OK, sorry for another long wait, but finally we can get on to Only Connect from last Monday, and the second qualifier match. Two teams here who won their quarter-final matches by narrow margins against well matched opponents, and who again seemed well matched on paper. Sadly, thanks to that Radio Times article I think I've mentioned here before, I had half an idea of how this game would go; all will become clear in due course.
Anyway, playing were the Pyromaniacs, Suzy Turner, her brother Jeremy Turner and captain Dave Ryan, who narrowly won out against the Cartoonists in their first game, and the Time Ladies, Charlotte Jackson, Emma Harris and captain Rebecca Shaw, who pipped the Motorheads on a tie-breaker first time out.
Round 1. The Ladies kicked the contest off with Lion: 'Foster's', then 'Lastminute.com', then 'Intelligent Finance', and finally 'Perrier'. They suggested 'sponsors of comedy on Channel 4', not right. Their opponents didn't quite get close enough by suggesting 'sponsors of comedy festivals'; they are, specifically, sponsors of the Edinburgh Comedy Award. The Pyromaniacs opened their show with Two Reeds: 'Debbie Reynolds 1964', then 'Judi Dench 1997', then 'Pam Grier 1997', and finally 'Brendon O'Carroll 2011 onwards'. That gave it to them: they played characters known as 'Mrs Brown' in those years. The Ladies chose Water next: 'West Bromwich', then 'Goodnite Sweetheart', then 'Run Fatboy'; they suggested that the first word can be repeated after the second to give phrases, and collected two points (West Bromwich West being a constituency). The Pyromaniacs chose Horned Viper next: 'Fracture: Scottish Fantasy', then 'Ostrich: Elektra', then 'Trade: Messiah', and finally 'Creek: St Matthew Passion'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the translations of the names of German composers plus one of their compositions. The Ladies chose Eye of Horus next, and got the music question: we heard James Yorkston singing 'When the Haar Rolls In', then 'Misty', then Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze', and finally 'Fog on the Tyne'. They didn't spot it, nor did their opponents: 'low visibility' the link there. Left with Twisted Flax, and the picture set, the Pyromaniacs saw Ruth Madoc as Gladys Pugh in 'Hi-De-Hi!', then a jack of hearts, then the Needles of the Isle of Wight, and finally a graphic showing lots of phone apps. Neither team saw it again: they are homophones for parts of a church ('Pew', 'Nave', 'Aisle' and 'Apse' being the correct words). At the end of the first round, the Ladies led 2-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Ladies started the round with Two Reeds: 'Booker', then 'Torv', and then 'Deng'; they saw them to be the surnames of Rupert Murdoch's wives, so suggested 'Hall' for the points. The Pyromaniacs chose Twisted Flax next: 'North: Poland', then 'East: Slovakia'; they came in at this point with 'West: Austria', but were not correct. Their opponents saw 'South: Austria', and suggested 'West: Germany' for the points, the sequence being countries that border the Czech Republic. For their own question, the Ladies chose Water: '1/4: Hitler imprisoned', then '2/5: Osama Bin Laden killed'; they spotted them to be events that happened on the 1st of April and 2nd of May, so suggested '4/7: American Independence Day' for the three points. The Pyromaniacs chose Lion next: '1999 (303)', then '2003 (304)', and then '2011 (305)'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are years represented by prime numbers, so '2017 (306)' would be fourth. For their final choice, the Ladies chose Eye of Horus: 'Hermes', then 'Aphrodite', and then 'Gaia'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the Greek equivalents of the Roman Gods after whom the planets are named, so 'Ares' would come fourth. Left with Horned Viper, and the pictures, for their own final question, the Pyromaniacs saw someone getting a tattoo, then a young lady driving a car, and then a lottery ticket being printed. Neither team got this: they are things you have to be 18, 17 and 16 to do, so something one must be 15 to do, like see a 15 rated film, would come fourth. At the end of the second round, the Ladies led 8-2.
On to the Walls. The Pyromaniacs went first, and chose the Lion wall. They quickly isolated 'Slough', 'Cookham', 'Windor' and 'Ascot', which are locales in Berkshire, followed soon after by 'Javert', 'Juliet', 'Antigone' and 'Brunnhilde', which are, not operatic heroines as they suggested, but fictional characters who commit suicide. They had the final clues sorted on their second try: 'Sedan', 'Club', 'Easy' and 'High' are types of chair, which they knew, while 'Reading', 'Queen', 'Romeo' and 'Rook' are things represented by the letter R, which they didn't get. Six points there then.
The Ladies thus could put the game beyond realistic reach with a good result on the Water wall. It proved somewhat difficult though; though they could see numerous connections, they couldn't isolate anything. Eventually, they were timed out with nothing sorted, and had to try for bonus connection points: 'Stamford Bridge', 'Hastings', 'Badon' and 'Edington' are Anglo-Saxon battles, which they got, 'Turf Moor', 'Anfield', 'Deepdale' and 'Molineux' are English football stadiums, which they also got, 'Red', 'Traveling Matt', 'Wembley' and 'Boober' are Fraggles from Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock, which they also knew, while 'Spotlight', 'Cyc flood', 'Gobo' and 'Scroller' are types of lighting, which they also spotted. Four there then, which gave them a lead of 12-8 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels would decide who went where. 'Characters and the food they like' was split 2-each. 'Three consecutive things', such as 'THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY' and 'BROWN CAMERON MAY' (which I spotted, but neither team did), went to the Ladies 3-0. 'People who took part in the D-Day Landings' went to the Ladies 2-1, and that was time. The Ladies won, 19-11.
A good game, some tough questions there, well played both teams in the circumstances. Unlucky Pyromaniacs, best of luck in the play-off matches (where they'll possibly play the Durhamites, if that afore-mentioned article is to be believed). Well done Ladies though, and best of luck in the quarter-finals!
Tomorrow's match: the Brews vs the Dicers (it would appear the Forrests have had to withdraw, so the Brews have been given a reprieve)
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