University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 14: York vs Northeastern

Good evening once again my friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! We've arrived at the final match of the first round of a series of UC we were all a bit apprehensive going into, but which has turned out most enjoyable (IMO anyway). Tonight we also saw the first debuting team of the Amol Rajan era, playing one of the most prolific entrants of the Paxo era; their task, win, or lose with 160 or more.

The University of York, not to be confused with Toronto's York University, is the regular, having appeared 19 teams under Paxo (plus a further nine under Bamber if AR is to be believed), of which its best was when it reached the final in 2010-11 before losing soundly to Magdalen of Oxford. This year's foursome were:

Emma Giles, from Cheltenham, studying English Literature

Emma-Mae Smith, from Scunthorpe, studying Linguistics

Captain: Ollie Smith, from Basildon, studying Chemistry

David Bachelor, from Enfield in Middlesex, studying Economics and Politics

Northeastern University London was formerly the New College of the Humanities, before being purchased by the American Northeastern University in 2019, acquiring its new name only last year. Its first ever UC team were:

Colin Garwood, from Hertfordshire, studying Philosophy

Benjamin Schmale, from Germany, Kenya and Switzerland, studying History with Economics

Captain: Chloe Rogers, from Cambridgeshire, studying History with Politics and International Relations

Seamus Conlon, from London, studying Artificial Intelligence

So, off we set once again then, and the first starter of the night was taken by Ms Smith, who was differentiated from her captain by Mr Tilling referring to them as 'York E. Smith' (wasn't he in The Bill?) and 'York O. Smith'; they took one bonus. Mr Garwood gave Northeastern their first ever UC starter, and they also took one bonus from their first ever set. York took the next two starters though, including the first picture round, on locations of funicular railway systems, after which they led 50-15. Two further starters pulled York further ahead, though only three bonuses from six meant they hadn't pulled as far ahead as they could've. Northeastern now got a good run going, taking three starters in a row, including the music round, on Motown disco songs; two bonuses from that meant they'd now cut the gap to 85-65.

And when York lost five on the next starter, and the London side took it, they were just five behind. No bonuses followed, but a fifth in a row gave them the lead, with a full bonus set on Ireland taking them into three figures too. Back came York with two starters in a row, but just one bonus from six meant it was still tight. The second picture round, on paintings by teachers as the Bauhaus (I said Kandinsky before any of them had even been asked!), went to Northeastern; two bonuses meant they now led 120-105. But back came York again, with a late rally on the buzzer that saw them pull away into a strong late lead, though the bonuses continued to trouble them (one of them, on the host of the next Commonwealth Games, is now out of date). At the gong, York won 190-120.

A good close game to end the first round despite being lower scoring than some before it. Well done to York, a decent first showing, though they may need to improve on the bonuses in the next round; best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Northeastern, but a very respectable first ever performance on the show; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Bachelor was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Mr Garwood was best for Northeastern with four. On the bonuses, York managed 14 out of 37 (with two penalties) and Northeastern 10 out of 21.

Next week's match: Trinity vs Southampton in the first play-off, followed, presumably, by Oxford Brookes vs Open the week after. A fuller preview coming up later this week, if I remember.

Only Connect continued its qualifier matches with the Antiphons and the Thrifters returning for their second contests. The latter led 6-2 after the first round (I claim three points on the months question), and 12-6 after the second (I claim the Scottish cities and the exceptions question, complete with the exact model answer(!) at the same times as the teams). A better wall saw the Thrifters increase their lead to 22-13 going into Missing Vowels, and they only increased their advantage in that to win 32-18.

 

Mastermind was another high scoring and very close contest, with Rob Jones just triumphing with 24 points, ahead of Martin Hoskins (formerly of OC) and Steve Barnes (formerly of UC and OC), both of whom scored 22, and Amy Roberts who scored 18.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Colin Kidd (OC alumnus), who raced off the blocks with a ‘five in a row and a bonus point’ in the first round and never looked back, eventually winning with 15 points, four ahead of second placed Andrew Craig with 11. Karen Barnes and Carol Norton also took part, finishing with 7 and 8 respectively.