Not that anyone reading this needs the reminder, but it's still very much meaningful to vote and comment at http://lanfans.org/ if you want SBS to resume producing Letters and Numbers.
Rounds: Here.
Two very worthy contestants in tonight's grand final, but of course so were all of the contestants in the Masters Series. Because of the way the seedings work, although Matthew started out as a lower seed than Sam he will be taking the champion's position; that is because the bracket he was in included the number one seed Andrew Fisher.
Matthew got to this point by beating Tony Loui 65 to 50 in an effective rematch of the series two grand final, and then beating Toby Baldwin 63 to 47 in his semifinal. Both matches came down to the conundrum, which Matthew solved in 2.5s and 2s respectively. Along the way he has found some great words in tough mixes, including EPISTLES, PANELED, and TOUCHÉ. He has struggled a bit when the numbers are tough, although he has been perhaps a bit fortunate that four of the six numbers rounds he has faced so far were very easy.
Sam started off with a sound 62 to 35 victory over Jeremy Schiftan, the largest winning margin of the Masters Series (and one of only two games in which the result was decided before the conundrum). It is also the only match of the Masters Series so far where the conundrum was not solved, incidentally. He then had a very tough game against the formidable Naween Fernando, which he won 54 to 39 thanks to a massive last section comeback and a one second conundrum solution.
Sam has been a bit out of touch with the words so far this series, at least compared to the form I've come to expect from him (which is understandable, as he's gotten better since then, just like I have since my time on the show); that said, his find of HISTONE in the last letters round against Naween was excellent. Sam has excelled in the numbers, just missing out once so far with a one-away solution on a target that was also too tough for Lily to solve within time.
So it's a contrast in abilities, with the letters currently favouring Matthew but the numbers being all Sam. And this time Sam is in the challenger's seat, where he would much prefer to be; that gives him two selections on the numbers, and you can bet he will continue to go for the heavyweight mix that has served him so well. It's likely to come down to the conundrum, and with the contestants being so fast, anyone could win it.
Of course, I'm about to spoil the result. *chuckles* Do feel free to skip this section.
The match started easily enough with a shared seven, but Matthew scooted ahead in the second round when Sam's risky play turned out to be invalid. The first numbers round was too easy to provide a challenge for anyone, and then Matthew stretched his lead with another good find in the letters. That was danger territory for Sam, but the remaining letters rounds were shared and his number mixes saw him get ahead at last. Sam took a precious three point lead into the conundrum, but he buzzed in early with an invalid answer to give Matthew a chance. Matthew was not able to capitalise on that mistake after all, and Sam scraped home with a 46 to 43 victory to become the grandest of the show's champions.
It feels a bit anticlimactic to talk about my results, but I mostly kept track with Matthew. My words were decent (as were his), but Sam's superior play in the heavyweight mixes told and I had to get the conundrum. I was ultimately too slow to do so, and so finished with a 3-4 record on the series.
Showing posts with label Sam Gaffney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Gaffney. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Ep 449 [M1] [SF2]: Sam Gaffney, Naween Fernando (June 26, 2012)
I'm still plugging http://lanfans.org/ of course -- if you've not voted, please head over there and register your support for the show. So far it has attracted a very nice amount of attention, but it could always use more.
Rounds: Here.
The second semifinal is tonight, to determine who will go up against Matthew Thomason in the grand final. It promises to be a tough match, with Sam Gaffney exceptional on the numbers and Naween Fernando unlikely to be beaten on the letters. With all due respect to Matthew, I expect that the winner of this match will win the series. It's letters vs. numbers, and I can tell you that it is a cracking match. If for some reason you read these recaps without watching the show first, skip the next bit where I summarise and skip to the round-by-round breakdown. Better yet, go and watch the show.
The show started out ominously for Sam as Naween found the longer word in the first round. The next round gave him a chance to settle his nerves with the best result not too challenging, but his only chance to choose the numbers turned out to be too easy. That would have been very worrying, and Naween continued his good play to forge ahead in the next two letters rounds. That put Sam 22 points behind, meaning that even if he got best results from the numbers he was going to need the conundrum in order to win.
Naween was in control of those numbers, and aimed for the easier options. But fortune smiled on Sam in both of them, as they were more challenging than they might have seemed and he was able to get those crucial points. Naween faltered in the last letters round as his extensive vocabulary proved a drawback, and Sam was actually ahead going into the conundrum; that was certainly not looking likely at the halfway point! But victory would still go to whoever solved the conundrum, and both players had been amazingly fast on them throughout. Indeed, with only a second in the clock one of them buzzed in for the win... it was Sam, no doubt very relieved to get into the final with a 54 to 39 victory.
I played much like Naween, as it turns out. My letters results were at least his equal, although on the last letters round only because his choice was invalid. I had some difficulty with the final two numbers rounds, ending up one away each time. I feel that I should have solved them, mind you, but I overlooked a couple of options. I still had a chance at the conundrum, but for the fourth game in a row a contestant's buzzer sounded just as I paused -- I really am getting sick of that! So that's three wins and three losses for me in this Masters series; one chance left to swing the balance...
Rounds: Here.
The second semifinal is tonight, to determine who will go up against Matthew Thomason in the grand final. It promises to be a tough match, with Sam Gaffney exceptional on the numbers and Naween Fernando unlikely to be beaten on the letters. With all due respect to Matthew, I expect that the winner of this match will win the series. It's letters vs. numbers, and I can tell you that it is a cracking match. If for some reason you read these recaps without watching the show first, skip the next bit where I summarise and skip to the round-by-round breakdown. Better yet, go and watch the show.
The show started out ominously for Sam as Naween found the longer word in the first round. The next round gave him a chance to settle his nerves with the best result not too challenging, but his only chance to choose the numbers turned out to be too easy. That would have been very worrying, and Naween continued his good play to forge ahead in the next two letters rounds. That put Sam 22 points behind, meaning that even if he got best results from the numbers he was going to need the conundrum in order to win.
Naween was in control of those numbers, and aimed for the easier options. But fortune smiled on Sam in both of them, as they were more challenging than they might have seemed and he was able to get those crucial points. Naween faltered in the last letters round as his extensive vocabulary proved a drawback, and Sam was actually ahead going into the conundrum; that was certainly not looking likely at the halfway point! But victory would still go to whoever solved the conundrum, and both players had been amazingly fast on them throughout. Indeed, with only a second in the clock one of them buzzed in for the win... it was Sam, no doubt very relieved to get into the final with a 54 to 39 victory.
I played much like Naween, as it turns out. My letters results were at least his equal, although on the last letters round only because his choice was invalid. I had some difficulty with the final two numbers rounds, ending up one away each time. I feel that I should have solved them, mind you, but I overlooked a couple of options. I still had a chance at the conundrum, but for the fourth game in a row a contestant's buzzer sounded just as I paused -- I really am getting sick of that! So that's three wins and three losses for me in this Masters series; one chance left to swing the balance...
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Ep 445 [M1] [QF2]: Sam Gaffney, Jeremy Schiftan (June 20, 2012)
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.
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.
Monday, 12 March 2012
My tussles with Sam
Regular readers of this blog -- I've been led to believe that such exist -- will have noticed that Sam Gaffney has been kind enough to post comments with his performance on the games, and various other snippets. It has been natural enough to compare results between us.
Sam was the only contestant to defeat me during the main part of the series (while I was playing from home, that is; obviously I lost against Brett while playing in the studio). Of the nine televised games that Sam has played, in the head-to-head comparison I have won five and Sam has won four. Close, and the aggregate scores are also pretty close (throughout this post, two values separated by a slash will comprise head-to-head score on the left and the corresponding solo score on the right):
Obviously a mere nine games with that degree of closeness can hardly be conclusive. Sam and I have been using the other games to stage a series of virtual matches between us, and it certainly serves as evidence for the suggestion that any single game is somewhat of a lottery. Below are some statistics arising from these games (episodes 348 to 390, since he was present at the filming of episodes outside that range).
(As a minor point of scoring: Sometimes we have been unable to tell who solved a conundrum first, usually with single-second solves. As a matter of expediency I have scored these as five points for each of us. Also, only the first conundrum is used for scoring even if a second was available; my recollection is that this costs Sam a little, but our games were not tied at that point so it is appropriate.)
Firstly, the games won:
That's a pretty compelling advantage to Sam, but let's look at the aggregates and averages. Averages are per-game for the "All" column, and per-round for the others.
My average solo game was a bit under a point less than Sam's, but that expanded to approximately a point and a half of difference in the head-to-head comparison. The individual round scores conform pretty much with expectations also: A slight average advantage to me on the letters, and more noticeable advantages to Sam on the other rounds, particularly the conundrum where Sam's greater solving speed is a factor.
There's something not apparent from the above, but which shows up clearly in the results organised by time: The three weeks leading up to the finals showed a marked shift in advantage to Sam. This time also corresponds to environmental changes for each of us: Sam had been away on holidays and was actually playing two episodes a night in order to catch up; and I was undergoing a period of disrupted sleep patterns. It is not at all clear if those factors effected results, or to what extent, but I certainly felt off my game for much of that period. There's a third factor as well, which I'll get to later.
So here are the same statistics again, but split into those two ranges: First the 28 episodes from 348 to 375, and then the 15 episodes from 376 to 390.
Games won (episodes 348 to 375 first, then episodes 376 to 390):
The shift occasioned by those three weeks is clear. (I want to stress that I did not cherry-pick those three weeks as the best splitting point, although they are close -- one game afterward would have made the difference more extreme -- but they do correspond to those external shifts as stated.) Here's the breakdown for the first period:
As can be seen, up until that point I was close to even (and actually slightly ahead on head-to-head aggregate, although just behind on solo aggregate). And here is the breakdown for those three weeks:
If we just look at my solo performance, then the situation seems rosy; I've gained not quite two points a game, and my numbers performance is significantly better, my letters and conundrum marginally so.
But looking at Sam's statistics shows that things have gone much better for him. Sam gained a bit over four points on solo game score, which translated into almost eight points in the head-to-head situation. His solo letters are almost a point better which stretched to a point and a half in the head-to-head comparison, and almost all of his gain can be attributed to that. Is this the benefits of the vacation, or perhaps of playing multiple games a day?
