Evening all. So, the last quarter-final of the series, and quite possibly the last I cover on this blog for a while, as I am still undecided about whether I am going to take the next series off. Tonight, a fixture that many would call a foregone conclusion at the start of the round, in spite of one team's last outing seeing them beaten by a much bigger margin than might have been expected.
Trinity College Cambridge beat Durham (already in the semis) in the first round, Lady Margaret Hall of Oxford in the second and Manchester in the preliminaries, but their qualifier saw them lose 245-80 to Corpus Christi. Hoping for a prompt bounce back were the unchanged foursome of:
Nadia Hourihan, from Dublin, studying English
Lillian Crawford, from Bearsted in Kent, studying History
Captain: Joseph Webber, from Bury St Edmunds, studying Maths
Liam Hughes, from Cardiff, studying Maths
Jesus College Oxford lost their first match to Manchester, beat Sheffield to come through the play-offs, overcame Birmingham in the second round, lost their prelim to Durham, then recovered again by beating Courtauld 135-90 in the eliminators. They were also unchanged from before:
Lucy Clarke, from Ottershaw in Surrey, studying Early Modern History
James Cashman, from Guildford, studying History
Captain: Matt Cook, from Wellington, New Zealand, studying PPE
Miranda Stevens, from Sevenoaks, studying Biology
Off we set again then, and the match kicked off with both sides guessing a literary figure buried in Poet's Corner, and neither guessing correctly. Mr Hughes got things going properly with a nice cryptic question about presidents of the USA who share their names with UK locations; the Cambridge side opened with a full bonus set on scientific events of 1920. A forebodingly quick buzz from Mr Webber pushed Trinity further ahead, giving them a bonus set on menages a trois, of which they got just the one (I got Laurence Olivier). A question that is now out of date (but forgivably, unlike that Bob Dylan howler a couple of years back) went to Mr Hughes, and another full set of bouses was quickly hoovered up. Mr Cook did the right thing and had an early punt on the next starter, but was wrong, allowing Mr Hughes the points again; another full set added to Jesus' misery. The first picture round, on stadiums that were meant to host the Euros this summer but will now do so next summer instead, allowed Jesus to get off the mark; a full set reduced their gap to 90-20.
Ms Hourihan quickly resumed Trinity's dominance with a quick buzz of 'Gilead' on the next starter; one bonus on words derived from American indigenous langauges followed. And the Cambridge side weren't letting up, Mr Hughes very quickly getting the next starter and Paxo not being allowed to complete two of the bonuses as they quickly swept up another full set. Mr Cashman pulled back for Jesus by identifying the decade when various listed events happened as the 1850s; no bonuses on Ancient Persia were taken though, and a penalty added to their problems. Mr Webber took the points, and bonuses on serendipity gave the Cambridge side yet another full set, and, already, you'd have to say, they looked well out of reach.
The music round, on pop songs whose title doesn't get sung until the final verse, went to Trinity; another full set increased their lead to 180-25. Both sides guessed a breed of toy dog for the next starter, but neither guessed Pomeranian; a second starter in a row also fell by the wayside, a rather complicated maths one that both teams appeared to be guessing. Mr Cashman finally got some points on the board by naming his favourite cheese spread, Philadelphia; just one bonus fell for the Oxonians however. Mr Webber was back in for Trinity with 'cement', giving a bonus set on Indian states, two of which took them to 200 points. Neither side identified the birth place of Samuel Eto'o for the next starter; Ms Clarke took the next for Jesus, and two bonuses on George Orwell ensured we wouldn't be getting a second inductee into the Sub-50 club in as many weeks.
The second picture round, on artworks from the 20th century depicting New York City, went to Trinity; one bonus took the scores to 215-60. It was now just a question of how high both teams could get; Mr Hughes won the race to the buzzer to say 'midnight' for the next starter, and one bonus on astronomy just added to their total.
Ms Hourihan identified David as the painter of works featuring various listed subjects for the next starter (Socrates, as in The Death of, being the giveaway); again, just one bonus, on African geography, was taken. Mr Hughes pushed the Cambridge side within sight of a 200 point lead by taking the next starter, giving them a bonus set on fictional countries, of which they took two, including a welcome mention of Chaplin's The Great Dictator. Another very quick buzz from Ms Hourihan gave Trinity a bonus set on people who were assassinated (JR was not one of them!); they got nothing from these, offering the wrong Tsar Alexander and suggesting William Wallace was King of Scotland! Ms Stevens pulled one last starter back for Jesus with a well anticipated quick buzz, and one bonus gave the Oxford side a more respectable score. The last starter went to Mr Hughes, and that was the gong; Trinity won 285-75.
Another enjoyable contest, despite it being so one-sided. Unlucky Jesus, but, as Paxo said, no shame in going out at this stage, and a fine series of performances to fall back on, thanks very much indeed for playing. Very well done Trinity though, and very best of luck in the semi-finals!
The stats: Mr Hughes was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr Cashman was best for Jesus with two, though Ms Clarke was their best of the series overall with 19. On the bonuses Trinity converted a good 27 out of 42, while Jesus managed 7 out of 15 (with two penalties).
Next week's match: the first semi-final. I would guess Corpus Christi vs Durham and Imperial vs Trinity would be the fixtures, but we shall see. A full preview will be coming later in the week.
Only Connect concluded tonight with a most enjoyable grand final between the 007s and the Suits; a review of that will also be coming up in the coming days.
Monday, 30 March 2020
Thursday, 26 March 2020
Only Connect Series 15: Third Place Play-Off: Forrests vs Turophiles
OK, so, back for two weeks only, it's my usual OC write-ups. In all honesty, I've enjoyed this series quite a lot, I think not watching it back and disecting it in great deal has maybe gone some way towards that, oddly. Yeah, I still think last series was better, but this has been a good one too. The return to the old format has helped the last two I think.
On with the third place play-off on Monday: playing were the Forrests, Jenny Forrest, Belinda Weir and captain Oliver Forrest, and the Turophiles, Bob Wolstenholme, Katie McCorkindale and captain Jascha Elliot.
