OK, so we're now onto the third show of the series. Playing here were the County Councillors, Gwilym Owen, Gareth Aubrey and John Dixon, and the Ombudsmen, Brian Haines, Keith Nevols and Andrew Hobley. I know little about any other quiz performances by any of these chaps, except Gareth Aubrey, who was part of the Manchester team who won UC in 2006.
The Ombudsmen went first, chosing Alpha first and seeing 'Frankenstein', then 'We Need to Talk about Kevin', 'Clarissa' and 'Les Liasons dangereuses'. They worked out that these are all epistolary novels for one point. The Councillors chose Epsilon for their first question: 'Quoth the Raven, Nevermore', 'Don't Cry For me Argentina', 'That's all folks!', and at this point elected for final lines of works. Not correct; the Ombudsmen knew, as did I, that these are all epitaphs of people associated with the lines. The Ombudsmen chose Zeta, and got the picture round, and saw Yoko Ono, then James Hannah, then Monica Seles and finally Trevor Eve; neither they nor their opponents spotted that their surnames were all palindromes. The Councillors chose Gamma, saw 'Orange', then 'October', and promptly went for revolutions; three well earned points. Beta gave the Ombudsmen 'Pope Joan', then 'Black Maria' and then 'Newmarket'; at this point, they opted for card games, and earned two good points. Left with Delta and the music round, the Councillors heard various operatic tracks, but didn't recognise any of them and thus had no answer; the Ombudsmen did recognise them, and suggested they were all operatic couples singing for a bonus. The Ombudsmen thus led 5-3 at the end of the round.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Ombudsmen chose Alpha first again and saw 'Tu Te Reconnaitras', then 'Waterloo', latched on Eurovision winners and offered 'Save all your kisses for me' for three good points. The Councillors chose Gamma, and saw 'March 25th', then 'June 24th' and finally 'September 29th'; neither they or their opponents got the answer of 'December 25th', as the sequence is English and Welsh quarter days. Fair enough; it's different here in Scotland apparently. The Ombudsmen chose Delta, and got pictures: 'He' in pink writing, 'Ne' in red and then 'Ar' in blue; they didn't get it, but their opponents came close, offering 'Krypton' instead of 'Kr', which would've worked. For their own question, the Councillors chose Zeta: 'Washington', then 'Jefferson' and then 'Roosevelt', and at this point knew it was Mount Rushmore; they gave us 'Lincoln' for two points. For their final question, the Ombudsmen chose Beta, and saw 'County', 'High' and began to spot a connection; they opted for 'House of Lords', as these are English and Welsh civil courts. As VCM said, they'd have had to get that really. Left with Epsilon, the Councillors saw 'Old Bailey', 'Shoreditch' and 'Stepney' and then recognised these are the bells from Oranges and Lemons, and gave us 'Bow' for two points. At the end of the round, the Ombudsmen led 11-7.
Round 3, the Walls. The Councillors went first and chose the Alpha wall. After some out-working, they isolated 'Cork', 'Wexford', 'Longford' and 'Clare' as Irish counties (we had that in the last show!), and then 'Martin', 'Quinn', 'Kildare' and 'House' as fictional doctors in dramas. They very quickly isolated the final sets of 'Hazel', 'Quince', 'Rowan' and 'Myrtle', trees (another repeat from last time!), and 'Somerset', 'Opera', 'Wendy' and 'Heartbreak', all of which can be followed by 'house'. A full house (no pun intended) and a full ten points.
The Ombudsmen were left with the Beta wall; they quickly got 'Rebus', 'Hammer', 'Wimsey' and 'Spade' as fictional detectives, and then promptly got 'Monkey', 'Chinese', 'Jigsaw' and 'Crossword', which can all precede puzzle. They unsuccessfully tried twice to solve the wall, and succeeded on the final go: 'Terry', 'Drill', 'Wincey' and 'Jersey' are kinds of cloth, and 'Trowel', 'Pick', 'Riddle' and 'Wimble' are all tools. Another full house and another ten points. So, going into the Missing Vowels, they Ombudsmen led 21-17.
So, the final round would be crucial. Remember, no point deductions for incorrect answers. 'Soup and stews' went to the Councillors 3-0, this closing the gap to one. 'Terms in mechanical physics' was split 2-all, so still just one point in it. 'Quotations from US presidents' proved rather tricky, with the Councillors taking the only point from the four.
At the end of the show, the teams were tied, 23-all! So, the first ever tie-break: Messrs Aubrey and Nevols are given a final Missing Vowels question, first to buzz gets only chance to answer; if they're right, their team wins, but if they're wrong, the other team wins. So, that question: 'LBR TNS TN'. After a few seconds, Mr Aubrey buzzed in with 'ALBERT EINSTEIN', and was right!
So, the Councillors won the show 24-23. Very well done to them on a great recovery victory, and unlucky to the Ombudsmen, who were a great team in their own right. I have to say, even in the first series, the teams so far have been too good to be knocked out in one match, and the decision in later series to introduce the round robin system is totally justified.
I'll be back whenever with the next match.
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