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.


Round 1: P N S L E I O R G

I had PENS, SPLINE (I was thinking of the mathematical term, which is not listed, but fortunately it is derived from a term that is: "a long, flexible strip of wood or the like used in drawing curves"; SPLINE can also be a verb), SPOILER, and REPOSING.  After time I noted RESOLING, and amused myself by coming up with definitions for the non-serious efforts PRELOSING and SLINGROPE.

Both contestants have found seven-letter words; Jeremy has SLOPING while Jacob has SPOILER.  David has gone with REPOSING for eight.

The other eight is SPONGIER; there's an amino acid PROLINE that would yield PROLINES if it is considered to be pluralisable.

Jacob: SPOILER
Jeremy: SLOPING
Me: REPOSING
David: REPOSING

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 0 (7), me 8


Round 2: M E S A T U N T A

I had SAME / MESA, STEAM, STAMEN, MUTATES, and ATTUNES.  No STATUEMAN, alas.  After time I noted MUTANTS as another seven.

This time Jacob has a "safe six" of TAMEST; that's not so safe given that Jeremy has found MUTANTS for seven, though.  I do wonder what Jacob's risky longer word was; in any case, first blood to Jeremy!

David has found MANTEAUS for eight, the plural of MANTEAU ("a mantle or cloak, especially one worn by women") which is another seven.

That looks like the only eight -- well done, David! -- and the other sevens are TAUTENS / TETANUS and MANTUAS (MANTUA: "a kind of loose gown formerly worn by women").

Jacob: TAMEST
Jeremy: MUTANTS
Me: MUTATES
David: MANTEAUS

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 7 (14), me 15


Round 3: Target 378 from 100 75 50 2 1 9

Jacob tries the risky balanced mix, which can be the most difficult in some ways.  The standard method would be to save the 2 and 1 and try to get to 375 from the rest; the fact that 5*75 is 375 is a bit tantalising, but ultimately a red herring.  I managed to find my way there with 378 = 9*50 - 75 + 2 + 1; this turns out to be the only solution, except for the pointless replacement of 50 by 100 - 50.

Jacob has ended up with 375; since (by implication) he did not have remaining numbers with which to usefully adjust closer, I will guess that this was 375 = (2 + 1)*(75 + 50).  But Jeremy has found the solution, extending his lead to a dangerous 17 points.  Lily has also found the solution.

Jacob: 375
Jeremy: 378
Me: 378
Lily: 378

Scores: Jacob 0 (7), Jeremy 17 (24), me 25


First break: ERASE END ("You sing this for someone else")

Hopefully they will appreciate your SERENADE.

David's talk is about the origins of nachos, as the original air date (October 21) is the International Day of the Nacho.


Round 4: R I D O S E M F U

Oh, dear, I got lost a bit on this one.  I ended up with RODS, RIDES, and FORMED.  I'd spent a bit of time looking at a possible -IFORM ending, but the only appropriately sounding one was DEIFORM.  I did not like this enough to write it down (an error; it is valid, and means "godlike; divine"), and somehow did not see to simply drop the I and get DEFORM.  After time I did, finding DEFORMS for seven, checking up on DEIFORM, and adding MOUSIER as another.  I'd like to think that the first time I played this I found DEFORMS.

Both contestants have found MOUSIER for seven; David could not better it, and has opted for DEFORMS.

The other sevens are SERFDOM and MISDOER -- clearly I'm not paying enough attention, as I mentioned that recently in episode 297.  But there is an eight: DIMEROUS ("consisting of or divided into two parts").

[Update: In a comment, Shannon Newton found SOREDIUM: "an asexual reproductive unit of a lichen consisting of a mass of algal cells enveloped in a network of hyphae".  Great find, Shannon!]

Jacob: MOUSIER
Jeremy: MOUSIER
Me: FORMED
David: DEFORMS

Scores: Jacob 7 (14), Jeremy 24 (31), me 25


Round 5: A O E D R G N I S

I'll just make an aside here that the current scores in the three-way game (7, 24, 25) form a Pythagorean triple.

Anyway, onto the round.  I recalled this from the first airing, where I also found the best answer.  Still, I went through the motions to find ROAD, RAGED, DRAGON, ORANGE, READING, READINGS, and ORGANISED / GRANDIOSE.  After time I recalled that ORGANDIES was the third possibly full monty from these letters.

