University Challenge 2019-20: Series Highlights

OK, time for my annual end of series review of another series of UC. After a somewhat slow start, the series proved to be a great one, with a very strong QF line-up and a very high quality series of matches to go with it.

Firstly, as usual, my pick for the first match of each round:

• First Round + Play-Offs: Some pretty good games here, but the two involving Sheffield, their defeats to Wolfson and Jesus, just about stand out.
• Second Round: Probably Corpus Christi's unexpectedly big win over Magdalen.
• Quarter-Finals: All great games here in one form or another: a tie between Wolfson vs Corpus Christi and Durham vs Imperial.
• The Final Three: Despite being rather one sided, I'd actually say the final was best.

I note that there weren't actually that many close matches, but there were some very high scoring ones. In fact, there were 25 matches where the teams broke 300 between them, compared to 20 last series and 24 the series before last.

Despite the strength of the two finalists, though, it was actually Trinity who acquired the highest score of the series, 300 against Manchester in the preliminaries, and the second highest, against Jesus in the play-offs. Which makes the achievement of the two finalists, who both beat Trinity comfortably in their one-on-ones, all the more impressive. Wolfson of Cambridge had the lowest score of the series, 40, while their Oxford namesakes had the second lowest, 45. Trinity's win over Manchester was also the highest aggregate of the series, 395.

Also, with no Oxford teams in the semi-finals, the first time since 2006-07, and two Cambridge teams there; some would consider that surprising considering Oxford had seven teams in this series and Cambridge just four (and one of the other two were unfortunate not to earn a second match). Five London teams made the series, including the eventual winners of course, while non English institutions were restricted to just Glasgow and Edinburgh.

And so to some choice highlights:

• Corpus Christi mistaking Jimmy Somerville for Sade!
• Birmingham vs Bristol and Wolfson vs St John's were both entertaining games in spite of their low scoring. ("Robert the Bruce?!")
• Courtauld were an entertaining team throughout their underdog run.
• Paxo getting annoyed at teams not knowing the theme to The Third Man.
• Me getting Mr Dick thanks to having seen my friend play him!
• Paxo bantering with Brandon about him finding it too easy!
• Mr Wang getting Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five after just a second of the intro!
• Neither team identifying the Commodore 64 (pretty sure my P1 class at school were one of the last to have one of those before it got chucked).
• "No point in sighing like that, he was wrong!"
• "729?" "Correct!" "Oh, b***** h***, well done!"

As usual, if you have any more worth a mention, do let me know...

Also, since Monday's final being contested by two all male teams has reignited the debate about gender imbalance on the show, here's my blog about it from a few years back.

So, that's it: another series in the bag. When the next series is coming, we don't really know. Usually, the series is recorded around the time when public gatherings were temporarily banned, we don't know if they managed to get the entirety of  the next series in the bag in time. Even if they didn't, I imagine we'll still get to see the shows they did manage, if any. Plus, Brain of Britain managed to at least start recording prior to the current lockdown, and it usually records just a few weeks behind schedule, so, we shall see.

Whenever the show does return, I'm in two minds about whether to return with full blogs, or try something a bit different, a bit streamlined. I'll still do full intros for both teams, and the usual starter and bonus stats, but maybe not a full blow by blow write-up. We shall see.

What I do plan, at some point in the hopefully not too distant future, is the review of the 2010s that I've been promising since the end of last year. Hopefully, I'll now get around to starting on that.

So, I'll hopefully be back with that soon; until then, sayonara...

University Challenge 2019-20: Best Buzzer Per Team

OK, time to start looking back at the series of UC just finished. Starting with, what is very much, the legacy portion of it, largely redundant in this era where almost every online commentator keeps track of these things. Still, for old times' sake, here are the best players on the buzzer for every QF team:

Brandon (Imperial) - 35 over six matches
Liam Hughes (Trinity) - 34 over six matches
Clare Jones (Wolfson) - 29 over five matches
Arthur Raffle (Durham) - 23 over seven matches
Ian Wang (Corpus Christi) - 21 over six matches
Lucy Clarke (Jesus) - 19 over six matches
Harry Prance (Courtauld) - 17 over four matches
James Green (Manchester) - 16 over four matches

And honourable mentions to:

William Tams (Durham) - 21 over seven matches
Alex Gunasekera and Will Stewart (Corpus Christi) - 19 each over six matches
Caleb Rich (Imperial) - 19 over six matches
Joseph Webber (Trinity) - 18 over six matches
Joe Cooper (Durham) - 15 over seven matches
James Cashman (Jesus) - 14 over six matches
Richard Brooks (Imperial) - 13 over six matches

As usual, I have the full stats for all eight teams; if you want the whole thing, get in touch on here or on Twitter.

