OK, on with Only Connect. I'm still not convinced about using this extended format for OC, at least not in its current way. The old way, using it from the off so all teams got at least two matches, was much better IMO.
Playing last night were the Belgophiles, Helen Fasham, Phil Small and captain Ben Fasham, husband of Helen, who defeated the Lapsed Physicists and the Meeples en route, and the Beaks, Rob Cromarty, Aidan Sproat-Clements and captain Dan Sproat-Clements, husband of Aidan, who also came straight here by beating the Disparates and the Dandies.
Round 1. The Beaks kicked the night off with Water: 'Argument tent', then 'Fan gathering tent', then 'Heating system vect'; they identified them as requiring 'con' at the start and 'ion' at the end to give words meaning those, and collected two points. The Belgophiles opened their account with Eye of Horus: 'Tsar Alexander II', then 'King George VI', then 'The Arc de Triomphe'; they identified them to have horse races named after them, and also picked up two points. The Beaks chose Two Reeds next, and got the picture set: we saw Pope Benedict XVI, then Ronald McDonald, then Moira Stewart as Vicky Page in 'The Red Shoes', and finally Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. They didn't get it, their opponents did, offering that they all famously wear red shoes for the bonus. For their own question, the Belgophiles chose Twisted Flax: 'Death of Kublai Khan', then 'Battles of El Alamein', then 'Second Paris Olympics', and finally 'Columbus reaches the Americas'. They offered that they occurred in years that are number anagrams of each other, and picked up another point. The Beaks chose Horned Viper next: 'Rudyard Kipling (1888) Daniel Dravot', then 'T.H. White (1958) Arthur', then 'Michael Dobbs (1992) un-named but probably Charles III', and finally 'J.R.R. Tolkein (1955) Aragorn'. They saw them to be the authors and publication years of novels with kings in the title, and the king in question, and picked up a point. Left with Lion, and the music question, the Belgophiles heard the theme to 'Murder on the Orient Express', then the French song 'Je t'en ce fait le train', then the Doobie Brothers with 'Slow Train Running', and finally 'Midnight Train to Georgia' by Gladys Knight and the Pips. They didn't see it, their opponents did for a bonus. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 4-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Beaks opened with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw two matches, a standard and a digital with a circle round the latter, then a zoomed in picture of a record, and then a pair of glasses with one lens removed. They didn't get it, their opponents did: the clues represent 'digital', 'single' and 'lens', so something for 'reflex', such as that hilariously bad game show hosted by Shane Richie, or as they offered, a nightclub in Reading, would've sufficed. For their own question, the Belgophiles chose Eye of Horus: 'Wife of Henry VII', then 'Queen Elizabeth I', and then 'Wife of George VI'; they saw them to be English/British queens called Elizabeth, so offered 'Queen Elizabeth II' for the points. The Beaks chose Two Reeds next: '4: H', then '3: F', and then '2: R'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are letters with four, three and two end points, so '1: P' would complete the sequence. Nice little question that. The Belgophiles chose Horned Viper next: 'Humperdinck', then 'Quackmore', and then 'Donald'. They tried 'Daffy', not right; their opponents tried 'Huey', correct, the sequence being various generations of Donald Duck's family! For their own final choice, the Beeks chose Lion: 'Uruguay' with three lines above it and on the left, then 'Lesotho' with three lines but slightly more rightwards, and then 'Swaziland' under the lines even righter. They didn't get an acceptable answer, nor did their opponents: they are the four countries entirely south of the Tropic of Capricorn, so 'New Zealand' on the very right under three lines would be fourth. Left with Water, the Belgophiles saw '6', then 'Connecticut', and then 'Heraldic gold'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: the clues represent 'VI', 'CT' and 'OR', so something for 'IA' would complete the sequence. Now, they offered 'Indiana', which was not strictly acceptable, but Victoria recognised that they had the right idea, so let them have the points. She said she'd also have taken something that represented 'Y', as in 'VICTORY', so fair enough I guess. At the end of the second round, the Belgophiles led 7-6.
On to the Walls. The Belgophiles went first, and chose the Lion wall. Their first set arrived pretty quickly after some earlier errors: 'Chaplaincy', 'Maternity', 'ENT' and 'Outpatients' are hospital departments. A second set, 'Lee', 'Kotto', 'Bean' and 'Waltz', which are surnames of actors who've played Bond villains, followed. They identified what was left, and solved the wall on their third go: 'History', 'TNT', 'A & E' and 'Nickelodeon' are US cable channels, which they got, while 'Hermione', 'Potemkin', 'Discovery' and 'Kiel' are naval mutinies, which they didn't get. Seven points there then.
The Beaks thus could sneak into the lead if they could better that on the Water wall. After a few wrong goes, they eventually isolated 'Cole', 'Speed', 'Milburn' and 'Albert', which are surnames of Newcastle United footballers, which they couldn't quite get, so dropping three there, followed in short order by 'Station', 'Dip', 'Dog' and 'Shearer', which can all follow 'sheep'. They had the wall solved on their first attempt: 'St Katharine', 'Prince's', 'Tobacco' and 'Alexandra' are UK docks, which they got, while 'Oats', 'Dice', 'Lawn' and 'Eyes' are things that can be rolled, which they also spotted. Seven there as well, which left the Belgophiles ahead 14-13 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went which way in the contest. 'Things found in a motorway service station' went to the Belgophiles 2-1. 'Friends in children's literature', such as 'POOH AND PIGLET', went to the Belgophiles 2-1 as well. 'Anagrams of 'GANISTER'', such as 'ANGRIEST' and 'TASERING' went to the Belgophiles 2-0, and that was time. The Belgophiles won 20-15.
Another good match, close throughout, well played both sides. Unlucky Beaks, good luck in the elimination round, well done Belgophiles, best of luck in the qualifier round!
Next week's match: the Wanderers vs the Eco-Warriors in the first eliminator.
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