OK, moving on now to Only Connect from last week. Note that I am watching Man City's FA Cup replay against Huddersfield at the same time as I'm writing this, so apologies if I get distracted.
Anyway, playing for the first place in the semi-finals on Friday were the Surrealists, Jeremy Partington, Chris James and captain Jonathan Carter, who have defeated the Genealogists, the Part Time Poets and the Verbivores to get this far, and the Korfballers, Taissa Csaky, Niall Sheekey and captain Michael Jelley, whose victories thus far have been over the Channel Islanders, the Shutterbugs and the Fire-Eaters.
Round 1. The Korfballers went first, and opened the match with Two Reeds, getting the picture set: we saw John Keats, then a skate fish, then four famous Kates (can't name them unfortunately, but you get what I mean), and finally a steak. That gave it to them: they are all anagrams of each other. The Surrealists opened their account with Eye of Horus: 'Tuvalu', then 'Hijab', then 'Defra', and finally 'Nope'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents: they all start with three consecutive letters. The Korfballers chose Lion next: 'Roast Beef' (in pink), then 'Sizzling Bacon (now Flamin' Hot)' (in light blue), then 'Saucy (now Pickled Onion)' (in yellow); they correctly saw it to be flavours of Monster Munch and the colours of the monsters on each packet! (I hated Monster Munch myself; I remember one time in primary school, a friend flushed a packet down a toilet, much to the janitor's fury!) The Surrealists chose Twisted Flax next: 'Mister Bertram Wooster (following Malvern Prep)', then 'Captain James Hook (dry bob)', then 'Lord Peter Wimsey (before Balliol)'; they spotted them to be fictional Old Etonians, and duly collected two points. The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next, and got the music set: we heard Carly Simon singing 'As Time Goes By', then Elton John singing 'I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues', then 'I Feel for You' by Chaka Khan, and finally Eurythmics with 'There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they all feature Stevie Wonder on the harmonica! Left with Water for their own question, the Surrealists saw 'p: abnormal growth', then 'math: Renaissance Man', then 'mnia: muse'; they saw that putting 'Poly' before the first gives the second, and collected two. At the end of the first round, the Surrealists led 5-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Korfballers opened the round with Eye of Horus: 'R1: USA', then 'QF: France'; they thought it might who England beat en route to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and so offered 'F: Australia'. Not right. Their opponents saw 'SF: Australia', but were none the wiser; the sequence is who Britain defeated en route to the 2015 Davis Cup, so 'F: Belgium' is fourth. The Surrealists chose Two Reeds next: '1 of 4: Uut', then '2 of 4: Uup', and then '3 of 4: Uus'. Neither team had it: they are the four new chemical elements that haven't been named yet, so '4 of 4: Uuo' completes the set. The Korfballers chose Lion next: 'Lee Meriwether', then 'Michelle Pfeiffer'; they offered 'Anne Hathway', which was correct, the sequence being actresses who have played Catwoman on film. (Nice follow up to the Batman question from the week before) The Surrealists chose Horned Viper next: '4th: Montana New York', then '3rd: California Florida'; they corrected saw it to be US states in order of area and population listed together, offered '1st: Alaska California' for three points. For their final choice, the Korfballers chose Twisted Flax, and got the picture set: we saw a quarter of the background ring from the QI set, then the next circle in on the same ring, and then the next ring in; they recognised them, and offered the QI logo for two points. Left with Water again, the Surrealists saw 'Recuperation (Tarot)', then 'Essex (flag)'; they saw it to be decreasing numbers of swords, so offered 'D'artagnan', which was just about acceptable enough for the two points! At the end of the second round, the Surrealists led 11-8.
On to the Walls. The Surrealists took their turn to go first, and settled for the Lion wall. They quickly spotted some links, and promptly had two sets isolated: 'Coral', 'Oyster', 'Shocking' and 'Fuchsia' are shades of pink, while 'Navigo', 'Calypso', 'get me there' and 'Octopus' are types of travel card. They carefully studied the final clues, and had it resolved on their first go: 'Nausicaa', 'Circe', 'Nestor' and 'Polyphemus' are characters in Homer's Odyssey, while 'Santeria', 'Mojito', 'Ackee' and 'Reggae' are all of Caribbean origin. A full ten well worked out.
The Korfballers thus realistically needed to match that on the Water wall to stay in touch. They too spotted some early links, and eventually isolated 'Praetor', 'Consul', 'Aedile' and 'Legate', which are Roman imperial officers, which they didn't quite get close enough to so no link point there, and then 'Clip', 'Chase', 'Money' and 'Trail', which can all follow 'Paper'. They knew one of the final links, but not the other, and ultimately ran out of gos to solve. So bonus link points to collect: 'Centurion', 'Tiger', 'Abrams' and 'Merkava' are military tanks, which they didn't get, while 'Challenger', 'Langdon', 'Van Helsing' and 'Frink' are fictiona professors, which they did get. So four points there, which left them trailing 21-12 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Korfballers needing a complete shutout to stand a chance. 'Varieties of sunflower' was a 2-each split. 'Films with a word changed for its opposite', such as 'MAJORITY REPORT', was split 1-each. 'Jukebox musicals and their artists' was another 2-each split, and that was time. The Surrealists won 26-17.
Another good half hour well quizzed by both teams. Unlucky Korfballers, but your certainly not beaten yet, so good luck in the play offs. Very well done Surrealists though, and very best of luck in the semi-finals!
This Friday's match: the Cosmopolitans vs the Psmiths, winners join the Surrealists in the semis, runners-up face the Verbivores in the play-offs. I think.
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