Quizzy Mondays 2025-26 Week 36: University Challenge Semi-Final 2, Mastermind Semi-Final 6

Good evening my friends, and welcome to the penultimate Quizzy Monday of the season! And I'm very pleased to announce that my write-up of next week's final editions of both quizzes will indeed be on the day, as TPTB have scheduled an early start for Mastermind instead of a late one for UC, the latter of which would've forced me to move to Tuesday evening. Anyway, the final Mastermind semi-final coming up, plus some thoughts on the 'problem' of high scoring non-winners; first things first though, the second UC semi-final...

 

Imperial came through the repechage after losing their first round match to Churchill of Cambridge, but have since defeated SOAS in said repechage, Southampton in the second round, Warwick in their first QF and, in their second, they beat Sheffield 160-120. They were the same unchanged foursome as all those previous games:

Rahim Dina, from Peterborough (originally the Seychelles), studying Ecology and Evolution

Eugenia Tong, from Hong Kong, studying Chemistry

Captain: Oscar O'Flanagan, from London, studying Atmospheric Physics

Justin Keung, from Hong Kong, studying Computing

 

Manchester were narrow winners over New College of Oxford and L.S.E. in their first two rounds, before losing their first QF to Edinburgh, but have more than made up for that since with another narrow win, over U.C.L., in their second before their best performance yet in their third saw them also beat Sheffield, 185-135. They were also the same quartet as all those prior matches:

Ray Power, from Bangkok, studying Film Studies and English Literature

Kirsty Dickson, from Morley Green in Cheshire, studying Medicine

Captain: Kai Madgwick, from Fowey in Cornwall, studying AI and Astrophysics

Rob Faulkner, from Norwich, studying Physics with Astrophysics

 

Manchester got off to a flying start as their virtuoso captain added to their already record starter haul for the series, taking the first three of the game, with two thirds of the resulting bonuses going with them, while their opponents were restricted to a single penalty. After the first picture round, Manchester led 80-(-5). And that lead was just getting bigger and bigger as, not only did Mr Madgwick continue to rack up their starter total, but their teammates were also more than doing their bit as well. Soon, they had broken 100 and beyond that and were already well over the horizon. Imperial did finally get some points on the board with the music round; two bonuses cut their gap to 130-15.

 

It proved a brief blip as Manchester resumed their buzzer dominance and, while they only got two of their subsequent six bonuses, it hardly really mattered. Imperial did the right thing in going for early buzzes, but only managed to lose a further ten points. They did finally get a second starter at the third time of answering, and added two bonuses to it. The second picture round went to Manchester though, and a bonus pair of their own took the scores to 180-25. Already game over, just a question of how far both teams could get; another starter to the Manchester captain and a full bonus set took their side past 200 for the first time. And the starters just kept falling for them, with the resulting bonuses even seeing them pick a very obscure answer seemingly out of nowhere. Imperial did manage a couple more late starters and a solid haul of bonuses took them to a respectable enough score. At the gong, Manchester won 250-70.

 

A one-sided contest, more one-sided than anyone would've probably predicted, but still a most enjoyable contest. Very well done to Manchester, who appear to be peaking at exactly the right moment, with their captain, while still easily the dominant player, now very well supported by their colleagues; the momentum is on their side going into next week's final, very very best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Imperial, who we know are a much, much better team than that scoreline suggests and have had a fantastic run, especially after their false start; thanks very much to them for playing!

 

The stats: Kai Madgwick was, once again, the best buzzer of the night, with TEN(!) starters, taking their running total of 48 (that's four-eight), while Mr O'Flanagan was best for Imperial with two, and ends the series their best buzzer with a total of 34 over six games. On the bonuses, Imperial managed a very good 9 out of 12 (with a forgivable three penalties) and Manchester 24 ou of 42 (with two penalties).

 

Next week's match: the final, Edinburgh vs Manchester; the former have the unbeaten record (and, indeed, won the previous meeting between these two), but the latter appear to have the momentum behind them. Hopefully a good end to the series; best of (retrospective) luck to both teams!