The first time I played this episode I did find ORGANISED, no doubt aided by ORGANISES showing up in episode 297.

Both contestants have found READINGS for eight.  David has found that hundredth full monty with GRANDIOSE, and he notes that ORGANISED is also there.

The other eights are AGONISED / DIAGNOSE, ORGANDIE, ORGANISE, ANEROIDS (aneroid barometers), and DERAIGNS (DERAIGN: "to dispose troops for (battle)") / GRADINES (GRADINE: "one of a series of steps or seats raised one above another").

Jacob: READINGS
Jeremy: READINGS
Me: ORGANISED
David: GRANDIOSE, ORGANISED

Scores: Jacob 7 (22), Jeremy 24 (39), me 43


Round 6: Target 268 from 25 100 10 5 1 9

Jeremy sticks with the family mix, and gets a surprisingly challenging target for such a low one.  I considered the offsets for the standard method, getting 7 and 18.  The latter seemed more promising, being 2*9, and fortunately some tweaking solved the rest.  My solution was 268 = (10/5)*(100 + 25 + 9).

Jacob is one away with 269 -- perhaps 10*(25 + 1) + 9 -- but Jeremy has found that solution above.  That gives him a commanding 27 point lead, and while the game is not technically lost for Jacob it is very nearly so.  He does seem a little despondent when he confesses to being one away after Jeremy has said he has the target.

Another approach to this target would be to make that offset of 18 as (100 - 10)/5.  That is a powerful technique that is not always easy to see, and in this case would lead to 268 = 10*25 - (100 - 10)/5, where one of those 10's is 9 + 1.

Update: A solution I found while reviewing this post some time later is to make it as 100 + 168; that was worth investigating because 168 has a few factors.  It is the number of hours in the week and thus 7*24, which leads to 268 = 100 + (9 - 10/5)*(25 - 1).

Jacob: 269
Jeremy: 268
Me: 268

Scores: Jacob 7 (22), Jeremy 34 (49), me 53


Second break: VITAL GIN ("Watch a crawling insect")

That insect being the ANT of VIGILANT.


Round 7: T C P R E A I D E

Jacob is in a heap of trouble at this point.  He must outdo Jeremy to have a chance, and needs at least a seven-letter word, preferably an eight.  Even then, the numbers could easily spell his doom once more.  Still, one step at a time...

I recalled this round, too, but again I went through the motions.  I had PERT, CARPET, PICRATE, and I recall that when this round first aired I had seen the potential full monty and willed for a final E.  Jacob had clearly done the same, and had the advantage of being in control of the letters.  He asked for a final vowel with some emphasis, and it was the E, and so I had PREDICATE for nine.  I also noted CARPETED for an eight.

Jacob is happily rewarded for his foresight, and finishes writing at the one second mark.  He has a quick glance at Jeremy, folds his arms and leans back in his chair for a moment.  He adopts a less casual posture again, checking his work, but he cannot refrain from cheerful expressions and a generally satisfied demeanour.  His only concern at this point is whether Jeremy can find the full monty in time, and he does not seem to have done so.

Jeremy has found DECREPIT for eight -- normally an excellent find, but since he declared second he called this "only an eight" -- while Jacob announces that he has the 102nd full monty with PREDICATE.  (Which suggests that both finds from the previous letters round were being counted in the running tally; I'm not sure whether I feel that is appropriate or not.)  That's a vital gain right when he needed it, and very importantly means that he can afford to tie Jeremy on the next numbers round and he will still have a chance.

Jeremy must have thought his odds were very good when he found DECREPIT -- only a full monty could leave Jacob a chance.  But it was there, and Jacob was good enough to spot the option early on, and so the game suddenly comes alive.

The other eight here is a rather anticlimactic DEPICTER.

Incidentally, this round was what I was thinking of when I commented in episode 198 that I was surprised to see PREDICATE show up there.  I'd recalled it from this grand final, but not that it was present during the series two finals.

