Quizzy Mondays 2024-25: Week 20: University Challenge R2M4, Only Connect Play-Off 4

Good evening my friends, and welcome to the first Quizzy Monday of 2025! Not quite the first one with a complete one though, as, as I've mentioned before, Mastermind still has a few celebrity editions to get through before it can bring itself to resume the original series, but, as far as UC and OC are concerned, it's back to business as usual. And, as good as (some of) the festive specials were, it's good to be so. On with tonight's procedings, beginning with UC.

Darwin College Cambridge were comfortable 205-110 winners over Birkbeck of London, a score and performance largely thanks to a superb virtuoso buzzer performance from their captain. They were unchanged from that previous game:

Rebecca McClelland, from Essex, studying Optical Microscopy

Sophie Willis, from Derby, studying Pathology

Captain: Harrison Whitaker, from Terre Haute, Indiana, studying Film

Rowan Stewart, from Edinburgh, studying Linguistics

Edinburgh defeated Leeds in a closer contest that they led comfortably at first, before their opponents pulled back, only for them to pull away again and win 175-125. They were also unchanged from that previous occasion:

David Aiton, from Glasgow, studying Maths

Jess Mellor, from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire, studying History

Captain: Greg Myles, from Monifieth near Dundee, studying Biomedical Engineering

Caitlin Self, from Ashton-under-Lyne, studying Politics 

 

Mr Whitaker picked up where he left off before, taking the first starter of the game, and buzzing for the second, only for a teammate to answer at the same time as him! AR consistantly, after the events of Friday, let them have the points. Edinburgh took their first starter of the game and two bonuses, but, after the first picture round, which Darwin took, the Cambridge side led 55-15. Edinburgh took another starter, but Mr Whitaker took a further two starters and his side were already within one starter of three figures. Edinburgh took the music round though, after which they trailed 90-45.

The Scots side took a further two starters in a row, and the resulting bonuses pulled them within ten points; it would've been five, but AR was harsh but fair to disallow their answer of 'Dorothy Hodgkins' instead of 'Hodgkin'. Back came Mr Whitaker though to give his side a bit more breathing space, and he also took the second picture starter; after the second picture round, his side led 125-95. Another starter to that man Mr Whitaker put his side within sight of victory, but Edinburgh deservedly reached three figures and two bonuses just about kept them in it. But when Mr Whitaker took the next starter, that was game over. At the gong, Darwin won 155-125.

A low scoring start to the New Year, but still a respectable enough contest that either side could reasonably have won until late on. Well done to Darwin, another strong showing from Mr Whitaker in particular, though I suspect they may need to improve on the bonuses a tiny bit in the QFs; still, best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Edinburgh, but they put up a good show; thanks to them for playing!

The stats: Mr Whitaker was, again, the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Aiton was best for Edinburgh with four. On the bonuses, Darwin managed 13 out of 27 and Edinburgh 10 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: Wadham vs Imperial

Only Connect resumed with the final play-off match, between Too Many Cookes and the Tea Totallers, both of whom beat the Pipe-Dreamers, but lost to the Bloomsbury Group, though not in the same order of course! It’s a shame those four teams ended up in the same bracket TBH; I’d say they could all have been big contenders in another series.

 

I think I got the sumo fouls question in the first round at the same time the Totallers did; the Cookes led 4-3 at the end of that round. My Dad claims the words spoken on the moon question in the second; the Totallers had turned it around to lead 12-8 after that.

 

The Cookes went first on the Walls, and took their time, but got a well earned full house in the end. It was the same for the Totallers, so as you were, they led 22-18 going into Missing Vowels. Despite an excellent rally for the Cookes in the final category of the round, the Totallers maintained their advantage and won 27-23. Well done them, and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Cookes for playing.

 

Next week’s match: the Cat Cows vs the Sprouters in the first QF

 

And that's it for this first, slightly shorter, week of the New Year. I won't be covering the remaining celebrity Masterminds even if it does make my blogs a bit shorter than before; they'll be so anyway when OC finishes. Anyway, thanks as ever for reading; see you again same time same place next week...

Christmas University Challenge 2024: Matches 6-10 (Monday 30th - Friday 3rd)

Greetings friends, and Happy New Year! So, we start the year's blogging with my usual write-up of the second week of Christmas University Challenge. A pretty good week's competition as well, despite some rather low scoring games. So, let's do this...

 

Monday 30th: Emmanuel Cambridge vs Queens' Cambridge

Emmanuel: Robert Laidlow, Emma Sidi, Stig Abell, Andrew Harding

Queens': John Zarnecki, Stephanie Merritt, Jenny Kleeman, Richard Morgan

 

Queens' won this game on the bonuses, converting about two thirds of their's while Emmanuel only managed one third; that and two extra starters helped them to a reasonably comfortable victory. Most notable instance of the game, though, was, during a bonus set on Dickens, a brief insert shot of AR dressed as Scrooge! Queens' won 175-95, securing themselves a place in the semis.