Round 1. The Forrests immediately opened with Two Reeds and the music set: we heard The Temperance Seven, then The Doobie Brothers, then Barenaked Ladies, and finally Mumford and Sons. They didn't spot the link, nor did their opponents: all their names are misleading. The Turophiles started their game with Lion, and the picture set: we saw the designer Sir Jony Ive alongside the word 'Dance', then Steve Cram alongside 'Go away'; they buzzed at this point and suggested that adding an S to their surnames gives a word meaning those things, which wasn't quite right. Their opponents saw Teri Hatcher alongside 'Roof installer' and Tom Hawks alongside 'Expression of gratitude'; they posited that adding the first letter of their forename to their surname gives a word meaning that, which gave them a bonus. For their own question, the Forrests chose Twisted Flax: 'YouTube in Belgium', then 'Google in Greenland', then 'Instagram in Armenia', and finally 'Bitly in Libya'. They didn't quite get close enough for the points, nor did their opponents: the short-form URLs of those websites are those countries' domain names. The Turophiles chose Water next: 'Aural meditation on 'Finnegans Wake'', then 'Solo to be performed by anyone in any way', then '20 works, with screws, nuts and bolts placed inside a piano'; they saw them to be descriptions of compositions by John Cage, and collected two points. The Forrests chose Horned Viper next: 'Euphorbia pulcherrima: cranberry juice and cointreau', then '1932 Hemingway book about bullfighting: absinthe', then '1990 Alannah Myles hit: Guinness', and finally '1981 Eurovision winners: orange juice'. They identified that adding champagne to the fluids gives a cocktail, which gave them a point. Left with Eye of Horus, the Turophiles saw 'G Mountain ranges in USA, Jamaica and Australia', then 'E Singer born Alecia Beth Moore', then 'SN Can precede gage, finch and fly'; they suggested them to be the first letters of Trivial Pursuit categories and clues to their respective colours, and collected the two points. At the end of the first round, the Turophiles led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Forrests started with Lion: 'Tie bin', then 'Dismiss fir'; they identified that adding D to 'bin' gives 'bind', which means 'tie', and E to 'fir' would give 'fire' meaning 'dismiss', so suggested 'Rattle clan', which was acceptable as an added G for the points. The Turophiles chose Eye of Horus next: 'The Band of the Coldstream Guards', then 'Status Quo', and then 'The Style Council'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are performers at Live Aid in 1985, so 'The Boomtown Rats' would come next. The Forrests chose Horned Viper next, and got a music sequence: we heard three versions of 'I Got You Babe', firstly by Avid Merrion, Davina McCall and Patsy Kensit, then by Cher with Beavis and Butt-Head, and finally by UB40 with Chrissie Hynd. They suggested the Sonny and Cher version, and were correct for the points. The Turophiles chose Two Reeds next: 'Peterborough United 8-7 Wolverhampton Wanderers', then 'Queen's Park Rangers 6-5 Charlton Athletic', and then 'Aston Villa 4-3 Blackpool'. They didn't offer an acceptable answer, their opponents did: 'Wrexham 2-1 York' would suffice, the sequence being the number of vowels in the teams' names. (On a point of pedantry, it's York CITY, so that wouldn't work!) For their own final choice, the Forrests chose Twisted Flax and got the picture set: we saw a skier, then a butterfly, and then someone getting their back stroked. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the fastest swimming strokes, so a breast (of any sort!) being stroked would be fourth. Left with Water, the Turophiles saw '4th: Choi' and a Korean letter I can't reproduce here, then '3rd: Park' and another; they saw them to be the most common family names in Korea, and offered '1st: Kim' for the points. At the end of the second round, the Forrests led 8-7.
On to the Walls. The Turophile went first, and chose the Lion wall. After a few wrong tries, they got two sets in succession about half way through: 'Jude', 'Eustacia', 'Michael' and 'Bathsheba' are Thomas Hardy characters, while 'Common', 'Martial', 'Natural' and 'Murphy's' can all precede 'law'. They couldn't resolve it in their three goes though, so had to go for bonuses: 'Harp', 'Porterhouse', 'Beamish' and 'Guinness' are Irish beers, while 'Athelstan', 'Kilkenny', 'Hysteric' and 'Ankyle' all end with the names of the leads in South Park, both of which they got. Six there then.
The Forrests thus set to work on the Water wall. They got a first set quite quickly: 'Moana', 'Mare', 'Mer' and 'Zee' are words meaning 'sea' in different languages. A second set, 'Jenny', 'Jill', 'Hen' and 'Eye', which are female animals, followed shortly, and they solved the rest on their second go: 'The Firm', 'New Day Co-op', 'Deadly Vipers' and 'Advanced Idea Mechanics' are fictional crime groups (and not, as they suggested, teams from Robot Wars! Which links nicely into something I may or may not talk about next week!), while 'Spectre', 'Nix', 'Hind' and 'Armour Trading' are homophones of the surnames of singer-songwriters. Seven points there then, which meant they led 15-13 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to decide the game. 'Back-to-front culinary dishes', such as 'TOAST ON BEANS' and 'HOLE IN THE TOAD', went to the Turophiles 3-1. 'Bands and landmarks they loosely rhyme with', such as 'THE KINKS AND THE SPHYNX', went to the Forrests 4-0. 'Parts played by John Malkovich', including 'JOHN MALKOVICH' in the film 'Being John Malkovich(!), was split 2-each. 'Fantastic beasts and the books in which you'd find them' had one clue timed out. The Forrests won 22-18.
Good game, well played by both teams, both in the show tonight, and in the series as a whole! Thanks very much both teams!
Next week: the final, between the 007s and the Suits
On with the third place play-off on Monday: playing were the Forrests, Jenny Forrest, Belinda Weir and captain Oliver Forrest, and the Turophiles, Bob Wolstenholme, Katie McCorkindale and captain Jascha Elliot.
