Only Connect Series 12: Group A Round 1: Match 3: Psmiths vs Verbivores

Yesterday was Countdown night on Quizzy Mondays! After Mr Hutchings' appearance on UC, we had (at least) three Countdown alumni on OC too. Playing were the Psmiths, Mark Smith, Nick Holland (beaten by Mr Hutchings in 2013) and captain Nick Reed, and the Verbivores, Phyl Styles, Tom Cappleman (UC alumnus and blog reader who won Countdown last year) and captain Graeme Cole (champion of Jeff Stelling's final series in charge).

Round 1. The Verbivores went first and kicked off proceedings with Horned Viper: 'Georgia: Canada', then 'Sunda: Indonesia', then 'Bass: Australia', and finally 'Cook: New Zealand'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are straits that separate islands in the countries. For their own first question, the Psmiths chose Two Reeds: 'John Bruton (Taoiseach)', then 'Urban VII (Pope)'; this was enough for them to identify that they are the shortest servers of the roles in brackets for three points. The Verbivores chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard Independent Woman Part I by Destiny's Child, then Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror, then Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin', and finally News of the World by the Jam, or, as most no doubt know it, the theme to Mock the Week. They didn't get it, but their opponents spotted them to all have newspapers in their titles for a bonus. For their own question, the Psmiths chose Twisted Flax: 'William Lilly (1644-1681)', then 'Information Please / TIME (1947-2013), then 'Francis Moore (1697-), and finally 'Whitaker (1868-)'. The final clue gave it to them: they are almanacs and the years they ran for. The Verbivores chose Water next and got the picture set: we saw Nicole Kidman with '1967', then Bette Midler with '1945', then Bruno Mars with '1985', and finally President Obama with '1961'. They guessed the years to be when they were born, and a complete guess of them all being born in Hawaii earned them their first point of the game. Left with Lion, the Psmiths saw 'UK road safety', then 'Multinational sweetened and flavoured milk', then 'American soft-porn empire', and finally 'Durable-cell batteries'. They had it at the third clue, but took the final one to be sure: they are all promoted by rabbits (the Tufty Club, Nesquik, Playboy and Energizer, not Duracell like they said). At the end of the first round, the Psmiths led 7-1.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Verbivores kicked off the round with Eye of Horus and the picture set: we saw the Windows logo, then a map of Canada with Nova Scotia highlighted, and then an OS logo; they correctly spotted them to be 'MS', 'NS' and 'OS', and offered a post script to a letter (a PS) for two points. The Psmiths chose Two Reeds next: 'Nick & Peter', then 'Nicola', and then 'Ed'. This time, they didn't know it, but their opponents did: it's the forenames of the leaders of the largest parties in parliament after last year's election (Nick Clegg & Peter Robinson, Nicola Sturgeon, Ed Miliband), so 'David' completes the set. For their own question, the Verbivores chose Water: 'Emmy', then 'Grammy', and they promptly offered 'Tony' for three points, the link being the EGOT awards. The Psmiths chose Lion next: 'Once: (e.g.) Ian Rush', then 'Twice: (e.g.) Thierry Henry', and then 'Thrice: Lionel Messi'. They offered 'Four times: Cristiano Ronaldo', and were correct, the sequence being the numbers of times the players have won the Soulier d'Or. For their first choice, the Verbivores chose Twisted Flax: '1921-22: Secretary of State for the Colonies', then '1924-29: Chancellor of the Exchequer', and then '1939-40: First Lord of the Admiralty'. They spotted it to be cabinet posts held by Sir Winston Churchill, and offered '1940-45: Prime Minister' for two points. Left with Horned Viper, the Psmiths saw 'Elder daughter improvises music', then 'Mother and younger daughter visit supermarket', and then 'Father leaves power plant'. I had it at the second clue, the third gave it to them: it's the Simpsons opening sequence in reverse, so 'Son writes lines at school' completes the set. At the end of the second round, the Psmiths led 11-9.

On to the Walls. The Psmiths went first this time, and chose the Water wall. They quickly spotted a link of foreign secretaries, and eventually isolated 'Major', 'Hammond', 'Cook' and 'Straw'. They then spotted Premier League training grounds, and quickly slotted in 'Carrington', 'Cobham', 'Chadwell Heath' and 'Melwood'. They looked over the remaining clues, and worked out the sets and the links: 'Malta', 'Motorway', 'Mach' and '1,000' are all represented by an M, while 'Post', 'Hurrah', 'Minute', and 'Word' can all follow 'Last'. A well resolved full ten points.

The Verbivores were thus in desperate need of equaling that at they tackled the Lion wall. They spotted some links straight away, but couldn't isolate anything. Eventually, they solved 'Decree', 'Junta', 'Janitor' and 'Octopus', which all begin with abbreviated months (Dec, Jun, Jan, Oct). They tried to work out the rest, but couldn't and ran out of time, and had to be content with bonus connection points: 'Carson', 'Jennings', 'Lurch; and 'Hudson' are fictional butlers, which they didn't get, 'False', 'Bantry', 'Ha Long' and 'Guantanamo' are bays, which they did, while 'Attica', 'Rikers', 'San Quentin' and 'Marion' are US prisons, which they also got. Four points there left them trailing 21-13 going into the final round.

So, the Verbivores would need to run the show from here on in to win. 'Things that are good', such as 'GOOD FRIDAY', gave the Verbivores a much-needed 4-0. 'Things that are great'(!), such as 'GREAT YARMOUTH', went to the Psmiths 3-1. 'Boxes' went to the Verbivores 2-0, with the Psmiths getting one right but one wrong. 'Countries with five syllables' went to the Verbivores 2-0, with just two clues, and that was that. The Psmiths had sneaked home 24-22.

An excellent match between two decent teams. Unlucky Verbivores, who so nearly pulled it off at the end, but a great effort and, if I understand the rules, you'll definitely be coming back as a high-scoring losing team, so best of luck for then. Well done to the Psmiths, though, and best of luck to yous next time too!

Next week's match: Networkers vs Cousins