Rounds: Here.
This is Nick Carr's third night, and Richard mentions that Nick is used to being in a TV studio. Nick agrees, stating that he was lucky enough to "dabble in a bit of television" a few years back. He goes on to explain that he was doing medical stories on the ABC with George Negus; they used to give good health information about stories on subjects like asthma and diabetes. Nick would talk to people "out in the fields" and sometimes he would also be the expert on the couch there in the studio with George.
Tonight's challenger is Robert Jackson, a musician and composer who plays guitar and saxophone; he is also a painter and an actor. Richard asks about these many facets, and Robert responds that you get a lot of time to practise different things over the years. He says that he is mostly a musician, and has come to acting "through the back door" -- doing theatre shows and getting a small part here and there, and then one thing led to another.
It might not have seemed it towards the end, but this was a fairly close game. It turns out that the damage was done in the first round, where Nick stretched too far and ended up with an invalid word. The numbers went a bit each way but slightly in Robert's favour; Robert also managed to pick up quite a few useful points in the letters, albeit with a slightly risky play in one round. Nick ended up solving the conundrum quickly again, but Robert had the win, 50 to 39.
I could have had an optimal game here if I had been a bit faster. As it was, I overlooked two better options until after time. They were findable; I think this was just the effects of some recent sleep deprivation kicking in. The numbers were a pretty bland bunch today so it was all about the letters, and I was pleased to find some good answers. Coupled with a fast conundrum solution this pushed my score up into the seventies again at last.
Showing posts with label Nick Carr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Carr. Show all posts
Friday, 2 November 2012
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Ep 83: Nick Carr, Christine Hodges (October 31, 2012; originally aired November 24, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
Nick Carr takes his place in the champion's seat tonight, having done well to beat Christopher Weldon yesterday with a couple of good conundrum solutions. Richard reveals that Christopher is a fanatical player of real tennis, which Nick clarifies is what used to be called "royal tennis" -- the original game of tennis. (As opposed to "lawn tennis", which is what most people would think of when tennis is mentioned.) He calls it "the Henry VIII game" and adds that it was -- and still is -- played in Hampton Court. Nick plays it several times a week; whenever he can, really.
Tonight's challenger is Christine Hodges, who is enjoying her retirement after twenty-seven years of teaching French and Japanese. Richard asks if she is fluent in both, and Christine responds that she is not as fluent as she was (due to the retirement) but travel is a great way to keep the fluency up.
Nick took an early lead in the first round, and then extended it in the third round when Christine bobbled with an invalid answer. She had another invalid option in the fourth round but Nick's word was better in any case; that put him more than twenty points ahead. Nick pushed the lead out past thirty with the second numbers round, and with no full monty available in the last letters round that ensured his victory. Christine rallied a bit in the last two main rounds to cut back the deficit, but the damage was done. Nick buzzed in late on the conundrum with an invalid answer, but Christine was not able to solve it in the remaining time and the final scoreline was 44 to 26 in Nick's favour.
I had a somewhat poor game tonight, starting off with a pair of invalid words. The second I thought was unlikely, but the first took me completely by surprise. I was able to claw back some ground in two of the numbers rounds, but for the first time in over seven weeks I was not safe going into the conundrum (the last such occasion was over seven weeks ago in episode 47, the high-class confrontation between Esther Perrins and Sam Chow). Fortunately I had my quickest conundrum solution ever, at least by the clock; the first segment had only barely begun to light. I was rather relieved to get home safely after that start!
Nick Carr takes his place in the champion's seat tonight, having done well to beat Christopher Weldon yesterday with a couple of good conundrum solutions. Richard reveals that Christopher is a fanatical player of real tennis, which Nick clarifies is what used to be called "royal tennis" -- the original game of tennis. (As opposed to "lawn tennis", which is what most people would think of when tennis is mentioned.) He calls it "the Henry VIII game" and adds that it was -- and still is -- played in Hampton Court. Nick plays it several times a week; whenever he can, really.
Tonight's challenger is Christine Hodges, who is enjoying her retirement after twenty-seven years of teaching French and Japanese. Richard asks if she is fluent in both, and Christine responds that she is not as fluent as she was (due to the retirement) but travel is a great way to keep the fluency up.