 

Mastermind’s final semi-final was opened by Carolyn Rowe, who was answering on Amelia Earhart; a perfect round, answered confidently aside from some early indecisiveness, she scored 11. She was followed into the chair by Myles Searle, who was answering on Sir Laurence Olivier; a late error aside, he was also pretty much perfect, and also scored 11.

 

Next up was Robert Cohen, who was answering on the red wines of Burgundy; he didn’t fare as well unfortunately and scored 5, which, you’d have to say, all but ruled him out of the running already. Finally, Ben Abbott, was answering on the songs of Noel Coward; he too struggled compared to Carolyn and Myles, and scored 7.

 

So, you’d already have said it was a two-horse race going int GK. Robert returned first, and gave an excellent showing, scoring 10 for a respectable total of 15, but it didn’t feel like a winning one today. Ben was next, and started well enough, but then the answers stopped coming; he did recover a bit late on and did just enough to pull level with Robert, scoring 8 to also finish with a total of 15.

 

Carolyn returned next, and, after a bit of a false start, soon acquired the points to take the lead; a brief run of wrong answers aside, she was pretty much spot on for the rest of the round, and scoring an excellent 13 for a fine total of 24. Myles thus had his work cut out to match or beat that; he started well, then faded a bit and it didn’t look like he’d make it, but boy did he recover after that and, with just seconds to go, he had done it, scoring a fabulous 15 for a great total of 26!

 

So, Myles takes the final place in next week’s final! Well done him, and best of luck in it, and thanks to the other three for playing.

 

Also, if I may add my thoughts to those Dave C expressed over the weekend; while I agree that it’s good that all the heat winners were able to compete in the semis this series, the fact that Dennis Wang missed out despite outscoring the vast majority of them does leave a nasty aftertaste in the mouth, and it’s high time TPTB did something about this clear and obvious flaw in the show’s format.

 

If you’d asked me last year, I’d have definitely been among those saying that the top scorers in the heats should go through to the semis irrespective of whether they win or not. But, having read and taken on board Dave and others’ rejection of this idea, I do now agree that some form of competition in the heats does need to be maintained. After all, if you’re going to do that in the heats, why not do it in the semis as well, and I don’t think anyone’s in favour of that.

 

So, assuming the current format is completely and utterly unchangeable, as I strongly suspect it is given the refusal to change it even after Claire Reynolds’ nearly winning the last series, then at the very least, some sort of compensation for high-scoring runners-up should be in order. The original Fifteen-to-One, for example, had a ‘sort of rule’ (in WGS’s words) that runners-up whose scores would’ve otherwise been enough for a place in the final were allowed another go in the following series; in fact, didn’t Mastermind used to have some sort of rule like that and, indeed, didn’t Dave himself go on to win his series thanks to it?

 

Or, if there is some room for the format to be tweaked a bit, then maybe the show could return to another old format, where, IIRC, the six highest scoring non-winners from the heats were also invited back in the semis, which thus featured five contenders instead of four and had shorter rounds to account for it.

 

Or, quite simply, just do three/four fewer heats every series and invite the three/four highest scoring non-winners back in the semis as well. Three fewer heats would make 28 episodes a series, the same as OC, so that’d be a nice tie-in with that show.

 

Whatever the case, as far as I’m concerned, something definitely needs to be done re high scoring non-winners in the heats. For now, best of (retrospective) luck once again to all six finalists; hopefully a good final next week!

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; next week, it's the finals of both shows! Hopefully both will be able to end the season on a high; this has been a most unpredictable season, for UC in particular, and whoever wins both shows will deserve it. Best of luck, again, to all involved! Anyway, back next Monday with my last write-up of the season; so, see yous then... 

Quizzy Mondays 2025-26 Week 35: University Challenge Semi-Final 1, Mastermind Semi-Final 5

Hello my friends, and welcome to the antepenultimate Quizzy Monday of the season! Only two more editions of the two remaining quizzes left after tonight; both will come to their dramatic (we hope) conclusions in two weeks' time, as it stands; we'll find that out for sure later this week. Coming up, Mastermind and the return of a slightly different Round Britain Quiz. But first, the first UC semi-final...

