Well, hope you all had a good Christmas. I had a relatively calm and uneventful one.
We're now half-way through Christmas UC, so time for a quick run through of the story so far. A few slight changes: the set has been slightly reorganised, and Paxo is now sporting that beard of his. Nothing major, just those two trivial things.
Friday 20th: Reading vs Emmanuel Cambridge
Reading: Cornelia Parker, John Simpson, Joan Smith, Jay Wynne
Emmanuel: Hugo Rifkind, Mary Ann Ochota, Simon Singh, Rory McGrath
Well, for once, we didn't begin the series with a very close contest. Emmanuel were clearly stronger on the buzzer, and that proved the crucial element. Simon Singh, the scientist who re-wrote a Katie Melua song, got six starters, which is what the Reading team got between the four of them. Cornelia Parker provided a comedy moment by answering a starter no-one knew with the very random 'sausages'! In the end, Emmanuel won 185-85, and we'll definitely be seeing them again next week.
Saturday 21st: Kent vs Lancaster
Kent: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, James Wong, Fi Glover, Robert Wade
Lancaster: Brian Clegg, Ranvir Singh, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Matthew Fort
Again, not a terribly close affair. Lancaster had the clear edge on the buzzer throughout, with Kent being immobile for large portions of the game. Roger Ashton-Griffiths got seven correct answers, which is more than Kent got altogether (six). Though Kent did recover to respectability late on, they couldn't catch the opposition, and Lancaster won by 160-100. Whether that's a good enough score to bring them back next week is still up in the air.
Monday 23rd: Keele vs Aberystwyth
Keele: Francis Beckett, Dr Maggie Atkinson, Ian Moncrieff, Steve Jackson
Aberystwyth: Dan Jarvis MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, Tim Brain, Chris Leek
Another match won on the buzzer, with Dr Atkinson getting six starters for Keele (five of which were before the music round), while Aberystwyth only got seven between them. After the second picture round, Keele led 125-35. But Aberystwyth rallied in the final minutes, and pulled their way to respectability, despite running into a set of bonuses of marzipan in Germany! We also got a slight Easter Egg towards the end, in the form of a second long rogue shot of Paxo dressed as Santa! In the end, Keele won 140-95; I doubt that score will be enough to bring them back next week, but we shall see.
Thursday 26th: Gonville & Caius Cambridge vs Christ Church Oxford
Caius: Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Helen Castor, Mark Damazer, Lars Tharp
Christ Church: Michael Dobbs, Adam Boulton, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Mehdi Hasan
Probably the best match so far. Caius had the clear edge throughout on the buzzer, getting most of the starters, and the bonuses generally fell their way too. Whenever Christ Church did get starters, their bonuses were usually on science, which none of them were experts in! At one point, the Oxonians accidentally buzzed in during one of the opposition's bonus rounds! Caius also provided hilarity, due to Mr Damazer's habit of saying 'of course it is!' after being told the answer to a bonus they hadn't got; Paxo did not let this go unremarked upon, and turned it into a runner! At the gong, Caius won by a huge 255-65; their bonus rate was 26 out of 39, which is very good, and we will definitely see them again next week.
Friday 27th: St Hugh's Oxford vs Stirling
St Hugh's: Liz Forgan, Alex Hibbert, Suzy Klein, Rowan Pelling
Stirling: John McLellan, Muffy Calder, Paul Lewis, Richard Lochhead MSP
Another amusing match to finish this summary. St Hugh's were stronger on the buzzer in the first half of the match, though they did have a habit of conferring on starters; Ms Pelling had to be told off for doing so at least three times! At one point, Suzy Klein was also given the points for an answer despite not buzzing for it. Although St Hugh's were better on the buzzer, their bonus rate tapered off as the match went on. Stirling did manage a late rally to respectability, but didn't quite catch up. At the gong, St Hugh's won 125-95, which, unfortunately, won't be enough to bring them back next week.
So, half-way through the series, and with two preliminaries to go, the two Cambridge teams, Caius and Emmanuel, are definitely through. A winning score of 160 or more will be sufficient to bring any of the remaining four teams back as well.
I'll be back next weekend to report on the remainder of the series. Until then, have a Happy New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment