Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 11: University Challenge R1M11, Only Connect Elimination Match 3, Mastermind Heat 9

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! Coming up, a very high quality Only Connect between two teams who it's a real shame ended up in the same bracket of the draw, plus a very strong line-up on Brain of Britain and the next heat of Mastermind. But we start, as ever, with UC, which we're at the business end of the first round of now; both tonight's teams knew 180 or more would bring them back win or lose.

Two institutions who were last with us two series ago tonight. St Andrews, firstly, who were defeated in the second round on that particular occasion; their best showing of the Paxo era was in 2003-04, where they reached the SFs, but their team won the show way back in 1982 and reached the final at least one other time in the ITV era. They were represented this year by:

Diane Buffet-Mogel, from Princeton, New Jersey, studying Classics and Philosophy

George Capell, from Broughton Hackett in Worcestershire, studying Economics

Captain: Freddie Skerrett, from Chislehurst in Kent, studying History

Tom Rosas, from Richmond-upon-Thames (originally Recife in Brazil), studying Physics 

 

Cardiff were also beaten in the second round of that series, unlucky to face the very good Newnham team there. Their joint best runs of the Paxo era came in 1997-98 and 2013-14, reaching the quarter-finals both times. Their team this year consisted of:

Kyle Gilbert, from Worcester, studying History

Rosalie Tarsala, from Arcadia, California, studying Data Science

Captain: Conor Boyling, from Dartford, studying History and Economics

Henrik Holm, from Manchester, studying Physics

St Andrews got off to the better start, taking the first two starters and two bonuses each; but Cardiff responded in kind and, after the first picture round, had cut the gap to 40-35. The Welsh side then took the lead, and a further two starters pulled them away into three figures. St Andrews pulled back though with two starters of their own, including the music round; they got none of the bonuses from that though, AR being so jokingly appalled by their answers! (Second time a St Andrews team has failed to identify Otis Redding for a music bonus!) They had, nonetheless, reduced their arrears to 100-70.

A further two starters to St Andrews, and they had suddenly retaken the lead. Cardif reawoke to take the second picture round though; after that, the teams were tied on 135-each! Cardiff blinked first to retake the lead with a starter and single bonus, only for St Andrews to respond in kind and level the scores again! Cardiff crucially took the next starter, followed by two bonuses; St Andrews did the right thing and buzzed early on the next starter, but lost five. Cardiff didn't pick up, but when Mr Boyling took the next starter, you fancied that was game over. At the gong, Cardiff won 200-145.

A good close game between two very good teams, either could've won until the final minutes. Well done Cardiff, and best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to St Andrews, but hopefully their score will be good enough for the play-offs; they currently sit third on the repechage board with three games to go. Thanks for playing for now though!

The stats: Messrs Skerrett, Gilbert, Boyling and Holm were all joint best buzzers of the night with three each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, St Andrews managed 14 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty) and Cardiff 18 out of 31, and, for the first time in eight weeks, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter to the game.

Next week's match: Leeds vs Edinburgh

Only Connect reached its third elimination match and a very promising looking contest between the Pipe-Dreamers, who were beaten by Too Many Cookes in their first match, and the Tea Totallers, who lost that utterly bonkers high scoring first round match against the Bloomsbury Group.

 

My Dad and I claim the first question of the show, though not sure how many points for; I definitely got the anagrams question at the same three-point time the Pipe-Dreamers did. The Totallers led 5-4 at the end of the first round. I also claim the Dave question on the second round (which is out of date now following the recent rebrand!), my Dad got the grace and favour houses, and I think we worked out the ‘dividing by 60’ question before they did. The Totallers now led 11-10 after another high-quality round.

 

On to the Walls, and the Totallers used nearly all of their time to work out theirs, but it was worth it as they secured a well worked out full house. It was the same for the Pipe-Dreamers, but they missed a connection, so seven points. The Totallers thus led 21-17 going into Missing Vowels, but they only increased their lead in that; 31-20 the final scores. Well done them, and best of luck in the next round! Unlucky Pipe-Dreamers, a good team who would certainly have gone further in a different bracket of the draw; an excellent team, thanks for playing!

 

Mastermind was opened by Anthony Smith, who was answering on the emperor Claudius; he continued the series’ current trend of specialist scores being in high single figures, finishing with 8. Kal Dixit was next up, answering on the Watergate scandal; sadly, the questions weren’t to her liking, 3 points her score. Caroline Grogan then answered on the Phantom of the Opera and its sequel; 9 points was a good score, but two passes left her vulnerable. Finally, John Robinson (UC and OC alumnus and winner of £500,000 on WWTBAM) answered on futurism art, and put down a perfect round; 12 questions, all answered correctly!

