Alright everybody, I'm back from (just under) a week's holiday, and back to work with my look back at Friday's Only Connect, which contained one the all time great Victoria opening ramblings, 'what do ghosts eat?'! One of her answers, 'spookghetti', had me and my Dad both in hysterics!
Anyway, playing were the Snake Charmers, Thomas Rychlik, Kate Pfeffer (who I think I may have seen somewhere before, Fifteen-to-One maybe?) and captain John Howe, and the Extras, Vikram Vasu, Shrikant Narasimhan and captain Vinod Ganesh.
Round 1. The Extras opened the show with Twisted Flax: 'Bubble', then 'Indemnity' (I had it here), then 'Dutch'; they saw them to be words that can follow 'Double', and picked up the first two points of the game. The Charmers began their show with Two Reeds: 'Ties from Nottinghamshire', then 'The second Mrs Lineker from Buckinghamshire', then 'Deer from Hertfordshire'; they too collected two points, spotting them to be homophones of the abbreviations for the counties in question. The Extras chose Eye of Horus next: 'Large White Apple', then 'Bronze Bread', then 'Suffolk Mint', and finally 'Hereford Horseradish'. Neither team got this very fiendish question: they are breeds of animal and sauces they may be eaten with when cooked! The Charmers chose Lion next, and got the music question: we heard 'Razzle Dazzle', then 'Hocus Pocus', then Little Richard with 'Tutti Frutti'; they identified them as having rhyming names, and picked up two points. The Extras chose Water next: 'Noriega', then 'Toynbee'; they identified them as sharing names with characters in Fawlty Towers, and collected a good three points. Left with Horned Viper, the Charmers got the picture set, and saw Angela Merkel, then Hugh Dennis (as seen on celebrity OC), then Theresa May, and finally a portrait of the Bronte sisters. They didn't get it, neither did their opponents: they are the children of clergymen. At the end of the first round, the Extras led 5-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Extras chose to start with Twisted Flax again: '2004 Chris Hoy', then '2008 Nicole Cooke', and then '2012 Helen Glover and Heather Stanning'. They ran out of time without answering, and their opponents were none the wiser: they are the first people to win Gold for Team GB at those games, so '2016 Adam Peaty' completes the sequence. The Charmers chose Eye of Horus next, and got a picture question: we saw Madagascar highlighted on a map alongside a '4', then New Zealand highlighted on a map alongside a '3'; they spotted it to be islands with decreasing numbers of syllables in their names, so offered an island nation highlighted alongside a '1'. This was close enough to be accepted for three points: all they actually needed was a country with one syllable alongside a '1', like France or Spain, would satisfy. (Surely, Victoria, Wales wouldn't count under Pointless' definition of a 'country'?) The Extras chose Water next: 'Largest Red', then 'Second largest Mauve-purple', and then 'Second smallest Orange-brown'. They didn't see it, nor did the opposition: they are the colours of banknotes, so 'Smallest Turqoise-blue' would be fourth. The Charmers chose Two Reeds next: '8: tune', then '7: anus'; they saw it to be the last four letters of the planets coming towards the Sun, so offered '5: iter' for another three points. For their final choice, the Extras chose Lion: 'Garbage: 25%', then 'ABBA: 50%'; they offered 'A: 100%', thinking the sequence to be the percentages of letters in band names. Not correct. Their opponents saw 'The Corrs: 75%', but didn't quite get it either; it's the percentage of women in each band, so 'Little Mix: 100%' would satisfy. Left with Horned Viper again, the Charmers saw 'Science', then 'Technology'; they identified them to be the 'STEM' subjects, and so offered 'Mathematics' for yet another three points. At the end of the second round, the Charmers led 13-5.
On to the Walls. The Charmers went first this time, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. They quickly spotted a link of characters from Buffy, and isolated 'Xander', 'Giles', 'Angel' and 'Spike'. They then spotted a set of words that can precede 'tit', and the set of 'Crested', 'Blue', 'Willow' and 'Bearded' came in. After a bit of confusion with the remaining clues, they solved the wall on their final go: 'Soft block', 'Dig', 'Libero' and 'Setter' are terms in volleyball, which they didn't get, so dropping three points there, while 'Brookes', 'Scarfe', 'Tidy' and 'Searle' are cartoonists, which they did get. Seven points there.
The Extras thus still had to solve the Water wall fully to realistically stay in the contest. They got off to a good start, quickly isolating 'Lozenge', 'Antwerp Rose', 'Brilliant' and 'Princess', which are cuts of diamond. That was all they could work out though, as they spotted numerous links but couldn't get the precise sets isolated. They ran out of time, and thus had to pick up bonus points: 'Pocket', 'Miss Havisham', 'Pip' and 'Magwitch' are characters in Great Expectations, which they got, 'Cushion', 'Baulk', 'D' and 'Baize' are parts of a snooker table, which they also got, while 'Rust', 'Black spot', 'Crown gall' and 'Canker' are plant diseases, which they also also got. Five points there, which left the scores at 20-10 to the Charmers going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Extras needing a shutout to realistically win. 'Things worh 2 points', such as ''D' TILE IN SCRABBLE', went to the Charmers 1-0. 'Actors who played the same characters, such as 'RICHARD HARRIS AND MICHAEL GAMBON', was split 2-each. 'Long-running BBC Radio shows', including the hilarious clue of 'PM'(!)', went to the Charmers 3-0, and that was time. The Charmers won 26-12.
A rather one sided match overall, the second round proving crucial. Unlucky Extras, who alas won't be returning in the play-offs, but thanks very much for playing. Well done Charmers though, and best of luck in the second round.
Next week's match: Eco-Warriors vs Escapologists
University Challenge back to normal service tomorrow; see you then.
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