OK, here we are, with this week's Only Connect, the final match of the first round of the play-offs. Both of tonight's teams we haven't been for a long time; they lost their first match, and have survived as the two highest scoring such teams. For one of tonight's teams, just two matches is the lowest multi-match run a team can have.
Our two teams were the Cricketers, Andrew Burford, Simon Williams and captain Neil Clarke, who were beaten by the Inquisitors in the first round, and the Escapologists, Frank Paul, Tom Rowell and captain Lydia Mizon, who were narrowly pipped by the Eco-Warriors.
Round 1. The Escapologists kicked the match off with Twisted Flax: 'Robin Masters', then 'Madeline Magellan', then 'Temperance Brennan'; they offered 'sidekicks of Jonathan Creek', not right. Their opponents saw 'Jessica Fletcher', and offered 'fictional authors' for a bonus. For their own first question, the Cricketers chose Lion, and got the picture set: we saw an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, then a deer, then three bags of blood, and finally a fox. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they can all proceed 'hound'. (Pharaoh hound, deer hound, blood hound, fox hound) The Escapologists chose Water next: 'Hold in the belly', then 'Baptism of arms', then 'St Elmo's drill'; they saw them to be the beginning and end of phrases including 'fire' with that word removed and merged. Nice little cryptic one that. The Cricketers chose Two Reeds next: 'Meshrano Wolesi', then 'Rajya Lok', then 'Seanad Dail', and finally 'Bundesrat Bundestag'. They didn't quite get close enough to the right answer, their opponents did: they are the two houses of bicameral parliaments. For their own question, the Escapologists chose Eye of Horus, and got the music question: we heard 'Malibu' by Hole, then Judy Garland singing in the film 'San Francisco', then 'Drinking in LA' by Bran Van 3000, and finally 'Do You Know the Way to San Jose'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are places in Califonia. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Cricketers saw 'Our Town Story', then '14 zones', then 'Blackadder: Back & Forth', and finally 'Timekeepers of the Millennium'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are components of the Millennium Dome (or the 'portent', as Sir Stephen Fry once called it!) At the end of the first round, the Escapologists led 3-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Escapologists kicked off with Two Reeds: '16: Giver of Myrrh', then '8: 969 year olf man', and then '4: First King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel'; they saw it to be champagne bottle sizes, and offered '2: chocolate coated ice cream' for the points! Good question that! The Cricketers chose Lion next: 'Theatre', then 'Railway station', and then 'Concert hall'; they saw it to be the locations of US presidential assassinations, and offered 'In a car in Dallas', which was just about acceptable for the points. The Escapologists chose Eye of Horus next: '1 - Street', then '2 - North Dakota'; they saw offered '4 - Tower Hill', and collected three points, the sequence being places that can be abbreviated to that number's ordinal indicators. The Cricketers chose Twisted Flax next: 'The Wife of Bath', then 'Henry VIII', and then 'Jerry Lee Lewis'. They offered 'Elizabeth Taylor', which was accepted, the sequence being people who were married 5, 6, 7 and 8 times. (Of course, as per QI, some of Henry VIII's marriages might not legally count, but lets not get pedantic here) For their final choice, the Escapologists chose Water: 'Corporal O'Reilly', then 'Drama school of Gower Street', and then 'Symbol for unit of angular measure'. They saw them to be 'Radar', 'RADA' and 'Rad', so offered 'The Egyptian Sun God', as in 'Ra', for the points. Left with Horned Viper again, the Cricketers got the picture set, and saw Butch Dingle from Emmerdale, then David Cassidy; they quickly surmised the sequence to be 'Butch', 'Cassidy' and the 'Sundance' 'Kid', so offered a young goat for the three points. At the end of a good second round, the Escapologists led 10-9.
On to the Walls. The Cricketers took their turn to go first, and chose the Lion wall. They quickly saw a set of fictional streets, and isolated 'Jump', 'Pigeon', 'Coronation' and 'Ramsay', followed by 'Outlaw', 'Roux', 'Rhodes' and 'Kitchin', which are surnames of Michelin starred chefs. The final clues were in place not before long: 'Crook', 'Felon', 'Scofflaw' and 'Malefactor' are names for criminals, while 'Sesame', 'Palm', 'Sunflower' and 'Argan' are types of cooking oils. A well resolved full ten.
The Escapologists thus set to work on the Water wall. They too saw and isolated a set pretty quickly: 'Swinburn', 'Gropius', 'Matthau' and 'Scott' are surnames of famous men called Walter. ('Smith' not a clue there to the disappointment of Rangers fans everywhere) A second set followed suite: 'Varuna', 'Triton', 'Poseidon' and 'Njord' are sea deities. They came stuck trying to solve what was left though, and couldn't on their three tries. So, bonuses to get gathered: 'Sultan', 'Neptune', 'Rally' and 'Wildfire' are Royal Navy land establishments, which they didn't get, while 'Dane', 'Seal', 'Year' and 'Unwashed' can all follow 'Great'. Five for that, meaning they now trailed 19-15 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went through and who went home. 'Items required when driving a UK car in France', such as 'GB STICKER', went to the Escapologists 4-0, so all level already. 'Musicals and their settings' was split 2-each. 'Phrases containing units of mass', such as 'LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED' went to the Escapologists 2-0, with a minus for a mistake right at the end, and that was time. The Escapologists won 23-21.
A great match, one of the best of the series, second round especially, well played both sides! Unlucky Cricketers, but nothing to be ashamed of there, thanks for playing. Well done Escapologists though, and very best of luck in your second play-off!
Next week's match: the Meeples vs the Inquisitors, followed, presumably, by the Dandies vs the Escapologists. Should be good matches we hope!
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