Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the second Quizzy Monday of 2025! Still a strealined line-up due to Mastermind still being in celebrity special mode, so, to pad this out a bit, I'll refer to yesterday's Counterpoint and a really nasty swerve that would've done early 00s UC proud, where a contestant buzzed after hearing 'All the Young Dudes' and answered 'Mott the Hoople', only to find the question was about to swerve and ask who wrote that particular song, David Bowie the answer there. Anyway, enough filler, on with the main event, beginning with UC.
Wadham College Oxford won a close contest against St Catharine's of Cambridge, leading througout and eventually winning 180-120. They were unchanged from that previous contest:
Aarav Billore, from San Jose, studying Economics and Management
Arthur Bellamy, from Brentwood, studying English
Captain: Johnny Worden, from Cambridge, studying Mathmatical and Theoretical Physics
Anjali Cheung, from North West London, studying Experimental Psychology
Imperial defeated Manchester a week later, racking up the highest score of the round, and against a decent looking team too; their final total 310-75. They were also unchanged from that contest:
Charlotte Stokes, from Chester, studying Applied Genomics
Mattia Elkouby, from South London, studying Chemistry
Captain: Matthew Spry, from Gateshead, studying Electrochemistry
Jaime Salamanca Camacho, from Madrid, studying Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces
A penalty to Imperial allowed Wadham to take the first starter, but no bonuses followed; a penalty to Wadham allowed Imperial to take the second starter, and all three bonuses followed. And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game; Imperial took the next two starters as well and, after the first picture round, led 60-5. Two quickfire starters meant they had already reached three figures and already had a three figure lead. My heart then sank for Mr Billore as, asked for one of the two hosts of the 2002 World Cup, he zigged with South Korea, losing his side's only five points, allowing Mr Spry to zag with Japan. Another full bonus set wolfed down, and Imperial's score just kept climbing; after the music round, they led 175-0.
AR finally told Wadham there was plenty of time left, but it was no use; Imperial took two more perfect houses and their lead was just getting bigger and bigger. After the second picture round, it stood at 290-0. Wadham finally got a second starter on the board and took one of the resulting bonuses, but it proved just a blip as Imperial took the next to break 300 for the second time and then surpass their score from the heat. Wadham did take a third starter and a couple of bonuses to bring them to respectability, but two forgivable penalties meant they, alas, finished on the third lowest score of the BBC era. At the gong, Imperial won 345-25.
Another very one-sided, but enjoyable (and engrossing) contest. Very well done Imperial, an utterly amazing performance that firmly puts them down as favourites for a sixth title going into the QFs; very best of luck to them there! As for Wadham, go back and watch their first match, as that proved they're a capable team who were just utterly overpowered here; thanks very much to them for playing!
The stats: Mr Salamanca Camacho was the best buzzer of the night with six starters (to Mr Spry's five), while Mr Bellamy was best for Wadham with two. On the bonuses, Wadham managed 3 out of 9 (with four forgivable penalties) and Imperial an utterly amazing 38 out of 48(!) (with one penalty).
Next week's match: Christ's vs St Edmund Hall
Only Connect began its
quarter-finals with the Cat Cows, who lost to the Four Opinions, but beat the
Harmonics twice to get here, and the Sprouters, who came through unbeaten
against the Hopsters and the Al Frescans.
My Dad claims two points on the
Cambridge four picture question in the first round, while my Mum had a
borderline acceptable answer to the ‘they discovered the same thing at the same
time’ question; the Cows led 6-3 at the end of it. My Dad came close to getting
the elements question in the second round, but didn’t quite get the right answer,
but I can definitely claim THREE points on the Doctor Who music question; the
Cows led 8-6 after that.
The Cows went first on the Walls,
and got all four groups, but only three connections, so seven points there. The
Sprouters did likewise on their wall, so, as you were, the Cows led 15-13 going
into Missing Vowels. It was a very even round indeed, but, on the very last
clue of the game, the Cows snatched back in front to win 20-19! Well done them,
and best of luck in the semis! And thanks to the Sprouters for playing, a fine
team.
Next week’s match: the Al Frescans
vs the Four Opinions
And that's it for another week. Thanks once again for reading this still streamlined series; bring on three weeks' time when, I'm guessing, Mastermind will be back to normal and so can this blog be too. Back same time same place next week with another shorter series, so, see you then...