Nick took an early lead in the first round, and then extended it in the third round when Christine bobbled with an invalid answer. She had another invalid option in the fourth round but Nick's word was better in any case; that put him more than twenty points ahead. Nick pushed the lead out past thirty with the second numbers round, and with no full monty available in the last letters round that ensured his victory. Christine rallied a bit in the last two main rounds to cut back the deficit, but the damage was done. Nick buzzed in late on the conundrum with an invalid answer, but Christine was not able to solve it in the remaining time and the final scoreline was 44 to 26 in Nick's favour.
I had a somewhat poor game tonight, starting off with a pair of invalid words. The second I thought was unlikely, but the first took me completely by surprise. I was able to claw back some ground in two of the numbers rounds, but for the first time in over seven weeks I was not safe going into the conundrum (the last such occasion was over seven weeks ago in episode 47, the high-class confrontation between Esther Perrins and Sam Chow). Fortunately I had my quickest conundrum solution ever, at least by the clock; the first segment had only barely begun to light. I was rather relieved to get home safely after that start!
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Ep 82: Christopher Weldon, Nick Carr (October 30, 2012; originally aired November 23, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
This is Christopher Weldon's fourth night, and a win here will put him in good position to move into the finals rankings. Richard talks about Christopher's so-far impressive conundrum speed and jokingly suggests that Christopher's typing speed may be a contributing factor. Christopher plays up to it well, saying that maybe his typing speed is increased exponentially by having only one button to focus on.
Tonight's challenger is Nick Carr, a GP who does regular radio and TV segments. Nick says that David's crosswords are both the highlight and the lowlight of his weekends. He adds that he used to enjoy his weekends, sitting back and reading the papers. Now he sits there scratching his head over David's crosswords all weekend; he doesn't get to read anything any more. But of course, when he does manage to get one out it is all the sweeter for the difficulty.
It was a close game tonight, one that kept us guessing up until the end. Christopher started off promisingly with points in the first round, then several shared rounds followed. (Nick overlooked a simple modification of his first numbers game that would have given him points there, mind you.) Then Nick found an excellent word to claim the lead, only for Christopher to take it right back again in the next numbers round. Nick was unlucky that his attempt for the last letters round was not valid, and the result of all this was that Christopher was ahead by precisely ten points going into the conundrum. It looked like time would expire without it being solved, but with less than two seconds left Nick found the answer and took the game to a tiebreaker conundrum. He ended up solving that, too, somewhat more quickly, and took a deserved 54 to 44 victory.
I played reasonably well, just dropping the one letters maximum in the main rounds. Some of my numbers solutions were a bit overcomplicated, but they got the job done and that is what counts. David had found that maximum that I missed, but then I found a longer word in the tough final letters round, and the chance to tie was still available. Unfortunately, that first conundrum was too hard for me; I solved the second one rather quickly but the damage was done and the tie slipped away. Still, some nice words on offer tonight and a good game despite the conundrum woes.
This is Christopher Weldon's fourth night, and a win here will put him in good position to move into the finals rankings. Richard talks about Christopher's so-far impressive conundrum speed and jokingly suggests that Christopher's typing speed may be a contributing factor. Christopher plays up to it well, saying that maybe his typing speed is increased exponentially by having only one button to focus on.
Tonight's challenger is Nick Carr, a GP who does regular radio and TV segments. Nick says that David's crosswords are both the highlight and the lowlight of his weekends. He adds that he used to enjoy his weekends, sitting back and reading the papers. Now he sits there scratching his head over David's crosswords all weekend; he doesn't get to read anything any more. But of course, when he does manage to get one out it is all the sweeter for the difficulty.
It was a close game tonight, one that kept us guessing up until the end. Christopher started off promisingly with points in the first round, then several shared rounds followed. (Nick overlooked a simple modification of his first numbers game that would have given him points there, mind you.) Then Nick found an excellent word to claim the lead, only for Christopher to take it right back again in the next numbers round. Nick was unlucky that his attempt for the last letters round was not valid, and the result of all this was that Christopher was ahead by precisely ten points going into the conundrum. It looked like time would expire without it being solved, but with less than two seconds left Nick found the answer and took the game to a tiebreaker conundrum. He ended up solving that, too, somewhat more quickly, and took a deserved 54 to 44 victory.
I played reasonably well, just dropping the one letters maximum in the main rounds. Some of my numbers solutions were a bit overcomplicated, but they got the job done and that is what counts. David had found that maximum that I missed, but then I found a longer word in the tough final letters round, and the chance to tie was still available. Unfortunately, that first conundrum was too hard for me; I solved the second one rather quickly but the damage was done and the tie slipped away. Still, some nice words on offer tonight and a good game despite the conundrum woes.
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