OK, meant to do this yesterday, but things got in the way once again, so lets do this quickly before the second week's play begins later this evening. More time than I thought; I thought tonight's show was on an 7, but it not seems to be at 7:30, don't quite know what happened there. Still, at least all this week's show are on the same day everywhere, as opposed to last week, where viewers in Scotland didn't get Thursday's episode and didn't get Friday's until yesterday as a result.
Anyway, here's a summary of the first week's play of this year's festive specials. Apart from Friday's show, I've only watched these shows once, so apologies that these reviews are a bit short.
Monday 24th: Brasenose Oxford vs Bristol
Brasenose: Andrea Brand, Tim Harford, Jessie Burton, Kate Bliss
Bristol: Philip Ball, Laura Wade, Misha Glenny, Iain Stewart
A good start to the specials, both teams played well, ultimately Bristol slightly edged it on the buzzer for a 150-100 win, Ms Wade the best buzzer with four starters. With nine to Brasenose's six, for once, the final score, for once, quite an accurate reflection of the game's balance. Bristol will definitely be back later this week.
Tuesday 25th: Westminster vs U.E.A.
Westminster: Stuart Roy Clarke, Torsten Schmiedeknecht, Danny Wallace, Sophie Scott
U.E.A.: Vicky Pepperdine, Zeb Soanes, Arthur Smith, Darren Bett
Another good game with two decent teams ultimately won on the buzzer, Ms Scott's seven starters, more than U.E.A. managed between them, winning the day, and atoning for a slightly weaker bonus rate. Westminster won 130-100, and are hoping that today and tomorrow's winners both score lower than that. Incidentally, how come the Norwich based university is referred to by Mr Tilling as 'East Anglia' for the students, but 'U.E.A.' for the alumni specials?
Wednesday 26th: Pembroke Cambridge vs King's
Pembroke: Dan Jones, Cath Bishop, Rick Edwards, Emma Johnson
King's: Zoe Laughlin, Angela Saini, Anita Anand, Anne Dudley
The first one sided game of the week, with King's leading from the off, and though Pembroke pulled back to respectability late on, the London side triumphed comfortably 150-85, and will definitely be back later in the week. Mr Jones, though, was the best buzzer of the night, with five starters.
Thursday 27th: St Catherine's Oxford vs Peterhouse Cambridge
St Catherine's: Susie Boyt, Michael Billington, Peter Knowles, Tim Webber
Peterhouse: Dan Mazer, Mark Horton, Michael Howard, Michael Axworthy
Best game of the first week's play. St Catherine's quickly pulled out into a steady lead, but Peterhouse pulled back late on, and ultimately won the game on the final starter, 135-130, a score that is on the borderline for a return later this week. St Catherine's can consider themselves unlucky not to have at least forced a tie, Mr Webber having been harshly penalised for an accidental buzz. Mr Billington was the night's best buzzer with four.
Friday 28th: Exeter vs Birmingham
Exeter: Jon Kay, Deborah Ashby, Paul Jackson, Jessica Swale
Birmingham: Nicola Spence, Lizo Mzimba, Chris Addison, Nigel Lindsay
A lower scoring but still close and exciting game nonetheless between two well matched teams. Ultimately, Exeter edged a 110-85 victory, but will miss out on a return later this week. Messrs Jackson and Mzimba were joint best on the buzzers with three each.
So, at the end of the first week, Bristol and King's are definitely through to the semis, Peterhouse and Westminster are borderline. The contest continues tonight.
Back on Wednesday or Thursday with my review of tomorrow's Only Connect. See you whenever; in the meantime, good night, and have a Happy New Year!
Monday, 31 December 2018
Thursday, 27 December 2018
Only Connect: Quiz Special: QI Elves vs Inquisitors
OK, here we go with the final Only Connect special. And as annoying it is that UC isn't on in Scotland tonight, it does at least mean I'm able to get on with this tonight, otherwise it'd be next week before I could do it.
Anyway, playing the Christmas Day special were the QI Elves, Anne Miller, Andrew Hunter Murray and captain James Harkin, who reached the semi-finals of Series 10, and the Inquisitors, Luke Kelly, Rob Cumming and captain Julia Hobbs, who were semi-finalists in the most recent series.
Round 1. The Inquisitors opened the contest with Lion: 'Nicolas Maduro in Caracas', then 'Sandra Bullock as Annie Porter', then 'Neal Cassidy with the Merry Band of Pranksters', and finally 'Reg Varney as Stan Butler'. They knew it for sure after the last one: they were all bus drivers in those contexts. The Elves opened their show with Two Reeds: 'Kim Jong-il (6)', then 'Damon Albarn (2)', then 'Benjamin Britten (16)', and finally 'Ludwig van Beethoven (1)'. They didn't quite get it, their opponents did: they are the number of operas they have written. For their own question, the Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax: 'Stephen Fry', then 'Mel Giedroyc or Sue Perkins', then 'Simon Hoggart', and finally 'William G. Stewart (Adam Hills)'. They didn't know it, their opponents did: they were succeeded as hosts of TV shows by Sandi Toksvig. For their own question, the Elves chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw a bomber plane, then some apples, then a pink lady cocktail, and finally Rizzo from Grease. They knew them all to be 'pink ladies' for the points. (The plane being the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber, aka The Pink Lady') The Inquisitors chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music set: we heard 'The Belle of St Mark', then 'I Love Rock 'N Roll', then 'I Saw Her Standing There', and finally ABBA with 'Dancing Queen'. Neither team got this: they all refer to seventeen year olds in their lyrics. Left with Water, the Elves saw 'Time: Tomorrow', then 'Pepper: From Xalapa', then 'Climate pattern: The little boy'; they suggested at this point that they all ended with 'ño', but weren't quite right. Their opponents saw 'Drink: Strained pineapple', and offered simple that the all contain 'ñ' for the bonus. At the end of the first round, the Inquisitors led 3-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Inquisitors opened the round with Lion, and the picture set: we saw the pi symbol and the QI logo, then a pink ball and a bull, and then a lamb chop and a chip on a fork. They didn't quite see it, nor did their opponents: they are pairs where one letter is replaced by a Q, a U and an I, so a pair where one letter becomes a Z, such as the example answer of a pound coin (a quid) and the Chasers (a quiz) would be fourth. The Elves chose Two Reeds next: 'D' (in yellow), then 'M' (in green), and then 'Y' (in brown). They knew it to be something to do with snooker balls, but didn't see the sequence. Nor did their opponents. They are letters worth the same in Scrabble as those balls are in snooker, so a blue 'K' would be fourth. The Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax next: 'US purchase of Alaska', then 'Battle of Passchendaele', and then ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' released'. They saw them to be events of 1867, 1917 and 1967, so offered 'The Queen's 91st birthday', an acceptable event of 2017 for the points. The Elves chose Horned Viper next: we saw an illustrated street with '4th: Paris' underneath it, then the same with '3rd: Glasgow', and then '2nd: Budapest' underneath. They suggested '1st: London', and were correct for the points, the sequence being the locations of Europe's four oldest underground railways. For their final choice, the Inquisitors chose Water, and got a music question: we heard the Spanish song 'Llorando' (or 'Crying' as known in English), then 'MMMBop' by Hanson, and then 'N-N-Nineteen Not Out' by the Commentators. They saw the link, and suggested 'Ooh La La', which, after they provided a singalong of Kool and the Gang's similarly named song, was accepted for the points! Left with Eye of Horus, the Elves saw 'Brain of Britain questions', then 'Second team member's Big Money Game on Family Fortunes', and then 'Countdown Conundrum'. They didn't quite get the sequence, their opponents did: they are things with time limits of 10, 20 and 30 seconds, so something with a 40 second time limit, such as 'Only Connect Round 2 questions' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Inquisitors led 8-4.
On to the Walls. The Elves went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. After a slight false start, two sets came relatively easily: 'Dee', 'Wye', 'Exe' and 'Tees' are British rivers, while 'Bone', 'Phillips', 'Thiel' and 'Kay' are surnames of famous men called Peter. The final sets didn't prove that troubling: 'Flea', 'Tea', 'Nose' and 'Gas' can all precede 'bag', while 'Bee', 'You', 'Queue' and 'Are' are homophones of letters. A full ten there.
The Inquisitors thus set to work on the Water wall. Their first set came reasonably quickly: 'Y', 'Die', 'El' and 'La' all mean 'The' in different languages. They got a bit stuck after that, but eventually had a second set sorted: 'Tea', 'Pea', 'Sea' and 'Mint' are shades of green. The final sets came easily after that: 'Milk', 'False', 'Eye' and 'Wisdom' can all precede 'teeth', while 'Why', 'Ewe', 'Be' and 'Jay' are, again, homophones of letters. Another full ten there, so as you were, the Inquisitors led 18-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Common pub quiz team names', such as 'QUIZ AKABUSI' and 'UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED' went to the Elves 2-0. 'Beatles song with the first letter changed', such as 'PAXMAN' and 'MELLOW SUBMARINE', was a clean sweep to the Elves, 4-0. 'Lines of poetry' was split 2-each, and that was time. The Elves won 22-20.
A good episode to end the specials on, well played both teams, thanks for coming back. Enjoyed these, hope we see some more next year; some more Champion of Champions game would be most welcome.
Next regular match: the Birdwatchers vs the Brews, on Tuesday 1st at the usual time, 8pm.
Back on Sunday with a summary of the first week's play of Christmas UC; see yous then.
Anyway, playing the Christmas Day special were the QI Elves, Anne Miller, Andrew Hunter Murray and captain James Harkin, who reached the semi-finals of Series 10, and the Inquisitors, Luke Kelly, Rob Cumming and captain Julia Hobbs, who were semi-finalists in the most recent series.
Round 1. The Inquisitors opened the contest with Lion: 'Nicolas Maduro in Caracas', then 'Sandra Bullock as Annie Porter', then 'Neal Cassidy with the Merry Band of Pranksters', and finally 'Reg Varney as Stan Butler'. They knew it for sure after the last one: they were all bus drivers in those contexts. The Elves opened their show with Two Reeds: 'Kim Jong-il (6)', then 'Damon Albarn (2)', then 'Benjamin Britten (16)', and finally 'Ludwig van Beethoven (1)'. They didn't quite get it, their opponents did: they are the number of operas they have written. For their own question, the Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax: 'Stephen Fry', then 'Mel Giedroyc or Sue Perkins', then 'Simon Hoggart', and finally 'William G. Stewart (Adam Hills)'. They didn't know it, their opponents did: they were succeeded as hosts of TV shows by Sandi Toksvig. For their own question, the Elves chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw a bomber plane, then some apples, then a pink lady cocktail, and finally Rizzo from Grease. They knew them all to be 'pink ladies' for the points. (The plane being the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber, aka The Pink Lady') The Inquisitors chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music set: we heard 'The Belle of St Mark', then 'I Love Rock 'N Roll', then 'I Saw Her Standing There', and finally ABBA with 'Dancing Queen'. Neither team got this: they all refer to seventeen year olds in their lyrics. Left with Water, the Elves saw 'Time: Tomorrow', then 'Pepper: From Xalapa', then 'Climate pattern: The little boy'; they suggested at this point that they all ended with 'ño', but weren't quite right. Their opponents saw 'Drink: Strained pineapple', and offered simple that the all contain 'ñ' for the bonus. At the end of the first round, the Inquisitors led 3-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Inquisitors opened the round with Lion, and the picture set: we saw the pi symbol and the QI logo, then a pink ball and a bull, and then a lamb chop and a chip on a fork. They didn't quite see it, nor did their opponents: they are pairs where one letter is replaced by a Q, a U and an I, so a pair where one letter becomes a Z, such as the example answer of a pound coin (a quid) and the Chasers (a quiz) would be fourth. The Elves chose Two Reeds next: 'D' (in yellow), then 'M' (in green), and then 'Y' (in brown). They knew it to be something to do with snooker balls, but didn't see the sequence. Nor did their opponents. They are letters worth the same in Scrabble as those balls are in snooker, so a blue 'K' would be fourth. The Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax next: 'US purchase of Alaska', then 'Battle of Passchendaele', and then ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' released'. They saw them to be events of 1867, 1917 and 1967, so offered 'The Queen's 91st birthday', an acceptable event of 2017 for the points. The Elves chose Horned Viper next: we saw an illustrated street with '4th: Paris' underneath it, then the same with '3rd: Glasgow', and then '2nd: Budapest' underneath. They suggested '1st: London', and were correct for the points, the sequence being the locations of Europe's four oldest underground railways. For their final choice, the Inquisitors chose Water, and got a music question: we heard the Spanish song 'Llorando' (or 'Crying' as known in English), then 'MMMBop' by Hanson, and then 'N-N-Nineteen Not Out' by the Commentators. They saw the link, and suggested 'Ooh La La', which, after they provided a singalong of Kool and the Gang's similarly named song, was accepted for the points! Left with Eye of Horus, the Elves saw 'Brain of Britain questions', then 'Second team member's Big Money Game on Family Fortunes', and then 'Countdown Conundrum'. They didn't quite get the sequence, their opponents did: they are things with time limits of 10, 20 and 30 seconds, so something with a 40 second time limit, such as 'Only Connect Round 2 questions' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Inquisitors led 8-4.
On to the Walls. The Elves went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. After a slight false start, two sets came relatively easily: 'Dee', 'Wye', 'Exe' and 'Tees' are British rivers, while 'Bone', 'Phillips', 'Thiel' and 'Kay' are surnames of famous men called Peter. The final sets didn't prove that troubling: 'Flea', 'Tea', 'Nose' and 'Gas' can all precede 'bag', while 'Bee', 'You', 'Queue' and 'Are' are homophones of letters. A full ten there.
The Inquisitors thus set to work on the Water wall. Their first set came reasonably quickly: 'Y', 'Die', 'El' and 'La' all mean 'The' in different languages. They got a bit stuck after that, but eventually had a second set sorted: 'Tea', 'Pea', 'Sea' and 'Mint' are shades of green. The final sets came easily after that: 'Milk', 'False', 'Eye' and 'Wisdom' can all precede 'teeth', while 'Why', 'Ewe', 'Be' and 'Jay' are, again, homophones of letters. Another full ten there, so as you were, the Inquisitors led 18-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Common pub quiz team names', such as 'QUIZ AKABUSI' and 'UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED' went to the Elves 2-0. 'Beatles song with the first letter changed', such as 'PAXMAN' and 'MELLOW SUBMARINE', was a clean sweep to the Elves, 4-0. 'Lines of poetry' was split 2-each, and that was time. The Elves won 22-20.
A good episode to end the specials on, well played both teams, thanks for coming back. Enjoyed these, hope we see some more next year; some more Champion of Champions game would be most welcome.
Next regular match: the Birdwatchers vs the Brews, on Tuesday 1st at the usual time, 8pm.
Back on Sunday with a summary of the first week's play of Christmas UC; see yous then.
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Elimination Round: Match 2: Motorheads vs Cartoonists
OK, back to regular Only Connect. For now at least; we still have one more special to do, and hopefully I will get that sorted tomorrow. But in the meantime, we have two teams who narrowly lost their first match; winners would go on to the play-offs, runners-up would be out for good this time.
Playing on Monday were the Motorheads, Brian Shaw, Thomas De Bock and captain Stanley Wang, who lost to the Time Ladies on a tie-break, and the Cartoonists, Edward Gilbert, Patrick Telford and captain Bed Broadribb, who were narrowly defeated by the Pyromaniacs first time around.
Round 1. The Cartoonists opened the contest with Horned Viper, and the picture set: we saw a set of coloured pens, then some worms, then some butterflies, and finally some sea shells. They didn't get this, neither did their opponents: they are the translations of the names of Italian pastas. The Motorheads opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Supreme mount', then 'Sponger site', then 'Low wall pet', and finally 'Curve bola'. That last one gave it to them: putting before the final words gives a word that is defined by the ones before them (Paramount, Parasite, Parapet and Parabola). The Cartoonists chose Twisted Flax next: 'Autobus', then 'Echelon', then 'Echappee', and finally 'Peloton'. They suggested them to be cycling terms derived from French; close enough, they are groups in the Tour de France. The Motorheads chose Lion next: 'Territories in Risk', then 'Sanjeev's house', then 'Musical street', and finally 'Answer to the ultimate question'. Again, they had it from the last one: they are linked by the number 42. The Cartoonists chose Eye of Horus next: 'Quinella', then 'Jean-Luc Godard film structure', then 'Grieg performed by Morecambe', and finally 'Words spoken by Yoda'. They knew them to have the right components, but not in the right order, and collected the point. Left with Water, and the music question, the Motorheads heard 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan, then Donovan with 'Sunny Goodge Street', then 'Waterloo Sunset', and finally 'London Bridge is falling down'. They didn't get it, their opponents knew them to be stations on a London underground line, but offered the Victoria line instead of the Northern Line. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 2-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cartoonists began it with Lion: 'b: Sir', then 'c: Right Reverend', and then 'd: Her Majesty'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents: they are the correct forms of address for chess pieces, so 'e: His Majesty' would be fourth. The Motorheads chose Water next: '9: Jenny', then '4: Paul', and then '2: Anne'; they saw it to be the Chasers, and the series in which they first appeared, so correctly suggested '1: Mark' would be fourth, '1: Mark and Shaun' would be more accurate, but good enough for the two points. The Cartoonists chose Two Reeds next: 'LAGER 1&2', then 'RELIC 2&3', and then 'BIGOT 3&4'. Neither team spotted it, I did: they are five letters words with the first and second, second and third, and third and fourth vowels, so 'FOCUS 4&5' would be an acceptable answer. The Motorheads chose Twisted Flax next: 'M1: Wales', then 'M17: Northern Ireland', and then 'A23: England'. Again, neither team saw it: they are the patron saints days for those countries of the UK, so 'N30: Scotland' would be fourth. For their final choice, the Cartoonists chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, then some California roll sushi, and then a game of Texas hold 'em poker . They didn't see the link, their opponents did, the largest US states going upwards, and offered a Baked Alaska for the bonus. Left with Eye of Horus for their own final question, the Motorheads saw 'forecastle', then 'should not have', and then 'childrens'. They suggested 'should', reasoning them to be something to do with apostrophes; this was acceptable enough for the points, they are words that should have three, two and one apostrophe(s) in their names, so any word with none in it would be an acceptable answer. At the end of the second round, the Motorheads led 7-2.
On to the Walls. The Motorheads went first and chose the Water wall. Their first set came instantly: 'Tails', 'Eggman', 'Amy Rose' and 'Shadow' are characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. After that, though, they got a bit stuck, and were unable to untangle anything further. With just a few seconds left, they isolated a second set, 'Em', 'Dahlia', 'Patty' and 'Lucy', but didn't get the connection, they are fictional aunts. Timed out, they had to try for bonuses from what was left: 'Case', 'Egg', 'Joke' and 'Knuckles' are things one can crack, which they didn't get, while 'Point', 'Cicero', 'Pica' and 'En' are typographical units, which they also didn't see. Three points there.
The Cartoonists could thus make up lost ground with a good result on the Lion wall. They immediately saw a connection of types of sugar, and managed to isolate 'Cane', 'Barley', 'Icing' and 'Spun'. A second set, 'Crash', 'Ride', 'Snare' and 'Tom', which are parts of a drum kit, followed, and they had the last sets in the bag soon afterwards: 'Albert', 'Buck', 'Vanya' and 'Bulgaria' are fictional uncles, while 'Princess Leia', 'Remus', 'Castor' and 'John Grimes' are one of a famous pair of twins (John Grimes being one half of Jedward). A full ten there, which meant they now led 12-10 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to decide who went through and who went home. 'English footballers and their autobiographies' finished a 2-each split. 'Things a used car salesman might say' (haven't we had this already?) went to the Motorheads 2-1. 'People buried in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner' went to the Motorheads 3-1, and that was time. The Motorheads had snuck the win, 17-16!
Another excellent round of quizzing, well played both teams. Unlucky Cartoonists, but a respectable pair of performances, unlucky to get pipped in both games, thanks very much for playing. Well done Motorheads though, and best of luck next time!
Next week's match: the Birdwatchers vs the Brews. And we still have one more special to deal with of course; as I said earlier, I aim to do it tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be well into next week before I can do it. See you whenever then.
Playing on Monday were the Motorheads, Brian Shaw, Thomas De Bock and captain Stanley Wang, who lost to the Time Ladies on a tie-break, and the Cartoonists, Edward Gilbert, Patrick Telford and captain Bed Broadribb, who were narrowly defeated by the Pyromaniacs first time around.
