OK, so now we know exactly what's happened with Only Connect. Remember a few weeks ago when the Forrests had to withdraw, but Victoria claimed the Dragons had had to pull out? Well, this week, the Dragons actually have had to withdraw, but Victoria claimed in her intro it was the Forrests who'd had to! Hope someone got fired for that script blunder. Anyway, that did mean another team would get a reprieve, and given that they were playing the other reprieved team, whoever won would reach the knockouts with only one win to their names!
Playing were the Hotpots, Paul Jackson, Jo Beattie and captain Paul Richardson, who were eliminated after losses to the Poptimists and the Durhamites, but have been reprieved by the Dragons' withdrawal, and the Brews, Andy Christley, James Buchanan and captain Daniel Foskett, who went out after losing to the Forrests and the Birdwatchers, but were asked back to take their first opponents' place in the qualifiers, where they lost to the Dicers. And I thought the return to the old format would make these previous form summaries easier to write!
Round 1. The Hotpots opened the show with Eye of Horus, and got the music set instantly: we heard the Spinning Chorus from Wagner's Flying Dutchman, then Schubert's 'Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel', then George Michael with 'Spinning the Wheel', and finally Kylie with 'Spinning Around'. They didn't get a buzz in in time, allowing their opponents to offer the correct link for the bonus. (Surprised the Spinning Song by Mendelssohn wasn't one of them) For their own first question, the Brews chose Two Reeds: 'Thomas Jackson - Allied interception of blockade runners', then 'Steven Frayne - Dunkirk evacuation', then 'Frederick I - Nazi invasion of Soviet Union', and finally 'Erwin Rommel - US bombing of Iraq in 1998'. Neither side got this: those operations' military codenames are also those peoples' nicknames (Stonewall, Dynamo, Barbarossa and Desert Fox). The Hotpots chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw Fernando Torres, then singer Donald Glover, then Baby from Dirty Dancing, and finally Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid. They suggested 'Kid', which was close enough for the points; they are people with childish nicknames (Torres was 'El Nino' and Mr Glover is 'Childish Gambino'). The Brews chose Horned Viper next: 'H.G. Wells', then 'Beethoven', then 'Cujo'; they spotted them to be St Bernard dogs, and collected two points. The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next: 'The Sleeping Gypsy (full)', then 'Fishermen At Sea (full)', then 'The Sheepfold (waning)'; they came it at this point, but their offer of 'phases of the Moon in the Southern Hemisphere' was not correct. Their opponents saw 'Starry Night (crescent)', and offered them as paintings in which the Moon appears in those phases, and collected a bonus. Left with Water for their own question, the Brews saw 'Big bad wolf (x)', then 'Bad big wolf ([a tick])', then 'Australian red wine (x)', and finally 'Lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife ([a tick])'. Neither team got this: it is the Royal Order of Adjectives, and examples of what is right and what is wrong according to it. At the end of the first round, the Brews led 4-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Hotpots started with Two Reeds, and got the picture set: we saw a white car, then a handbag, and then a television. Neither side got this: it is the old piracy ad that used to be on every DVD that went 'You wouldn't steal a car', and so on, so something representing 'a movie' would be fourth. (Ed Byrne did a brilliant send up of that ad on Mock the Week once!) The Brews chose Horned Viper next: 'In 4th: (e.g.) Macquarie', then 'In 3rd: (e.g.) Mauritius', and finally 'In 2nd: (e.g.) Ascension'. They tried 'In 1st: Fiji', which was acceptable, the sequence being islands in the oceans in descending size. The Hotpots chose Water next: 'Left harbour', then 'Maestros take one at the front', and then 'Celestial object before governing body is right'. They saw what was going on, and offered 'An angry person behind a vessel', which was good enough for the points, the sequence being crossword style clues to nautical directions. The Brews chose Lion next: 'Stiff Kittens', then 'Warsaw', and then 'Joy Division'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are successive incarnations of the same band, so 'New Order' would complete the set. For their own final choice, the Hotpots chose Eye of Horus: 'Eating a surfeit of lampreys', then 'Shot with an arrow while hunting'; they saw it to be deaths of English kings, but their offer at this point of 'Died in his bed at Westminster' was not correct. Their opponents saw 'Thrown against the pommel of his saddle', and offered 'Arrow in the eye' for the bonus. Left with Twisted Flax for their own final question, the Brews saw '15101051' at the bottom of the box, then '14641' a bit further up, and then '1331' a bit further still. They suggested '121' at the top, and were correct, albeit for the wrong reason: they are rows of Pascal's triangle. At the end of the second round, the Brews led 9-4.
On to the Walls. The Brews went first, and chose the Water wall. They quickly got a bit stuck, eventually managing one set: 'Steel', 'Pepper', 'Pebble' and 'Paper' are types of mill. That was all they could get though, so they had to try for bonuses: 'Cotton', 'Silvester', 'Heath' and 'Loss' are surnames of band leaders, which they didn't get, 'Tote', 'Duffel', 'Dorothy' and 'Gladstone' are types of bag, which they did get, while 'Asquith', 'Lloyd George', 'Thorpe' and 'Grimond' are surnames of leaders of the Liberal Party, which they also got. Four there then.
The Hotpots could thus make up lost ground with a better result on the Lion wall. In contrast, they had a set in the bag straight away: 'Shuttlecock', 'Quill', 'Duvet' and 'Boa' are products with feathers in/on them. A second set, 'Winder', 'Butter', 'Thirl' and 'Gras', which can all have 'mere' added to them to give the names of lakes, followed promptly, and they soon had things sorted on their second attempt: 'Rattle', 'Corn', 'Garter' and 'Coral' are snakes, while 'Hogwood', 'Abbado', 'Alsop' and 'Solti' are surnames of conductors. A full ten there, which meant they now led 14-13 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to decide who took the penultimate knockout round place. 'Types of dating', such as 'CARBON DATING' and 'SPEED DATING', went to the Brews 3-1. 'Phrases containing furniture', such as 'WARDROBE MALFUNCTION', was another 3-1 to the Brews. 'Dinosaurs', such as 'BARNEY'(!) and 'STEGOSAURUS', went to the Brews 2-0, and that was time. The Brews won 21-16.
Another good contest, well done both teams. Unlucky Hotpots, but a fair performance to go out on again, thanks for playing! Well done Brews though, and best of luck in the knockouts!
Next week's match: the Birdwatchers vs the Westenders
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