University Challenge 2017-18: Semi-Final 1: St John's vs Edinburgh

Evening all. So we've made it to the semi-finalists of, what has become after a somewhat slow start, a most fascinating and very absorbing series of University Challenge. Two worthy semi-finalist teams, who'd had somewhat different journeys to this stage, but either would be more than deserving of a grand final place, so let's do this.

St John's College Cambridge breezed through the knockout rounds with strong wins over St Andrews and Corpus Christi of Cambridge, then survived a late fightback to beat Ulster in the preliminaries, and then won a gripping qualifier against fellow semi-finalists Newcastle to be here tonight. Playing for a first grand final placing (under Paxo at least) were the unchanged foursome of:
John-Clark Levin, from Los Angeles, studying Politics and International Studies   
Rosie McKeown, from Kingston-upon-Thames, studying French and German 
Captain: James Devine-Stoneman, from Southall in London, studying Superconducting Spintronics
Matt Hazell, from Ringwood in Hampshire, studying Veterinary Medicine

Edinburgh also beat our old friends Ulster, in the first round, and then U.C.L. in the second, both by just five points; they then just overcame Emmanuel of Cambridge, were roundly beaten by fellow semi-finalists Merton and then pulled off a strong win over the strong Bristol team in their play-off. Also going for a first ever grand final appearance 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 Ms McKeown got the ball rolling for the night with 'Gulliver', and St John's set their stall out with a full set of bonuses. Mr Levin then rolled the ball further out, but his side only took one bonus from a tricky set on Swiss mathematicians. Their next bonus set, on pineapple producing countries and how well they did in the last World Cup, proved more to the Cambridge side's liking, with another full set. The first picture round, on alphabets and their unique writing scripts, went to St John's, who took a further two bonuses, which meant they led 85-0 after the first phase of play.

And that lead was only getting bigger as Mr Hazell took the next starter, but the side failed to take the one bonus they needed to take a three figure lead. The next starter was dropped, before Mr Carson finally opened Edinburgh's account with 'Cosi fan tutte'; the Scots side took one bonus on words who second, third and fourth letters are URM. (It looked like they were going to say 'Turmoil' to all of them, only for it to be right on the second!) Mr Heaton-Armstrong took a second Edinburgh starter in a row, and they did well to take two bonuses from a tough set on constellations whose three letter abbreviations correspond to the given definitions. (They used to be quite fond of those, but this is the first I can recall seeing for a while)

Mr Devine-Stoneman identified Schoenberg for the music starter; the bonuses, on works by three of his students, gave St John's a full bonus set, and a lead of 120-35. Mr Carson pulled another back for Edinburgh, and bonuses on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey gave them one correct answer. Ms McKeown bit back for St John's though, and they also took just the one bonus. Mr Wang did the right thing and took an early punt on the next starter, but was too early, losing five; had he waited, he'd have heard the giveaway clue, as Ms McKeown did to take the points. And when the Cambridge side took all three bonuses, you suspected any chances Edinburgh had of catching up had gone now.

The second picture round, on regular visitors to Gertrude Stein's salon, went to St John's, who took a second successive full set, taking their lead to 185-45. Mr Levin looked like he was taking an educated guess on the next starter, but was correct, and a third full bonus house in a row only served to put salt in Edinburgh's collective wounds.

Ms Stone did take another starter for the Scots side though, and they took one of the bonuses that came with it. A very good buzz from Mr Devine-Stoneman added further to the Cambridge side's win, and they took one bonus on Kings of Scotland. (I got two right) The St John's captain took a second starter in a row, with two bonuses eking them further towards a 200+ win. Another starter, taken by Mr Levin, and one of the bonuses that went with it did the trick. There was time for one final St John's starter, but not for any of the bonuses. At the gong, St John's won 270-60.

Another great match, even if yet another very one sided match. Unlucky Edinburgh, who Paxo rightly said are capable of much better things, and have nothing to be ashamed of in getting this far; thanks very much indeed for a worthy series of performances! Very well done St John's though; one of their best performances yet, puts them in great stead for the final; very very best of luck to them for it!

The stats: Ms McKeown was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with five, taking her series total to 25, while Mr Carson was Edinburgh's best with two, ending his side's campaign their best buzzer, with 19. On the bonuses, St John's converted a magnificent 26 out of 39, while Edinburgh managed 5 out of 12 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: Merton vs Newcastle, for the right to fight St Johns.

Only Connect is nearly done for another series too, its last quarter-final tonight will hopefully be covered on here in the coming days.