 

Edinburgh have gone under the radar a bit this series, competently beating Newcastle and Trinity of Cambridge in the first two rounds and Manchester in their first QF, before emerging on top of the incredibly tough and low-scoring second against Merton, winning 105-85. They were the same unchanged foursome as all those previous matches:

Parthav Easwar, from Portland, Oregon, studying Sustainable Lands and Cities

Johnny Richards, from Los Angeles, studying Ancient DNA

Captain: Alice Leonard, from Portsmouth, studying Environment, Culture and Society

Rayhana Amjad, from Dublin and Glasgow, studying Computer Science

 

Darwin College Cambridge defeated two Oxford teams, Green Templeton and Magdalen, in Rounds 1 and 2, then lost their first QF to Sheffield, but recovered by beating Warwick in their second and, just last week, they too defeated Merton, this time 175-130, to secure the last place in the semis. They too were the same quartet as all those previous occasions:

Lewis Strachan, from North Lanarkshire, studying Parasite Biology

Ruth Ni Mhuircheartaigh, from Cork, studying Education

Captain: Louis Cameron, from London, studying English

Jonathan White, from Buckinghamshire, studying Geography

 

Darwin took the first starter, and all three of a fairly routine first set of bonuses; Edinburgh, in contrast, only got one from their first set. The Cambridge side took the next two starters, including the first picture starter; after the first picture round, they led 55-15. I was pleased with myself for getting 'Bayer' for the next starter even before the chairman gave the giveaway clue of 'Leverkusen'; Darwin went too early, allowing Edinburgh the points and a single bonus followed. Another starter put Edinburgh within five points, and a couple more penalties for their opponents gave them the lead, which they extended with a starter and pair of bonuses. I thought the chairman was a bit hasty to give the answer to the (dropped) music starter before the full clip had played; after the music bonuses (one of which, Blondie's Heart of Glass, was played on Radio 2 this very morning!), Edinburgh led 80-40.

 

A further two penalties, one of which was very unlucky to be fair, dropped Darwin back further; Edinburgh didn't take either, but Ms Amjad took the next two, a full bonus set on the second of which helped the Scots side into three figures. Darwin finally got going again with the second picture starter; after the second picture bonuses, they'd cut the gap to 115-50. They'd have to go for it if they were to have a chance, and they duly took the next two starters and all of the second set of bonuses, which was most deserved as they had to spell the answers to them. This brought them back within sight, but another penalty handed Edinburgh an extensionto their lead and two bonuses put them within sight of victory. Darwin did give it a good go though, taking another two starters, but only half the resulting bonuses followed, and, when Ms Amjad took the next starter, that was game over. At the gong, Edinburgh won 155-110.

 

A good, pleasant first semi-final, that was ultimately decided on the buzzer. Very well done Edinburgh, worthy finalists; very best of luck to them in that final! Hard lines to Darwin, who were undone by some forgivable errors on the buzzer, but they've had a terrific run; thanks very much to them for playing!

 

The stats: Ms Amjad was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Cameron was, again, best for Darwin with four, ending their run their best buzzer of the series with a total of 28 starters over six matches. On the bonuses, Edinburgh managed 14 out of 27 (with one penalty) and Darwin 12 out of 24 (with an ultimately costly six penalties).

 

Next week's match: Imperial vs Manchester in the second semi-final!

 

Mastermind’s penultimate semi-final was opened by Paul Smith, who was answering on Yellowstone National Park; he started well, slipped a bit, then recovered well and finished with 8 points. He was followed into the chair by Milena Malcharek, who was answering on JRR Tolkein’s Silmarillion; a pretty flawless round, she took the early lead with 11 points.