 

You’d have to say Kal looked pretty much out of it already as she returned first for GK, but she still scored a very respectable 10, giving her a final score of 13. Anthony was next up, and matched Kal’s score, another 10 gave him a score of 18; a good score, but it looked beatable. Caroline would go one better, scoring 11 to give her a good final score of 20, but another three passes, giving her five overall, left John needing a minimum of 8 to win provided he didn’t pass.

 

And he managed and bettered that with time to spare; matching his first round, he doubled his score to 24, putting him through to the semi-finals! Well done him, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Brain of Britain was another heavyweight contest, but was won very easily by Alan Gibbs (OC winner, Fifteen-to-One finalist, another WWTBAM big winner et al), who scored 5I1R+ABP plus two pickups on the first round and never looked back; 17 points his final winning score. Diane Hallagan (another WWTBAM big winner plus OC and Mastermind among many others) finished second with a good sprint in the final round, though her score of 12 is only enough to, as William G Stewart would say, put her on the sidelines of the highest scoring non-winners board, ie joint fourth with Andrew Fanko. Sanjoy Sen (yet another OC alumnus among others) and Helen Rigby completed the line-up, finishing with 6 and 5 respectively.

 

And that's it for a very high quality week of quizzing indeed! Thanks once again for reading; we'll be back next week, same time same place, only a bit later because the clocks go back on Sunday! So, see you then...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 10: University Challenge R1M10, Only Connect Elimination Match 2, Mastermind Heat 8

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! Coming up, a strong line-up on Brain of Britain (with another due next/later this week), which I'd hoped to provide a more detailed write-up of, but sadly, the finer details I had in mind have since escaped me; I guess that's what happens when you don't write your write-up as it happens, as I do with Mastermind and OC. More on them later too.

We begin, as ever, though with UC, and the second Oxbridge derby of the series. Exeter College Oxford, firstly, making its first appearance on the show since the Gail Trimble series of 08-09, where they were unlucky to lose in the first round, and only their third of the BBC era; their first, in 1996-97, saw them reach the QFs before narrowly losing to eventual runners-up Open. They were represented by:

Edie Allden, from Worcester, studying Biochemistry

Benjamin Gray, from East Devon, studying Maths

Schuyler Colfax, from Austin, Texas, studying PPE

Daniyal Vemuri, from Thatcham in Berkshire, studying PPE

Christ's College Cambridge appeared on six occasions during the Paxo era, with their sixth and last coming in his final series two series ago, where they lost to Southampton in the second round; their best performance was in 01-02, where they reached the semis before narrowly losing to eventual winners Somerville Oxford. Playing for them this year were:

Anniko Firman, from The Hague, studying Classics

Brendan Bethlehem, from North London, studying Linguistics

Captain: Oscar Despard, from Dublin, studying Biochemistry

Linus Luu, from Orpington, studying Maths

Christ's took the first two starters of the game, but had mixed fortunes, taking all of the first set, but none of the second. Exeter kicked off their scoring with the first picture round; two bonuses on that reduced their early deficit to 55-20. Christ's continued to have the better of the buzzers in the next phase, but a somewhat hit and miss record on the bonuses meant they weren't able to pull fully away. Exeter took the music round, after which the gap stood at 105-60.

Another starter took the Oxonians within 25, but Christ's duly reawoke and pulled away again. Back came Exeter back within 20, but a penalty handed Christ's possession again and they pulled further away with two bonuses. They also took the second picture round, after which their lead stood at 155-95. Both sides then lost five on consecutive starters, but neither picked up the other's mistake. Mr Luu took the next starter for Christ's to put them more or less out of sight, and when Mr Bethlehem, who'd had a most productive night already, took the next, their lead was three figures and the game was over. Exeter did at least take one more starter to reach three figures, which they definitely deserved to. At the gong, Christ's won 205-110.

 

An enjoyable contest, a close one until Christ's pulled away in the final minutes. Well done them, and best of luck in the second round! Bad luck Exeter, who definitely didn't disgrace themselves and I suspect would've fared better against another team; thanks for playing!

 

The stats: Mr Bethlehem was easily the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr Gray was best for Exeter with three. On the bonuses, Exeter managed a good 12 out of 18 and Christ's 19 out of 33, and both sides incurred two penalties each.

