OK guys, here we go with the second round of Only Connect Series 1. The first second round match pitted the County Councillors against the Science Writers. The Councillors, Gwilym Owen, Gareth Aubrey and John Dixon, defeated the Ombudsmen in their first match, while the Writers, Arran Frood, Chrissie Giles and Peter Wrobel, defeated the Travel Writers.
So, on with the first round. The Councillors went first, and chose Zeta, and immediately triggered the music round: they heard Wagner's 'Magic fire music', 'Heaven is a place on Earth' by Belinda Carlisle, the Water music and Bach's Air on a G string. Neither they nor the Writers spotted the four classic elements in the titles of the songs. The Writers chose Alpha first: 'Psycho', 'Curtain', 'The Remorseful Day' and finally 'The Blue Lamp'; they suggested films that had recently been remade, which was wrong. The Councillors suggested they are all works where the detective dies; correct for a bonus. They chose Gamma for themselves: 'Harpo Marx', then 'Giacomo Casanova', then 'Graham Greene' and finally 'Mata Hari'. They didn't know it, and the Writers saw it too late; they all worked as spies. The Writers chose Epsilon: 'Party Guest, Empire of the Sun', 'Cemetery caretaker, Sleepwalkers', 'Football coach, Fever Pitch' and 'Mikey Forrester, Trainspotting'; they spotted, correctly, that these are all parts in film adaptations played by the author of the original work. For their final question, the Councillors chose Beta, and got pictures: some birds, then a fish, then a lace curtain and finally Grace Kelly. No answer came from either side: they are a 'brace' of birds, and the fish is a dace, so they all rhyme. Left with Delta, the Writer saw (and I'm square bracketing bits that should be in smaller type) 'CH[3]COOH (dild.)', then 'C[12]H[22]O[11]', then 'Piper nigrum', the last of which they recognised as black pepper, and decided to buzz and offer condiments. Correct, for two points. At the end of a tough first round, the Writers led 3-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Councillors chose Epsilon first: 'Poor reception', then 'Good reception' and then 'Stop transmitting'; neither they or the Writers got the answer of 'Message received', as these are CB Radio 10 codes, apparently. The Writers chose Delta, and got pictures: a green circle, then a blue circle, and then a red circle; again, neither team saw it. It's a black circle, as these are ski trail ratings in order of difficulty, apparently. The Councillors chose Alpha: '20', then '1', and then '18'; they offered '4', as that comes next on a dartsboard, which is correct for two points. The Writers chose Zeta: 'Persil', then 'Sauge', and at this point Mr Wrobel said it was 'thyme', as it was the lyrics of Scarborough Fair in French, which was correct for three good points. For their final choice, the Councillors chose Gamma: 'Class', then 'Order', and then 'Family'; they offered 'Kingdom', which was incorrect. The Writers didn't know it either. They are levels of biological taxonomy, so 'Genus' would be next. Left with Beta, the Writers saw 'St Albans', then 'Waltham Cross', then 'Cheapside'; they didn't know, but the Councillors offered 'Charing Cross', as these are Eleanor crosses, or the final journey of Eleanor of Castille, which is correct. At the end of Round 2, the Writers led 6-4.
On to the Walls. The Writers went first, and chose the Alpha wall. 'Rostrum', 'Nib', 'Beak' and 'Bill' slotted in first, as they are all names for a bird's mandible. 'Shrink', 'Quack', 'Spark' and 'Hack', which are all nicknames for professions, followed. After studying the remaining clues, they had a couple of attempts at solving, but ran out of lives. 'Sweeney Todd', 'J.M. Barrie', 'Roux' and 'Willy Wonka' are all characters Johnny Depp has portrayed, while 'Force', 'Crimp', 'Palm' and 'Cop' are magician's actions; both these connections eluded the Writers, who came away with four points.
The Councillors tackled the Beta wall. They spent over half the time studying the wall, and making unsuccessful attempts to get a first group. They tried several times, but couldn't get any groups isolated. Time ran out, and they were totally beaten by the wall. 'Queue', 'Pea', 'Jay' and 'Sea' are all word that sounds like letters, which they got. 'Russell', 'Straw', 'Frost' and 'Dee' are famous Jacks, which they also knew. 'Lime', 'Emerald', 'Jade' and 'Olive' are all shades of green, which they knew. 'Chemical', 'Wright', 'Warner' and 'Moss' all famously precede 'brothers', which they knew. So, four connection points there. Going into the final round, the Writers led 10-8.
So, Missing Vowels. From now on onwards, points are deducted for incorrect answers. 'Star constellations' went to the Councillors 2-1. 'Gospel quotations' proved this match's too hard category, with the Councillors taking it 1-0. 'Restoration comedies' went to the Writers 2-1. 'Poker terms' only managed one question, which went to the Councillors. At the end of the show, the teams were tied 13-all!
So, Mr Aubrey and Ms Giles faced off on this tiebreaker: 'TTH VC TRT HSPL S'. Ms Giles buzzed in: 'TO THE VICTOR, THE SPOILS'; right! The Writers went through to the semis. Well done to them; unlucky Councillors, but a good effort considering the difficulty of questions in the match.
Hopefully, I'll continue on to the next quarter-final tomorrow.
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