University Challenge 2020-21: Qualification Quarter-Final 2: Balliol vs Durham

Good evening folks, and welcome back! The second qualification quarter-final tonight, between two teams who may have gone a bit under the radar compared to other teams in the QFs, but tonight, one of them would join Warwick in the semi-finals; the runners-up would join Magdalene and Imperial in a high quality line-up for the play-offs.

Balliol College Oxford got here after a low scoring first round win over Clare of Cambridge, a much higher scoring second round win over St John's of Cambridge, and then a 145-95 win over King's in the preliminaries. They were unchanged from that match: 

Ben Tomasi, from Perth in Australia, graduated in Law 

Solenne Scholefield, from Bath, studying Classics

Captain: Michael O'Connor, from Blackheath in London, graduated in Philosophy and Politics, about to start a graduate degree in Philosophy

Lily Crowther, from Royal Leamington Spa, studying History

 

Durham arrived at this match after a comfortable first round win over Leicester, a slightly closer second round win over Edinburgh, before their preliminary match saw them survive a late fightback to beat Strathclyde 155-115. They were also unchanged from before: 

Harry Regan, from Sevenoaks, studying Liberal Arts

Tom Banbury, from Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, studying History

Captain: Holly Parkinson, from Brighton, studying Physics

Thomas Wilkening, from Ramsgate, studying Biology

 

So off we set once again, and Ms Crowther opened the night by identifying 'O'Brien' as the surname linking various named persons; the Oxonians opened with two bonuses on locales whose names begin with P and end in A. Ms Crowther took a second starter in a row, and another two bonuses were taken, before Mr O'Connor took the third; just one bonus set from a second set on place names went this time. A penalty then allowed Durham to open their scoring, and they also took a sole bonus from their first set. Neither side took the first picture starter; the bonuses, on provinces which are part of multiple countries, went to Balliol, who drew a blank on them too, leaving the scores at 60-15.

 

Mr Regan took a second starter for Durham, and the Wearsiders took a single bonus on genetics. Ms Crowther then took the next starter, the answer to which was, ironically, the wrong answer she'd lost five for earlier! (Can't recall that happening before) Ms Scholefield gave the Oxonians a second starter in a row, and two bonuses took them into three figures. The music round, on classical pieces involving gardens, went to Balliol; a single correct bonus gave them a lead of 115-30.

A penalty gave Durham the chance to pull some points back, but they couldn't take it, and Balliol duly recouped the lost points with a starter and single bonus putting them a starter away from a three figure lead. But Mr Wilkening took the next starter to reawaken Durham; they also took just one bonus on snow and ice, a set which gave us a return of 'hoar', which you may recall wrongly came up on the show a while back! The puerile humour continued as Ms Scholefield correctly supplied 'FO' for the next starter(!), and two bonuses gave them that 100 point lead. The second picture round, on carte de visites of abolitionists, went to Balliol; two correct took their lead to 165-45.

 

The game was long over as a contest, just a question of how high the teams could get. A penalty from Balliol allowed Durham to avoid joining the Sub 50 club, and the Wearsiders took two bonuses on particle colliders used by CERN. Mr Banbury took a second starter in a row, but bonuses on English waterfalls failed to add to their score. Mr O'Connor took the final starter for Balliol, and the Oxonians ended the night with a single bonus from a tricky set asking who was US president when various listed works were created. And that was the gong; Balliol won 175-75.

 

A lower scoring match than of late, but a good one still, played in good spirit by both teams. Well done to Balliol on another good performance, and very best of luck in the semi-finals! And best of luck to Durham too in the play-offs.

The stats: Mr O'Connor was, again, the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Mr Banbury was best for Durham with three. On the bonuses, Balliol managed 16 out of 33 (with three penalties) and Durham 5 out of 15.

Next week's match: Birkbeck vs Strathclyde

Only Connect reached its third QF, with the Dungeon Masters vs the Barons, yet another avoidable rematch. The latter narrowly led 4-3 after the first round, which extended to 9-5 after the second. Two very difficult walls followed, with both teams only managing pickup connection points; the Barons now led 11-8, but the Dungeon Masters fared better in the final round to win 17-14.

 

Mastermind, meanwhile, was won by Briony Havergill, who led by two points after the specialist round, before ending the general knowledge round level with second place Sue Kendall on 16, winning three passes to six. Stuart Mathieson and Trevor Abrahams finished two and three further behind respectively.

