Right, Only Connect. Apologies that I have fallen behind again, but I will try as hard as I can not to again, though I'm guaranteeing nothing.
Anyway, starting with the second qualification match from the 3rd of March. Playing for a place in the semi-finals were the Psmiths, Mark Smith, Nick Holland and captain Nick Reed, who have defeated the Verbivores, the Networkers and the Oscar Men to get this far, and the Cosmopolitans, Annette Fenner, Emily Watnick and captain Amy Godel, whose prior victories have been over the Taverners, the Tubers and the Beekeepers.
Round 1. The Psmiths went first, and kicked off the match with Two Reeds: 'Love Potion No. 9 (1959, 1992)', then 'Ode to Billie Jean (1967, 1976)', then 'Convoy (1975, 1978)', and finally 'Yellow Submarine (1966, 1968)'. The last one gave it to them: they are pop songs and the films they were made into, accompanied by their respective years. The Cosmopolitans opened their account with 'Horn-ed' Viper, and got the picture set: we saw a Henry hoover, then Constable's The Haywain, then a hospital matron, and finally the Khyber Pass. Again, the final clue gave it to them: they are Carry On films. The Psmiths chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music question: we heard '5.7.0.5' by City Boy, then '867-5309 / Jenny' by Everclear, then '634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)', and finally 'Pennsylvania 6-5000' as performed by Glenn Miller. They didn't see the connection, their opponents did on a guess, offering 'telephones', which was close enough for the point. For their own question, the Cosmopolitans chose Lion: 'Ali Amako', then 'Reece Thens', then 'Elize Elmopan'; they spotted it to be countries and their capitals minus their first letters, and collected two points. The Psmiths chose Water next: 'Actor who played The Joker on TV', then 'Johannesburg football club'; they offered 'the names of pop bands', which was not correct. Their opponents saw 'Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great etc' and 'Villain in The Usual Suspects', and offered that they are all linked by names relating to 'Caesar' for a bonus. (Cesar Romero, Kaizer Chiefs FC, Tsar and Keyser Soze) Left with Eye of Horus for their own question, the Cosmopolitans saw 'Dwyfor (1945)', then 'Chatham (1766)', then 'Beaconsfield (1876)'; they offered 'earldoms assumed by prime-ministers on retirement from the commons', and collected two points. At the end of the first round, the Cosmopolitans led 7-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Psmiths went first with Two Reeds, and got a music sequence: we heard Jessie J singing Domino, then Kylie with Spinning Around, and then Rita Ora's How We Do. They saw it to be female judges on the BBC's version of The Voice, but misidentified the third as Jessie J, so offered Rita Ora as fourth, and their opponents didn't see it altogether. The sequence is correct, so something by Paloma Faith would be fourth. (Cue the best enforced singalong ever, as Mr Smith gave a hilarious impression of Ms Faith's awful rendition of I Vow to Thee my Country, sending everyone into hysterics!) The Cosmopolitans chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next: '4: Castaway in Jamaica', then '3: Finally reached South America', and then '2: Built the city of La Isabella'. They didn't know it, their opponents did, offering '1: Landed in Dominica in 1492' for a bonus, the sequence being the four voyages of Christopher Columbus. For their own question, the Psmiths chose Water: 'LEONARD NELSON', then 'KARL MARX', and then 'JOHN LOCKE'. They spotted the sequence as being the forename and surname both going backwards alphabetically, so offered 'IMMANUEL KANT' for the two points. The Cosmopolitans chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw a single dash, then the same dash slightly lower down, and then a symbol for a crotchet rest. They saw the sequence, but didn't know what was fourth, ditto their opponents. They are a semibreve rest, a minim rest and a crotchet rest, so the symbol for a quaver rest would be fourth. For their final choice, the Psmiths chose Lion (and apologies that I cannot reproduce this accurately): '4 (small 5)', then '10 (small 4)', and then '11 (small 3)'. They didn't see it, their opponents saw the sequence but got the answer wrong: it's the number 4 in base 5, 4, 3 and 2, so '100 (small 2)' is fourth. Left with Eye of Horus, the Cosmopolitans saw '4: Forty-Niners' (in a slightly smaller font size), then '3: Earthquakes' (normal size), and then '2: Padres' (large size). They offered '1: Dodgers', which would be correct, the sequence being sports teams in California's largest cities, with the font implying increasing size. At the end of the second round, the Cosmopolitans led 9-4.
On to the Walls. The Cosmpolitans went first, and they opted to tackle the Lion wall. They had their first set straight away: 'Cullinan', 'Taylor-Burton', 'Hope' and 'Koh-i-Noor' are diamonds. The rest proved harder to crack, and it took them some time before they had a second set: 'Dingle', 'Hudson', 'Botany' and 'Guanabara' are bays. Looking over what was left, they had it solved in no time at all: 'Scarlett', 'Cardigan', 'Lucan' and 'Raglan' are commanders in the Crimean War, while 'Barton', 'Sugden', 'Thomas' and 'Sharma' are families in Emmerdale. A full ten there.
The Psmiths thus needed to match that to realistically stay in the game, as they set to work on the Water wall. They too found a set pretty quickly: 'Bread', 'Rhoda', 'Taxi' and 'Soap' are sitcoms. A second set, 'Robert', 'Omar', 'Ellen' and 'Uhuru', which are forenames of African presidents, followed suite. They tried to solve the wall, but ran out of lives, and thus had to collect bonus points: 'Squirrel', 'Jacob', 'Carpet' and 'Saucer' can all follow 'Flying', which they got, while 'Music', 'Dieters', 'Fish' and 'Maps' are linked by 'scales', which they didn't. So five there, which left them trailing 19-9 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish, as usual. 'Sections of the Daily Mail website' was split 2-each. 'Names beginning with a continent', such as 'AFRICAN VIOLET' and 'ASIAN PEAR', went to the Cosmopolitans 3-1. 'Board games that don't use a dice' went to the Psmiths 2-0. 'People you might buy something from' only had time for one clue, which the Cosmopolitans took. At the end of the quiz, the Cosmopolitans won 25-14.
Another excellent half hour of quizzing, even if a bit one sided. Unlucky Psmiths, but it's still up for grabs, so best of luck in the play-off on Friday. Very well done Cosmopolitans though, and very best of luck in the semi-finals!
Next match, which I will write-up whenever I can, hopefully tomorrow: the Beekeepers vs the Korfballers in the first play-off
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