OK, back to regular service as far as Only Connect is concerned. Playing the second play-off were the Spaghetti Westerners, Neil Macaskill, Andrew Frazer and Paul Philpot, who defeated the Mixologists but lost to the Railwaymen, and the Operational Researchers, Paul Allen, Clare Lynch and Alex Hill, who lost to the Cluesmiths but defeated the Polyglots.
Round 1. The Researchers went first, and kicked off with Lion: 'Painful sports 'hernia'', then 'Stars Hollow', then 'Capt. James Onedin' and finally 'Happy Sandler'; they offered 'Gilmore', which was correct for a point. The Westerners opened their account with Eye of Horus, and got the picture set: we saw FDR played by some chap I didn't recognise, then Peter Cushing as Dr Frankenstein, then Laurence Olivier as Hamlet and finally Kurt Wallander, again, I didn't know the actor. Neither side got it, but the Westerners did after time had elapsed: they have all also been played by Kenneth Branagh. The Researchers chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next, and got the music set: didn't recognise the first two, did the third but didn't know what it was, and the fourth I didn't know; the Researchers offered 'weather', which was acceptable. All the songs were named after natural disasters. The Westerners chose Twisted Flax next: 'Mouse 2/3m', then 'Cat: 2m', then 'Chimpanzee: 8m'; they offered the gestation periods in months, which was correct for two points. The Researchers chose Water next: 'JP Morgan: 15/04/1912', then 'Kokura: 09/08/1945', then 'Waylon Jennings: 03/02/1959' and finally Seth Macfarlane: 11/09/2001'. The final clue was the giveaway: they all narrowly avoided disaster on the date in question (Mr Macfarlane was supposed to be on one of the planes that went into the two towers, but overslept and missed it). Neither team quite had it. Left with Two Reeds, the Westerners saw 'El Chicharito's first team', then 'Author, The Making of the English Working Class', then 'Author, The Go-Between', and finally ''Put a ring on it' song'. They were timed out before they could offer anything, and their opponents didn't know it. They are music formats (CD, EP, LP, Single). Excellent link, but a bit too hard, I think. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied 2-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Researchers went first again, chose Eye of Horus, and got a music set: we heard Mull of Kintyre, then Bohemian Rhapsody, and then Do They Know It's Christmas?; they offered (and were forced to sing!) Candle in the Wind, which was correct. They are the best selling singles of all time. The Westerners chose 'the Viper' next: 'Eastern cut-off', then 'Western roll', and then 'Straddle'; they offered 'Fosbury flop', which was correct. They are successive breakings of the men's high jump record and the techniques used. The Researchers chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw some carrots, then a pot of marmite, and they offered 'fish', which was correct; they are things that are a good source of Vitamins A, B, C and D respectively. The Westerners chose Two Reeds next: '4th: Rawlinson', then '3rd: Munro', and then '2nd: Smith-Dorrien'; neither side got it. They are the commanders of Lord Kitchener's armies, so '1st: Haig' completes the set. For their final choice, the Researchers chose Water: now, I can't really explain this one, but the sequence was the abundance of elements in the universe, 'Carbon, Oxygen, Helium and Hydrogen'. They didn't get it, the Westerners did for a bonus. Left with Twisted Flax for their own final question, the Westerners saw '1: common era', then '2: scarlet woman', and then '3: death re-enacted'; they didn't get it, nor did their opponents. This was horribly brilliant: there are numbers hidden across the two words, 'commON Era, scarleT WOman, deaTH RE-Enacted' so '4: handcuff ourselves', or 'handcufF OURselves', or some similar phrase, would finish things off. At the end of the second round, the Researchers led 7-5.
On to the Connecting Walls. The Westerners went first, and chose the Lion wall. They really struggled, looking over the clues, and trying desperately to find something, but to no avail. They ran out of time, and had to settle for bonus connection points. 'Chase', 'Bennet', 'Fossil' and 'March' are literary sisters, which they got. 'Celebration', 'Upside Down', 'September' and 'Shame' are disco tracks, which they got. 'Kissing', 'The Laugh', 'June' and 'Millenium' are bugs, which they got. 'Oak chip', 'Lake', 'Keel' and 'May' are anagrams of vegetables, which they, unsurprisingly, didn't get. So just three points there.
So, a big chance for the Researchers to pull away if they could make a good fist of the Water wall. Straight away, they went one better than their opponents and got a set: 'Doctor!', 'Monday', 'Sugar' and 'Louie', when said twice, are pop songs. They then managed a second set: 'Shreds', 'One Red Paperclip', 'Alex from Target' and 'Friday' are Internet memes. (Oh, how I wish 'O-face' had been a clue there!) They looked over the other clues, but ran out of lives are three wrong gos. Thus, they too had to collect bonus points: 'Sunday', 'Moore', 'pi' and 'Taught' are homophones for deserts, which they didn't get, while 'See', 'Island', 'Saturday' and 'City' can all follow 'Holy', which they did get. Five points there, so they led 12-8 going into the final round.
So, once again, it would all be decided by Missing Vowels. 'Films with UK prime ministers in their titles', such as 'THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT' and 'EAST OF EDEN', was split 2-all. 'Currencies and their predecessors' went to the Researchers 2-0. 'Associated with cats' went to the Researchers 1-0, and that was that. At the end of the quiz, the Researchers won 17-10.
Another good half hour of quizzing. Unlucky Westerners, but a good performance over three matches, so well done and thanks for playing. Well done Researchers; good luck in the QFs!
Next week's match: the Wayfarers vs the Builders
Look, I don't know if I'll ever finish Series 1. But you never know.
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