Jacob: PREDICATE
Jeremy: DECREPIT
Me: PREDICATE

Scores: Jacob 25 (40), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


Round 8: Target 279 from 25 100 10 5 9 1

Jeremy notes that it worked well for him last time, so he goes with the same family mix.  That's reasonable enough, as he did outpoint Jacob last time with such.  A more complicated option might have been tempting to me if I were in his situation, though -- just coming out ahead guarantees the win, and even if Jacob gets points he can only lead at the conundrum if he solves it exactly.  I'm not sure what the right strategy is.

I'll note something that I've complained about before (or after, in a sense, since it was in later episodes): Lily has drawn exactly the same numbers again, albeit in a different order.  She has taken them from the same slots in the board, and the crew do not randomise them between rounds.  We don't get random selections this way, and that's a bit disappointing.

Once more the target is low, very near the previous round.  It would have been handy to think more about it, alas.  I went through some very confused thought processes, which mostly boiled down to wanting an odd multiple of 25, but all the odd numbers had the wrong value mod 4 -- we could get 25, 125, or 225, but not 175 or 275, at least not directly.  In the end I was left with a three-away 276 = 9*25 + 5*10 + 1.

After time I paid attention to the factor of 9 and found 279 = 9*(25 + 5 + 1).  Having done so, I was quite certain that this was what I did the first time I saw this episode -- bother.  Somewhat later I found another solution by using the "divide a large number by 5" trick: 279 = 25*10 + 100/5 + 9.

Jacob finishes writing at the 25 second mark, flashing that smile of relief as he checks the board; clearly he has solved it, and knows that he will still be in contention going into the conundrum, and may even be leading.

As it turns out, Jeremy was not able to get within the scoring range.  Jacob has found the solution using the factor of 9, and that gets him to a point ahead of Jeremy -- the first time that Jacob has been in front all match.  That is a vast improvement to his situation in just two rounds!

Lily has made the standard method work, and I feel extremely foolish for missing that.  Her solution is 279 = (10 + 1)*25 + 9 - 5.  Really, just stopping to work out that the required multiplier for the 25 was 11 (to get to 275) would guide one to that solution.  I have overlooked that step many times, causing me to miss solutions, and this was one of those.

Jacob: 279
Jeremy: [not in range]
Me: 276
Lily: 279

Scores: Jacob 35 (50), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


Round 9: ENROL BILE

So down to the conundrum, and against all early indications, Jeremy must solve this to win.  I got lost on the -IBLE ending, and that was no good.  Jacob starts writing the letters down after four seconds, which seems like a reasonable division of time; Jeremy sticks with staring at the monitor throughout.  Jacob's technique pays dividends, as he finds the solution at the 14 second mark.  I started the backup timer, but all up it took me 46 seconds before I managed to solve this.

Jacob: REBELLION (14s)
Jeremy: [no answer]
Me: [no answer]

Final scores: Jacob 45 (60), Jeremy 34 (49), me 71


What a finish that was!  Jacob kept Jeremy scoreless in the last three rounds for a 38 to 0 comeback that gave him the win by 11 points.  He needed that badly, too, after the ground conceded early on when Jeremy found his way to good solutions in the numbers.  A memorable game, and the stuff that finals should be made of.

Jeremy manages to take it in good spirit, and Jacob is still shaking.  After a little time to collect himself, Jacob manages to give a short impromptu speech very nicely praising Jeremy, and the entire cast and crew for the environment that they produce on the show.  I emphatically agree, and hearty congratulations to both finalists for a gripping game.

15 comments:

Mark said...

Congratulations Jacob!

Sam Gaffney said...

Jeremy could easily have won this game, as he played well and Jacob started off below his usual standard. However, given that Jacob's semi-final performance (and final third of this game) was the best of anyone's in the Series 3 finals, I think he was the worthy trophy holder. His facial expressions and body language provided good entertainment in this episode!

You'd think one of those two lads would have found ORGANISED after ORGANISES came up earlier that day in Jeremy's quarter-final, but it isn't easy under that sort of pressure. Another factor in grand final performance is that it is shot at the end of a day, after a player has already played one or two intense games. This is especially tough on the winner of the second semi-final, who may not have time to do much more than change shirts before having to play a (probably) tougher opponent than they just beat.

