Right, Only Connect tonight it is. I'll get on to previewing the UC grand final tomorrow evening. One wonders if OC's highly controversial move to Friday night was put in so that it and UC wouldn't end on the same day.
Anyway, playing the second semi-final on Friday night were the Korfballers, Taissa Csaky, Niall Sheekey and captain Michael Jelley, who have defeated the Channel Islanders, the Shutterbugs, the Fire-Eaters and the Beekeepers to get this far, with a defeat to the Surrealists the only blip thus far, and the Cosmopolitans, Annette Fenner, Emily Watnick and captain Amy Godel, who are undefeated thus far, having beaten the Taverners, the Tubers, the Beekeepers and the Psmiths en route.
Round 1. The Cosmopolitans kicked off the show with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Wrong hoodoos for UNESCO heritage site (Canada)', then 'Schubert music attributed to Schumann (E Germany)', then 'Statue of Liberty commemorated with Las Vegas replica (USA)', and finally 'The Needles situated on the Isle of White (UK)'. They didn't quite get it, nor did their opponents: they are mistakes made on stamps, ie, a stamp commemorating the Statue of Liberty depicted its Vegas lookalike instead! The Korfballers opened their account with Two Reeds, and the music question: we heard Haysi Fantayzee, then Big Audio Dynamite, then Simple Minds' classic 'Don't You Forget About Me', and finally Oasis with 'Wonderwall'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: a member of each group was married to Patsy Kensit at some point. For their own question, the Cosmopolitans chose Twisted Flax: 'Belgium = Z (2002)', then 'Slovenia = H (2007)', then 'Malta = F (2008)', and finally 'United Kingdom - J (reserved)'. Again, neither they nor their opponents saw it: they are the letters seen on Euro banknote serial codes. (Bit outdated that!) The Korfballers chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw some playing cards, then a set of coloured sticks; they came in at this point with 'Gilbert and Sullivan operettas', and collected three points, the clues representing 'Patience' and 'The Mikado'. The Cosmopolitans chose Water next: 'pudding and cheese', then 'Maria and Peter', then 'widow and murder', and finally 'ops and funk'. They had it for sure at the last: they can be proceeded by 'Black' and 'Blue' respectively. Left with Eye of Horus, the Korfballers saw 'Bianca', then 'Charlene', then 'Otto', and finally 'Wilson'. Neither team saw it: they are named inanimate objects in films, Wilson, for example, being the volleyball Tom Hanks befriends in Castaway. (Is it said I only knew that because of a Family Guy cutaway?) At the end of the first round, the Korfballers led 3-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cosmopolitans, again, kicked the round off with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Monday (2,4)', then 'Tuesday (3,4)', and then 'Wednesday (3,6)'. They offered 'Thursday (2,6)', and were correct, the sequence being the number of vowels and consonants in each. The Korfballers, again, chose Two Reeds next (and apologies in advance for how I go about reprinting this one): 'CaCO(small 3) (30)', then 'Al(small 2)O(small 3):Cr (40)', and then 'Au (50)'. They spotted it to be the chemical formulae of wedding anniversary denotations (Pearl, Ruby and Gold respectively), and so offered 'C (60)', as in diamond, for two points. The Cosmopolitans chose Twisted Flax next: 'I: Alpin', then 'II: Alpin', and then 'III: Dunkeld'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents: the sequence is the King Malcolms of Scotland, so 'IV: Dunkeld' would be fourth. The Korfballers chose Lion next: 'Stuart Roosa (14)', then 'Jack Swigert (13)', and then 'Richard F Gordon (12)'. They didn't get it, though their guess that the sequence was world Korfball players of the year was a good one! Their opponents knew it though: they are astronauts who stayed in command modules during Apollo moon landings/walks, so 'Michael Collins (11)' would be next. For their own final choice, the Cosmopolitans chose Water: 'Roman', then 'Millennium', and then 'Classic'. Neither they nor their opponents got this: they are typefaces used by the Times newspaper, so 'Modern' would be next. Left with Eye of Horus again, the Korfballers got the picture question, and saw Christof from the Truman Show, then Christo the artist, and then the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado. Again, neither side spotted it: any famous Chris, such as Mr Tarrant, would satisfy for fourth. At the end of the second round, the teams were level at 5-each.
On to the Walls. The Korfballers went first this time, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They identified a first set reasonably early: 'Lit and Phil', 'Wren', 'Beinecke' and 'George Peabody' are libraries. But that was as far as they could get. So bonus attempts: 'Portcullis', 'Tudor Rose', 'Lion' and 'Britannia' have all appeared on coin reverses, which they knew, 'Test', 'Thiele', 'NMR' and 'Thistle' are laboratory tubes, which they didn't get, while 'Buzz', 'Caledonian', 'Go' and 'BEA' are defunct airlines. Four points there.
The Cosmopolitans thus could pull away if they could make the most of the Lion wall. Unfortunately, it proved just as difficult as their opponents', and they were timed out with nothing solved. Thus, they too had to try to salvage bonus connection points: 'Atari', 'Liberty', 'Monkey Jump' and 'Dame' are terms from the game Go, which they didn't get, 'Great Paul', 'Tsar', 'Japanese Peace' and 'Lutine' are famous bells, which they did know, 'Odyssey', 'Dreamcast', 'Neo Geo' and 'N64' are old video game consoles, which they knew, while 'Maharani', 'Satrap', 'Doge' and 'Kaiser' are rulers, which they knew as well. Three points there, which left them trailing 9-8 going into the crucial final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the place in the final. 'Four-syllable phrases' went to the Cosmopolitans 2-1. 'Passages from Exodus chapter 20 in the King James Bible', ie the Ten Commandments, went to the Cosmopolitans 3-1. 'Things of which there are 50' was split 2-each. 'Things one figuratively doesn't have' only managed two clues, one of which the Korfballers took, with the second being timed out as they buzzed. The Cosmopolitans had snuck home, 15-14!
A very hard and closely fought match, with both teams doing well in the circumstances. Unlucky Korfballers, but nothing to be ashamed of reaching this stage, and a good effort to do so, so thanks very much for playing. Very well done Cosmopolitans though, and very best of luck in the final on Friday!
Friday's match: the final! The Verbivores vs the Cosmopolitans to win the twlefth OC trophy! Very very best of (retrospective) luck both sides!
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