotta	32	1	32.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
Howard Smith	62	2	31.00
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Gillian Stevens	31	1	31.00
Alex Ford	30	1	30.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Jon Avotins	29	1	29.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Kapil Chauhan	28	1	28.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Phillip Gao	27	1	27.00
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Steve Simmons	25	1	25.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Preeti Goel	23	1	23.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Daniel Goff	21	1	21.00
Laurence Guttman	21	1	21.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Mark Povey	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Dan Boxshall	14	1	14.00
Cathy Henry	14	1	14.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 181 to 185

This week may well have the biggest aggregate difference between myself and David and Lily, starting off with a whopping 30 point gap on Monday.  I struggled with the letters this week, missing several full monties and conundrums.  I ended up averaging 14 fewer points a game, a statistic I hope is not repeated.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	65	70	59	93	64
Champion	20	27	25	58	24
Challenger	10	17	52	26	15
David + Lily	95	87	71	97	77
Me (solo)	65	76	59	93	64

Tom won the first two games of the week, then Tony Loui burst onto the scene with three strong games, including the best score by any contestant this series.  If he keeps that performance up then he will easily take the top spot from Tamara.  Greg's only hope of staying in contention is for Tony to lose his next game.

Tamara McMahon	54	64	63	52	54	48	335
Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Victor Tung	44	29	51	43	47	42	256
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211

It was a week with many full monties available: David found five of them, and there was an obscure sixth one also on offer.  This might be the highest-scoring week, although Wednesday's set was very parsimonious.  Lily was confronted by one unreachable target this week, but otherwise solved everything.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties	2	1		2		5
Missed Full Monties					1	1
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers			1			1

My numbers performance was on part with previous weeks, but my letters work was way down and I missed three conundrums.  Combined with a glut of missed full monties, it's no wonder that my scores were so far behind David and Lily.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	2	2	3	4	2
N	2	3	3	2	3
C	0	1	0	1	0
Invalid: L	1	-	-	-	-

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Tony Loui*	179	3	59.67
Tamara McMahon	335	6	55.83
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Tom Fooks	133	3	44.33
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Victor Tung	256	6	42.67
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Paula Messer	77	2	38.50
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Ralph Lurie	35	1	35.00
Helen Hewitt	34	1	34.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Alison Crowe	33	1	33.00
Chris Cincotta	32	1	32.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
Howard Smith	62	2	31.00
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Alex Ford	30	1	30.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Jon Avotins	29	1	29.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Kapil Chauhan	28	1	28.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Phillip Gao	27	1	27.00
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Preeti Goel	23	1	23.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Laurence Guttman	21	1	21.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Dan Boxshall	14	1	14.00
Cathy Henry	14	1	14.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 176 to 180

A consistent week for me, with all scores in the low seventies.  Equally consistently, I was not able to match David and Lily -- the closest I came was arguably on Tuesday, where I found a longer word than David but missed solving a numbers round.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	71	72	74	75	74
Champion	24	25	37	30	30
Challenger	17	24	10	15	14
David + Lily	76	74	75	76	76
Me (solo)	71	72	74	75	74

Victor beat all comers this week, becoming the second retiring champion in two weeks and pushing Kannan off the leaderboard (Greg holds on by a single point).  Victor's total was a bit low -- the next three people in contention all had higher totals -- but it's wins that count.

Tamara McMahon	54	64	63	52	54	48	335
Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Victor Tung	44	29	51	43	47	42	256
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211

No full monties on offer this week; Lily solved all numbers rounds and made it look easy.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties						0
Missed Full Monties						0
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

No Wednesday drop for me this week; Monday was my worst performance.  I solved all of the conundrums this time, which helped to keep my scores healthy.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	3	5	4	4	3
N	2	2	3	3	3
C	1	1	1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Tamara McMahon	335	6	55.83
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Victor Tung	256	6	42.67
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Paula Messer	77	2	38.50
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Ralph Lurie	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Chris Cincotta	32	1	32.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
Howard Smith	62	2	31.00
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Alex Ford	30	1	30.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Jon Avotins	29	1	29.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Kapil Chauhan	28	1	28.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Preeti Goel	23	1	23.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Dan Boxshall	14	1	14.00
Cathy Henry	14	1	14.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 171 to 175

A full monty from David on Monday kept me from equalling there, and although I got close a couple of times later on I just was not able to bridge the gap.  Top quality solving from David and Lily, as ever.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	78	84	64	76	65
Champion	34	22	13	10	7
Challenger	7	16	23	35	37
David + Lily	88	86	77	77	76
Me (solo)	78	84	64	76	72

As predicted, Tamara won her last two games to become the third champion to successfully retire this series.  Her consistent high scoring -- only once below fifty, and that was with a forty-eight -- gets her a well-deserved top spot, edging out Barry, while Bretty drops off the leaderboard.  The challengers won each game in the rest of the week, but maybe next week will bring a bit more longevity to the champion.