Here are my answers from last year, which were affected by hearing that Jacob had made a big full monty comeback (and so had me looking for nine-letter words):

LINGERS (PRINGLES?)
MUTANTS
378 = 9*50 - 75 + 2 + 1
- (invalid: DISFORM, I was too busy looking for a nine)
ORGANISED
268 = (10/5)*(100 + 25 + 9)
PREDICATE
279 = (25+5+1)*9
- (Jacob got in first)

Jacob D said...

Thanks Geoff, Mark and Sam! I won't be as eloquent as Geoff, but consider this my one-off blog:
At 27 points down I knew it was mathematically possible to still win, but on Jeremy's form in the first two thirds, I had basically conceded defeat, somewhat content that Jeremy had brought his A-game to the final and was a deserved winner.

Here's some of what I can remember during each of the rounds:

Round 1: Suffix galore! Saw -ING, -ER/S, -SION, should've seen -IER and hence SPONGIER, but spent too much time on the other suffixes and had about 3 sevens listed alongside the very dodgy PRINGLES! (an alternative to corn chips in nachos perhaps?)

Round 2: Stuck on the UN- prefix, and -EST suffix, my very dodgy sevens were UNTAMES or UNMATES. I write the letters in a 3x3 grid, but should've focused more on the screen as MUTANTS does seem to jump out from the order they came up.

Round 3: Geoff guessed my solution correctly! (perhaps I was at my most transparent for this whole episode!) In hindsight, poor decision of 3 & 3 (my logic was it worked in the semi...) I briefly investigated multiples of about everything except for 50 (75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 9*42) but to no avail. I snuck a glance at Jeremy and was fairly sure he had it.

Round 4: Not confident with MOUSIER but had to declare it.

Round 5: Such nice letters! Was sure a 9 was in there and feeling the pressure. Again stuck on wrong suffixes (-ING/S, -SION). I scribbled down ORGANDIES at some stage (remembering Matthew's ORGANDY in ep. 200) but talked myself out of it! Was fairly sure that decision cost me the game (how ORGANDIES jumped out at me but not ORGANISED somewhat bewilders me!)

Round 6: Again, Geoff correctly guessed my result! My despondency was for 2 main reasons: Firstly I was disappointed in myself for not giving the viewers/producers a close Grand Final (well aware the first 2 went down to the conundrum). Secondly, to be beaten in 2 numbers rounds on the 1 night was frustrating. Numbers have always come more naturally to me than letters, Lily had beaten me numerous times, but only one game out of my previous 8 matches had an opponent outdone me in the numbers (Tina in the QF).

Round 7: Was urging the mix to be free of Q's, Z's, X's J's etc (was very grateful to the letter tile shuffler later!) I can't remember exactly when the potential of PREDICATE jumped out at me, but I think it was as early as 5 or 6 letters in. When the remaining few letters perfectly filled the gaps, it seemed nothing short of miraculous to me. I was in two minds about how obvious I should make it, but couldn't contain myself. Lily was gesturing the question to me, which, as you saw, was responded to with a very smug raising of the eyebrows! I was so relieved that I'd made things interesting again.

Round 8: On Jeremy's form, I was incredibly confident he would solve this, so I had to get right on target. I was actually hoping for a very easy mix just so I'd have a chance in the conundrum. The 6 numbers provided déjà vu, and I briefly panicked when the solution didn't jump out at me. At ~12 seconds I tried dividing by 9, saw the 25, 5 and 1, and gave a little fist-pump of relief that it would be 3 from 3 Grand Final conundrum deciders. Very surprised Jeremy was outside the scoring range.

Round 9: Was expecting a tricky one, and butterflies/adrenalin were soaring (as well as utter disbelief at the situation!) I knew Jeremy had to solve it to win, but obviously I was still hoping to get it ASAP. When it didn't jump out at me, I hurriedly wrote the letters in my 3x3 grid (hands somewhat shaking), was briefly stuck on thinking it started with B, but as soon as I tried the RE- prefix it came to me.

Felt very sorry for Jeremy and his lovely family in the audience, but at the same time it was a dream come true for me, and the excitement in the studio was wonderful to be a part of.

Jacob D said...

This didn’t fit in the last “comment” :

It's still a tad difficult to fathom being involved in such an exciting episode (the whole L&N experience of make-up, lights and cameras was surreal enough already!)