Round 1. The Forrests immediately opened with Two Reeds and the music set: we heard The Temperance Seven, then The Doobie Brothers, then Barenaked Ladies, and finally Mumford and Sons. They didn't spot the link, nor did their opponents: all their names are misleading. The Turophiles started their game with Lion, and the picture set: we saw the designer Sir Jony Ive alongside the word 'Dance', then Steve Cram alongside 'Go away'; they buzzed at this point and suggested that adding an S to their surnames gives a word meaning those things, which wasn't quite right. Their opponents saw Teri Hatcher alongside 'Roof installer' and Tom Hawks alongside 'Expression of gratitude'; they posited that adding the first letter of their forename to their surname gives a word meaning that, which gave them a bonus. For their own question, the Forrests chose Twisted Flax: 'YouTube in Belgium', then 'Google in Greenland', then 'Instagram in Armenia', and finally 'Bitly in Libya'. They didn't quite get close enough for the points, nor did their opponents: the short-form URLs of those websites are those countries' domain names. The Turophiles chose Water next: 'Aural meditation on 'Finnegans Wake'', then 'Solo to be performed by anyone in any way', then '20 works, with screws, nuts and bolts placed inside a piano'; they saw them to be descriptions of compositions by John Cage, and collected two points. The Forrests chose Horned Viper next: 'Euphorbia pulcherrima: cranberry juice and cointreau', then '1932 Hemingway book about bullfighting: absinthe', then '1990 Alannah Myles hit: Guinness', and finally '1981 Eurovision winners: orange juice'. They identified that adding champagne to the fluids gives a cocktail, which gave them a point. Left with Eye of Horus, the Turophiles saw 'G Mountain ranges in USA, Jamaica and Australia', then 'E Singer born Alecia Beth Moore', then 'SN Can precede gage, finch and fly'; they suggested them to be the first letters of Trivial Pursuit categories and clues to their respective colours, and collected the two points. At the end of the first round, the Turophiles led 4-2.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Forrests started with Lion: 'Tie bin', then 'Dismiss fir'; they identified that adding D to 'bin' gives 'bind', which means 'tie', and E to 'fir' would give 'fire' meaning 'dismiss', so suggested 'Rattle clan', which was acceptable as an added G for the points. The Turophiles chose Eye of Horus next: 'The Band of the Coldstream Guards', then 'Status Quo', and then 'The Style Council'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are performers at Live Aid in 1985, so 'The Boomtown Rats' would come next. The Forrests chose Horned Viper next, and got a music sequence: we heard three versions of 'I Got You Babe', firstly by Avid Merrion, Davina McCall and Patsy Kensit, then by Cher with Beavis and Butt-Head, and finally by UB40 with Chrissie Hynd. They suggested the Sonny and Cher version, and were correct for the points. The Turophiles chose Two Reeds next: 'Peterborough United 8-7 Wolverhampton Wanderers', then 'Queen's Park Rangers 6-5 Charlton Athletic', and then 'Aston Villa 4-3 Blackpool'. They didn't offer an acceptable answer, their opponents did: 'Wrexham 2-1 York' would suffice, the sequence being the number of vowels in the teams' names. (On a point of pedantry, it's York CITY, so that wouldn't work!) For their own final choice, the Forrests chose Twisted Flax and got the picture set: we saw a skier, then a butterfly, and then someone getting their back stroked. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are the fastest swimming strokes, so a breast (of any sort!) being stroked would be fourth. Left with Water, the Turophiles saw '4th: Choi' and a Korean letter I can't reproduce here, then '3rd: Park' and another; they saw them to be the most common family names in Korea, and offered '1st: Kim' for the points. At the end of the second round, the Forrests led 8-7.
On to the Walls. The Turophile went first, and chose the Lion wall. After a few wrong tries, they got two sets in succession about half way through: 'Jude', 'Eustacia', 'Michael' and 'Bathsheba' are Thomas Hardy characters, while 'Common', 'Martial', 'Natural' and 'Murphy's' can all precede 'law'. They couldn't resolve it in their three goes though, so had to go for bonuses: 'Harp', 'Porterhouse', 'Beamish' and 'Guinness' are Irish beers, while 'Athelstan', 'Kilkenny', 'Hysteric' and 'Ankyle' all end with the names of the leads in South Park, both of which they got. Six there then.
The Forrests thus set to work on the Water wall. They got a first set quite quickly: 'Moana', 'Mare', 'Mer' and 'Zee' are words meaning 'sea' in different languages. A second set, 'Jenny', 'Jill', 'Hen' and 'Eye', which are female animals, followed shortly, and they solved the rest on their second go: 'The Firm', 'New Day Co-op', 'Deadly Vipers' and 'Advanced Idea Mechanics' are fictional crime groups (and not, as they suggested, teams from Robot Wars! Which links nicely into something I may or may not talk about next week!), while 'Spectre', 'Nix', 'Hind' and 'Armour Trading' are homophones of the surnames of singer-songwriters. Seven points there then, which meant they led 15-13 going into the final round.
So, Missing Vowels to decide the game. 'Back-to-front culinary dishes', such as 'TOAST ON BEANS' and 'HOLE IN THE TOAD', went to the Turophiles 3-1. 'Bands and landmarks they loosely rhyme with', such as 'THE KINKS AND THE SPHYNX', went to the Forrests 4-0. 'Parts played by John Malkovich', including 'JOHN MALKOVICH' in the film 'Being John Malkovich(!), was split 2-each. 'Fantastic beasts and the books in which you'd find them' had one clue timed out. The Forrests won 22-18.
Good game, well played by both teams, both in the show tonight, and in the series as a whole! Thanks very much both teams!
Next week: the final, between the 007s and the Suits
Monday, 23 March 2020
University Challenge 2019-20: Play-Off Quarter-Final 1: Wolfson vs Durham
Evening all. So, not long left in the quizzing calendar; Mastermind is nearly done, and Only Connect's final is next week, which, along with tonight's third place play-off, I shall be giving a full review to later in the week. Just four more UCs left after tonight too; tonight, we welcomed back two teams who might have been among the frontunners for the semis at the start of the QFs, but one would be out tonight; the other would take the third place in the semis.
Wolfson College Oxford beat Sheffield on a tie-break in the first round, comprehensively beat Edinburgh in the second, narrowly lost to Corpus Christi in the preliminaries, before sneaking past Manchester on a 130-each tie-break in the eliminators. They were unchanged from those previous games:
Mike Perrin, from Japan, studying Archaeology
Mary Caple, from Victoria, Canada, studying Art History
Captain: Claire Jones, from Houston, Texas, studying History
Ryan Walker, from Stone in Staffordshire, studying Clinical Medicine
Durham lost their first match to Trinity, came through the play-offs by beating York, trounced Southampton in the first round, beat Jesus in the prelims, before losing their qualifier 185-115 to Imperial. They were also the same four as before:
Charles Bland, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Philosophy
William Tams, from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, studying Biosciences
Captain: Joe Cooper, from London, studying Chemistry
Arthur Raffle, from Manchester, studying French and German
Off we set again then, and Mr Raffle opened the scoring for the night by identifying the plaque commemorating the founding of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood; one single bonus opened the Wearsiders' account. Mr Tams increased their advantage with Ukraine, and the bonuses on magnetism provided two further correct bonuses. A rather complicated maths starter of the sort UC does brilliantly was up next, but neither side had it. A quick buzz from Mr Raffle moved Durham further ahead, and another pair of bonuses followed. The first picture round, on diagrams depicted metabolic pathways, went to Durham; another two correct bonuses took their lead to 75-0.
