Quizzy Mondays 2026-27 Week 18: University Challenge R2M2, Only Connect Play-Off 2, Mastermind Heat 16

Hello my friends, and welcome to the last Quizzy Monday for a couple of weeks! Yep, no show next week due to the Nations League tying up BBC2 on both Monday and Tuesday, so we're getting a week off. Surprisingly much appreciated for myself actually, for reasons that I won't go into now as I've done so quite enough already; all will become clear in due course. Very soon due course in fact. Anyway, for now, on with the show, beginning with UC, and another unfortunate second round match between two good teams who were both last with us relatively recently.

 

Glasgow were very easy winners over Goldsmiths in their first round match, 235-90 the final score there, as they look to become the first student team of the BBC era not to beat Goldsmiths and then fail to win again all series (genuine stat!). Hoping to do just that were the unchanged team of:

Sam McDermott, from East Kilbride, studying History and Economics

Grace Sedgwick, from West Linn, Oregon, studying Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies

Captain: Harry Braid, from Croftamie in Stirlingshire, studying Law

Taylor Reece, from Newcastle, studying Aeronautical Engineering

 

Southampton defeated Queen's Belfast two weeks earlier in a much closer match that went all the way to the final starter, 200-195 the scoreline on that occasion, but to get such a good score against such good opponents made this a very close match to call indeed. They were also unchanged from first time around:

James Carrick-Lawson, from Orpington in London, studying Computer Science

Zosia Mikałajczuk, from Cambridge, studying History

Captain: JB Cassidy, from Southampton, studying for a PGCE

Michael Wu, from St Louis, Missouri, studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering

 

Southampton got off to a flying start with the first two starters and all but one of the resulting bonuses. Glasgow got going with a starter and pair of bonuses, but it was a brief blip as Southampton continued to push ahead into an early lead. After the first picture round, they already led 80-20. The Scots side fought their way back into the game in the second phase, taking three starters and two bonuses from the first two sets before the third saw them get nothing. The music round went to Southampton, after which they led 105-70.

 

Both sides then took a starter each, but failed to add any bonuses. Southampton then took a further two starters though, and, again, took all but one of the resulting bonuses. They also took the second picture round, and all three resulting bonuses of that as well, meaning their lead had suddenly stretched out to 195-80. Glasgow weren't finished yet though, and a run of three starters in a row and seven out of nine bonuses took them right back into the game. A further two starters went to the Scots side, but none of the resulting bonuses kept them at arms length. And when Michael Wu took the final starter of the game, that was game over. At the gong, Southampton won 205-165.

 

Another excellent contest between two fine teams who can consider themselves unlucky to be facing each other at this stage. Well done Southampton, and best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to Glasgow, who recovered very well in that final stretch; thanks very much to them for playing!

 

The stats: JB Cassidy was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Messrs McDermott, Braid and Reece were all joint best for Glasgow with three each. On the bonuses, Glasgow managed 13 out of 30 and Southampton 19 out of 33, and, for the first time in eight shows, there were no penalties all night.

 

No show next week as I mentioned earlier; we resume in two weeks' time with Bristol vs Bath.

 

Only Connect’s second play-off saw the returns of Ad Astra, who lost to the Two Hearts but defeated the Culture Club, and the Makeweights, who, again, did those things as well, but in the opposite order!

 

My Dad claims the same two points as Ad Astra on the ‘foot bones of Italy’ question in the first round and we both claim the same point as them on the ‘killers’ question; the Makeweights led 6-4 after a good first round where both teams scored on all their own questions IIRC (now when was the last time that happened?). My Dad claims the same two points as Ad Astra with the same guess on the Eubank(s)-Benn question in the second round, I claim two points on the ’50 years apart’ question, and between us we claim three points on the Dickens question; Ad Astra now led 11-6 after that.

 

On to the Walls, and Ad Astra carefully worked all the groups out and all the connections for a full ten. The Makeweights worked out two groups, but couldn’t work out the remaining two; they did get all four connections, so six points, meaning they trailed 21-12 going into Missing Vowels. And Ad Astra maintained their advantage comfortably there to win 27-16. Well done them, and best of luck in the quarter-finals! And thanks to the Makeweights for taking part!

 

Next match: a rematch between the Six Seven and Meat & Two Veg

 

Mastermind was won by Amelia Armstrong, who won a low scoring but very pleasantly ordered heat with 16 points ahead of Martin Simpson with 15, Ben Falconer with 14 and Jessica Phillips with 13!

Yesterday’s final Brain of Britain quarter-final saw another rematch, with Ailsa Watson and Padraig O’Kane meeting again after doing so in the heats, and also gave us a sense of déjà vu as, once again, the second placed player came from behind in the final round there was time for to win the game. Going into said final round, Padraig led with 10 to Ailsa’s 8, but Ailsa duly claimed five in a row and a bonus point on her Spotlight and picked up two bonuses, while Padraig only claimed a single point. This meant Ailsa won the show with 16 points to Padraig’s 11 and claims the final place in next week’s final! Benedict Cooke and Tom Mead also competed, finishing with 8 and 7 respectively.

 

So Ailsa joins Claire Reynolds, Chris Ducklin and Ben Spicer in the final this coming Sunday! Best of luck to all; haven’t decided if I’ll post a quick summary on its own next Monday or wait until two weeks’ time, we shall see.

 

And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; as I said, I haven't decided whether to quickly do a blog for just Brain of Britain next week, I may well be busy with other, erm... things. We shall see how I feel when the time comes. Anyway, whether it be next week or two weeks' time with a full house, or maybe sooner than either with a long overdue explanation, we'll be back whenever; so, whenever that may be, see yous then...

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...