Round 1. The Cartoonists opened the contest with Horned Viper, and the picture set: we saw a set of coloured pens, then some worms, then some butterflies, and finally some sea shells. They didn't get this, neither did their opponents: they are the translations of the names of Italian pastas. The Motorheads opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Supreme mount', then 'Sponger site', then 'Low wall pet', and finally 'Curve bola'. That last one gave it to them: putting before the final words gives a word that is defined by the ones before them (Paramount, Parasite, Parapet and Parabola). The Cartoonists chose Twisted Flax next: 'Autobus', then 'Echelon', then 'Echappee', and finally 'Peloton'. They suggested them to be cycling terms derived from French; close enough, they are groups in the Tour de France. The Motorheads chose Lion next: 'Territories in Risk', then 'Sanjeev's house', then 'Musical street', and finally 'Answer to the ultimate question'. Again, they had it from the last one: they are linked by the number 42. The Cartoonists chose Eye of Horus next: 'Quinella', then 'Jean-Luc Godard film structure', then 'Grieg performed by Morecambe', and finally 'Words spoken by Yoda'. They knew them to have the right components, but not in the right order, and collected the point. Left with Water, and the music question, the Motorheads heard 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan, then Donovan with 'Sunny Goodge Street', then 'Waterloo Sunset', and finally 'London Bridge is falling down'. They didn't get it, their opponents knew them to be stations on a London underground line, but offered the Victoria line instead of the Northern Line. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 2-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cartoonists began it with Lion: 'b: Sir', then 'c: Right Reverend', and then 'd: Her Majesty'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents: they are the correct forms of address for chess pieces, so 'e: His Majesty' would be fourth. The Motorheads chose Water next: '9: Jenny', then '4: Paul', and then '2: Anne'; they saw it to be the Chasers, and the series in which they first appeared, so correctly suggested '1: Mark' would be fourth, '1: Mark and Shaun' would be more accurate, but good enough for the two points. The Cartoonists chose Two Reeds next: 'LAGER 1&2', then 'RELIC 2&3', and then 'BIGOT 3&4'. Neither team spotted it, I did: they are five letters words with the first and second, second and third, and third and fourth vowels, so 'FOCUS 4&5' would be an acceptable answer. The Motorheads chose Twisted Flax next: 'M1: Wales', then 'M17: Northern Ireland', and then 'A23: England'. Again, neither team saw it: they are the patron saints days for those countries of the UK, so 'N30: Scotland' would be fourth. For their final choice, the Cartoonists chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, then some California roll sushi, and then a game of Texas hold 'em poker . They didn't see the link, their opponents did, the largest US states going upwards, and offered a Baked Alaska for the bonus. Left with Eye of Horus for their own final question, the Motorheads saw 'forecastle', then 'should not have', and then 'childrens'. They suggested 'should', reasoning them to be something to do with apostrophes; this was acceptable enough for the points, they are words that should have three, two and one apostrophe(s) in their names, so any word with none in it would be an acceptable answer. At the end of the second round, the Motorheads led 7-2.
On to the Walls. The Motorheads went first and chose the Water wall. Their first set came instantly: 'Tails', 'Eggman', 'Amy Rose' and 'Shadow' are characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. After that, though, they got a bit stuck, and were unable to untangle anything further. With just a few seconds left, they isolated a second set, 'Em', 'Dahlia', 'Patty' and 'Lucy', but didn't get the connection, they are fictional aunts. Timed out, they had to try for bonuses from what was left: 'Case', 'Egg', 'Joke' and 'Knuckles' are things one can crack, which they didn't get, while 'Point', 'Cicero', 'Pica' and 'En' are typographical units, which they also didn't see. Three points there.
The Cartoonists could thus make up lost ground with a good result on the Lion wall. They immediately saw a connection of types of sugar, and managed to isolate 'Cane', 'Barley', 'Icing' and 'Spun'. A second set, 'Crash', 'Ride', 'Snare' and 'Tom', which are parts of a drum kit, followed, and they had the last sets in the bag soon afterwards: 'Albert', 'Buck', 'Vanya' and 'Bulgaria' are fictional uncles, while 'Princess Leia', 'Remus', 'Castor' and 'John Grimes' are one of a famous pair of twins (John Grimes being one half of Jedward). A full ten there, which meant they now led 12-10 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to decide who went through and who went home. 'English footballers and their autobiographies' finished a 2-each split. 'Things a used car salesman might say' (haven't we had this already?) went to the Motorheads 2-1. 'People buried in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner' went to the Motorheads 3-1, and that was time. The Motorheads had snuck the win, 17-16!
Another excellent round of quizzing, well played both teams. Unlucky Cartoonists, but a respectable pair of performances, unlucky to get pipped in both games, thanks very much for playing. Well done Motorheads though, and best of luck next time!
Next week's match: the Birdwatchers vs the Brews. And we still have one more special to deal with of course; as I said earlier, I aim to do it tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be well into next week before I can do it. See you whenever then.
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Only Connect: Family Special: Lasletts vs Meeples
OK, Happy Christmas all! Hope yous have all had a good day so far; mine has been perfectly adequate. Anyway, earlier this evening we had the last of the Only Connect Christmas specials, which I hope to review on Thursday evening, and there was, of course, a regular match yesterday, which I'll hopefully deal with tomorrow evening. And of course, we've had Christmas UC, which I'll post a weekly summary of on Sunday if I remember.
Anyway, lets spool back to Thursday, and the third Only Connect special. Playing were the Lasletts, Chris (who narrowly missed out on the recent Fifteen-to-One final) and his kids Jake and Emma, who reached the semi-finals of Series 8, and the Meeples, UC legend Gail Trimble, her brother Hugh and husband Tom West, who appeared in the last series, going out in the play-off round.
Round 1. The Lasletts kicked the match off with Lion: 'HSBC: 6', then 'MOT: 3'; they saw them to be the number of triangles those companies have in their logos, and collected a good three points to start with. The Meeples opened their account with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw musician Ginger Baker, then a cartoon of an elderly gentleman running, then an Alsatian dog, and finally a Greek politician presenting some EU official with a present. They didn't get an answer in in time, and their opponents didn't get it either: they are things that can precede 'Beware of' (Mr Baker, an old man in a hurry, a dog and Greeks bearing gifts!) The Lasletts chose Two Reeds next: 'Father George', then 'Mother Winifred', then 'Daughter Jane', and finally 'Son Michael'. They suggested 'The Jetsons', incorrect. Their opponents (and I) knew them to be the Banks family from Mary Poppins for the bonus. (If only they'd recorded this after it was shown on BBC1 yesterday!) For their own question, the Meeples chose Water, and got the music: we heard Meghan Trainor singing 'All About That Bass', then Joe Dolce's classic 'Shaddapa Your Face', then Doris Day with 'Que Sera Sera', and finally 'You Can't Hurry Love' by the Supremes. They didn't get it, nor could their opponents: they are songs about, or containing, maternal advice. The Lasletts chose Horned Viper next: '1997: Dropped a word from its name', then '2007: Changed from a monarchy to a republic', then '2009: Changed to driving on the left hand side', and finally '2011: Skipped December 30'. Neither team knew it, I did: they are events in the history of Samoa (the last one gave it to me, remember it being discussed on HIGNFY). Left with Eye of Horus, the Meeples saw 'Holbein', then 'Pliny'; that was enough for them to offer them as fathers and sons known as 'the Elder' and 'the Younger' for the three points. At the end of the first round, the Meeples led 4-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Lasletts started it with Twisted Flax: 'Trimble', then 'Paisley'; they thought it to be something to do with first ministers, but their offer of 'Sturgeon' was not correct. Their opponents saw 'Robinson', but didn't know it either: they are Northern Irish first ministers, so 'Foster' would be fourth. The Meeples chose Horned Viper next, and got the pictures again: we saw Ian M Banks along '1000', then John D Rockefeller alongside '500'; they spotted that the numbers are those peoples' middle initials in Roman numerals, so offered Dorothy L Sayers alongside '50' for the three points. The Lasletts chose Water next: '12-8: People', then '7-6: Birds'; they saw it to be the offerings from The Twelve Days of Christmas, so '5: Jewellery' would be third, and '4-1: Birds' would complete the set. The Meeples chose Lion next: 'Isaac Newton', then 'Ivanka Trump', and then 'Isabel Allende'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: their initials are 'IN', 'IT' and 'IA', so someone with the initials 'LS', such as 'Leo Sayer', would be fourth. For their final choice, the Lasletts chose Eye of Horus, and got a music question: we heard the Carpenters with 'Please Mr Postman', then 'I Get Around' by the Beach Boys; they spotted them to be by two and three siblings respectively, so suggested something by the Jackson 5, correctly for the three points. (Cue a sing-along of 'Blame It On the Boogie'!) Left with Two Reeds, the Meeples saw 'Mid-shot', then 'Medium close-up'; they saw it to be zooming shots in photography, so offered 'Extreme close-up' for the three points. At the end of the second round, the Meeples led 10-9.
On to the Walls. The Meeples went first, and chose the Water wall to tackle. They had two sets in the bag almost instantly: 'Ralph', 'Jack', 'Samneric' and 'Piggy' are characters in 'Lord of the Flies', while 'Test tube', 'Bush', 'Jelly' and 'Beanie' can all precede 'baby'. The last sets, however, took some more thought, but they eventually sorted them on their second attempt: 'Janice', 'Beaker', 'Animal' and 'Scooter' are muppets, while 'Retort', 'Cold finger', 'Burette' and 'Petri dish' are items of lab equipment made of glass. A full ten there.
The Lasletts thus set to work on the Lion wall. They also had a set in the back straight off the bat: 'America', 'Placebo', 'Nirvana' and 'The Jam' are rock groups with three members. It took them a bit longer to get their second, however, but they eventually isolated 'Muse', 'Grace', 'Dryad' and 'Fate', which are deities, and the final groups came in easily after that: 'Joshua', 'Curry', 'Palm' and 'Bay' are types of tree, whie 'Fury', 'Whyte', 'Haye' and 'Chisora' are British heavyweight boxers. Another full ten, so as you were, the Meeples led 20-19 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Parts of a driving test' went to the Lasletts 3-1. 'Film titles with younger animals', such as 'RESERVOIR PUPPIES' and 'KITTEN ON A HOT TIN ROOF', went to the Lasletts 3-0. 'Things you hear when you are on hold' was a 2-each split. 'Peoples who were at school together' only had time for one clue, which the Lasletts took. The Lasletts won 28-23.
Another excellent special, well played both teams, and thanks very much for coming back and playing!
Next special: from earlier today, the QI Elves vs the Inquisitors. Blog of that on Thursday I hope, and yesterday's regular game between the Motorheads and the Cartoonists tomorrow I hope too. See you whenever; until then, enjoy the rest of your Christmas!
Anyway, lets spool back to Thursday, and the third Only Connect special. Playing were the Lasletts, Chris (who narrowly missed out on the recent Fifteen-to-One final) and his kids Jake and Emma, who reached the semi-finals of Series 8, and the Meeples, UC legend Gail Trimble, her brother Hugh and husband Tom West, who appeared in the last series, going out in the play-off round.
Round 1. The Lasletts kicked the match off with Lion: 'HSBC: 6', then 'MOT: 3'; they saw them to be the number of triangles those companies have in their logos, and collected a good three points to start with. The Meeples opened their account with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw musician Ginger Baker, then a cartoon of an elderly gentleman running, then an Alsatian dog, and finally a Greek politician presenting some EU official with a present. They didn't get an answer in in time, and their opponents didn't get it either: they are things that can precede 'Beware of' (Mr Baker, an old man in a hurry, a dog and Greeks bearing gifts!) The Lasletts chose Two Reeds next: 'Father George', then 'Mother Winifred', then 'Daughter Jane', and finally 'Son Michael'. They suggested 'The Jetsons', incorrect. Their opponents (and I) knew them to be the Banks family from Mary Poppins for the bonus. (If only they'd recorded this after it was shown on BBC1 yesterday!) For their own question, the Meeples chose Water, and got the music: we heard Meghan Trainor singing 'All About That Bass', then Joe Dolce's classic 'Shaddapa Your Face', then Doris Day with 'Que Sera Sera', and finally 'You Can't Hurry Love' by the Supremes. They didn't get it, nor could their opponents: they are songs about, or containing, maternal advice. The Lasletts chose Horned Viper next: '1997: Dropped a word from its name', then '2007: Changed from a monarchy to a republic', then '2009: Changed to driving on the left hand side', and finally '2011: Skipped December 30'. Neither team knew it, I did: they are events in the history of Samoa (the last one gave it to me, remember it being discussed on HIGNFY). Left with Eye of Horus, the Meeples saw 'Holbein', then 'Pliny'; that was enough for them to offer them as fathers and sons known as 'the Elder' and 'the Younger' for the three points. At the end of the first round, the Meeples led 4-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Lasletts started it with Twisted Flax: 'Trimble', then 'Paisley'; they thought it to be something to do with first ministers, but their offer of 'Sturgeon' was not correct. Their opponents saw 'Robinson', but didn't know it either: they are Northern Irish first ministers, so 'Foster' would be fourth. The Meeples chose Horned Viper next, and got the pictures again: we saw Ian M Banks along '1000', then John D Rockefeller alongside '500'; they spotted that the numbers are those peoples' middle initials in Roman numerals, so offered Dorothy L Sayers alongside '50' for the three points. The Lasletts chose Water next: '12-8: People', then '7-6: Birds'; they saw it to be the offerings from The Twelve Days of Christmas, so '5: Jewellery' would be third, and '4-1: Birds' would complete the set. The Meeples chose Lion next: 'Isaac Newton', then 'Ivanka Trump', and then 'Isabel Allende'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: their initials are 'IN', 'IT' and 'IA', so someone with the initials 'LS', such as 'Leo Sayer', would be fourth. For their final choice, the Lasletts chose Eye of Horus, and got a music question: we heard the Carpenters with 'Please Mr Postman', then 'I Get Around' by the Beach Boys; they spotted them to be by two and three siblings respectively, so suggested something by the Jackson 5, correctly for the three points. (Cue a sing-along of 'Blame It On the Boogie'!) Left with Two Reeds, the Meeples saw 'Mid-shot', then 'Medium close-up'; they saw it to be zooming shots in photography, so offered 'Extreme close-up' for the three points. At the end of the second round, the Meeples led 10-9.
On to the Walls. The Meeples went first, and chose the Water wall to tackle. They had two sets in the bag almost instantly: 'Ralph', 'Jack', 'Samneric' and 'Piggy' are characters in 'Lord of the Flies', while 'Test tube', 'Bush', 'Jelly' and 'Beanie' can all precede 'baby'. The last sets, however, took some more thought, but they eventually sorted them on their second attempt: 'Janice', 'Beaker', 'Animal' and 'Scooter' are muppets, while 'Retort', 'Cold finger', 'Burette' and 'Petri dish' are items of lab equipment made of glass. A full ten there.
The Lasletts thus set to work on the Lion wall. They also had a set in the back straight off the bat: 'America', 'Placebo', 'Nirvana' and 'The Jam' are rock groups with three members. It took them a bit longer to get their second, however, but they eventually isolated 'Muse', 'Grace', 'Dryad' and 'Fate', which are deities, and the final groups came in easily after that: 'Joshua', 'Curry', 'Palm' and 'Bay' are types of tree, whie 'Fury', 'Whyte', 'Haye' and 'Chisora' are British heavyweight boxers. Another full ten, so as you were, the Meeples led 20-19 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Parts of a driving test' went to the Lasletts 3-1. 'Film titles with younger animals', such as 'RESERVOIR PUPPIES' and 'KITTEN ON A HOT TIN ROOF', went to the Lasletts 3-0. 'Things you hear when you are on hold' was a 2-each split. 'Peoples who were at school together' only had time for one clue, which the Lasletts took. The Lasletts won 28-23.
Another excellent special, well played both teams, and thanks very much for coming back and playing!
Next special: from earlier today, the QI Elves vs the Inquisitors. Blog of that on Thursday I hope, and yesterday's regular game between the Motorheads and the Cartoonists tomorrow I hope too. See you whenever; until then, enjoy the rest of your Christmas!
Sunday, 23 December 2018
Only Connect: Sport Special: Footballers vs Korfballers
OK, first of all, congratulations to Ryland Morgan, the new Fifteen-to-One champion who won the final on Friday! A close one though, he won it on lives left, which may or may not be a first for any incarnation of the show. I've also just been watching a final from the original series and came across the most ridiculous question, which I'm bringing up here as its not unrelated to this review: "In 1995 [the year the final aired], Pete Sampras won his third Wimbledon men's singles in a row; which other tennis player won the men's singles at Wimbledon three times in a row three times?" Answer, Bjorn Borg, who won it five times in a row from 1976-80! Laboured to say the least I'd say.
Anyway, lets crack on with these Only Connects we're getting thick and fast at the moment! Playing last Wednesday's sport special were the Footballers, Barry Humphrey, Michael McPartland and captain Jamie Turner, who reached the semi-finals of Series 6, and the Korfballers, Taissa Csaky, Niall Sheekey and captain Michael Jelley, who reached the semis more recently in Series 12.
Round 1. The Korfballers opened the procedings with Two Reeds, and the picture set: we saw a golf club, then actress Madeleine Stowe, then Whitby Abbey, and finally comedian Rob Beckett and politician Margaret Beckett. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are corners at Silverstone. For their own first question, the Footballers chose Lion: 'Princess Merida', then 'Alison Williamson', then 'Penthesilea'; they saw them to all be female archers, and collected two points. The Korfballers chose Twisted Flax next: 'Stephen Ferris', then 'Branislav Ivanovic'; they suggested them to have worn masks while playing their sport; not right. Their opponents saw 'Evander Holyfield' and 'Giorgio Chiellini', and offered that they have all been bitten by opponents for the bonus. For their own question, the Footballers chose Water: 'Tennis (ITF) 1992', then 'Fencing (IWAS) 1960', then 'Basketball (IWBF) 1960', and finally 'Rugby (IWRF) 2000'. Neither team got this: they are the bodies of wheelchair sports and the years they were introduced to the Paralympics. The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: '2001 Canadian Grand Prix', then '1940 World Snooker final', then 'Men's 2016 Olympic Triathlon'; they spotted that the runner up of these were the siblings of the winners, and collected their first points of the game. Left with Eye of Horus, and the music question, the Footballers heard Sarah Vaughan, then Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, then Sir Rod Stewart, and finally Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they share their surnames with England cricket captains. At the end of the first round, the Footballers led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Korfballers opened the round with Eye of Horus: '"The nearest I ever am to being a normal person"', then '"Now watch this drive"'; they saw them to be quotations made by successive presidents, and suggested '"Let's make America great again"' for Mr Trump. It was accepted as close enough: they actual sequence what was US presidents have said on the golf course, so '"Owning a great golf course gives you great power"' would've been a better answer. The Footballers chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw a swimming float, then someone doing a butterfly stroke in swimming; they instantly saw it to be the quote about the late Muhammad Ali, and offered 'a bee' for the three points. (I first encountered that quote on the side of Robot Wars legend Cassius!) The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: we saw two arrows pointing up, then the same two arrows but pointing down, and then the arrows pointing straight away from each other. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: it is the Konami cheat code, so the arrows pointing away from each other again would be fourth. The Footballers chose Water next: '3-2: 17', then '1-4: 18', and then '7-3: 19'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the highest scoring dart board numbers and those either side of them, so '5-1: 20' would be fourth. For their own final choice, the Korfballers chose Twisted Flax: 'Upson', then 'Hughes', and then 'Shaw'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are Matthew Upson, Mark Hughes and Luke Show, so 'John Terry' would be an acceptable fourth clue. Left with Two Reeds, the Footballers saw 'Cheltenham Festival', then 'Ryder Cup'; they though it might be events held every year, every two years and so on, so suggested 'World Cup', not correct. Their opponents saw 'Decathlon', but were none the wiser: they are events that take place over four, three and two days, so something that just takes one day, like 'The FA Cup final', would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Footballers led 7-6.
On to the Walls. The Footballers went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. This proved a good move, as they made short work of it, the first two sets came almost instantly: 'Walker-Peters', 'Rose', 'Winks' and 'Kane' are surnames of current Tottenham Hotspur players, while 'Feathers', 'Thistle', 'Shamrock' and 'Cockerel' are emblems of Six Nations rugby shirts. The last clues didn't take that much longer to deal with: 'Peters', 'Storey', 'MacArthur' and 'Davies' are surnames of sporting dames, while 'Walker', 'Hopman', 'Gold' and 'World' can all precede 'Cup'. A full ten there, solved with no mistakes whatsoever, rare that.
The Korfballers thus set to work on the Water wall. They took a bit longer to get their first set: 'Johnson-Thompson', 'Thompson', 'Simpson' and 'Macey' are surnames of British multi-field atheletes. A second set, 'Johnson', 'Couples', 'Love' and 'Strange', which are surnames of American golfers, followed, and it didn't take them long to sort the rest out after that: 'Doubles', 'Deuce', 'Break' and 'Advantage' are tennis terms, while 'Safety', 'Yellow', 'Conversion' and 'Cannon' are ways of scoring two points in various sports. Another full ten, so as you were, the Footballers led 17-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Non-sporty things with a sport in their name', such as 'VOLKSWAGEN GOLD' and 'BOXING DAY' was a clean sweep to the Footballers, 4-0. 'BBC Sports Personality Teams of the Year' went to the Footballers 3-0. 'A sports and its early name', such as 'TABLE TENNIS AND PING PONG' was a 1-1 split, and that was time. The Footballers won 25-17.
Good game, some very tough questions there, well played both teams, thanks for coming back.
Next special: the Lasletts vs the Meeples in the Family special. Review of that on Christmas Day, by which time we'll have seen our next regular game and final special too. See you then then, and, in the mean time, have a Happy Christmas!
Anyway, lets crack on with these Only Connects we're getting thick and fast at the moment! Playing last Wednesday's sport special were the Footballers, Barry Humphrey, Michael McPartland and captain Jamie Turner, who reached the semi-finals of Series 6, and the Korfballers, Taissa Csaky, Niall Sheekey and captain Michael Jelley, who reached the semis more recently in Series 12.