Two final points: Firstly Geoff, you were very humble in your lack of highlighting how much you beat Jeremy and I by! Secondly, I actually turned 19 between the episode's filming and airing, but for simplicity's sake we all agreed to pretend I'd recently turned 19 :)

Sam Gaffney said...

Thanks for giving us a write-up, Jacob - one can rarely see on TV the full extent of the pressure that contestants are under in a tight game or important round. I felt like I had a constrictor around my chest sometimes, although there is only one round where I can specifically remember having a shaky hand.

I hadn't heard that you had found but didn't risk ORGANDIES, that is very amusing. Not risking TWIDDLER nearly cost me the Series 4 Grand Final (that particular one didn't cost Alan - if he had declared it, I would have too). Any pluralisation of a -Y word carries some risk of not being in the Macquarie Dictionary, but the odds were probably in favour of having a crack, if you were positive that ORGANDY was a valid noun. I remember that one as a word these days, but never what it means, which doesn't put the mind at ease in a tight situation.

You shouldn't have worried about providing a Grand Final conundrum decider, conundrum consolations are much better (especially on the heart).

Anonymous said...

Except that you said that were very disappointed with Alan's conundrum consolation, Sam. :-)

Sam Gaffney said...

Disappointed, but not stressed.

Geoff Bailey said...

Wow, some great followups here -- I particularly appreciate Jacob's perspective on the game. Some minor comments first:

I have to agree with Sam about Jacob's facial expressions! I think a game of poker is in order. *grins*

With respect to ORGANDIES, the Macquarie's main spelling is ORGANDIE -- ORGANDY is an American spelling. Of course, you'd still have to be confident that it was pluralisable, but at least the plural does not have to be explicitly listed. (As it turns out, for some reason they do list it explicitly; the Macquarie is confusing in the choices that it makes!)

Like Sam, when I first watched this episode I knew that there was a full monty comeback; more explicitly, I had heard that there was a 38-point comeback in the last third. So I have to regard my find of PREDICATE as tainted by this foreknowledge, and I don't know if I would have found it otherwise. I like to think so, of course, but...

Now responding to Jacob's responses:

1. I love PRINGLES as a find -- shame it's not listed. A fair few trademarks have made their way into the dictionary, maybe it shall be valid one day.

2. Yes, those were definitely dodgy sevens. *chuckles* Interesting that you use a 3x3 grid; Ryan did that as well. Do you just fill it in order?

3. It actually took me quite a while to work out what you'd done! The "obvious" ways to get there (to me) were modifiable to closer, such as 75*(9 + 1)/2, with 100/50 left over to add. That 9*42 was very tempting -- I spent a while afterwards trying to get it to work, before using the solver to confirm that it would not.

4. It would have made the comeback even more dramatic if you'd not risked MOUSIER! A good find, I should add.

5. I've referred several times in the blog to this mix as familiar, but after checking I think this is the only episode I've seen it turn up in! The others must have been episodes of Countdown. I imagine I'd have probably missed this originally if not for ORGANISES in Jeremy's quarterfinal.

There's not much more I can say about the remaining rounds. Thanks again for the perspective, Jacob -- it is greatly appreciated!


(Oh, and with respect to me being humble about this: I'm solving under completely different circumstances, and in this particular instance with some key foreknowledge. While I am always pleased when I do well, I am trying to keep the disparity of situations in mind.

Also, I've now had half a year or more to get to know the Macquarie's quirks. It's amazing what a difference that makes; a shame they only give you the dictionary afterwards!)

Laura S said...

I had not watched this game before, but very much enjoyed it -- a memorable one indeed. I didn't get proper solutions in each round as I was otherwise occupied (with my baby) at the same time. I was very excited to find PREDICATE though. It's possibly the first full monty I've ever found. Congratulations to Jacob! Amazing comeback.

Sam Gaffney said...

You might have to get a nanny for weeknights at 6pm, Laura. Nice job on the full monty.

Laura S said...

Problem is that then Sarah couldn't work on finding a full monty herself...

Jacob D said...

Thanks Laura!

Sam, you're very accurate as my mind was not at ease due to a lack of knowing what ORGANDY meant! I had brief visions of a French town, but had I known the main spelling was ORGANDIE I would've been somewhat more confident in declaring. I figured the risk wasn't worth it at that stage, feeling 17 points was quite surmountable with 4 rounds left to go, and Jeremy wasn't giving a sense of having a 9 (no smug eyebrow-raises that I could detect!)