I think that some light can be shed on it by going back to a suggestion that Victor made in the comments to an earlier post about the finalists. The idea is to look at the number of "maximums" for each player -- times where they got the best possible result in a round. For the finalists there just was not enough data to be useful, but in this case we are starting to get there. A conundrum maximum is just a solution, and statistics for it can be found in the tables above. For the other rounds:
Note the very large drop in my average letters maximums -- over 20%. While Sam's maximum percentage also dropped a little, it was by nowhere near as much. This suggests that -- with all due respect to Sam's play -- the results are more reflective of a drop in my performance than a gain in his.
The as-yet-unmentioned but significant factor here is that those three weeks also happened to be extremely rich in full monties. There were 14 potential ones in that time, or almost one a game (although they were clustered rather more strongly). I had a particularly rough time with these; I found two of them, found a third but was unsure and did not risk it, found four (!) others either just as time was running out or just afterwards, and had another which would have been ruled invalid (DUALITIES). In that time I found just two full monties to Sam's five, a reversal of the earlier section which went five-two the other way.
Is this indicative that I struggle with full monties? Possibly yes -- certainly I'm not happy about my percentage of finding them within time. But it might be more accurate to say that the large numbers of them increased the effects of my poor performance during that period.
Is this all me making excuses? Perhaps! Make of it what you will. When all's said and done, Sam has gone away from these games 9 games ahead, a strong indicator of his level of performance. But I hope to do somewhat better next series; I hope you'll join in.
Sam was the only contestant to defeat me during the main part of the series (while I was playing from home, that is; obviously I lost against Brett while playing in the studio). Of the nine televised games that Sam has played, in the head-to-head comparison I have won five and Sam has won four. Close, and the aggregate scores are also pretty close (throughout this post, two values separated by a slash will comprise head-to-head score on the left and the corresponding solo score on the right):
| Points | Average | |
|---|---|---|
| Me | 516 / 601 | 57.33 / 66.78 |
| Sam | 505 / 586 | 56.11 / 65.00 |
Obviously a mere nine games with that degree of closeness can hardly be conclusive. Sam and I have been using the other games to stage a series of virtual matches between us, and it certainly serves as evidence for the suggestion that any single game is somewhat of a lottery. Below are some statistics arising from these games (episodes 348 to 390, since he was present at the filming of episodes outside that range).
(As a minor point of scoring: Sometimes we have been unable to tell who solved a conundrum first, usually with single-second solves. As a matter of expediency I have scored these as five points for each of us. Also, only the first conundrum is used for scoring even if a second was available; my recollection is that this costs Sam a little, but our games were not tied at that point so it is appropriate.)
Firstly, the games won:
| Me | 16 |
|---|---|
| Sam | 25 |
| Tied | 2 |
That's a pretty compelling advantage to Sam, but let's look at the aggregates and averages. Averages are per-game for the "All" column, and per-round for the others.
| All | L | N | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 2574 / 3032 | 1361 / 1547 | 1058 / 1175 | 155 / 310 |
| 59.86 / 70.51 | 6.33 / 7.20 | 8.20 / 9.11 | 3.60 / 7.21 | |
| Sam | 2639 / 3070 | 1286 / 1525 | 1148 / 1205 | 205 / 340 |
| 61.37 / 71.40 | 5.98 / 7.09 | 8.90 / 9.34 | 4.77 / 7.91 |
My average solo game was a bit under a point less than Sam's, but that expanded to approximately a point and a half of difference in the head-to-head comparison. The individual round scores conform pretty much with expectations also: A slight average advantage to me on the letters, and more noticeable advantages to Sam on the other rounds, particularly the conundrum where Sam's greater solving speed is a factor.
There's something not apparent from the above, but which shows up clearly in the results organised by time: The three weeks leading up to the finals showed a marked shift in advantage to Sam. This time also corresponds to environmental changes for each of us: Sam had been away on holidays and was actually playing two episodes a night in order to catch up; and I was undergoing a period of disrupted sleep patterns. It is not at all clear if those factors effected results, or to what extent, but I certainly felt off my game for much of that period. There's a third factor as well, which I'll get to later.
So here are the same statistics again, but split into those two ranges: First the 28 episodes from 348 to 375, and then the 15 episodes from 376 to 390.