 

Next up was David Ford, who was answering on Grace O’Malley; like Paul, he made a few mistakes, but answered steadily and constantly and finished with 9 points. Finally, another Paul, Paul Richardson, was answering on England at the (men’s football) World Cup; he started well before falling foul of some questions requiring more specified knowledge and, while he did recover to finish with 7 points, you probably fancied he wouldn’t be winning today.

 

Nonetheless, Paul R came straight back for GK; needing a good score, he put up a perfectly fine 9 for a respectable enough total of 16, but you fancied it would be beaten. Paul S went next and did indeed beat his namesake’s score; 10 gave him a total of 18, but two passes meant it too felt like it might not be enough.

 

David was next, and he too scored 10 points, giving him a total of 19; he too incurred a pass though, which left Milena needing eight provided she didn’t pass, nine if she did. She started slowly, then picked up the pace and it looked like she was going to make it; alas, she missed the last question and so fell agonisingly short, scoring 7 for a still perfectly good total of 18.

 

Which means, much to his own surprise, David was though to the final! Well done him, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Also, Round Britain Quiz returned yesterday, with a couple of slight changes to its format. Firstly, there are just four teams now, one of each UK nation, with the Midlands, North and South of England teams merged into a single England team, with last series’ winners the North, Stuart Maconie and Jenny Ryan, comprising the team. Secondly, it appears there is going to be some sort of tournament structure instead of the teams playing each other multiple times and a big table at the end; there will actually be a ‘Grand Final’ this time. Quite how this will work remains clear; watch this space. At the end of the day though, the format of a single episode, the teams try to answer four questions each, hasn’t changed, so no real complaints from me. Yet, anyway.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; just two weeks to go now, and then that's us done for the season. Earlier today, I had an idea for something I might do to keep the blog ticking over until next season, but I haven't made any firm plans yet; anything I do decide will be announced in due course. If any. Anyway, back same time same place next week with the penultimate write-up of the season, so, see yous then...

Quizzy Mondays 2025-26 Week 34: University Challenge Play-Off Quarter-Final 2, Mastermind Semi-Final 4

Hello my friends, and welcome to another Quizzy Monday! Coming up, the next Mastermind semi-final, plus an update on, what used to be (and, indeed, still is for me), the 3pm Monday slot on Radio 4. But we begin as ever with UC, and the final quarter-final match, between two teams, one of whom began the process as favourites to progress, the others as rank outsiders, but only one of them would join Edinburgh, Imperial and Manchester as the final team, and, indeed, sole Oxbridge representatives, in the semi-finals...

 

Merton College Oxford defeated Durham and Churchill of Cambridge comfortably in the first two rounds, and U.C.L. narrowly in their first QF, but their second against Edinburgh saw both teams struggle quite a bit, before their opponents edged a very low scoring affair 105-85. They were the same foursome as all those previous affairs:

Ciaran Duncan, from High Wycombe, studying English Literature

Eveline Ong, from Singapore, studying Maths and Philosophy

Captain: Elliot Cosnett, from Hatton in Warwickshire, studying History

Verity Fleetwood-Law, from Amersham, studying English and French

 

Darwin College Cambridge defeated two Oxford teams, Green Templeton and Magdalen, narrowly and comfortably respectfully in Rounds 1 and 2, then lost to Sheffield in their first QF, but bounced back by once again defying the form book and beating Warwick 175-125 in their second. They were also the same quartet as all those previous encounters:

Lewis Strachan, from North Lanarkshire, studying Parasite Biology

Ruth Ni Mhuircheartaigh, from Cork, studying Education

Captain: Louis Cameron, from London, studying English

Jonathan White, from Buckinghamshire, studying Geography

 

Merton got off the mark first with a starter and pair of bonuses; their opponents didn't get any of their first set, but a penalty to the Oxonians allowed Darwin to take the lead with the third starter of the night. The first picture round went to Merton, who took one bonus and were unfortunate not to get another, after which the teams were level on 30-each. A starter and full set of bonuses saw Merton pull back in front, but Darwin responded in kind to pull level again and a second starter in a row put them back in front. A third starter in a row ensured all four of the Cambridge team had at least one correct starter, and, again, all three bonuses were taken. Merton took the music round though; after the music bonuses, they'd cut the gap to 95-65.