Round 1. The Korfballers opened the procedings with Two Reeds, and the picture set: we saw a golf club, then actress Madeleine Stowe, then Whitby Abbey, and finally comedian Rob Beckett and politician Margaret Beckett. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are corners at Silverstone. For their own first question, the Footballers chose Lion: 'Princess Merida', then 'Alison Williamson', then 'Penthesilea'; they saw them to all be female archers, and collected two points. The Korfballers chose Twisted Flax next: 'Stephen Ferris', then 'Branislav Ivanovic'; they suggested them to have worn masks while playing their sport; not right. Their opponents saw 'Evander Holyfield' and 'Giorgio Chiellini', and offered that they have all been bitten by opponents for the bonus. For their own question, the Footballers chose Water: 'Tennis (ITF) 1992', then 'Fencing (IWAS) 1960', then 'Basketball (IWBF) 1960', and finally 'Rugby (IWRF) 2000'. Neither team got this: they are the bodies of wheelchair sports and the years they were introduced to the Paralympics. The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: '2001 Canadian Grand Prix', then '1940 World Snooker final', then 'Men's 2016 Olympic Triathlon'; they spotted that the runner up of these were the siblings of the winners, and collected their first points of the game. Left with Eye of Horus, and the music question, the Footballers heard Sarah Vaughan, then Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, then Sir Rod Stewart, and finally Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they share their surnames with England cricket captains. At the end of the first round, the Footballers led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Korfballers opened the round with Eye of Horus: '"The nearest I ever am to being a normal person"', then '"Now watch this drive"'; they saw them to be quotations made by successive presidents, and suggested '"Let's make America great again"' for Mr Trump. It was accepted as close enough: they actual sequence what was US presidents have said on the golf course, so '"Owning a great golf course gives you great power"' would've been a better answer. The Footballers chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw a swimming float, then someone doing a butterfly stroke in swimming; they instantly saw it to be the quote about the late Muhammad Ali, and offered 'a bee' for the three points. (I first encountered that quote on the side of Robot Wars legend Cassius!) The Korfballers chose Horned Viper next: we saw two arrows pointing up, then the same two arrows but pointing down, and then the arrows pointing straight away from each other. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: it is the Konami cheat code, so the arrows pointing away from each other again would be fourth. The Footballers chose Water next: '3-2: 17', then '1-4: 18', and then '7-3: 19'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the highest scoring dart board numbers and those either side of them, so '5-1: 20' would be fourth. For their own final choice, the Korfballers chose Twisted Flax: 'Upson', then 'Hughes', and then 'Shaw'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are Matthew Upson, Mark Hughes and Luke Show, so 'John Terry' would be an acceptable fourth clue. Left with Two Reeds, the Footballers saw 'Cheltenham Festival', then 'Ryder Cup'; they though it might be events held every year, every two years and so on, so suggested 'World Cup', not correct. Their opponents saw 'Decathlon', but were none the wiser: they are events that take place over four, three and two days, so something that just takes one day, like 'The FA Cup final', would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Footballers led 7-6.
On to the Walls. The Footballers went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. This proved a good move, as they made short work of it, the first two sets came almost instantly: 'Walker-Peters', 'Rose', 'Winks' and 'Kane' are surnames of current Tottenham Hotspur players, while 'Feathers', 'Thistle', 'Shamrock' and 'Cockerel' are emblems of Six Nations rugby shirts. The last clues didn't take that much longer to deal with: 'Peters', 'Storey', 'MacArthur' and 'Davies' are surnames of sporting dames, while 'Walker', 'Hopman', 'Gold' and 'World' can all precede 'Cup'. A full ten there, solved with no mistakes whatsoever, rare that.
The Korfballers thus set to work on the Water wall. They took a bit longer to get their first set: 'Johnson-Thompson', 'Thompson', 'Simpson' and 'Macey' are surnames of British multi-field atheletes. A second set, 'Johnson', 'Couples', 'Love' and 'Strange', which are surnames of American golfers, followed, and it didn't take them long to sort the rest out after that: 'Doubles', 'Deuce', 'Break' and 'Advantage' are tennis terms, while 'Safety', 'Yellow', 'Conversion' and 'Cannon' are ways of scoring two points in various sports. Another full ten, so as you were, the Footballers led 17-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Non-sporty things with a sport in their name', such as 'VOLKSWAGEN GOLD' and 'BOXING DAY' was a clean sweep to the Footballers, 4-0. 'BBC Sports Personality Teams of the Year' went to the Footballers 3-0. 'A sports and its early name', such as 'TABLE TENNIS AND PING PONG' was a 1-1 split, and that was time. The Footballers won 25-17.
Good game, some very tough questions there, well played both teams, thanks for coming back.
Next special: the Lasletts vs the Meeples in the Family special. Review of that on Christmas Day, by which time we'll have seen our next regular game and final special too. See you then then, and, in the mean time, have a Happy Christmas!
Thursday, 20 December 2018
Only Connect: Champion of Champions Special: Europhiles vs String Section
OK, here we go at the start of a marathon run of Only Connect bloggings that, if all goes to plan, should run end on Boxing Day, and the first of the FOUR Christmas specials we're having this year. And we start with, in all honesty, the one I was looking forward to most; I was kinda disappointed when they stopped doing Champion of Champions specials every two series, and I hope we see a few more at some point.
Anyway, onto Tuesday's match; playing were Series 9 champions the Europhiles, Douglas Thomson, Khuram Rashid and captain Mark Seager, and Series 11 winners the String Section, Tessa North, Pete Sorel-Cameron and captain Richard Aubrey.
Round 1. The String Section opened the show, as they did throughout their winning run, with Two Reeds: 'Yugoslavia: Imre Nagy', then 'Netherlands: Morgan Tsvangirai', then 'Vatican City: Manuel Noriega', and finally 'Ecuador: Julian Assange'. I had it at the second, the last one gave it to them: those people have taken refuge at those countries' embassies. The Europhiles started with Twisted Flax: 'Jasmine', then 'Car tyres', then 'Kashmir's capital', and finally 'Olympics'. They had nothing to offer, and their opponents were none the wiser: they all have summer and winter variants. The String Section chose Water next, and got the picture set: we saw the flags of Nicaragua and Guatemala, then those of Vietnam and Namibia; that was enough for them to see the link and claim three points. The Europhiles chose Lion next: '100m year old damselfly: Mesostica firstnamesurnamei', then 'Long-beaked echidna: Zaglossus Surnamei', then 'Cambridge biodiversity centre: The Firstname Surname Building', and finally 'Boaty McBoatface's mothership: RRS Sir Firstname Surname'. That gave it to them: they are all named after Sir David Attenborough. The String Section chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard 'O Holy Night', then 'I Will Wait for You' from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, then Scott Walker singing 'Jackie', and finally someone singing 'No Regrets', an English version of 'Non je ne regrette rien'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are English versions of French songs. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Europhiles saw 'Ownershup of Bayer Leverkusen', then 'Ice hockey helmet of (e.g.) Craig MacTavish', then 'Harry Truman's ability to run for a third term', and finally 'Roadworthiness of pre-1960s cars'. Neither team got this one: they all would've been not allowed according to rules that have since been introduced. At the end of the first round, the String Section led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The String Section started, once again, with Two Reeds: 'Morning Glory', then 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner', and then 'The Lion in Winter'; they saw it to be Katherine Hepburn's Oscar winning performances, and offered 'On Golden Pond' for the two points. The Europhiles chose Eye of Horus next: 'Magna Carta', then 'Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport', and then 'Alleles in humans'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are things there are four, three and two copies of, so something of which only one copy exists, such as the Wu-Tang Clan's album 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin', would be fourth. The String Section chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next: '1: Jon Evans', then '2: Robert Wood', and then '3: Edith Reed'. Neither team saw this excellent cryptic sequence: the numbers one, two and three are hidden in those names (jON Evans', 'roberT WOod' and 'ediTH REEd'), so '4: Rodolfo Urquhart' (awesome name) would be fourth! The Europhiles chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw someone tapping ash into an ash tray, then a young lady holding up two fingers, and then someone playing a piano. They suggested that they are things that can be done with one, two and three fingers; a good but wrong guess. Their opponents offered 'hailing a taxi', correctly for the bonus, the sequence being things Alanis Morisette is doing in her song 'Hand in My Pocket'. For their own final choice, the String Section chose Lion: 'Aloha', then 'Bets'; they saw it to be Greek letters with one letter changed, and, eventually, offered 'Delts', which was sufficient for the points! Left with Water, the Europhiles saw 'Receive the National Living Wage', then 'Get NHS breast cancer screening', and then 'Receive free TV licence'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are things one can do age 25, 50 and 75, so 'Receive a birthday card from the Queen' as something that happens when one is 100 would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the String Section led 11-2.
On to the Walls. The Europhiles went first, and chose the Water wall. It proved a most difficult wall, which they had a great deal of trouble with. Eventually, they isolated 'Bullseye', 'Bob', 'Tanner' and 'Pony', which are UK slang words for money. That was all they could get though, so they had to try for bonuses: 'Faldo', 'Brown', 'Quinn' and 'Hussain' are the surnames of Great British Bake-Off winners, which they saw, 'Kimber', 'Browning', 'Baretta', 'Walther' are gun manufacturers, which they also got, while 'Colt', 'Rig', 'Gelding' and 'Stallion' are types of horse, which they also knew. Five for that then.
The String Section thus had a chance to put the game beyond realistic reach with a good result on the Lion wall. Their first set came somewhat quicker: 'Cato', 'Sulla', 'Agrippa' and 'Scipio' are Roman generals. A second set, 'Coriolanus', 'Peeta', 'Haymitch' and 'Katniss', which are characters in 'The Hunger Games', quickly followed. The final clues slotted in on their second try: 'Star', 'Primrose', 'Class' and 'Dress' can all follow 'Evening', while 'Fanion', 'Guidon', 'Standard' and 'Pennant' are types of flag, which they also saw. A full ten there, which meant they led 21-7 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish with. 'Missing owls', such as 'THE AND THE PUSSYCAT', went to the String Section 2-1. 'Cluedo solutions', such as 'COLONEL MUSTARD IN THE CONSERVATORY WITH THE ROPE'(!) was an impressive 2-each split. 'Three words that can be pronounced the same', such as 'WRITE, RITE, RIGHT' saw the String Section get one right but one wrong. And that was time; the String Section won 25-10.
A good show, well played both teams, thanks very much for playing again! Hopefully we'll see some more Champion of Champions shows eventually.
Next special: from yesterday, the Footballers vs the Korfballers, review coming up on Sunday. See yous then I guess.
Anyway, onto Tuesday's match; playing were Series 9 champions the Europhiles, Douglas Thomson, Khuram Rashid and captain Mark Seager, and Series 11 winners the String Section, Tessa North, Pete Sorel-Cameron and captain Richard Aubrey.
Round 1. The String Section opened the show, as they did throughout their winning run, with Two Reeds: 'Yugoslavia: Imre Nagy', then 'Netherlands: Morgan Tsvangirai', then 'Vatican City: Manuel Noriega', and finally 'Ecuador: Julian Assange'. I had it at the second, the last one gave it to them: those people have taken refuge at those countries' embassies. The Europhiles started with Twisted Flax: 'Jasmine', then 'Car tyres', then 'Kashmir's capital', and finally 'Olympics'. They had nothing to offer, and their opponents were none the wiser: they all have summer and winter variants. The String Section chose Water next, and got the picture set: we saw the flags of Nicaragua and Guatemala, then those of Vietnam and Namibia; that was enough for them to see the link and claim three points. The Europhiles chose Lion next: '100m year old damselfly: Mesostica firstnamesurnamei', then 'Long-beaked echidna: Zaglossus Surnamei', then 'Cambridge biodiversity centre: The Firstname Surname Building', and finally 'Boaty McBoatface's mothership: RRS Sir Firstname Surname'. That gave it to them: they are all named after Sir David Attenborough. The String Section chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard 'O Holy Night', then 'I Will Wait for You' from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, then Scott Walker singing 'Jackie', and finally someone singing 'No Regrets', an English version of 'Non je ne regrette rien'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are English versions of French songs. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Europhiles saw 'Ownershup of Bayer Leverkusen', then 'Ice hockey helmet of (e.g.) Craig MacTavish', then 'Harry Truman's ability to run for a third term', and finally 'Roadworthiness of pre-1960s cars'. Neither team got this one: they all would've been not allowed according to rules that have since been introduced. At the end of the first round, the String Section led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The String Section started, once again, with Two Reeds: 'Morning Glory', then 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner', and then 'The Lion in Winter'; they saw it to be Katherine Hepburn's Oscar winning performances, and offered 'On Golden Pond' for the two points. The Europhiles chose Eye of Horus next: 'Magna Carta', then 'Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport', and then 'Alleles in humans'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are things there are four, three and two copies of, so something of which only one copy exists, such as the Wu-Tang Clan's album 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin', would be fourth. The String Section chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next: '1: Jon Evans', then '2: Robert Wood', and then '3: Edith Reed'. Neither team saw this excellent cryptic sequence: the numbers one, two and three are hidden in those names (jON Evans', 'roberT WOod' and 'ediTH REEd'), so '4: Rodolfo Urquhart' (awesome name) would be fourth! The Europhiles chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw someone tapping ash into an ash tray, then a young lady holding up two fingers, and then someone playing a piano. They suggested that they are things that can be done with one, two and three fingers; a good but wrong guess. Their opponents offered 'hailing a taxi', correctly for the bonus, the sequence being things Alanis Morisette is doing in her song 'Hand in My Pocket'. For their own final choice, the String Section chose Lion: 'Aloha', then 'Bets'; they saw it to be Greek letters with one letter changed, and, eventually, offered 'Delts', which was sufficient for the points! Left with Water, the Europhiles saw 'Receive the National Living Wage', then 'Get NHS breast cancer screening', and then 'Receive free TV licence'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are things one can do age 25, 50 and 75, so 'Receive a birthday card from the Queen' as something that happens when one is 100 would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the String Section led 11-2.
On to the Walls. The Europhiles went first, and chose the Water wall. It proved a most difficult wall, which they had a great deal of trouble with. Eventually, they isolated 'Bullseye', 'Bob', 'Tanner' and 'Pony', which are UK slang words for money. That was all they could get though, so they had to try for bonuses: 'Faldo', 'Brown', 'Quinn' and 'Hussain' are the surnames of Great British Bake-Off winners, which they saw, 'Kimber', 'Browning', 'Baretta', 'Walther' are gun manufacturers, which they also got, while 'Colt', 'Rig', 'Gelding' and 'Stallion' are types of horse, which they also knew. Five for that then.
The String Section thus had a chance to put the game beyond realistic reach with a good result on the Lion wall. Their first set came somewhat quicker: 'Cato', 'Sulla', 'Agrippa' and 'Scipio' are Roman generals. A second set, 'Coriolanus', 'Peeta', 'Haymitch' and 'Katniss', which are characters in 'The Hunger Games', quickly followed. The final clues slotted in on their second try: 'Star', 'Primrose', 'Class' and 'Dress' can all follow 'Evening', while 'Fanion', 'Guidon', 'Standard' and 'Pennant' are types of flag, which they also saw. A full ten there, which meant they led 21-7 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish with. 'Missing owls', such as 'THE AND THE PUSSYCAT', went to the String Section 2-1. 'Cluedo solutions', such as 'COLONEL MUSTARD IN THE CONSERVATORY WITH THE ROPE'(!) was an impressive 2-each split. 'Three words that can be pronounced the same', such as 'WRITE, RITE, RIGHT' saw the String Section get one right but one wrong. And that was time; the String Section won 25-10.
A good show, well played both teams, thanks very much for playing again! Hopefully we'll see some more Champion of Champions shows eventually.
Next special: from yesterday, the Footballers vs the Korfballers, review coming up on Sunday. See yous then I guess.
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Elimination Round: Match 1: Hotpots vs Durhamites
OK, so provided no more doors get stuck in my flat and need to be fixed, I should be able to keep on top of all these Only Connects that we're having for the next few weeks. Tomorrow, my review of the Champion of Champions special from yesterday, but today, we crack on with the regular show from Monday, and the first eliminator, a match I sadly already knew the outcome of thanks to that Radio Times article I may or may not have mentioned before.
Playing were the Hotpots, Paul Jackson, Jo Beattie and captain Paul Richardson, who were beaten by the Poptimists in their first round match, and the Durhamites, Adam Robertson, James France and captain George Twigg, who lost out to the LARPers first time out.
Round 1. The Durhamites began the contest with Water: 'Presidents: Virginia', then 'The House: Harriet Harman', then 'The Blues: Ma Rainey'; that gave it to them, the latter is known as 'The Mother of' the former. (Neatly, a question about Harriet Harman being 'Mother of the House' came up in yesterday's Fifteen-to-One as well!) The Hotpots opened their play with Horned Viper: 'Television', then 'Identity', then 'Intravenous'; they spotted here that they are words often abbreviated to two letters (TV, ID and IV), and also picked up a pair of points to begin with. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Mr N. Rogers', then 'Mr F. Jones', then 'Miss D. Blake', and finally 'Miss V. Dinkley'. Neither side got this one, to a lot of peoples' amazement: they are Scooby Doo's companions! The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next: 'Ian Botham (1985)', then '874 miles', then 'TR19 7AA [arrow] KW1 4YR'; they identified them as linking 'Land's End to John o' Groats', and picked up two further points. The Durhamites chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard '500 (Shake Baby Shake)' by Lush, then 'Brand New Cadillac' by the Clash, then Prince with 'Little Red Corvette', and finally the theme to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Not recognising any of them, they offered 'a complete guess' of 'songs about cars', and were right! The specific answer was 'love songs to cars'. Left with Two Reeds, the Hotpots got the picture set, and saw a sunset, then Edward Elgar, then a pint of lager, and finally Little and Large, with an arrow pointing at the latter. They saw them to be anagrams of each other ('GLARE' being the first clue), and picked up a point. At the end of the first round, the Hotpots led 5-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Durhamites started with Water: 'Caret', then 'Greater than', and then 'Velocity'. They identified them as being '^', '>' and 'V', so offered 'Less than', or '<', for the two points. The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw Halley's comet as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, then Halle Berry; they saw the sequence instantly, and suggested Hal the computer from '2001: A Space Odyssey' for the three points. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Panama Madagascar', then 'Madagascar Argentina', and then 'Argentina Nauru'; they noticed that the last two letters of the first country in each case began the second, so they offered 'Nauru Russia' for the two points. The Hotpots chose Two Reeds next: 'x-x-x-BT', then 'x-x-LG-BT', and then 'x-AP-LG-BT'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the original four judges on Strictly Come Dancing in reverse order, so 'CRH-AP-LG-BT' would complete the set. (Though, on a point of pedantry, Messrs Revel Horwood and Tonioli sat in the opposite chairs in the very first series!) For their final choice, the Durhamites chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: they saw 'Level', then 'Movie', and at this point suggested 'DT45', reasoning that you could have the band 'Level 42' and the (apparently rubbish) film 'Movie 43', and 'DT45' is what Mr D. Trump is often called online. Now, like with the Motorheads a few weeks back, this wasn't what TPTB had in mind, but, as it was a viable sequence that fitted the visible clues, they were allowed the points. The real sequence was putting successive letters of the alphabet before the clues, for 'A-Level' and 'B-Movie', so 'Section' as in 'C-Section' would've been third, and 'Day' for 'D-Day' an acceptable answer. Left with Eye of Horus, the Hotpots saw '3 = T', then '4 = TT', and then '5 = HT'. They didn't get this, nor did the opposition: they are the number of zeros in powers of ten, so '6 = M' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Durhamites led 10-8.
On to the Walls. The Hotpots went first, and chose the Water wall. They quickly spotted a link of famous men called Vince, and isolated 'Neil', 'Cable', 'Vaughn' and 'Lombardi'; followed quickly by a second set, 'Nice', 'Penguin', 'Club' and 'Trio', which are biscuits. The last few clues slotted in on their first try: 'Jolly Roger', 'Crossword', 'Barcode' and 'Panda' are things usually black and white (apart from the Financial Times crossword obviously!), while 'Compact', 'Safety', 'Vintage' and 'Bumper' can all precede 'car'. A full ten for that.
The Durhamites thus began tackling the Lion wall. After a few early wrong tries, they isolated two sets in short order: 'Dingle', 'Kamchatka', 'Gower' and 'Cape Cod' are peninsulas, while 'Reel', 'Sinker', 'Bait' and 'Line' are items of fishing equipment. They had everything else worked out on their second attempt after that: 'Benaud', 'Norcross', 'Agnew' and 'Arlott' are cricket commentators (Norcross being OC alumnus Daniel Norcross of Series 10 team the Nightwatchmen), while 'Blofeld', 'Moriarty', 'Greenback' and 'Hook' are the nemeses of fictional protagonists. Another full ten there, so as you were, they led 20-18 going into the final round.
So, who went out and who went through would be decided on Missing Vowels. 'Phrases featuring names', such as 'HAPPY AS LARRY', was split 2-each. 'Dangerous holiday pursuits', such as 'WHITE WATER RAFTING', went to the Durhamites 2-0, with both sides dropping a point. 'People whose surname starts with their first name', such as 'KRIS KRISTOFFERSON' (sadly 'MAGNUS MAGNUSSON' wasn't one of them), was a clean sweep to the Durhamites 4-0. 'Recent additions to the Consumer Prices Index Basket', such as 'CYCLING HELMET' and 'NON-DAIRY MILK DRINK', gave one to the Durhamites, and that was time. The Durhamites won 29-20.
Another good game, with some good questions and quizzing to go with them. Unlucky Hotpots, but no shame in either of your performances, thanks for playing. Well done Durhamites, and best of luck in the play-off round! (Thanks to that aforementioned article, I think I know who they may be playing)
Next week's (regular) match: the Motorheads vs the Cartoonists
And the specials carried on today, with another tomorrow and one more on Christmas Day. Review of yesterday's first one coming up tomorrow evening I hope.
Playing were the Hotpots, Paul Jackson, Jo Beattie and captain Paul Richardson, who were beaten by the Poptimists in their first round match, and the Durhamites, Adam Robertson, James France and captain George Twigg, who lost out to the LARPers first time out.
