So, we're back! For last week and this at least. Then we're off for another two weeks, firstly for a women's World Cup qualifier on the 24th, and then for the FA Cup again, AFC Fylde vs Wigan. So lets enjoy Only Connect while we can; not long now til it's back on Mondays when it belongs after all, so let's get on with Friday's match.
Playing were the Meeples, Tom West, Hugh Trimble and captain Gail Trimble, who defeated the Tequila Slammers in their first match, and the Belgophiles, Helen Fasham, Phil Small and captain Ben Fasham, who beat the Lapsed Psychologists in their's.
Round 1. The Belgophiles kicked the contest off with Eye of Horus, and the picture set: we saw some Buddhist monks, then a bumblebee, then Richard Dawkins, and finally Chubby Checker performing the Twist. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are characters from Oliver Twist. The Meeples chose to open their account with Twisted Flax: 'To love no longer (Bernanos)', then 'Home (Judas Priest)', then 'Oneself (TS Eliot)', and finally 'Other People (Sartre)'. The final clue gave it to them: they are what Hell is according to those people. The Belgophiles chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next, and got the music set: we heard Rubenstein's Melody in F, then Irving Berlin with 'Play a Simple Melody', then 'Broadway Melody', and finally 'Unchained Melody'. They didn't see it, their opponents did for a bonus. For their own question, the Meeples chose Two Reeds: 'George Sullivan', then 'dried paste', then 'tumble ready', and finally 'Eve the Ants'. Neither team got this, and I'm not surprised, as Dave Clark might say, this was verging on 'American Municipal Bankruptcies' difficulty: they are 're-assigned partners', ie, 'Gilbert and George, Gilbert and Sullivan', 'cut and dried, cut and paste', 'rough and tumble, rough and ready', and 'Adam and Eve, Adam and the Ants'. That has to be the hardest question I've seen since I started doing these. The Belgophiles chose Water: 'Au pairs', then 'Prisoners', then 'Members of the armed forces', and finally 'Self-employed people running their own business'. Again, they didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are people who aren't entitled to the National Living Wage. Left with Lion, the Meeples saw 'Margarine' in yellow, then 'Petrol for commercial vehicles, 1948' in red, then 'Chicago river, Saturday in mid-March' in green; they saw them to be things that have been dyed the colour in question, and collected two points. ('Marge Simpson's hair' in blue would've been fourth). At the end of a tough first round, the Meeples led 4-0.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Belgophiles kicked the round off with Eye of Horus: 'Jack Island', then 'Philip Castle', and then 'Dinah Valley'. Neither team got this: they are the books in Enid Blyton's 'Adventure Series' and the children in them getting younger, so 'Lucy-Ann Sea' would come fourth. Again, a bit too hard for this stage of the contest. The Meeples chose Horned Viper next: '20', then '171', and then '71'. They didn't get this, their opponents did: they are Central London dialling codes minus the zeros, so '1' would complete the sequence. For their own question, the Belgophiles chose Water: 'Attlee: 3', then 'Kinnock: 2'; they offered at this point 'Blair: 0', and picked up three points, the sequence being Labour leaders who lost a descending number of elections. The Meeples chose Two Reeds next: '4th: Louis (1964)', then '3rd: Christian (1960)', and then '2nd: Elizabeth (1950)'. They didn't get this, nor did their opponents: they are the Queen's children, and their names in correlation to the order they came in, so Prince Edward's fourth name is Louis, Prince Andrew's is Christian, Princess Anne's is Elizabeth and just '1st: Charles (1948)' would come fourth. For their final choice, the Belgophiles chose Twisted Flax, and got the picture set: we saw Anni-Frid and Agnetha from ABBA, then Benny and Bjorn from ABBA; they offered 'Desmond Decker', which was, just, acceptable, the sequence being double acts whose first names both begin with A, B, C and D, so 'Dick and Dom' would've been a more acceptable answer, but close enough. Left with Lion, the Meeples saw 'I = He', then 'You = He', and then 'You = Me'. They saw it to be the lyrics to 'I Am The Walrus', so 'We = All together' completes the set. At the end of an only marginally easier second round, the Belgophiles now led 7-6.
On to the Walls. The Meeples took their turn to go first, and chose the Water wall. They fairly quickly isolated 'Chin', 'Tong', 'Panam' and 'Malt', which all become countries when an A is added, and then 'Frontier', 'United', 'Delta' and 'Spirit', which are US airlines. Having done that, the final sets slotted in nicely: 'White wine', 'Kombucha', 'Balsamic' and 'Sherry' are types of vinegar, while 'Cox', 'Guetta', 'Prydz' and 'Oakenfold' are club DJs. A well resolved full ten there.
The Belgophiles thus set to work on the Lion wall needing a good score to stay in touch. They too hit the ground running, isolating 'Genoa', 'Madeleine', 'Fairy' and 'Dundee', which are cakes, followed in short order by 'Doctor', 'Florence', 'Sly' and 'Katrina', which all partner 'and the (something)' to give band names. The final slots were in line pretty easily after that: 'Rome', 'Pap', 'Julie' and 'Tang' all become NATO alphabet words when a latter is added (Romeo, Papa, Juliet and Tango), while 'Milan', 'Ancona', 'Bari' and 'Venice' are Italian regional capitals, their offer of 'Italian cities' being close enough. Another well resolved full ten, which left them ahead 17-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went straight through to the group stage and who went into the play-off round. 'Tall buildings' went to the Belgophiles 3-1. 'Things Robin says to Batman', such as 'HOLY BIRTHDAY CAKE', was split 2-each. 'ROI', such as 'RETURN ON INVESTEMENT' and 'REPUBLIC OF IRELAND' (playing Denmark as I write this), went to the Meeples 2-0. 'Chefs and their restaurants' only managed one clue, which was timed out. The Belgophiles had snuck home, 22-21!
A pretty good match well played by both considering how hard some of the questions were. Unlucky Meeples, but best of luck in the play-offs. Well done Belgophiles, best of luck in the group stage!
Next week's match: the Wanderers vs the Inquisitors. Then we're off for another two weeks, hopefully back on the 8th of December.
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