 

Tuesday 31st: St Andrews vs L.S.E.

St Andrews: Abigail Harrison Moore, Jamie MacDonald, Abigail Thorne, Tim Samuels

L.S.E.: Ian Diamond, Halima Begum, Mark Urban, Jess Fostekew

Most notable thing about this game was, with both teams having a blind contestant, the two picture rounds were replaced with two extra audio rounds. Neither side fared especially well with the bonuses here, but the Scots side was comfortably better on the buzzer. St Andrews won 130-65, sadly not enough to bring them back for the semis.

Wednesday 1st: Durham vs Worcester

A low scoring affair to start the New Year, with neither side faring as well as they did in the heat. They still managed eight starters each to be fair, but FIVE penalties damaged Worcester's chances too much. Durham won 120-85.

 

Thursday 2nd: Churchill vs Queens'

Similarly, both teams, in contrast to their heats, struggled badly with the bonuses here, only answering 5 and 6 correct all night. The low scoring game ended in a 95-each tie-breaker, and it was Ms Merritt who answered the tie-breaker to send Queens' to the final! Special mention to Mr MacCulloch, whose individual haul of SEVEN starters must surely be one of the best for the Christmas series.

 

Friday 3rd: Durham vs Queens'

The final was a great contest, despite being low scoring once again. Durham slightly had the better of the buzzers, but Queens' better bonus rate kept the game close. Point of controversy early on as AR let Ms Denyer off with answering a starter without buzzing just as Ms James did; at least he's sort of consistant with when he's allowed similar instances in the current regular series. It all came down to the final starter, Ms MacLeod was first to get it, and Durham won the game and the series 125-120!

Well done them, worthy winners, and thanks to all involved for another enjoyable mini-series. It'll be good to be back to business as usual when the regular series resumes tomorrow evening though. We resume with Darwin vs Edinburgh, followed by Wadham vs Imperial next week. OC returns to business as usual tomorrow too, but Mastermind still has a few more celebrity specials to burn through, so we won't be resuming that for another couple of weeks at least.

Back tomorrow night with my usual write-up of both quizzes; so, until then, sayonara...

Christmas University Challenge 2024: Matches 1-5 (Monday 23rd - Sunday 29th)

Greetings friends! Hope you all had a good Christmas this week. Anyway, our final blog posting of 2024 and, as usual, we'll be looking at the first week of this year's Christmas UC, including tonight's match. A pretty good first week as well, though I must say that, after a somewhat Paxo-esque performance last year, AR has been more like his usual gentler self this year so far; make of that what you will. Anyway, let's do this...

 

Monday 23rd: Warwick vs Durham

Warwick: Mimi Fawaz, Syma Khalid, Yomi Adegoke, Huma Qureshi

Durham: Liz James, Tracey Macleod, Carla Denyer, Sophie Smith Galer

 

A very one-sided start to the series, with Durham absolutely dominant on the buzzers, with three of their four players getting four starters right, and a very impressive showing on the bonuses too. Warwick were restricted to just two starters all night, though they did get all but one of their bonuses right to be fair. Durham won 265-35, and are so far the red hot favourites for this week's semis.

Tuesday 24th: Worcester Oxford vs Bristol

Worcester: Glyn Maxwell, Alice Jolly, Tom Parker-Bowles, Peter Barnes

Bristol: Danny Robins, Briony May Williams, Paul Boateng, James Stewart

A much closer contest this time, with Worcester leading for the most part, but Bristol put up a good battle. Ultimately, Worcester won it thanks to, again, a team effort of the buzzer, three of their four player getting three starters each. Worcester won the game 155-105 and will also definitely be returning for the semis.

Thursday 26th: Manchester Metropolitan vs Brighton

Manchester Met: Lee Chambers, Vicky Tolfrey, Debra Stephenson, Rachel Mann

Brighton: David Taylor, Hannah Berry, Adam Pearson, Chris Riddell

A match of three thirds this one: Brighton raced into a strong early lead in the first, before Manchester Met pulled back in the second, before a fairly evenly matched third saw Brighton hold on to secure the victory. Credit to Ms Mann for a very impressive individual total of seven starters which largely kept her team in the game. Brighton won 135-110, which I suspect probably won't be enough to bring them back, but we'll see.

Friday 27th: Leeds Trinity vs Nottingham

Leeds Trinity: Harpz Kaur, Mobeen Azhar, Lauren Layfield, Dorothy Koomson

Nottingham: Rutendo Shackleton, Clive Tyldesley, Yasmin Ali, Lynn Saunders

A pretty even contest indeed, with a couple of extra starters ultimately winning it for Nottingham, though Leeds Trinity actually fared a bit better on the bonuses. Nottingham won 115-100, and sadly are definitely not coming back in the semis.

