OK, off we go with a new series of Only Connect! And after the chaos of the last two series, I'm glad TPTB have decided to revert to the old format where all teams get at least two games. Apparently we'll be getting some specials later this series as well, and there will, including those, be at least 28 shows. Hopefully we'll get more clarity on exactly what's going on later on.
Anyway, kicking the series off on Monday night were the Hotpots, Paul Jackson, Joe Beattie and captain Paul Richardson, and the Poptimists, Oliver Levy, Bob De Caux and captain Matt Loxham. As I said before, you may remember Messrs De Caux and Loxham from UC back in 2013-14, where they featured alongside our old friend Richard Evans for Southampton, reaching the QFs.
Round 1. The Hotpots chose to open the series with Two Reeds: 'Samosas: Somalia', then 'Roquefort: Australia', then 'Kinder Eggs: USA'; that gave it to them, they are banned in those countries, and collected the first two points of the series. The Poptimists opened their series account with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'McKinley & Hoover', then 'Washington & Monroe', then 'Lincoln & Kennedy'; they suggested at this point that they died 100 years apart, not right. Their opponents saw 'Reagan & Clinton', but didn't get it right either: they are pairs of presidents whose successors had the same surname. Nice question, classic OC. The Hotpots chose Eye of Horus next, and got the first picture question of the series: we saw a green traffic light, then the character Ludo from the show Labyrinth, then the late great Ronnie Corbett in the sitcom Sorry!; they spotted them to be the names of board games, and collected another two points. The Poptimists chose Lion next, and got the first music question of the series: we heard Belle & Sebastian with 'Me and the Major', then Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr with 'Me and My Shadow', then Paul Simon's 'Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard', and finally 'Me and Mrs Jones' by Billy Paul. They correctly spotted the link for their first point. The Hotpots chose Water next: 'Beethoven's 7th', then 'Centre of gravity', then '3rd of November', and finally 'Very beginning'. Neither side saw this devilishly good link: they are cryptic clues to where the letter V appears in the phrases. Welcome back OC, you have been missed! Left with Twisted Flax, the Poptimists saw 'No - No', then 'This - War', then 'Brexit - Brexit'; that gave it to them and me, adding 'means' between them gives phrases. At the end of the first round, the Hotpots lead 4-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Hotpots kicked the round off with Horned Viper: 'Hamilton', then 'Wellington', and then 'Christchurch'; that gave it to them, they are the largest cities of New Zealand, so 'Auckland' would be fourth. The Poptimists chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw an ace of hearts, then Jesse Ventura; they instantly gave it to them, 'Ace' and 'Ventura', so 'Pet' would be third, and something for 'Detective', such as Sam Spade, would come fourth. (Never seen the film myself, prefer the animated TV series with the awesome theme tune) The Hotpots chose Lion next: '2015 = 2', then '1985 = 1, 2, 3', and then '1955 = 1, 2, 3'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the years where the Back to the Future films are set, so '1885 = 3' would be fourth. For their own question, the Poptimists chose Eye of Horus: 'Origin', then 'Inferno'; they saw them to be Dan Brown's Robert Langdon novels going backwards, so 'The Da Vinci Code' comes fourth. For their final choice, the Hotpots chose Water: '21st: i', then '20th: The Sun', and then '19th: The Daily Telegraph'. They didn't offer an acceptable answer, their opponents did: they are newspapers founded in descending centuries, so '18th: The Times', or '18th: The Obsever', would be acceptable. Left with Two Reeds for their own final question, the Poptimists saw '6 Hydrogen', then '5 Hydrogen', and then '4 Carbon Dioxide'. They saw them to be the main planetary gasses of planets nearing the Sun, so '3 Nitrogen' would be correct. At the end of the second round, the Poptimists now led 13-6.
On to the Walls. The Poptimists chose the Lion wall as the first of the series. They quickly isoated 'Watt', 'West', 'Tungsten' and 'Won', which can all be represented by a W, and it didn't take them much longer to get 'Goldilocks', 'Twilight', 'Enterprise' and 'Erogenous', which are can all follow 'zone'. After taking their time with what was left, they solved the wall on their first try: 'Nemesis', 'Tardis', 'Explorer' and 'Nostromo' are spacecrafts, while 'Time', 'Record', 'Wicket' and 'Park' can all be followed by keeper. They didn't spot that last connection though, so seven points.
The Hotpots thus could recovered some lost ground if they could better that on the Water wall. They quickly spotted a few connections, and isolated 'Squirrel', 'Capybara', 'Gundi' and 'Lemming', which are rodents. This was followed quickly by 'Iron', 'War', 'Coster' and 'Fish', which can all precede 'monger'. After working out the final connections, they had both groups sorted: 'Shrew', 'Nothing', 'Venice' and 'Measure' are the last words of Shakespeare titles, while 'Lear', 'Kirkwood', 'Rich' and 'Avery' are the surnames of BBC weather presenters. A full ten there, which reduced their arrears to 20-16 heading into the final round.
So, as ever, Missing Vowels to end and decide the show. 'Things that can be ordered in a chip shop' was a clean sweep to the Poptimists, 4-0. 'Double acts reversed', such as 'WISE AND MORECAMBE' (disappointingly, 'HARDY AND LAUREL' was not one of them), went to the Poptimists 3-1, as did 'Agricultural idioms', such as 'REAP THE BENEFITS' and 'NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK'. 'Things to follow', such as 'THE LEADER', managed two clues, of which the teams took one each. And that was time, the Poptimists won 31-19.
A good start to the series. Unlucky Hotpots, well done Poptimists, but well played both, glad you are both coming back, and best of luck in your respective next matches!
Next week's match: Durhamites vs LARPers
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