University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 12: Warwick vs Wolfson Oxford

Good evening friends, and welcome to the anti-penultimate UC first round match! Mastermind is back next Monday, meaning, for three weeks only, we shall have a full round on Quizzy Mondays, as Brain of Britain is nearly done; today's second semi-final was narrowly won by Hugh Brady. On with UC, and the job for tonight's two teams: win, or failing that, lose with 150 or more to join Imperial in the repechage.

Warwick University is appearing in its 19th BBC series; it won the show in 2006-07, but its nine appearances since has seen its team go out in the second round seven times and the QFs twice. This year's team were:

Richard Pollard, from Cheshire, studying History and Politics

George Braid, from Brighton, studying Physics

Captain: Andrew Rout, from Bearsted in Kent, studying Maths

Owen Burrell, from Lancaster, studying English Literature

Wolfson College Oxford made its debut on UC last series, and what a debut it was, reaching the QFs with two tie-breaker victories along the way, before Durham put them out in the play-off QFs. This year's quartet were:

Grigore Gafencu, from Suceava, Romania, studying Medical Sciences

Brian Moore, form Dublin, studying English Literature

Captain: Johnny Knight, from Tokyo, studying Liguistics

Lorenzo Saccon, from Codroipo, Italy, studying Byzantine History

Off we set, and Warwick got off to a false start with a penalty; Wolfson picked up the points, and took a full bonus set on state of union addresses. The second and third correctly answered starters also went to the Oxonians, as did three of the six bonuses that came with them. 'Peter Grimes' allowed Warwick back into positive integers, and they took one of the bonuses on physics. The Coventry team also took the first picture round, on regions considered their country's equivalent of the Rust Belt, which took their deficit to 60-30.

A third starter in a row, taken by Mr Rout, plus two bonuses, pulled them within ten points, only for Mr Knight to pull Wolfson further ahead with a starter and a resulting full house of bonuses. Back came Warwick with a starter and full house of their own, and a second starter in a row pulled them level, only for them to miss all the bonuses on Pacific Island nations. The music round, on tracks from Classic FM's revision playlist, went to Wolfson; they too dropped all three bonuses, which left them ahead 95-85.

Warwick duly pulled level again with Mr Braid doing the honours, and a full bonus set on eye infections gave them the lead for the first time. Red flags gave them a second starter in a row and two correct bonuses, before Mr Rout gave them a third, but bonuses on winners of the BAFTA Rising Star award escaped them. Their lead was just increasing now, though, as Mr Rout took the next starter as well, and a pair of bonuses on English hill ranges gave them two correct. The second picture round, on paintings of Athena or Minerva, went to Warwick, who took another two bonuses to increase their lead to 180-95.

Wolfson finally reawoke with Mr Knight taking their first starter since the music round, but the Oxonians dropped all three bonuses on papal bulls. And when Mr Braid took the next starter, and two bonuses took the Coventry team to 200, that was game over. And Warwick weren't done yet, taking the remaining starters, lifting their score up to the joint second highest of the series so far. At the gong, Warwick won 255-105.

A good match that was close for the first half before Warwick ran away in the second half. Well done to them on recovering so well from a slow start, could be a team worth watching in the next round. Hard lines to Wolfson, a reasonable team who would likely have beaten another, thanks very much to them for playing.

The stats: Messrs Braid and Rout were joint best buzzers of the night with five each, while Mr Knight was best for Wolfson with three. On the bonuses, Warwick managed 24 out of 42 (with the night's one penalty) and Wolfson 9 out of 18.

Next week's match: Edinburgh vs Manchester

Only Connect now, and the second socially distant first round match pitted the Bridges, Michael Maybridge, Sally Maybridge and captain Tim Bridgstock, against the Whodunnits, Alan Hay, Lindsay Baumeister and captain Alan Flanagan. The Whodunnits had the better of it at first, leading 5-1 after the first round, but the Bridges fared better in the second, resulting in a 7-7 tie going into the Walls. Two very quickly solved perfect walls made it 17-17, and the Whodunnits just edged it in the Missing Vowels to win 25-21. Another good contest between two excellent teams who both deserve another go.

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 11: Royal Academy vs St John's

Good evening everybody, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Yep, Only Connect finally returned today, and we'll get to that later. We also had the first Brain of Britain semi-final earlier, with Michael Smith beating Brian Chesney, Roy Smith and blog reader Jon Stitcher to claim the first place in the final. On with University Challenge now though...

