University Challenge 2020-21: Semi-Final 2: Magdalene vs Balliol

Good evening friends, and welcome to the penultimate match of this year's UC! Winner of tonight's match would play Warwick in next week's final. Only Connect had its final tonight of course; I won't be doing a full review this year, just a slightly longer than usual summary below. Mastermind, of course, will carry on a few more weeks after next week; what I'll do is wait until the final has aired and then complete the Quizzy Mondays season by summarising all the remaining matches at once. For now, though, it's business as usual...

Magdalene College Cambridge defeated two Oxford teams, Univ. and Corpus Christi, in the first two rounds, and then defeated Birkbeck and Strathclyde in the QFs, though they also lost to Warwick. They were unchanged from those previous games: 

James Byrne, from Welwyn Garden City, studying Maths

Adam Davies, from Wichita, Kansas, graduated in History

Captain: Daniel Lawson, from the Wirral, studying Medicine

Kerry Payne, from Little Weighton in East Yorkshire, studying Theology for Ministry

 

Balliol College Oxford, in a nice bit of symmetry, beat two Cambridge teams, Clare and St John's, in the first two rounds, but they came through the QFs undefeated with wins over King's and Durham. They were unchanged from their past three matches: 

Ben Tomasi, from Perth in Australia, graduated in Law 

Solenne Scholefield, from Bath, studying Classics

Captain: Michael O'Connor, from Blackheath in London, graduated in Philosophy and Politics, now doing a graduate degree in Philosophy

Lily Crowther, from Royal Leamington Spa, studying History

 

So off we set for the penultimate time this series, and it was Magdalene who got going first courtesy of Mr Davies; bonuses on contemporaries of Dante gave them one correct bonus and they were unfortunate to not get another. A penalty then allowed Ms Scholefield to push Balliol off the mark, and they also took a single bonus from their first set. Mr O'Connor gave the Oxonians a second starter in a row, but no bonuses were taken this time. Mr Lawson recouped Magdalene's lost points, they took two bonuses on Indian provinces to give them back the lead. The first picture starter was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on Soviet cities and their former names, went to Magdalene, though not after both sides lost more points across three replacement starters. After all that, the Cambridge side led 45-15.

Mr Davies increased that advantage as he took the next starter, and the Cambridge side duly swept up a full bonus set on mathematical functions. Mr Lawson gave them a third in a row, but, in a reversal of fortune, they then got nothing from a set on characters in The Taming of the Shrew. The music round, on acts who designed their own album covers, went to Magdalene; again, no bonuses were taken, but their lead had now been taken to 90-15.

And another starter from Mr Davies took them into three figures, before two bonuses and another starter from Mr Byrne gave them a 100+ lead; just one bonus came this time. And when Mr Lawson was first to identify Plutonium and Cerium as the two elements named after dwarf planets, their lead was now surely insurmoutable; a full bonus set on flags of Middle East countries all but confirmed this. Another starter and two bonuses to the Cambridge team brought us to the second picture round, on authors who've written more than one winner of the O Henry award; Balliol finally got back into the game with this, and a full set took the scores to 170-40.

But Magdalene weren't letting up, Mr Lawson very quickly snapping up the next starter and a full bonus set on Eu institutions was gulped down just as quickly. Ms Scholefield did the right thing and took an early punt at the next starter, but only managed to lose five; Mr Lawson took full advantage and a second full house in a row took them past 200. Another Balliol penalty, another Magdalene pickup, and yet another full house gave the Cambridge side a 200+ lead. Balliol did take one more starter courtesy of Ms Scholefield, and two bonuses ensured they wouldn't be joining the Sub-50 club. Three starters in a row were dropped, Magdalene finally took the fourth and a final flourish gave them yet another full set. And that was the gong, Magdalene won 270-50.

A very one sided, but still highly enjoyable contest. Very well done Magdalene, a storming performance that stands them in good stead going into next week's final, very very best of luck to them there! And well done to Balliol too, a good team who didn't deserve to lose like that and who were worthy semi-finalists, thanks very much to them for playing.

The stats: Messrs Davies and Lawson were joint best buzzer of the night with six each, the latter has now overtaken Mr Byrne as their best buzzer with 21 starters to his 20, while Ms Scholefield and Mr O'Connor got two each for Balliol, the latter ending the series their best buzzer with 24. On the bonuses, Magdalene managed 28 out of 42 (with two penalties) and Balliol 6 out of 12 (with four penalties).

Next week's match: the final! Warwick vs Magdalene. A more thorough preview on Wednesday. I hope.

Only Connect’s sixteenth final saw the Dungeon Masters, Charlie Deeks, Sam Hayfield and captain Anna Hayfield, play the Puzzle Hunters, Paul Taylor, Ali Lloyd and captain Katie Steckles. The teams were tied on 6-each after a very high quality first round, before a rather trickier second round saw them tied at 10-each going into the Walls. Once again, the teams couldn’t not be separated, 7 each leaving it tied at 17-each going into Missing Vowels. The Puzzle Hunters just had the better of that, and won the game and the series 23-18. Congratulations to them, worthy winners! And the Dungeon Masters as well, who would’ve been worthy winners too. And thanks to all involved in another most enjoyable series! All that’s left to do is watch it all back again, starting tomorrow…

 

Mastermind, meanwhile, reached its final first round match, which was won by Tim Hall, whose 22 points were six clear of second place contender Connor Warden on 16. Next week, the semi-finals begin with a double bill, one at 7:30, the other at 8pm.