Yes, Only Connect will still be providing us with our serious quiz fix over Christmas, while UC and Mastermind pause for the Celeb specials. A show next Monday, and one after that. That'll do us, I think. Playing the second QF were the Yorkers, Jack Johannes Alexander, Alasdair Middleton and Joe Crowther, who came straight through against the Polyglots and the Cluesmiths, and the Operational Researchers, Paul Allen, Clare Lynch and Alex Hill, who lost to the Cluesmiths but also defeated the Polyglots and also the Spaghetti Westerners.
Round 1. The Researchers kicked off the match with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Rebecca', then 'Cold', then 'Western', and finally 'Judean People's'. The final clue gave it to them: they can all precede 'Front'. The Yorkers began their match with Two Reeds, and got the music round: first was Maggie May by Rod Stewart, the second was Don't You Love Me by the Human League, and the other two I didn't recognise, but they were Miles Davies and Nine Inch Nails. Neither team spotted the link to be units of length until it was explained afterwards. The Researchers chose Lion next: 'Ludwig Wittgenstein', then 'ASF Gow', then 'Guy Liddell', and finally 'John Cairncross'. Again, neither team knew it. They were all accused of being the 'Fifth Man' in the Cambridge Spy ring; Mr Cairncross is widely considered most likely to have been him. The Yorkers chose Eye of Horus next: 'Record-breaker British marathon runner', then 'Geneticist and Curiosities captain', then 'Host of 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow', and finally 'Sex Pistols guitarist'. The third clue gave it to me, the final one gave it to them: they are all men called Steve Jones. (I quite liked 101 Ways, incidentally, but it worked best as a one-off series) The Researchers chose Water next: 'Three Countries: France & Germany', then 'New Europe: Bulgaria & Romania' then 'Ambassador: USA & Canada', and finally 'Oresund: Denmark & Sweden'. Again, the final clue gave it to them: they are bridges and the countries they connect. Left with Twisted Flax, and the picture set, the Yorkers saw actress Jane Seymour, then Michael Flatley, then Kate Bosworth, and finally Mabel the Blue Peter dog. Now, I did know about this thanks to Fifteen-to-One 2.0, but it wouldn't have occurred to me, nor did it to either team: they all have different coloured eyes. At the end of the first round, the Researchers led 2-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Researchers began the round with Eye of Horus: 'Here's Looking Ay You, BBC', then 'Scenes of London, ITV', and then 'Play School, BBC2'; they offered 'Countdown, Channel 4', which was correct. They are the first program to be shown on the four main channels in order they came on air. The Yorkers chose Lion next: '16mo', then '8vo', and then '4to'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents. They are printers codes for paper sizes, so 'fo' would complete the set as a simple once folded piece of paper. The Researchers chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next, and got the picture set: we saw the Canadian province of Alberta, then a tree on a savanna, and then a pink Cadillac. They didn't get it, their opponents did; they offered a druid, which would suffice. The four items pictured begin AND end with A, B, C and D, the tree being a baobab. (Nicely timed to put this out the week after baobab featured prominently on the Apprentice!) For their own question, the Yorkers chose Water: 'Pison', then 'Gihon', and then 'Hiddekel, a.k.a. Tigris'; they offered 'Euphrates', which was correct, although they didn't know why. They are the rivers with their origin in Paradise according to the Bible, in the order they are mentioned. For their final choice, the Researchers chose Twisted Flax: 'Harding -> Coolidge', then 'Roosevelt -> Truman'; at this point, they offered 'Nixon -> Ford', which was correct for three points. They are US vice presidents who became president mid-term after their predecessor died/resigned, in order. Left with Two Reeds, the Yorkers saw 'John B', then 'Bertie A', and then 'Brian C'; the second and third clues gave away that it was Irish prime-ministers, or Taoisigh, and they successfully offered 'Enda K' for two points. At the end of the second round, the Researchers led 7-6.
On to the Walls then. The Yorkers went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. Straight away, they isolated 'Bumblebee', 'Optimus Prime', 'Fixit' and 'Sideswipe', which are Autobots in Transformers. And immediately after that, they had a second group in the bag: 'Blow-out', 'Aquaplane', 'Rear-end' and 'Shunt' are types of car accident. They then spent some time looking over the remaining clues, and soon resolved the wall: 'Jumper', 'Probe', 'Busbar' and 'Coaxial pair' are electrical conductors, though the best they could offer was 'cables', thus dropping a connection point, while 'Rebrand', 'Grimlock', 'Okay' and 'Sidle' all end with the surnames of comedians. Just the one error meant they scored seven points.
The Researchers got to work on the Lion wall, and they too isolated a set straight away: 'Steuben', 'Swarovski', 'Tiffany' and 'Lalique' are makers of glasswear. They then hit a bit of a dead end, finding numerous possible links, but finding no more. Eventually, they isolated 'Vignole', 'Lida', 'Murano' and 'Crevan', which are Venetian islands. They tried to quickly resolve what was left, but ran out of lives, and thus had to pick up connection bonus points: 'Scimitar', 'Kitten', 'Rialto' and 'Bond Bug' are cars made by Reliant, which they didn't get, while 'Lucozade', 'Golden Gate Bridge', 'Basketball' and 'EasyCruiseOne' are all orange, which they did get. So five points meant, going into the final round, they trailed 13-12.
Once again, then, Missing Vowels would be the decider. 'Sportspeople who became politicians' was split 2-each. 'Transposed country names', such as 'ZEALAND NEW', was also split 2-each. 'Ballets that premiered in the 1910s' proved more tricky, with the Yorkers winning 2-0. 'British universities' only managed one clue, which went to the Yorkers. At the end of the match, the Yorkers won 20-16.
Another good half-hour of quizzing. Unlucky Researchers, but well played over the series. Well done Yorkers though, and best of luck in the semis!
Next week's match: the Cluesmiths vs the Railwaymen
Remember to stay tuned for Christmas UC, which begins on Sunday and runs over the festive fortnight. I'll give occasional reports on that over the coming weeks, and will try to keep on top of OC as well. And, yes, I'll say it again: someday, Series 1 will be sorted out.
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