OK, moving on to Only Connect, in what is the first time I've blogged twice in the same day since way back when I first started this blog back in 2012! Not deliberately, I was going to do UC yesterday, but other things got in the way. In fact, if UC hadn't been on all week, I would've done this on Wednesday or Thursday as I said I would. Anyway, we're here now, let's get on with t.
Playing on Tuesday were the Birdwatchers, Chris Grandison, Keli Richards and captain Lauren Hamer, who were defeated by the Dicers, and the Brews, Andy Christley, James Buchanan and captain Daniel Foskett, who were taken out by the Forrests first time around.
Round 1. The Birdwatchers opened the game with Two Reeds, and the music question: we heard David Whitfield sining 'Cara Mia', then 'Hakuna Matata' from the Lion King, then ABBA with 'Voulez-Vou', and finally 'Y Viva Espana'. They knew them to be songs sung in English with non-English titles, and collected the game's first point. The Brews opened their game with Lion: 'Oneness (Rastafarianism)', then 'Button-shaped chocolate', then 'Therapeutic time off', and finally 'Cheap overnight accommodation'. They identified them duplicated single letters terms (M&M, B&B etc), and also collected a sole point. The Birdwatchers chose Twisted Flax next: 'Port Elizabeth, South Africa', then 'Baku, Azerbaijan', then 'Wellington, New Zealand', and finally 'Chicago, USA'. They suggested 'hosts of Grand Prix', not correct. Their opponents knew them to be cities with nicknames relating to 'wind', and collected a bonus. For their own question, the Brews chose Horned Viper: 'Logistello Murakami', then 'Chinook Tinsley', then 'AlphaGo Lee', and finally 'Deep Blue Kasparov'. They saw them to be computers and World Champions they have beaten at their game, and collected another single point. The Birdwatchers chose Water next: 'Consonants', then 'Drugs', then 'Brexit'; they saw them to be things that can follow both 'hard' and 'soft', and collected two points. Left with Eye of Horus, and the pictures, the Brews saw Danny Baker and a Labrador dog, then Pedro Almodovar and a pony, then Zoe Wanamaker and a zebra, and finally George Clooney and a pig. They didn't get it, neither did their opponents: the celebrities forenames and the animals give characters in Peppa Pig! (Only familiar with that show through YouTube parodies myself) At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 3-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Birdwatchers opened the round with Eye of Horus: '...a problem', then '...can help'; they saw it to be the voice-over at the start of the A-Team, and so offered '...The A-Team' for the three points. The Brews chose Horned Viper next: 'F', then 'B16', and then 'JP2'. They saw them to be the initials and numbers of Popes going backwards, so 'JP1' would be fourth. The Birdwatchers chose Lion next: 'Point', then 'Line'. They saw them to be elements of geometry with 0 and 1 dimension(s), and thus offered 'Cube', which was acceptable for the points, as would have been any solid shape. The Brews chose Two Reeds next: 'Food (weeks)', then 'Water (days)', and then 'Shelter (hours)'. They offered 'Oxygen (minutes)', and were correct for the two points, the sequence being the rule of three, ie how long one can survive without of those things (without food for three weeks, water for three days, and so on). For their final choice, the Birdwatchers chose Twisted Flax: 'Paragon', then 'Most frequently occurring value', and then 'Rocker's rival'; they saw them to be 'MODEL', 'MODE' and 'MOD', so offered 'Sir, Farah', which was acceptable for the two points. Left with Water, and the pictures again, the Brews saw a triangle pointing downwards, then a large 'L', and then an upside down 'B'. They saw them to be Greek letters upside down, so suggested an upside down 'A' for the points. At the end of a good second round, the Birdwatchers led 11-9.
On to the Walls. The Brews went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They quickly isolated 'Prince', 'Fire', 'Stone' and 'Phoenix', which are the final words of Harry Potter book titles, followed shortly afterwards by 'Rescue', 'Birthday', 'Coach' and 'Labour', which can all precede 'party'. They took their time with the final clues, but had everything sorted easily in the end: 'Saints', 'Hallows', 'Present and correct' and 'Square' can all precede 'All', while 'Surprise', 'Scottsdale', 'Flagstaff' and 'Tucson' are places in Arizona. A good full ten there.
The Birdwatchers thus set to work on the Lion wall. The first two sets fell in straight away: 'Denis', 'Call Me', 'Dreaming' and 'Atomic' are songs by Blondie, while 'Dirty', 'Bouncing', 'Stink' and 'Pipe' can all precede 'bomb'. They used their plenty of remaining time to study what was left, but were unable to untangle the final sets in their three tries, so had to go for bonuses: 'Edith', 'd'Abernon', 'Newington' and 'Mandeville' can all follow 'Stoke' to give place names, which they knew, while 'Fanny', 'Maria', 'Fairfax' and 'Officer Crabtree' are characters in 'Allo 'Allo, which they also knew. Six points there, which meant the Brews now led 19-17 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went through to the play-offs and who went out. 'Words with four Rs' went to the Brews 3-1. 'Inappropriate wedding songs', such as 'WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?' and 'WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER', went to the Birdwatchers 3-1. 'First line of rhyming proverbs' was another 3-1 to the Birdwatchers. 'Well known biscuits' was split 2-each. And that was time, the Brews had 26 points, the Birdwatchers had 26 points!
So, the second tie-breaker of the series: 'FR TNF VRST HBRV'. Ms Hamer was first in: 'FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE': riiiiiiiiiight!
A great game, high quality, well played by both sides, shame this is a sudden death match. Unlucky Brews, but a fine performance to go out on, thanks for playing! Well done Birdwatchers though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
Tomorrow's match: the Dragons vs the Three Peaks
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