Back on Friday with my usual fuller end of series line-up.

University Challenge 2019-20: Grand Final: Corpus Christi vs Imperial

Evening all. Well, here we are at yet another grand final, and I don't think I've ever seen as hotly anticipated a final as tonight's. Maybe it's because there's not much else for people to get excited about at the moment! Or maybe because we were faced with a potentially explosive final fixture, between two teams who got here undefeated and have racked up some mighty scores en route. Winners would be deserving winners, runners-up would still be very worthy finalists.

Corpus Christi College Cambridge began their campaign way back in July with a win over Merton of Oxford; they went on to beat Magdalen of Oxford, Wolfson, Trinity and Durham to reach the final. Hoping to make join their Oxford namesakes on the roll of honour were:
Alexander Russell, from Bristol, studying Japanese Studies
Will Stewart, from Peterborough, studying History of Art  
Captain: Ian Wang, from Sale in Greater Manchester, studying English  
Alex Gunasekera, from Witney, studying Chemistry

Imperial College London started their run by beating Brasenose of Oxford in October; their subsequent wins were over St John's of Oxford, Courtauld, Durham and Trinity. Hoping to join the small list of institutions to win more than two titles were: 
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 the final began with a rather long starter that was actually quite easy to guess when it came to the business end; Mr Brooks was first in with 'tea', and the London side started their final push with two correct bonuses. Mr Stewart slipped on the next starter, with his answer subsequently emerging as part of the question; Imperial didn't capitalise, but Mr McMeel took the next starter, and another two bonuses, on fashion and art, were taken. A quick buzz from Brandon moved Imperial further ahead, and they went one better with the bonuses, a full set on experiments on the International Space Station. The first picture round, on maps showing the routes of crusades, went to Imperial; just one bonus came this time, but they already lead 80-(-5).

And they weren't holding up, Mr McMeel took the next starter, and one bonus already took them intro triple figures. Mr Wang finally broke his side into the match with a classic UC starter asking for the number of figures in two paintings; bonuses on pop music were very quickly dispatched, a full set. Brandon quickly killed any momentum in its tracks by identifying O as the initial letter of, among others, the county town of Rutland; bonuses on mathematicians gave the London side a full set of their own, and reestablished their 105 point lead.

The music round, on slow movements of symphonies, went to Corpus Christi; another quickly answered full set reduced their deficit to 125-45. Again, Imperial came straight back, Mr Rich ensuring all four of them had contributed to the match, and a full bonus set on countries with smaller land areas than the UK and totally surrounded by larger nations, gave them another full set. A second starter in a row to the Imperial captain, another full house of bonuses, and the London side had one hand on the trophy. Mr McMeel looked like he was guessing on the next starter, but if he was, it was a correct guess, and one bonus put Imperial within one starter of 200. That starter came thanks to Mr Rich, and two bonuses on time dilation meant Corpus Christi would have to flat out go for it to stand any chance of catching up.

The second picture round, on films in the Top 15 of the Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll, went to Corpus Christi; another promptly dispatched full house took their scores to 210-70. But when Mr Stewart dropped five on the next starter, and Mr Brooks picked up the drop, that really was game over; just one bonus was taken this time, but now they were surely out of sight.

Mr Rich confirmed this for sure by taking the next starter; another sole bonus, on winners of the Prix Goncourt literary prize, was taken, but it didn't really matter now. Mr Stewart pulled one back for Corpus Christi, giving them a bonus set on natural philosophy of which they took two. Another starter from Mr Stewart and another pair of bonuses deservedly took the Cambridge side into triple figures. That was as far as they got, Mr Rich swooping up 'poison ivy' for the next starter, and one bonus on the journalist Kapuscinski being converted. Mr Rich took the final starter of the series, and there was time for two of the bonuses to be answered correctly. At the gong, Imperial won the match, and the series, 275-105.

