OK, first of all, congratulations to Ryland Morgan, the new Fifteen-to-One champion who won the final on Friday! A close one though, he won it on lives left, which may or may not be a first for any incarnation of the show. I've also just been watching a final from the original series and came across the most ridiculous question, which I'm bringing up here as its not unrelated to this review: "In 1995 [the year the final aired], Pete Sampras won his third Wimbledon men's singles in a row; which other tennis player won the men's singles at Wimbledon three times in a row three times?" Answer, Bjorn Borg, who won it five times in a row from 1976-80! Laboured to say the least I'd say.
Anyway, lets crack on with these Only Connects we're getting thick and fast at the moment! Playing last Wednesday's sport special were the Footballers, Barry Humphrey, Michael McPartland and captain Jamie Turner, who reached the semi-finals of Series 6, and the Korfballers, Taissa Csaky, Niall Sheekey and captain Michael Jelley, who reached the semis more recently in Series 12.
Round 1. The Korfballers opened the procedings with Two Reeds, and the picture set: we saw a golf club, then actress Madeleine Stowe, then Whitby Abbey, and finally comedian Rob Beckett and politician Margaret Beckett. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are corners at Silverstone. For their own first question, the Footballers chose Lion: 'Princess Merida', then 'Alison Williamson', then 'Penthesilea'; they saw them to all be female archers, and collected two points. The Korfballers chose Twisted Flax next: 'Stephen Ferris', then 'Branislav Ivanovic'; they suggested them to have worn masks while playing their sport; not right. Their opponents saw 'Evander Holyfield' and 'Giorgio Chiellini', and offered that they have all been bitten by opponents for the bonus. For their own question, the Footballers chose Water: 'Tennis (ITF) 1992', then 'Fencing (IWAS) 1960', then 'Basketball (IWBF) 1960', and finally 'Rugby (IWRF) 2000'. Neither team got this: they are the bodies of wheelchair sports and the years they were introduced to the Paralympics. The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: '2001 Canadian Grand Prix', then '1940 World Snooker final', then 'Men's 2016 Olympic Triathlon'; they spotted that the runner up of these were the siblings of the winners, and collected their first points of the game. Left with Eye of Horus, and the music question, the Footballers heard Sarah Vaughan, then Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, then Sir Rod Stewart, and finally Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they share their surnames with England cricket captains. At the end of the first round, the Footballers led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Korfballers opened the round with Eye of Horus: '"The nearest I ever am to being a normal person"', then '"Now watch this drive"'; they saw them to be quotations made by successive presidents, and suggested '"Let's make America great again"' for Mr Trump. It was accepted as close enough: they actual sequence what was US presidents have said on the golf course, so '"Owning a great golf course gives you great power"' would've been a better answer. The Footballers chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw a swimming float, then someone doing a butterfly stroke in swimming; they instantly saw it to be the quote about the late Muhammad Ali, and offered 'a bee' for the three points. (I first encountered that quote on the side of Robot Wars legend Cassius!) The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: we saw two arrows pointing up, then the same two arrows but pointing down, and then the arrows pointing straight away from each other. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: it is the Konami cheat code, so the arrows pointing away from each other again would be fourth. The Footballers chose Water next: '3-2: 17', then '1-4: 18', and then '7-3: 19'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the highest scoring dart board numbers and those either side of them, so '5-1: 20' would be fourth. For their own final choice, the Korfballers chose Twisted Flax: 'Upson', then 'Hughes', and then 'Shaw'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are Matthew Upson, Mark Hughes and Luke Show, so 'John Terry' would be an acceptable fourth clue. Left with Two Reeds, the Footballers saw 'Cheltenham Festival', then 'Ryder Cup'; they though it might be events held every year, every two years and so on, so suggested 'World Cup', not correct. Their opponents saw 'Decathlon', but were none the wiser: they are events that take place over four, three and two days, so something that just takes one day, like 'The FA Cup final', would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Footballers led 7-6.
On to the Walls. The Footballers went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. This proved a good move, as they made short work of it, the first two sets came almost instantly: 'Walker-Peters', 'Rose', 'Winks' and 'Kane' are surnames of current Tottenham Hotspur players, while 'Feathers', 'Thistle', 'Shamrock' and 'Cockerel' are emblems of Six Nations rugby shirts. The last clues didn't take that much longer to deal with: 'Peters', 'Storey', 'MacArthur' and 'Davies' are surnames of sporting dames, while 'Walker', 'Hopman', 'Gold' and 'World' can all precede 'Cup'. A full ten there, solved with no mistakes whatsoever, rare that.
The Korfballers thus set to work on the Water wall. They took a bit longer to get their first set: 'Johnson-Thompson', 'Thompson', 'Simpson' and 'Macey' are surnames of British multi-field atheletes. A second set, 'Johnson', 'Couples', 'Love' and 'Strange', which are surnames of American golfers, followed, and it didn't take them long to sort the rest out after that: 'Doubles', 'Deuce', 'Break' and 'Advantage' are tennis terms, while 'Safety', 'Yellow', 'Conversion' and 'Cannon' are ways of scoring two points in various sports. Another full ten, so as you were, the Footballers led 17-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Non-sporty things with a sport in their name', such as 'VOLKSWAGEN GOLD' and 'BOXING DAY' was a clean sweep to the Footballers, 4-0. 'BBC Sports Personality Teams of the Year' went to the Footballers 3-0. 'A sports and its early name', such as 'TABLE TENNIS AND PING PONG' was a 1-1 split, and that was time. The Footballers won 25-17.
Good game, some very tough questions there, well played both teams, thanks for coming back.
Next special: the Lasletts vs the Meeples in the Family special. Review of that on Christmas Day, by which time we'll have seen our next regular game and final special too. See you then then, and, in the mean time, have a Happy Christmas!
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