Ep 38: David Jones, Brendan Murphy (August 29, 2012; originally aired September 22, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


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


This is the sixth and final night for David Jones, at least until the finals series.  Richard asks whether David is more comfortable with the letters rounds or the numbers rounds; the answer to that is pretty obvious from anyone who has been following the play.  But David still manages to add a twist to it, saying that nine conundrums would suit him best.  Heh!  That's fairly true, as he has solved four of the five so far (Kiao Inthavong beat him to the other one).

David does then grant that the letters have been much better for him than the numbers, and Richard reminds us that David found a nine-letter word yesterday.  David goes too far when he states that it proved the difference in that game; the winning margin was greater than that, so he would have had to actually give up points to Beckett to have lost.  Since that would have required either an invalid word or at most a five, it was highly unlikely.

Tonight's challenger is Brendan Murphy, an I.T. manager at a secondary college.  Brendan has travelled extensively within Australia; one of his favourite spots is the Gold Coast, which he says is a great place to take the family and have a really relaxing holiday.


As mentioned before, I'll be referring to David Astle throughout as DA to avoid confusion about which David is which.


David got off to an early lead, then several shared rounds followed (including a numbers round that neither was able to make any progress on).  Then David extended his lead in the next three rounds, and was safe going into the final numbers round.  Both shared points in that, but the conundrum was too difficult for either of them -- David buzzed in halfway through with an incorrect answer -- and David became the show's fourth retiring champion with a 53 to 22 win.

I had a reasonable game -- the only maximum I missed in the main rounds was rather obscure and I was not prepared to risk it -- but the conundrum was also too difficult for me.  I finished comfortably ahead, but was disappointed to break what has been a pretty good streak on the conundrums -- 17 in a row solved within regulation time, even if contestants have beaten me to them sometimes.

Ep 37: David Jones, Beckett Rozentals (August 28, 2012; originally aired September 21, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


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


This is David Jones' fifth night, and Richard asks what prompted him to move to Australia.  David says that "apart from the obvious reasons" he met his now-wife while she was working in the UK for a couple of years.  When her visa expired he asked her if she would like him to head to Australia and see what happens; obviously that worked out pretty well.

Tonight's challenger is Beckett Rozentals, a fashion designer, art curator, and history lecturer.  Beckett rides her bike to work each day "in high fashion and in high heels".  And, well, that's about it for what we find out about her.


As mentioned before, I'll be referring to David Astle throughout as DA to avoid confusion about which David is which.


It was a rather mixed performance from David tonight; he got off to a good start in the first two letters rounds, including finding a full monty, but was only able to score four points in the next four rounds.  Beckett was not able to capitalise on this lapse, though, and David ended up ahead by enough to be safe going into the conundrum.  He solved it quickly once more to get his fifth win, 55 to 34.

I was mostly in good shape tonight, although I missed one word I should have got.  Once more I was slow on the conundrum, with David beating me to it by a second.  Against that, I managed to solve a numbers round in time that Lily did not, and that gave me a very rare solo total larger than the combined DA/Lily combination.

Ep 36: David Jones, Ben Strate (August 27, 2012; originally aired September 20, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


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


David Jones faces the crucial fourth game hurdle tonight, but there's essentially nothing to the pre-game chat.  He's had a good run so far, with his lowest score being 50.

Tonight's challenger is Ben Strate, an energy and resource lawyer with a passion for musicals.  Richard checks whether this passion extends to performing in them, and Ben confirms that he likes to do so -- the singing, at least; he says that dancing is not such a strength of his.  Some of the musicals that he has performed in are Into the Woods, Urinetown, and Singin' in the Rain.

(I recall seeing a wonderful production of Into the Woods at the Sydney Opera House in 1993.  They had a nifty rotating stage that they used to very good effect.)


As mentioned before, I'll be referring to David Astle throughout as DA to avoid confusion about which David is which.


David got off to an early lead when Ben essayed a risky word without success; Ben was perhaps a little unlucky as it was certainly a relatable concept.  A couple of shared rounds followed, but then David won the next two letters rounds to build a significant lead.  Ben was not able to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the numbers rounds, and David was guaranteed the win before the conundrum.  He continued his good form by solving it to register a 61 to 30 victory.