Games won (episodes 348 to 375 first, then episodes 376 to 390):
| Me | 12 | 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Sam | 14 | 11 |
| Tied | 2 | 0 |
The shift occasioned by those three weeks is clear. (I want to stress that I did not cherry-pick those three weeks as the best splitting point, although they are close -- one game afterward would have made the difference more extreme -- but they do correspond to those external shifts as stated.) Here's the breakdown for the first period:
| All | L | N | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 1655 / 1958 | 884 / 1003 | 666 / 755 | 105 / 200 |
| 59.11 / 69.93 | 6.31 / 7.16 | 7.93 / 8.99 | 3.75 / 7.14 | |
| Sam | 1643 / 1959 | 765 / 951 | 743 / 788 | 135 / 220 |
| 58.68 / 69.96 | 5.46 / 6.79 | 8.85 / 9.38 | 4.82 / 7.86 |
As can be seen, up until that point I was close to even (and actually slightly ahead on head-to-head aggregate, although just behind on solo aggregate). And here is the breakdown for those three weeks:
| All | L | N | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 919 / 1074 | 477 / 544 | 392 / 420 | 50 / 110 |
| 61.27 / 71.60 | 6.36 / 7.25 | 8.71 / 9.33 | 3.33 / 7.33 | |
| Sam | 996 / 1111 | 521 / 574 | 405 / 417 | 70 / 120 |
| 66.40 / 74.07 | 6.95 / 7.65 | 9.00 / 9.27 | 4.67 / 8.00 |
If we just look at my solo performance, then the situation seems rosy; I've gained not quite two points a game, and my numbers performance is significantly better, my letters and conundrum marginally so.
But looking at Sam's statistics shows that things have gone much better for him. Sam gained a bit over four points on solo game score, which translated into almost eight points in the head-to-head situation. His solo letters are almost a point better which stretched to a point and a half in the head-to-head comparison, and almost all of his gain can be attributed to that. Is this the benefits of the vacation, or perhaps of playing multiple games a day?
I think that some light can be shed on it by going back to a suggestion that Victor made in the comments to an earlier post about the finalists. The idea is to look at the number of "maximums" for each player -- times where they got the best possible result in a round. For the finalists there just was not enough data to be useful, but in this case we are starting to get there. A conundrum maximum is just a solution, and statistics for it can be found in the tables above. For the other rounds:
| Letters | Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: 348–375 | 72 | 2.57 | 64 | 2.29 |
| 376–390 | 30 | 2.00 | 35 | 2.33 |
| Sam: 348–375 | 65 | 2.32 | 70 | 2.50 |
| 376–390 | 33 | 2.20 | 37 | 2.47 |
Note the very large drop in my average letters maximums -- over 20%. While Sam's maximum percentage also dropped a little, it was by nowhere near as much. This suggests that -- with all due respect to Sam's play -- the results are more reflective of a drop in my performance than a gain in his.
The as-yet-unmentioned but significant factor here is that those three weeks also happened to be extremely rich in full monties. There were 14 potential ones in that time, or almost one a game (although they were clustered rather more strongly). I had a particularly rough time with these; I found two of them, found a third but was unsure and did not risk it, found four (!) others either just as time was running out or just afterwards, and had another which would have been ruled invalid (DUALITIES). In that time I found just two full monties to Sam's five, a reversal of the earlier section which went five-two the other way.
Is this indicative that I struggle with full monties? Possibly yes -- certainly I'm not happy about my percentage of finding them within time. But it might be more accurate to say that the large numbers of them increased the effects of my poor performance during that period.
Is this all me making excuses? Perhaps! Make of it what you will. When all's said and done, Sam has gone away from these games 9 games ahead, a strong indicator of his level of performance. But I hope to do somewhat better next series; I hope you'll join in.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Ep 400: [GF] Sam Gaffney, Alan Nash (March 9, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
It's been a week of close finals that could have easily gone either way, and tonight is another. Alan finds a good word in the first round to take an early lead, but Sam takes it right back in the next round with another good word (that admittedly he was not completely sure about). The next three rounds are matched, and that brings in Alan's number choices. He goes for a single large number and turns up a surprisingly difficult result, with the contestants ending up five and four away. Sam has the better of it to take the lead at last, and then Alan risks an invalid word in the next round to drop behind by more than a conundrum. Alan stakes all on the choice of six small, but both contestants are equal to it and the game is decided before the conundrum. For once Sam is beaten to it as Alan solves it just over five seconds in, and Sam has a narrow 55 to 51 win.
I had a bit of a wobbly time myself, but all of us were level at the end of the fifth round. I saw a better option on the next numbers round to get a lead, only to concede back that lead and more in the last numbers round where I got completely lost. But I saw the conundrum solution faster than Alan to snatch victory at the last, and finish the series on a high note. It's been a rollercoaster!
As usual, details after the jump.
It's been a week of close finals that could have easily gone either way, and tonight is another. Alan finds a good word in the first round to take an early lead, but Sam takes it right back in the next round with another good word (that admittedly he was not completely sure about). The next three rounds are matched, and that brings in Alan's number choices. He goes for a single large number and turns up a surprisingly difficult result, with the contestants ending up five and four away. Sam has the better of it to take the lead at last, and then Alan risks an invalid word in the next round to drop behind by more than a conundrum. Alan stakes all on the choice of six small, but both contestants are equal to it and the game is decided before the conundrum. For once Sam is beaten to it as Alan solves it just over five seconds in, and Sam has a narrow 55 to 51 win.
I had a bit of a wobbly time myself, but all of us were level at the end of the fifth round. I saw a better option on the next numbers round to get a lead, only to concede back that lead and more in the last numbers round where I got completely lost. But I saw the conundrum solution faster than Alan to snatch victory at the last, and finish the series on a high note. It's been a rollercoaster!
