Quizzy Mondays 2026-27 Week 17: University Challenge R2M1, Only Connect Play-Off 1, Mastermind Heat 15

Hello my friends, and welcome to another Quizzy Monday! After another week that has been dominated by me planning for this project of mine which I really need to tell you about on here at some point given how often I've mentioned it and how much work I'm going to be putting into it over the coming... however long it takes, and it will likely take a while. Anyway, on with tonight's festivities, beginning with UC, the start of my least favourite round of it, and a match that just about sums up why that is the case...

 

St John's College Cambridge were defeated by University College Oxford in the first round, but survived to the repechage, where they comfortably defeated L.S.E. 220-100 only two weeks ago. They were the same four as those three previous games:

Callum Thomas, from Queensland, Australia, studying Zoology

Jonathan Watts, from London, studying Maths

Captain: Liam Plimmer, from Dorset, studying English

Aurelia Walker, from London, studying Maths

 

Pembroke College Cambridge defeated St Andrews 180-90 in their first match back in August, but their performance was a lot stronger than that relatively modest score and scoreline suggests. They were also unchanged from beforehand:

Hebe Robertson, from Oxfordshire, studying Classics

Arvin Boraghi, from Orpington in London, studying Medicine

Captain: Timothy Ho, from Singapore, studying Maths

Rory Moloney, from Gosfield in Essex, studying Natural Sciences

 

The match started with neither team getting the first starter and St John's losing five. Pembroke duly took the next two starters though and four resulting bonuses. St John's then took two starters in a row including the first picture starter; after the first picture bonuses, they led 40-30. Pembroke then took three starters in a row to race away into a strong lead, though St John's did take a starter to keep themselves in the game. Neither team got the music starter despite the chairman showing he's not afraid to dance as well as sing! St John's took the music bonuses, after which 95-70.

 

It was all Pembroke in the third phase though, as they ran away on the buzzer and suddenly had a three figure lead. St John's finally got going again with the second picture round, which they quickly took all three bonuses of, but they now trailed 175-90. Another starter put Pembroke within sight of victory, but St John's kept themselves in the game with the next starter and, with a fair amount of time still to go, you wouldn't put it past them. In the end, Pembroke saw the game out comfortably, but both they and St John's kept buzzing in and racking up both starters and bonuses at an alarming speed. At the gong, Pembroke won 275-170.

 

An utterly brilliant match that it seems an utter travesty that we should be losing either team after. Very well done Pembroke, a storming performance that definitely raises them up amongst the series favourites; very best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to St John's, who, as I say, definitely don't deserve to be out for good after a performance like that; thanks very much for playing!

 

The stats: Arvin Boraghi was, again, the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Callum Thomas was best for St John's with five. On the bonuses, St John's managed a fantastic 21 out of 27 (with four penalties) and Pembroke 26 out of 43 (with one penalty), and all eight players contributed at least one correct starter to the game.

 

Next week's match: don't know yet, but given how the two repechage winners usually show up quite early in the second round, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bristol again in the next couple of weeks...

 

Only Connect’s first play-off match saw the returns of the Frenemies, who defeated the Marvins but lost to the Sinistrals, and the Merseyside Eyes, who did the exact same things but the other way round!

 

I claim one point on the mistakes picture question in the first round; the Eyes led 7-3 at the end of that round. My Dad and I jointly claim two points on the Eurovision music question in the second round; the Frenemies now led 8-7 after that.

 

On to the Walls, and the Frenemies took their time, but ultimately worked everything out for a full ten. The Eyes worked out two groups, but were unable to work the other two out in their three goes; they did know three connections, so five points, which means they trailed 18-12 going into Missing Vowels. The Frenemies maintained their advantage and saw the game out in that, winning 24-20. Well done them, and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Eyes for playing, a very fun team indeed!

 

Next week’s match: Ad Astra vs the Makeweights

 

Mastermind was won by Gavin Dugan, who won a close and high scoring heat with 22 points ahead of Cameron Johnston with 21, Simon Pitfield with 20 and Emma Swift with 18.

 

Yesterday’s third Brain of Britain semi-final was somewhat similar to last week’s, with the contender in second place going into the final round sneaking ahead to win the game. Ben Spicer claimed five-in-a-row and a bonus point on his Spotlight round plus a pickup and so emerged the winner with 16 points, two ahead of Simon Langley Evans with 14. Ellie Mackin and Harry Heath also competed, finishing with 6 and 5 respectively.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; hopefully next week I'll be a bit more focussed as tonight's shows, UC in particular, didn't deserve a recap curtailed by my being so distracted. All will become clear in due course though, don't worry. Anyway, back as usual same time same place next Monday, so, see yous then... 