Next week's match: St Andrews vs Cardiff

Only Connect moved on to its second elimination match, with the returns of the Harmonics, narrowly beaten by the Cat Cows in the first round, and the Bean Farmers, who were defeated by the Four Opinions.

 

My Dad claims a point for the Future question in the first round, and we jointly claim three points on the ‘vein’ question; the teams were tied on 3-each at the end of the round. We also claimed the same three points on the Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes question as the Harmonics did in the second round, I flat out guessed the car seats question correctly for two points, and we also claim the Circle of Life question plus one other I don’t remember; at the end of the round, the teams were still tied, now on 8-each.

 

It stayed that way after the Walls; two perfect tens, though VCM was maybe a touch lenient to let the Farmers have one of their connection points, so it was as you were, 18-18 going into Missing Vowels. And it was a surprisingly tough round, though I managed to work out probably the trickiest one of the round, ‘BURKINA FASOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR’! The Harmonics just about fared better to win 22-20; well done them, and best of luck in the next round! And thanks Bean Farmers for playing.

 

Mastermind was opened by Richard Saunders, answering on the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, and he scored 6 points. Dave C remarked on LAM last week that the specialist rounds have been noticeably tough this series, and I must agree; the questions have been rather long too, hence a few low scores in recent weeks.

 

Constance Cooper followed Richard into the chair, answering on Alan Partridge, and continued this trend by scoring 7 (and two passes). Rakesh Sharma was next up, answering on actress Madhuri Dixit, and he finally broke the trend with a near perfect round, marred only by a very small mistake late on, and scored 10 points. Fiona Denby concluded the round with English wine in the 21^st century, and matched Constance’s score of 7, but no passes put her into de facto second place.

 

Richard returned for GK first, but sadly his round never really got into gear for him; he nonetheless doubled his score to 12 points. Constance was next, and fared better, scoring 9 for a respectable 16, but with two further passes, it didn’t look like being a winning score. Fiona didn’t quite manage to beat it though; unable to get a run together, she too ended up doubling her score to 14.

 

Rakesh thus needed 6 to win provided he didn’t pass or 7 to win outright. He looked like doing it easily at first, but he too then hit a bad run of questions. He did manage the one more correct answer he needed to get in front eventually though, and then made extra sure by taking one more to end with a score of 17. Well done him, and best of luck in the semis! And thanks to the other for taking part.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Sarah Thornton, a finalist on the last series of Mastermind, for whom a well-timed sprint in the final round proved the difference as she won with 16 points. Andrew Fisher, UC and OC alumnus, led for much of the game before being overtaken by that sprint, but his 13 points nonetheless puts him joint second on the HSNW board and, with five heats left, that gives him a pretty good chance of going through too. Colin Daffern, another OC alumnus, and Charlotte Jeffreys completed the line-up, scoring 8 and 7 respectively.

 

And that's this week done! Thanks once again for reading and if, like last week, I've made any mistakes, do point them out and I'll fix them as soon as I remember to at a time when I'm not busy doing something else! Back again same time same place next week; see you then.

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 9: University Challenge R1M9, Only Connect Elimination Match 1, Mastermind Heat 7

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to JOW for another Quizzy Monday! We're halfway through the first round of Brain of Britain now, so a slightly extended write-up of that later. But before that, we have to deal with the three quizzes that actually still air on Monday itself!

 

Beginning, as ever, with UC, which was, as you may already know, a rematch of the final of the 1999-2000 series. Oriel College Oxford lost that final, their second successive second place finish, but they haven't come close to reaching another final in their three appearance since, going out in the first, second round and play-offs respectively in each. Hoping to do better this year no doubt, they were represented by:

Samin Taseen, from East London, studying Biomedical Sciences

Theo Sharkey, from Wingrave in Berkshire, studying History

Captain: Danann Kilburn, from South Oxfordshire, studying English Literature

Tom Armstrong, from the Wirral, studying History and Politics 

 

Durham won that final, the second of three series wins, the first being back in 1977 (Oriel also won a series of the original era, in 1966) and the third being just two series ago in Paxo's final series of course. This series is their 24th appearance of the BBC era, which I think is still a record for it. This year's team consisted of:

Joe Ancell, from South Gloucestershire, studying History

Amelia Brookfield-Pertusini, from Balham in South London, studying English Literature

Captain: Jake Roberts, from Goostrey in Cheshire, studying Physics

Luke Nash, from Hindolveston in Norfolk, studying Biology 

 

Oriel struck first, took two bonuses and were very harshly disallowed the third for a slight mispronunciation of 'Wittgenstein'. Durham had the better of the rest of the first round of starters though and, after the first picture round, led 55-20. The balance was partly redressed as Durham lost five for a 'just an' interruption; thankfully, neither call affected the final score. Oriel took a couple of starters, and cleanly swept both bonus sets to take the lead. But Durham bounced back with three in a row, including the music starter; after the music round, they led 110-70.

