OK, sorry for another long wait, but finally I can deal with last Monday's Only Connect. Hopefully from now on in, I won't be keeping you waiting as long.
Playing were the Dandies, Oscar Powell, Lewis Barn and captain, and blog reader, Jack Bennett, who beat the Gaffers but narrowly lost to the Beaks, and the Arrowheads, Sarah Lister, Hannah Hogben and captain Nick Lister, husband of Sarah, who overcame the Wombles but were narrowly pipped by the Detectives.
Round 1. The Dandies opened the show with Twisted Flax: 'David: Proctor', then 'Nicholas: Teaching assistant', then 'Oliver: Undertaking apprentice'; they, and I, saw them to be the occupations of Dickens title characters, and collected two points. The Arrowsmiths kicked their night off with Lion, and the picture set: we saw a crow, then the band Humble Pie , then a word cloud, and finally a trilby hat. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are things you figuratively eat when you admit to being wrong (ie, all those who thought Man City would go unbeaten this season!). The Dandies chose Water next: 'Stoner author', then 'The Deer Hunter guitarist'; they quickly saw them to be men called John Williams, and collected three good points! The Arrowheads chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard the theme tune to Magnum PI, then a remix of the Father Ted theme tune, then the Balamory theme tune; they offered 'theme tunes to shows associated with Scotland', not right. Their opponents heard the Bergerac theme tune, and offered 'themes to shows set on islands' for a bonus. For their own question, the Dandies chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Extra Special', then 'M Signature', then 'Finest'; they saw them to be premium brands for supermarkets, and picked up two more points. Left with Two Reeds, and in need of some points, the Arrowheads saw 'Where the distance judge sat', then 'The 1967 winner', then 'A horse that jumped it backwards', and finally 'Where Captain Martin Becher took shelter'; they identified them as fences at Aintree, and collected their first point of the match. At the end of the first round, the Dandies led 8-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dandies kicked off with Lion: '4 Williams', then '3 Georges', and then '2 Andrews, Franklins, Thomases'; they offered '1 Barack', which was correct, the sequence being how many presidents of the US have had those forenames. The Arrowsmiths chose Water next: 'Friday, April 1st', then 'Monday, August 2nd', and then 'Saturday, December 3rd'; they offered 'Thursday, April 4th', not correct. Their opponents tried 'Wednesday, April 4th', also not right. This was a clever one: the days and months have been arranged into alphabetical order, so 'Sunday, February 4th' would complete the set. The Dandies chose Eye of Horus next, and got the picture set: we saw a minion, then Postman Pat, and then some random bloke. They couldn't offer anything, and their opponents were none the wiser: they are people/things with three, four and five fingers on each hand, so someone/thing with six fingers on one hand, such as Anne Boleyn (allegedly), would satisfy. The Arrowheads chose Twisted Flax next: '4th in world: Sri Lanka', then '3rd in world: Kenya', and then '2nd in world: India'. They tried '1st in world: China', and were right, the sequence being the countries that produce the most tea. For their final choice, the Dandies chose 'Horn-ed' Viper again: 'Mars: wine', then 'imp: ungulate', and then 'ko: marsupial'. They saw a sequence, but couldn't give an acceptable answer; nor could their opponents. It's things that can be formed by adding 'ala' to words of four, three and two letters, so 'G: bingo club' would be acceptable for the points. Left with Two Reeds again, the Arrowheads saw 'Vault', then 'Uneven bars', and then 'Balance Beam'; they saw it to be the routines in women's gymnastics, so 'Floor' would come fourth. At the end of the second round, the Dandies led 10-5.
On to the Walls. The Arrowheads went first this time, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They quickly saw a connection of famous Humphrys, and isolated 'Appleby', 'Burton', 'Downing Street cat' and 'Lyttelton'. A second set followed fairly quickly: 'Arc', 'Hurricane', 'Lava' and 'Table' are types of lamp. After carefully looking over the remainders, they had them sorted: 'Pearl', 'Plumage', 'Figurative' and 'Limerick' all begin with the names of fruits, which they saw, while 'Davy', 'Wren', 'Newton' and 'Pepys' are presidents of the Royal Society, which they didn't, thus dropping three. So seven points there.
The Dandies could thus put the match out of realistic reach if they could sweep the Lion wall clean. They made a good start, quickly isolating 'Thickett', 'Saxondale', 'Calf' and 'Ferrino', which are characters played by Steve Coogan, followed by 'Drummer', 'Partridge', 'Maid' and 'Swan', which are presents from the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Were it not for the footie breaks, that might've tied in nicely with the broadcast date!) After looking over the final sets, they solved it on their second try: 'Kneel', 'Dug', 'Fill' and 'Gym' are homophones of boys names, while 'Locked', 'Lord', 'Slide' and 'Scape' can all follow 'Land'. A full ten there, which gave them a lead of 20-12 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish, with the Arrowheads needing a virtual shutout to stand a chance. 'Phrases including tennis terms', such as 'TEA SERVICE' and 'SMALL CLAIMS COURT', was splint 2-each. 'Disclaimers', such as 'TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY', went to the Arrowheads 3-1. 'Things that came to being in 1971' went to the Dandies 2-1. 'Awards for genre fiction' gave the Arrowheads one point, and the second got timed out. The Dandies won 25-19.
Another good match, both teams did well considering how tough some of those early questions were. Unlucky Arrowheads, but a perfectly respectable series of performances, thanks for playing. Well done Dandies though, and best of luck in your next match!
Tomorrow's match: the Cricketers vs the Escapologists, the two first round runners-up we expected we'd be seeing again, followed by the Meeples vs the Inquisitors the week after.
Back tomorrow with UC as usual, and hopefully I can get my OC blog done a lot earlier too, but I promise nothing.
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