OK, so apparently we're getting some Only Connect Christmas specials this year! Regular matches the next three Mondays, including Christmas Eve, plus a special Sports episode and a Champion of Champions episode, to be shown on the 18th and 19th. Shame they stopped doing those C of Cs every two series, but then the show has grown quite considerably in the last few series. Still, good to have some specials back, been missing the past two years.
Anyway, playing on Monday were the Ancient Alumni, Lindsay McBryan, Ailsa Watson (winner of Fifteen-to-One 2.0), and captain Dave McBryan (ditto), husband of Lindsay, and the Three Peaks, Lauren Probert, Peter Dawson and captain Ross Drayton.
Round 1. The Peaks went first, and kicked the match off with Lion: 'Jacob m. Leah and Rachel', then 'Charles Darwin m. Emma Wedgwood', then 'Albert Einstein m. Elsa Lowenthal nee Einstein'; they saw them to be marriages between first cousins, and collected two points. (I do believe the real life Christopher Robin Milne, son of AA, married his cousin too) The Alumni opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Fleet: circumnavigated world, 1907-09', then 'North: Canada', then 'Hope: James Earl Jones film', and finally 'Shark: Greg Norman'. That gave it to them: they are known as the 'Great White [former]'. The Peaks chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music round: we heard Otis Redding with 'I've Been Loving You Too Long', then 'Try Again' by Aaliyah, then Glenn Miller, and finally Buddy Holly. They were timed out before they could offer anything; their opponents offered that they all died in plane crashes for the bonus. (There is another alternative theory, unlikely I admit, that Glenn Miller actually died in a brothel in Paris!) For their own question, the Alumni chose Water, and got the pictures: we saw Sean Bean, then Galileo; they spotted that their forenames and surnames differ by just one letter, and collected three points. Good spot that! The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'RIGHTO', then 'WINDO', then 'WANSEA', and finally 'ORCESTE'. They didn't see it, their opponents did: they are UK cities with the first and last letter removed; precisely, the letters in question are those cities' post codes, but close enough for the first round. Left with Horned Viper for their own question, the Alumni saw 'Boxed with the Dalai Lama', then 'Punched a polar bear', then 'Delivered a baby in Richmond Park'; they saw them to be things Brian Blessed has done, or claimed to at least, and collected two points. At the end of the first round, the Alumni led 8-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Peaks started it with Twisted Flax, and the picture set: we saw a chicken, then a deck chair. They saw it to be the Chicken song from Spitting Image, but went too far into the song, and offered 'someone speaking Arapaho'. Not right. Their opponents saw a jet plane, and offered 'some clothes being buried' for the bonus. For their own question, the Alumni chose Two Reeds: 'Sun 6', then 'Tue 7'; they saw them to be days of the week with the number of letters increasing, and offered 'Wed 9' for the three points. The Peaks chose Eye of Horus next: 'Governor-General Sir William Deane', then 'President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos', and then 'President Hu Jintao'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the people who opened the Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008, so 'Queen Elizabeth II' for 2012 would come fourth. For their own question, the Alumni chose Lion: 'Kije', then 'Kirk', and then 'Barbara'. They didn't see it in time, and their opponents didn't either: they can follow ranks in the Army (Lieutenant Kije, Captain Kirk and Major Barbara), so something that can follow Colonel, such as 'Mustard' would suffice. For their final choice, the Peaks chose Water: 'Looks like', then 'Walks like', and then 'Quacks like'; they saw it to be the Duck Test (which I mainly know from an episode of Death in Paradise), and offered 'Is a', which was close enough for two much needed points. ('Is' or 'Probably is' would've been more precise) Left with Horned Viper again, the Alumni saw 'Chaos', then 'Elbow', and then 'Emphasis'. Neither side saw this excellent cryptic connection: Chaos said aloud would start with a K, Elbow with an L and Emphasis with an M, so something that sounds like it starts with an N, such as 'Engine' would be right. At the end of the second round, the Alumni led 13-4.
On to the Walls. The Alumni had the chance here to put the game beyond realistic reach, and thus chose the Water wall to try and do so with. They quickly had a first set, 'Boundary', 'Square', 'Pavilion' and 'Crease' are parts of a cricket field, followed quickly by a second: 'Shafted', '3-2-1', 'Tipping Point' and 'Tenable' are ITV game shows. (Shafted, of course, being the one with Robert Kilroy-Silk that HIGNFY shows repeatedly) They then made short work of what was left: 'Sightscreen', 'Catchphrase', 'Knightsbridge' and 'Festschrift' are words with six consecutive consonants, while 'Oeuvre', 'Anthology', 'Compendium' and 'Digest' are collections of writing. A quickly and well solved full ten there.
The Peaks thus set to work on the Lion wall. After a few wrong attempts, they had a set in the bag: 'Grime', 'Jungle', 'Crunk' and 'Dubstep' are genres of music. A second set, 'Ulva', 'Muck', 'Mull' and 'Rum' are islands of the Hebrides. That done, they also had it solved on their first attempt: 'Skye', 'Rubble', 'Marshall' and 'Chase' are characters form the cartoon series 'PAW Patrol', while 'Gunk', Dreck', 'Smut' and 'Crud' are words for dirt. Another well worked out full ten, so as you were, the Alumni led 23-14 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to end the show, with the Peaks needing a shutout to stand a chance. 'Things located in Leicester', such as 'KING POWER STADIUM' and 'DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY' went to the Alumni 4-0. 'Things the presenter of University Challenge might say'(!), such as 'ANOTHER STARTER QUESTION NOW' and 'YOU MAY NOT CONFER', went to the Alumni 2-0, with the Peaks getting one right but one wrong. 'Things that come in batches of eight' went to the Peaks 1-0, and that was time; the Alumni won 29-15.
Another good, if a bit one sided, game; excellent crossover in the final round too! Unlucky Peaks, well done Alumni, definitely a team to watch this series; best of luck both teams in your next matches!
Next week's match: Dragons vs Westenders
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