Only Connect Series 12: Grand Final: Verbivores vs Cosmopolitans

Well people, here we are: the final of the longest series of Only Connect to date. I still feel 37 shows is maybe a bit too many for the show; I'll maybe go into more detail about what I mean later next week. For the final, the set was decorated with a chandelier and a champagne glass pyramid, plus a few glasses which Victoria, dressed in a more formal outfit than usual, quietly drank throughout the show! (Much to the horror of some commentators, amid speculation she may be pregnant again!)

So, playing to become the twelfth Only Connect champions were the Verbivores, blog readers Phyl Styles and Tom Cappleman and captain Graeme Cole, and the Cosmopolitans, Annette Fenner, Emily Watnick and captain Amy Godel. The Verbivores have taken the longest route possible to get here, narrowly losing their first match to the Psmiths, then beating the Channel Islanders and the Taverners by a single point, then losing to the Surrealists, but easily beating the Fire-Eaters and then overcoming both teams who defeated them to reach the final! The Cosmopolitans, by contrast, are unbeaten thus far, beating the Taverners, the Tubers, the Beekeepers, the Psmiths and the Korfballers last week to make the final! So both sides have had some close scrapes, but ultimately, both have proven themselves worthy finalists, and whoever won would deserve to do so.

Round 1. The Verbivores went first, and kicked off the final with Two Reeds: 'Cordate', then 'Obcordate' (in red), then 'Trifoliate', and finally 'Rhomboid' (in red). They were timed out before they could offer anything, and their opponents didn't see it: they are the suits in a pack of playing cards. The Cosmopolitans opened their final account with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'The Property of a Lady', then 'The Hildebrand Party', then 'Risico', and finally '007 in New York'. Neither team saw this one: they are James Bond stories that have not, yet, been adapted for the screen. The Verbivores chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music question: we heard Nicki Minaj singing 'Anaconda', then 'Booty' by J Lo, then Meghan Trainor with the annoyingly catchy 'All About That Bass', and finally 'Bootylicious' by Destiny's Child. They identified them are being songs where the singers describes their, er, bottom, and collected the first point of the night! (According to Victoria, the question was a test to see if any of the contestants were willing to say 'big behinds', or something like that!) The Cosmopolitans chose Lion next: 'Bravo 9:30', then 'Juliet 3:00', then 'Romeo 3:45', and finally 'Delta 6:00'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the semaphore representations of those letters on a clockface. For their own question, the Verbivores chose Eye of Horus, and got the picture set: we saw actress Joan Chen, then the late Alan Clark (MP), then Mackenzie Crook, and finally a young John Craven. They didn't see it, their opponents did: taking the C off their surnames gives a bird. Left with Water for their own question, the Cosmopolitans saw ''Solo construir un puente' (La mansion)', then ''Il suffit d'unir' (Le legs de Mrs Wilcox)', then ''Apenas conecta (A Mansao)', and finally ''Solo connettere' (Casa Howard)'. They saw it to be 'Only Connect' in different languages, but couldn't work out what the bits in brackets were; their opponents guessed it to be 'Howard's End', the novel from which they phrase came, when translated for other countries, and collected a bonus. At the end of the first round, the Verbivores led 3-1.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Verbivores opened the round with Eye of Horus: 'Methylnaphthidate (temporary)', then 'Gamma hydroxyburate (C)', and then 'Mephedrone (B)'. They saw it to be UK illegal drug classifications, but didn't give an acceptable answer; their opponents did, offering 'Heroine (A)' for a bonus. For their own question, the Cosmopolitans, again, chose 'Horn-ed' Viper, and got the picture set: we saw three effigies, comically depicting Angela Merkel, Kim Jong-Un and Alex Salmond; they didn't identify what would be fourth, their opponents did, offering one of David Cameron for a bonus, the sequence being Lewes Bonfire Night effigies. For their won question, the Verbivores chose Lion: 'Capital Q (E)', then 'Capital U (M)', and then 'Capital I (P)'. They offered 'Capital Z (C)', and were correct, the sequence being world capitals which are the only one to begin with that letter, and the order is the spelling out of 'QUIZ'. The Cosmopolitans chose Twisted Flax next: 'Dance II (Matisse)', then 'Nighthawks (Hopper)', and then 'The Scream (Munch)'; they saw it to be numbers of figures depicted in paintings, but went down instead of up, and thus didn't get it. Their opponents didn't see it at all. 'American Gothic (Wood)' would be acceptable for fourth. For their final choice, the Verbivores chose Water: '1.6180339887...', then 'Life-force in Chinese medicine'; they saw it to be representations of the Greek alphabet, and offered 'the symbol for an Ohm' for three points. Left with Two Reeds, the Cosmopolitans saw '2002: Brazil 4 Germany 3', then '2006: Italy 3 France 1'; they saw it to be World Cup finals, but thought it to be final scores, and thus their offer of '2014: Germany 1 Argentina 0' was not correct. Their opponents saw '2010: Spain 0 Netherlands 0', but were none the wiser. They are the numbers of World Cups the competing teams had previously won, so '2014: Germany 3 Argentina 2' completes the set. At the end of the second round, the Verbivores led 9-2.

On to the Walls. The Cosmopolitans went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They quickly isolated '1837', '1702', '1558' and '1952', which are years of female monarchs' accessions. A second set, '27', '1', '125' and '343', which are cubes, followed. The final clues were solved pretty quickly too: '1500', '400', '110' and '10,000' are distances in athletics, while '1999', '5,6,7,8', 'One' and '5.15' are song titles. A very well resolved ten points!

The Verbivores thus set to work on the Lion wall needing a good result to stay in front. They too solved two sets very quickly: '32', '0', '273.15' and '491.67' are freezing points of water, while '1066', '1689', '1087' and '1830' are accession years of King Williams. They too then quickly had the wall solved: '33 1/2', '16 2/3', '78' and '45' are record speeds, while '300', '2012', '10' and 'Infinity' are film titles. Another full ten, which gave them a 19-12 lead going into the final round.

So, Missing Vowels to finish off the final and the series. 'Months and their birthstones' went to the Cosmopolitans 3-1. 'Five words in alphabetical order', such as 'BAG, BEG, BIG, BOG, BUG', went to the Verbivores 4-(-1). 'Things found on a chip shop menu' was another 3-1 to the Cosmopolitans. 'Random words', such as 'INDISCRIMINATE', was split 1-each, and that was time. The Verbivores had won the show, and the series, 26-18!

An excellent end to the series, well played both teams, especially the walls! Unlucky Cosmopoltians, but well done on an excellent series of performances! Very very well done Verbivores though on winning the series, after an excellent run throughout the series!

And thanks to all the teams who took part, as well as VCM and TPTB for another excellent series! I will post a fuller set of my final thoughts some time in the coming week.

I'll be back tomorrow with my review of the UC final as usual; see yous then.