OK, so provided no more doors get stuck in my flat and need to be fixed, I should be able to keep on top of all these Only Connects that we're having for the next few weeks. Tomorrow, my review of the Champion of Champions special from yesterday, but today, we crack on with the regular show from Monday, and the first eliminator, a match I sadly already knew the outcome of thanks to that Radio Times article I may or may not have mentioned before.
Playing were the Hotpots, Paul Jackson, Jo Beattie and captain Paul Richardson, who were beaten by the Poptimists in their first round match, and the Durhamites, Adam Robertson, James France and captain George Twigg, who lost out to the LARPers first time out.
Round 1. The Durhamites began the contest with Water: 'Presidents: Virginia', then 'The House: Harriet Harman', then 'The Blues: Ma Rainey'; that gave it to them, the latter is known as 'The Mother of' the former. (Neatly, a question about Harriet Harman being 'Mother of the House' came up in yesterday's Fifteen-to-One as well!) The Hotpots opened their play with Horned Viper: 'Television', then 'Identity', then 'Intravenous'; they spotted here that they are words often abbreviated to two letters (TV, ID and IV), and also picked up a pair of points to begin with. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Mr N. Rogers', then 'Mr F. Jones', then 'Miss D. Blake', and finally 'Miss V. Dinkley'. Neither side got this one, to a lot of peoples' amazement: they are Scooby Doo's companions! The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next: 'Ian Botham (1985)', then '874 miles', then 'TR19 7AA [arrow] KW1 4YR'; they identified them as linking 'Land's End to John o' Groats', and picked up two further points. The Durhamites chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard '500 (Shake Baby Shake)' by Lush, then 'Brand New Cadillac' by the Clash, then Prince with 'Little Red Corvette', and finally the theme to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Not recognising any of them, they offered 'a complete guess' of 'songs about cars', and were right! The specific answer was 'love songs to cars'. Left with Two Reeds, the Hotpots got the picture set, and saw a sunset, then Edward Elgar, then a pint of lager, and finally Little and Large, with an arrow pointing at the latter. They saw them to be anagrams of each other ('GLARE' being the first clue), and picked up a point. At the end of the first round, the Hotpots led 5-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Durhamites started with Water: 'Caret', then 'Greater than', and then 'Velocity'. They identified them as being '^', '>' and 'V', so offered 'Less than', or '<', for the two points. The Hotpots chose Twisted Flax next, and got the picture set: we saw Halley's comet as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, then Halle Berry; they saw the sequence instantly, and suggested Hal the computer from '2001: A Space Odyssey' for the three points. The Durhamites chose Lion next: 'Panama Madagascar', then 'Madagascar Argentina', and then 'Argentina Nauru'; they noticed that the last two letters of the first country in each case began the second, so they offered 'Nauru Russia' for the two points. The Hotpots chose Two Reeds next: 'x-x-x-BT', then 'x-x-LG-BT', and then 'x-AP-LG-BT'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the original four judges on Strictly Come Dancing in reverse order, so 'CRH-AP-LG-BT' would complete the set. (Though, on a point of pedantry, Messrs Revel Horwood and Tonioli sat in the opposite chairs in the very first series!) For their final choice, the Durhamites chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: they saw 'Level', then 'Movie', and at this point suggested 'DT45', reasoning that you could have the band 'Level 42' and the (apparently rubbish) film 'Movie 43', and 'DT45' is what Mr D. Trump is often called online. Now, like with the Motorheads a few weeks back, this wasn't what TPTB had in mind, but, as it was a viable sequence that fitted the visible clues, they were allowed the points. The real sequence was putting successive letters of the alphabet before the clues, for 'A-Level' and 'B-Movie', so 'Section' as in 'C-Section' would've been third, and 'Day' for 'D-Day' an acceptable answer. Left with Eye of Horus, the Hotpots saw '3 = T', then '4 = TT', and then '5 = HT'. They didn't get this, nor did the opposition: they are the number of zeros in powers of ten, so '6 = M' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the Durhamites led 10-8.
On to the Walls. The Hotpots went first, and chose the Water wall. They quickly spotted a link of famous men called Vince, and isolated 'Neil', 'Cable', 'Vaughn' and 'Lombardi'; followed quickly by a second set, 'Nice', 'Penguin', 'Club' and 'Trio', which are biscuits. The last few clues slotted in on their first try: 'Jolly Roger', 'Crossword', 'Barcode' and 'Panda' are things usually black and white (apart from the Financial Times crossword obviously!), while 'Compact', 'Safety', 'Vintage' and 'Bumper' can all precede 'car'. A full ten for that.
The Durhamites thus began tackling the Lion wall. After a few early wrong tries, they isolated two sets in short order: 'Dingle', 'Kamchatka', 'Gower' and 'Cape Cod' are peninsulas, while 'Reel', 'Sinker', 'Bait' and 'Line' are items of fishing equipment. They had everything else worked out on their second attempt after that: 'Benaud', 'Norcross', 'Agnew' and 'Arlott' are cricket commentators (Norcross being OC alumnus Daniel Norcross of Series 10 team the Nightwatchmen), while 'Blofeld', 'Moriarty', 'Greenback' and 'Hook' are the nemeses of fictional protagonists. Another full ten there, so as you were, they led 20-18 going into the final round.
So, who went out and who went through would be decided on Missing Vowels. 'Phrases featuring names', such as 'HAPPY AS LARRY', was split 2-each. 'Dangerous holiday pursuits', such as 'WHITE WATER RAFTING', went to the Durhamites 2-0, with both sides dropping a point. 'People whose surname starts with their first name', such as 'KRIS KRISTOFFERSON' (sadly 'MAGNUS MAGNUSSON' wasn't one of them), was a clean sweep to the Durhamites 4-0. 'Recent additions to the Consumer Prices Index Basket', such as 'CYCLING HELMET' and 'NON-DAIRY MILK DRINK', gave one to the Durhamites, and that was time. The Durhamites won 29-20.
Another good game, with some good questions and quizzing to go with them. Unlucky Hotpots, but no shame in either of your performances, thanks for playing. Well done Durhamites, and best of luck in the play-off round! (Thanks to that aforementioned article, I think I know who they may be playing)
Next week's (regular) match: the Motorheads vs the Cartoonists
And the specials carried on today, with another tomorrow and one more on Christmas Day. Review of yesterday's first one coming up tomorrow evening I hope.
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