I found a couple of good words tonight, but also missed a couple.  I was very slow on the conundrum, but I'd done enough in the numbers to take the win anyway.  I definitely needed the advantage that they provided his time!

Ep 35: David Jones, Kiao Inthavong (August 24, 2012; originally aired September 17, 2010)

Rounds: Here


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


David Jones is back for his third night, with a win here seeing him halfway to retirement.  Richard notes that David is a keen cricket player and asks more about that.  David responds that he has been playing for a number of years now, first in England for his school and then his local club.  Since moving to Australia it seemed like a great way to get involved in local life so he now represents Parkville District Cricket Club.  Richard checks whether David is a batter or a bowler, and David says that he is almost exclusively a bowler but concedes that he will don the pads if required.

(For those interested in statistics, here are his bowling details.)

Tonight's challenger is Kiao Inthavong, a research fellow who lived and worked in both Cambodia and Bangkok for a year.  Kiao has a PhD in computational fluid dynamics, which ties in nicely with Lily's areas of study.  Kiao's work involves using computers to try and visualise how air and particles move; he specialises in looking at how drug particles move in nasal sprays.  That line of work has led to him having the nickname of "Doctor Snot".


As mentioned before, I'll be referring to David Astle throughout as DA to avoid confusion about which David is which.


David and Kiao were pretty well matched, but Kiao risked a little more and ultimately that turned out to be unwise as he ended up with three invalid answers.  The oversight in the numbers (a miscalculated total) probably did not cost him anything, but the two letters rounds did.  David was safe after the last letters round, and when Kiao solved the conundrum first (the first losing contestant to do so in some while; the last time was in episode 12) the final score was 50 to 39 in David's favour -- the difference of 11 being exactly the amount that David scored due to Kiao's invalid words.

There were some difficult letter mixes today, although one of the rounds looked like it might finally produce a full monty (it's been a disappointing week on that front) but did not.  I mostly navigated them well, but missed one tricky maximum.  I solved the conundrum in decent time, however, and finished comfortably ahead.

Ep 34: David Jones, Arthur Barrs (August 23, 2012; originally aired September 16, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


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


David takes his place in the champion's seat tonight, and we learn that he has travelled widely over south-east Asia; he went there for a few months after university to postpone joining the real world.  Richard asks whether there were particular parts that David enjoyed more; David responds that he did enjoy the entire trip, but possibly the highlight was in Indonesia where he got to see orangutans in the wild.

Tonight's challenger is Arthur Barrs, described as a jack of all trades and master of many.  Some of his occupations include financial planning and being an air force pilot.  Arthur acquired a nickname during that latter job, and he relates the experience as follows.

I was sitting in the departure lounge at RAAF base, Richmond, with my pilots course buddies and a flight sergeant walks in.  He says, "I need an officer volunteer."  Everyone's just looking around, and he goes, "You" (pointing at me) and he gives me this briefcase.  He says, "I need you to take this to the other end" and he handcuffs it to my wrist.

Thereafter his mates all started calling him James Bond, or double-0.

(Aside: I'm not at all certain about the spelling of Arthur's surname; corrections welcomed.)


As mentioned yesterday, I'll be referring to David Astle throughout as DA to avoid confusion about which David is which.


Arthur found a very nice word to start with, but it wasn't nearly as long as David's choice.  He did get ground back in the next round, though, and then an easy numbers round led to shared points there.  Then David was too good for the rest of the game, scoring unanswered points in every round including the conundrum to take a comprehensive 64 to 17 win.

I just could not shake David this game; I picked up a small lead early on, but then gave it back.  We performed identically on the other five of the first seven rounds and then I managed to get ahead in the last numbers round.  (I think David must have run out of time, as he was clearly on the right track there.)  Once again David beat me to the conundrum, and that's the first time I've tied with a contestant this series.

Ep 33: Geoff Heard, David Jones (August 22, 2012; originally aired September 15, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


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


Geoff is back for his second night, and his first time in the champion's seat.  Richard mentions that Geoff enjoys playing golf and asks more about that.  Geoff says that golf has been a hobby of his for a number of years now; it started when he was around seven or eight and his father would pay him a dollar a round to caddy for him.  Eventually he decided that it was better to carry the bag around for himself instead of for his father.