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Ep 398: [SF1] Sam Gaffney, Daniel Chua (March 7, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Whew, it's another great game. It's decided just a touch earlier, but it could easily have gone all the way down to the wire. Sam gets what proves to be a decisive 14 point lead from the first two letters rounds, and thereafter the contestants match each other all the way to the conundrum. Along the way Sam amazes everyone as he finally gets to demonstrate some of the intricacies that the four large mix can provide, and Daniel shows some great strategic thinking in the other two numbers rounds. The last one very nearly paid off, but not quite, and Sam was safe going into the conundrum. Once again he blitzed it, for a solid 72 to 48 win that was much closer than the scoreline would suggest.
I was fortunate to find the full monty in this game, and that was the eventual difference. I traded some letters results along the way and at the final numbers game was safe as long as Sam did not solve it (unless I did as well, of course). It proved too difficult for everyone except the ever-dazzling Lily, and that was game to me. For the third time this series I was only barely beaten to the conundrum, having paused the video before the buzzer went off but after Sam's name lit up. A close one!
As usual, details after the jump.
Whew, it's another great game. It's decided just a touch earlier, but it could easily have gone all the way down to the wire. Sam gets what proves to be a decisive 14 point lead from the first two letters rounds, and thereafter the contestants match each other all the way to the conundrum. Along the way Sam amazes everyone as he finally gets to demonstrate some of the intricacies that the four large mix can provide, and Daniel shows some great strategic thinking in the other two numbers rounds. The last one very nearly paid off, but not quite, and Sam was safe going into the conundrum. Once again he blitzed it, for a solid 72 to 48 win that was much closer than the scoreline would suggest.
I was fortunate to find the full monty in this game, and that was the eventual difference. I traded some letters results along the way and at the final numbers game was safe as long as Sam did not solve it (unless I did as well, of course). It proved too difficult for everyone except the ever-dazzling Lily, and that was game to me. For the third time this series I was only barely beaten to the conundrum, having paused the video before the buzzer went off but after Sam's name lit up. A close one!
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Ep 394: [QF1] Sam Gaffney, Sebastian Ham (March 1, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
The finals are underway at last! But there's something a little odd: Sam is playing Sebastian, rather than Roman. I've checked the scores several times, and there's no doubt that Sebastian should have been in seventh position. That's rather unfortunate for him, and fortunate for Roman who presumably needed a break after his recent games.
The early chat just rehashes some of the things we've learned about the contestants during their earlier episodes.
It's a very close match tonight, with the contestants matched on the letters rounds. Sam gets a lead due to a good result on his favourite four large mix, but the rest offers little scope for advancement. It comes down to the conundrum, and Sam blitzes it for an emphatic win, 70 to 53.
I essentially matched Sebastian throughout, although there were two bad misses that on another day I may well have got. I wasn't remotely close to solving the conundrum within the allotted time, and finished tied with Sebastian. Sam hands me another loss, as somewhat expected. Great game from both contestants!
As usual, details after the jump.
The finals are underway at last! But there's something a little odd: Sam is playing Sebastian, rather than Roman. I've checked the scores several times, and there's no doubt that Sebastian should have been in seventh position. That's rather unfortunate for him, and fortunate for Roman who presumably needed a break after his recent games.
The early chat just rehashes some of the things we've learned about the contestants during their earlier episodes.
It's a very close match tonight, with the contestants matched on the letters rounds. Sam gets a lead due to a good result on his favourite four large mix, but the rest offers little scope for advancement. It comes down to the conundrum, and Sam blitzes it for an emphatic win, 70 to 53.
I essentially matched Sebastian throughout, although there were two bad misses that on another day I may well have got. I wasn't remotely close to solving the conundrum within the allotted time, and finished tied with Sebastian. Sam hands me another loss, as somewhat expected. Great game from both contestants!
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Ep 346: Sam Gaffney, Cameron Profitt (December 26, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
On Sam's final night, it's remarked that it was his birthday during the break. Supposedly he promised to bring the hosts birthday cake but didn't, but they'll forgive him. (No such promise made it to air, I should add.)
(I'm assuming that Sam's birthday was on December 24th, rather than at the time of filming. There's a lot of maintenance of the pretence of live filming in this episode, as David and Richard back-and-forth about what they got for Christmas. It does seem a bit forced, to be honest.)
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Profitt, a GP working in "a small Victorian township". (Their surgery appears to have nine GPs for a little under 2500 people (as of the 2006 census, the population of Bannockburn was 2468); I don't know if that's an unusual ratio or not.) Richard asks what the attraction is of being a GP in a small country town; Cameron responds that he's been there for 20 years, and the main appeal is that you get to know people very well over that time, and their family and background. So when they present with a problem, you can take that knowledge into consideration when determining treatment.
Cameron just isn't able to get started in this game, with no answer for the first two numbers rounds and consistently outdone in the early letters rounds. Sam is uncatchable going into the second break, and ends up winning 55 to 15 to cap off an excellent performance in all six games. Easily the best contestant we've seen this series, and I look forward to his reappearance in the finals.
I was horribly patchy in this one, falling apart completely in the middle rounds. Fortunately (from my perspective) Sam had some difficulties also, and I was able to take a narrow lead into the conundrum. It proved elusive for Sam but not for me and so I levelled the game score in our informal competition at three games apiece... but six points ahead on aggregate. It goes to show how closely matched we are!