Round 1. The Durhamites began the contest with Water: 'Presidents: Virginia', then 'The House: Harriet Harman', then 'The Blues: Ma Rainey'; that gave it to them, the latter is known as 'The Mother of' the former. (Neatly, a question about Harriet Harman being 'Mother of the House' came up in yesterday's Fifteen-to-One as well!) The Hotpots opened their play with Horned Viper: 'Television', then 'Identity', then 'Intravenous'; they spotted here that they are words often abbreviated to two letters (TV, ID and IV), and also picked up a pair of points to begin with. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Mr N. Rogers', then 'Mr F. Jones', then 'Miss D. Blake', and finally 'Miss V. Dinkley'. Neither side got this one, to a lot of peoples' amazement: they are Scooby Doo's companions! The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next: 'Ian Botham (1985)', then '874 miles', then 'TR19 7AA [arrow] KW1 4YR'; they identified them as linking 'Land's End to John o' Groats', and picked up two further points. The Durhamites chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard '500 (Shake Baby Shake)' by Lush, then 'Brand New Cadillac' by the Clash, then Prince with 'Little Red Corvette', and finally the theme to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Not recognising any of them, they offered 'a complete guess' of 'songs about cars', and were right! The specific answer was 'love songs to cars'. Left with Two Reeds, the Hotpots got the picture set, and saw a sunset, then Edward Elgar, then a pint of lager, and finally Little and Large, with an arrow pointing at the latter. They saw them to be anagrams of each other ('GLARE' being the first clue), and picked up a point. At the end of the first round, the Hotpots led 5-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Durhamites started with Water: 'Caret', then 'Greater than', and then 'Velocity'. They identified them as being '^', '>' and 'V', so offered 'Less than', or '<', for the two points. The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw Halley's comet as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, then Halle Berry; they saw the sequence instantly, and suggested Hal the computer from '2001: A Space Odyssey' for the three points. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Panama Madagascar', then 'Madagascar Argentina', and then 'Argentina Nauru'; they noticed that the last two letters of the first country in each case began the second, so they offered 'Nauru Russia' for the two points. The Hotpots chose Two Reeds next: 'x-x-x-BT', then 'x-x-LG-BT', and then 'x-AP-LG-BT'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the original four judges on Strictly Come Dancing in reverse order, so 'CRH-AP-LG-BT' would complete the set. (Though, on a point of pedantry, Messrs Revel Horwood and Tonioli sat in the opposite chairs in the very first series!) For their final choice, the Durhamites chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: they saw 'Level', then 'Movie', and at this point suggested 'DT45', reasoning that you could have the band 'Level 42' and the (apparently rubbish) film 'Movie 43', and 'DT45' is what Mr D. Trump is often called online. Now, like with the Motorheads a few weeks back, this wasn't what TPTB had in mind, but, as it was a viable sequence that fitted the visible clues, they were allowed the points. The real sequence was putting successive letters of the alphabet before the clues, for 'A-Level' and 'B-Movie', so 'Section' as in 'C-Section' would've been third, and 'Day' for 'D-Day' an acceptable answer. Left with Eye of Horus, the Hotpots saw '3 = T', then '4 = TT', and then '5 = HT'. They didn't get this, nor did the opposition: they are the number of zeros in powers of ten, so '6 = M' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Durhamites led 10-8.
On to the Walls. The Hotpots went first, and chose the Water wall. They quickly spotted a link of famous men called Vince, and isolated 'Neil', 'Cable', 'Vaughn' and 'Lombardi'; followed quickly by a second set, 'Nice', 'Penguin', 'Club' and 'Trio', which are biscuits. The last few clues slotted in on their first try: 'Jolly Roger', 'Crossword', 'Barcode' and 'Panda' are things usually black and white (apart from the Financial Times crossword obviously!), while 'Compact', 'Safety', 'Vintage' and 'Bumper' can all precede 'car'. A full ten for that.
The Durhamites thus began tackling the Lion wall. After a few early wrong tries, they isolated two sets in short order: 'Dingle', 'Kamchatka', 'Gower' and 'Cape Cod' are peninsulas, while 'Reel', 'Sinker', 'Bait' and 'Line' are items of fishing equipment. They had everything else worked out on their second attempt after that: 'Benaud', 'Norcross', 'Agnew' and 'Arlott' are cricket commentators (Norcross being OC alumnus Daniel Norcross of Series 10 team the Nightwatchmen), while 'Blofeld', 'Moriarty', 'Greenback' and 'Hook' are the nemeses of fictional protagonists. Another full ten there, so as you were, they led 20-18 going into the final round.
So, who went out and who went through would be decided on Missing Vowels. 'Phrases featuring names', such as 'HAPPY AS LARRY', was split 2-each. 'Dangerous holiday pursuits', such as 'WHITE WATER RAFTING', went to the Durhamites 2-0, with both sides dropping a point. 'People whose surname starts with their first name', such as 'KRIS KRISTOFFERSON' (sadly 'MAGNUS MAGNUSSON' wasn't one of them), was a clean sweep to the Durhamites 4-0. 'Recent additions to the Consumer Prices Index Basket', such as 'CYCLING HELMET' and 'NON-DAIRY MILK DRINK', gave one to the Durhamites, and that was time. The Durhamites won 29-20.
Another good game, with some good questions and quizzing to go with them. Unlucky Hotpots, but no shame in either of your performances, thanks for playing. Well done Durhamites, and best of luck in the play-off round! (Thanks to that aforementioned article, I think I know who they may be playing)
Next week's (regular) match: the Motorheads vs the Cartoonists
And the specials carried on today, with another tomorrow and one more on Christmas Day. Review of yesterday's first one coming up tomorrow evening I hope.
Monday, 17 December 2018
University Challenge 2018-19: Round 2: Match 5: Goldsmiths vs Glasgow
Evening all. So, the last regular match of the year, before we pause for the festive fortnight, and the traditional series of Christmas specials, which start next Monday. Slight complications arising next week when one match is on a day later in Scotland, and the next match two days later as a result, but, if I get my calculations right, I should be able to cover everything reasonably undisrupted. Anyway, let's do this...
Goldsmiths College London won an entertaining if low scoring contest against the University of London's Paris Institute, leading throughout, and ultimately coming home 180-55 winners. Hoping for more of that tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
Kesheva Guha, from Bangalore, studying Creative and Life Writing
Ieuan Cox, from Halifax, studying PPE
Captain: Diana Issokson, from New Orleans, studying History
Jamie Robinson, from Belfast, studying History
Glasgow came through a somewhat closer first round contest against Emmanuel of Cambridge, pulling ahead and just holding out in the final minutes for a 200-175 win, though their opponents survived to the play-offs and are already through. Hoping to join them were the also unchanged foursome of:
Lewis Barn, from Airdrie, studying Professional Legal Practice
Freya Whiteford, from Bonybridge near Falkirk, studying Physics with Astrophysics
Captain: James Hampson, from Helsby in Cheshire, studying Medicine
Cameron Herbert, from Burley-in-Wharfedale in West Yorkshire, studying Sociology and Quantatitive Methods
Off we set again then, and Goldsmiths started the match in unfortunate fashion with a penalty; Ms Whiteford picked up for Glasgow and two of the opening bonuses went with it. Mr Hampson very quickly came in on the next starter, but just the one bonus went with it this time, with Ms Whiteford claiming she'd get killed for not getting another of them! A third starter went to the Scots side, and another single bonus went with it. The first picture round, on actors CVs showing their track records at the Academy Awards, went to Glasgow, who, again, took just the one bonus (they'd have got another if they'd simply repeated their opponents' wrong answer to the starter), giving them a lead of 65-(-5).
Another unfortunate penalty dropped Goldsmiths back further, but Glasgow didn't quite get the question either. Mr Hampson resumed his side's buzzer dominance; a single bonus followed again, but, the way they were dominating on the buzzer at this point, this profligacy didn't look like it would matter that much. Mr Herbert's offer of 'the Soviet Union and Japan' furthered their advantage, but nothing came from the resulting bonuses. What looked like an educated guess of 'bluebell' gave the Scots a bonus set on 'literature and substance abuse', of which they, again, took just a single correct answer.
The music round, on music analysed by Susan McClary in her book Feminist Endings, featuring possibly the first ever appearance of Beethoven and Madonna in the same round(!), went to Glasgow, who took another sole correct bonus, giving them a 120-(-10). Yet another slip-up meant Goldsmiths had now equaled the record for lowest score reached on UC under Paxo, matched by New Hall of Cambridge in 1997-98 and Imperial three series ago. Ms Issokson finally got them going in the right direction though when she answered 'moss' to the next starter; two bonuses moved them back into positive scoring. Indeed, the Goldsmiths captain took a second starter in a row, and the London side took another two bonuses with it. The next starter was dropped, the next went to Mr Guha; one bonus followed this time, and when Mr Cox took the next, and the side claimed the first full bonus set of the night, on bears, they suddenly had pulled back to within touching distance.
The second picture round, on works from the Modern Art museum in Venice, went to Glasgow, who took one of the bonuses, increasing their lead to 135-65. Goldsmiths now seemed to have the momentum with them though, as Mr Guha was next to correctly answer a starter, and they pulled a second full house in a row out of the hat, and suddenly you sensed they might just pull this off.
Another penalty set them back though, Messrs Guha and Hampson both unlucky to offer 'gums' and 'the mouth' when 'teeth' was what Paxo was after. It didn't deter Mr Guha though, as he pulled his side closer still on the next starter, two bonuses took them into triple figures. Another started to Mr Guha, another pair of bonuses, and they were just ten behind! Paxo managed to fully ask the next starter, but that was the gong! Glasgow won 135-125!
A most exciting match, I don't think anyone saw that second half coming! Unlucky Goldsmiths, most unfortunate to fall just short, especially after THAT recovery, but no shame in going out on that performance, and another entertaining one as well, thanks very much for playing! Well done Glasgow though, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Messrs Guha, Hampson and Herbert were joint best buzzers of the night, with four each. On the bonuses, Goldsmiths converted a very decent 15 out of 21 (with four damaging penalties), while Glasgow managed just 9 out of 27.
And that's it for regular UC for now; Christmas UC starts Monday, regular series resumes on January the 7th I'd imagine.
OC had its first eliminator match tonight, and its festive specials start tomorrow. Review of tonight on Wednesday I hope.
Goldsmiths College London won an entertaining if low scoring contest against the University of London's Paris Institute, leading throughout, and ultimately coming home 180-55 winners. Hoping for more of that tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
Kesheva Guha, from Bangalore, studying Creative and Life Writing
Ieuan Cox, from Halifax, studying PPE
Captain: Diana Issokson, from New Orleans, studying History
Jamie Robinson, from Belfast, studying History
Glasgow came through a somewhat closer first round contest against Emmanuel of Cambridge, pulling ahead and just holding out in the final minutes for a 200-175 win, though their opponents survived to the play-offs and are already through. Hoping to join them were the also unchanged foursome of:
Lewis Barn, from Airdrie, studying Professional Legal Practice
Freya Whiteford, from Bonybridge near Falkirk, studying Physics with Astrophysics
Captain: James Hampson, from Helsby in Cheshire, studying Medicine
Cameron Herbert, from Burley-in-Wharfedale in West Yorkshire, studying Sociology and Quantatitive Methods
Off we set again then, and Goldsmiths started the match in unfortunate fashion with a penalty; Ms Whiteford picked up for Glasgow and two of the opening bonuses went with it. Mr Hampson very quickly came in on the next starter, but just the one bonus went with it this time, with Ms Whiteford claiming she'd get killed for not getting another of them! A third starter went to the Scots side, and another single bonus went with it. The first picture round, on actors CVs showing their track records at the Academy Awards, went to Glasgow, who, again, took just the one bonus (they'd have got another if they'd simply repeated their opponents' wrong answer to the starter), giving them a lead of 65-(-5).
Another unfortunate penalty dropped Goldsmiths back further, but Glasgow didn't quite get the question either. Mr Hampson resumed his side's buzzer dominance; a single bonus followed again, but, the way they were dominating on the buzzer at this point, this profligacy didn't look like it would matter that much. Mr Herbert's offer of 'the Soviet Union and Japan' furthered their advantage, but nothing came from the resulting bonuses. What looked like an educated guess of 'bluebell' gave the Scots a bonus set on 'literature and substance abuse', of which they, again, took just a single correct answer.
The music round, on music analysed by Susan McClary in her book Feminist Endings, featuring possibly the first ever appearance of Beethoven and Madonna in the same round(!), went to Glasgow, who took another sole correct bonus, giving them a 120-(-10). Yet another slip-up meant Goldsmiths had now equaled the record for lowest score reached on UC under Paxo, matched by New Hall of Cambridge in 1997-98 and Imperial three series ago. Ms Issokson finally got them going in the right direction though when she answered 'moss' to the next starter; two bonuses moved them back into positive scoring. Indeed, the Goldsmiths captain took a second starter in a row, and the London side took another two bonuses with it. The next starter was dropped, the next went to Mr Guha; one bonus followed this time, and when Mr Cox took the next, and the side claimed the first full bonus set of the night, on bears, they suddenly had pulled back to within touching distance.
The second picture round, on works from the Modern Art museum in Venice, went to Glasgow, who took one of the bonuses, increasing their lead to 135-65. Goldsmiths now seemed to have the momentum with them though, as Mr Guha was next to correctly answer a starter, and they pulled a second full house in a row out of the hat, and suddenly you sensed they might just pull this off.
Another penalty set them back though, Messrs Guha and Hampson both unlucky to offer 'gums' and 'the mouth' when 'teeth' was what Paxo was after. It didn't deter Mr Guha though, as he pulled his side closer still on the next starter, two bonuses took them into triple figures. Another started to Mr Guha, another pair of bonuses, and they were just ten behind! Paxo managed to fully ask the next starter, but that was the gong! Glasgow won 135-125!
A most exciting match, I don't think anyone saw that second half coming! Unlucky Goldsmiths, most unfortunate to fall just short, especially after THAT recovery, but no shame in going out on that performance, and another entertaining one as well, thanks very much for playing! Well done Glasgow though, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Messrs Guha, Hampson and Herbert were joint best buzzers of the night, with four each. On the bonuses, Goldsmiths converted a very decent 15 out of 21 (with four damaging penalties), while Glasgow managed just 9 out of 27.
And that's it for regular UC for now; Christmas UC starts Monday, regular series resumes on January the 7th I'd imagine.
OC had its first eliminator match tonight, and its festive specials start tomorrow. Review of tonight on Wednesday I hope.
Thursday, 13 December 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Round 1: Match 8: Dragons vs Westenders
OK, here we go, one day later than I planned, but something happened that needed taking care of more urgently. Gives me a chance to ignore what's happening on EastEnders at least. Honestly don't know why I still watch it, haven't been interested in what's happening in it for some time, not to mention how predictable it's become; I mean, tonight's show was pretty good to be fair, but you could easily see the twist ending coming.
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Dragons, Niall Williams, Ian Welham and captain Lawrence Cook, and the Westenders, Tom Chisholm, Abbas Panjwani and captain Megan Stodel.
Round 1. The Dragons kicked off with Water, and the music set: we heard LCD Soundsystem with 'Get Innoculous', then 'Get Happy', then 'Get Ready' by The Temptations; they saw them to be songs instructing someone to do something, and collected two points. The Westenders opened their account with Twisted Flax: 'A (arrow) M', then 'A (arrow) P', then 'S (arrow P', and finally 'S (arrow) W'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: replacing the arrow with 'to' gives a word. The Dragons chose Two Reeds next: 'Hot rum & Egg-whites (cocktail)', then 'Simon & Garfunkel (former name)', then 'Good & Leadbetter (neighbours)'; they saw them to all be 'Tom and Jerry', and collected another two points. The Westenders chose Lion next: 'Planet Biyo', then 'JD Wetherspoon', then 'Harry Potter's son', and finally 'Lynyrd Skynyrd'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they were all named after teachers. For their own question, the Dragons chose 'Horn-ed' Viper, and got the picture set: we saw some orchids, then some plums, then a fast food packet of mustard, and finally a peacock. Having thought of it after two clues, they suggested 'slang words for testicles'; not correct! Their opponents offered that they are suspects in Cluedo for the bonus, Dr Orchid being the controversial replacement for Mrs White. VCM, incidentally, wrote a good article condemning that change in the Guardian; worth looking up and reading. She also started that, had they offered their 'testicles' answer after the second clue, she's have given them the points. Left with Eye of Horus for their own question, the Westenders saw 'Pulitzer Prize for Newspaper History', then 'Oscar for Best Title Writing', then 'BBC Young Plumber of the Year', and finally 'Olympic Gold medal for cricket'. They didn't quite get close enough for the point, nor did their opponents: they are prizes that were awarded once, and then discontinued. At the end of the first round, the Dragons led 5-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dragons opened it with Eye of Horus: '4', then '1.5', and then '0.66666666...'. They saw them to be 4/1, 3/2 and 2/3, so '0.25' for 1/4 would be fourth. The Westenders chose Water next: 'het' (closest I can come to reproducing it, but the Russian word pronounced 'Nyet' in England), then 'December 31st', and then 'New York'. They saw them to be 'Nyet', 'NYE' and 'NY', so offered 'Nitrogen' for 'N' for the two points. The Dragons chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw Noah's Ark, then Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and then some knights in armour. They saw them to be Indiana Jones films (the knights referring to 'crusade', and suggested a skull for the points. The Westenders chose Twisted Flax next: 'Stamford Bridge', then 'Wembley Stadium', and then 'Millennium Stadium'. They suggested 'Wembley Stadium' again, and were correct for the two points, the sequence being hosts of the FA Cup Final. For their final choice, the Dragons chose Two Reeds: 'Tilden Hayes (1876)', then 'Cleveland Harrison (1888)', and then 'Gore Bush (2000)'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are US elections where the winner didn't win the popular vote, so 'Clinton Trump (2016)' would be fourth. (Nice scheduling getting that out on the same night as those UC questions!) Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Westenders saw 'Z (Z)', then 'Y (W)', and then 'X (E)'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they're the letters that the letters began with if written out, so 'W (D)' would be fourth. At the end of a high quality second round, the Dragons led 10-6.
On to the Walls. The Westenders went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They quickly had their first set: 'Ape', 'Clone', 'Mimic' and 'Parrot' are words meaning 'copy', and a second, 'Copy', 'File', 'Stringer' and 'Pool', which are terms in journalism, came in short order. The last clues fell in nicely after that: 'Silent', 'Beat', 'Lost' and 'Greatest' are generations, while 'Mail', 'Gear', 'Ice' and 'Chatter' can all precede 'box'. A well worked full ten that.
The Dragons thus set to work on the Lion wall. It proved a bit hardy to untangle, though they did eventually get two sets in short order: 'Gibson', 'C', 'Blanc' and 'Brooks' are surnames of famous people called Mel, while 'Rose', 'Noir', 'Or' and 'Vert' are French words for colours. They couldn't sort out what was left in their three goes though, so had to collect bonuses: 'Trigger', 'Eyeliner', 'Friendship' and 'Witchcraft' are words that end in boats, which they didn't see, while 'Foundation', 'Mascara', 'Rouge' and 'Powder' are types of make-up. Five points there, which meant they now trailed 16-15 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the show and who went in which direction. 'Things that can hang over us' went to the Westenders 3-1. 'Hokey-Coker instructions' went to Westenders 3-0. 'People who live(d) in hotels' went to the Westenders 2-1, and that was time. The Westenders won 24-17.
Another good show, decided on the last two rounds, but well played by both sides overall. Unlucky Dragons, well done Westenders, and best of luck when you return for your respective next games.
Next week's (regular) match: the Hotpots vs the Durhamites in the first eliminator. Followed by three Christmas specials on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! I need to draw up some kind of schedule for all these reviews I'll be doing over the coming weeks I think.
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Dragons, Niall Williams, Ian Welham and captain Lawrence Cook, and the Westenders, Tom Chisholm, Abbas Panjwani and captain Megan Stodel.
Round 1. The Dragons kicked off with Water, and the music set: we heard LCD Soundsystem with 'Get Innoculous', then 'Get Happy', then 'Get Ready' by The Temptations; they saw them to be songs instructing someone to do something, and collected two points. The Westenders opened their account with Twisted Flax: 'A (arrow) M', then 'A (arrow) P', then 'S (arrow P', and finally 'S (arrow) W'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: replacing the arrow with 'to' gives a word. The Dragons chose Two Reeds next: 'Hot rum & Egg-whites (cocktail)', then 'Simon & Garfunkel (former name)', then 'Good & Leadbetter (neighbours)'; they saw them to all be 'Tom and Jerry', and collected another two points. The Westenders chose Lion next: 'Planet Biyo', then 'JD Wetherspoon', then 'Harry Potter's son', and finally 'Lynyrd Skynyrd'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they were all named after teachers. For their own question, the Dragons chose 'Horn-ed' Viper, and got the picture set: we saw some orchids, then some plums, then a fast food packet of mustard, and finally a peacock. Having thought of it after two clues, they suggested 'slang words for testicles'; not correct! Their opponents offered that they are suspects in Cluedo for the bonus, Dr Orchid being the controversial replacement for Mrs White. VCM, incidentally, wrote a good article condemning that change in the Guardian; worth looking up and reading. She also started that, had they offered their 'testicles' answer after the second clue, she's have given them the points. Left with Eye of Horus for their own question, the Westenders saw 'Pulitzer Prize for Newspaper History', then 'Oscar for Best Title Writing', then 'BBC Young Plumber of the Year', and finally 'Olympic Gold medal for cricket'. They didn't quite get close enough for the point, nor did their opponents: they are prizes that were awarded once, and then discontinued. At the end of the first round, the Dragons led 5-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dragons opened it with Eye of Horus: '4', then '1.5', and then '0.66666666...'. They saw them to be 4/1, 3/2 and 2/3, so '0.25' for 1/4 would be fourth. The Westenders chose Water next: 'het' (closest I can come to reproducing it, but the Russian word pronounced 'Nyet' in England), then 'December 31st', and then 'New York'. They saw them to be 'Nyet', 'NYE' and 'NY', so offered 'Nitrogen' for 'N' for the two points. The Dragons chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw Noah's Ark, then Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and then some knights in armour. They saw them to be Indiana Jones films (the knights referring to 'crusade', and suggested a skull for the points. The Westenders chose Twisted Flax next: 'Stamford Bridge', then 'Wembley Stadium', and then 'Millennium Stadium'. They suggested 'Wembley Stadium' again, and were correct for the two points, the sequence being hosts of the FA Cup Final. For their final choice, the Dragons chose Two Reeds: 'Tilden Hayes (1876)', then 'Cleveland Harrison (1888)', and then 'Gore Bush (2000)'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are US elections where the winner didn't win the popular vote, so 'Clinton Trump (2016)' would be fourth. (Nice scheduling getting that out on the same night as those UC questions!) Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Westenders saw 'Z (Z)', then 'Y (W)', and then 'X (E)'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they're the letters that the letters began with if written out, so 'W (D)' would be fourth. At the end of a high quality second round, the Dragons led 10-6.