Tamara McMahon	54	64	63	52	54	48	335
Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211
Kannan Sethuraman	42	53	45	41	29		210

There were two full monties on offer this week, with Tuesday's one having three possible nines from the same letter mix.  Monday's one was hard to spot, at least for me, but David did well to find it.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties	1	1				2
Missed Full Monties						0
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

My letters performance dropped a bit this week, while my numberwork was better -- just the one maximum dropped on those.  Wednesday continues to be my trouble day, substantially below my results from the other days.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	4	3	2	4	3
N	3	3	3	3	2
C	1	1	0	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Tamara McMahon	335	6	55.83
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Victor Tung*	44	1	44.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Paula Messer	77	2	38.50
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Chris Cincotta	32	1	32.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
Howard Smith	62	2	31.00
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Alex Ford	30	1	30.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Cathy Henry	14	1	14.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 166 to 170

Tamara gave me a bit of a scare on Wednesday: I was only able to outpoint her on one main round, so I went in to the conundrum ahead but not safe.  It turned out to be a difficult conundrum, so I escaped with my winning record this series intact.  Aside from that, I managed to track David and Lily reasonably closely on three of the days, with just Friday leading to another drop due to missing a full monty and the conundrum.  A high-scoring week!

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	84	66	65	76	65
Champion	35	34	58	56	33
Challenger	20	34	52	6	16
David + Lily	85	86	86	76	86
Me (solo)	84	83	72	76	65

Mel fell to Tamara on his third game, and Tamara closed out the week with a series of high-scoring games.  Even a zero-point loss in her next game will put her into sixth position on the leaderboard, and she's looking strong enough to go all the way.

Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211
Kannan Sethuraman	42	53	45	41	29		210
Brett Chaiyawat	25	59	28	42	34		188

It was an excellent week for the full monties, with David finding four of them.  There was also a (rather obscure!) missed full monty on the remaining day, so this week held the potential for that grand slam that David was always aiming for.  Lily cruised through the numbers yet again.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties	1	1	1		1	4
Missed Full Monties				1		1
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

My performance in the main rounds was consistently better this week, although once again there was a dip on Wednesday; I'm not sure why that seems to often be the case.  I found the conundrums tough going this week, missing two of them.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	4	5	3	4	4
N	3	2	2	3	3
C	1	1	0	1	0

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Tamara McMahon*	233	4	58.25
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Peter Kougi	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Mel Cox	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Had Thomas	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Richard King	21	1	21.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00
Kym Logan	6	1	6.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 161 to 165

My early-week performance was a bit off the pace, with Tuesday and Wednesday being rather poor.  I was just a bit too slow to spot a full monty on Monday; if I had, that would have given me a huge win in the solo game.  I did finish the week strongly, though, dropping just a single point in two games.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	73	76	68	74	86
Champion	40	14	12	15	34
Challenger	6	7	26	15	51
David + Lily	76	87	78	74	87
Me (solo)	73	76	68	74	86

No movement on the leaderboard this week; Rohan won on Monday, but thereafter the champions lost each game.  Mel Cox won a high-scoring game on Friday, so maybe there is some potential there.

Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211
Kannan Sethuraman	42	53	45	41	29		210
Brett Chaiyawat	25	59	28	42	34		188

David found two full monties this week, but missed the one on Monday.  Lily deftly handled the numbers once more; it's been over five weeks since she missed the best answer in a numbers round.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties		1			1	2
Missed Full Monties	1					1
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

I had some decent games, including a maximal one on Thursday, but again I am having problems with consistency.  Tuesday and Wednesday greatly dragged down my performance, with Wednesday in particular being a shocker.  I did get all the conundrums, though, which is nice.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	4	2	2	5	4
N	2	3	1	3	3
C	1	2	1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Mel Cox*	57	1	57.00
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Rohan Long	153	3	51.00
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Jeremy Rosen	95	2	47.50
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
Pat Sincock	71	2	35.50
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Graham Smith	55	2	27.50
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Nicky Betts	19	1	19.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 156 to 160

I was back to an erratic performance this week; the highlights were Tuesday and Friday, where I managed to equal David and Lily on the solo totals.  In fact, I had an optimal game on Tuesday, which is always nice.  The other days I ended up rather further away than I would have liked; on Monday the key issue was failing to solve a conundrum, while on Wednesday and Thursday I had great difficulties with the numbers.  I definitely want to improve on that.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	59	77	61	63	77
Champion	34	25	42	23	16
Challenger	20	10	23	17	32
David + Lily	77	77	73	75	77
Me (solo)	65	77	61	70	77

Richard Hartley made it all the way to his sixth game, but was defeated by Rohan on Friday.  That pushes Samuel Hastings out of contention for the finals; only contestants with five or more games remain.  We're less than two-thirds of the way through the series, so we'd expect a few more finalists to come; at this point, I'd say that Greg, Kannan, and Brett are likely to miss the cut.

Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Richard Hartley	56	53	57	42	42	32	282
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211
Kannan Sethuraman	42	53	45	41	29		210
Brett Chaiyawat	25	59	28	42	34		188

Just the one round of interest this week, an impossible numbers target on Wednesday.  That broke Lily's solving streak, although she still would have found the best answer.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties						0
Missed Full Monties						0
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers			1			1

My maximum count in the main rounds again equalled that of last week, but my performance was less consistent.  I really need to hit those numbers targets; as Lily demonstrates, the best results are achievable.  A tough conundrum contributed to a poor scoreline on Monday, but I managed to solve the remaining ones.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	3	5	3	4	4
N	3	3	2	1	3
C	0	1	1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Rohan Long*	52	1	52.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Richard Hartley	282	6	47.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Everson Kandare	32	1	32.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Tim Shiel	28	1	28.00
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
David Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Jenni Bradford	17	1	17.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00

Weekly summary: Episodes 151 to 155

I did not manage to equal (or exceed) David and Lily in the solo totals this week, but I came close throughout.  There were generally only a couple of rounds difference each game; my best chance came on Thursday, where I was briefly ahead before I came unstuck on the numbers.  This was a much more consistently good week than last week, despite the highs then, and I am happy about that.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Me	69	75	74	74	76
Champion	32	27	15	20	30
Challenger	22	6	7	34	34
David + Lily	73	76	78	76	77
Me (solo)	69	75	74	74	76

Greg managed to get to a fifth game before Rob ended his run.  Greg just barely pips Kannan for fifth place, but the totals are low enough that both could easily miss out on the finals.  Jack, sitting above them in fourth place, is looking fairly secure.  Richard put Rob out in a close game on Friday, starting off with a good total.

Barry Harridge	75	51	45	54	39	59	323
Matthew Thomason	46	64	49	44	52	65	310
Oli Bryant	71	46	60	55	54	32	318
Jack Dell	59	73	40	50	36		258
Greg Beers	35	59	46	38	33		211
Kannan Sethuraman	42	53	45	41	29		210
Brett Chaiyawat	25	59	28	42	34		188
Samuel Hastings	46	58	58	24			186

A couple of tough full monties this week eluded David's eagle eye.  Lily continues to be in fine form -- this is the third week in a row that she has solved every numbers round.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Full Monties						0
Missed Full Monties			1	1		2
Tough Numbers						0
Impossible Numbers						0

My maximum count is the same as last week, in the main rounds at any rate.  I picked up one letters maximum but dropped one in the numbers.  I did solve all conundrums this week, so that's a small improvement over last week.  My performance was much more consistent this week.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Maximums: L	3	4	4	4	4
N	2	3	2	2	3
C	1	1	1	1	1

Contestants sorted by average score:

	Total	Games	Average
Richard Hartley*	56	1	56.00
Barry Harridge	323	6	53.83
Oli Bryant	318	6	53.00
Matthew Thomason	310	6	51.67
Jack Dell	258	5	51.60
Jason Dunn	102	2	51.00
Colwyn Buckland	51	1	51.00
Brian Morgan	151	3	50.33
Luke Brattoni	149	3	49.67
Rob Hunt	99	2	49.50
Raf Goodens	98	2	49.00
Gary Beer	49	1	49.00
Ryan Turk	48	1	48.00
Samuel Hastings	186	4	46.50
Daniel Drumm	92	2	46.00
Jonathan Goodman	44	1	44.00
Greg Beers	211	5	42.20
Kannan Sethuraman	210	5	42.00
Kathryn James	123	3	41.00
Jodi Knight	82	2	41.00
Avi Chanales	163	4	40.75
Margaret Frangos	79	2	39.50
Peter Stephenson	78	2	39.00
Brett Chaiyawat	188	5	37.60
Janine Huan	37	1	37.00
Aram Kalyanasundaram	36	1	36.00
Luke Warden	72	2	36.00
David Waddell	71	2	35.50
Damien Chua	35	1	35.00
Jayden Spudvilas-Powell	34	1	34.00
Michael Bakker	66	2	33.00
Nathan Boadle	33	1	33.00
Cameron Ling	32	1	32.00
Neil McInnes	32	1	32.00
Ben Ripley	32	1	32.00
Felix Johnson	95	3	31.67
Mike Vitale	63	2	31.50
John Marsiglio	31	1	31.00
Bryce Lawrence	30	1	30.00
Matt Pitcher	29	1	29.00
Anna Gunn	27	1	27.00
Glen Chandler	26	1	26.00
Nicky Henderson	24	1	24.00
Louise Kuchmar	23	1	23.00
Vikas Ahuja	22	1	22.00
Rob Carter	20	1	20.00
Rosemary Stafford	20	1	20.00
Liam Murphy	18	1	18.00
Basil Theophilos	18	1	18.00
Seb Dworkin	17	1	17.00
Frank Rice	15	1	15.00
Vanessa Rule	15	1	15.00
Dane Watkins	15	1	15.00
Susan Bee	13	1	13.00
Mali Konda	13	1	13.00
Rhys McCaig	13	1	13.00
Matthew Ball	12	1	12.00
Matt Bolton	12	1	12.00