Rounds: Here.
This quarterfinal pitches Sam Gaffney (series 4 champion) against Jeremy Schiftan, the runner-up from series 3. Since his last appearance, Jeremy has graduated from his arts degree with a linguistics major. That makes David happy, of course.
The contestants ended up mostly matched on the letters, although Sam did have the better of one round. But his superior numberwork told, and just like in his grand final he knew that he was safe once he solved the final numbers round. The conundrum eluded both contestants, and Sam got through to the next round with a 62 to 35 victory.
I had a mixed effort tonight; I had several optimal answers, but two invalid rounds cost me dearly. I was fortunate to still be a point ahead going into the conundrum after that, but happily was able to solve the conundrum in decent time to escape with the win.
Showing posts with label Jeremy Schiftan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeremy Schiftan. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Ep 300 [GF]: Jacob Davey, Jeremy Schiftan (June 7, 2012; originally aired October 21, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall much of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor. Two rounds were firmly fixed in my memory; I don't feel guilty about claiming them since I found the optimal results on those rounds the first time that I watched this episode.
So we come to the grand final of series three, and -- spoiler alert -- it is one of the most remarkable games I've ever watched. So much so that when I was attending the filming of my episodes a couple of weeks later it was still being talked about by the cast and crew. If you've not seen the episode you may wish to skip the spoilery summary below and go straight to the round-by-round descriptions. It will still be here when you've finished.
As expected, there is not much to the pre-game chat, other than the contestants revealing how nervous they are. It is mentioned again that there have been 99 full monties found already, so the potential is for the show's hundredth full monty to be found in this grand final.
The game started off quietly enough, with sevens to settle into things. Jeremy gained an early lead in the second round, and extended it in the third when Jacob's choice of the balanced mix provided a very challenging target. The contestants found identical results in the next two letters rounds, and once again Jeremy took the points in the second numbers round. That put him a massive 27 points ahead at the second break and things looked very bleak for Jacob.
After the break, Jacob needed to outpoint Jeremy on his letters round to even have a chance. He saw the potential for a full monty from the first eight letters, played for it, and got it. Jeremy missed it, and that narrowed the margin to just 9 points. Jacob still needed to at least match Jeremy on the last numbers round, something he had so far failed to do. But this time the target proved too difficult for Jeremy, and Jacob did well to solve it and take a single point lead going into the conundrum. As expected from a grand final conundrum, it was a difficult one. But Jacob saw his way through to the answer before the halfway mark, completing a mammoth comeback for a 60 to 49 win.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall much of it I cannot rule out memory being a factor. Two rounds were firmly fixed in my memory; I don't feel guilty about claiming them since I found the optimal results on those rounds the first time that I watched this episode.
So we come to the grand final of series three, and -- spoiler alert -- it is one of the most remarkable games I've ever watched. So much so that when I was attending the filming of my episodes a couple of weeks later it was still being talked about by the cast and crew. If you've not seen the episode you may wish to skip the spoilery summary below and go straight to the round-by-round descriptions. It will still be here when you've finished.
As expected, there is not much to the pre-game chat, other than the contestants revealing how nervous they are. It is mentioned again that there have been 99 full monties found already, so the potential is for the show's hundredth full monty to be found in this grand final.
The game started off quietly enough, with sevens to settle into things. Jeremy gained an early lead in the second round, and extended it in the third when Jacob's choice of the balanced mix provided a very challenging target. The contestants found identical results in the next two letters rounds, and once again Jeremy took the points in the second numbers round. That put him a massive 27 points ahead at the second break and things looked very bleak for Jacob.
After the break, Jacob needed to outpoint Jeremy on his letters round to even have a chance. He saw the potential for a full monty from the first eight letters, played for it, and got it. Jeremy missed it, and that narrowed the margin to just 9 points. Jacob still needed to at least match Jeremy on the last numbers round, something he had so far failed to do. But this time the target proved too difficult for Jeremy, and Jacob did well to solve it and take a single point lead going into the conundrum. As expected from a grand final conundrum, it was a difficult one. But Jacob saw his way through to the answer before the halfway mark, completing a mammoth comeback for a 60 to 49 win.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Ep 299 [SF2]: Colin Turnball, Jeremy Schiftan (June 6, 2012; originally aired October 20, 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.
There's another minor snippet revealed in the pre-game chat: Jeremy is still playing dub/reggae (presumably this was discussed during his episodes in the main part of the series), and in the last week or two has actually been in the recording studio "laying down tracks", as Richard puts it.
Another very close game tonight, but a big contrast to yesterday's game -- most rounds produced different results from each contestant, and the lead kept shifting back and forth. Jeremy got first blood in the initial letters round, only for Colin to overtake him in the first numbers round. Colin was unfortunate in the next round when his word was not listed in the Macquarie, and Jeremy had the lead again. But once more Colin's numberwork put him back into the lead, and then Jeremy tied up the scores in the next round. Jeremy was one crucial step closer to the target number in the last numbers round and took a seven point lead into the conundrum. Either could have won it, but in the end it proved too difficult for both; Jeremy squeaked through to the final with a 40 to 33 win.