So, to the trophy presentation, and for the third time in the show's history, we left the studio for it. We crossed to the Andrew Wiles Building at the Oxford University Mathematics Institute, where the eponymous Professor Sir Andrew Wiles joined Paxo and the two teams for a few words, before handing the trophy over to the winning team.

A good final, played well by both teams in spite of the points difference, well done to all of them. Unlucky Corpus Christi, but a very impressive series of performances, and a fine showing in the final despite the result, thanks very much indeed for taking part in the series! Very very very well done Imperial though, another storming performance to cap of a top series of them, very deserving series winners, well done indeed!

The stats: Mr Rich was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Messrs Stewart and Wang were joint best for Corpus Christi with two each, Mr Wang ending the series their best buzzer with 21; Brandon was the best of the series overall, though, with a final tally of 35, beating Mr Hughes of Trinity by one. On the bonuses, Corpus Christi converted 13 out of 15 (with two penalties), while Imperial managed 27 out of 41. Both fine rates and a testament to the quality of these two teams; well played both.

And thanks, once again, to all involved on another great series! Definitely one of the best I've covered on this blog. A fuller review will be published later in the week, along with some buzzer stats. And I still plan to do my Review of the Decade at some point too, so stay tuned for that.

University Challenge 2019-20: Grand Final Preview

Well folks, here we are again: another University Challenge final. After a rather back and forth start, this series has proved to be a cracker, with a very strong quarter-final and semi-final line-up, culminating in a scintillating final pairing. Our finalists are:
Corpus Christi College Cambridge: Alexander Russell, Will Stewart, Ian Wang and Alex Gunasekera.
and
Imperial College London: Richards Brooks, Brandon, Caleb Rich and Connor McMeel.

So, no Oxford team in the final for the first time since the very first series I covered on here, 2012-13, and the first London team in the final since that series too. Imperial's first final since the 2001-02 series, and Corpus Christi's very first (AFAWK).

So, how did they get here? Corpus Christi narrowly saw off Merton of Oxford in the first round, then soundly defeated Magdalen of Oxford in the second round. Their first QF was a narrow win over Wolfson, their second an easy win over Trinity, and their semi-final was a relatively comfortable win over Durham. They have acquired 1,075 points over five games, an average of 215 per game.

Imperial reached the group stage with very comfortable wins over Brasenose of Oxford in the first round and St John's of Oxford in the second. Their QF victories were an easy one over Courtauld and a closer one over Durham, before their semi-final saw them acquire another very comfortable win, over Trinity. Their total score so far is 1,170, also over five games, an average of 234 per match.

So, what other stats are there to examine?

Well, Imperial also have also conceded fewer points, 445, an average of 89 per match, to Corpus Christi's 565, an average of 113 per match. Though, considering that Imperial have won all but one of their matches very comfortably, whereas Corpus Christi have had two that could be considered close, this isn't really that surprising.

Imperial have also answered four starters more than their opponents, 63 to Corpus Christi's 59, and more bonuses, 113 out of 183, compared to Corpus Christi's 99 out of 174, though, in percentage terms, Corpus Christi's rate is a bit higher.

Perhaps more crucial to the final, though, is the team's collegiate performance on the buzzer. So, far Brandon is Imperial's best buzzer with 32 starters, just two fewer than Mr Hughes of Trinity  managed in one more game; next highest is Mr Rich on 13 and Mr Brooks on 11.

For Corpus Christi, however, Messrs Stewart, Wang and Gunasekera are all pretty much level on starters answered, with 17, 19 and 18 thus far respectively. This suggests they might be better equipped to cope if one has an off day than Imperial would be if Brandon does.

Lets face it, though, these two teams have both made it to the final pretty much the same way: by dominating on the buzzer; even against Trinity, another team who won very easily by doing that on multiple occasions, their better buzzing skill prevailed (if anything, the fact that the two teams' wins over Trinity were sandwiched between them defeating Jesus by a much bigger margin than either of their defeats, that makes it all the more impressive).

The two teams are pretty much level in terms of starters answered correctly, and in terms of the percentage of bonuses answered correctly. There really isn't a very great deal between them, and, honestly, it really will just be a case of which team the starters fall better for.

If you insist on a prediction, I'll go for an Imperial win, but a Corpus Christi win would definitely not surprise me at all. These are two really good well matched teams, either would be most worthy winners. Best of (retrospective) luck to both, here's hoping we get a great match to end the series on!