As usual, details after the jump.
On Sam's final night, it's remarked that it was his birthday during the break. Supposedly he promised to bring the hosts birthday cake but didn't, but they'll forgive him. (No such promise made it to air, I should add.)
(I'm assuming that Sam's birthday was on December 24th, rather than at the time of filming. There's a lot of maintenance of the pretence of live filming in this episode, as David and Richard back-and-forth about what they got for Christmas. It does seem a bit forced, to be honest.)
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Profitt, a GP working in "a small Victorian township". (Their surgery appears to have nine GPs for a little under 2500 people (as of the 2006 census, the population of Bannockburn was 2468); I don't know if that's an unusual ratio or not.) Richard asks what the attraction is of being a GP in a small country town; Cameron responds that he's been there for 20 years, and the main appeal is that you get to know people very well over that time, and their family and background. So when they present with a problem, you can take that knowledge into consideration when determining treatment.
Cameron just isn't able to get started in this game, with no answer for the first two numbers rounds and consistently outdone in the early letters rounds. Sam is uncatchable going into the second break, and ends up winning 55 to 15 to cap off an excellent performance in all six games. Easily the best contestant we've seen this series, and I look forward to his reappearance in the finals.
I was horribly patchy in this one, falling apart completely in the middle rounds. Fortunately (from my perspective) Sam had some difficulties also, and I was able to take a narrow lead into the conundrum. It proved elusive for Sam but not for me and so I levelled the game score in our informal competition at three games apiece... but six points ahead on aggregate. It goes to show how closely matched we are!
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Ep 345: Sam Gaffney, Andy Welland (December 23, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Richard asks Sam what sort of techniques he brings to the show -- is this a game five tradition? Sam notes that there are some tricks you can learn for his favourite number mix of four large and two small; I emphatically agree, and may write a post about it some day. With the main letter mixes there's not too much to be done, but with the conundrums it can sometimes be helpful to pick a letter and start with that. Given that when he does solve a conundrum he does so very quickly, it looks like that technique is working well for him.
Tonight's challenger is Andy Welland, a doctor of biochemistry who spent a year in Thailand teaching English. As Richard notes, Andy has quite a strong Scottish accent; Andy remarks that this did make the teaching somewhat of a learning experience for him. He first noticed how strong his accent was when he said something and it was repeated back to him in fifty Thai-Glaswegian accents.
Sam's in very good form today. There's a reach for a nine that isn't there, but aside from that he's just one letter short of optimal and with another very quick conundrum solution to boot. Andy is consistently behind in the lettes rounds and is unable to make any headway during the numbers, as Sam takes the game 64 to 20.
It continues to be very close between Sam and I; equal performances all the way, but he outdid me comprehensively on the conundrum and I've got my third loss. This puts my record against Sam as two from five, with just six points difference on aggregate. Hopefully I'll catch him tomorrow... if not, there's always the finals for revenge, as he must make them now.
As usual, details after the jump.
Richard asks Sam what sort of techniques he brings to the show -- is this a game five tradition? Sam notes that there are some tricks you can learn for his favourite number mix of four large and two small; I emphatically agree, and may write a post about it some day. With the main letter mixes there's not too much to be done, but with the conundrums it can sometimes be helpful to pick a letter and start with that. Given that when he does solve a conundrum he does so very quickly, it looks like that technique is working well for him.
Tonight's challenger is Andy Welland, a doctor of biochemistry who spent a year in Thailand teaching English. As Richard notes, Andy has quite a strong Scottish accent; Andy remarks that this did make the teaching somewhat of a learning experience for him. He first noticed how strong his accent was when he said something and it was repeated back to him in fifty Thai-Glaswegian accents.
Sam's in very good form today. There's a reach for a nine that isn't there, but aside from that he's just one letter short of optimal and with another very quick conundrum solution to boot. Andy is consistently behind in the lettes rounds and is unable to make any headway during the numbers, as Sam takes the game 64 to 20.
It continues to be very close between Sam and I; equal performances all the way, but he outdid me comprehensively on the conundrum and I've got my third loss. This puts my record against Sam as two from five, with just six points difference on aggregate. Hopefully I'll catch him tomorrow... if not, there's always the finals for revenge, as he must make them now.
As usual, details after the jump.
Friday, 23 December 2011
Ep 344: Sam Gaffney, Leanne Cox (December 22, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Richard reveals that Sam plays indoor cricket, and asks why the indoor version specifically. Sam lists a few of the advantages: It doesn't take very long; it never gets rained out; and you don't get sunburned playing it (which he asides is good for him, and as a similarly-complexioned person I can certainly relate to that). He plays it a couple of times a week; Richard asks if it has a different feel to the outdoor game. Sam notes a major difference that everyone gets to bat for four overs and bowl for two overs, so you don't get a duck and have to sit there watching everyone else for six hours. It's much more participatory, as Richard puts it.
