OK, another prompt OC write-up this week! Not going to tempt fate and say I hope I'll always be able to do it this early from now on, but we'll play it by ear.
Playing last night's match were the Dandies, Oscar Powell, Lewis Barn and captain, and blog reader, Jack Bennett, who have beaten the Gaffers and the Arrowheads thus far, but lost to the Beaks, and the Escapologists, Frank Paul, Tom Rowell and captain Lydia Mizon, who lost their first match to the Eco-Warriors, but beat the Cricketers in their play-off. Winners would take the final place in the group stage.
Round 1. The Escapologists kicked the show off with Horned Viper: 'Moutza (Greece)', then 'Five fathers (Saudi Arabia)', then 'Idiota (Brazil)', and finally 'Quenelle (France)'. They saw them to be offensive gestures in those nations, and collected the first point of the night. The Dandies opened their account with Lion, and the picture set: we saw a map of Canada with Newfoundland highlighted, then a statue of St Peter, then Alcatraz, and finally Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. That gave it to them, and they offered them to all be 'The Rock' for a point. The Escapologists chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard Ella Fitzgerald with 'Manhattan', then 'Black Velvet' by Alana Miles, then the Eagles with 'Tequila Sunrise', and finally 'Escape (The Pina Colada song)' by Rupert Holmes. They saw that they all share their names with cocktails, and picked up another point. The Dandies chose Water next, and got a second picture question: we saw a tombstone with 'Nurtured by Alison Phillips 29th February - 6th May 2016' on it, then one with 'Origin of Pass Notes 1989-90', then one with 'Pioneered with colour by Eddy Shah 1986-95'; they offered 'defunct newspapers and their runs of publication', which was close enough for the two points. The Escaplogists chose Twisted Flax next: 'Light kiss', then 'Snow leopard', then 'American garden', and finally 'A fastening with rope'. They didn't get this one, nor did their opponents: they are clues to names of imperial units. Left with Two Reeds, the Dandies saw ''The' 'Chronicles'', then ''Farm''; they tried 'words removed from original titles of TV shows', and collected three points. Well spotted that. At the end of the first round, the Dandies led 6-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Escapologists started the round with Lion: '25 Slovenia', then '26 Cyprus'; they tried '28 Croatia', thinking it to be EU member states in the order they joined, but were not correct. Their opponents saw '27 Luxembourg', but couldn't pick up the drop: its the smallest EU nations by land area, so '28 Malta' would complete the set. The Dandies chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw a window balcony, then two circles with an arrow pointing at one, and then six red dresses in a circle formation. They didn't get this, nor did their opponents: they are audience areas in a theatre going downwards, 'Balcony', 'Upper circle' and 'Dress circle', so something for 'Stalls' would come fourth. The Escapologists chose Two Reeds next: '1,2: O', then '2,3: T'; they offered '4,5: F', which was correct, the sequence being letters those numbers share in their names, so '3,4: R' would be third. The Dandies chose Water next: 'In Bognor theatre', then 'Between large asteroids', and then 'In a Swiss outhouse'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are phrases with the compass points hidden in them, ('In BogNOR THeatre', 'Between largE ASTeroids' and 'In a SwisS OUTHouse'), so 'Within CreWE STation' would be an acceptable fourth. For their final choice, the Escapologists chose Eye of Horus: 'Light', then 'Gleaming', and then 'Fight'. They saw it to be the final words of the verses of the Star Spangled Banner, but couldn't get what would be next. Nor could their opponents. 'Streaming' would complete the set. Left with Horned Viper, the Dandies got a music sequence: we heard Jack Johnson, then Queen Latifah, and then Nat King Cole with 'Unforgettable'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: a song by Ace of Base, the sequence being playing cards in order of rank. (Cue a sing-along) At the end of a tough second round, the teams were tied on 6-each.
On to the Walls. The Dandies went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. A tough wall it proved, they saw a few possible connections, but were unable to get anything isolated. So it would be bonus points to be had: 'Adlington', 'Bacup', 'Nelson' and 'Blackpool' are places in Lancashire, which they got, 'Gillingham', 'Goodhew', 'Tancock' and 'Carlin' are Olympic swimmers, which they also got, 'Headon', 'Judd', 'Fleetwood' and 'Bonham' are drummers in bands, which they didn't get in time, while 'The Fog', 'Moon', 'Ash' and 'Fluke' are James Herbert novels, which they did get. Three points there.
The Escapologists thus had a big chance if they could get a good result on the Water wall. After initially struggling, they did eventually isolate a set: 'Post', 'Hunting', 'French' and 'Fog' are types of horn. A second set, 'Kintyre', 'Greenwich', 'Gower' and 'Ards', which are UK peninsulas, slotted in with little time left. They tried quickly to isolate the final sets, but couldn't in their three tries: 'Manchester', 'Victoria', 'Kuala Lumpur' and 'Hamilton' are Commonwealth Games host cities, which they got, while 'Glasgow', 'Lizard', 'Eskimo' and 'Butterfly' are types of kiss, which they also got. Six there, which gave them a lead of 12-9 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the final place in the QFs. 'Events that take place in January' was split 2-each. 'Fictional characters and their musical instruments' was another 2-each split. 'Said by a crowd of people', such as 'HALLELUJAH' and 'ENCORE' went to the Dandies 3-1. 'Types of insurance' went to the Escapologists 2-1, and that was time. The Escapologists had snuck home, 19-17!
A good close match, with some hard questions in the first round and a great close finish. Unlucky Dandies, but nothing to be ashamed of there, thanks very much indeed for taking part. Well done Escapologists though, and best of luck in the QFs!
Next week: the quarter-finals begin with the Eco-Warriors vs the Inquisitors.
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