Back on Monday with my usual write-up of it.

University Challenge 2019-20: Semi-Final 2: Imperial vs Trinity

Evening all. Well, we're nearly there: the penultimate match of the series tonight, with the winners playing Corpus Christi in next week's grand final. As with last week, it would be a close match to call were it not for the fact that one team had a surprisingly heavy loss to its name in the run-up, but either would be deserving finalists.

Imperial College London got to the semis for the first time in ten series by beating Brasenose of Oxford in the first round, St John's of Oxford in the second, Courtauld in the preliminaries, and in their qualifier, they beat fellows SFists Durham 185-115. They were unchanged from those prior matches: 
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

Trinity College Cambridge also beat Durham, in the first round, then Lady Margaret Hall of Oxford in the second and Manchester in the prelims, but then they lost to Corpus Christi in the qualifiers; they recovered from that with a 285-75 win over Jesus in the play-offs. They too were the same four as before: 
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 

Off we set again then, and the mononymous Brandon set the scoring rolling for the night with 'aardvark' (sadly no mention of Otis); a full set of bonuses showed that the Londoners meant business here tonight. Both sides missed the next starter, with Imperial losing five, before Mr Brooks recouped the lost points, but the side got nothing from a bonus set on astronomy. Two starters were then dropped completely without even a buzz, before Brandon reawoke procedings and earned his side a bonus set on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, of which they took two. The first picture round, on the names of plays by Aristophanes in their original Greek, went to Imperial; two more correct answers gave them a lead of 70-0.

Mr Webber finally got his side on the board by recognising 'Cavendish' as the surname linking the people listed; words formed when currencies are written backwards made for a classic UC set, and the Cambridge side had a full house. Mr Hughes then gave Trinity a second starter in a row, and a pair of bonuses put them back in the hunt. But up jumped Imperial again as Brandon identified the Emperor Hadrian; a set of bonuses on maths gave the Londoners a full house and reestablished their hold on proceedings.

The music round, on pieces by composers whose work was championed by Sir Thomas Beecham, went to Imperial; just the one bonus was taken, but they had increased their lead to 110-45. And it was just getting bigger as Brandon was first in to identify 'Rob Roy', resulting a bonus set on artists and murder, including the old QI fave about Caravaggio accidentally killing a man during a fight over a tennis match; two of these were taken. Back came with Trinity with a second for Mr Hughes; two bonuses were quickly taken (I got the one they didn't get). A penalty then handed Imperial possession again though; Brandon picked up the drop, and, though they got nothing from the bonuses, unless Trinity ran the show from now on, you suspected they were now over the event horizon.

The second picture starter was missed by both teams; the bonuses, on artworks depicting a male muse, went to Imperial; just one bonus followed again, taking their lead to 155-60. And when Trinity lost five on the next starter for a borderline interruption, and Brandon picked up the points, that was game over; one bonus on Audrey Hepburn followed.

Mr Rich confirmed the win for sure by identifying Maltese as the EU language closest to Arabic; Schroedinger's cat in fiction provided the Londoners with another two correct answers. It was all academic now, but Imperial weren't stopping, as Brandon took the next starter, and bonuses on Chinese poetry were duly swept up, a full set. Another very quick buzz saw Brandon enter the small club of UC players to get into double digits for starters in a single match; two bonuses were taken. Trinity went out on a roll, Mr Hughes taking two final starters, and one bonus from the one set there was time for being converted. At the gong, Imperial won 235-80.

Another good match despite it's one sidedness. Unlucky Trinity, but, as Paxo said, nothing wrong with going out at the semi-finals, especially after such a good prior run, thanks very much indeed for taking part! Very very well done Imperial though, another storming performance, setting up, what should be, a great final next week, very very best of luck in it!

The stats: Brandon was, by far and away, the best buzzer of the night with TEN(!) starters, while Mr Hughes was best for Trinity with four, ending his side's run their best buzzer with a total of 34. On the bonuses, Imperial converted 22 out of 39 (with one penalty), while Trinity managed 8 out of 12 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: the final, Corpus Christi vs Imperial. A fuller preview will be coming later in the week.