Geoff, with the 3x3 grid, there is a vague, general order I put the letters in: I try to keep vowels in the middle row (trying to put I's in the centre so I can cluster -ING, or -ION suffixes together), and letters that generally appear at the start of words (B, F, J, P) go in the left column, and letters that often appear at the end of words (D, R, S, T, Y) go in the right column. Obviously there are many exceptions to this which can result in overlooking good words.

As you're probably aware, DA does a similar thing, but in a circle not a grid. For some reason (perhaps doing the 9-letter targets in Melbourne newspapers and playing noughts-and-crosses as a child) I'm more at ease with the structured straight lines of a grid with distinct corners than the circle approach (which admittedly is a bit hard to explain and sounds/is a little obsessive!)

Geoff Bailey said...

I'm interested in the various techniques people use for laying out the letters. My general approach is to write them in two rows -- consonants on the top, vowels on the bottom. Occasionally I will shunt an unhelpful letter (Q, J, X, K, Y, Z) to one end, but otherwise I simply write them down in order.

I have wondered if I might do better with them in the 3x3 grid, since that brings them all closer together, but then I'd have to think about an ordering.

Unknown said...

The letter mixes this episode were very generous as I came up with two full monties/monty's, and two eights and one seven.

I 'crashed and burned' with the number mixes today except for the last mix when I achieved 2 away.

1. P N S L E I O R G

In this mix I first saw ELOPING,
IGNORES, LEGIONS and SPOILER before I saw PERIGON ' an angle of 360 degrees', so I just added an 's' to finish just in time with PERIGONS.

2. M E S A T U N T A

This letters mix was nice to me, because I found a number of sevens including TETANUS, ATTUNES, MUTANTS and MUTATES before I saw a full monty with NUTMEATS. But I dismissed it as not being a word. So, I finished with MUTANTS.

3. 100 75 50 2 1 9 378

As I said up the top, I failed miserably here only achieving 370.
(100 + 75 + 9 + 1) x 2 = 370

4. R I D O S E M F U

I started another successful letters game by finding DEFORMS and DISFORM before wondering about MISDOER for a second or two. Then as I looked for a word with the suffix -IUM, I found SOREDIUM
'algal cells in lichen'.

5. A O E D R G I N S

This was a very generous letter mix. I first saw READINGS, DIAGNOSE. Then I quickly found ORGANISE and just added the 'd' to finish with ORGANISED.

6. 25 100 10 5 1 9 268

I failed miserably yet again with the numbers mix. But this time, I was a bit closer by getting 4 away with 264. 100 - 25 -10 = 65. 65 + 1 = 66. 9 - 5 = 4. 66 x 4 = 264.

7. T C P R E A D I E

Very, very nice mix. I first saw CARPETED and DEPICTER. Happy with that, I relaxed for 10 seconds. I looked again for more 8 letter words and finally saw PREDICATE just in time. 2 full monty's in a day!!!

8. 25 100 10 5 9 1 279

This time I got even closer - just 2 away! I got 281: 25 + 5 = 30.
30 - 1 = 29. 29 x 10 = 290. 290 - 9 = 281.

9. E N R O L B I L E

I also got lost in a suffix ending being -LIER. I saw LONELIER 10 seconds in but it obviously didn't have a 'b' and then Jacob buzzed in getting REBELLION before I could realise that suffix ending. Therefore completing his comeback.

Geoff Bailey said...

Very nice to hear from you, Shannon! Some nice solving from you on this game, although the Macquarie is not always helpful. Specific comments:

1. The Macquarie does not list PERIGON, which renders PERIGONS invalid. REPOSING is the safe anagram of it.

2. Some dictionaries do list NUTMEAT, but you were right to reject NUTMEATS in this case -- the Macquarie is not one of them. I will point out that it was not a full monty, though -- it is only eight letters long.

4. DISFORM is not listed, but MISDOER is. And SOREDIUM is a great find! I've updated the post to mention this as the other eight in the mix.

Thanks for your remarks, and in particular for that great word in round 4. Hopefully the show will be back on air at some point to give you new episodes to play.