Challenging Sam tonight is Leanne Cox, a secondary maths and physics teacher. (That's what Richard says, anyway... should that have been "secondary school"? She teaches at Frankston High School, at any rate.) Leanne has the rather unusual habit of counting letters in words, especially in long words; she admits that this makes reading books a particularly slow process. She's quite quick at it by now, and Richard opines somewhat optimistically that it may help her in the game. It's hard to see a direct connection, but such a habit will have made her pay more attention to words than most people, and that could plausibly make her more adept at manipulating them.
It's a close game tonight; Leanne gets the jump in the first round with a well-spotted eight, but Sam equalises in the next round. Assisted by easy numbers rounds, thereafter it is level-pegging all the way to the conundrum; neither solves it, and a second conundrum is required. Sam finds this one quickly, and is probably relieved to take the 67 to 57 victory. Leanne certainly had chances -- most notably in round 4 -- and may perhaps consider herself a little unlucky; a score of 57 would be enough to win most games.
I was in better form tonight, just missing that initial eight but otherwise doing as well as possible. That gave me a satisfactory winning margin, and puts my record against Sam at two games apiece.
As usual, details after the jump.
Richard reveals that Sam plays indoor cricket, and asks why the indoor version specifically. Sam lists a few of the advantages: It doesn't take very long; it never gets rained out; and you don't get sunburned playing it (which he asides is good for him, and as a similarly-complexioned person I can certainly relate to that). He plays it a couple of times a week; Richard asks if it has a different feel to the outdoor game. Sam notes a major difference that everyone gets to bat for four overs and bowl for two overs, so you don't get a duck and have to sit there watching everyone else for six hours. It's much more participatory, as Richard puts it.
Challenging Sam tonight is Leanne Cox, a secondary maths and physics teacher. (That's what Richard says, anyway... should that have been "secondary school"? She teaches at Frankston High School, at any rate.) Leanne has the rather unusual habit of counting letters in words, especially in long words; she admits that this makes reading books a particularly slow process. She's quite quick at it by now, and Richard opines somewhat optimistically that it may help her in the game. It's hard to see a direct connection, but such a habit will have made her pay more attention to words than most people, and that could plausibly make her more adept at manipulating them.
It's a close game tonight; Leanne gets the jump in the first round with a well-spotted eight, but Sam equalises in the next round. Assisted by easy numbers rounds, thereafter it is level-pegging all the way to the conundrum; neither solves it, and a second conundrum is required. Sam finds this one quickly, and is probably relieved to take the 67 to 57 victory. Leanne certainly had chances -- most notably in round 4 -- and may perhaps consider herself a little unlucky; a score of 57 would be enough to win most games.
I was in better form tonight, just missing that initial eight but otherwise doing as well as possible. That gave me a satisfactory winning margin, and puts my record against Sam at two games apiece.
As usual, details after the jump.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Ep 343: Sam Gaffney, Lewis Robinson (December 21, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Sam relates how after his audition for Letters and Numbers (which obviously went pretty well), as he got back to his car he was... attacked by ducks. That's certainly not an expected occurrence! There were four or five of them, and he had to fend them off with his umbrella; it was a very nice umbrella that his wife had given him and it got broken in the chaos, although he attributes that more to the wind than to the ducks.
Tonight's challenger is the versatile Lewis Robinson, described as a musician, pizza maker, professional stilt walker, and soon-to-be primary school teacher. Richard asks how he came to be so many things, and Lewis quips that he is just a bit indecisive. Richard wonders if Lewis has done them all at once, and not surprisingly the answer is negative. Lewis likes to think of himself as a "jack of all trades, master of some".
Sam doesn't seem in as powerful form today, or perhaps the letters just weren't there for it. But a risky eight on the first round comes home for him, and sets up a pattern of mostly outdoing Lewis, particularly in the numbers. It's a sad showing from the numbers this game, with two very easy targets. Sam rounds it out with a lightning fast conundrum solve, and a 62 to 21 win.
For my part, this match was much closer than the previous one, eventually coming down to the conundrum and mere milliseconds in it. But I have to give the benefit to Sam and go down narrowly. There were certainly chances for me -- if that risky play by him in the first round had not come off, for instance -- but round four was the place where I should have won this. Two losses to Sam, and I'll be trying to keep it from being three tomorrow.
As usual, details after the jump.
Sam relates how after his audition for Letters and Numbers (which obviously went pretty well), as he got back to his car he was... attacked by ducks. That's certainly not an expected occurrence! There were four or five of them, and he had to fend them off with his umbrella; it was a very nice umbrella that his wife had given him and it got broken in the chaos, although he attributes that more to the wind than to the ducks.
Tonight's challenger is the versatile Lewis Robinson, described as a musician, pizza maker, professional stilt walker, and soon-to-be primary school teacher. Richard asks how he came to be so many things, and Lewis quips that he is just a bit indecisive. Richard wonders if Lewis has done them all at once, and not surprisingly the answer is negative. Lewis likes to think of himself as a "jack of all trades, master of some".
Sam doesn't seem in as powerful form today, or perhaps the letters just weren't there for it. But a risky eight on the first round comes home for him, and sets up a pattern of mostly outdoing Lewis, particularly in the numbers. It's a sad showing from the numbers this game, with two very easy targets. Sam rounds it out with a lightning fast conundrum solve, and a 62 to 21 win.