University Challenge 2019-20: Semi-Final 1: Corpus Christi vs Durham

Evening all. So, the semi-finals have arrived once again. No room for error now: if you win, you're in the final; if you lose, you're out. Both of tonight's team had impressed in their prior matches; the difference being, one had come straight through, the other had taken the longest route possible.

Corpus Christi College Cambridge were the straight through comers, defeating Merton of Oxford in the first round, Magdalen of Oxford in the second, Wolfson in the preliminaries, and fellow semi-finalists Trinity in the qualifiers. They were unchanged from those previous matches: 
Alexander Russell, from Bristol, studying Japanese Studies
Will Stewart, from Peterborough, studying History of Art  
Captain: Ian Wang, from Sale in Greater Manchester, studying English  
Alex Gunasekera, from Witney, studying Chemistry

Durham lost to the same Trinity team in the first round, came through the play-offs by beating York, then defeated Southampton in the second round and Jesus in the preliminaries, lost their qualifier to fellow semi-finalists Imperial before winning their play-off against Wolfson. They too were 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 Cooper got the final matches of the series underway with the first starter of the night; bonuses on Gertrude Stein gave the Wearsiders a full house to start with. Corpus Christi followed them off the mark with Mr Stewart doing the honours, and two bonuses on evolutionary theory were taken. Mr Wang gave his side the lead by taking the next starter, and a full house of bonuses on rain in art suddenly gave them a 20 point lead. The Cambridge captain took a second starter in a row, and a second full set in a row was taken. The first picture starter was dropped; the bonuses, on Java codes, went to Corpus Christi, who did well to take one of a very tricky set of bonuses. They now led 85-25.

And on they carried with Mr Stewart doing the honours of the next starter with 'Margarey of Anjou'; bonuses on the work of John McWhorter gave the Cambridge side two correct answers. Mr Cooper finally hauled Durham some more points with 'garlic'; two bonuses on sci-fi literature went to the Wearsiders. Mr Bland then gave them a second starter in a row, and another pair of bonuses took them back to within touching distance.

The music starter was quickly taken by Mr Gunasekera; the bonuses, on pairs of pieces by composers one of whom taught the other, saw the Cambridge side take one correct answer (and provided a nice link back to the early days of this blog with Ravel and Vaughan Williams, previously linked in the first round match of our friend James Gratrex). Corpus Christi now led 120-65, and Mr Wang increased the lead with a quick buzz on the next starter; bonuses on places one would encounter in a straight journey from the Vatican to Mecca gave them two correct answers. A very complicated mathematical starter was then worked out by Mr Gunasekera, prompting his captain to exclaim "B***** H***!" and even Paxo was impressed by it! Films released 50 years ago this year gave a full house, and gave the Cambridge side a 100 point lead and one foot in the final. Mr Bland pulled one back for Durham with 'Mahogany'; just the one bonus went the Wearsiders' way, leaving them needing a shutout to catch up in the final straight.

The second picture round, on cosmopolitanist philosophers, went to Durham; two correct answers took the scores to 165-100, and just about kept them in it. But when Mr Stewart took the next starter, that likely put the game beyond reach, even though the Cambridge side ended up missing all three bonuses.

Durham still gave it a go though, Mr Cooper taking the next starter, and one bonus on the execution of Charles I went with it. Mr Wang confirmed his side's win by quickly taking the next starter; no bonuses followed again, but it didn't really matter at this point. Mr Tams took the final starter for Durham; they quickly answered the first bonus and the gong cut off their conferring of the second. Corpus Christi won 185-130.

A good first semi-final between two good teams, bravo them clapping each other at the start and end (and to the teams who've been doing that throughout the series in fact). Unlucky Durham, but a great run of performances to get here, no shame in going out now, thanks very much indeed for taking part! Very very well done Corpus Christi though, another good win over good opponents, and very very best of luck in the final!

The stats: Mr Wang was the best buzzer of the night with four starters, while Mr Cooper was best for Durham with three, though Mr Raffle was their best in the series overall with 23. On the bonuses, Corpus Christi converted 17 out of 33, while Durham managed 12 out of 20.