Tonight's challenger is David Jones, a public servant who is originally from Britain and was awarded Australian citizenship in 2009 (just a year ago, at the time this was originally aired).  Richard asks about how the citizenship ceremony went, and David responds that there was a formal and an informal component to it.  The formal occasion involved being given a certificate, a gum leaf, and a soft toy koala (among other things); Richard interjects to express his belief that at one point people were given a tree, not just a leaf, and David jests that clearly times are hard.  The informal part of the evening involved an apparently time-honoured tradition of pouring beer over his head.


A David contestant always makes things a little complicated to describe.  I'll be changing my usual policy of using surname initials and instead refer to David Astle as DA throughout (his standard identifier for crossword purposes).  It would probably have made my life easier if I had adopted this policy a while ago, but nevermind.


David found an excellent word to start, and continued in that vein to soon be 21 points ahead.  Geoff was not able to keep up with him on the letters, and the numbers were mostly unchallenging.  Geoff managed to gain back some ground in one of them, but it was not enough and David was safe going into the conundrum.  He solved it quickly to round out the win, 63 to 35.

I almost played a maximal game, but one round had a hard-to-find better option; it also eluded DA, which should give a measure of that difficulty.  The net result was that I was also safe going into the conundrum, and I needed that as a mental freeze left me a second or so off David's solving pace.  I just barely scraped home, and David is certainly a contestant to watch.

Ep 98 [SF1]: Andrew Fisher, David Jones (May 16, 2012; originally aired December 15, 20120)

Rounds: Here.


It's the first semifinal tonight, between first seed Andrew Fisher and third seed David Jones.  The pre-game chat is a little more revisiting of prior achievements on the show, but nothing particularly noteworthy.  Once again I will be using surname initials to distinguish the two Davids.


It could have been a very close game, but the damage was done early.  Andrew found two longer words to start with in fairly difficult mixes.  Then David J was not able to get within range in the first numbers round, conceding seven more points to Andrew who then had a 19 point lead.  The rest of the main rounds they were evenly matched on -- although Andrew only just got down his answer for round four -- and David J missed his chance in the final numbers round, matching Andrew's one-away answer to give Andrew the win.  The conundrum was tough again, and David J solved it first -- possibly the only contestant to beat Andrew to a conundrum solution -- but Andrew still won by 57 points to 48.

I started off quite well, matching Andrew in those two tough letters rounds.  Then I had a complete meltdown in round 3; there is a fairly easy one-away but I got tangled up trying to reach the target exactly and did not get it down.  In the end that round was the difference between victory and defeat, and I'm quite disappointed to have blown this on a numbers round like that.  As usual, the conundrum was too hard for me also, and in the end I was defeated by both contestants.

Ep 96 [QF3]: David Jones, Kashi Ross (May 14, 2012; originally aired December 13, 2010)

Rounds: Here.


We're back after the weekend with the third quarterfinal from series one; the box giving the original airdate is back, but they've got the correct date this time.  So that's good.

In the champion's position is third seed David Jones, a public servant who successfully retired undefeated during the main part of the series.  Richard asks about David's memories of his earlier games, and in particular the first one.  David says that in the very first round he saw an eight-letter word just before the clock finished and that was enough to settle him down.

Taking up the challenger's seat as sixth seed is teacher Kashi Ross.  Kashi was carryover champion for five episodes, so it sounds like she lost the sixth game.  Richard asks about her memories too, and it seems that they were mostly of the errors that she made (using letters or numbers twice, etc.).


Both contestants found some good words, and honours were even from the letters rounds.  But Kashi seemed to be particularly weak on the numbers, not managing to get close to some very achievable targets.  That let David get a seventeen point lead that he carried into the conundrum; neither could solve it, and so David won 54 to 37.  He will be back on Wednesday to face Andrew in the quarterfinal.

I started off with a very bad effort in the first round; that put me on the back foot, and easy numbers rounds made catching up difficult.  David faltered in the fourth round to let me equalise, and I managed to outdo him on a numbers round to get ten points ahead.  That was where things stood at the conundrum which raised the possibility of a tie, but with no-one solving it -- it was too hard for me to get within time also -- I scraped home with that ten-point win.


With two David's to worry about the potential for confusion arises, so I'll be using surname initials to clarify.