On to the Walls. The Westenders went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. They quickly had their first set: 'Ape', 'Clone', 'Mimic' and 'Parrot' are words meaning 'copy', and a second, 'Copy', 'File', 'Stringer' and 'Pool', which are terms in journalism, came in short order. The last clues fell in nicely after that: 'Silent', 'Beat', 'Lost' and 'Greatest' are generations, while 'Mail', 'Gear', 'Ice' and 'Chatter' can all precede 'box'. A well worked full ten that.
The Dragons thus set to work on the Lion wall. It proved a bit hardy to untangle, though they did eventually get two sets in short order: 'Gibson', 'C', 'Blanc' and 'Brooks' are surnames of famous people called Mel, while 'Rose', 'Noir', 'Or' and 'Vert' are French words for colours. They couldn't sort out what was left in their three goes though, so had to collect bonuses: 'Trigger', 'Eyeliner', 'Friendship' and 'Witchcraft' are words that end in boats, which they didn't see, while 'Foundation', 'Mascara', 'Rouge' and 'Powder' are types of make-up. Five points there, which meant they now trailed 16-15 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the show and who went in which direction. 'Things that can hang over us' went to the Westenders 3-1. 'Hokey-Coker instructions' went to Westenders 3-0. 'People who live(d) in hotels' went to the Westenders 2-1, and that was time. The Westenders won 24-17.
Another good show, decided on the last two rounds, but well played by both sides overall. Unlucky Dragons, well done Westenders, and best of luck when you return for your respective next games.
Next week's (regular) match: the Hotpots vs the Durhamites in the first eliminator. Followed by three Christmas specials on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! I need to draw up some kind of schedule for all these reviews I'll be doing over the coming weeks I think.
Monday, 10 December 2018
University Challenge 2018-19: Round 2: Match 4: Clare vs St Edmund Hall
Evening all. So, the penultimate regular match of the series tonight; one more next week, and then we break for the usual two weeks of Christmas specials. Plus, I have since learned more about those special Only Connects I mentioned last week, and we shall be having a further two specials, for a total of four overall! How I'm going to review all those in order, I don't know; may have to hold some of them back for a bit I fear. Anyway, let's do this...
Clare College Cambridge won their first match against play-off survivors Hertford of Oxford, trailing for much of it, a well timed late sprint saw them snatch it on the last starter of the game for a 160-150 victory. Hoping for the same, only less close, tonight were the unchanged four of:
Anish Naik, from Enfield in London, studying Astrophysics
Matt Nixon, from Belfast, studying Astrophysics
Captain: Andrew Gurr, from Basingstoke, studying Law
Elijah Granet, from San Diego, California, studying Politics
St Edmund Hall Oxford had it slightly easier in their first match against York, leading throughout and ultimately winning by a comfortable margin of 240-105. Hoping for exactly more of the same tonight were the also unchanged foursome of:
Agastya Pisharody, from India and Basel, studying Material Science
Marceline Bresson, from the Netherlands, studying Economics and Management
Captain: Freddie Leo, from Berlin, studying History
Lizzie Fry, from Worcestershire, studying Geography
Off we set again then, and the ball set rolling for the night with 'charge' from Mr Nixon; a pair of bonuses went with it to get things going. Ms Bresson opened her side's account for the night, and her's for the series, when she took the next starter, but the Oxonians only took one bonus on the work of John Scott Russell. A penalty dropped Clare back level, but St Edmund Hall failed to pick up; Mr Granet recouped the lost points by taking the next starter, and his side also took just the one bonus. The Oxford side pulled level again thanks to a second starter to Ms Bresson and another solitary bonus. The first picture round, on straits, went to St Edmund Hall, who, again, took just the one bonus, but now had the lead 45-30.
A second starter in a row went to the Oxford skipper, by far their best player in the first round; a nice bonus set asking for the city that hosted the Olympics the year various listed events happened saw another solitary bonus go their way. Mr Pisharody opened the lead up further, and this time two bonuses were the accompaniment. The Oxford side moved into triple figures first as Mr Leo was first in with 'New Orleans', and another pair of bonuses, on early computing, went to them as well. The St Edmund Hall captain seemed to have the bit firmly in his teeth as he was quick in on the next starter; no bonuses followed, but his side had now opened up a healthy lead.
The music starter was dropped by both sides; the bonuses, on classical works commissioned for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, went to St Edmund Hall, who took two of them, giving them a lead of 130-30. And it was just getting bigger as a fourth correct starter in a row went to their captain; bonuses on Jane Fonda provided them with another two bonuses. Mr Leo just wasn't giving in as he promptly took another starter, giving his side on that old UC staple Chinese dynasties, of which, again, they took two. A sixth starter in a row went to the St Edmund Hall captain; just the one bonus followed this time, but his side had surely sewn the match up by now.
The picture round, on US presidents who won elections despite losing the popular vote (this week's OC crossover questions!), saw Clare finally break back into the game; two bonuses reduced their arrears to 185-50. A second starter in a row went to the Cambridge side, but just the one bonus followed this time. Mr Pisharody reawoke his side on the next starter, and the Oxonians broke past 200 with two bonuses from the obligatory set on chemical elements.
Going into the final minutes, it was just a question of how high both teams could get. Ms Fry made sure all four Oxonians had a bonus under their belts by taking the next starter, and, once again, a pair of bonuses went with it. Mr Naik then ensured all eight players had their name on the scoreboard; his side quickly banged out the first full bonus set of the night, on writers with three letter surnames. A second starter in a row deservedly took the Cambridge side into three figures, as did two bonuses on Hindu deities. Mr Granet buzzed next, but no answer came; Ms Bresson picked up the pieces, and bonuses on girls names invented by writers saw them take two (I got the one they didn't get). The last starter saw Clare go out on a high when, asked for a famous caricaturist, Mr Gurr offering an obvious joke guess of 'Deborah Meaden'! The gong came immediately after that, St Edmund Hall won 245-105.
Another high quality match, great showing from both sides, with that mid-game six starter run for Mr Leo winning the match. Unlucky Clare, undone by that run, but a respectable and entertaining effort to go out on, thanks very much indeed for playing! Very well done St Edmund Hall though, another strong victory over decent opposition, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Leo was, again, by far and away best on the buzzer, ending with EIGHT starters to his name, while Messrs Gurr and Granet were joint best for Clare with two. On the bonuses, Clare converted a respectable 11 out of 18 (with two penalties), while St Edmund Hall managed 21 out of 42, and, as I said before, all eight players had a starter to show for the night.
Next week's game: I am informed it is Glasgow vs Goldsmiths
Only Connect had its last first round match tonight; review of that later in the week, Wednesday hopefully.
Clare College Cambridge won their first match against play-off survivors Hertford of Oxford, trailing for much of it, a well timed late sprint saw them snatch it on the last starter of the game for a 160-150 victory. Hoping for the same, only less close, tonight were the unchanged four of:
Anish Naik, from Enfield in London, studying Astrophysics
Matt Nixon, from Belfast, studying Astrophysics
Captain: Andrew Gurr, from Basingstoke, studying Law
Elijah Granet, from San Diego, California, studying Politics
St Edmund Hall Oxford had it slightly easier in their first match against York, leading throughout and ultimately winning by a comfortable margin of 240-105. Hoping for exactly more of the same tonight were the also unchanged foursome of:
Agastya Pisharody, from India and Basel, studying Material Science
Marceline Bresson, from the Netherlands, studying Economics and Management
Captain: Freddie Leo, from Berlin, studying History
Lizzie Fry, from Worcestershire, studying Geography
Off we set again then, and the ball set rolling for the night with 'charge' from Mr Nixon; a pair of bonuses went with it to get things going. Ms Bresson opened her side's account for the night, and her's for the series, when she took the next starter, but the Oxonians only took one bonus on the work of John Scott Russell. A penalty dropped Clare back level, but St Edmund Hall failed to pick up; Mr Granet recouped the lost points by taking the next starter, and his side also took just the one bonus. The Oxford side pulled level again thanks to a second starter to Ms Bresson and another solitary bonus. The first picture round, on straits, went to St Edmund Hall, who, again, took just the one bonus, but now had the lead 45-30.
A second starter in a row went to the Oxford skipper, by far their best player in the first round; a nice bonus set asking for the city that hosted the Olympics the year various listed events happened saw another solitary bonus go their way. Mr Pisharody opened the lead up further, and this time two bonuses were the accompaniment. The Oxford side moved into triple figures first as Mr Leo was first in with 'New Orleans', and another pair of bonuses, on early computing, went to them as well. The St Edmund Hall captain seemed to have the bit firmly in his teeth as he was quick in on the next starter; no bonuses followed, but his side had now opened up a healthy lead.
The music starter was dropped by both sides; the bonuses, on classical works commissioned for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, went to St Edmund Hall, who took two of them, giving them a lead of 130-30. And it was just getting bigger as a fourth correct starter in a row went to their captain; bonuses on Jane Fonda provided them with another two bonuses. Mr Leo just wasn't giving in as he promptly took another starter, giving his side on that old UC staple Chinese dynasties, of which, again, they took two. A sixth starter in a row went to the St Edmund Hall captain; just the one bonus followed this time, but his side had surely sewn the match up by now.
The picture round, on US presidents who won elections despite losing the popular vote (this week's OC crossover questions!), saw Clare finally break back into the game; two bonuses reduced their arrears to 185-50. A second starter in a row went to the Cambridge side, but just the one bonus followed this time. Mr Pisharody reawoke his side on the next starter, and the Oxonians broke past 200 with two bonuses from the obligatory set on chemical elements.
Going into the final minutes, it was just a question of how high both teams could get. Ms Fry made sure all four Oxonians had a bonus under their belts by taking the next starter, and, once again, a pair of bonuses went with it. Mr Naik then ensured all eight players had their name on the scoreboard; his side quickly banged out the first full bonus set of the night, on writers with three letter surnames. A second starter in a row deservedly took the Cambridge side into three figures, as did two bonuses on Hindu deities. Mr Granet buzzed next, but no answer came; Ms Bresson picked up the pieces, and bonuses on girls names invented by writers saw them take two (I got the one they didn't get). The last starter saw Clare go out on a high when, asked for a famous caricaturist, Mr Gurr offering an obvious joke guess of 'Deborah Meaden'! The gong came immediately after that, St Edmund Hall won 245-105.
Another high quality match, great showing from both sides, with that mid-game six starter run for Mr Leo winning the match. Unlucky Clare, undone by that run, but a respectable and entertaining effort to go out on, thanks very much indeed for playing! Very well done St Edmund Hall though, another strong victory over decent opposition, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Leo was, again, by far and away best on the buzzer, ending with EIGHT starters to his name, while Messrs Gurr and Granet were joint best for Clare with two. On the bonuses, Clare converted a respectable 11 out of 18 (with two penalties), while St Edmund Hall managed 21 out of 42, and, as I said before, all eight players had a starter to show for the night.
Next week's game: I am informed it is Glasgow vs Goldsmiths
Only Connect had its last first round match tonight; review of that later in the week, Wednesday hopefully.
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Round 1: Match 7: Ancient Alumni vs Three Peaks
OK, so apparently we're getting some Only Connect Christmas specials this year! Regular matches the next three Mondays, including Christmas Eve, plus a special Sports episode and a Champion of Champions episode, to be shown on the 18th and 19th. Shame they stopped doing those C of Cs every two series, but then the show has grown quite considerably in the last few series. Still, good to have some specials back, been missing the past two years.
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Ancient Alumni, Lindsay McBryan, Ailsa Watson (winner of Fifteen-to-One 2.0), and captain Dave McBryan (ditto), husband of Lindsay, and the Three Peaks, Lauren Probert, Peter Dawson and captain Ross Drayton.
Round 1. The Peaks went first, and kicked the match off with Lion: 'Jacob m. Leah and Rachel', then 'Charles Darwin m. Emma Wedgwood', then 'Albert Einstein m. Elsa Lowenthal nee Einstein'; they saw them to be marriages between first cousins, and collected two points. (I do believe the real life Christopher Robin Milne, son of AA, married his cousin too) The Alumni opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Fleet: circumnavigated world, 1907-09', then 'North: Canada', then 'Hope: James Earl Jones film', and finally 'Shark: Greg Norman'. That gave it to them: they are known as the 'Great White [former]'. The Peaks chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music round: we heard Otis Redding with 'I've Been Loving You Too Long', then 'Try Again' by Aaliyah, then Glenn Miller, and finally Buddy Holly. They were timed out before they could offer anything; their opponents offered that they all died in plane crashes for the bonus. (There is another alternative theory, unlikely I admit, that Glenn Miller actually died in a brothel in Paris!) For their own question, the Alumni chose Water, and got the pictures: we saw Sean Bean, then Galileo; they spotted that their forenames and surnames differ by just one letter, and collected three points. Good spot that! The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'RIGHTO', then 'WINDO', then 'WANSEA', and finally 'ORCESTE'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are UK cities with the first and last letter removed; precisely, the letters in question are those cities' post codes, but close enough for the first round. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Alumni saw 'Boxed with the Dalai Lama', then 'Punched a polar bear', then 'Delivered a baby in Richmond Park'; they saw them to be things Brian Blessed has done, or claimed to at least, and collected two points. At the end of the first round, the Alumni led 8-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Peaks started it with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw a chicken, then a deck chair. They saw it to be the Chicken song from Spitting Image, but went too far into the song, and offered 'someone speaking Arapaho'. Not right. Their opponents saw a jet plane, and offered 'some clothes being buried' for the bonus. For their own question, the Alumni chose Two Reeds: 'Sun 6', then 'Tue 7'; they saw them to be days of the week with the number of letters increasing, and offered 'Wed 9' for the three points. The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'Governor-General Sir William Deane', then 'President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos', and then 'President Hu Jintao'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the people who opened the Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008, so 'Queen Elizabeth II' for 2012 would come fourth. For their own question, the Alumni chose Lion: 'Kije', then 'Kirk', and then 'Barbara'. They didn't see it in time, and their opponents didn't either: they can follow ranks in the Army (Lieutenant Kije, Captain Kirk and Major Barbara), so something that can follow Colonel, such as 'Mustard' would suffice. For their final choice, the Peaks chose Water: 'Looks like', then 'Walks like', and then 'Quacks like'; they saw it to be the Duck Test (which I mainly know from an episode of Death in Paradise), and offered 'Is a', which was close enough for two much needed points. ('Is' or 'Probably is' would've been more precise) Left with Horned Viper again, the Alumni saw 'Chaos', then 'Elbow', and then 'Emphasis'. Neither side saw this excellent cryptic connection: Chaos said aloud would start with a K, Elbow with an L and Emphasis with an M, so something that sounds like it starts with an N, such as 'Engine' would be right. At the end of the second round, the Alumni led 13-4.
On to the Walls. The Alumni had the chance here to put the game beyond realistic reach, and thus chose the Water wall to try and do so with. They quickly had a first set, 'Boundary', 'Square', 'Pavilion' and 'Crease' are parts of a cricket field, followed quickly by a second: 'Shafted', '3-2-1', 'Tipping Point' and 'Tenable' are ITV game shows. (Shafted, of course, being the one with Robert Kilroy-Silk that HIGNFY shows repeatedly) They then made short work of what was left: 'Sightscreen', 'Catchphrase', 'Knightsbridge' and 'Festschrift' are words with six consecutive consonants, while 'Oeuvre', 'Anthology', 'Compendium' and 'Digest' are collections of writing. A quickly and well solved full ten there.
The Peaks thus set to work on the Lion wall. After a few wrong attempts, they had a set in the bag: 'Grime', 'Jungle', 'Crunk' and 'Dubstep' are genres of music. A second set, 'Ulva', 'Muck', 'Mull' and 'Rum' are islands of the Hebrides. That done, they also had it solved on their first attempt: 'Skye', 'Rubble', 'Marshall' and 'Chase' are characters form the cartoon series 'PAW Patrol', while 'Gunk', Dreck', 'Smut' and 'Crud' are words for dirt. Another well worked out full ten, so as you were, the Alumni led 23-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to end the show, with the Peaks needing a shutout to stand a chance. 'Things located in Leicester', such as 'KING POWER STADIUM' and 'DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY' went to the Alumni 4-0. 'Things the presenter of University Challenge might say'(!), such as 'ANOTHER STARTER QUESTION NOW' and 'YOU MAY NOT CONFER', went to the Alumni 2-0, with the Peaks getting one right but one wrong. 'Things that come in batches of eight' went to the Peaks 1-0, and that was time; the Alumni won 29-15.
Another good, if a bit one sided, game; excellent crossover in the final round too! Unlucky Peaks, well done Alumni, definitely a team to watch this series; best of luck both teams in your next matches!
Next week's match: Dragons vs Westenders
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Ancient Alumni, Lindsay McBryan, Ailsa Watson (winner of Fifteen-to-One 2.0), and captain Dave McBryan (ditto), husband of Lindsay, and the Three Peaks, Lauren Probert, Peter Dawson and captain Ross Drayton.
Round 1. The Peaks went first, and kicked the match off with Lion: 'Jacob m. Leah and Rachel', then 'Charles Darwin m. Emma Wedgwood', then 'Albert Einstein m. Elsa Lowenthal nee Einstein'; they saw them to be marriages between first cousins, and collected two points. (I do believe the real life Christopher Robin Milne, son of AA, married his cousin too) The Alumni opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Fleet: circumnavigated world, 1907-09', then 'North: Canada', then 'Hope: James Earl Jones film', and finally 'Shark: Greg Norman'. That gave it to them: they are known as the 'Great White [former]'. The Peaks chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music round: we heard Otis Redding with 'I've Been Loving You Too Long', then 'Try Again' by Aaliyah, then Glenn Miller, and finally Buddy Holly. They were timed out before they could offer anything; their opponents offered that they all died in plane crashes for the bonus. (There is another alternative theory, unlikely I admit, that Glenn Miller actually died in a brothel in Paris!) For their own question, the Alumni chose Water, and got the pictures: we saw Sean Bean, then Galileo; they spotted that their forenames and surnames differ by just one letter, and collected three points. Good spot that! The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'RIGHTO', then 'WINDO', then 'WANSEA', and finally 'ORCESTE'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are UK cities with the first and last letter removed; precisely, the letters in question are those cities' post codes, but close enough for the first round. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Alumni saw 'Boxed with the Dalai Lama', then 'Punched a polar bear', then 'Delivered a baby in Richmond Park'; they saw them to be things Brian Blessed has done, or claimed to at least, and collected two points. At the end of the first round, the Alumni led 8-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Peaks started it with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw a chicken, then a deck chair. They saw it to be the Chicken song from Spitting Image, but went too far into the song, and offered 'someone speaking Arapaho'. Not right. Their opponents saw a jet plane, and offered 'some clothes being buried' for the bonus. For their own question, the Alumni chose Two Reeds: 'Sun 6', then 'Tue 7'; they saw them to be days of the week with the number of letters increasing, and offered 'Wed 9' for the three points. The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'Governor-General Sir William Deane', then 'President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos', and then 'President Hu Jintao'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the people who opened the Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008, so 'Queen Elizabeth II' for 2012 would come fourth. For their own question, the Alumni chose Lion: 'Kije', then 'Kirk', and then 'Barbara'. They didn't see it in time, and their opponents didn't either: they can follow ranks in the Army (Lieutenant Kije, Captain Kirk and Major Barbara), so something that can follow Colonel, such as 'Mustard' would suffice. For their final choice, the Peaks chose Water: 'Looks like', then 'Walks like', and then 'Quacks like'; they saw it to be the Duck Test (which I mainly know from an episode of Death in Paradise), and offered 'Is a', which was close enough for two much needed points. ('Is' or 'Probably is' would've been more precise) Left with Horned Viper again, the Alumni saw 'Chaos', then 'Elbow', and then 'Emphasis'. Neither side saw this excellent cryptic connection: Chaos said aloud would start with a K, Elbow with an L and Emphasis with an M, so something that sounds like it starts with an N, such as 'Engine' would be right. At the end of the second round, the Alumni led 13-4.
On to the Walls. The Alumni had the chance here to put the game beyond realistic reach, and thus chose the Water wall to try and do so with. They quickly had a first set, 'Boundary', 'Square', 'Pavilion' and 'Crease' are parts of a cricket field, followed quickly by a second: 'Shafted', '3-2-1', 'Tipping Point' and 'Tenable' are ITV game shows. (Shafted, of course, being the one with Robert Kilroy-Silk that HIGNFY shows repeatedly) They then made short work of what was left: 'Sightscreen', 'Catchphrase', 'Knightsbridge' and 'Festschrift' are words with six consecutive consonants, while 'Oeuvre', 'Anthology', 'Compendium' and 'Digest' are collections of writing. A quickly and well solved full ten there.
