OK, lets see if I can get through a review of this, the first of the semi-finals, and make my explanations of answers make sense. Playing for a place in the final were the Cluesmiths, Mick Hodgkin, Richard Heald and John Tozer, and the String Section, Tessa North, blog reader Richard Aubrey and Pete Sorel Cameron. The Cluesmiths defeated the Operational Researchers, the Mixologists and the Railwaymen, but did lose to the Yorkers as well, while the String Section came here undefeated via wins over the Headliners, the Wayfarers and the Scientists. This also happened to be the show's 200th episode, a location marked by the presence of a large cake, which VCM took to consuming during the course of the show!
Round 1. The Cluesmiths went first, and kicked the match off with Lion: 'Temporal alienation forbidden', then 'No special lighting', then 'No brought-in props', and finally 'Cameras must be hand-held'. Neither side got it; it is film making rules laid out by Dogma 95. The String Section opened their account, once again, with Two Reeds, and got the music set: didn't recognise any of the pieces myself, the sides seemed to, but didn't get any answers. The tracks all had words meaning 'little' in their titles (one of them was Eine kleine Nachtmusik). The Cluesmiths chose Eye of Horus next: 'Tom Thumb', then 'The Jack of Hearts', then 'Judas Priest'; at this point they offered 'titles of Bob Dylan songs', which was correct for two points. The String Section chose Water next: 'Bird', then 'Little Dyer', then 'Angelic Brother', and finally 'Little Barrel'. Again, neither side knew it initially, the String Section saw it too late: they are translations of the names of Italian Renaissance painters. The Cluesmiths chose Horned Viper next, and got the picture set: we saw Irene Handl, then the Mir Space Station, then Salome holding the head of John the Baptist, and finally La Paz marked on a map. They got timed out before they could offer anything, and their opponents were none the wiser. Their names all mean 'peace'. Left with Twisted Flax, the String Section saw '.se (arrows in opposing directions) .dk', then 'Jon. (arrows in opposing directions) Nah.', then 'FL (arrows in opposing directions) ID', and finally 'As (arrows in opposing directions) Ni'. They spotted it just in time: their full names overlap. At the end of the first round, the Cluesmiths led 2-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cluesmiths chose Lion first again: 'Sb. As', then 'Al. Se', and then 'H and O'; they didn't get it, and their opponents came agonisingly close, offering 'N and Rh'. 'N and Re' is the correct answer; they are the first eight elements mentioned in Tom Lehrer's excellent 'Elements' song. (Ironically, that song was played on Radio 4 in relation to a story about an updating of the Periodic Table on the same day this aired!) For their own question, the String Section chose Two Reeds once again: 'Total pips, standard domino set', then 'Uranus year in full Earth years', and then 'Answer to Ultimate Question'. Again, they narrowly missed it; their opponents got it though: something representing 21, such as the card game 'pontoon'. They are numbers halving each time (168, 84, 42, 21). For their own question, the Cluesmiths chose Water: '4th: Abyssopelagic', then '3rd: Bathypelagic', and then '2nd: Mesopelagic'. Neither side knew it. It's layers of the ocean, so '1st: Epipelagic' comes fourth. The String Section chose Twisted Flax: ''Brethren pray for us.' (17)', then ''Remember Lot's wife.' (16)', and then ''Rejoice evermore.' (15)'. Now, this was interesting: they offered ''In the beginning' (14)'; the actual answer was ''Jesus wept.' (9)', the link being the shortest verses in the New Testament'. But VCM let them have it, as their answer would fit in a sequence of Biblical quotations with descending numbers of letters. Interesting. For their final choice, the Cluesmiths chose Eye of Horus, and got the picture set: we saw the Spanish region of Aragon, then West Ham's home ground of Upton Park, or the Boleyn Ground as it is properly known, and that gave it to them: they offered something relating to 'Cleves', which was correct for three points. It is, of course, the wives (legal or not, thanks QI!) of Henry VIII. Left with Horned Viper, the String Section got a music sequence, and heard first Arthur Askey, then Brigitte Bardot, and then Chubby Checker; despite only recognsing the last one, the successfully offered something by Desmond Dekker for two points. (Cue yet another enforced sing-along! They're starting to remind me of the scene in Frasier where Martin persuades a reluctant Frasier and Niles to join in his rendition of Goldfinger!) At the end of the second round, the Cluesmiths led 6-5.
On to the Walls then. The String Section went first, and chose the Lion wall. They quickly isolated 'Bryn Mawr', 'Smith', 'Barnard' and 'Vassar', but mistakenly offered them as Ivy League colleges, when they are actually Seven Sisters colleges. They spent a bit of time trying to pick out links in the remaining clues, and eventually isolated 'Lamb', 'Temple', 'Primrose' and 'Wellesley', but, again, got the link wrong, offering 'Arthur' instead of Noble Prime Ministers (known by titles instead of real names). They knew the remaining links, and tried to solve the Wall, but ran out of lives, and thus had to settle for bonuses: 'Occiput', 'Crown', 'Scalp' and 'Mandible' are parts of the head, while 'Nose', 'Mid-palate', 'Chewy' and 'Finish' are terms in wine tasting. They knew both those links, so four points there.
The Cluesmiths thus had a chance to pull away as they tackled the Water wall. They quickly isolated 'Graham', 'Bakker', 'Swaggart' and 'Falwell', which are televangelists. After much fiddling about trying to solve what was left, they isolated 'Naxos', 'Manor', 'Angel' and 'Edna', which are anagrams of British settlers. With just seconds left, they slotted in the remaining sets: 'ECM', 'Philips', 'Hyperion' and 'Decca' are Classical record labels, which they didn't spot until too late, while 'Slot', 'Robertson', 'Hex' and 'Pozidriv' are screw recesses for screwdrivers. Just the one mistake meant seven points, and left their lead at 13-9 going into the final round.
Once again, then, Missing Vowels would be the decider. 'UK number-one acts of the 2010s' was split 1-each, as was 'Islands of Japan'. 'Italian football teams' went to the String Section 3-(-1). 'Settlements of Roman Britain and their modern equivalents' was announced, but the only question there was time for was cut off by the time-out noise. But it wasn't game over: the teams were tied at 14-each!
So, tie-break time! One final clue, captains only, first to buzz gets only chance to answer; get it right, you win, get it wrong, you lose. The decider: 'FS TSTF NG RFR ST'. Our man Richard A. immediately buzzed in: 'FASTEST FINGER FIRST'. Right!
What a match, with some tough questions and a suitably tense finish. Very unlucky Cluesmiths, but you've done really really well this series, and have done nothing to be ashamed of, so well done. Very very well done to the String Section though, and very best of luck in the final!
Next week's match: the Wayfarers vs the Yorkers for the second place in the final.
Will I finish Series 1 off after this series is over? Maybe, depends how up to it I feel.
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