Tuesday 9 June 2015

Only Connect Series 1: Match 6: Urban Cyclists vs Country Walkers

OK people, here we go again with the first of this week's two matches. Playing were the Urban Cyclists, Martin Gilson, Mike Beech and Dave Morrison, and the Country Walkers, Dave Roberts, Steve Lamb and Nigel Lewis.

Round 1. The Cyclists went first, and chose Beta: 'Sword', then 'Gold', and tried their luck on D-Day landing beaches; not correct, I'm afraid. 'Silver' and 'Jelly' gave no extra idea to the Walkers; they are all types of fish. The Walkers chose Delta: 'Catalan', then 'Silician', then 'Ruy Lopez' and they buzzed in for chess opening gambits. Good call for two points. The Cyclists chose Zeta: 'Aspirin', then 'Quinine', then 'Cinnamon' and finally 'Cork'. No answer came, but the Walkers suggested they are derived from trees; correct for a bonus point. For their own question, the Walkers chose Epsilon and got the picture round: the Sky at night (not the programme), then various numbers, then a palm and finally tea leaves. This gave it to them that they can all be used to tell the fortune, allegedly, for one point. For their final choice, the Cyclists chose Gamma, and got the music round; just in time, they buzzed in to tell us that the four pieces were all requiems, by Britten, Mozart, Verdi and Faure respectively. Left with Alpha, the Walkers saw 'The Tyne Bridge', then 'British pillar boxes', then 'Black tea' and finally 'Permanent Resident Card in US'. They suggested that they are all red, which was not correct; the Cyclists knew they all used to be green, but aren't no more, for a bonus point. At the end of the round, the Walkers led 4-2.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cyclists chose Delta first: 'Britain', 'Liverpool' and 'St Ives'; no answer came, but the Walkers gave us 'Modern', as they are all Tate galleries. Good call for a bonus. They chose Zeta for their own question: 'Wilhelm Furtwangler', then 'Herbert von Karajan' and then 'Claudio Abbado'; they tried 'Simon Rattle' as the most recent composer of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (as our old friend Matt Loxham will no doubt know!), which was correct. The Cyclists chose Beta: 'Thor', then 'Frigg', and they began to speculate on what would be fourth; 'Saturn' came third, so they gave us 'The Sun', as these are the etymologies of the days of the week. Good shout for two points. Alpha gave the Walkers 'Roger', then 'Timothy' and then 'Pierce', and this gave it to them that they are James Bond actors; 'Daniel' was the correct answer supplied. The Cyclists chose Gamma, and saw '1691', then '1881', and spotted that these are all years that are the same upside-down; after much thought, they gave us '6009' for two points. Left with Epsilon, the Walkers saw 'Washington Monument', then 'Eiffel Tower' and then 'Chrysler Building'; they offered 'Empire State Building', as the tallest structures at the time they were built, which was correct. At the end of the round, the Walkers led 11-7.

On to the Connecting Walls. The Walkers went first this time, and chose the Beta wall. They tries several groups unsuccessfully, and seemed to be running out of time to solve the wall. They finally identified 'Dough', 'Lolly', 'Dosh' and 'Readies' as slang terms for money. Then 'Crane', 'Swift', 'Turkey' and 'Magpie' fell into place as birds. With just seconds to go, they quickly locked in 'Passion', 'Bread', 'Kiwi' and 'Star' as fruits. This left 'Taxi', 'Brass', 'Bottom' and 'Porridge', which are TV sitcoms. After looking like they were getting nowhere with the wall, they had pulled off a full ten points.

The Cyclists were left with the Alpha wall. After some wrong guesses, they isolated 'Lambeth', 'Queen Elizabeth II', 'Millenium' and 'London' as Thames bridges, and then 'Spider', 'Shore', 'Fiddler' and 'Velvet' as types of crab. They spent the rest of the time studying what was left, and trying to work out what the remaining groups were. They eventually used up their three lives and were locked out. The resolved groups were: 'Bell', 'Print', 'Stocking' and 'Bottle all follow the word 'blue', and 'Chariot', 'Moon', 'Hermit' and 'Tower' are all Tarot cards. So, six points there, and at the end of the round, the Walkers led 21-13.

So, the Cyclists had a bit of a gap to catch up in the Missing Vowels round, but, as we've seen in subsequent episodes, no lead is totally insurmountable when it comes to Missing Vowels. 'Native British trees' went to the Cyclists 4-0, and that's four off the lead already. 'Dickens quotations' proved a tough category, with the Cyclists taking the only point after a very lenient allowance from VCM. 'Film musicals' only had time for one clue, which the Walkers took. At the end of the quiz, the Walkers won 22-18.

Unlucky Cyclists, but a fair recovery at the end, so well done for that. Well done to the Walkers, and we'll see you again when we get to the second round!

Hopefully, I'll be back with the next match tomorrow.

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