The Peaks thus set to work on the Lion wall. After a few wrong attempts, they had a set in the bag: 'Grime', 'Jungle', 'Crunk' and 'Dubstep' are genres of music. A second set, 'Ulva', 'Muck', 'Mull' and 'Rum' are islands of the Hebrides. That done, they also had it solved on their first attempt: 'Skye', 'Rubble', 'Marshall' and 'Chase' are characters form the cartoon series 'PAW Patrol', while 'Gunk', Dreck', 'Smut' and 'Crud' are words for dirt. Another well worked out full ten, so as you were, the Alumni led 23-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to end the show, with the Peaks needing a shutout to stand a chance. 'Things located in Leicester', such as 'KING POWER STADIUM' and 'DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY' went to the Alumni 4-0. 'Things the presenter of University Challenge might say'(!), such as 'ANOTHER STARTER QUESTION NOW' and 'YOU MAY NOT CONFER', went to the Alumni 2-0, with the Peaks getting one right but one wrong. 'Things that come in batches of eight' went to the Peaks 1-0, and that was time; the Alumni won 29-15.
Another good, if a bit one sided, game; excellent crossover in the final round too! Unlucky Peaks, well done Alumni, definitely a team to watch this series; best of luck both teams in your next matches!
Next week's match: Dragons vs Westenders
Monday, 3 December 2018
University Challenge 2018-19: Round 2: Match 3: Edinburgh vs U.C.L.
Evening all. So, a year ago tomorrow, these two institutions played each other in the second round of last year's contest, and it proved a cracking contest, ultimately won by five points on the last starter of the game. 364 days later, they played again in this year's second round. Same situation as before, winners go out, losers unfortunate to go home this early.
Edinburgh comfortably defeated Sidney Sussex of Cambridge in their first round match, despite a rather slow start, they picked up the momentum in the later stages and ultimately won 210-75. Hoping for more of the same tonight were the unchanged four of:
Matt Booth, from Bristol, studying Maths
Marco Malusa, from Italy, studying Economics and Politics
Captain: Max Fitz-James, from Burgundy, studying Cell Biology
Robbie Campbell Hewson, from Edinburgh, studying Maths
U.C.L., appropriately given last night's football fixtures, played a derby against neighbours King's of London in their opener, surviving a late barrage by their opponents to win 180-145; so a lower score, but achieved against a team good enough to survive to the play-offs, a close match looked to come again tonight. They were also the same foursome as before:
George Mitkov, from Warwickshire, studying French and German
Sophia Walker, from Boulder, Colorado, studying Translation
Captain: Robert Johnstone, from Worcester Park in Surrey, studying Medical Imaging
Feiyu Fang, from Leicester, studying Physics
Off we set again then, and U.C.L., who lost this fixture last season, opened their account first with Mr Johnstone identifying 'work' as the thing various authors were describing (I knew it from the Jerome K Jerome quote); one bonus on business terms went with it. Mr Fang took a second in a row, and fruit in poetry proved more to the Londoners' liking, a full set. A third came from Ms Walker, their top player first time around, but a complicated astronomy bonus set didn't add to their score. Mr Fitz-James did the right thing and had an early punt on the next starter, but only managed to drop five; U.C.L. did the honours, and bonuses on the band X-Ray Spex gave them two right answers. The first picture round, on that old UC staple word clouds, of major philosophical works this time, took Edinburgh off the mark; a full set reduced their arrears to 70-20.
A prompt buzz from Mr Johnstone reasserted his side's control though; bonuses on two classic quiz staples, Shakespeare and chemical elements, gave the London side two correct again. The U.C.L. captain then proved he knows his famous Chase questions, knowing the lammergeier to be a vulture; another two bonuses took the side within sight of a three figure lead. Mr Malusa brought Edinburgh back into the game though, taking the next starter, but no bonuses went the Scots side's way.
Mr Fitz-James recognised 'Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay' for the music starter, making that this week's tie-in question with OC! And the crossing over wasn't done there, as one of the bonuses, on whistling in pop music, was 'Walk Like an Egyptian', which was on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in Pick Up Song this evening! Edinburgh took a much needed full set of those, cutting the gap to 110-55. Another twenty was taken off it in short order as U.C.L. incurred two penalties in a row, and Mr Fitz-James picked up the second of them; another full set, and his side were suddenly just twenty behind. Mr Fang decided that was enough of that and recouped his side's lost points; one bonus was taken. Another slip-up dropped the lead back again, and a very impressive prompt buzz from the Edinburgh captain, plus yet another full set, cut the gap to just five points. Up it went again though, Mr Johnstone offering 'clarinet', and a full bonus set of their own went with it.
The second picture round, on paintings from the first impressionist exhibition, went to Edinburgh, who took yet another full house, setting the gap back to 135-130 and setting up a grandstand finish. Ms Walker blinked first, and offered 'motif' to move her side ahead again; bonuses on the Joshua Tree provided two correct answers, and no mention of U2 or Pointless either!
Back struck Edinburgh with Mr Malusa identifying regions of Norway; bonuses on biology provided the Scots side with yet another full set, putting the sides on level pegging. Mr Fitz-James' answer of 'proteins' gave his side the lead for the first time of the night, but they failed to hammer home this advantage, only taking a single bonus on ninth symphonies. Back fought U.C.L. with Mr Johnstone doing the honours, but his side were unable to reclaim the lead, missing all the bonuses, leaving them five behind. Next starter would win it surely. Ms Walker buzzed first... but was wrong! Mr Fitz-James swooped... and was right! And that was the gong, Edinburgh won 180-160!
A cracking contest, well played by both sides, most unfortunate that this is a sudden death match. Unlucky U.C.L., who, as Paxo said, just didn't quite make it over the line, but a respectable performance to go out on nonetheless, thanks for playing! Very well done Edinbugh though, an excellent recovery and another strong performance, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Fitz-James was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters to Mr Johnstone's five. On the bonuses, Edinburgh converted a very good 19 out of 24 (with one penalty), while U.C.L. managed an also respectable 16 out of 30 (with four penalties), so it was on the buzzer, but also largely on the bonuses, that the game was won.
Next week's match: according to a few contestants on Twitter, Clare vs St Edmund Hall
Only Connect continued its high quality of the series so far tonight, review of that on Wednesday I hope.
Edinburgh comfortably defeated Sidney Sussex of Cambridge in their first round match, despite a rather slow start, they picked up the momentum in the later stages and ultimately won 210-75. Hoping for more of the same tonight were the unchanged four of:
Matt Booth, from Bristol, studying Maths
Marco Malusa, from Italy, studying Economics and Politics
Captain: Max Fitz-James, from Burgundy, studying Cell Biology
Robbie Campbell Hewson, from Edinburgh, studying Maths
U.C.L., appropriately given last night's football fixtures, played a derby against neighbours King's of London in their opener, surviving a late barrage by their opponents to win 180-145; so a lower score, but achieved against a team good enough to survive to the play-offs, a close match looked to come again tonight. They were also the same foursome as before:
George Mitkov, from Warwickshire, studying French and German
Sophia Walker, from Boulder, Colorado, studying Translation
Captain: Robert Johnstone, from Worcester Park in Surrey, studying Medical Imaging
Feiyu Fang, from Leicester, studying Physics
Off we set again then, and U.C.L., who lost this fixture last season, opened their account first with Mr Johnstone identifying 'work' as the thing various authors were describing (I knew it from the Jerome K Jerome quote); one bonus on business terms went with it. Mr Fang took a second in a row, and fruit in poetry proved more to the Londoners' liking, a full set. A third came from Ms Walker, their top player first time around, but a complicated astronomy bonus set didn't add to their score. Mr Fitz-James did the right thing and had an early punt on the next starter, but only managed to drop five; U.C.L. did the honours, and bonuses on the band X-Ray Spex gave them two right answers. The first picture round, on that old UC staple word clouds, of major philosophical works this time, took Edinburgh off the mark; a full set reduced their arrears to 70-20.
A prompt buzz from Mr Johnstone reasserted his side's control though; bonuses on two classic quiz staples, Shakespeare and chemical elements, gave the London side two correct again. The U.C.L. captain then proved he knows his famous Chase questions, knowing the lammergeier to be a vulture; another two bonuses took the side within sight of a three figure lead. Mr Malusa brought Edinburgh back into the game though, taking the next starter, but no bonuses went the Scots side's way.
Mr Fitz-James recognised 'Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay' for the music starter, making that this week's tie-in question with OC! And the crossing over wasn't done there, as one of the bonuses, on whistling in pop music, was 'Walk Like an Egyptian', which was on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in Pick Up Song this evening! Edinburgh took a much needed full set of those, cutting the gap to 110-55. Another twenty was taken off it in short order as U.C.L. incurred two penalties in a row, and Mr Fitz-James picked up the second of them; another full set, and his side were suddenly just twenty behind. Mr Fang decided that was enough of that and recouped his side's lost points; one bonus was taken. Another slip-up dropped the lead back again, and a very impressive prompt buzz from the Edinburgh captain, plus yet another full set, cut the gap to just five points. Up it went again though, Mr Johnstone offering 'clarinet', and a full bonus set of their own went with it.
The second picture round, on paintings from the first impressionist exhibition, went to Edinburgh, who took yet another full house, setting the gap back to 135-130 and setting up a grandstand finish. Ms Walker blinked first, and offered 'motif' to move her side ahead again; bonuses on the Joshua Tree provided two correct answers, and no mention of U2 or Pointless either!
Back struck Edinburgh with Mr Malusa identifying regions of Norway; bonuses on biology provided the Scots side with yet another full set, putting the sides on level pegging. Mr Fitz-James' answer of 'proteins' gave his side the lead for the first time of the night, but they failed to hammer home this advantage, only taking a single bonus on ninth symphonies. Back fought U.C.L. with Mr Johnstone doing the honours, but his side were unable to reclaim the lead, missing all the bonuses, leaving them five behind. Next starter would win it surely. Ms Walker buzzed first... but was wrong! Mr Fitz-James swooped... and was right! And that was the gong, Edinburgh won 180-160!
A cracking contest, well played by both sides, most unfortunate that this is a sudden death match. Unlucky U.C.L., who, as Paxo said, just didn't quite make it over the line, but a respectable performance to go out on nonetheless, thanks for playing! Very well done Edinbugh though, an excellent recovery and another strong performance, and very best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Fitz-James was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters to Mr Johnstone's five. On the bonuses, Edinburgh converted a very good 19 out of 24 (with one penalty), while U.C.L. managed an also respectable 16 out of 30 (with four penalties), so it was on the buzzer, but also largely on the bonuses, that the game was won.
Next week's match: according to a few contestants on Twitter, Clare vs St Edmund Hall
Only Connect continued its high quality of the series so far tonight, review of that on Wednesday I hope.
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Round 1: Match 6: Brews vs Forrests
OK, here's Only Connect. And is it me, or is Victoria's intros becoming more and more similar to those on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue? Another this week that could feasibly have come straight out of Jack Dee's script?
Anyway, playing were the Brews, Andy Christley, James Buchanan and captain Daniel Foskett, and the Forrests, Jenny Forrest, Belinda Weir and captain Oliver Forrest, son of Belinda and brother of Jenny, who may or may not have appeared on UC back in the 2012/13 series.
Round 1. The Forrests kicked the match off with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw musician 'T-Bone' Burnett, then Sir Ian Botham, aka Beefy, then Ram John Holder as Porkpie from Desmond's, and finally the singer Meat Loaf. They spotted the link, and collected a point. The Brews opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Cheap', then '9', then 'Gimme'; they saw them to be words that repeated three times give the name of TV shows, and picked up two there. ('Location' would, naturally, have been the last one) The Forrests chose Horned Viper next: '1958: Broke the record of Chu Chin Chow', then '1974: Moved to St Martin's', then '2002: 50th anniversary', and finally '2012: 25000th performance'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are notable milestones of the play 'The Mousetrap'. For their own question, the Brews chose Eye of Horus, and got the music set: we heard the theme from 'Inspector Wexford', then Status Quo with 'Down Down', then the theme to 'Dr Kildare', and finally Ed Sheeren singing 'Galway Girl'. Neither side spotted the link, they are Irish counties. The Forrests chose Water next: 'Isn't it in French', then 'Won Premier League with Leicester and Chelsea', then 'Seven Seconds singer', and finally 'Capital of Chad'. They only knew the second as 'N'Golo Kanta', and suggested that they all end 'olo'; not right. Their opponents swooped and offered that they all start with 'N'', correct for the bonus. Left with Lion for their own question, the Brews saw 'Obscured preservation process', then 'Cloaked tree'; that was enough for them to gamble, offering that the first words have, hidden within them, a word corresponding to the subsequent definition ('obsCURE', and 'clOAKed', while the remaining clues would've been 'Concealed alcoholic beverage' or 'conceALEd', and 'Hidden division of the psyche' or 'hIDden'), and they received three points for that. At the end of the first round, the Brews led 7-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Forrests began with Twisted Flax, and the picture set again: we saw Mick Jagger, then a sewing gather, and then Dr No. Neither side spotted it: they are 'A Rolling Stone', 'Gathers', and 'No', so, for example, Kate Moss or Moss from The IT Crowd, would complete the set. The Brews chose Horned Viper next: '4th RFV', then '3rd EDC', and then '2nd WSX'. Again, neither side saw what was happening: they are the fourth, third and second letters on the three rows of a typewriter/keyboard, so '1st QAZ' would come fourth. The Forrests chose Lion next: 'Monkeys', then 'Lives', and then 'Degrees of Separation'. They offered 'Blind Mice', reasoning that they could be preceded by multiples of three going down. Close enough for the points, the actual sequence in mind was film titles, so 'Amigos' would've been a more suitable solution. The Brews chose Two Reeds next: 'Tent group', then 'Century', and then 'Cohort'. They saw it to be Roman regiments, and guessed that they were increasing in size, offering 'Legion'; correct for the points. For their final choice, the Forrests chose Water: '(e.g.) Nanny Ogg', then 'A flat disc', and then 'Four elephants'. They saw it to be the structure of the Universe in the Discworld series, so offered 'A turtle' for the two points. Left with Eye of Horus, the Brews saw 'Adriaan Paulen (middle-distance runner)', then 'Primo Nebiolo (long jumper)', and then 'Lamine Diack (long jumper)'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are presidents of the IAAF, so 'Sebastian Coe (middle-distance runner)' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Brews led 9-5.
On to the Walls. The Brews took their turn to go first, and chose the Water wall. A tough wall it proved. After numerous wrong guesses, they eventually had a set: 'Catalonia', 'New Mexico', 'Vietnam' and 'Soviet Union' are all bearers of red and yellow/gold flags. That was all they could find though, so bonuses to be had: 'Kon-Tiki', 'Cique du Soleil', 'Sunday' and 'Helium' are all named after the Sun, which they didn't get, 'Inside Job', 'Amy', 'When We Were Kings' and 'Man On Wire' are winners of the Best Documentary Oscar, which they did get, while 'China', 'Goodnight', 'Island' and 'Barbie' can all precede 'Girl' to give song titles. A tough wall, just three points there.
The Forrests thus had a chance to catch up/pull ahead as they set to work on the Lion wall. Their wall proved about as hard, but they did make progress with it. After much studying, they had a set: 'Bing', 'Frank', 'Bigwig' and 'Bugs' are fictional rabbits. A second set eventually came too: 'Wing', 'Whale', 'Guard' and 'Honourable' can all follow 'Right'. With not much time left, they quickly tried to solve, and had it on their final go: 'Goth', 'Vandal', 'Lombard' and 'Angle' are ancient or medieval tribes, while 'Rascal', 'Ferdinand', 'Dynamite' and 'Harvey' are the last words in the names of Mercury Prize winning acts. A very hard but well earned full ten there, which gave them a lead of 15-12 going into the last round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish as usual and decide who went which way in the series. 'Online security questions' went to the Forrests 3-1. 'Things that are sticky', such as 'TREACLE' and '(A) STICK', was another 3-1 to the Forrests. 'Things from the Great British Bake-Off' went to the Brews 3-1. 'Brothers Grimm fairy tales' went to the Forrests 2-(-1), and that was time. The Forrests won 24-16.
Another good game, decided on that very tricky wall round, but well played by both sides nonetheless. Unlucky Brews, well done Forrests, best of luck in your respective next games!
Next week's match: Ancient Alumni vs Three Peaks
Anyway, playing were the Brews, Andy Christley, James Buchanan and captain Daniel Foskett, and the Forrests, Jenny Forrest, Belinda Weir and captain Oliver Forrest, son of Belinda and brother of Jenny, who may or may not have appeared on UC back in the 2012/13 series.
Round 1. The Forrests kicked the match off with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw musician 'T-Bone' Burnett, then Sir Ian Botham, aka Beefy, then Ram John Holder as Porkpie from Desmond's, and finally the singer Meat Loaf. They spotted the link, and collected a point. The Brews opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Cheap', then '9', then 'Gimme'; they saw them to be words that repeated three times give the name of TV shows, and picked up two there. ('Location' would, naturally, have been the last one) The Forrests chose Horned Viper next: '1958: Broke the record of Chu Chin Chow', then '1974: Moved to St Martin's', then '2002: 50th anniversary', and finally '2012: 25000th performance'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are notable milestones of the play 'The Mousetrap'. For their own question, the Brews chose Eye of Horus, and got the music set: we heard the theme from 'Inspector Wexford', then Status Quo with 'Down Down', then the theme to 'Dr Kildare', and finally Ed Sheeren singing 'Galway Girl'. Neither side spotted the link, they are Irish counties. The Forrests chose Water next: 'Isn't it in French', then 'Won Premier League with Leicester and Chelsea', then 'Seven Seconds singer', and finally 'Capital of Chad'. They only knew the second as 'N'Golo Kanta', and suggested that they all end 'olo'; not right. Their opponents swooped and offered that they all start with 'N'', correct for the bonus. Left with Lion for their own question, the Brews saw 'Obscured preservation process', then 'Cloaked tree'; that was enough for them to gamble, offering that the first words have, hidden within them, a word corresponding to the subsequent definition ('obsCURE', and 'clOAKed', while the remaining clues would've been 'Concealed alcoholic beverage' or 'conceALEd', and 'Hidden division of the psyche' or 'hIDden'), and they received three points for that. At the end of the first round, the Brews led 7-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Forrests began with Twisted Flax, and the picture set again: we saw Mick Jagger, then a sewing gather, and then Dr No. Neither side spotted it: they are 'A Rolling Stone', 'Gathers', and 'No', so, for example, Kate Moss or Moss from The IT Crowd, would complete the set. The Brews chose Horned Viper next: '4th RFV', then '3rd EDC', and then '2nd WSX'. Again, neither side saw what was happening: they are the fourth, third and second letters on the three rows of a typewriter/keyboard, so '1st QAZ' would come fourth. The Forrests chose Lion next: 'Monkeys', then 'Lives', and then 'Degrees of Separation'. They offered 'Blind Mice', reasoning that they could be preceded by multiples of three going down. Close enough for the points, the actual sequence in mind was film titles, so 'Amigos' would've been a more suitable solution. The Brews chose Two Reeds next: 'Tent group', then 'Century', and then 'Cohort'. They saw it to be Roman regiments, and guessed that they were increasing in size, offering 'Legion'; correct for the points. For their final choice, the Forrests chose Water: '(e.g.) Nanny Ogg', then 'A flat disc', and then 'Four elephants'. They saw it to be the structure of the Universe in the Discworld series, so offered 'A turtle' for the two points. Left with Eye of Horus, the Brews saw 'Adriaan Paulen (middle-distance runner)', then 'Primo Nebiolo (long jumper)', and then 'Lamine Diack (long jumper)'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are presidents of the IAAF, so 'Sebastian Coe (middle-distance runner)' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Brews led 9-5.
On to the Walls. The Brews took their turn to go first, and chose the Water wall. A tough wall it proved. After numerous wrong guesses, they eventually had a set: 'Catalonia', 'New Mexico', 'Vietnam' and 'Soviet Union' are all bearers of red and yellow/gold flags. That was all they could find though, so bonuses to be had: 'Kon-Tiki', 'Cique du Soleil', 'Sunday' and 'Helium' are all named after the Sun, which they didn't get, 'Inside Job', 'Amy', 'When We Were Kings' and 'Man On Wire' are winners of the Best Documentary Oscar, which they did get, while 'China', 'Goodnight', 'Island' and 'Barbie' can all precede 'Girl' to give song titles. A tough wall, just three points there.
The Forrests thus had a chance to catch up/pull ahead as they set to work on the Lion wall. Their wall proved about as hard, but they did make progress with it. After much studying, they had a set: 'Bing', 'Frank', 'Bigwig' and 'Bugs' are fictional rabbits. A second set eventually came too: 'Wing', 'Whale', 'Guard' and 'Honourable' can all follow 'Right'. With not much time left, they quickly tried to solve, and had it on their final go: 'Goth', 'Vandal', 'Lombard' and 'Angle' are ancient or medieval tribes, while 'Rascal', 'Ferdinand', 'Dynamite' and 'Harvey' are the last words in the names of Mercury Prize winning acts. A very hard but well earned full ten there, which gave them a lead of 15-12 going into the last round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish as usual and decide who went which way in the series. 'Online security questions' went to the Forrests 3-1. 'Things that are sticky', such as 'TREACLE' and '(A) STICK', was another 3-1 to the Forrests. 'Things from the Great British Bake-Off' went to the Brews 3-1. 'Brothers Grimm fairy tales' went to the Forrests 2-(-1), and that was time. The Forrests won 24-16.
