OK, so it seems that Only Connect isn't going ahead with splitting the first round into groups, and is instead just using the entire first round as a single entity. But lets just stick with this until we know for sure, why don't we? Anyway, on with Friday night's show.
Playing were the Wanderers, John Payne, Richard Arthur and captain Sanjoy Sen, and the Pedagogues, James Manson, his wife Megan Mason and her sister, captain, Jennifer Shearman.
Round 1. The Pedagogues went first, and kicked the show off with Lion, and the music round: we heard 'When I am Laid In Earth' from Purcell's Porgy and Bess, then the Hollies with 'Air That I Breathe', then Handel's Water Music, and finally The Crazy World of Arthur Brown with 'Fire'. They didn't quite get it, their opponents did: they all represent the four Aristotelian elements, for a bonus. For their own first question, the Wanderers chose Two Reeds: 'Senkaku Islands 1971', then 'Christmas Island 1958', then 'Macau 1999'; they saw them to be islands that changed sovereignty in that year, and collected two points. The Pedagogues chose Twisted Flax next: 'Song from 'Les Miserables'', then 'Rubbers on a table tennis bat', then 'Roulette wheel'; they identified them to be red and black, and collected two points. (Cue a voluntary sing-along from Mr Payne!) The Wanderers chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next: 'Chit', then 'Knick'; a nice one this, replacing the I with an A gives a two word phrase, which they spotted for three points. The Pedagogues chose Eye of Horus next: 'Ben', then 'O'', then 'ap', and finally 'dottir'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are surname affixes that indicate your lineage. Left with Water, and the picture set, for their own question, the Wanderers saw a still from the film Holiday Inn, then the band The Small Faces with frontman Steve Marriott circled, then a four seasons pizza, and finally the media personality Perez Hilton. Neither team saw this: they all share their names with hotel chains. At the end of the first round, the Wanderers led 7-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Pedagogues kicked the round off with Lion, and got the picture set: we saw Richard Ayoade (or Richard Okanoyu as my Dad now calls him thanks to Pointless!), then Stephen Merchant (which gave it to me), and then Ed Tudor-Pole. They didn't get an answer in time, and their opponents didn't see it neither: they are, of course, the hosts of The Crystal Maze, so Richard O'Brien would come fourth. The Wanderers chose Twisted Flax next: '3: Cage', then '2: Barn'; they saw it to be EU classifications of eggs, but their answer of '0: Free Range' was incorrect. Their opponents saw '1: Free Range', and so offered '0: Organic' for a bonus point. For their own question, the Pedagogues chose Two Reeds: '4: Netherlands', then '5: France, Luxembourg & United Kingdom', and then '6: Sweden'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: it's the countries that have won Eurovision the most, so '7: Republic of Ireland' completes the set. For their own question, the Wanderers chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Kits', then 'Cats'; they saw it to be the St Ives poem, so 'Sacks' would be third, and 'Wives' completes the set for three points. For their final choice, the Pedagogues chose Eye of Horus: 'Perth football team', then 'BBC journalist kidnapped in 2007', and then 'Nixon's predecessor'. Both teams saw the sequence, 'Johnstone', 'Johnston' and 'Johnson', but neither could come up with an acceptable answer: 'Author of 'The Alchemist'', ie Ben Jonson, would suffice. Left with Water, the Wanderers saw 'Call for a cab', then 'Member of a learned society', and then 'Vertical shaft containing water'; they saw the clues to represent 'Hail', 'Fellow' and 'Well', suggesting the phrase 'Hail-fellow-well-met', so something for 'Met', like 'The Metropolitan Police', would come fourth for two points. At the end of the second round, the Wanderers led 13-3.
On to the Walls. The Wanderers went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. The first sets came pretty quickly, 'Angel', 'Turkish', 'Shepherd's' and 'Rapper's' can all precede 'delight', while 'Homity', 'Mince', 'Cottage' and 'Stargazy' are pies. The wall was solved pretty comfortable after that: 'Burnt Oak', 'Highgate', 'Bank' and 'Oval' are tube stations (rather unfortunate question to have on Friday), while 'Frozen', 'Hollywood', 'Holiday' and 'Erotica' are songs by Madonna. A full wall well solved, so a full ten points.
The Pedagogues thus set to work on the Water wall in danger of falling out of sight. They spotted a sequence of Citreon cars, and isolated 'Picasso', 'Saxo', 'Cactus' and 'Berlingo' (the last of which of greatly amused my parents, who have just bought one!). A second set followed: 'Mirage', 'Oasis', 'Camel' and 'Sand dune' are things typically associated with the desert. The final clues promptly fell into place: 'Golden Nugget', 'Stratosphere', 'Bellagio' and 'Flamingo' are noted casinos in Las Vegas, while 'Dali', 'Goya', 'Miro' and 'Velazquez' are Spanish painters. Another well resolved full ten points, which left them trailing 23-13 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Pedagogues needing a good performance to catch up/reach contention for the repechage. 'Comic book characters and their alter egos', such as 'SUPERMAN AND CLARK KENT', went to the Pedagogues 2-0. 'US State mottos' went to the Pedagogues 2-1. 'Vegetarian dishes', which included 'BOILED EGG AND SOLDIERS'(!), was split 2-each. 'Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge' was announced, but the only clue there was time for was timed out. The Wanderers won 26-19.
Another excellent half hour of quality quizzing. Well done Wanderers, and best of luck in the second round. Unlucky Pedagogues, who did perfectly reasonably, and whose fate will lie in whether I understand correctly, and the draw is not split. If it is, they stand a decent chance of a return. If not, they will probably sit behind the Geocachers on points scored in the first two rounds. Victoria's chat with them at the end seems to imply the latter. We shall have to wait and see, hopefully it will all make sense in the end.
Next week's match: Disparates vs Beeks
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