For my part, this match was much closer than the previous one, eventually coming down to the conundrum and mere milliseconds in it. But I have to give the benefit to Sam and go down narrowly. There were certainly chances for me -- if that risky play by him in the first round had not come off, for instance -- but round four was the place where I should have won this. Two losses to Sam, and I'll be trying to keep it from being three tomorrow.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Ep 342: Sam Gaffney, Tina Stevens (December 20, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Chatting to Sam, Richard reveals that Sam is also a musical person -- there's been a good many of those on the show this series, it seems. Sam isn't in a band, but he does play the guitar and recently acquired a bass. He even played the guitar at his own wedding; he mentions Layla and Bohemian Rhapsody, although apparently he didn't play all of the latter.
Tonight's challenger is Tina Stevens, an RSPCA volunteer. She works in the cattery, cleaning the pens out and keeping the food and water fresh; she also does some administrative work. She is motivated by a love for animals, especially cats.
Sam is in very good form tonight, and Tina can't keep up as he excels in the letters. Two invalid words don't help her cause, but with Sam finding a nine in another round and Tina also missing two numbers rounds, the final result is a crushing 81 to 25 victory to Sam.
I... was also crushed. A careless spelling error in the second letters round led to an eleven point turnaround, but it was the unanswered full monty that made this unrecoverable. With Sam continuing to show good form in the numbers, there was no chance to catch up and I have my first loss for the series (when playing from home). Based on this form, Sam is a clear current favourite to reach the finals, and indeed to win them.
As usual, details after the jump.
Chatting to Sam, Richard reveals that Sam is also a musical person -- there's been a good many of those on the show this series, it seems. Sam isn't in a band, but he does play the guitar and recently acquired a bass. He even played the guitar at his own wedding; he mentions Layla and Bohemian Rhapsody, although apparently he didn't play all of the latter.
Tonight's challenger is Tina Stevens, an RSPCA volunteer. She works in the cattery, cleaning the pens out and keeping the food and water fresh; she also does some administrative work. She is motivated by a love for animals, especially cats.
Sam is in very good form tonight, and Tina can't keep up as he excels in the letters. Two invalid words don't help her cause, but with Sam finding a nine in another round and Tina also missing two numbers rounds, the final result is a crushing 81 to 25 victory to Sam.
I... was also crushed. A careless spelling error in the second letters round led to an eleven point turnaround, but it was the unanswered full monty that made this unrecoverable. With Sam continuing to show good form in the numbers, there was no chance to catch up and I have my first loss for the series (when playing from home). Based on this form, Sam is a clear current favourite to reach the finals, and indeed to win them.
As usual, details after the jump.
Ep 341: Megan Marks, Sam Gaffney (December 19, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Talking to Megan tonight reveals that she is still very excited about Friday's win. This feels like a waste of getting-to-know-the-contestant time. (Not her fault; she responded to what Richard led with.)
Challenging Megan is Sam Gaffney, an analyst who consults to the retail electricity industry. He remarks that the wholesale electricity market is quite exciting, as the wholesale price (that the retailers are paying to the electricity generators) might average around $35 per megawatt hour (MWh), but can in a short term jump up to $12,500 per MWh! So there's a lot of risk in such a situation, if retailers don't have enough supply contracts, and many of them have gone broke as a result.
Too many six-letter words from Megan tonight, and Sam is good enough to beat them twice. The numbers hold no solace for her -- I'm pretty sure that Sam is better from what little we saw -- and Sam wins convincingly, 51 to 23. With Megan below the 30 points that she needed to knock Brett out of the rankings, she won't be back for the finals.
It was a decent game for me; Lily outdid me in a numbers round and David in the final letters round, but other than that I was mostly on track. With the final numbers round defeating everyone completely, the seventies are out of reach but solving the conundrum pushes me above the sixty mark, to round off a relatively easy win in one of my better games.
As usual, details after the jump.
Talking to Megan tonight reveals that she is still very excited about Friday's win. This feels like a waste of getting-to-know-the-contestant time. (Not her fault; she responded to what Richard led with.)
Challenging Megan is Sam Gaffney, an analyst who consults to the retail electricity industry. He remarks that the wholesale electricity market is quite exciting, as the wholesale price (that the retailers are paying to the electricity generators) might average around $35 per megawatt hour (MWh), but can in a short term jump up to $12,500 per MWh! So there's a lot of risk in such a situation, if retailers don't have enough supply contracts, and many of them have gone broke as a result.
Too many six-letter words from Megan tonight, and Sam is good enough to beat them twice. The numbers hold no solace for her -- I'm pretty sure that Sam is better from what little we saw -- and Sam wins convincingly, 51 to 23. With Megan below the 30 points that she needed to knock Brett out of the rankings, she won't be back for the finals.
It was a decent game for me; Lily outdid me in a numbers round and David in the final letters round, but other than that I was mostly on track. With the final numbers round defeating everyone completely, the seventies are out of reach but solving the conundrum pushes me above the sixty mark, to round off a relatively easy win in one of my better games.
As usual, details after the jump.
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