Sunday 29th: Southampton vs Churchill Cambridge

Southampton: Benjamin Pritchard, Tom Jubert, Justine Greening, Nathan Robinson

Churchill: Catherine Green, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Helen Czerski, Spencer Kelly

And finally tonight's match, and a slight reversal of Friday's, in that Southampton got one starter more than their opponents, but Churchill fared considerably better on the bonuses, getting exactly two thirds of theirs correct. Southampton started better before Churchill pulled away, only for Southampton to pull back. The Cambridge side recovered to keep themselves in front though. Churchill won 150-120 and I would guess that'll be good enough to bring them back.

So, Durham and Worcester are definitely coming back next week and I would say Churchill probably will be too. Whatever happens, hopefully the second week will be just as good as the first.

Back next weekend with my review of the second week; until then, thanks once again for reading and supporting the blog this year, have a safe and Happy New Year, and sayonara...

Brain of Britain 2024 Final

Greetings friends! Well, the festive season is finally upon us properly again. The Christmas specials of the main Quizzy Mondays quizzes began this evening; as per usual, I won't be covering every episode of them in immense detail, but I will do my usual two weekly summaries of Christmas UC. For tonight, though, there's the small matter of yesterday's Brain of Britain final.

 

Our contenders were Andrew Fanko, whose presence here justifies the allowing of high-scoring non-winners to come back in the semis (Mastermind PTB take note), Anthony Fish, Alan Gibbs and Tim Hall.

 

An amusing moment in the first round when I incorrectly guessed Raj Bisram as the TV antiques expert who used to be a hairdresser and then Anthony did so too! He had nul points at the end of that first round, Andrew had 2 and Alan and Tim both had 4.

 

Things were a lot tighter after the second round, the scores at the end of which were a nicely ascending sequence of Anthony with 3, Andrew with 4, Tim with 5 and Alan with 6. Tim had taken the lead after the third however, now having 10 to Alan’s 8, with Andrew and Anthony on 6 and 5 respectively. At which point, we paused for Beat the Brains, with outgoing champ Dan Adler setting the questions as is traditional, and winning as they could only answer one of them.

 

A low scoring fourth round, the highlight of which was a question about the Spice Girls’ three successive Christmas No 1s which was rather similar to a question on this morning’s Ten to the Top! Tim had increased his lead over Alan by one after this, 11 to 8, while Andrew and Anthony now had 8 and 6 respectively.

 

Anthony had the best of the final round, and he and Andrew ended up with 9 each. Tim maintained his lead over Alan though, and finished with 13 to his 10, making him the new champion! Congratulations to him, and kudos for his words of congratulations to his opponents at the end too, and thanks to him and everyone involved for another most enjoyable series!

 

That's that then, but before I go, a quick update on Mastermind, which, given that another celebrity edition is scheduled for January 13th, I suspect the earliest we can now expect the regular series to return is February 3rd, nearly a month after UC and OC.

 

Back on Sunday with my usual summary of the first week of Christmas UC; until then, wherever you are whatever you're doing, have a very Happy Christmas, and sayonara...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 19: University Challenge R2M3, Only Connect Play-Off 3, Mastermind Heat 17

Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the last 'regular' Quizzy Monday of 2024! Yes, tonight we have the last 'regular' episodes of the three main quizzes for this year; next two weeks, it's Christmas specials, then we resume normal service on January 6th. Well, sort of; more on this later. For now, let's do this thing, beginning with UC, and a match-up that just sums up why I really hate the second round.

 

Exeter defeated Reading in their first match, leading from the off and ultimately winning 240-100. They were unchanged from that match:

Ryker Moorcroft, from Ramsgate, studying Natural Sciences

Lucy Carr, from Hitchin, studying Art History and Classics

Captain: Martin Newman, from Leighton Buzzard, studying Modern History

Elliott Mouelhi, from Wells, studying Ancient History and Archaeology

 

Bristol were also comfortable winners in their first match, indeed getting the highest score of the round as they soundly trounced the decent team from Gonville & Caius of Cambridge 325-80. They were also the same foursome as before:

Ted Warner, from Wiltshire, studying Biology

Bridie Rogers, from Brighton, studying Medicine

Captain: Kevin Flanagan, from Dublin, studying AI

Olivia Watts, from York, studying Organic Chemistry

Bristol started like a house on fire, taking the first four starters of the game and the vast majority of the bonuses, while their opponents were restricted to a penalty (and an unlucky one at that). After the first picture round, Bristol already led 95-(-5). And the one-way traffic just kept on coming; another penalty to Exeter, while Bristol just kept getting starters and generally the bonuses too. After the music round, they led 200-(-10).

