Only Connect Series 13: Round 2: Match 2: Eco-Warriors vs Snake Charmers

OK, Only Connect time. Remember, the winners go through to the group stage, while the runners-up would fall into the play-off round alongside the other second round runners-up and the two highest scoring first round runners-up.

Playing were the Eco-Warriors, Jonathan Kershaw, Peter Barlow and captain Brett Bostock, who won a good first round match against the Escapologists, one of the two first round survivors, and the Snake Charmers, Thomas Rychlik, Kate Pfeffer and captain John Howe, who easily triumphed over the Extras in their first outing.

Round 1. The Warriors went first, and kicked the match off with Lion: ''Pressed'', then ''Stained'', then ''Little Hood''; at this point, they offered 'translations of names of Italian painters'. Not right. Their opponents saw ''American'', but were none the wiser; they are translations of names of types of coffee. The Charmers kicked their night off with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Dutch 1/12', then 'English 1/12', then 'Portuguese 1/12', and finally 'Spanish 9/12'. They saw it at the last minute to be the languages spoken in independent South American countries. The Warriors chose Two Reeds, and got the music question: we heard 'Back to the Old House' by the Smiths, then the theme from the Back to the Future films, then Amy Winehouse with 'Back to Black'; they got the link the wrong way round, and offered 'black', not right. Their opponents heard 'Back to Life' by Soul2Soul, and offered the correct link for a bonus. For their own question, the Charmers chose Eye of Horus, and got the picture set: we saw some fighter jets, then a cowboy shaped sign, then the Old Vic theatre, and then the Queen Vic from EastEnders. They offered that they are all 'Vic' for the point. (The first clues being a 'Vic formation' and 'Vegas Vic' respectively) The Warriors chose Water next: 'Dr Jeff Wilson', then 'Nagg & Nell', then 'Top Cat', and finally 'Oscar the Grouch'. They spotted that they all live in bins, and collected their first point of the night. Left with Twisted Flax, the Charmers saw 'Corn on the cob', then 'Elizabeth I', then 'Analogue clock', and finally 'Snail mail'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents; they are retronyms, ie they have not always been known as that and have been renamed retrospectively. At the end of the first round, the Charmers led 3-1.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Warriors kicked the round off with Twisted Flax: '4: Meeting on the Via Dolorosa', then '5: Crucifixion'; they offered 'the Resurrection', which was not right. Their opponents saw '6: Deposition', but were none the wiser. They are the last four sorrows of the Virgin Mary, so '7: Burial of Jesus' would be fourth. The Charmers chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next, and got the picture set: we saw two Man U players, one of whom was on his back with his legs up, then a ramp, and then a stereo speaker. They are it to be 'CRAMP', 'RAMP' and 'AMP', so offered 'a photo of Jacob Rees-Mogg' for 'MP' for the two points. The Warriors chose Two Reeds next: '1st January 2002', then '1st February 2003', and then '2nd March 2005'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: it's the Fibonacci sequence expressed as dates, so '3rd May 2008' would be fourth. Good set! For their own question, the Charmers chose Lion: 'Man-of-War (2016)', then 'Practices (2012)'; they tried 'Tragedy (2004)', which was correct, the sequence being winners of the Euros going backwards and words associated with their nationalities (Portugal, Spain, Spain and Greece respectively). For their final choice, the Warriors chose Eye of Horus: 'Zip line', then 'See-saw', and then 'Travelator'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: its the final four objects on the Gladiators Eliminator assault course, so 'Swing through paper burst' would complete the set. Left with Water, the Charmers saw 'Johns', then '40', and then 'Fields'. They didn't see it, their opponents did, offering 'Yeats' for a bonus, the sequence being 'WE (Johns)', 'WD(40)' and 'WC (Fields)'. At the end of the second round, the Charmers led 9-2.

On to the Walls. The Charmers went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. After a few early wrong guesses, they had two sets in the bag in short order: 'Waldheim', 'Klimt', 'Lauda' and 'Popper' are famous Austrians, while 'Heavens', 'Gracious', 'Grief' and 'God' can all follow 'Good' to give exclamations (of the sort Paxo might, and indeed did yesterday, use!). After carefully looking over the remaining clues, they had it on their first try: 'Zip', 'Button', 'Buckle' and 'Toggle' are clothes fastenings, while 'Lord', 'Schwarzenegger', 'Shea' and 'Laver' are people who gave their names to sports stadiums, but they didn't get that, so dropped three points. Seven for that then.

The Warriors could put themselves back in the game with a clean sweep of the Water wall. They quickly ran into trouble, struggling to slot anything into place. Eventually, they isolated 'Caveat', 'Curriculum', 'Status' and 'Vox', which are words that begin Latin phrases. This was promptly followed by 'Editor', 'Marine', 'Sonic' and 'Urban', which can all follow 'Sub' to give longer words. After looking at what they had left, they had it in place on their second go: 'Durham', 'Helfgott', 'Melba' and 'Goodrem' are Australian musicians, while 'Cave', 'Performance', 'Pop' and 'Kinetic' are types of art. A full ten there, but they still trailed 16-12 going into the final round.

So, Missing Vowels would decide who went through, and who needed two more wins. 'Films with countries in the title' was split 1-each, with the Charmers getting two right but one wrong. 'Car companies and their emblems' was a clean sweep to the Warriors, 4-0. 'Things that contain almonds' saw the Charmers get one wrong, and none answered correctly. That was it; the Warriors had snuck it, 17-16!

Another good match with some excellent questions. Unlucky Charmers, unlucky to just get pipped at the post, best of luck in the play-off round. Well done Warriors though, and very best of luck in the group stage!

No match this week, as LIVE FA Cup football gets priority; wouldn't happen if it were on a Monday! Back on the 10th with the Meeples vs the Belgophiles.