Next week's match: the second semi-final, between Imperial and Trinity

People who've been on both University Challenge and Only Connect

OK, so last night, while a bit bored, I decided to see how many people have been on both University Challenge and Only Connect. After going over my OC spreadsheets with a fine toothbrush, I have come up with the following list of people who have been on both:

• Aaron Bell
• Adam Barr
• Adam Robertson
• Adam Tumber
• Alasdair Middleton
• Andrew Shaw
• Andy Bolton
• Anthony Martinelli
  
• Ashley Page
• Barbara Thompson
• Ben Fasham 
• Ben Salter
• Beverley Randle 
• Bob De Caux
• Catherine Arbuthnott
• Charles Markland
• Chris Beer
• Chris Cummins
• Chris Harrison
• Chris Macklin 
• Christopher Ducklin
• Cosmo Grant
• Daniel Nazarian
• Dave Knapp
• David Brewis
• David Prevezer
• David Stainer
• David Whitley
• Dom Tait
• Dorian Lidell
• Dorjana Sirola
• Edmund Kirby
• Elysia Warner
• Emily Wolfenden 
• Ewan MacAulay
• Filip Drnovšek Zorko
• Gail Trimble
• Gareth Aubrey
• George Corfield
• George Twigg
• Gill Taylor 
• Harriet Courtney
• Henry Pertinez
• Hugh Bennett
• Hugh Binnie
• Hywel Carver
• Ian Bayley
• Ian Volante
• Innis Carson
• Isabella Morris 
• Jack Bennett
• Jack Johannes Alexander
• Jack Welsby
• James France
• James Wilson
• Jamie Karran
• Jenny Harris
• Jenny Ryan
• Joe Crowther
• Joey Goldman
• Josh Spero
• Katie Bramall-Stainer
• Katie McGettigan
• Ken Brown
• Lewis Barn
• Lorna Frankel 
• Marianne Fairthorne
• Mark Labbett
• Matt Loxham
• Michael Taylor
• Michael Tomsett
• Michael Wallace
• Niall Jones 
• Nick Mills
• Nina Grant
• Oliver Forrest
• Olivier Grouille
• Oscar Powell
• Paul Taylor
• Rachael Neiman
• Richard Edwards
• Richard Gilbert
• Richard Wheatley
• Roderick Cromar
• Rosie Howarth
• Sam Kay
• Samuel Cook
• Sarah Binney
• Sean Blanchflower
• Seb Page
• Sophie Fitzsimmons
• Stanley Wang
• Stephen Pearson
• Steve Barnes 
• Steve Kidd
• Tessa North
• Thomas Cochrane
• Thomas De Bock
• Thomas Grinyer
• Thomas Halliday
• Tom Cappleman
• Tom Thirkell
• Tristram Cole

If you know someone is missing from the list or shouldn't be on it, let me know below or on Twitter.

University Challenge 2019-20: Semi-Finals Preview

OK, so, here we are, once again, at yet another UC semi-final stage, and, dare I say it, we have the strongest line-up of semi-finalist teams we've had in the just over ten years I've been following UC properly. They are:

• Corpus Christi College Cambridge (Alexander Russell, Will Stewart, Ian Wang and Alex Gunasekera) Won a high scoring first round match against Merton of Oxford 195-140, followed by a 270-75 thrashing of Magdalen of Oxford in the second round. Came straight through the QFs with a 180-140 win over Wolfson and a 245-80 beating of Trinity. Very strong on the buzzers, with all players contributing; bonus rate has varied from around 1/2 to 2/3.
• Imperial College London (Richard Brooks, Brandon, Caleb Rich and Connor McMeel) Consistanty racked up 255 in both their first two matches, against the 70 of Brasenose of Oxford and the 105 of St John's of Oxford respectively. A comfortable 240-75 win over Courtauld and a closely fought 185-115 win over Durham took them to the semis. Also strong on the buzzers collectively, though Brandon stands out; bonus rate usually about 2/3 as well.
• Durham (Charles Bland, William Tams, Joe Cooper and Arthur Raffle) After losing 200-145 to Trinity in the first round, came through the play-offs with a 240-145 win over York, before beating Southampton 245-95. QFs saw them beat Jesus 195-110, then lose to Imperial as above, before reaching the semis with a 205-45 win over Wolfson. Very strong jointly on the buzzer, with all four players contributing well, probably the strongest in that sense; bonus rate usually strong too.
• Trinity College Cambridge (Nadia Hourihan, Lillian Crawford, Joseph Webber and Liam Hughes) After the afore-mentioned first round win over Durham, comfortably swatted aside Lady Margaret Hall of Oxford 245-100 in the second round. A 300-95 demolition of Manchester was followed by that blip against Corpus Christi, but they recovered from that with a 285-75 win over Jesus. Mr Hughes is their standout player thus far, but his colleagues contribute well too; bonus rate solid, but usually just a touch over 1/2.