Another good game, decided on that very tricky wall round, but well played by both sides nonetheless. Unlucky Brews, well done Forrests, best of luck in your respective next games!
Next week's match: Ancient Alumni vs Three Peaks
Monday, 26 November 2018
University Challenge 2018-19: Round 2: Match 2: Hertford vs Manchester
Evening all. Thanks to Innis Carson on Twitter for revealing this week's fixture for us on Saturday. Another potentially good match in prospect too, against two teams who, like last week, are unfortunate to be playing each other in the sudden death round, thus ensuring one wouldn't reach the group stage. It really is time the second round draw was properly seeded I think.
Hertford College Oxford, like Emmanuel last week, appearing for the second time in three weeks, were narrowly beaten first time out by Clare of Cambridge, but made up for it with an impressive 215-165 over Exeter in their play-off. Hoping to carry on that momentum and ensure both play-off survivors reached the group stage for the first time since 2011-12 were the unchanged four of:
Stefi Woodgate, from South London, studying Biology
Pat Taylor, from Warwick, studying Physics
Captain: Richard Tudor, from Stourbridge, studying History
Chris Page, from Orpington in London, studying English Literature
Manchester (The Team Everyone Wants to Beat) came straight through after winning a low scoring but enjoyable first round match against East London, where the lead went back and forth before a well time spurt saw the four time champs win 155-135. Hoping to reach the group stage for the first time in five series were the also unchanged foursome of:
Alex Antao, from Chingford in London, studying Mathematical Logic
Georgia Lynott, from Burnley, studying Applied Maths
Captain: James Ross, from Coventry, studying Classics and Ancient History
Joe Hanson, from Gravesend, studying Data Intensive Science
Off we set again then, and Mr Tudor picked up where his side left off last time, offering 'bureau' in such a way that caused Paxo to tell him off for being 'so dismissive'! The Oxonians set their stall firmly out with a full bonus set on unbuilt cities. What looked like an educated guess from Mr Page added to that score, but, in sharp contrast, no bonuses from set no 2 followed. Mr Hanson opened the scoring for Manchester with 'Mexico City', and they too kicked off with a full bonus set, a classic UC set on chemical symbols and US postcodes. Back came Hertford with Mr Page doing the honours again, and two bonuses followed. The first picture round, on maps of the world with the countries sizes altered to denote how prolific a certain fuel source is, went to Manchester, who took a pair of bonuses, cutting their arrears to 55-45.
Mr Page was most unfortunate on the next starter, asking for the name that linked, among others, the actor who played John Book in the film Witness; he offered 'Ford' instead of 'Harrison', then instantly realised his error. Mr Ross took the pickup, and the Mancunians took the lead with a solitary bonus. Two starters in a row were then dropped, before Mr Page reignited proceedings by identifying 'Sandwich' as the Kent town that linked the various clues. One bonus was enough to give the Oxonians the lead back. Manchester promptly reclaimed it with Mr Antao supplying 'B and R' as the only consonants in the names of, amongst others, a soft French cheese (Brie) and a fictional elephant (Babar); a full bonus set was duly taken in what was proving a good back and forth contest.
The music starter was dropped; the bonuses, on pieces by students of Nadia Boulanger, went to Hertford; one correct was enough to tie the game at 80-each. To add to the resulting tension, three starters in a row were dropped; this standoff ended when Mr Antao came in with 'Zoroastrianism', and his side took two bonuses from the obligatory Shakespeare set of the week. Now into triple figures, Manchester had the momentum with them, as Mr Ross very promptly snapped up the next starter; again, two bonuses were followed, including a good piece of captaining from Mr Ross, who overruled a suggestion from a teammate that he thought was wrong, and was right to do so!
The second picture round, on self portraits of the artist at work, went to Manchester, who took a sole bonus this time, but had now opened up a lead of 135-80. Hertford promptly awoke from their slumber with Mr Page doing the honours; two bonuses took them into three figures, and set up a tense final straight.
A second starter in a row went to Mr Page, but Hertford only took a single bonus on British exploration in Africa. Mr Antao then moved Manchester a step closer to victory, but the side failed to add to their score with the bonuses. A second starter in a row went to their left winger though, and one bonus on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with another unluckily missed, pretty much secured the win. An excellent trick question followed, asking how many cardinal numbers between 2 and 10 were spelt the same in Spanish and Italian; the answer, which neither team got, being none! Manchester's win was confirmed for sure when Mr Antao took the next, and a full bonus set on African capitals just ran up the score and margin. At the gong, Manchester won 185-115.
Another good game, well played by both sides, unfortunate that one must go at this stage. Unlucky Hertford, but nothing to be ashamed of in that performance, thanks very much indeed for playing! Well done to Manchester though, on a good performance and well earned win, and best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Antao was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Page was best for Hertford with five. On the bonuses, Hertford converted 10 out of 21, while Manchester managed 18 out of 30, and both sides incurred one penalty; so both sides more or less equal on the bonuses, it was a game won on the buzzer.
Next week's match: again, I don't know yet, but I shall enquire.
Only Connect continued tonight as well with a match notable for two very tough walls; review of that on Wednesday hopefully.
Hertford College Oxford, like Emmanuel last week, appearing for the second time in three weeks, were narrowly beaten first time out by Clare of Cambridge, but made up for it with an impressive 215-165 over Exeter in their play-off. Hoping to carry on that momentum and ensure both play-off survivors reached the group stage for the first time since 2011-12 were the unchanged four of:
Stefi Woodgate, from South London, studying Biology
Pat Taylor, from Warwick, studying Physics
Captain: Richard Tudor, from Stourbridge, studying History
Chris Page, from Orpington in London, studying English Literature
Manchester (The Team Everyone Wants to Beat) came straight through after winning a low scoring but enjoyable first round match against East London, where the lead went back and forth before a well time spurt saw the four time champs win 155-135. Hoping to reach the group stage for the first time in five series were the also unchanged foursome of:
Alex Antao, from Chingford in London, studying Mathematical Logic
Georgia Lynott, from Burnley, studying Applied Maths
Captain: James Ross, from Coventry, studying Classics and Ancient History
Joe Hanson, from Gravesend, studying Data Intensive Science
Off we set again then, and Mr Tudor picked up where his side left off last time, offering 'bureau' in such a way that caused Paxo to tell him off for being 'so dismissive'! The Oxonians set their stall firmly out with a full bonus set on unbuilt cities. What looked like an educated guess from Mr Page added to that score, but, in sharp contrast, no bonuses from set no 2 followed. Mr Hanson opened the scoring for Manchester with 'Mexico City', and they too kicked off with a full bonus set, a classic UC set on chemical symbols and US postcodes. Back came Hertford with Mr Page doing the honours again, and two bonuses followed. The first picture round, on maps of the world with the countries sizes altered to denote how prolific a certain fuel source is, went to Manchester, who took a pair of bonuses, cutting their arrears to 55-45.
Mr Page was most unfortunate on the next starter, asking for the name that linked, among others, the actor who played John Book in the film Witness; he offered 'Ford' instead of 'Harrison', then instantly realised his error. Mr Ross took the pickup, and the Mancunians took the lead with a solitary bonus. Two starters in a row were then dropped, before Mr Page reignited proceedings by identifying 'Sandwich' as the Kent town that linked the various clues. One bonus was enough to give the Oxonians the lead back. Manchester promptly reclaimed it with Mr Antao supplying 'B and R' as the only consonants in the names of, amongst others, a soft French cheese (Brie) and a fictional elephant (Babar); a full bonus set was duly taken in what was proving a good back and forth contest.
The music starter was dropped; the bonuses, on pieces by students of Nadia Boulanger, went to Hertford; one correct was enough to tie the game at 80-each. To add to the resulting tension, three starters in a row were dropped; this standoff ended when Mr Antao came in with 'Zoroastrianism', and his side took two bonuses from the obligatory Shakespeare set of the week. Now into triple figures, Manchester had the momentum with them, as Mr Ross very promptly snapped up the next starter; again, two bonuses were followed, including a good piece of captaining from Mr Ross, who overruled a suggestion from a teammate that he thought was wrong, and was right to do so!
The second picture round, on self portraits of the artist at work, went to Manchester, who took a sole bonus this time, but had now opened up a lead of 135-80. Hertford promptly awoke from their slumber with Mr Page doing the honours; two bonuses took them into three figures, and set up a tense final straight.
A second starter in a row went to Mr Page, but Hertford only took a single bonus on British exploration in Africa. Mr Antao then moved Manchester a step closer to victory, but the side failed to add to their score with the bonuses. A second starter in a row went to their left winger though, and one bonus on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with another unluckily missed, pretty much secured the win. An excellent trick question followed, asking how many cardinal numbers between 2 and 10 were spelt the same in Spanish and Italian; the answer, which neither team got, being none! Manchester's win was confirmed for sure when Mr Antao took the next, and a full bonus set on African capitals just ran up the score and margin. At the gong, Manchester won 185-115.
Another good game, well played by both sides, unfortunate that one must go at this stage. Unlucky Hertford, but nothing to be ashamed of in that performance, thanks very much indeed for playing! Well done to Manchester though, on a good performance and well earned win, and best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Mr Antao was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Page was best for Hertford with five. On the bonuses, Hertford converted 10 out of 21, while Manchester managed 18 out of 30, and both sides incurred one penalty; so both sides more or less equal on the bonuses, it was a game won on the buzzer.
Next week's match: again, I don't know yet, but I shall enquire.
Only Connect continued tonight as well with a match notable for two very tough walls; review of that on Wednesday hopefully.
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Round 1: Match 5: Birdwatchers vs Dicers
OK, so this is turning out to be a most enjoyable series of Only Connect! I mean, the last two series were too, but this still young series just seems so much more already. Maybe its because we've gone back to the old format where all teams get at least two games; 27 shows probably about the right length of series for OC, 37 a bit too much.
Anyway, playing on Monday night were the Birdwatchers, Chris Grandison (Fifteen-to-One and Mastermind alumnus), Keli Richards and captain Lauren Hamer (sister of Nathan Hamer, who appeared in Series 6 of OC with the Quitters), and the Dicers, George Corfield, Joey Goldman and captain Hugh Binnie; you may recall those three have all appeared on UC on Oxford teams in the recent past, Mr Corfield's Balliol team were unlucky to go out in the first round in 2013-14, Mr Binnie's Magdalen were runners up of the following series, while Mr Goldman's Balliol went one better and won the 2016-17 series, beating Eric Monkman's Wolfson in the final.
Round 1. The Dicers went first, and chose to start the show with Eye of Horus: 'Adlington's shoulder', then 'Bercow's ribs', then 'Tweddle's neck'; they spotted them to have been injured on 'The Jump', and collected two points there. (Reminds me of a similar question on The 3rd Degree a couple of years back) The Birdwatchers began with Twisted Flax: 'Early Nordic assembly', then 'Benjamin Grimm'; they saw them to all be 'things', and picked up three for that. (The remaining clues were 'Cat in the Hat's blue-haired associates' and 'Addams family's manual worker'!) The Dicers chose Lion next: 'Substitute', then 'Reticence', then 'Nature area'; they saw these to all be synonyms of 'Reserve', and picked up another two pointer. The Birdwatchers chose Horned Viper next: '24th kiss', then '19th hiss', then '15th hug', and finally '26th sleep'; that gave it to them, the corresponding letters of the alphabet can be used to denote those things (X for a kiss, zzz for sleeping, and so on). The Dicers chose Water next, and got the music question: we heard 'Ode for the Wings of a Dove' from Mendelsohn's 'Hear My Prayer', then 'A Taste of Honey', then Samantha Fox singing 'Touch Me (I Want Your Body)', and finally 'I Can See Clearly Now'. Neither side spotted the link, they all have senses in their titles. Left with Two Reeds, the Birdwatchers got the picture set, and saw an admiral catching a sailor in bed with a girl, then the same sailor getting his torso shaved, then him being hosed down, and finally him on a small rowing boat. They didn't quite see it, their opponents did: they are suggestions from the song 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor?'! At the end of the first round, the Dicers led 5-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dicers kicked the round off with Eye of Horus: '£3', then '£3.70', and then '£3.85'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: them are the sums of British coins going downwards (£2+£1, +50p+20p, +10p+5p), so you would add 2p and 1p for '£3.88' to complete the set. The Birdwatchers chose Lion next: '18th: William/none', then '19th: George/William'; they saw it to be something to do with monarchs at the start of each century, but their guess of 'Edward/Elizabeth' was incorrect. Their opponents saw '20th: Victoria/Robert', and offered '21st: Elizabeth/Tony' for the point, the link being who was monarch and prime minister at the start of each century. For their own question, the Dicers chose Two Reeds: 'at (hdmy)', then 'on (dmy)'; they offered 'in (y)', and collected three points, the link being the proposition for describing when something happened in certain time periods (at the hour, on the day, in the month, in the year). The Birdwatchers chose Horned Viper next: 'Complete the quotation: "To Be or Not To Be"', then 'They're both the same', and then 'Correct. What is Bernard Manning famous for?'. Now this was most unfortunate: they saw it to be the famous Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch, but answered the wrong question, as it were, and wrongly offered 'He is a fat man who tells blue jokes'. Their opponents made no mistake, and offered 'That Is The Question' for the bonus. For their own final choice, the Dicers chose Water: 'Jerkmeter', then 'Accelerometer'; they saw it to be devices for measuring the rate of change, so 'Speedometer' would be third and 'Ruler', or 'Odometer' as they offered, would be fourth. Left with Twisted Flax, and the pictures again, the Birdwatchers saw a statue of Robert E Lee, then JFK, then the late great William G Stewart; they saw the sequence, and offered 'William H Macy' for the two points. At the end of the second round, the Dicers led 13-6.
On to the Walls. The Birdwatchers, needing a good result, chose to tackle the Water wall. They immediately isolated 'DNA', 'Hair', 'Black Magic' and 'Salute', which are songs by Little Mix, and their second set, 'Peas', 'Whales', 'Senna' and 'Vanilla', which all have pods, followed in short order. It didn't take that much longer for them to solve what was left: 'Prost', 'Skal', 'Slainte' and 'Kanpai' are words used for toasting in various langauges, while 'Piquet', 'Hill', 'Scheckter' and 'Ascari' are F1 champions. A well solved full ten there.
The Dicers thus set to work on the Lion wall. They too had a set sorted very quickly: 'Cowardly', 'Yellow', 'Craven' and 'Chicken' are synonyms meaning 'faint-hearted'. This was followed quickly by 'Scar', 'Aslan', 'Lafcadio' and 'Wallace', which are names of fictional lines. They too had the rest solved quickly on their first try: 'Good luck', 'Green', 'Memory' and 'Debit' can all precede 'card', while 'Baker', 'Humble', 'Henson' and 'Rani' are surnames of presenters of Countryfile. Another well done full ten, so as you were, the Dicers led 23-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Birdwatchers pretty much needing a shutout to win. 'Rods', such as 'FISHING ROD' and 'ROD STEWART', went to the Birdwatchers 2-0. 'Janes', such as 'JANE FONDA' and 'JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS' went to the Dicers 3-1. 'Freddies', such as 'FREDDIE MERCURY' and 'ANDREW FLINTOFF' was a 2-each split. 'Lists of three' was split 1-each, with the Birdwatchers being allowed an answer after the bell, having buzzed before it. The Dicers won 29-22.
Another very good high quality game, of the sort that makes you most thankful that they've gone back to the old format. Unlucky Birdwatchers, well done Dicers, best of luck when you next play!
Next week's match: Brews vs Forrests
Anyway, playing on Monday night were the Birdwatchers, Chris Grandison (Fifteen-to-One and Mastermind alumnus), Keli Richards and captain Lauren Hamer (sister of Nathan Hamer, who appeared in Series 6 of OC with the Quitters), and the Dicers, George Corfield, Joey Goldman and captain Hugh Binnie; you may recall those three have all appeared on UC on Oxford teams in the recent past, Mr Corfield's Balliol team were unlucky to go out in the first round in 2013-14, Mr Binnie's Magdalen were runners up of the following series, while Mr Goldman's Balliol went one better and won the 2016-17 series, beating Eric Monkman's Wolfson in the final.
Round 1. The Dicers went first, and chose to start the show with Eye of Horus: 'Adlington's shoulder', then 'Bercow's ribs', then 'Tweddle's neck'; they spotted them to have been injured on 'The Jump', and collected two points there. (Reminds me of a similar question on The 3rd Degree a couple of years back) The Birdwatchers began with Twisted Flax: 'Early Nordic assembly', then 'Benjamin Grimm'; they saw them to all be 'things', and picked up three for that. (The remaining clues were 'Cat in the Hat's blue-haired associates' and 'Addams family's manual worker'!) The Dicers chose Lion next: 'Substitute', then 'Reticence', then 'Nature area'; they saw these to all be synonyms of 'Reserve', and picked up another two pointer. The Birdwatchers chose Horned Viper next: '24th kiss', then '19th hiss', then '15th hug', and finally '26th sleep'; that gave it to them, the corresponding letters of the alphabet can be used to denote those things (X for a kiss, zzz for sleeping, and so on). The Dicers chose Water next, and got the music question: we heard 'Ode for the Wings of a Dove' from Mendelsohn's 'Hear My Prayer', then 'A Taste of Honey', then Samantha Fox singing 'Touch Me (I Want Your Body)', and finally 'I Can See Clearly Now'. Neither side spotted the link, they all have senses in their titles. Left with Two Reeds, the Birdwatchers got the picture set, and saw an admiral catching a sailor in bed with a girl, then the same sailor getting his torso shaved, then him being hosed down, and finally him on a small rowing boat. They didn't quite see it, their opponents did: they are suggestions from the song 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor?'! At the end of the first round, the Dicers led 5-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dicers kicked the round off with Eye of Horus: '£3', then '£3.70', and then '£3.85'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: them are the sums of British coins going downwards (£2+£1, +50p+20p, +10p+5p), so you would add 2p and 1p for '£3.88' to complete the set. The Birdwatchers chose Lion next: '18th: William/none', then '19th: George/William'; they saw it to be something to do with monarchs at the start of each century, but their guess of 'Edward/Elizabeth' was incorrect. Their opponents saw '20th: Victoria/Robert', and offered '21st: Elizabeth/Tony' for the point, the link being who was monarch and prime minister at the start of each century. For their own question, the Dicers chose Two Reeds: 'at (hdmy)', then 'on (dmy)'; they offered 'in (y)', and collected three points, the link being the proposition for describing when something happened in certain time periods (at the hour, on the day, in the month, in the year). The Birdwatchers chose Horned Viper next: 'Complete the quotation: "To Be or Not To Be"', then 'They're both the same', and then 'Correct. What is Bernard Manning famous for?'. Now this was most unfortunate: they saw it to be the famous Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch, but answered the wrong question, as it were, and wrongly offered 'He is a fat man who tells blue jokes'. Their opponents made no mistake, and offered 'That Is The Question' for the bonus. For their own final choice, the Dicers chose Water: 'Jerkmeter', then 'Accelerometer'; they saw it to be devices for measuring the rate of change, so 'Speedometer' would be third and 'Ruler', or 'Odometer' as they offered, would be fourth. Left with Twisted Flax, and the pictures again, the Birdwatchers saw a statue of Robert E Lee, then JFK, then the late great William G Stewart; they saw the sequence, and offered 'William H Macy' for the two points. At the end of the second round, the Dicers led 13-6.
On to the Walls. The Birdwatchers, needing a good result, chose to tackle the Water wall. They immediately isolated 'DNA', 'Hair', 'Black Magic' and 'Salute', which are songs by Little Mix, and their second set, 'Peas', 'Whales', 'Senna' and 'Vanilla', which all have pods, followed in short order. It didn't take that much longer for them to solve what was left: 'Prost', 'Skal', 'Slainte' and 'Kanpai' are words used for toasting in various langauges, while 'Piquet', 'Hill', 'Scheckter' and 'Ascari' are F1 champions. A well solved full ten there.
The Dicers thus set to work on the Lion wall. They too had a set sorted very quickly: 'Cowardly', 'Yellow', 'Craven' and 'Chicken' are synonyms meaning 'faint-hearted'. This was followed quickly by 'Scar', 'Aslan', 'Lafcadio' and 'Wallace', which are names of fictional lines. They too had the rest solved quickly on their first try: 'Good luck', 'Green', 'Memory' and 'Debit' can all precede 'card', while 'Baker', 'Humble', 'Henson' and 'Rani' are surnames of presenters of Countryfile. Another well done full ten, so as you were, the Dicers led 23-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Birdwatchers pretty much needing a shutout to win. 'Rods', such as 'FISHING ROD' and 'ROD STEWART', went to the Birdwatchers 2-0. 'Janes', such as 'JANE FONDA' and 'JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS' went to the Dicers 3-1. 'Freddies', such as 'FREDDIE MERCURY' and 'ANDREW FLINTOFF' was a 2-each split. 'Lists of three' was split 1-each, with the Birdwatchers being allowed an answer after the bell, having buzzed before it. The Dicers won 29-22.
Another very good high quality game, of the sort that makes you most thankful that they've gone back to the old format. Unlucky Birdwatchers, well done Dicers, best of luck when you next play!
Next week's match: Brews vs Forrests
Monday, 19 November 2018
University Challenge 2018-19: Round 2: Match 1: St Peter's vs Emmanuel
Evening all. So, we've arrived at the second round. The round everyone dreads, as it's the round where defeat means instant elimination. The prize for winning though is at least two further games, which also makes it the most hotly contested round. As I've said many times over the years, its not the fairest system, but I don't know of a way round it that wouldn't drag the series beyond our patience. Still thinking though. Anyway, on with the show.