 

The Royal Academy of Music has only appeared once before, in the 1999-2000 series, where they were defeated in the first round by Salford; a selection of highlights from that match can be seen here. This year's team were:

John Vernon, from Blackpool, studying the Trumpet

Aron Goldin, from London, studying Piano Accompaniment

Captain: Eden Lavelle, from Swindon, studying Choral Conducting

Angus Bain, from London, studying Violin Performance

 

St John's College Cambridge has appeared on five prior occasions during the BBC era; its team were semi-finalists in the Gail Trimble series of 08-09, and of course won it two series ago in 17-18. This year's quartet were:

Rebecca Marrow, from the Peak District, studying Natural Sciences

Milena Malcharek, from Krakow, studying Natural Sciences

Captain: Tom Musgrove, from Shotesham in Norfolk, studying History

Sam Willis, from London, studying History

 

Off we set again then, and it was Mr Willis who opened the scoring with 'Christopher Marlowe'; the bonuses, on people with the initials GT, saw the Cambridge side leave Paxo astonished by not knowing Greta Thunberg(!), but they did get George Takei. Royal Academy got off the mark thanks to Mr Goldin, and they got all of their bonuses on long distance footpaths. But then Mr Lavelle buzzed wrongly and lost five, allowing St John's a free shot; Mr Musgrove took it, and they too got a full set of bonuses. With a foothold in the game, the Cambridge side began to eke out a lead and, after the first picture round, on Unesco cities of gastronomy, they led 70-20.

A pedantic penalty from Royal Academy gave St John's another pickup, and they pulled further ahead. Mr Vernon pulled one back for the Londoners, but they drew a blank on bonuses on meteor showers. St John's broke into three figures when Mr Musgrove took the next starter, two bonuses on physics were taken. The music starter saw Ms Marrow beat the opposition to the buzzer to identify the spoken word intro to the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; the bonuses on classical pieces that include dialogue, gave the Cambridge side a lead of 125-25.

And the lead was just getting bigger, as Mr Musgrove knew the anniversary of VE Day to be the reason why this year's Mayday Bank Holiday was on a Friday instead of Monday; bonuses on Beatrix Potter gave them two correct answers. Royal Academy finally managed to buzz back in, but only managed to lose another five. St John's didn't pick up, but another starter and full set put them surely out of sight. A penalty only delayed their march, as they quickly recouped the points. Royal Academy did take the second picture round, on sitcoms where actors play fictional versions of themselves, but they still trailed 185-40.

The Londoners took a second starter in a row, lifting them out of the Sub-50 Club, but they drew a blank on bonuses on Verdi operas; in times gone by, Paxo would've ripped them to shreds for that, but, mercifully, he did not even comment on it here. Another starter and pair of bonuses took St John's past 200, and there was time for them to take the final starter and one of the bonuses they were able to answer. At the gong, St John's won 220-50.

Another one sided match, but two pleasant teams kept it watchable. Well done to St John's, and best of luck to them in the next round! Hard lines to Royal Academy, who just never got going, but, like Wolfson last week, must be a reasonably good team to have got onto the show, so thanks very much to them for coming.

The stats: Mr Musgrove was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Mr Goldin's two were best for Royal Academy. On the bonuses, Royal Academy managed 5 out of 15 (with three penalties) and St John's 21 out of 35 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: Warwick vs Wolfson Oxford

 

Only Connect made its long-awaited return, and responded to the current situation by having the team members seated slightly further apart and separated by glass screens, and thus able to confer while keeping distant, measures I’m assuming UC will be taking too when it comes back. The connecting wall maintained this, with the captain having the monitor in front of them and doing all the pressing, and the teammates using the large projection for their contributions, while, in true UC style, the players all had their own buzzer for Missing Vowels. (Don’t know why they didn’t do that from the start)

 

The first match of the series saw the Pilgrims, Rick Tooley, Pam Tooley and captain Pat Everitt, play the Corkscrews, Laura Lawson, Alexander Olive and captain Alex Thomas. A close match, with the Pilgrims narrowly leading at the end of both of the first two rounds, before a better wall performance gave the Corkscrews a 17-14 lead going into Missing Vowels. They maintained this lead during that for a 22-19 win. Good contest between two well matched teams, and both deserve a return.

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 10: Merton vs Wolfson

Good evening my friends, and welcome back to, what will officially be from next week, Quizzy Mondays! Yep, Only Connect has managed to get some shows in the bag, and will start again next Monday! And we also still have Brain of Britain, which had its final first round match tonight, and begins its SFs next week. On with tonight's show, and an Oxbridge match between two teams who lost Oxbridge first round matches last series...

