OK, here we go with this week's Only Connect. And how glad I am that the show has returned to its old format where all teams get at least two games. The last two series were perfectly enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but they did drag a bit and I did have to swot up on previous reviews to write my summations of teams' prior matches. Hopefully this will be a bit easier for me to keep track of.
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Pyromaniacs, Suzy Turner, her brother Jeremy Turner and her partner captain Dave Ryan, and the Cartoonists, Edward Gilbert, Patrick Telford and captain Ben Broadribb.
Round 1. The Cartoonists opened the show with Twisted Flax: 'New England', then 'Cloud Atlas', then 'Greenwich Time Signal', and finally 'Over'; they spotted that they are all composed of six somethings, and picked up the game's first point. The Pyromaniacs opened their account with Two Reeds: 'UKIP', then 'ING', then 'Peugeot'; they spotted them to all have lion logos (UKIP have since changed their's to a pound of course) and collected two points. The Cartoonists chose Lion next: 'Chloe', then 'Cris' (I'm embarrassed to admit I had it at this point!), then 'Courtney'; they saw them to be members of the Kardashian family with the Ks in their first names changed to Cs, and took two points of their own. The Pyromaniacs chose Water next, and got the music question: we heard Doris Day singing 'When the Red Red Robin', then 'Poison Ivy' by the Rolling Stones, then Whistling Jack Smith with 'I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman', and finally the Steve Miller Band with 'The Joker'; they saw the connection, Batman characters, and collected the point. The Cartoonists chose Horned Viper next: 'Escape from Warsaw (Ian Serraillier)', then 'In a Sunburned Country (Bill Bryson)', then 'Smilla's Sense of Snow (Peter Hoeg)', and finally 'Murder in the Calais Coach (Agatha Christie)'. They got close enough to the answer for a point: they are alternative American titles of novels. Left with Eye of Horus, the Pyromaniacs got the picture set, and saw a tsetse fly, then the logo of the TomTom satnav company, then a yum-yum pastry, and finally a tuk-tuk cart. They saw the link, and collected a point. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 4-each.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Cartoonists began the round with Two Reeds: 'Roberto di Matteo', then 'Alex Ferguson' (I had it here), and then 'Rafael Benitez'; they offered 'Alex Ferguson' again, correctly for the points, the sequence being managers of English winners of the Champions League going backwards. The Pyromaniacs chose Eye of Horus next: 'Mary', then 'William Donald', and then 'Gordon'. They didn't see it, nor did their opponents: they are the middle names of prime ministers (Mr Brown's full name being James Gordon Brown), so Mr Blair's middle names 'Charles Lynton' would complete the set. The Cartoonists chose Twisted Flax next: 'Refuse collector', then 'Refuse collector's headwear'; they saw it to be clues to the lyrics of Lonnie Donegan's 'My Old Man's a Dustman', so offered 'A flat owned by the council' for the three points! The Pyromaniacs chose Lion next, and got the picture set: we saw Alcatraz, then the late great Jim Bowen holding a Bully figurine, and then a rowing boat with an arrow pointing at the cox. Again, neither team worked it out: 'AlcatraZ', 'BullY' and 'CoX', so something beginning with D and ending W, such as a 'DraW', would suffice. (The example image was that complex image used to signify the show's new sequence a couple of series back!) For their final choice, the Cartoonists chose Water: 'T=3', then 'Q=4', and then 'P=5'; they saw it to be the number of sides shapes beginning with those letters have, so 'H=6' for a hexagon would be fourth. Left with Horned Viper, the Pyromaniacs saw 'The Office of Terce', then 'Women's Hour (weekdays)', and then 'The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace'; they identified them as happening at 9am, 10am and 11am, so offered 'The Midday News' for two points. At the end of the second round, the Cartoonists led 11-6.
On to the Walls. The Pyromaniacs, needing points, went first and chose the Lion wall. After carefully studying the clues and a few wrong goes, they isolated 'Safety', 'Tackle', 'Cornerback' and 'Center', which are American football positions; followed a short while later by 'Jack', 'Guard', 'Mail' and 'Board', which can all follow 'Black'. The final clues slotted in on their first try: 'Bullock', 'Portman', 'Stone' and 'Berry' are surnames of Best Actress Oscar winners, which they got close enough to, while 'Barrow', 'Gelding', 'Weather' and 'Capon' are animals that have been castrated, which they also knew. A full ten there then.
The Cartoonists thus set to work on the Water wall. Again, they had a good hard study and spotted a few possible links, before they had their first set: 'Patmos', 'Symi', 'Kos' and 'Leros' are islands of the Dodecanese. A second set eventually followed: 'Iman', 'Jordan', 'Emme' and 'Twiggy' are stage names of models. With time running out, they quickly had the last sets sorted just in time: 'Grant' 'D'Arby', 'Magnusson' and 'Rhodes' are presenters of Songs of Praise, which they didn't see, while 'Loan', 'Nurse', 'Discount' and 'Halls' can all follow 'Student', which they did spot. Seven there then, which reduced their lead to 18-16 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would finish and decide the show. 'Infractions of Just a Minute' was split 2-each. (I called 'REPETITION' coming up twice as soon as the category was announced!) 'British pig breeds' went to the Pyromaniacs 3-1. 'Woods and forests', such as 'EPPING FOREST' and 'TIGER WOODS' (sadly not 'JAMES FORREST', much to my Dad's dismay!) went to the Pyromaniacs 2-1, with the Cartoonists getting two right, but one wrong. 'Toy of the Year winners' had time for one clue, which the Pyromaniacs took. At the end of the game, the Pyromaniacs won 24-22.
Another good close match, some good questions and quizzing there. Unlucky Cartoonists, well done Pyromaniacs, glad we're seeing both of you again and best of luck in your respective next matches!
Next week's match: Motorheads vs Time Ladies
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