St Peter's College Oxford easily defeated Pembroke College Cambridge in their first match; a close one at first, they drew away in the second half as the buzzers fell for them and largely against their opponents, eventually winning 225-50. Hoping for more of the same tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
James Hodgson, from Uxbridge in London, studying Statistics
Seb Braddock, from Geneva, studying History
Captain: Nick Williford, from Maynardville, Tennessee, studying History
Laura Cooper, from Stockport, studying Biological Sciences
Emmanuel College Cambridge, appearing for the second time in three weeks, lost their first game to Glasgow, but bounced back nicely in their play-off against King's of London, a sprint in the second quarter mainly responsible for their 235-140 victory on that occasion. Also hoping to carry on this momentum were the also unchanged four of:
Connor MacDonald, from New Brunswick, Canada, studying Politics
Vedanth Nair, from Kings Lynn, studying Economics
Captain: Daniella Cugini, from Warwick, studying English
Ben Harris, from Bath, studying Geology
Off we set again then, and Emmanuel picked up where they left off two weeks ago, Mr MacDonald correctly offering 'The Giants Causeway' (my main knowledge of which comes from a Kipling style book about its formation I had as a kid); the Cambridge side firmly set their stall out with a full set of bonuses. St Peter's set off the wrong way with a penalty, but Emmanuel failed to pick up. Mr Hodgson moved his side back into positives with 'cell', and one bonus on authors was taken (same one I took, and I knew John Arbuthnot as soon as they said it). Alas, they then incurred another penalty, which, again, their opponents didn't pick up. A second starter was dropped, Mr Nair took the next, and his side took one bonus on WHO medicine lists. The first picture round, on pairs of sonnets spliced together, went to St Peter's, who, again, took a solitary bonus, leaving them trailing 40-20.
Ms Cugini increased that lead by identifying Fermi as the physicist after whom element 100 is named; bonuses on feminism in 1991, again, offered them one correct answer. St Peter's were promptly back in, and also took a sole bonus from an amusing set on mispronunciations. Mr Nair came back in for Emmanuel, and German grand duchies proved more to the Cambridge side's liking, taking a full set. Their better bonus rate seemed to be the difference between the teams thus far.
The music round, on scat singing jazz (a set I suspect our old friend Adam 'Bangor' Pearce might've liked), went to Emmanuel, who took just the one bonus, but had no increased their lead to 95-35. Ms Cooper promptly took her side back into possession with 'DNA', and, once again, the side took a single bonus. Mr Nair took his side into three figures by offering 'Richard III' just after I'd worked it out too; astrophysics once again provided just a single correct bonus. Back came St Peter's with Mr Williford doing the honours, but they got nothing from a bonus set on the work of poet Dorothy Coade Hewett. Mr MacDonald was first in next with 'The Aga Khan', and, once again, only a solitary bonus, on books by prime ministers (same one I got), followed. But when Mr Harris took the next starter, the bonuses finally went for Emmanuel again, a full set on chemistry. And given how the bonuses hadn't been falling for their opponents thus far, that might just put them beyond reach.
The second picture round, on record breaking athletes, went to St Peter's, who took two bonuses, reducing their arrears to 150-80. But when Mr MacDonald very quickly buzzed in with 'Nietzche' on the next starter, you suspected the match was beyond them, even though their opponents only added one bonus on best foreign film Oscar winners. Mr Nair all but confirmed his side's win by taking the next starter, and you thus fancied it didn't matter that no bonuses followed.
Neither side identified the River Clyde for the next starter; Ms Cooper took the next for St Peter's, and a single bonus on dog breeds just about summed up their night. (I got shih tzu) Ms Cugini cemented her side's win with 'mirror', and a full bonus set on dystopian fiction took them to 200. A penalty dropped them back from it though; Mr Williford picked up the drop, and his side went out with a bang, taking a full bonus set on national flags. And that was the gong, Emmanuel won 195-120.
Another good match, decided on the buzzer, but mainly on the bonuses I feel. Unlucky St Peter's, unlucky to be going out at this stage, but still a respectable performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing! Very well done to Emmanuel, though, on a third good showing against good opponents, and best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Messrs MacDonald, Nair and Williford were the joint best buzzers of the night, with four each. On the bonuses, St Peter's converted 10 out of 24 (with two penalties), while Emmanuel managed 18 out of 33 (with one penalty), so it was indeed a slightly better buzzer and bonus rate that won them the game.
Next week's match: don't know yet, but I'm guessing that Hertford will be sitting on the bottom row.
Yet more UC alumni on Only Connect tonight, and another high quality contest in what is proving a most enjoyable series. Review on Wednesday, when I don't have any forgotten plans this week. Not yet anyway.
St Peter's College Oxford easily defeated Pembroke College Cambridge in their first match; a close one at first, they drew away in the second half as the buzzers fell for them and largely against their opponents, eventually winning 225-50. Hoping for more of the same tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
James Hodgson, from Uxbridge in London, studying Statistics
Seb Braddock, from Geneva, studying History
Captain: Nick Williford, from Maynardville, Tennessee, studying History
Laura Cooper, from Stockport, studying Biological Sciences
Emmanuel College Cambridge, appearing for the second time in three weeks, lost their first game to Glasgow, but bounced back nicely in their play-off against King's of London, a sprint in the second quarter mainly responsible for their 235-140 victory on that occasion. Also hoping to carry on this momentum were the also unchanged four of:
Connor MacDonald, from New Brunswick, Canada, studying Politics
Vedanth Nair, from Kings Lynn, studying Economics
Captain: Daniella Cugini, from Warwick, studying English
Ben Harris, from Bath, studying Geology
Off we set again then, and Emmanuel picked up where they left off two weeks ago, Mr MacDonald correctly offering 'The Giants Causeway' (my main knowledge of which comes from a Kipling style book about its formation I had as a kid); the Cambridge side firmly set their stall out with a full set of bonuses. St Peter's set off the wrong way with a penalty, but Emmanuel failed to pick up. Mr Hodgson moved his side back into positives with 'cell', and one bonus on authors was taken (same one I took, and I knew John Arbuthnot as soon as they said it). Alas, they then incurred another penalty, which, again, their opponents didn't pick up. A second starter was dropped, Mr Nair took the next, and his side took one bonus on WHO medicine lists. The first picture round, on pairs of sonnets spliced together, went to St Peter's, who, again, took a solitary bonus, leaving them trailing 40-20.
Ms Cugini increased that lead by identifying Fermi as the physicist after whom element 100 is named; bonuses on feminism in 1991, again, offered them one correct answer. St Peter's were promptly back in, and also took a sole bonus from an amusing set on mispronunciations. Mr Nair came back in for Emmanuel, and German grand duchies proved more to the Cambridge side's liking, taking a full set. Their better bonus rate seemed to be the difference between the teams thus far.
The music round, on scat singing jazz (a set I suspect our old friend Adam 'Bangor' Pearce might've liked), went to Emmanuel, who took just the one bonus, but had no increased their lead to 95-35. Ms Cooper promptly took her side back into possession with 'DNA', and, once again, the side took a single bonus. Mr Nair took his side into three figures by offering 'Richard III' just after I'd worked it out too; astrophysics once again provided just a single correct bonus. Back came St Peter's with Mr Williford doing the honours, but they got nothing from a bonus set on the work of poet Dorothy Coade Hewett. Mr MacDonald was first in next with 'The Aga Khan', and, once again, only a solitary bonus, on books by prime ministers (same one I got), followed. But when Mr Harris took the next starter, the bonuses finally went for Emmanuel again, a full set on chemistry. And given how the bonuses hadn't been falling for their opponents thus far, that might just put them beyond reach.
The second picture round, on record breaking athletes, went to St Peter's, who took two bonuses, reducing their arrears to 150-80. But when Mr MacDonald very quickly buzzed in with 'Nietzche' on the next starter, you suspected the match was beyond them, even though their opponents only added one bonus on best foreign film Oscar winners. Mr Nair all but confirmed his side's win by taking the next starter, and you thus fancied it didn't matter that no bonuses followed.
Neither side identified the River Clyde for the next starter; Ms Cooper took the next for St Peter's, and a single bonus on dog breeds just about summed up their night. (I got shih tzu) Ms Cugini cemented her side's win with 'mirror', and a full bonus set on dystopian fiction took them to 200. A penalty dropped them back from it though; Mr Williford picked up the drop, and his side went out with a bang, taking a full bonus set on national flags. And that was the gong, Emmanuel won 195-120.
Another good match, decided on the buzzer, but mainly on the bonuses I feel. Unlucky St Peter's, unlucky to be going out at this stage, but still a respectable performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing! Very well done to Emmanuel, though, on a third good showing against good opponents, and best of luck in the group stage!
The stats: Messrs MacDonald, Nair and Williford were the joint best buzzers of the night, with four each. On the bonuses, St Peter's converted 10 out of 24 (with two penalties), while Emmanuel managed 18 out of 33 (with one penalty), so it was indeed a slightly better buzzer and bonus rate that won them the game.
Next week's match: don't know yet, but I'm guessing that Hertford will be sitting on the bottom row.
Yet more UC alumni on Only Connect tonight, and another high quality contest in what is proving a most enjoyable series. Review on Wednesday, when I don't have any forgotten plans this week. Not yet anyway.
Thursday, 15 November 2018
Only Connect Series 14: Round 1: Match 4: Motorheads vs Time Ladies
OK, one day later than I said, but here we go; apologies for the delay, I'd forgotten I'd made plans for yesterday night. Still, at least doing it tonight gives me an excuse not to watch EastEnders! Or at least, turn its sound off. Also, Victoria's intro seemed straight out of the script of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, which I've been listening to a lot lately!
Anyway, playing this week's game were the Motorheads, Brian Shaw, Thomas de Bock (captain of the Oxford Brookes team on last year's UC) and captain Stanley Wang (also on last year's UC with Edinburgh), and the Time Ladies, Charlotte Jackson, Emma Harris and captain Rebecca Shaw.
Round 1. The Ladies kicked the show off with Water, and the music question: we heard a rather odd noisy piece, then Russ Abbott singing 'Atmosphere', then 'Close to You' by Maxi Priest; they saw the link, the clergy, and collected two points (the first piece was by Thelonious Monk, and the last one would've been Deacon Blue). The Motorheads opened their account with Lion: 'Monopoly playing pieces', then 'Spectators as the US Masters', then 'Contestans on 'Mastermind'', and finally 'The rules of cricket'. Neither team got this: they are all incorrect terms (Monopoly has tokens, not playing pieces, US Masters spectators are 'patrons', Mastermind has 'contenders' and cricket has 'laws'). The Ladies chose Eye of Horus next: 'Miss an assignment', then 'On a vegetable', then 'Not an idea', and finally 'Mill a large number'. They ran out of time before they could offer anything; their opponents spotted it: adding 'ion' to the first word gives another words that is subsequently defined. Nice cryptic one that. For their own question, the Motorheads chose Two Reeds: 'Nat King Cole: sang', then 'Bob Hoskins: starred in', then 'Lisa Gherardini: was', and finally 'Leonardo da Vinci: painted'. That gave it to them for sure: Mona Lisa is the link. The Ladies chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw a pizza, then a Garibaldi biscuit, then a Caesar salad. Now, they came in at this point and offered 'named after Italians' (the pizza being 'margarita'); Victoria gave them the points, but the last clue would've been a Beef Wellington. Right or wrong decision? You decide. (Not to mention the Caesar salad is no relation to Julius) Left with Horned Viper, the Motorheads saw 'Snoo', then 'Ghostface Chillah', then 'Budroid', and finally 'Larry the Bird'. They had it from that: they are tech company mascots. At the end of the first round, the Ladies led 4-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Ladies opened the round with Horned Viper, and got the picture set again: we saw a statue of Augustus, then a violet flower, and then a verruca on a foot. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in order of their comeuppance, so a microphone, or as the show suggested, Mike Oldfield, would be fourth. For their own question, the Motorheads chose Water, and saw 'Room 5, then 'Give it 4%'. Now, they buzzed at this point and offered 'France 2', their reasoning being that adding 96 to those numbers gives a phrase ('Room 101', 'Give it 100%' and 'France 98'). Now, this wasn't the correct answer or sequence, but Victoria accepted that they had offered a viable alternative, so gave them the three points. The real solution was binary misreadings, so 'Turn the volume up to 3' would be third and 'Starter for 2' an acceptable fourth answer. Again, should they have been given the points there? I'm staying well out of that debate, but I have to say, I liked their solution more! Plus, having given the Ladies the Italian question earlier, they kinda had to give the Motorheads that one too to be consistent. Anyway, lets get back to the review. The Ladies chose Lion next: 'Discus & 200m', then 'Pole vault & Long Jump', and then 'Javelin & Javelin'. Neither team worked it out: they are the last four events in the Decathlon and the Heptathlon respectively, so '1500m & 800m' would be right for the points. The Motorheads chose Two Reeds next: 'US-based cable channel', then 'Sixth sense'; they saw them to be 'ESPN' and 'ESP', so offered 'Euler's number' as 'E', which was acceptable for the three points. For their final choice, the Ladies chose Eye of Horus: '4th: ____ Cake', then '3rd: ____ Angus'; they, and I, and my Dad, saw the blanks to represent the largest cities in Scotland, so '1st: ____ Kiss' would be an acceptable fourth answer. Left with Twisted Flax, the Motorheads saw 'Author of 'A Game of Thrones'', then 'Creator of 'Z-Cars'', and then 'Wetherspoons founder'. Neither team saw it: they are George RR Martin, Troy Kennedy Martin and Tim Martin, so someone whose first name is Martin, like 'Director of 'Taxi Driver'' (Martin Scorcese) would be correct for the points. (Though, on a point of pedantry, Tim Martin's full name is Timothy Randall Martin, so its not his second name!) At the end of an eventful second round, the Motorheads led 10-7.
On to the Walls. The Motorheads went first and chose to tackle the Lion wall. After studying the wall and a few wrong tries, they isolated 'Condom', 'Hot water bottle', 'Squash ball' and 'Tyre', which are products made of rubber, followed by 'Match', 'Bullet', 'Boiling' and 'Decimal', which can all precede 'Point'. They had the wall solved on their first go: 'Fountain', 'Ballpoint', 'Marker' and 'Dip' are types of pen, while 'The Godfather', 'Rollerball', 'Eraser' and 'Misery' are films starring James Caan. A full ten there.
The Ladies thus set to work on the Water wall. They had their first set even quicker: 'Retirement', 'Adopter', 'Bird' and 'Riser' can all follow 'Early'. A second set, 'Wanted', 'Hackers', 'Salt' and 'Changeling', which are films starring Angelina Jolie, followed. They too had everything sorted on their first try: 'Cure', 'Can', 'Freeze' and 'Pickle' are ways of preserving food, while 'Police', 'Doors', 'Band' and 'Clash' all follow 'The' to give band names. Another full ten, so as you were, Motorheads led 20-17 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went which way. 'Novels with fruit in the title' went to the Motorheads 2-1. 'Fictional mask wearers', such as 'THE LONE RANGER', went to the Ladies 3-1. 'Real-life mask wearers', such as 'MEXICAN WRESTLER', went to the Ladies 2-1. 'Christmas carols' only had time for one, which the Ladies took. At the end of the show, the Ladies had 24, the Motorheads had 24!
Tiebreaker time then: 'MRB YLC KTH NJDG MNT'. Ms Shaw buzzed and offered 'MORE BY LUCK THAN JUDGEMENT'; (in Roy Walker voice) riiiiiiiiiight!
An excellent show, some excellent questions and quizzing, and thankfully those earlier adjudications made no difference, the Ladies would've won by one without them. Well done them, unlucky Motorheads, glad you're both getting another game, best of luck in them!
Next week's match: Birdwatchers vs Dicers
Anyway, playing this week's game were the Motorheads, Brian Shaw, Thomas de Bock (captain of the Oxford Brookes team on last year's UC) and captain Stanley Wang (also on last year's UC with Edinburgh), and the Time Ladies, Charlotte Jackson, Emma Harris and captain Rebecca Shaw.
Round 1. The Ladies kicked the show off with Water, and the music question: we heard a rather odd noisy piece, then Russ Abbott singing 'Atmosphere', then 'Close to You' by Maxi Priest; they saw the link, the clergy, and collected two points (the first piece was by Thelonious Monk, and the last one would've been Deacon Blue). The Motorheads opened their account with Lion: 'Monopoly playing pieces', then 'Spectators as the US Masters', then 'Contestans on 'Mastermind'', and finally 'The rules of cricket'. Neither team got this: they are all incorrect terms (Monopoly has tokens, not playing pieces, US Masters spectators are 'patrons', Mastermind has 'contenders' and cricket has 'laws'). The Ladies chose Eye of Horus next: 'Miss an assignment', then 'On a vegetable', then 'Not an idea', and finally 'Mill a large number'. They ran out of time before they could offer anything; their opponents spotted it: adding 'ion' to the first word gives another words that is subsequently defined. Nice cryptic one that. For their own question, the Motorheads chose Two Reeds: 'Nat King Cole: sang', then 'Bob Hoskins: starred in', then 'Lisa Gherardini: was', and finally 'Leonardo da Vinci: painted'. That gave it to them for sure: Mona Lisa is the link. The Ladies chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw a pizza, then a Garibaldi biscuit, then a Caesar salad. Now, they came in at this point and offered 'named after Italians' (the pizza being 'margarita'); Victoria gave them the points, but the last clue would've been a Beef Wellington. Right or wrong decision? You decide. (Not to mention the Caesar salad is no relation to Julius) Left with Horned Viper, the Motorheads saw 'Snoo', then 'Ghostface Chillah', then 'Budroid', and finally 'Larry the Bird'. They had it from that: they are tech company mascots. At the end of the first round, the Ladies led 4-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Ladies opened the round with Horned Viper, and got the picture set again: we saw a statue of Augustus, then a violet flower, and then a verruca on a foot. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in order of their comeuppance, so a microphone, or as the show suggested, Mike Oldfield, would be fourth. For their own question, the Motorheads chose Water, and saw 'Room 5, then 'Give it 4%'. Now, they buzzed at this point and offered 'France 2', their reasoning being that adding 96 to those numbers gives a phrase ('Room 101', 'Give it 100%' and 'France 98'). Now, this wasn't the correct answer or sequence, but Victoria accepted that they had offered a viable alternative, so gave them the three points. The real solution was binary misreadings, so 'Turn the volume up to 3' would be third and 'Starter for 2' an acceptable fourth answer. Again, should they have been given the points there? I'm staying well out of that debate, but I have to say, I liked their solution more! Plus, having given the Ladies the Italian question earlier, they kinda had to give the Motorheads that one too to be consistent. Anyway, lets get back to the review. The Ladies chose Lion next: 'Discus & 200m', then 'Pole vault & Long Jump', and then 'Javelin & Javelin'. Neither team worked it out: they are the last four events in the Decathlon and the Heptathlon respectively, so '1500m & 800m' would be right for the points. The Motorheads chose Two Reeds next: 'US-based cable channel', then 'Sixth sense'; they saw them to be 'ESPN' and 'ESP', so offered 'Euler's number' as 'E', which was acceptable for the three points. For their final choice, the Ladies chose Eye of Horus: '4th: ____ Cake', then '3rd: ____ Angus'; they, and I, and my Dad, saw the blanks to represent the largest cities in Scotland, so '1st: ____ Kiss' would be an acceptable fourth answer. Left with Twisted Flax, the Motorheads saw 'Author of 'A Game of Thrones'', then 'Creator of 'Z-Cars'', and then 'Wetherspoons founder'. Neither team saw it: they are George RR Martin, Troy Kennedy Martin and Tim Martin, so someone whose first name is Martin, like 'Director of 'Taxi Driver'' (Martin Scorcese) would be correct for the points. (Though, on a point of pedantry, Tim Martin's full name is Timothy Randall Martin, so its not his second name!) At the end of an eventful second round, the Motorheads led 10-7.
On to the Walls. The Motorheads went first and chose to tackle the Lion wall. After studying the wall and a few wrong tries, they isolated 'Condom', 'Hot water bottle', 'Squash ball' and 'Tyre', which are products made of rubber, followed by 'Match', 'Bullet', 'Boiling' and 'Decimal', which can all precede 'Point'. They had the wall solved on their first go: 'Fountain', 'Ballpoint', 'Marker' and 'Dip' are types of pen, while 'The Godfather', 'Rollerball', 'Eraser' and 'Misery' are films starring James Caan. A full ten there.
The Ladies thus set to work on the Water wall. They had their first set even quicker: 'Retirement', 'Adopter', 'Bird' and 'Riser' can all follow 'Early'. A second set, 'Wanted', 'Hackers', 'Salt' and 'Changeling', which are films starring Angelina Jolie, followed. They too had everything sorted on their first try: 'Cure', 'Can', 'Freeze' and 'Pickle' are ways of preserving food, while 'Police', 'Doors', 'Band' and 'Clash' all follow 'The' to give band names. Another full ten, so as you were, Motorheads led 20-17 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went which way. 'Novels with fruit in the title' went to the Motorheads 2-1. 'Fictional mask wearers', such as 'THE LONE RANGER', went to the Ladies 3-1. 'Real-life mask wearers', such as 'MEXICAN WRESTLER', went to the Ladies 2-1. 'Christmas carols' only had time for one, which the Ladies took. At the end of the show, the Ladies had 24, the Motorheads had 24!
Tiebreaker time then: 'MRB YLC KTH NJDG MNT'. Ms Shaw buzzed and offered 'MORE BY LUCK THAN JUDGEMENT'; (in Roy Walker voice) riiiiiiiiiight!
An excellent show, some excellent questions and quizzing, and thankfully those earlier adjudications made no difference, the Ladies would've won by one without them. Well done them, unlucky Motorheads, glad you're both getting another game, best of luck in them!
Next week's match: Birdwatchers vs Dicers
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