OK, early Only Connect write-up this week! Hopefully this will be more common in future weeks, but, as I say before, I guarantee nothing. I will do this at the earliest opportunity I get every week.
Anyway, on with yesterday's show, the first of two play-offs to determine who joins the six second round winners in the group stage. Playing were the Meeples, Tom West, Hugh Trimble and captain Gail Trimble, wife of Tom and sister of Hugh, who defeated the Tequila Slammers, then narrowly lost to the Belgophiles, but recovered by beating the Parishioners, and the Inquisitors, Luke Kelly, Rob Cumming and captain Julia Hobbs, who beat last week's runners-up the Cricketers first, then lost to the Wanderers, and then got here by beating the Snake Charmers.
Round 1. The Inquisitors kicked the match off with Lion: 'Ice Field', then 'Eton Rugby', then 'English Carom', and finally 'League Union'; they saw them to be different versions of the same sport, and collected the first point of the match. The Meeples opened their account with Twisted Flax, and the music set: we heard Austin Mahone and Pitbull with 'Mmm Yeah', then 'Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...' by C+C Music Factory, then Hanson with 'MMMBop', and finally 'Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm' by the Crash Test Dummies; they spotted the link, and collected a point. The Inquisitors chose Eye of Horus next: 'Cutter of mouse tails', then 'November birthstone', then 'Allison Williams in 'Girls'', and finally 'Stuart Pearce's autobiography'. They saw them to be the titles of Hitchcock films, and collected another point. The Meeples chose Two Reeds next: 'To help the Rothschilds stay ahead of the markets', then 'To demonstrate slow internet speeds in South Africa', then 'To communicate without breaking radio silence on D-Day', and finally 'To deliver mail in remote areas'. They saw them to be jobs of pigeons, and collected another sole point. The Inquisitors chose Horned Viper next: 'Thames to Greenwich', then 'Central London to Westminster'; they took a punt on what polytechnics changed their names to when they became universities, and picked up three good points. Left with Water, and the picture set, the Meeples saw the night skies of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, then some piano keys, then the late Two Fat Ladies; they saw the link to be '88', and collected two points. At the end of a steady first round, the Inquisitors led 5-4.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Inquisitors began with Lion again: '4th Spain', then '3rd Colombia', and then '2nd USA'. They offered '1st Mexico', correct, the sequence being the countries with the largest populations of Spanish speakers. The Meeples chose Two Reeds next: 'LTN', then 'STN'; they saw it to be UK airport abbreviations in order of size, so 'LHR' would come fourth, for three points. The Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw a man jumping off a building, then a man bungee jumping from an aerial, and then a man bungee jumping from a bridge. Neither team saw it: they are BASE jumping locations, so 'Building', 'Aerial' and 'Span', so something for 'Earth' jumping would come fourth. The Meeples chose Water next: 'Aeon', then 'Numb'; they saw them to be words with a silent A and B in them, so offered 'Djibouti' as a word with a silent D, for three points. For their final choice, the Inquisitors chose Eye of Horus: 'Rowan', then 'Dexter', and then 'Colby'; they saw it to be the surnames of Alexis' husbands in dynasty, so 'Carrington' would be fourth, for two points. Left with Horned Viper, the Meeples saw 'Pie', then 'dry', and then 'rye'; they saw it to be the final lines of lyrics of American Pie, and collected two points. (Cue an enforced sing-along!) At the end of the second round, the Meeples led 12-9.
On to the Walls. The Meeples took their turn to go first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. They quickly isolated 'Maniple', 'Chimere', 'Surplice' and 'Cope', which are ecclesiastical garments, followed by 'Chausable', 'Worthing', 'Fairfax' and 'Prism', which are characters in The Importance of Being Earnest. The final clues slotted in similarly quickly: 'Battle', 'Tour', 'Festival' and 'Brain' can allow precede 'of Britain', while 'Gatwick', 'Hastings', 'Worth' and 'Hailsham' are places in Sussex. A quickly resolved full ten there.
The Inquisitors thus set to work on the Water wall needing a full set to stay in distance. They took a bit more time to get their first set, but did eventually isolate 'Heaven', 'Xoyo', 'Fabric' and 'Cargo', which are London nightclubs. A second set followed, 'Munchkin', 'Gravy ring', 'Berliner' and 'Yum Yum', which are dough based foods, and the final sets came in afterwards: 'Koko', 'Pattycake', 'Harambe' and 'Guy' are famous gorillas, while 'Peep-Bo', 'Katisha', 'Nanki-Poo' and 'Pish-Tush' are characters in The Mikado. Also a full ten there, which left the Meeples ahead 22-19 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went through. 'Forms of punishment' saw an unfortunate slip of the tongue of 'HUNDRED LIONS' instead of 'HUNDRED LINES', and ended 1-each. 'Real people added to phrases', such as 'ONCE IN A BLUE KEITH MOON', went to the Inquisitors 4-0, giving them the lead. 'Financial terms usually abbreviated' went to the Inquisitors 3-1, and that was time. The Inquisitors won 27-24.
Another good close match with some good answering by both sides there. Unlucky Meeples, just pipped in the final round, but nothing to be ashamed of this series, thanks very much for playing. Well done Inquisitors though, and very best of luck in the group stage!
Next week's match: the Dandies vs the Escapologists for the final place in the QFs.
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