Ms Jones finally awoke her side on the next starter with 'fricative'; a bonus set on the work of David Hilbert, however, gave them no further points. A quick buzz saw Mr Walker identify the only two elements with a 'V' in their name as Vanadium and Livermorium; another classic UC set of bonuses, on pairs of countries whose English names end in the same two letters, gave the Oxonians a much needed full set. A third starter in a row went to Wolfson thanks to their captain; just the one bonus followed this time. Mr Bland decided that was enough of that, and reawoke Durham with the next starter; the work of Helen Taussig gave the Wearsiders just one bonus this time.
Mr Raffle very quickly took the music starter; the bonuses, on classical pieces inspired by folk melodies, didn't give his side any further bonuses however, leaving their lead at 105-50. It went further up as Mr Raffle took a second starter in a row, giving his side a bonus set on Central Asian history, of which they took just the one bonus. It didn't matter at the moment though, as Mr Cooper took the next starter; a full set of bonuses put them 95 ahead and in firm command going into the final minutes.
The second picture round, on quartets of concurrent holders of the four great offices of state with one missing, went to Durham, after the starter was dropped and Wolfson lost five on a replacement; the Wearsiders took just one bonus, but had now opened up a lead of 160-45. And when Mr Raffle appeared to correctly guess the composer Webern for the next starter, that was definitely game over; one bonus on aircraft followed.
Now it was just a question of how high either side could get. Mr Tams pushed Durham closer to 200 as he took the next starter; bonuses on Scottish ferry points gave just one correct answer, but it was irrelevant now. Mr Raffle took the final starter identifying two of the Irish counties that border Northern Ireland, and the gong cut off their discussion of the final bonus. Durham won 205-45.
A one sided but enjoyable contest nonetheless. Unlucky Wolfson, simply outbuzzed tonight, but a fine series of performances still, thanks very much indeed for playing. Well done Durham though, another strong performance against proven good opponents, and very best of luck in the semi-finals!
The stats: Mr Raffle was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Ms Jones was, once again, best for Wolfson with two, ending her team's run with a final total of 29. On the bonuses, Wolfson converted 4 out of 9 (with the night's one penalty), while Durham managed 17 out of 36.
Next week's match: Trinity vs Jesus
Only Connect had its penultimate match tonight, the third place play-off between the Forrests and the Turophiles; a full review of the match will follow in the coming days (I'll be doing one for next week's final too).
Wolfson College Oxford beat Sheffield on a tie-break in the first round, comprehensively beat Edinburgh in the second, narrowly lost to Corpus Christi in the preliminaries, before sneaking past Manchester on a 130-each tie-break in the eliminators. They were unchanged from those previous games:
Mike Perrin, from Japan, studying Archaeology
Mary Caple, from Victoria, Canada, studying Art History
Captain: Claire Jones, from Houston, Texas, studying History
Ryan Walker, from Stone in Staffordshire, studying Clinical Medicine
Durham lost their first match to Trinity, came through the play-offs by beating York, trounced Southampton in the first round, beat Jesus in the prelims, before losing their qualifier 185-115 to Imperial. They were also the same four as before:
Charles Bland, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Philosophy
William Tams, from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, studying Biosciences
Captain: Joe Cooper, from London, studying Chemistry
Arthur Raffle, from Manchester, studying French and German
Off we set again then, and Mr Raffle opened the scoring for the night by identifying the plaque commemorating the founding of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood; one single bonus opened the Wearsiders' account. Mr Tams increased their advantage with Ukraine, and the bonuses on magnetism provided two further correct bonuses. A rather complicated maths starter of the sort UC does brilliantly was up next, but neither side had it. A quick buzz from Mr Raffle moved Durham further ahead, and another pair of bonuses followed. The first picture round, on diagrams depicted metabolic pathways, went to Durham; another two correct bonuses took their lead to 75-0.
Ms Jones finally awoke her side on the next starter with 'fricative'; a bonus set on the work of David Hilbert, however, gave them no further points. A quick buzz saw Mr Walker identify the only two elements with a 'V' in their name as Vanadium and Livermorium; another classic UC set of bonuses, on pairs of countries whose English names end in the same two letters, gave the Oxonians a much needed full set. A third starter in a row went to Wolfson thanks to their captain; just the one bonus followed this time. Mr Bland decided that was enough of that, and reawoke Durham with the next starter; the work of Helen Taussig gave the Wearsiders just one bonus this time.
Mr Raffle very quickly took the music starter; the bonuses, on classical pieces inspired by folk melodies, didn't give his side any further bonuses however, leaving their lead at 105-50. It went further up as Mr Raffle took a second starter in a row, giving his side a bonus set on Central Asian history, of which they took just the one bonus. It didn't matter at the moment though, as Mr Cooper took the next starter; a full set of bonuses put them 95 ahead and in firm command going into the final minutes.
The second picture round, on quartets of concurrent holders of the four great offices of state with one missing, went to Durham, after the starter was dropped and Wolfson lost five on a replacement; the Wearsiders took just one bonus, but had now opened up a lead of 160-45. And when Mr Raffle appeared to correctly guess the composer Webern for the next starter, that was definitely game over; one bonus on aircraft followed.
Now it was just a question of how high either side could get. Mr Tams pushed Durham closer to 200 as he took the next starter; bonuses on Scottish ferry points gave just one correct answer, but it was irrelevant now. Mr Raffle took the final starter identifying two of the Irish counties that border Northern Ireland, and the gong cut off their discussion of the final bonus. Durham won 205-45.
A one sided but enjoyable contest nonetheless. Unlucky Wolfson, simply outbuzzed tonight, but a fine series of performances still, thanks very much indeed for playing. Well done Durham though, another strong performance against proven good opponents, and very best of luck in the semi-finals!
The stats: Mr Raffle was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Ms Jones was, once again, best for Wolfson with two, ending her team's run with a final total of 29. On the bonuses, Wolfson converted 4 out of 9 (with the night's one penalty), while Durham managed 17 out of 36.
Next week's match: Trinity vs Jesus
Only Connect had its penultimate match tonight, the third place play-off between the Forrests and the Turophiles; a full review of the match will follow in the coming days (I'll be doing one for next week's final too).
Monday, 16 March 2020
University Challenge 2019-20: Elimination Quarter-Final 2: Jesus vs Courtauld
Evening all. So, we're into the home straight for the quiz season now: Mastermind has begun its semi-finals tonight, and Only Connect has just two shows left after tonight; I may decide to bring my OC reviews back for a fuller write-up of the grand final. UC, too, only has five matches left after tonight's second elimination contest, so we're into the home straight, and I'm starting to consider whether to carry these write-ups on next series or try something different. Watch this space...
