Good evening my friends, and welcome to another season of Quizzy Mondays! Yep, here we go again guys; after another shorter than usual break, we are off again for the next nine or so months. As I said before, I won't be reviewing Mastermind as thoroughly this time, but I will do so today because there's only it and University Challenge to do; Only Connect will be back next Monday thankfully. Anyway, let's get on with this thing, and beginning with the new series of UC...
First up, we had Sheffield, who were making their 17th appearance of the BBC era, of which their best was when they were runners-up in 2007-08; their last was two series ago, when they reached the semi-finals. They were represented by:
Rhys Lewis, from Haverfordwest, studying Maths
Abdelrahman Elsisi, from Alexandria, Egypt, studying Engineering
Captain: Jacob Price, from Hethersett in Norfolk, studying Astrophysics
Isobel Dobbie, from Haringey in London, studying English Literature
Facing them were Warwick, who were, of course, the runners-up of the last series, and who are appearing in a 22nd series of the BBC era, of which they have won two, in 2006-07 and 2020-21. Representing them were:
Josh Howarth, from St Albans, studying History
Antoni Kluzowski, from Chingford in London, studying English Literature and History
Captain: Chris Levesley, from Derby, studying Maths
Lucy Dennett, from South West London, studying Politics and International Studies
We began the new series with... a penalty. Oops. Sheffield pounced, and their captain Mr Price took that starter and the next two as well, with all but two bonuses going with it. Warwick got off the mark proper with the first picture round, which allowed them to cut the gap to 70-20. Sheffield continued to dominate the buzzer in the first half of the show though, their captain especially impressive. Though Warwick did get another starter, they remained well adrift after the music round, after which Sheffield led 140-40.
AR now told Warwick there was plenty of time left, and indeed the Coventry side did manage to get a bit of a run together; after the second picture round, they had recovered to 150-95. Another starter and suddenly they weren't that far adrift. Sheffield did take another starter to increase their lead again, but the momentum was now firmly with Warwick. Another couple of starters and they were now just one just one clean sweep behind! They didn't quite get that, but did get a starter and two bonuses to pull within five. And then the comeback was completed as the next starter gave them the lead! And when they took the last one of the game and all three bonuses, that was game over. At the gong, Warwick won 210-170.
A fantastic start to the new series, two superb teams, very well played both. Well done Warwick, a superb recovery; best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Sheffield, but their score will surely bring them back as well; best of luck to them in the play-offs!
The stats: Mr Price was the best buzzer of the next with six starters, while Ms Dennett was best for Warwick with four. On the bonuses, Sheffield managed 18 out of 27 (with two penalties) and Warwick 21 out of 33 (with one penalty), and, pleasingly for the first match of the series, all eight players got at least one starter right.
Next week's match: U.C.L. vs SOAS
Mastermind’s first heat of the
series was opened by Lorna Frankel, formerly of UC and OC, who was answering on
the WI; a near perfect round with just one mistake, she finished with a very
good 12 points. She was followed into the chair by Randall Alleyne, who was
answering on Carl Lewis; a good start before he stumbled a bit, then recovered
well and finished with 8 points (and one pass).
Next up was Brian Williams, who
was answering on the military career of Ulysses S Grant; after a couple of early
errors, he rallied well and finished with a good 10 points. Finally, Kate Dapre
was answering on the films of the Muppets; a fun round that she and Clive both
seemed to be enjoying, she went down the middle of Randall and Brian, scoring
9.
Randall returned for GK first
then, needing a flawless round to stand a realistic chance; he didn’t manage
that, but did score a respectable 11 for a perfectly good total of 19. Kate
didn’t manage to equal that, her round never really getting into gear, but she
did manage 8 for a respectable total of 17.
Brian’s round also failed to
really get going, and a pass late in the round pretty much ended his changes;
he nonetheless also scored 8 for an also perfectly good total of 18. Lorna thus
needed to beat 19 to win; you suspected she’d do it, and indeed she did,
comfortably too, scoring another 12 for a total of 24, taking the first place
in the semis! Well done her, and thanks to her and the other contenders for an
enjoyable start to the series.
And that's our first week of the new season done! Thanks very much as ever for reading; we're back to a full line-up next week as OC makes its triumphant return. I'll be back same time same place next week to cover that, plus UC and a more concise summary of Mastermind; so, see yous then...