Right, time to look over Monday's OC again. Playing this week were the String Section, Tessa North (UC alumnus), Richard Aubrey and Pete Sorel-Cameron, and the Headliners, Duncan Enright, Paddy Baker and Dave Robinson. I wonder if Mr Aubrey is related to Gareth Aubrey, another serial quizzer whose credits include OC, UC and Fifteen-to-One 2.0.
Round 1. The String Section went first, and chose Two Reeds: 'Norfolk PE25 6EN', then 'Aberdeenshire AB35 5TB', then 'Berkshire SL4 1NJ'; at this point, they offered postcodes that are not in the county in question. Not right. The Headliners saw the final clue, 'London SW1A 1AA', and offered 'royal residences'; correct for a bonus. The Headliners chose Lion, and got the picture set: we saw a cockerel, then two ducks, then JS Bach and finally a pot of honey. They offered 'combs'; not right. Their opponents didn't know it either. They are terms of endearment. The String Section chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Barley grains from the middle of the ear', then 'a London candle', then 'a day's work for a yoke of oxen', and finally 'a thumb'. They noticed that they are the bases for units of measurement, and promptly offered it for a point. The Headliners chose Eye of Horus: 'God Bless America', then 'the Cuckoo's Calling', then 'the entire output of Dorothy Parker' and finally 'Peter Pan'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents. They got it after the time-out: the royalties from all of them go to charity. The String Section, hoping for the music question, chose Twisted Flax, and missed it! Instead, they saw 'Flag of Vietnam', then 'Google 'o's'; this was enough for them to offer the simple link of 'red and yellow', for three points. The Headliners were left with Water, and the music question: after hearing the four pieces, one of which was Sanie Shaw's 'Puppet on a String', they offered that they all share their names with playwrights; correct, the other artists being Glenn Miller, Kim Wilde and Shakespeare's Sister. At the end of the first round, the String Section led 4-2.
On to Round 2. The String Section kicked off the round with Two Reeds again, and got the picture set: we saw One Direction (and Zayn!), then Chris 'Coldplay' Martin, and then Kylie. They knew the link to be those who sang the first line of the various remixes of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', but didn't know who did it on the original (and best). They remembered it to be Paul Young when it was too late, but their opponents missed it altogether. For their own question, the Headliners chose the 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Oath', then 'Anointing', and then 'Investiture'; they recognized the sequence to be the stages of coronation, but offered 'Coronation' instead of 'Enthronement'. Their opponents missed the bonus chance, before choosing Lion for themselves: 'Saw III', then 'Cars IV', and then 'Alien V'; again, they knew the link to be film titles, and the numbers of letters in their name in Roman numerals. They offered 'George VI', which was sufficient for the points, 'George' being a 1972 film, according to the producers through VCM's earpiece! The Headliners chose Eye of Horus: 'Mikhail Youzhny', then 'Fernando Verdasco', then 'Jerry Janowicz'; they noticed they were all tennis players, but didn't know the sequence. They offered 'Djokovic', which was correct for two points. Their opponents informed them that they are the players Andy Murray defeated en route to winning Wimbledon 2013. For their own question, and final choice, the String Sections chose Water: '4th: Foot = Foot', then '3rd: Hand = Hand', and then '2nd: Tooth = Tooth'. The final clue gave both them and I the answer '1st: Eye = Eye', the sequence being the famous Bible verse about punishment (Exodus 21:24) going backwards. Left with Twisted Flax, the Headliners saw 'Jefferson City, MO', then 'Madison, WI', and then 'Jackson, MS'; again, they spotted that they were all state capitals named after presidents, but didn't know the answer or the sequence. The String Section offered 'Lincoln, NE', the sequence being state capitals named after presidents in chronological order. At the end of the second round, the String Section led 9-4.
On to the Connecting Walls. The Headliners went first, and chose the Lion wall. After studying the wall, they spotted some links, and tried various grouping unsuccessfully. Eventually, they isolated 'Hamlet', 'Capriccio Italien', 'Swan Lake' and 'Eugene Onegin', which they believed to be ballets, but are actually works by Tchaikovsky. They did know the link for the second group they isolated: 'Erie', 'Grand', 'Suez' and 'Herengracht' are canals. The final groups slotted into place immediately afterwards: 'King Six', 'Henri Wintermans', 'Castella' and 'Panama' are cigars, which they knew, while 'Spinet', 'Console', 'Player' and 'Upright' are keyboard instruments, which they also knew. Just one mistake, so seven points there.
The String Section were left to try and solve the Water wall. They spent some time studying the wall before trying any groupings. They eventually isolated 'Coffee', 'Slippers', 'Carpet' and 'Delight', which can all follow 'Turkish'. The second group they got, 'Risk', 'Bath', 'Race' and 'Errand', are things which can be run. The final groups they worked out promptly after that: 'Cabbage', 'Busby', 'Vandal' and 'Tankard' are words whose first half is a vehicle (Cab, Bus, Van, Tank), which they spotted, while 'Callaghan', 'Venison', 'Fowler' and 'Rush' are former Liverpool players, which they also knew. A full ten meant, going into the final round, the String Section led 19-11.
A lot of catching up for the Headliners to do going into the final round. 'Scottish authors' (which included both 'IAIN BANKS' and 'IAIN M BANKS'!) went to the String Section 4-0, thus ending the match as a contest. 'Items on an Indian takeaway menu' went to the Headliners 2-1, while 'Consecutive Shipping Forecast areas' (hope you were watching Cromarty(IV)!) went to them 3-1. 'French novels' saw the String Section get one right, another wrong, and then time ran out. The String Section won 25-16.
Another good half hour of lateral thinking. Well done String Section, unlucky Headliners. We shall await and see how you both fare in your next matches.
Next week's match: Road Trippers vs Athenians
You know what I'm going to say about Series 1, don't you?
I certainly was watching! "Consecutive Shipping Forecast areas" has to be my favourite Missing Vowels subject to date. It's a shame that "CR MRT YNDF RTH" wasn't one of the clues, but you can't win them all.
ReplyDeleteWhen was Ms North on UC, by the way?
Way back in 2004-05, for East Anglia. They lost to eventual runners-up U.C.L. in the second round.
DeleteAccording to a Facebook group I'm in, Gareth and Richard Aubrey don't think they're closely related at all.
ReplyDelete