University Challenge 2017-18: Play-Off Quarter-Final 1: Bristol vs Edinburgh

Evening all. Into the home straight we head, with just four more games after tonight, before we all get a much needed Spring rest, during which I will once again consider the future of this blog and my Quizzy Mondays recaps, which I may well decide to merge in the same way as Dave used to in the very early days of LAM, and that Weaver's Week does nowadays. On with the series for now though, and what looked like an interesting match-up for a place in the semis.

Bristol comfortably defeated Trinity of Cambridge and Trinity of Oxford in the first two rounds, then came unstuck against Newcastle in the preliminary match-ups before a convincing win over Ulster in their eliminator. Hoping to carry on that form tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
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

Edinburgh also defeated our friends Ulster, in the first round, then narrowly overcame U.C.L. in the second and Emmanuel in their preliminary, but were soundly beaten by Merton in their qualifier. Hoping to bounce back tonight and reach the semis for the second year in a row were the also unchanged quartet of:
John Heaton-Armstrong, from Edinburgh, studying Russian and History
Stanley Wang, from Edinburgh, studying Speech and Language Processing
Captain: Innis Carson, from Glasgow, studying Chemistry
Philippa Stone, from Oxford, studying Biology

Off we set again then, and it was Bristol who drew blood first with Mr Bowes with 'Atlantis'; none of the first bonuses on the Aeneid went with it though. Mr Carson then quickly took his side off the mark as well with 'chestnut', and they took the lead via one bonus on historic periods. Mr Heaton-Armstrong then added to the lead, but, again, just one bonus followed, albeit from a very tough bonus set of the difficulty we should expect at this late stage. The first picture round, on equations devised by attendees of the 1927 Solvay Conference, went to Edinburgh, who took a full house this time, giving them an early lead of 55-10.

Five then slipped from that lead as Mr Wang miscued, but Bristol were unable to accept this opportunity. The points were promptly recouped as Mr Carson came up with 'Electra' just as I got it too, with just the one bonus following again. Neither side identified Stephen Fry's ancestor CB Fry as the cricketer who played for Southampton in the FA Cup final and was offered the throne of Albania, Mr Hewett's guess of Denis Compton (who, to be fair, did win the Cup with Arsenal) bringing a few giggles from the host and audience! Another starter was dropped, before Mr Wang increased Edinburgh's lead again, but bonuses on children's literature added nothing to their score. Mr Bowes finally reawoke the Avonsiders from their slumbers, but, again, the side failed to take any of the resultant bonuses.

The music starter saw Ms Stone get 'Madame Butterfly' just seconds after I did; the bonuses, on female characters in opera whose deaths were critiqued by Catherine Clement, provided Edinburgh with two correct answers and a lead of 95-20. Bristol needed to get a move on to catch up, and Mr Bowes duly obliged with the next starter, and two bonuses on Hindu deities followed this time. Ms Stone then nicely complimented 'Irn Bru' from last time with 'marshmallow', and the side took just one bonus on events surrounding Henry VIII's first divorce and second marriage (which I didn't manage any of despite watching all but one series of The Tudors when it was shown on BBC2!). And when Mr Heaton-Armstrong took the next starter, and his side took all three bonuses on Six Nations 'countries' and African countries they are closest in size too, you suspect they had the game in the bag.

The second picture round, on paintings of stock characters from commedia dell-arte, went to Bristol, who failed to add to their score, leaving the gap at 135-50. Back came Edinburgh with Mr Heaton-Armstrong doing the honours, and with two bonuses going with it, that likely confirmed that they couldn't be caught.

As if to make absolutely sure, Mr Carson identified 'Strath' as the prefix often applied to various Scottish rivers, with two bonuses going with it again. The Edinburgh captain then appeared to take an educated guess of 'neutrino', and was correct again, and, again, two correct bonuses accompanied, putting them within one starter of a double century. That starter didn't come for them though, as Mr Hosegood took the final one of the game, with the gong cutting their bonuses short. Edinburgh won 195-60.

Another rather one sided game, but, again, still an enjoyable one nonetheless. Unlucky Bristol, who never really got into gear tonight, but no shame in going out at this stage after a fine series of performances, thanks very much for playing this series! Well done to Edinburgh though on a good win over proven opponents, and best of luck in the semi-finals!

The stats: Mr Carson was the best buzzer of the night, with five starters, while Mr Bowes was Bristol's best with three, meaning he ends their run their best buzzer with nineteen overall. On the bonuses, Bristol converted just 2 out of 14, while Edinburgh managed a reasonable 18 out of 33 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: Newcastle vs Fitzwilliam. And then we get to the semi-finals!

Only Connect is nearly done for another year too, another good match from it tonight, hopefully to be promptly recapped this week.