A fourth in a row increased the lead further and prompted AR to, somewhat prematurely, tell Oriel there was plenty of time left; it worked though, as two starters in a row and all but one bonus took them within fifteen points. They were a bit lucky to take the second picture round though, as AR, for the second time this series, accepted an answer two players had said at the same time; afterwards, they'd cut the gap to 130-125. They took the lead with the next starter though, only for Durham to take it back with the next! Another starter each left the teams tied on 170-each! Oriel crucially took the next though, and the game was won when Mr Roberts took a forgivable gamble on the last one of the game and lost five; Oriel picked it up and that was game over. At the gong, Oriel won 200-165.

A great game between two very good teams indeed, both of whom thoroughly deserve to come back, as Durham's score will surely allow them to. Well done both, and best of luck in your respective next matches!

The stats: Mr Armstrong was the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Messrs Ancell and Roberts were joint best for Durham with three each. On the bonuses, Oriel managed a good 20 out of 30 and Durham an also good 18 out of 27 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: Exeter Oxford vs Christ's Cambridge

Only Connect began its elimination round as we once again met the Hopsters and the Midlanders, who were comfortably beaten by the Sprouters and the Al Frescans respectively in the first round.

 

My Dad and I claim points on the Magnum and disguise questions in the first round, and three points on the kneeling question, after which the Hopsters led 5-4. We also claim the Irish cities question in the second round, which also contained a somewhat lenient acceptance from VCM on a question about companies with their first letter missing; the Hopsters got two for that and had increased to 11-7 at the end the round.

 

The lead increased with the walls, as the Midlanders missed two sets and scored 6, while the Hopsters took a full house, so 21-13 the scores going into Missing Vowels. And they fared a lot better on that round, notable for the category ‘Things that happen in February’ having ‘GROUNDHOG DAY’ as an answer twice! (Second time they’ve done that joke in a Missing Vowels round!) The Hopsters won the game 29-15; well done them and best of luck next time, and thanks Midlanders for playing.

 

Mastermind was opened by Dan Shoesmith, answering on the Star Wars sequel trilogy; a few rather specific questions evaded him and he ended up with 7 points. Emma Cresswell followed him into the chair; answering on the work of Henry Moore, she too was tripped up a few times, and finished with 5 points.

 

James Sowden was next up, answering on the band Elbow, and went straight down the middle of Dan and Emma’s scores, 6 his total. Finally, Morgan Bush was answering on Edward VI; he was unlucky, a few questions he got wrong but clearly knew once he’d heard the right answer. He matched Emma’s score finishing with 5 also. So not the highest scoring of first rounds, but a close one that meant it was anyone’s game in GK.

 

Emma returned first, and maintained the show’s record of the scores being in the same ballpark; 7 her final score, taking her score to 12. Morgan would then finally break that record with a very good round, scoring an impressive 13 to take his score to 18, which certainly felt like it could be a winning score.

 

James looked like he was going to beat it at first, starting well, but a few subsequent stumbles proved costly; he recovered well to also score 18 points, but a pass to his name from the first round meant Morgan remained in front. Dan, who had two, thus needed to score 12 to win the game; he went one better, scoring 13 as well giving him a final score of 20 and winning him the game! Well done him, and best of luck in the semis! And thanks to the others for playing as well.

 

Brain of Britain was won very comfortably by David Edwards, Millionaire jackpot winner and Mastermind champ among many other things (his recent departure from RBQ may have been necessary to allow him to do this show), who pulled away from the field in the second and third rounds and finished with a final score of 19, 11 ahead of second placed Brian Johnston with 8. Jo Cardwell and Janie Mitchell completed the line-up with 7 and 4.

 

So, for the third week in a row, the highest scoring non-winners board remains unchanged: at the half-way point, Caroline Latham leads it with 16, then Helen Lippell with 13, Andrew Fanko with 12 and Dennis with 11; at least two of them will likely make it through I’d say.

 

And that's it for another week! More like a UC review of old this week, but it was a great game, so totally worth it; I will write a bit more like I used to if I think a match warrants it. Thanks once again for reading; see yous again same time same place next week...