Quizzy Mondays 2026-27 Week 16: University Challenge Repechage Play-Off 2, Only Connect Qualification Match 4, Mastermind Heat 14

Hello my friends, and welcome to another Quizzy Monday. After a week where various factors have caused me to lose sight of where we're at in various things at the moment. Quizzy Mondays isn't one of them though, as onwards we continue. Coming up, OC's third phase concludes, Mastermind's latest heat and a very close squeak on Brain of Britain. But first as ever, UC and the second play-off before my least favourite round of the contest begins next week...

 

Bristol lost the very first match of the series way back in July to perennial UC heavyweights Imperial 220-160, a score much lower than their opponents tonight but against a very good quality opponent. They were unchanged from that first match:

Jake Wingfield, from Kidderminster, studying Music

Francesca O'Connor, from East Grinstead, studying English and History

Captain: Freddie Burns, from Stroud, studying Quantum Computing

Artem Borisov, from Moscow, studying Maths and Computer Science

 

Queen's University Belfast lost a fantastic match to Southampton 200-195 just over a month ago, and were unfortunate to do so with such a high score, by just fives points, and on the final starter of the match. They were also unchanged from beforehand:

Owen Carter, from Concord, Massachusetts, studying Public History

Thomas Dean, from Banbridge in County Down, studying Physics

Captain: Isa Arellano, from Fort Worth, Texas, studying English

Noah Calhoun, from Louisville, Kentucky, studying Maths 

 

A penalty to Queen's immediately handed Bristol the upper hand as they took the first two starters and four bonuses. Queen's did get off the mark, but after the first picture round, Bristol led 55-15. The Avonsiders maintained their lead through the second quarter, with Queen's getting starters as well, but further penalties holding them back. The music starter saw the chairman express astonishment that resident musician Jake Wingfield didn't get The Marriage of Figaro straight away! (It wasn't even that slow a buzz!) After the music bonuses, Bristol led 95-50.

 

A further two starters and pairs of bonuses pushed Bristol further ahead, with a penalty that brought Queen's back into the game proving a blip as they pulled away into a potential match winning lead. Queen's did take the second picture round, which just about kept them in the game; after the bonuses, they trailed 150-85. Another starter to Bristol though, followed by all three bonuses, and the lead was 90 points and surely safe. Queen's did deservedly reach three figures with a couple more starters, one of which led to a set of bonuses on the late Catherine O'Hara that I really hope was put in just so we could hear someone on UC say 'Schitt's Creek'! Bristol continued to push though and reached their double century with their final starter of the game. At the gong, Bristol won 205-135.

 

A good contest despite the comfortable scoreline in the end. Well done Bristol, an excellent performance with all four contributing well; best of luck to them in the second round! Hard lines to Queen's, for whom the questions just didn't fall (as well) this time, but they didn't disgrace themselves; thanks for playing!

 

The stats: Jake Wingfield and Thomas Dean were joint best buzzers of the night with five each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Bristol managed 20 out of 33 (with one penalty) and Queen's 14 out of 22 (with three penalties).

 

Next week's match: the first second round match! Don't know who's playing yet, but we'll find out soon enough.

 

Only Connect’s final qualifying match saw the returns of the last two first round winners, Meat & Two Veg, who defeated the Six Sevens first time around, and the Creepy Crawleys, who were winners over the Risk Takers in the first round.

 

I claim three points on the Page Not Found question in the first round; the Crawleys led 6-1 at the end of that. I also claim three points on the Andrew Lloyd Webber question in the second round (helped enormously by having been thinking just the other day about how the Maria show is two decades old now and feeling very old as a result!); the Crawleys led 11-3 after that.

 

On to the Walls, and the Crawleys worked everything out with their final attempt at the last two groups for a full ten points. M&TV also worked out all the groups, but missed one of the connections; seven points there, which meant they trailed 21-10 going into Missing Vowels. The Crawleys maintained their advantage exactly in that to win 27-16. Well done them, and best of luck in the quarter-finals, and best of luck M&TV in the play-offs!

 

Next week’s match: the Frenemies vs the Merseyside Eyes in the first play-off

 

Mastermind was won by Lewis Sinclair, who was level on points with Naomi Liddle and Martin Whitelegge on 9 each after the first round, but fared best on GK to win with 22 points, with Naomi second on 20 and Martin third on 16. Gordon Rogers completed the line-up with 13.

 

Yesterday’s second Brain of Britain semi-final was a heavyweight clash, with Chris Ducklin and Frankie Fanko meeting again after doing so in the heats. This time though, it was Chris who emerged triumphant, sneaking one ahead in the final round to win with 16 points to Frankie’s 15! Anthony Smith and Ewan MacAulay also competed, finishing with 11 and 10 respectively.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; back next week with my usual summary which hopefully will be done in a much clearer state of mind than this week. You wouldn't think it, but I really am a bit all over the place at the moment, so apologies if my work here and elsewhere starts to suffer in the coming weeks. Anyway, back as usual same time same place next week, so, see yous then... 

