University Challenge 2017-18: Preliminary Quarter-Final 1: Bristol vs Newcastle

Evening all. So, we've made it to the ever popular quarter-final stage, dragged out to ten matches by giving all the teams two chances to both reach the semis and stay in after losing. Now in its ninth series, this format still has its detractors, and there are still plenty who don't entirely understand it, but it has stood the test of time, and will likely still be used for a few more series yet. Anyway, let's get on with this

Bristol got here with a comfortable victory over Trinity of Cambridge, 230-95, in the first round, before, according to the host, they were 'lucky' to defeat their Oxford namesakes 205-100, comments uncannily foreshadowing of those made by a Mr J. Mourinho of Manchester following a football match two days later! They were the same foursome as before:
Ollie Bowes, from Market Harborough, studying Music
Kirsty Biggs, from Southampton, studying Maths
Captain: Sam Hosegood, from Bedford, studying Chemical Physics
Dom Hewett, from Stroud, studying English

Newcastle started slowly with a low scoring 170-40 victory over Sheffield Hallam in the first round, before pulling off perhaps the surprise of the second by overcoming Southampton 215-130, via a strong bonus and buzzer performance. They were also unchanged from those occasions:
Jack Reynard, from Leeds, studying Medicine 
Molly Nielsen, from London, studying Medicine 
Captain: Jonathan Noble, from Newcastle, studying for a PGCE 
Adam Lowery, from Sunderland, studying Chemistry

Off we set again then, and Mr Bowes got the ball, and the heads, rolling with the first starter, identifying a description of the guillotine; a full bonus set on the work of Sir Roald Dahl gave them a strong start to the match. It was compounded when Ms Nielsen misbuzzed on the next starter, giving the Avonsiders a second starter, though no bonuses came this time. I can't have been the only person to guess 'Hermione' when the next starter began asking for the origins of the name of a Harry Potter character; Mr Noble took that to take Newcastle back into positive figures, and they too kicked off with all three bonuses. Mr Reynard was next, and a second full house went the Tynesiders' way. The first picture round, on Roman Empire duchies in modern day Germany, went to Bristol, who took just the one bonus, giving them the lead back, 50-45.

Ms Nielsen made up for her early mishap with the next starter, though she was lucky to avoid a telling-off for a slight pause; the Tynesiders could only manage two bonuses this time, on insect classes. Mr Noble increased Newcastle's lead with the next starter, and his side took another two bonuses, on the work of Saul Bellow. A prompt buzz from Ms Nielsen took the Tynesiders within one bonus on triple figures, but they couldn't get that one correct bonus from the resulting set. Mr Bowes finally broke Bristol back into proceedings, but his side struggled with the bonuses, managing just the one correct.

The music round, on 20th century minimalist compositions, went to Bristol, who, again, only managed one correct bonus, nonetheless reducing their arrears to 95-80. Controversy then arose, as Mr Reynard buzzed wrongly and then corrected himself; rather than kill the question there, as he has done when this has happened before, Paxo threw it over to Bristol, who provided the corrected answer. The ensuing bonuses gave the Avonsiders two correct answers, with a near miss on the other, and the lead with it. A prompt buzz from Mr Hewett on 'The Four Quartets' upped it, and bonuses on isms provided Bristol with two more correct answers. Mr Reynard then atoned for his error by taking the next starter; the bonuses gave Newcastle ten more points, and a mention of 'polymorphs', nicely tying in with Friday's Mastermind, in which Red Dwarf was one of the subjects. Mr Bowes reincreased Bristol's lead, and bonuses on the English civil war provided just the one correct answer.

The second picture round, on paintings of Andromeda, went to Newcastle, who took one bonus, reducing the gap down to 135-130. Mr Hosegood then fell foul of a non-interruption that, for a moment, I thought might not have been given; Newcastle took the points, and all three bonuses that went with it gave them the advantage heading into the final straight.

A second starter in a row for Mr Reynard put the Tynesiders within sight of victory; bonuses on the work of HL Mencken, whose name I can't hear without thinking of the Family Guy weed song(!), gave them another two correct bonuses. And when Mr Noble identified wind as the weather feature that features in the translation of 'feng shui' (I knew that too, thanks to Millionaire), that was game over Bristol. Another two bonuses only added to Newcastle's score, as did the next correct starter, given by Mr Lowery and the two bonuses that came with it. There was just time for the Newcastle right winger to take the night's final starter too. At the gong, Newcastle won 225-130.

A good start to the quarter-finals, much closer than the final score suggests, and thankfully those two controversies proved immaterial to the outcome. Unlucky Bristol, who just fell away at the end, but are certainly not out of the running yet, best of luck to them in their eliminator. Well done Newcastle though, on another fine showing against proven strong opponents, and best of luck in the qualifiers!

The stats: Mr Bowes was the night's best buzzer, with five to his name at the gong, while Messrs Reynard and Noble were joint best for Newcastle with four each. On the bonuses, Bristol converted 11 out of 24, while Newcastle managed 22 out of 33, with both sides incurring one penalty; so that slightly better bonus rate, coupled with a slight advantage on the buzzer, was where the match was won.

Next week's match: Fitzwilliam vs Merton

Only Connect ended its play-off round tonight, with its QF stage starting next week; hopefully I can get my review done promptly again this week.