Quizzy Mondays 2025-26 Week 2: University Challenge R1M2, Only Connect R1M1, Mastermind Heat 2

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...

Quizzy Mondays 2025-26 Week 1: University Challenge R1M1, Mastermind H1

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...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 38: Mastermind Grand Final

Good evening once again my friends, and welcome to the final Quizzy Monday of the season! Yep, we're into an unprecedented 38th week of official coverage on this blog, but I'm actually glad tonight's Mastermind final gets a blog of its own as it definitely deserved one in the end. Neither it nor last week's UC final deserved to be overshadowed by the other TBH. Anyway, for the final time this season, here we go...

 

Mastermind’s fourth Grand Final of the Clive Myrie era was opened by Nancy Braithwaite, who was answering on the stage plays of Sir Tom Stoppard; following her filmed intro, including a visit to the Old Vic and a chat with Mark Lawson, her round started well, then blipped a bit with two wrong answers in a row, but recovered to a score of 10.

 

She was followed into the chair by John Harden, who was answering on the 1953 ascent of Everest, which he chose because an alumnus of the school he works for was part of a previous, unsuccessful, expedition to the mountain, with Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund, chatting to him via a video chat; he matches Nancy’s score, another 10.

 

Next up was Ivan Milatovic, who was answering on the music of Led Zeppelin, with his intro taking him to the studio (now a cinema) where the band recorded some of their most noted songs, with Robert Plant providing a recorded message of good luck to him; he didn’t get any answers wrong until right at the end, and ended up edging in front with 12.

 

Dom Tait was next up, and was answering on penguins, with his intro featuring him seeing some real life ones of those for the first time, followed by a recorded message of luck from Liz Bonnin (a still of him on UC and a clip of him on OC were also shown); also making just the one error, he matched Ivan’s score of 12.

 

Our penultimate contender was Claire Reynolds, who, of course, only made it here due to someone else withdrawing from the semis, and who was answering on mathematician Emmy Noether, with her intro taking her to Birmingham University to provide more background info on her, followed by Rachel Riley offering her some recorded words of encouragement; she also made no mistakes until very late on, and she too ended up with 12 points.

 

Finally, John Robinson was answering on the Empire State Building; he didn’t get to go and see it (again) for his intro, but he did have a video chat with a lady from the Skyscraper Museum and an quick chat with a quizzing teammate of his, former Mastermind champ David Edwards (a clip of him winning £500,000 on WWTBAM was also shown), before he too posted a score of 12, setting us up for a very crucial GK round indeed!

 

Nancy returned first, and gave us a good round which, despite a few mistakes, kept ticking along very well, and she scored 13 for an excellent total of 23, though did incur a pass right at the end.

 

John H didn’t quite manage as good a round, but did come respectably close, scoring 11 for a good total of 21.

 

Ivan was the first of the four with 12 to return for GK; he started strongly to reach 20, but then hit a run of wrong answers that knocked him off the pace, but he recovered to finish neatly in between Nancy and John, 10 for a good total of 22.

 

Dom was next, and, after a very good steady run, equalled Nancy’s score, before a slight wobble took away his momentum; he did, nonetheless, take the lead, scoring 13 for a very good total of 25.

 

Claire was next up, and scored very strongly and steadily, with a nice backwards link to last week’s UC with a question about Watling Street to boot, and she duly took the lead with a fantastic score of 17 for a magnificent total of 29!

 

John R thus faced the daunting task of scoring 18 or more for the win. He needed to keep a very strong pace and, despite a few mistakes, did do so, so it was going to be very close. As the timer began to tick, he was one adrift; he got it right, and there was time for one more! If he got it right, he’d done it… and get it right he did! 18 for a total of 30 made him the new Mastermind champion!

 

Very very well done John, a superb performance and a most worthy victory indeed! And well done to the other five as well for an excellent final, Claire especially for congratulating John on his win afterwards. And many thanks to Clive M and all the contenders involved for a fine series!

 

I have now decided not to cover the show as thoroughly next series though, at least not all the way through; maybe I’ll only give the heats a fleeting mention and then give fuller coverage to the semis and final. Whatever the case, I do still very much intend to carry on with this blog format next season; it's worked pretty well I think.

 

And that's it; we're finished! Thanks very much indeed to everyone who has read and commented on the blog over the past few months; your support is as appreciated as ever. I'll be back when the quizzes return, whenever that is, hopefully earlier than last year; whether I'll have anything else to write on this blog in the meantime, who knows? So, until we next meet, sayonara...