See what I mean? Any one of those four teams could realistically win the series, and I wouldn't be surprised which of them does. Also, noticeable that, despite being outnumbered with four teams to Oxford's seven, Cambridge has two teams in the semis to the other place's none; first time Oxford has had no representation in the semis since... (heads to archives to check)... 2006-07!

So, what of the draw? Well, as confirmed by Brandon on Twitter, the draw, as I speculated, pits Corpus Christi against Durham on Monday and Imperial vs Trinity the week after.

Corpus Christi vs Durham is such a potent tie, between the two best collegiate teams of the series, and two teams whose run to this stage has been largely based on their superior buzzing. Thus, this'll probably be a very straight forward case of which can outbuzz the other better, with their bonus rates usually around the same mark. Given we've seen Durham twice get outplayed by the other two SF teams, I'd probably favour Corpus Christi, but it's a tie that could go either way.

Imperial vs Trinity is another very potent tie. Both teams have a slight standout player in Brandon and Mr Hughes respectively backed up by their colleagues, and a bonus rate usually just a tad over 1/2. So, again, I fancy this match to be a fairly straight forward buzz off. Again, given that we've seen Trinity get outplayed by Corpus Christi, I'd favour Imperial slightly, but a Trinity win wouldn't surprise me either.

So, in short, I'd predict a Corpus Christi-Imperial final if pushed, but Durham and Trinity are both more than capable of making a mockery of that. This really is a high quality and well balanced semi-final line-up and draw, and any possible combination of two teams could be competing in the final, it really is that hard to call.

Best of retrospective luck to all four teams, hopefully a good end to the series!

Back on Monday with my usual write-up.

Only Connect Series 15: Grand Final: 007s vs Suits

OK, so if you've been following me online ever since I first started on it, you'll be aware that, aside from Quizzy Mondays and TV of the 80s, 90s and early to mid '00s, my other main interest is Robot Wars. At the moment, on the Robot Wars Wikia site, we're killing the rather a lot of free time we all have right now with a series of RW themed Only Connect questions, including two fully designed connecting walls. It's good fun, and I do hope the user in charge decides to do another run of them at some point.

Anyway, on with my review of the 15th Only Connect grand final, from Monday night; playing were the 007s, Frankie Fanko, blog reader Andrew Beasley and captain Andrew Fanko, who got here undefeated by beating the Eggchasers, the Endeavours, the Junipers and the Turophiles, and the Suits, Kyle Lam, Isi Bogod and captain Toby Nonnenmacher, who got here by beating the Darksiders, the Electrophiles, the Lexplorers (who they also narrowly lost to) and the Forrests.