Jesus College Oxford narrowly lost to fellow quarter-finalists Manchester in the first round, then narrowly defeated Sheffield and Birmingham to reach the QFs, their first of which saw them lose 195-110 to Durham. They were the same team as those prior matches:
Lucy Clarke, from Ottershaw in Surrey, studying Early Modern History
James Cashman, from Guildford, studying History
Captain: Matt Cook, from Wellington, New Zealand, studying PPE
Miranda Stevens, from Sevenoaks, studying Biology
The Courtauld Institute of Art surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals, via victories over the LSE in the first round and Glasgow in the second, before being soundly defeated 240-75 by Imperial in the preliminaries. They were also the same four as before:
Ash Silver, from North London, studying History of Art
Morgan Haigh, from Cardiff, studying History of Art
Captain: Harry Prance, from Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, studying Middle Byzantine Eucharistic Objects
Nancy Collinge, from Blackpool, studying History of Art
Off we set again then, and Ms Clarke very quickly took the first starter of the night; the first bonuses, on forms of poetry, gave the Oxonians a full bonus set to be starting with (Paxo was maybe a bit lenient to accept one, accepting a correction after a slight slip). Ms Clarke took the second starter almost as quickly as she had the first, and two bonuses on research papers followed this time. Mr Prance opened his side's account with the third starter, but his side drew a blank on a bonus set on kings of France known as 'Charles the' something. The first picture round, on maps with cities containing world heritage sites dating to the 20th century, went to Courtauld; again, though, they got nothing from the bonuses, so trailed 45-20.
Neither side took the next starter, the one after went to the Courtauld captain, and the bonuses finally fell for his side, a full set on the work of Penelope Fitzgerald, which drew them level. A rather long run of four dropped starters followed, including an amusing one where both sides guessed two random names when asked for two fictional characters! The only score change from these was a penalty from Courtauld. Mr Cook finally got some points on the board by identifying the final words of novels by William Golding; one correct bonus on British geography followed.
The music round, on electronic pop music, went to Jesus; no bonuses followed though, which left the scores at 70-40. The lead increased when Ms Stevens identified 'leaves' for the next starter; bonuses on astronomy gave the Oxonians one correct answer. The next starter was dropped; the next went to Mr Cook, but nothing came from a bonus set on collage art ("Courtauld would've got all these, you know!" quoth Paxo!).
The second picture round, on artworks that attempt to give a visual form to music, went to Courtauld; two bonuses bought the scores to 95-60. And when Mr Prance took the next starter, they were now right back in the match, just about; one bonus took them within twenty points.
Another starter was dropped, the next was taken by Ms Stevens, and a full bonus set on flowers beginning with P pretty much won them the game. Two further starters went missed by both sides, Ms Collinge stopped the run by identifying a list of words that can precede 'stone'; a sole bonus on tapestries followed pretty much ended any chances of catching up. One final starter was dropped, the last went to Mr Cook, and his side took one of the bonuses there was time for. At the gong, Jesus won 135-90.
A low scoring match, with quite a few dropped starters (that made the broadcast), but two pleasant teams made it a watchable one. Unlucky Courtauld, but no shame in going out now, especially for a specialist institution, thanks very much for taking part. Very well done Jesus though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
The stats: Mr Prance was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, comfortably making him his side's best buzzer of the series with seventeen overall, while Ms Clarke and Mr Cook were joint best for Jesus with three each. On the bonuses, Jesus converted 11 out of 24, while Courtauld managed 7 out of 18 (with the night's one penalty).
Next week's match: don't know for sure, but I'd guess Wolfson vs Durham, followed by Trinity vs Jesus
Only Connect arrived at its second semi-final tonight, with the 007s vs the Turophiles. After a low scoring first two rounds, both sides aced the walls, and the former just about hung on in Missing Vowels for a 23-18 win. They'll now probably start the final in two weeks' time as the favourites against the Suits, while their opponents will face the Forrests for third place next week.
Jesus College Oxford narrowly lost to fellow quarter-finalists Manchester in the first round, then narrowly defeated Sheffield and Birmingham to reach the QFs, their first of which saw them lose 195-110 to Durham. They were the same team as those prior matches:
Lucy Clarke, from Ottershaw in Surrey, studying Early Modern History
James Cashman, from Guildford, studying History
Captain: Matt Cook, from Wellington, New Zealand, studying PPE
Miranda Stevens, from Sevenoaks, studying Biology
The Courtauld Institute of Art surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals, via victories over the LSE in the first round and Glasgow in the second, before being soundly defeated 240-75 by Imperial in the preliminaries. They were also the same four as before:
Ash Silver, from North London, studying History of Art
Morgan Haigh, from Cardiff, studying History of Art
Captain: Harry Prance, from Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, studying Middle Byzantine Eucharistic Objects
Nancy Collinge, from Blackpool, studying History of Art
Off we set again then, and Ms Clarke very quickly took the first starter of the night; the first bonuses, on forms of poetry, gave the Oxonians a full bonus set to be starting with (Paxo was maybe a bit lenient to accept one, accepting a correction after a slight slip). Ms Clarke took the second starter almost as quickly as she had the first, and two bonuses on research papers followed this time. Mr Prance opened his side's account with the third starter, but his side drew a blank on a bonus set on kings of France known as 'Charles the' something. The first picture round, on maps with cities containing world heritage sites dating to the 20th century, went to Courtauld; again, though, they got nothing from the bonuses, so trailed 45-20.
Neither side took the next starter, the one after went to the Courtauld captain, and the bonuses finally fell for his side, a full set on the work of Penelope Fitzgerald, which drew them level. A rather long run of four dropped starters followed, including an amusing one where both sides guessed two random names when asked for two fictional characters! The only score change from these was a penalty from Courtauld. Mr Cook finally got some points on the board by identifying the final words of novels by William Golding; one correct bonus on British geography followed.
The music round, on electronic pop music, went to Jesus; no bonuses followed though, which left the scores at 70-40. The lead increased when Ms Stevens identified 'leaves' for the next starter; bonuses on astronomy gave the Oxonians one correct answer. The next starter was dropped; the next went to Mr Cook, but nothing came from a bonus set on collage art ("Courtauld would've got all these, you know!" quoth Paxo!).
