OK, here we finally go with this week's Only Connect, and a match I've been waiting for since before the series began. Before the series began, my Grandfather mailed me an article about the show from the Radio Times, and a picture accompanying it depicted the studio with this game about to be filmed. I considered writing an email to them admonishing them for revealing a non first round fixture, but ultimately didn't, even if it did mean the results of two matches earlier in the series were inadvertently spoiled.
Anyway, playing this long awaited match were the Durhamites, Adam Robertson, James France and captain George Twigg, who lost to the LARPers but recovered with a victory over the Hotpots, and the Pyromaniacs, Suzy Turner, her brother Jeremy Turner and captain Dave Ryan, who started with a win over the Cartoonists but were then overcome by the Time Ladies.
Round 1. The Pyromaniacs started the show with Lion: 'Cyrus and James: rugs and slippers', then 'John: herbal medicines', then 'William: newspapers', and finally 'Michael and Thomas: a range of goods for one penny each'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the forenames of the founders of shops selling those things (Clarks, Boots, WH Smiths and M&S respectively). The Durhamites opened their show with Water: 'Poisoned pen', then 'Fungus filled diving suit'; they identified them as attempted assassinations of Fidel Castro by the CIA, and collected three points. (That stage step he fell off did a better job of trying to assassinate him than the CIA ever did!) The Pyromaniacs chose Twisted Flax next: 'Steinhauer', then 'Trotsky', then 'Musk'; they saw them to be surnames of famous men called 'Olen', 'Leon' and 'Elon', and duly collected the two points for the link. (The last one would've been 'Edmonds', of course) The Durhamites chose 'Horn-ed' Viper next: 'Bourbon restoration', then 'Fair jump', then 'Dido hit'; they spotted them to things associated with or indicated by white flags, and collected another two points there. The Pyromaniacs chose Two Reeds next, and got the picture set: we saw some catnip flowers, then some cowslip flowers, then a spider plant, and finally some foxgloves. They didn't recognise the first two, but did the second two, and duly spotted the link for the point. Left with Eye of Horus, and the music set, the Durhamites heard Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman', then 'Dignity' by Deacon Blue, then Tina Turner with 'Proud Mary', and finally the Beach Boys with 'Sloop John B'. They didn't see the link, nor did their opponents: they are songs about and named after ships or boats. At the end of the first round, the Durhamites led 5-3.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Pyromaniacs started with Horned Viper: 'Klingon opera', then 'Tony Harrison's class epic', and then 'Stone's presidential biopic'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are 'U', 'V' and 'W', so offered 'The code for a surprise appearance at a Japanese wrestling event' as 'X' for the bonus! For their own question, the Durhamites chose Water, and got the picture set: we saw a '7' in a green square, then a '12' in an amber square; they saw them to be PEGI ratings for video games, so offered an '18' in a red square for the three points. The Pyromaniacs chose Lion next: 'TEN' (with each letter in different colours), then 'FORTY' (ditto), and then 'FORTY-SIX' (ditto). Neither team got this: they are numbers with no repeated letters in their names (hence the coloured letters), so 'SIXTY' would be fourth. The Durhamites chose Eye of Horus next: '4th Nicholas Patrick', then '3rd Piers Sellers', and then '2nd Michael Foale'. They knew Mr Foale to be an astronaut, so ventured an educated guess of '1st Helen Sharman', and were correct for the points, the sequence being the first four British people in space. For their final choice, the Pyromaniacs chose Twisted Flax: '2028 Washington DC', then '2016 Brasilia', and then '2000 Canberra'. They saw it to be something to do with the Olympics, and offered '1996 Washington DC', correctly for the two points, the sequence being years when the Olympics were not held in a capital city, and the capitals of the countries that hosted. Left with Two Reeds, the Durhamites saw 'Aussie Rules field umpire: "game over"', then 'Mo Farah: "I've won"', and then 'Semaphore: "X"'. They saw them to be hand actions that resemble 'Y', 'M' and 'C', so suggested, and demonstrated(!), 'miming a church' for 'A' for the two points. At the end of the second round, the Durhamites led 13-5.
On to the Walls. The Durhamites went first, and chose the Water wall. They spotted some possible connections immediately, and had a first set done pretty quickly: 'Grays', 'Basildon', 'Maldon' and 'Colchester' are places in Essex. They quickly had a second set done too, 'Junk', 'Debris', 'Trash' and 'Litter' are synonyms of 'rubbish', and in no time at all had the wall solved: 'Waste', 'Tow', 'Mussel' and 'Hart' are homophones of body parts, while 'Bail', 'Basildon', 'Covalent' and 'Premium' can all precede 'Bond'. A very quick full ten there.
The Pyromaniacs thus set to work on the Lion wall. It proved somewhat harder than their opponents' wall, but they were soon on their way with two sets in quick succession: 'Botting', 'Brazier', 'Ridge' and 'Murnaghan' are surnames of newsreaders on Sky, while 'Boulton', 'Hide', 'Berry' and 'Sail' are homphones of places in Greater Manchester. The final clues slotted in nicely after that: 'Egg', 'Pimples', 'Barnacle' and 'Step' can all follow 'Goose', while 'Stove', 'Samovar', 'Etna' and 'Furnace' are heating devices. Another full ten there, so as you were, the Durhamites led 23-15.
So, Missing Vowels to finish off, with the Pyromaniacs needing a shutout to stand a chance. 'Angelic phrases', such as 'GUARDIAN ANGEL' and 'ANGELS ON HORSEBACK', went to the Pyromaniacs 2-0. 'Devlish phrases', such as 'THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL' and 'BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW', was split 2-each. 'Darts players from Stoke' went to the Durhamites 2-0, and that was time. The Durhamites won 27-19.
Another good game with two good teams quizzing well, well played both. Unlucky Pyromaniacs, but a respectable series of performances, thanks very much for playing! Well done Durhamites though, and best of luck in the quarter-finals!
Next week's match: the Hotpots vs the Brews. Looks like there has been another withdrawal, so another team has been reprieved.
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