CoNuT 2019

CoNuT 2019 was a Co-event held in Newcastle upon Tyne on 23rd March 2019. The event had 18 participants, and the final featured two first-time Co-event finalists, Luke Johnson-Davies and James Haughton. In a gripping contest, it was Haughton who took home the first place trophy, significantly improving on his best previous finish at an event of 9th!

Grand Final

It was Johnson-Davies - who defeated Bradley Horrocks in his semi-final 113-111 - who started quicker, spotting CONSTANT in the opening round and solving the first conundrum of the 14 round final, VAINGLORY. Only Haughton's deceptive 4 large pick stopped Luke from being on a max game at the halfway stage, a run which included back-to-back nines for both players. Haughton delivered 3 beaters in a row, with a 4 large and the words IDEOGRAM and APEMAN, to gain the lead. The game was sealed on the last numbers round, where Johnson-Davies' 6 small pick backfired. A fast conundrum solve from the new runner-up resulted in the final score ending 94 – 91 to Haughton.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	James Haughton	Score	Luke Johnson-Davies	Others	Max.
1	STNTAOECN	CONTEST	0 – 8	CONSTANT	CONTENTS	8
2	MNNLEEIDI	MIDLINE	7 – 15	LINEMEN		15
3	2 7 8 9 5 5 → 502	502 9×8×7-2	17 – 25	502 9×8×7-2		25
4	NDSSAEIRO	ANODISERS	35 – 43	ANODISERS		43
5	TVLPIEEER	REPLETIVE	53 – 61	REPLETIVE		61
6	100 50 25 75 7 3 → 862	868 ☓	53 – 61	871 ☓	Best: 863 = (75+50)×7-3×(100/25)	68
7	VRYGINOLA		53 – 71	VAINGLORY (2 seconds)		78
8	QZFSAOORT	ROAST	58 – 76	AFOOT	SFORZATO	86
9	GMRDIOEAR	IDEOGRAM	66 – 76	MIRADOR	AIRDROME	94
10	25 75 50 100 4 2 → 829	827 (100-75)×25+50×4+2	73 – 76	825	Best: 829 = (75-50)×25+100×2+4	104
11	YPNTAAAEM	APEMEN	79 – 76	payman ☓	PAYMENT, TYMPANA	111
12	TSKBAUISU	BAITS	84 – 81	BASKS	KIASUS, KITABS, KUSTIS, SUBAKS, TSUBAS	117
13	3 5 8 6 2 5 → 584	584 (8×5×5-6)×3+2	94 – 81	586		127
14	ROBSONISE	bossiness ☓ (2 seconds)	94 – 91	BIOSENSOR (3 seconds)		137