The second picture round, on artworks that attempt to give a visual form to music, went to Courtauld; two bonuses bought the scores to 95-60. And when Mr Prance took the next starter, they were now right back in the match, just about; one bonus took them within twenty points.
Another starter was dropped, the next was taken by Ms Stevens, and a full bonus set on flowers beginning with P pretty much won them the game. Two further starters went missed by both sides, Ms Collinge stopped the run by identifying a list of words that can precede 'stone'; a sole bonus on tapestries followed pretty much ended any chances of catching up. One final starter was dropped, the last went to Mr Cook, and his side took one of the bonuses there was time for. At the gong, Jesus won 135-90.
A low scoring match, with quite a few dropped starters (that made the broadcast), but two pleasant teams made it a watchable one. Unlucky Courtauld, but no shame in going out now, especially for a specialist institution, thanks very much for taking part. Very well done Jesus though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
The stats: Mr Prance was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, comfortably making him his side's best buzzer of the series with seventeen overall, while Ms Clarke and Mr Cook were joint best for Jesus with three each. On the bonuses, Jesus converted 11 out of 24, while Courtauld managed 7 out of 18 (with the night's one penalty).
Next week's match: don't know for sure, but I'd guess Wolfson vs Durham, followed by Trinity vs Jesus
Only Connect arrived at its second semi-final tonight, with the 007s vs the Turophiles. After a low scoring first two rounds, both sides aced the walls, and the former just about hung on in Missing Vowels for a 23-18 win. They'll now probably start the final in two weeks' time as the favourites against the Suits, while their opponents will face the Forrests for third place next week.
Monday, 9 March 2020
University Challenge 2019-20: Qualification Quarter-Final 2: Durham vs Imperial
Evening all. First things first, my condolences to the family and friends of Dave Rainford of Eggheads fame, who sadly passed away over the weekend. As well as his fame on that show, he was also a member of the WWTBAM Thirteen Club (£250,000 winners). He always came across well to me on screen, especially his applauding vanquished challenger teams on Eggheads, and I am very shocked and saddened that he has passed away at such a young age. Lovely tribute paid to him by Quizzy Monday alumnus Rachael Neiman-Wiseman when she appeared on this morning's Popmaster. On with the show...
Durham narrowly lost to fellow QFers Trinity in the first round, but rebounded with wins over York and Southampton, and their first QF was a 195-110 win over Jesus. They were unchanged from those prior matches:
Charles Bland, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Philosophy
William Tams, from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, studying Biosciences
Captain: Joe Cooper, from London, studying Chemistry
Arthur Raffle, from Manchester, studying French and German
Imperial College London strolled to the QFs with victories over Brasenose of Oxford and St John's of Oxford, and had a similarly easy run in their first match against Courtauld, running home 240-75 winners. They were also unchanged from before:
Richard Brooks, from Stockton-on-Tees, studying Mechanical Engineering
Brandon, from Jamaica, Queens in New York City, studying Computing
Captain: Caleb Rich, from Lewisham, studying Controlled Quantum Dynamics
Connor McMeel, from Dublin, studying Computer Science
Off we set again then, and Mr Tams opened the scoring for the night, identifying where copes of the Magna Carta are housed; bonuses on Franklin's lost expedition gave the Wearsiders two bonuses to start with. Imperial quickly followed them off the mark, with Brandon doing the honours, and a full house on a classic UC set asking for any one of three successive years gave them the lead. That advantage increased when Mr Rich identified Freud for the next starter, and two bonuses went with it this time. The first picture round, on the rhyming final words of lines of poems paired up, went to Durham; another two bonuses saw them cut the gap to 45-40.
The next starter was one that suddenly became obvious when a certain bit came out; when 'the Chagos Peninsula' was read out, Brandon visibly won the buzzer race to say 'Mauritius'. The Londoners took full advantage, a full set of bonuses. Brandon took a second starter in a row, and two bonuses on literature were taken alongside it. Mr Bland got Durham moving again, giving his a set of bonuses on the Golden Mean, in which they continued their bonus rate of two per set. Another buzzer race ensued when 'Mayor of Greater Manchester' was read out on the next starter, and it was Mr Raffle who was first in with 'Burnham'; another two bonuses followed.
The music round, on video game sound tracks included in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, went to Imperial; the first fully dropped bonus set of the night followed, but they still led 100-80. Up it went further as Mr Rich took the next starter; winners of the Nobel Peace Prize provided the bonuses, and the Londoners duly swept up a full set. Mr Raffle had a punt at an 'endearing cartoon character' at the next starter, but his offer of 'Noddy' in lieu of 'Betty Boop' cost his team five; Imperial didn't get that one either. Mr Tams recouped the lost points on the next starter, but the Wearsiders' bonus rate ended, none on a set on Italian philosophers. Brandon quickly shot in on the next starter, but just one bonus on artists in legal trouble followed.
The second picture round, on founders of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, went to Durham; two correct answers took the scores to 140-105. Still a closeable gap; but when Brandon quickly identified screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for the next starter, Imperial had one foot in the semis; two bonuses on missions to Mars followed (I got Professor Colin Pillinger).
A slip-up from Imperial gave Durham a chance to pull back, but they had to pass it up. And when Brandon took the next starter, that was game over; two bonuses on German universties followed, but it didn't really matter now. Mr Bland pulled one back for Durham, but no bonuses on 1969 films went with it (I got Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). Both sides missed the penultimate starter, the last went to Mr Brooks, and the gong cut off their conferring on the first bonus. Imperial won 185-115.
A good match between two good teams, either team's match until right near the end. Unlucky Durham, but still a good performance, still not worth writing off yet, best of luck in the play-offs. Very well done Imperial, another strong performance and worthy semi-finalists, best of luck in the semis!
The stats: Brandon was the best buzzer of the night again, with six starters, taking his series total to 22, while Mr Tams was best for Durham with three. On the bonuses, Durham converted 10 out of 21, while Imperial managed 18 out of 28, and both sides incurred one penalty each.
Next week's match: Jesus vs Courtauld, followed, I would guess, by Wolfson vs Durham and Trinity vs next week's winners
Only Connects entered its semi-finals tonight, with the Forrests vs the Suits. A difficult and low scoring match, the latter took the lead with a better wall, and just about clung on in Missing Vowels for a 15-14 win!