 

A further two starters went to the Oxonians, which also ensured that, for the second week in a row, all eight players had answered a starter correctly, and the resulting bonuses put them back in front. But back in front went Darwin with the next starter, only for Merton to immediately bite back and draw level again! The second picture round gave the Cambridge side the lead back; after the second picture bonuses, they led 130-115. A second starter in a row gave Darwin more room to breathe, and, two dropped starters later, a third plus one bonus gave them a 50-point lead and they had one foot in the semis. Mr Cosnett kept his side in the game with the next starter; two bonuses followed, but they'd really needed all three, and, when they forgivably lost five on the next starter, which they did need to go for, that was game over. Darwin picked up the points and saw the game out. At the gong, they won 175-130.

 

A good close contest between two excellent teams which could've gone either way until the final straight. Well done Darwin, and very best of luck to them in the semi-finals! Hard lines to Merton, but they've had a fine run in the competition and can go out of it pleased with themselves; thanks for playing!

 

The stats: Messrs Cosnett and Cameron were joint best buzzers of the night with four starters each, the former ending the series his side's best buzzer with a total of 23 over five games. On the bonuses, Merton managed 13 out of 24 (with three penalties) and Darwin 15 out of 28 and, as I said before, for the second week in a row, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter to the game (in fact, all four of Darwin had at least two).

 

Next week's match: the first semi-final! Don't know the draw but, if it were up to me, Edinburgh and Manchester, who've already met, would be kept apart, so it would be Edinburgh vs Darwin and Imperial vs Manchester; but then, given Quizzy Mondays PTB's well-established love for avoidable rematches, who knows?

 

Mastermind’s fourth semi-final was opened by Roger Easy, who was answering on the composer Handel; he made a good start, then dipped slightly, then recovered well and finished with 9. He was followed into the chair by Danielle Connolly, who was answering on the films of Christopher Nolan; like Ross last week, she made light work of a risky subject, a single pass her only missed answer as she scored 11.

 

Next up was Richard Carr, who was answering on Hannibal; he started well before dropping off a bit and a few noticeable pauses before answering ran the clock down a bit, but he still scored 8 points. Finally, Alan Hotchkiss was answering on the US Masters from 1990 onwards; his round was similar to Roger’s, he started well, wavered and bit, then came back strongly and indeed also scored 9.

 

Richard thus returned for GK first, but his round stalled quite early on and, when he had to pass a second time, I think he knew he probably wasn’t going to win; he recovered afterwards and scored 7 for a respectable total of 15. Roger then went first of the two gentlemen on 9; his round was also a bit stop start, scoring steadily but not that highly, and he too scored 7, giving him a perfectly fine total of 16. Alan was next, and his round too never really caught fire; he nonetheless scored 6, equalling Richard’s total of 15.

 

Which left Danielle needing just 6 to win; even a modest target like that is easier said than done on Mastermind though, and, for a long time as the questions didn’t fall for her too, it looked like she might not make it. In the end, on the very last question, which Clive M got the dramatic effect pause on just right(!), she did it, scoring 6 for a total of 17! Well done her, and best of luck in the final!

 

Also, yesterday saw the final of Counterpoint. Greg Butler was the winner, beating fellow finalists Paul and Cavan, whose surnames I unfortunately missed, apologies to them; well done to him! I’m still not exactly satisfied with the show’s lack of an audience though; it somehow makes the show feel rather different and less satisfying than before.

 

Next week(/this coming Sunday), Round Britain Quiz returns, which means still no new series of Brain of Britain; I did see on Twitter X earlier that auditions for one are now open though, so we should be getting one later in the year hopefully.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; only three weeks left to go now, with UC finally reaching its semi-finals next week, and then we'll be done for another season! Hopefully said season can end on a high in those remaining weeks. Anyway, I'll be back, same time same place next Monday with my write-up of the ante-penultimate quizzes of the season, so, see yous then...