Merton College Oxford won the show in 1980, beating a Queens' Cambridge team that included some lad called Stephen Fry, whatever happened to him, but, aside from being runners-up in 2017-18, has never got beyond the second round in the BBC era. Last year's team lost to eventual runners-up Corpus Christi in the first round. This year's team were:

Tom McLean, from Rotorua in New Zealand, studying English

Connor Ó Síocháin, from Cork, studying PPE

Captain: Pax Butchart, from London, studying English

William Isotta, from London, studying Physics

Wolfson College Cambridge has appeared three times on the BBC era; one was the runners-up performance of the legend that is Eric Monkman (who, thankfully, Paxo did not give us a bad impression of this time!), but the other two, last series included, were first round exits. This year's quartet were:

Reece Carvosso, from Sydney, studying Law

Alexander Kloß, from Germany, studying International Relations and Politics

Captain: Bonni Jee, from Prestwich in Manchester, studying Environmental Policy

Mel Schwing, from New York State, studying Law

So off we set again, and it was Mr Isotta who opened the scoring with 'sleeping', but the Oxonians missed all three bonuses on 'histories of the World in' (they were unlucky to say '101 objects' instead of 100). They did take the next starter though, and slowly managed just one from their second set. Their third set brought them a full house and, after the first picture round, on lists of works with the same word missing, which they had another full house of, they led 75-0.

And the lead kept increasing, as Mr Ó Síocháin took the next starter, and a third full set in a row already took their lead to 100. Mr Isotta had the next, but this time they could only take one bonus on Winston Churchill. Not that it mattered much given that they were running away on the buzzer race, and Mr Ó Síocháin gave them a seventh in a row, and then Mr Isotta an eighth. And after the music round, on classical works connected to the works of Haruki Murakami, Merton led 160-0.

The game was already as good as over, but Merton just weren't letting up, another two starters going their way, though just one of the six bonuses going with them. Wolfson finally got some points on the board, Mr Schwing doing the honours, but the resulting bonuses on physics failed to add to their score. They did also take the second picture round, on stills from feature films based on shorts by the same director, and took two bonuses, taking the scores to 185-30.

Mr Isotta then resumed normal service for Merton, and one bonus took their score to 200, before another starter broke them past it, though no bonuses were taken. Wolfson did take the final starter of the match, but failed to add to their score with bonuses on rodents. At the gong, Merton won 210-40.

A very one-sided contest in truth, and not much more to be said. Well done to Merton and best of luck to them in the next round! Hard lines to Wolfson, who, as Paxo said, just didn't get going and I'm sure would've fared better in different circumstances, but they took it well, and thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Isotta was best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Schwing's two were Wolfson's best. On the bonuses, Merton managed 16 out of 39, and Wolfson 2 out of 9.

Next week's match: Royal Academy of Music vs St John's Cambridge

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: the Sixth Million Pound win

OK, so, in case you don't already know, which would be a minor miracle given how heavily it's been anticipated all week, WWTBAM crowned its sixth million pound winner last night (seventh if you count Major Ingram), with Donald Fear becoming the first of the Jeremy Clarkson era, and surpassing his brother Davyth, who won £500,000 last year. And he did it in style too, using only one lifeline en route. I guess the UK has finally had its John Carpenter moment then!

 

I persuaded my Dad to watch it (with the sound off, as he can't stand Clarkson!), and he told me afterwards that Mr Fear's million pound question was far too easy. Said question was:

In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?

A: Calice Jack

B: Blackbeard

C: Bartholomew Roberts

D: Captain Kidd

 

My Dad said to me afterwards that the question might just as well have been "Name a pirate", saying, even if you had no idea, you could easily guess the only one you'd heard of!

 

He does have a point to be fair: the million pound questions, in the UK at least, have generally been deceptively easy.

 

For example, Peter Lee, the first person to see the Million Pound Question in the UK; his MPQ basically boiled down to "In which English county is Chester-le-Street?". In his biography of the show, Chris Tarrant says many people have called him out on how easy that was, to which he always replies by asking whether they knew the answer to his £500,000 question ("What does the Japanese word 'kamizake' literally mean?" A: Devine wind), and they usually didn't.

Major Ingram's million pound question is also widely considered by many to be too easy, as is that of Robert Brydges from a few weeks later. Me and my parents watched Mr Brydges' game live, incidentally, and during the break, my Dad went upstairs to check his encyclopedia to see if the answer was correct!

Many people have also expressed suspicions about Mr Fear's questions yesterday, which, as I said before, he had little to no trouble with answering, and using them to claim the whole thing was set up. Total rubbish of course, the chap just happened to get a good run of questions he happened to know.

In fact, earlier I came across a Twitter discussion about how just one awkward question can completely throw a contestant who had been flying up until then. Among those contributing was David 'KP' Howell from Bother's Bar and the DoND forum, who cited how fifth Millionaire Ingram Wilcox used all his lifelines before reaching £32,000, but knew all five of his final questions; had, say, his £125,000 question been one he didn't know, he'd have been stopped there and then.

A very good point. In fact, if I may add to that, Mr Wilcox experienced a big Sliding Doors moment on his £32,000 question:

Which emperor did Peter Ustinov portray in the 1951 film 'Quo Vadis'?