Durham narrowly lost to fellow QFers Trinity in the first round, but rebounded with wins over York and Southampton, and their first QF was a 195-110 win over Jesus. They were unchanged from those prior matches:
Charles Bland, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Philosophy
William Tams, from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, studying Biosciences
Captain: Joe Cooper, from London, studying Chemistry
Arthur Raffle, from Manchester, studying French and German
Imperial College London strolled to the QFs with victories over Brasenose of Oxford and St John's of Oxford, and had a similarly easy run in their first match against Courtauld, running home 240-75 winners. They were also unchanged from before:
Richard Brooks, from Stockton-on-Tees, studying Mechanical Engineering
Brandon, from Jamaica, Queens in New York City, studying Computing
Captain: Caleb Rich, from Lewisham, studying Controlled Quantum Dynamics
Connor McMeel, from Dublin, studying Computer Science
Off we set again then, and Mr Tams opened the scoring for the night, identifying where copes of the Magna Carta are housed; bonuses on Franklin's lost expedition gave the Wearsiders two bonuses to start with. Imperial quickly followed them off the mark, with Brandon doing the honours, and a full house on a classic UC set asking for any one of three successive years gave them the lead. That advantage increased when Mr Rich identified Freud for the next starter, and two bonuses went with it this time. The first picture round, on the rhyming final words of lines of poems paired up, went to Durham; another two bonuses saw them cut the gap to 45-40.
The next starter was one that suddenly became obvious when a certain bit came out; when 'the Chagos Peninsula' was read out, Brandon visibly won the buzzer race to say 'Mauritius'. The Londoners took full advantage, a full set of bonuses. Brandon took a second starter in a row, and two bonuses on literature were taken alongside it. Mr Bland got Durham moving again, giving his a set of bonuses on the Golden Mean, in which they continued their bonus rate of two per set. Another buzzer race ensued when 'Mayor of Greater Manchester' was read out on the next starter, and it was Mr Raffle who was first in with 'Burnham'; another two bonuses followed.
The music round, on video game sound tracks included in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, went to Imperial; the first fully dropped bonus set of the night followed, but they still led 100-80. Up it went further as Mr Rich took the next starter; winners of the Nobel Peace Prize provided the bonuses, and the Londoners duly swept up a full set. Mr Raffle had a punt at an 'endearing cartoon character' at the next starter, but his offer of 'Noddy' in lieu of 'Betty Boop' cost his team five; Imperial didn't get that one either. Mr Tams recouped the lost points on the next starter, but the Wearsiders' bonus rate ended, none on a set on Italian philosophers. Brandon quickly shot in on the next starter, but just one bonus on artists in legal trouble followed.
The second picture round, on founders of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, went to Durham; two correct answers took the scores to 140-105. Still a closeable gap; but when Brandon quickly identified screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for the next starter, Imperial had one foot in the semis; two bonuses on missions to Mars followed (I got Professor Colin Pillinger).
A slip-up from Imperial gave Durham a chance to pull back, but they had to pass it up. And when Brandon took the next starter, that was game over; two bonuses on German universties followed, but it didn't really matter now. Mr Bland pulled one back for Durham, but no bonuses on 1969 films went with it (I got Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). Both sides missed the penultimate starter, the last went to Mr Brooks, and the gong cut off their conferring on the first bonus. Imperial won 185-115.
A good match between two good teams, either team's match until right near the end. Unlucky Durham, but still a good performance, still not worth writing off yet, best of luck in the play-offs. Very well done Imperial, another strong performance and worthy semi-finalists, best of luck in the semis!
The stats: Brandon was the best buzzer of the night again, with six starters, taking his series total to 22, while Mr Tams was best for Durham with three. On the bonuses, Durham converted 10 out of 21, while Imperial managed 18 out of 28, and both sides incurred one penalty each.
Next week's match: Jesus vs Courtauld, followed, I would guess, by Wolfson vs Durham and Trinity vs next week's winners
Only Connects entered its semi-finals tonight, with the Forrests vs the Suits. A difficult and low scoring match, the latter took the lead with a better wall, and just about clung on in Missing Vowels for a 15-14 win!
Monday, 2 March 2020
University Challenge 2019-20: Elimination Quarter-Final 1: Manchester vs Wolfson
Evening all. On to the first elimination match of the quarter-final process then, with the runners-up of tonight's match being the first to exit the competition. Both teams had rather similar runs to the QFs, narrowly winning their first match before comfortably winning their second. Both were outplayed, albeit by different margins, in their first QFs though.
Manchester defeated fellow quarter-finalists Jesus in their first round match, before a more comfortable win over Huddersfield in their second. Their first QF, however, saw them thoroughly beaten by Trinity, 300-95. Hoping to bounce back were the unchanged foursome of:
Jack Rogers, from Cheshire, studying Maths
Melissa Johnson, from South Africa, studying Economics
Captain: James Green, from the Wirral, studying Modernist Literature
Adam Booth, from Greenford in London, studying Physics
Wolfson College Oxford beat Sheffield on a tie-breaker in the first round, before a more comprehensive semi-final win over Edinburgh. Their first QF against Corpus Christi was a more close affair, which they ultimately lost 180-140. They were also unchanged from those matches:
Mike Perrin, from Japan, studying Archaeology
Mary Caple, from Victoria, Canada, studying Art History
Captain: Claire Jones, from Houston, Texas, studying History
Ryan Walker, from Stone in Staffordshire, studying Clinical Medicine
Off we set again then, and Ms Jones, who went into this match the joint highest starter answerer of the series thus far, continued her form by taking the first starter; just one bonus on the work of Eglantyne Jebb was taken. The Wolfson captain took a second starter in a row, but bonuses on video games didn't give any further points. Mr Booth took a flyer on the next starter, which needed a fraction, but only lost five; Wolfson failed to pick up. Mr Green, easily his side's best player thus far, recouped that loss as he took the next starter, and kicked right into gear with a full bonus set on thermodynamics. The first picture round, on seas in the Arctic Ocean, went to Manchester; no further points came, but they had taken the lead, 30-25.
Mr Green was unlucky on the next starter, offering 'Fanny Burnett' in lieu of 'Fanny Burney'. ("No point in sighing like that, he was wrong!" snapped Paxo at the sympathetic audience!) Mr Rogers made up for that by taking the next starter though, but, again, the side struggled with the bonuses, just the one taken. Mr Green gave a fourth starter in a row to the Mancunians, but no bonuses were correctly taken this time. Ms Jones reawoke her side, and the bonuses did fall for them, a full set on the operas of Mussorgsky.
