Only Connect Series 14: Quarter-Final 4: Dicers vs Birdwatchers

OK, here we go with this week's Only Connect, and the 300th show! Commemorated by a donkey pinata which was lowered down alongside Victoria throughout the show, and which, after pretending to not know what to do, she destroyed during the credits. The show itself was a rematch, seemingly avoidable, but, according to a comment last week, the result of unfortunate circumstances in the filming schedule. May I recommend they film it the same way they do UC next series to avoid this happening again?

Playing were the Dicers, George Corfield, Joey Goldman and captain Hugh Binnie, who defeated their opponents tonight in the first round and the Brews in the second, and the Birdwatchers, Chris Grandison, Keli Richards and captain Lauren Hamer, who, after losing that first match, also beat the Brews and then the Westenders to make it here tonight.

Round 1. The Dicers opened the show with Eye of Horus, and the picture round: we saw cricketer Zaheer Abbas, then Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, then the Cerne Abbas giant, and finally four pictures of ABBA. They saw the link, and collected the first point of the game. The Birdwatchers opened their account with Twisted Flax: 'Archery: 10', then 'Ten-pin bowling: 25', then 'Snooker: 4.0833...', and finally 'Darts: 55.6666...'. They saw them to be the best average scores possible in those games, and also collected a sole point to start with. The Dicers chose Lion next: 'House of Commons, 1939', then 'Isle of Lewis ferry, 2009', then 'Jonathan Edwards, 1993', and finally 'The Sun, 2012'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are the years when they did what they do on Sundays for the first time. For their own question, the Birdwatchers chose Water, and got the music question: we heard Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright with 'With You I'm Born Again', then Mahler's Symphony No. 2 'The Resurrection', then Evanescence with 'Bring Me to Life', and finally the Stone Roses with 'I Am the Resurrection'. They saw the link, and collected another single point. The Dicers chose Horned Viper next: 'Twelve Oaks', then 'Miss Maudie Atkinson's house', then 'Thornfield Hall', and finally 'Manderley'. They didn't quite get it, nor did their opponents: they are fictional houses that burnt down. Left with Two Reeds, the Birdwatchers saw 'Wimbledon champions: SAMPRAS HEWITT', then 'Letters in NATO phonetic alphabet: QUEBEC HOTEL', then 'Oscar winning films: AVATAR GOODFELLAS', and finally 'Countries: PANAMA LIBYA'. Neither team spotted this classic fiendish OC question: there is a third one of those hidden among the two ('samprASHEwitt', 'quebECHOtel', 'avatARGOodfellas', and 'panaMALIbya'). At the end of the first round, the Birdwatchers led 3-1.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Dicers started the round with Eye of Horus again: 'A JK, then 'E BCDGPTV'; they saw it to be consonants that rhyme with those vowels, so offered 'O' on its own for the three points. The Birdwatchers chose Horned Viper next: 'Uranus', then 'Cronus', and then 'Zeus'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: 'Heracles' would complete the set, the sequence being that each clue fathered the next. For their own question, the Dicers chose Lion, and got the picture set: we saw Marilyn Monroe alongside '/1000', then Carey Mulligan alongside '/100', and then Madonna alongside '1'. Neither side quite got this: they are units of measurement and celebs with those initials, so Kylie Minogue alongside 'x1000' would complete the set acceptably. The Birdwatchers chose Two Reeds next: 'Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher', then 'Marie Dressler as Min Divot', and then 'Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the oldest winners of the Best Actress Oscar, so 'Jessica Tandy as Daisy Werthan' completes the set. For their final choice, the Dicers chose Water: 'Thick oozy mud', then 'A big dark forest', and then 'A swirling whirling snowstorm'. They though it might be something to do with the Circles of Hell, and suggested 'Satan frozen in ice'; not right. Their opponents knew it to be what is encountered in the book/film 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', but their offer of 'A river' wasn't right either. 'A narrow gloomy cave' complete the set. Left with Twisted Flax, the Birdwatchers saw '72 Sarthe', then '73 Savoie', and then '74 Haute-Savoie'. They suggested '75 Paris', and were correct, the sequence being French departements. At the end of the second round, the teams were tied on 5-each.

On to the Walls. The Birdwatchers went first, and chose the Water wall. They quickly isolated 'Drive', 'The Great Beyond', 'Stand' and 'Man on the Moon', which are songs by REM, followed shortly afterwards by 'McManus', 'Cooper', 'Duminy' and 'Morgan', which are surnames of men known by the initials JP. The final clues didn't take long for them to deal with either: 'Pew', 'Hike', 'Bow' and 'Break' can all follow 'Take a', while 'Lotus', 'McLaren', 'Ginetta' and 'Caterham' are British sports car manufacturers. A full ten there.

The Dicers thus set to work on the Lion wall. They also had two sets done in very short order: 'Meir', 'Ardern', 'Sirleaf' and 'Bhutto' are surnames of female world leaders, while 'Blue', 'So(l)', 'Catherine Howard' and 'May' are the fifth things in a sequence. After taking their time to work out the final two links, they had the clues sorted: 'Bardo', 'Bodies', 'Pi' and 'Lac' are the final words of the titles of Booker Prize winner novels, while 'Electro Velvet', 'Michael Ball', 'Imaani' and 'Jemini' are UK Eurovision entrants. Another full ten, so as you were, the teams were tied 15-each going into the final round.

So, Missing Vowels would decide the final place in the semis. 'Things that are 300', such as 'CCC IN ROMAN NUMERALS' and 'THIS EPISODE OF ONLY CONNECT', went to the Birdwatchers 3-1. 'People with two or more blue plaques in London' was a clean sweep to the Dicers, 4-0. 'Countries of seven syllables' was a 1-1 tie. 'Pranksters' gave one to the Dicers, and that was time. The Dicers won 22-19.

Another fine contest, one of the best of the series so far, some good questions and quizzing from both teams. Unlucky Birdwatchers, but a fine series of performances and a good one to go out on; thanks for playing! Very well done Dicers though, and very best of luck in the semis!

Next week's match: the first semi-final! Don't know the fixture yet, will look out for it.

Back tomorrow/Saturday with my usual UC semi-final preview.