Good evening my friends, and welcome to the first complete Quizzy Monday of the season! Yes, Only Connect is back at last! The first round always my favourite round of the show as we meet two new teams every week and I can be pleased when I recognise someone who's been on another show before! Plus, no-one goes home. More on that later, plus my reverted-to Mastermind summaries, but, firstly, as usual, we begin with UC...
Two London institutions who were with us last year tonight. U.C.L., appearing in an 18th BBC series, and a fifth in a row, came through the repechage to reach the quarter-finals last year before losing to Bristol; their joint best performance though was coming second in 04-05, 12-13 and 23-24. This year's foursome were:
Zak Lakota-Baldwin, from London, studying Science and Technology Studies
Alice Lee, from Kendal, studying Russian and Post-Soviet Politics
Captain: Michael Doherty, from Derry, studying Optical Communications
Manny Campion-Dye, from Bath, studying Philosophy
The School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS hereafter, also lost their first round match last series and survived to the repechage, only to lose there to Durham on a tie-breaker; the best of its other five appearances on this show was in 13-14, where they reached the semis. This year's quartet consisted of:
Hatau Mozayen, from Manchester (originally Ethiopia), studying History and Politics
V Davis-Aladren, from London, studying PPE
Captain: Andrew Graham, from Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, studying Medical Anthropology and Mental Health
Matthew O'Regan, from Dublin, studying Global Liberal Arts
Like last week, the first starter saw a team lose five; U.C.L. took the points, but SOAS quickly recovered and, after the first picture round, U.C.L. led 45-40. Two starters later, the teams were tied on 65-each, before U.C.L. took the next two to pull away into three figures. SOAS bounced back with the music round, which they took a full house on in short order, which cut the gap to 110-90.
U.C.L. pulled away again with a starter of their own on the next starter, only for SOAS to immediately bounce back; they only took one of the resulting bonuses, but, nonetheless, I think that was only the first or second time all night a team had got less than two right, a magnificent feat. U.C.L. pulled away again, but a penalty and a pickup from SOAS reigned them back in; they did take the second picture round, and a full set of bonuses, which increased their lead to 170-130. A starter and single bonus but U.C.L. within sight of victory, but SOAS kept themselves in the game with two starters and two pairs of bonuses, which pulled them back within fifteen points. Then, a point of contention as Ms Lee buzzed for U.C.L., but she and Mr Campion-Dye both said the right answer at the same time; AR let them have it and a full set of bonuses all but sealed the victory. A couple of penalties for 'just an' interruptions didn't matter; at the gong, U.C.L. won 210-170.
A second high scoring high quality contest, and a second 210-170 scoreline in a row(!); well done both teams there! Well done U.C.L., an impressive performance, best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to SOAS, but I fancy you've done more than enough for the play-offs; best of luck in them!
The stats: Mr Graham was the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Mr Campion-Dye was best for U.C.L. with four. On the bonuses, U.C.L. managed a very good 23 out of 30 (with three penalties) and SOAS an also brilliant 19 out of 24 (with one penalty).
Next week's match: Bath vs Southampton
Only Connect began its 21st series
with the Whitley Baes, Ruth Erdal, Jess Volpe and captain Steve Erdal, husband
of Ruth, and the Caraxians, Dan Leigh, Ellen Stevens and captain Josh Katz.
I claim the same point as the Baes
on the November 11th question in the first round, and another point on the
Empire State Building question that neither team got anything on; the Baes led
4-1 at the end of that round. I also claim the same two points as the Baes on
the ‘emoji magpies’ question in the second round, and I also worked out the
answer to the stars on flags question; the Baes now led 9-3 after that.
The Caraxians went first on the
Walls, but had a bit of a mare and didn’t find any groups; they did get all the
connections though, so scored four points. The Baes also had no luck finding
any groups, but did get three connections; three points, which meant they led
12-7 going into Missing Vowels. The Caraxians recovered well there, but the
Baes maintained their advantage, and ultimately won 18-14. Well done both
teams, a good start to the series, and best of luck in your next games!
Mastermind’s second heat was won
by David Ford, whose 27 points saw him just edge out UC and OC alumnus Dennis
Wang, who can feel unlucky to finish second with 25 points, though it surely
gives him a chance of coming back in the semis if someone has to withdraw.
Naomi Killen and Natalie Abbott also competed, both finishing with 17 points.
And that's our first full week of the season done! And if the quality continues this way, the next few weeks are going to be most exhilarating indeed! Thanks as ever for reading; we'll be back same time same place next week with the third week of the series, so, see yous then...