The music starter saw Ms Caple first to identify T-Rex; the bonuses, on acts who have notably performed at Glastonbury, gave Wolfson one correct answer, which meant they now led 65-55. The next starter asked after the common name of a tree, and suddenly became obvious when 'used to make bottle stoppers' was read out; Ms Jones was first in with 'cork', but, on a night when both sides seemed to be struggling with the bonuses, another sole one was taken. Mr Booth pulled Manchester back into the game; two bonuses took them back with five points, and a quick buzz from Mr Rogers took them back into the lead, with another two bonuses following. Ms Caple pulled one back for Wolfson, and one bonus put the teams on level pegging again.
The second picture starter was dropped; the bonuses, on stills from performances of the English National Ballet, went to Manchester; one bonus gave them a lead of 110-95. Back it closed though, as Mr Walker quickly took the next starter for Wolfson; again, though, the bonuses didn't fall for them.
Still either team's game, and Mr Rogers made it advantage Manchester as he took the next starter; bonuses on the names of vegetables in foreign languages followed, giving two correct answers. Back came Wolfson with Mr Walker doing the honours again; this gave them bonuses on Dickens, of which they took just one (I had two). Ms Caple took the final starter to pull Wolfson level, but their conferring on the first starter was cut off by the gong! A 130-each tie.
So, we went to sudden death. Mr Rogers was first to buzz, but he was wrong, and he'd (just) interrupted too, so minus five, and Wolfson won the game by default! (First time that's happened in the student series since the 2002-03 QFs!)
A low scoring, but close match, that neither side deserved to lose in all honesty. Unlucky Manchester, but a fair performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing. Well done Wolfson though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
The stats: Ms Jones was the best buzzer of the night again, with four starters, while Mr Rogers was best for Manchester with three, though Mr Green was their best of the series overall with 16. On the bonuses, Manchester converted 11 out of 24 (with one penalty [in regular time]), while Wolfson managed 8 out of 25. Both teams struggled on the bonuses then, so it was on the buzzer that the match was won, in more ways than one.
Next week's match: Durham vs Imperial I guess, followed by Jesus vs Courtauld
Only Connect concluded its QFs with a third avoidable rematch, between the Orwellians and the Turophiles; after trailing after the second round, a better wall and Missing Vowels saw the latter win 20-12, meaning none of these replays saw the same team win.
Manchester defeated fellow quarter-finalists Jesus in their first round match, before a more comfortable win over Huddersfield in their second. Their first QF, however, saw them thoroughly beaten by Trinity, 300-95. Hoping to bounce back were the unchanged foursome of:
Jack Rogers, from Cheshire, studying Maths
Melissa Johnson, from South Africa, studying Economics
Captain: James Green, from the Wirral, studying Modernist Literature
Adam Booth, from Greenford in London, studying Physics
Wolfson College Oxford beat Sheffield on a tie-breaker in the first round, before a more comprehensive semi-final win over Edinburgh. Their first QF against Corpus Christi was a more close affair, which they ultimately lost 180-140. They were also unchanged from those matches:
Mike Perrin, from Japan, studying Archaeology
Mary Caple, from Victoria, Canada, studying Art History
Captain: Claire Jones, from Houston, Texas, studying History
Ryan Walker, from Stone in Staffordshire, studying Clinical Medicine
Off we set again then, and Ms Jones, who went into this match the joint highest starter answerer of the series thus far, continued her form by taking the first starter; just one bonus on the work of Eglantyne Jebb was taken. The Wolfson captain took a second starter in a row, but bonuses on video games didn't give any further points. Mr Booth took a flyer on the next starter, which needed a fraction, but only lost five; Wolfson failed to pick up. Mr Green, easily his side's best player thus far, recouped that loss as he took the next starter, and kicked right into gear with a full bonus set on thermodynamics. The first picture round, on seas in the Arctic Ocean, went to Manchester; no further points came, but they had taken the lead, 30-25.
Mr Green was unlucky on the next starter, offering 'Fanny Burnett' in lieu of 'Fanny Burney'. ("No point in sighing like that, he was wrong!" snapped Paxo at the sympathetic audience!) Mr Rogers made up for that by taking the next starter though, but, again, the side struggled with the bonuses, just the one taken. Mr Green gave a fourth starter in a row to the Mancunians, but no bonuses were correctly taken this time. Ms Jones reawoke her side, and the bonuses did fall for them, a full set on the operas of Mussorgsky.
The music starter saw Ms Caple first to identify T-Rex; the bonuses, on acts who have notably performed at Glastonbury, gave Wolfson one correct answer, which meant they now led 65-55. The next starter asked after the common name of a tree, and suddenly became obvious when 'used to make bottle stoppers' was read out; Ms Jones was first in with 'cork', but, on a night when both sides seemed to be struggling with the bonuses, another sole one was taken. Mr Booth pulled Manchester back into the game; two bonuses took them back with five points, and a quick buzz from Mr Rogers took them back into the lead, with another two bonuses following. Ms Caple pulled one back for Wolfson, and one bonus put the teams on level pegging again.
The second picture starter was dropped; the bonuses, on stills from performances of the English National Ballet, went to Manchester; one bonus gave them a lead of 110-95. Back it closed though, as Mr Walker quickly took the next starter for Wolfson; again, though, the bonuses didn't fall for them.
Still either team's game, and Mr Rogers made it advantage Manchester as he took the next starter; bonuses on the names of vegetables in foreign languages followed, giving two correct answers. Back came Wolfson with Mr Walker doing the honours again; this gave them bonuses on Dickens, of which they took just one (I had two). Ms Caple took the final starter to pull Wolfson level, but their conferring on the first starter was cut off by the gong! A 130-each tie.
So, we went to sudden death. Mr Rogers was first to buzz, but he was wrong, and he'd (just) interrupted too, so minus five, and Wolfson won the game by default! (First time that's happened in the student series since the 2002-03 QFs!)
A low scoring, but close match, that neither side deserved to lose in all honesty. Unlucky Manchester, but a fair performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing. Well done Wolfson though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
The stats: Ms Jones was the best buzzer of the night again, with four starters, while Mr Rogers was best for Manchester with three, though Mr Green was their best of the series overall with 16. On the bonuses, Manchester converted 11 out of 24 (with one penalty [in regular time]), while Wolfson managed 8 out of 25. Both teams struggled on the bonuses then, so it was on the buzzer that the match was won, in more ways than one.
Next week's match: Durham vs Imperial I guess, followed by Jesus vs Courtauld
Only Connect concluded its QFs with a third avoidable rematch, between the Orwellians and the Turophiles; after trailing after the second round, a better wall and Missing Vowels saw the latter win 20-12, meaning none of these replays saw the same team win.
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