Round 1. The 007s started the final with Two Reeds, and the music question: we heard Stevie Wonder with 'You Haven't Got Nothin'', then 'I Ain't Got Nobody' by Fats Waller, then 'Don't Come Around Here No More' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and finally Bill Withers with 'Ain't No Sunshine'. They didn't get the link, their opponents did, double negatives, for the bonus point. For their own first question, the Suits chose 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Bengt Holstrom winning a Nobel prize', then 'Lady Gaga's Super Bowl entrance' (I guessed the right answer at this clue), then 'Calculation of the mass of the Higgs boson' (I knew it for sure here), and finally 'Donald Trump becoming US president'. Neither team got this: they are things that were foreshadowed on the Simpsons! (And there are many others I could tell you about too!) The 007s chose Eye of Horus next: 'Group prepared film series', then 'Make perfect replica mannequin', then 'Ban pub except counter', and finally 'Ignite trivial match fair'. Again, they didn't get it, their opponents did: they are quartets of words that have the same definition (the third clue, for example, are all words that can mean 'bar') For their own question, the Suits chose Lion next: 'Take On Me', then 'Super Mario 64', then 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader', and finally 'Mary Poppins'. This time, they didn't get it, their opponents did: they contain a mixture of real life and animated sequences. For their own question, the 007s chose Twisted Flax, and got the pictures: we saw Lance Armstrong, then Gore Vidal, then Spike Lee, and finally Pierce Brosnan. The last one gave it to them: their forenames all mean to perforate. Left with Water, the Suits saw: 'Venn Diagrams', then 'Avogadro's Constant', then 'Halley's Comet', and finally 'Stigler's Law'. They didn't get it, nor did the opposition: they are named after people who did not invent them. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied on 2-each.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The 007s started the round with Lion: 'Two as in bicameral', then 'Three as in piano, viola, clarinet, trumpet'; they saw it to be words/phrases with two and three letter As in them, so offered 'Five as in audio, visual, digital, catmedia', which was good enough for the points. ('players on a handball team' was the model answer) The Suits chose 'Horn-ed' Viper again next: '1: Uffizi', then '2: Museum of London', and then '3: Louvre'. Neither team quite worked it out: they are museums with one, two and three sites respectively, so '4: Tate' would be fourth. The 007s chose Two Reeds next: 'Gloria Steinem autobiography', then 'David Brent film', and then 'Jack Kerouac novel'. They saw them to be 'My Life on the Road', 'Life on the Road' and 'On the Road' respectively, so offered 'Cormac McCarthy novel' as 'The Road' for the two points. The Suits chose Eye of Horus next, and got the picture set: we saw a single white calculator dash, then five of them making up an E, and finally two mirroring each other; they saw them to be how numbers would appear on a calculator, but with the relevant bits not lit up, so two on the left would be fourth. For their final choice, the 007s chose Water: 'Double Your Money', then 'Tipping Point', and then 'The £100K Drop'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents, though their guess of 'Only Connect' made Victoria laugh a lot! I did get it: they are shows with top prize money of £1,000, £10,000 and £100,000, so 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' would be fourth. Left with Twisted Flax, the Suits saw 'Miss Griffin in 'Kinvig', then 'The Mekon and the Treens in 'Dan Dare'', and then 'Loch Ness monster'. They didn't quite get it, and nor did the opposition: they are 'fictional' residents of Mercury, Venus and Earth, so someone from Mars, such as 'Marvin the Martian' would be fourth. At the end of the second round, the 007s led 7-4.

On to the Walls. The Suits went first, and chose the Lion wall. As you'd expect for the final, it proved a most tricky wall, and they were unable to solve anything in the time. So, they had to try for bonuses: 'Axa', 'Chubb', 'Aviva' and 'AIG' are insurance companies, which they got, '192.168.612.91', 'Anna', 'DPD' and 'Boob' are palindrones, which they didn't see, 'Bob', 'Throm', 'Ro' and 'Ca' can all have 'bin' added to them, which they also didn't get, while 'Bobo', 'Oso', 'Bungle' and 'Boo Boo' are fictional bears, which they also missed. Just one point there then.

The 007s could thus put one hand of the trophy is they could do better on the Water wall. A similarly difficult war, but they did get a set quite quickly: 'Nan', 'Bro', 'Sis' and 'Mom' are abbreviations for family members. A second set, 'Pop', 'Pup', 'Strum' and 'Whip', which can all have 'pet' added to them, followed, but they couldn't fully solve it in their three tries. So they too had to try for points: 'Marathi', 'Malayalam', 'Telugu' and 'Odia' are Indian languages, which they saw, while 'Pep', 'TNT', 'Nauruan' and '192.168.612.91' are, again, palindromes, which they too did not see. Five points there then, which gave them a lead of 12-5 going into the final round.

So, Missing Vowels to finish with, with the Suits needing a shut out to stand a chance. 'Dickens novels minus one consonant', such as 'BARNABY RUDE' and 'OLIVER TWIT', was split 2-each. 'Items of food and their approximate shape, such as 'EGG AND OVOID', went to the Suits 3-1. 'Idioms that mention two body parts', such as 'HAND ON HEART', went to the 007s 2-(-1), and that was time. The 007s won the show, and the series, 17-9.

A good enjoyable final to end a good enjoyable series, well done both teams! Unlucky Suits, but a fine series of performances, nothing to be ashamed of, well done and thanks very much. Very well done 007s, worthy champions, and the first series winning team to have two people with the same surname! Well done indeed!

So, that's it for Only Connect this series, another very good series, thanks very much indeed to all involved, thoroughly enjoyed it! Now to watch it all again, as I intend to do over the coming weeks!

Back tomorrow or Friday with a preview of the UC semi-finals.