Exeter did finally get some points on the board, taking two starters in a row, taking two starters in a row and a sole bonus from both sets, thus ensuring they bettered their predecessors' infamous low score from 2008-09. After the second picture round, Bristol led 255-20. The Avonsiders' previously imperious bonus rate did slow up a bit in the home straight, but it hardly mattered really. Exeter did take a third starter, and another sole bonus, but, alas, were not to make it out of the Sub-50 Club. At the gong, Bristol won 290-35.

A most one-sided contest to say the least, but enjoyable nonetheless. Very well done Bristol, another storming performance, and against such good opponents too, they really are serious contenders for the title now! Best of luck to them in the QFs! As for Exeter, we know from their first match that they're a fine team as well, but they were quite simply outplayed here; thanks very much to them for playing!

The stats: Mr Warner was the best buzzer of the night with seven starters to Mr Flanagan's six, while Messrs Moorcroft and Newman and Ms Carr got one each for Exeter. On the bonuses, Exeter managed 3 out of 9 (with two forgivable penalties) and Bristol a mightily good 30 out of 42.

And that's it for this year; two weeks of Christmas UC coming up, with quick summaries at the ends of both weeks (I hope) before we resume normal service on January 6th.

Only Connect concluded its normal service for the year with the third play-off and another avoidable rematch, with the Uisge Beathas and the Crunchers meeting again; the former subsequently beat the Third Agers after being narrowly beaten in the first match between the two, while the latter were subsequently beaten by the Introverts.

 

I claim two points on the ‘became saints’ question in the first round; the Crunchers led 7-3 at the end of it. My Dad claims three points on the horses question in the second round; thanks largely to an excellent five pointer (possibly the latest in the allotted time a team has ever buzzed in for one!), the Crunchers’ lead had increased to 17-5 at the end of that.

 

The Crunchers went first on the Walls, and got all four groups, but missed a connection point, thus giving them seven points. The Beathas were in desperate need of bettering that, and did indeed get a full house, so 24-15 the scores going into Missing Vowels. The Crunchers easily maintained, and indeed extended their lead there though, finally winning 29-19. Well done them, and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Beathas for playing.

 

OC also now pauses for two weeks of EIGHT(!) Christmas specials; we resume on January 6th with Too Many Cookes vs the Tea Totallers.

 

Mastermind’s final regular episode of the year was opened by Phil Nowek, answering on George RR Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels; he put in a respectable effort, scoring a par for this series 7 points. Chris Murphy followed him into the chair, answering on whales; he started well, but then ran out of steam, finishing on 4 points, with two passes too. Next was Marianne Harman, answering on Italian climber Reinhold Messner; she fell just one short of Phil’s score, finishing with 6. Finally, Emma Carter-Browne was answering on Emily Bronte; she did equal Phil’s score, another 7, leaving the show more or less a three-horse race going into GK.

 

Chris returned first needing a really good performance to stand a chance; he didn’t manage that, but he did score a further 8 points to finish with a respectable score of 12 points. Marianne came next; her round was a steady round where she started rather slowly, then a late run took her into the lead and she scored 10 for a good total of 16.

 

Phil then gave us a very good round indeed, not quite as good as Dom’s last week, but still pretty good indeed; 14 for a total of 21 was an excellent showing, and left Emma needing near perfection to stand a chance. She gave it a go, but, after a decent start, fell off the pace and was soon out of the running. Still, another 10 gave her a decent total of 17. Which makes Phil the winner! Well done him, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Mastermind will also be running celebrity specials for much of the next two weeks, with one straying into the first ‘regular’ week of the New Year too, plus a further three supposedly in the bag as well; surely they won’t keep showing them a full four weeks into the year? As it stands, the earliest we can expect the regular series to resume is January 13th.

 

Brain of Britain’s final quarter-final featured two heat winners and two HSNWs; sadly, David Edwards, who’d already had to pull out of the first QF, was unable to make it this time as well, so Alan Eeles took his place in the line-up alongside Tim Hall, fellow HSNW Caroline Latham and Sarah Thornton.

 

For the third show in a row, we began with 5IAR+ABP, courtesy of Tim, who was thus quite far ahead of the rest at the end of the first round and ended up maintaining that advantage for the rest of the show, ultimately winning with 18 points, 7 ahead of Alan and Sarah in joint second with 11 each, while Caroline finished not far behind with 9.

 

So, the line-up for Sunday’s final is Tim, Andrew Fanko, Alan Gibbs and Anthony Fish; a very good line-up that, best of retrospective luck to all four! A summary will be coming up on here next Monday.

 

And that's it for this week, and this year as well! Thanks to everyone who's read and supported this blog in 2024; much appreciated as ever! Normal service (sort of) resumes on January 6th as I've said before. I'll be back next Monday with a summation of the BoB final, so, see you then.