OK, Only Connect time. After this series is over, I'm either taking a break, or binge-watching some of the earlier series I didn't pay as much attention to. I won't try and review them on here if I do though, cause that went so well last time I tried that, didn't it?
Anyway, Friday's match, the first elimination match; unlike UC, the show is keeping it easy to understand which stage of the QF process is which. Playing were the Fire-Eaters, Andy Davis, Tony Moore and captain Jonathan Elliott, who defeated the Eurovisionaries and Clareites but found the Korfballers to be too much, and the Verbivores, Phyl Styles, blog reader Tom Cappleman and captain Graeme Cole, who have lost twice, to the Psmiths in the first round and the Surrealists in their preliminary, and won twice, beating the Channel Islanders and Taverners by a point each.
Round 1. The Verbivores opened the night's procedings with Horned Viper, and the picture set: we saw a shire horse, then a terrier dog, then a Chippendale dancer; they recognised the horse to be a Clydesdale and the dog an Airedale, so offered 'dale' for two points. The Eaters opened their account with Lion: 'Wymendon' in green, then 'Brixiestan' in light blue, then 'Holeburne' in red; they offered 'former names of Tube stations in their line colour', correct for two points. The Verbivores chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard Tony Bennett singing 'Just in Time', then 'The Time Warp' from the Rocky Horror Show, then 'Time in a Bottle' by Jim Croce; they saw the link, and picked up another two points. The Eaters chose Twisted Flax next: 'The cleaner you are the dirtier you get', then 'Money back if he walks', then 'Hydrates and fuels you better than water', and finally 'Are you beach body ready?'; they spotted in time to be 'banned advert slogans', and collected a point. The Verbivores chose Two Reeds next: 'Joe Biden's 2008 presidential bid', then 'Players running on to pitch at Ibrox', then 'David Brent delivering motivational speech', and finally 'Chris Eubank entering ring'. They offered 'all done via dance'; not right. Their opponents didn't know it either, my Dad did though: they all feature Bon Sco... sorry, Tina Turner's 'The Best'. Left with Water, the Eaters saw 'Norman Wisdom (2010, 2015)', then 'Peter Falk (2011, 2012)', then 'Tony Hart (2009, 2015)'; they offered that the first years are when those persons died, and the second is a year they were mistakenly thought to have just died due to them being in the news for something else! Two points for that. At the end of the first round, the Eaters led 5-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Verbivores began with Twisted Flax: '4: Belgium', then '3: Luxembourg', and then '2: Andorra'; they tried '1: Monaco', which was correct, though not for the reasons they suggested, numbers of borders with France, the actual sequence being countries with 4, 3, 2 and 1 actual land borders (so the UK would be an acceptable answer). The Eaters chose Eye of Horus next: we saw an N in a circle with a small section shaded black, then H in the circle with a larger portion shaded light grey, and then C in the circle with a larger still portion shaded darker grey (does that make sense?); they suggested that the circle would next feature an O and the rest of the circle shaded another colour. Correct, the sequence being the composing elements of the human body, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen respectively. The Verbivores chose Two Reeds next: we saw an M on its side and a 13, didn't fall into the trap of thinking it was a sigma, and picked up FIVE points for offering 'sideways P 16'! Excellent shout! The Eaters chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw Durham Cathedral with a 4, then St Paul's Cathedral with a 3, and then York Cathedral with a 2. Neither side saw it: Canterbury Cathedral with a 1 would be fourth, the sequence being the seniority of their bishops in the Church of England. For their final choice, the Verbivores chose Horned Viper: 'Tours (1940)', then 'Bordeaux (1940)', and then 'Vichy (1940-44)'; they spotted it to be where the French government has been based, and offered 'Paris (1944-present)' for two points. Left with Water again, the Eaters saw 'Titled lady', then 'Ancient Greek township', and then 'Two nickels'; they identified them as 'Dame, 'Deme' and 'Dime', and offered something representing 'Dome', such as 'Eden Project biospheres', for two points. At the end of the second round, the Verbivores led 13-9.
On to the Walls. The Eaters went first this time, and chose the Lion wall. It took them little time to isolate the first two sets: 'Canopic', 'Bell', 'Cookie' and 'Leyden' are types of jar, while 'Root', 'Cook', 'Stokes' and 'Anderson' are England cricketers. They spent a good long while looking over the final clues, and solved the wall on their final try: 'Runner', 'Lima', 'Tonka' and 'Navy' are types of bean, while 'Broad', 'Over', 'Fore' and 'Type' can all precede 'cast', which they didn't spot, dropping a clean sweep. Seven points there then.
The Verbivores thus could pull further away if they could crack the Water wall. They too found their first set pretty quickly: 'Maigret', 'Bean', 'Blackadder' and 'Fowler' are characters who have been portrayed by Rowan Atkinson. A second set came quickly too: 'Riverjack', 'Eggeater', 'Treeboa' and 'Hornedviper' are snakes. (Hang on, does this mean we've been writing it wrong all this time?) They soon had it wrapped up: 'English', 'Deviation', 'Lamp' and 'Wing' can all follow 'Standard', while 'Solution', 'Attrition', 'Abrasion' and 'Hydraulic action' are elements of river erosion. A full ten, which put them 23-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish the show, with the Eaters needing a good effort to pull it back. 'Battles of the English Civil War' went to the Eaters 3-1. 'Plays by Eugene O'Neill' finished 1-each. 'Life peers', such as 'CP SNOW', where just one vowel was missing(!), went to the Eaters 2-1, and that was time. The Verbivores won 26-22.
Another good match well played by both sides. Unlucky Eaters, but a perfectly respectable series of performances, and thanks very much indeed for taking part. Well done Verbivores though, and best of luck in your play-off!
Next match: the Beekeepers vs the Oscar Men in the second eliminator match
Thank you Jack. We enjoyed our time on the show.
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