Quizzy Mondays 2026-27 Week 15: University Challenge Repechage Play-Off 1, Only Connect Qualification Match 3, Mastermind Heat 13

Good evening friends, and welcome to another Quizzy Monday! I'm pleased to say I've come up with a new plan for the afore-mentioned big project that I've started work on that will hopefully make it a bit less daunting and thus means I won't have to put myself out of the way to focus on it. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks, in fact I may even post about it on this blog at some point, but, as it stands, it's going to be business as usual for the foreseeable future, with my summaries continuing in full. Anyway, on with tonight's festivities, beginning with UC and the first knockout match of the series...

 

St John's College Cambridge were defeated by Univ Oxford back in late July, an impressive late spurt seeing them rack up a good enough score to return tonight, the final totals 200-170. They were the same foursome as that afore mentioned match:

Callum Thomas, from Queensland, Australia, studying Zoology

Jonathan Watts, from London, studying Maths

Captain: Liam Plimmer, from Dorset, studying English

Aurelia Walker, from London, studying Maths

 

The London School of Economics were beaten by another Cambridge team, King's, on the Anglo-Welsh Bank Holiday, another late run seeing them rack up their sufficient total, 185-160 the scores there. They were also unchanged from first time around:

David Worley, from Tunbridge Wells, studying Economics

Diya Khatri, from London, studying Politics and Philosophy

Captain: Henry Jameson, from Ripon in Yorkshire, studying Economics and Economic History

Daniel Yang, from Calgary, Canada, studying International Relations and History 

 

St John's took the first starter of the night, L.S.E. the second, and both took a single bonus. St John's took the third, and broke the pattern with a full set. The London side took the first picture round, after which they trailed 40-30. The two sides continued to take alternate starters, until the run was broken when L.S.E. lost five on two in a row, and St John's took two in a row to pull away. L.S.E. did take the music round, during which their failure to get the Bangles saw the chairman go full Vernon Kay and briefly sing along with the track! After that, they trailed 95-45.

 

Another penalty to the Londoners allowed St John's to break three figures and pull away to nearly a 100 point lead. A penalty to them and a pick up kept L.S.E. in the game, but St John's bounced back with the second picture round, after which they led 145-60. L.S.E. were still just about in the game, but their job looked a big ask when St John's took the next starter, and their lead to three figures. Two starters in a row kept the Londoners in with a shout, but another penalty, a pickup from St John's, and that was definitely game over now. A couple more starters took the Cambridge side past 200, but L.S.E. deservedly reached three figures with the final starter of the game. At the gong, St John's won 220-100.

 

A good contest to begin this year's knockout matches. Well done St John's, a solid performance and win, best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to L.S.E., but a perfectly respectable effort to go out on, thanks for playing!

 

The stats: Callum Thomas was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Henry Jameson was, again, best for L.S.E. with four. On the bonuses, St John's managed 21 out of 36 (with one penalty) and L.S.E. 8 out of 24 (with four penalties) and, for (I think) the fifth time this series, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter.

 

Next week's match: Bristol vs Queen's Belfast in the second play-off

 

Only Connect’s third qualifier match saw the returns of the Colonial Geese, who defeated the Double Features in their first match, and the Knitwits, who came through against Accrual World a week later.

 

I claim a point on the unconventional biopics question in the first round and at least one on the pink houses question, though the Knitwits get the answer of the round with a rare (for the first round) FIVE POINTS! They thus led 9-2 at the end of that round. My Mum claims two points on the elements question in the second round, and I possibly claim two points on the sporting events question; the Knitwits led 17-4 after that.

 

On to the Walls, and the Knitwits took their time to work everything out for a full ten. The Geese didn’t take as long, but same result, another full ten, which meant they trailed 27-14 going into Missing Vowels. And that already game winning advantage only got bigger and bigger there as they ran up one of the biggest scores we’ve ever seen on the show; they won the show 39-15! Very well done then, and best of luck in the QFs, and best of luck to the Geese in the play-offs!

 

Mastermind was a lower scoring affair this week; Matt Malin won the contest with 16 points, one ahead of Marie Nagle and Tony Barnes (who I’m pretty sure was on the original Fifteen-to-One many many years ago) with 15 each. Emily Freeman completed the line-up with 12.

 

Yesterday’s Brain of Britain was the first semi-final, and, in true Mastermind style, the new Spotlight round was still played with the contenders answering on a different topic this time. Guess Beat the Brains really is gone for good then.

 

Claire Reynolds won the show and became the first finalist, pulling ahead in the second round before running away with it with her Spotlight round, which turned out to be the final round, and winning win 20 points, seven ahead of second placed Michael McPartland with 13. Paddy Moore and Sean Drury, making a quick return after his heat aired just last week, completed the line-up with 11 each.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; back as usual next week, unless I decide to tell you all about this project of mine, which I think I kinda have to now at some point given how often I've mentioned it these past few weeks. We'll see. Anyway, back same time same place next Monday with my usual full set of summaries, so, see yous then...