Right, Only Connect. As if changing the day wasn't already off-putting, Friday's episode was moved to the earlier time of 7pm to accommodate the Eurovision selection show, moved over from BBC4. I suppose you may consider that karma for Victoria's jokey rant about BBC4 on last week's show!
Anyway, playing were the Beekeepers, Ian Wallace, Josh Spero and captain Mark Wallace, son of Ian, who defeated the Scunthorpe Scholars and the Policy Wonks in the first two rounds, and the Cosmopolitans, Annette Fenner, Emily Watnick and captain Amy Godel, who won close matches against the Taverners and the Tubers (or the 'Tubas' as the subtitles prefer to call them!) to get to this stage.
Round 1. The Cosmopolitans went first, and opened the night with 'Horn-ed' Viper, and the music set: we heard 'Berkeley Square' (sadly not John le Mesurier's version!), then 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend', then 'Bermuda Triangle', and they were timed out before they could hear the fourth. Their opponents heard 'Circle of Life' from the Lion King, and offered 'geometric shapes' for a bonus. For their own first question, the Beekeepers chose Twisted Flax: 'Casablanca > Rabat', then 'Istanbul > Ankara'; they at this point offered 'former capitals and their replacements', but were not correct. Their opponents saw 'Auckland > Wellington' and 'Sao Paolo > Brasilia', and offered 'cities larger than their country's capital' for a bonus of their own. For their own question, the Cosmopolitans chose Lion: 'The Super Bowl', then 'General Elections in France'; this was enough to give them 'things that happen on Sunday' for three points. The Beekeepers chose Water next: 'Founder, Australian wine company', then 'Flag captain, HMS Victory'; they offered 'Thomas Hardy' at this point, and were correct this time for three points. The Cosmopolitans chose Two Reeds next, and got the pictures: we saw four bags of flour, then four plates of butter, then four bowls of sugar; they identified them as the ingredients of a Victoria sponge, or to be more precise, the 4-4-4-2 sponge recipe, for two points. (Two eggs being the final clue) Left with Eye of Horus, the Beekeepers saw 'Saint James', then 'Assumption', then 'The Peace', and finally 'Good Winds'. They didn't get this, their opponents did, offering 'translations of South American capitals' for a bonus. At the end of a strong first round, the Cosmopolitans led 7-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? Again, the Cosmopolitans kicked off with 'Horn-ed' Viper: '8: US Open final, Venus v Serena Williams, New York', then '9: Ahmed Shah Massoud assassinated by al-Qaeda'; they spotted it to be events of September 2001, and offered '11: World Trade Centre attacks' for three points. The Beekeepers chose Two Reeds next, and got a music sequence: we heard Katy Perry's 'ET', then ABBA's 'SOS', and then 'YMCA'; they knew it to be something to do with letters, but couldn't work out what. Nor could their opponents. It's increasing numbers of letters, so 'D-I-S-C-O' would be OK for the points. (Cue a forced singalong that went rather wrong as the teams only knew the famous chorus!) The Cosmopolitans chose Lion next: 'Gg' in blue, then 'oe' in red, and then 'o' in yellow; that gave it to them, they are the letters in the 'Google' logo in order they appear, so 'l' in green would be right for two. The Beekeepers chose Eye of Horus next: '4th: Alabama', then '3rd: Florida', and then '2nd: Mississippi'. Neither team knew this: they are secessionist states in reverse order, so '1st: South Carolina' is correct. For their final choice, the Cosmopolitans chose Twisted Flax, and got the pictures: we saw Bob Marley, then a calendar depicting Christmas Day 1843; that was enough for them to see the sequence to be the ghosts in 'A Christmas Carol', and offered 'Christmas Day 2027', or 'Christmas future' for three points. Left with Water, the Beekeepers saw 'Makes you very tall', then 'Makes your legs very long'; they thought it to the effects of what Alice drinks in Alice in Wonderland, and offered 'Restores you to normal size'. Not right. Their opponents 'Makes your neck very long', and, under the same impression, offered 'Makes you very small'. Correct for a bonus, but the sequence is the effects of the different makings of George's Marvelous Medicine in the excellent Roald Dahl book. (Possibly my favourite of his works) At the end of the second round, the Cosmopolitans led 16-4.
On to the Walls. The Beekeepers, in desperate need of a good result, opted to tackle the Lion wall. They spotted a couple of links, and eventually isolated their first set of 'Jazz', 'Gala', 'Honeygold' and 'Jonathan', which are types of apple. A second set of 'Healing', 'Join', 'Greg' and 'Show of', which can all precede 'hands', followed. The final sets slotted in pretty comfortably after that: 'Pippin', 'Merry', 'Gaffer' and 'Sam' are hobbits, while 'Twill', 'Duct', 'Ticker' and 'Cassette' are types of tape. A well resolved and much needed ten points.
The Cosmopolitans thus set to work on the Water wall. Their first set came fairly quickly: 'Jay', 'Malcolm', 'Jessie' and 'Agnes' are forenames of people with initials as a surname. A second set came pretty quickly too: 'Bay', 'Rose', 'Shop' and 'Louvre' are types of window. They studied the remaining clues, and soon had the groups sorted out: 'Picasso', 'Carnavelet', 'D'Orsay' and 'Marmottan' are Parisian museums, while 'Power', 'Hill', 'Sleep' and 'Street' can all precede 'walking', which they didn't see, thus dropping three points. Still, seven points meant they led 23-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off the show as usual. 'Road signs' finished a 1-each split. 'A few X short of a Y', such as 'CARDS SHORT OF A DECK', went to the Beekeepers 3-0. 'Overlapping countries', such as 'JAPANAMA', was split 2-each. 'Things often said in unison' only managed one clue, which was timed out. The Cosmopolitans won 26-19.
Another good match with some excellent questions. Unlucky Beekeepers, who were let down by that second round shutout, but a good effort considering, so good luck in the elimination round. Well done Cosmpolitans though, on another good showing against good opponents, and best of luck in the qualifying round!
This week's match: the Psmiths vs the Oscar Men, presumably.
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