A: Claudius

B: Nero

C: Hadrian

D: Augustus

 

He didn't know it, but he did know it wouldn't be Hadrian, as Quo Vadis is set around the time of the start of the New Testament, therefore ruling him, a much later emperor than the other three, out. He used his one remaining lifeline, 50/50, and was left with Nero and Hadrian, thus giving him the correct answer. (Chris Tarrant was most impressed by this deduction!) Had the 50/50 left a different wrong answer, he could well have been forced to bail on £16,000.

 

Another good example is second Millionaire David Edwards, who knew all of his questions except the £125,000 question, which he used all three lifelines on before making an educated guess, which he very nearly went the other way on.

There have also been numerous contestants, especially from the early days when six figure wins were less common and thus, players were understandably more nervous about risk taking, of a player using all three lifelines on a question before taking the money.

It just illiustrates how unpredictable and dramatic WWTBAM is, which is why it's become such a big worldwide success, and will likely continue to do so for many years even though the original format is over two decades old now.

Quick mention to Jeremy Clarkson as well, who had a most difficult job taking over the show from Chris Tarrant, and has done an admirable job all things considered. In that first pilot run, he was understandably nervous, and trying as hard as he could not to quote Tarrant's stock phrases word for word. But in the further series since, he has settled and is now doing a great job.

 

Long may the WWTBAM revival continue!

Back on Monday with my usual UC review, see yous all then then.

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 9: York vs King's

Good evening folks, and welcome back to University Challenge! We're in a perkier mood tonight, enlivened by the good news over the weekend that UC has resumed filming! Presumably, Mastermind and Only Connect will follow too. Brain of Britain already has too, of course; today's show, won by Michael Smith, saw me get two correct answers in a row for possibly the first time! On with tonight's UC...

 

The University of York (not 'York University', that's in Toronto) has appeared every series bar two since the turn of the Millennium; last year's team were unlucky to draw Magdalen of Oxford in the first round, and then Durham in the play-offs. This year's team were:

Anthony Picton, from Framlingham in Suffolk, studying English

Oscar Ridout, from London, studying Music

Captain: Katie Parsons, from Cheltenham, studying Natural Sciences (specialising in Chemistry)

Josh Walker, from Haverhill in Suffolk, studying History

 

King's College London has surprisingly only appeared four times before, and hasn't made it beyond the second round. The last two teams, in 2017-18 and 18-19, were unlucky to go out in the first round and play-offs respectively. This year's quartet were:

Simon Xu, from Wallington in London, studying Cardiovascular Science

Louie Triggs, from England and New England, studying Politics, Philosophy and Law

Captain: Sam Jackson, from the Somerset-Wiltshire Border, studying War Studies and History

Grace Weaver, from Bournemouth, studying Medicine

 

So off we set once more, and it was Mr Triggs who opened the scoring for the night with 'rain', of which we had quite a bit up here over the weekend. The Londoners took two of their first set of bonuses, but then two successive penalties allowed York to take the lead with two successive pick-ups; the Minstermen took just one bonus from both bonus sets. King's got going in the right way again with the first picture round, on positions in netball and the areas of the court they're not allowed in; two bonuses tied the scores at 30-30.

 

A third penalty gave York the lead back, but they didn't pick up this time. King's recouped the points quickly, and took, again, two correct bonuses. Their next bonus set, on poisons, saw me get a lucky guess of 'strychnine', which I'd just seen used as the murder weapon on an episode of Death in Paradise this afternoon! King's has just one bonus, as did York when they broke back into the game. A second starter in a row and another sole bonus saw the Minstermen draw within five, but King's pulled further forward with the music round, on Motown performers singing in another language; another two bonuses put their lead at 85-60.

 

Back came York, and a bonus set on record producer Rick Rubin saw them finally break their bonus hoodoo with a full set, pulling them level. A second in a row gave them the lead, but back it came with just one on volcanic eruptions (I got the Philippines). King's fought back with Ms Weaver doing the honours, but answering 'Martin Chizzlewick' to all three bonuses on Dickens got them nowhere. They soon took the lead back though, and also had the second picture round, on winners of the Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Festival, during which they revived the classic joke answer of 'Deborah Meaden'! They now led 125-100.

 

Still anyone's game, but Mr Xu made it advantage King's with the next starter, and two bonuses put them within sight of victory. And when Mr Triggs took the next, that was game over. The final starter cemented their position, though Paxo was maybe a bit lenient to accept 'the Black Sea Coast' for 'the Black Sea Region'; at the gong, King's won 170-100.

 

Another low scoring but still most enjoyable contest. Well done to King's, and best of luck in the second round! Well played York too, a respectable effort, and they may well have beaten another team.

 

The stats: Mr Triggs was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Mr Picton was best for York with three. On the bonuses, York managed 8 out of 18 and King's 16 out of 32 (with three penalties).

 

Next week's match: Merton College Oxford vs Wolfson College Cambridge