I had good results -- nearly optimal, in fact -- including outdoing David in one round. But an oversight in one of the numbers rounds lost me my chance to beat the David and Lily combination, and I was kicking myself for a while over that. I did solve the conundrum a touch over halfway through, and rounded out what turned out to be a comfortable win. I suspect I may not have won this the first time it aired, though -- some of my answers were definitely the result of improvements to my play.
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.
There's another minor snippet revealed in the pre-game chat: Jeremy is still playing dub/reggae (presumably this was discussed during his episodes in the main part of the series), and in the last week or two has actually been in the recording studio "laying down tracks", as Richard puts it.
Another very close game tonight, but a big contrast to yesterday's game -- most rounds produced different results from each contestant, and the lead kept shifting back and forth. Jeremy got first blood in the initial letters round, only for Colin to overtake him in the first numbers round. Colin was unfortunate in the next round when his word was not listed in the Macquarie, and Jeremy had the lead again. But once more Colin's numberwork put him back into the lead, and then Jeremy tied up the scores in the next round. Jeremy was one crucial step closer to the target number in the last numbers round and took a seven point lead into the conundrum. Either could have won it, but in the end it proved too difficult for both; Jeremy squeaked through to the final with a 40 to 33 win.
I had good results -- nearly optimal, in fact -- including outdoing David in one round. But an oversight in one of the numbers rounds lost me my chance to beat the David and Lily combination, and I was kicking myself for a while over that. I did solve the conundrum a touch over halfway through, and rounded out what turned out to be a comfortable win. I suspect I may not have won this the first time it aired, though -- some of my answers were definitely the result of improvements to my play.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Ep 297 [QF4]: Jeremy Schiftan, Brydon Coverdale (June 4, 2012; originally aired October 18, 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.
In this last quarterfinal we finally get to learn some new things about the contestants, at least of a sort. It does make a nice change from the recital of their previous performances on the show.
In the champion's seat is fourth seed Jeremy Schiftan, a student and musician. Since his time on the show, Jeremy has been travelling around Europe. His highlights were the sunshine in Spain, and Ghent in Belgium; he has friends in Ghent that he met in previous travels through Europe.
In the challenger's position is fifth seed Brydon Coverdale, a cricket journalist. Richard notes that (when this episode originally aired) the summer of cricket is about to get underway. Brydon agrees, and says that he is about to go to South Africa to cover the Australian tour there, and that he thinks Capetown has just about the most beautiful cricket ground in the world. (I'll make an aside here that the Australian cricket tour of South Africa started about a week before this episode first aired, but the point of filming was around two months prior.)
It was a tight game for much of it, with the contestants equal at the first break. Jeremy scooted ahead in the second third, courtesy of a longer word and a solution to the numbers round. The last letters game could have turned that on its head but produced no swing, and Brydon needed to outdo Jeremy on the final numbers game to have a chance. He managed to do so, and set up a potential double conundrum round by going into it precisely ten points behind Jeremy. But neither was able to solve the conundrum, and Jeremy made his way into the semifinals (to face Colin) with a 51 to 41 victory.
I was in decent shape, but missed a couple of trickier longer words along the way. And then the final letters round I missed an answer I should have seen, which took the gloss off things a little. I solved the conundrum reasonably early, and ended up an easy victor in the end.
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.
In this last quarterfinal we finally get to learn some new things about the contestants, at least of a sort. It does make a nice change from the recital of their previous performances on the show.
In the champion's seat is fourth seed Jeremy Schiftan, a student and musician. Since his time on the show, Jeremy has been travelling around Europe. His highlights were the sunshine in Spain, and Ghent in Belgium; he has friends in Ghent that he met in previous travels through Europe.
In the challenger's position is fifth seed Brydon Coverdale, a cricket journalist. Richard notes that (when this episode originally aired) the summer of cricket is about to get underway. Brydon agrees, and says that he is about to go to South Africa to cover the Australian tour there, and that he thinks Capetown has just about the most beautiful cricket ground in the world. (I'll make an aside here that the Australian cricket tour of South Africa started about a week before this episode first aired, but the point of filming was around two months prior.)
It was a tight game for much of it, with the contestants equal at the first break. Jeremy scooted ahead in the second third, courtesy of a longer word and a solution to the numbers round. The last letters game could have turned that on its head but produced no swing, and Brydon needed to outdo Jeremy on the final numbers game to have a chance. He managed to do so, and set up a potential double conundrum round by going into it precisely ten points behind Jeremy. But neither was able to solve the conundrum, and Jeremy made his way into the semifinals (to face Colin) with a 51 to 41 victory.
I was in decent shape, but missed a couple of trickier longer words along the way. And then the final letters round I missed an answer I should have seen, which took the gloss off things a little. I solved the conundrum reasonably early, and ended up an easy victor in the end.
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