University Challenge 2020-21: Elimination Quarter-Final 1: King's vs Imperial

Good evening everybody, and welcome back to JOW! I'm taking a much needed break from adding info to the new Fifteen to One Wiki you may have noticed I set up last week; now comes the long job of watching every episode of Fifteen to One on YouTube and catalogue the results on the wiki. If you have any info that would be of use to the Wiki (scores, dates etc), do let me know either on the Wiki itself or on Twitter. On with UC, and tonight we broke from the tradition of pairing teams in this stage of the contest by their initial opponents...

King's College London defeated York and Glasgow in the first two rounds, but lost a low scoring preliminary QF to Balliol. They were the same four as before:

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 Rode in Somerset, studying War Studies and History

Grace Weaver, from Bournemouth, studying Medicine

 

Imperial came through the repechage, losing their first match to fellow quarter-finalists Strathclyde, then beating Exeter and St Andrews, before losing again to Warwick. They were also unchanged from before: 

Justin Wong, from Hong Kong, studying Maths

Katie Marrow, from the Peak District, studying Physics

Captain: Michael Kohn, from North London, studying Pure Maths

Imran Rahman, from Petaling Jaya in Malaysia, studying Theoretical Physics

So off we set once again, and it was Mr Jackson who opened the night's scoring with 'salt' just as Paxo was saying the killer clue of 'Lot's wife'; two bonuses were taken. Mr Kohn, his side's MVP in the previous matches, then opened his side's account and they went one better with a full set on that old UC staple quarks. Another starter and full bonus set to Imperial was followed by the first picture round, on North American regional flags, which went to King's; two correct bonuses took the scores to 50-40.

 

A penalty to Imperial then allowed King's to take back the lead, and they took a single bonus on edible fungi. Back came Imperial thanks to Mr Rahman, and their perfect bonus rate ended as they only took two of the resulting bonuses. An unlucky penalty then cost King's five and allowed Imperial to further their lead, and another two bonuses followed, before a very prompt buzz from Mr Kohn gave Imperial a third starter in a row, with one bonus taking them into three figures. The music round, on renditions of Amazing Grace, went to Imperial; no bonuses followed (Mr Kohn: "We're gonna get killed for this on Twitter!"), but they had opened up a lead of 110-50.

 

Mr Jackson brought King's back into the game with the next starter, and two bonuses on paintings in Tate Britain were taken. Another unlucky penalty then lost them another five though, and Mr Rahman picked up for Imperial, with one bonus being taken. Ms Weaver then ensured all four King's players had answered a starter correctly, and they took two bonuses on Le Corbusier, with Paxo being very pedantic in correcting Mr Xu's pronunciation. The second picture round, on artworks involving mirrors, went to Imperial; two correct bonuses gave them a lead of 145-85.

 

And when Mr Wong took the next starter, ensuring all eight players had contributed a correct starter, and all three bonuses were taken, that was game over. But Imperial weren't done there and duly switched on the proverbial afterburners, with two successive starters and complete sets of bonuses taking them well past 200. Mr Kohn gave them a fifth and sixth in a row, but the run ended with just one of the resulting bonuses from the first set, and then two on the films of Charlie Chaplin. Another starter and two bonuses put them within sight of a 200+ lead, but two successive penalties then denied them that. Mr Triggs did take one final starter for King's right on the gong, thus ensuring they'd at least matched their score from before. Imperial won 265-95.

A good match that was not as one sided as that until literally right at the end. Still, a fine performance from Imperial and they'll surely be a tough match for whoever they play in the play-offs, best of luck to them there! And well done to King's too, who went out on a perfectly respectable performance and have been an enjoyable team to watch, thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Kohn was, once again, the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters, while Messrs Triggs and Jackson were joint best for King's with two each, the former ending their run their best buzzer with fourteen. On the bonuses, King's managed a good 9 out of 15 (with two penalties) and Imperial a very good 28 out of 42 (with three penalties), and, for the third week running, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter.

Next week: Balliol vs Durham in the second qualifier

Only Connect saw its second quarter-final, between the Sliders and the Puzzle Hunters, another avoidable rematch. The Sliders led 3-2 after the first round, and extended the lead to 6-3 after the second. But a better wall allowed the Puzzle Hunters to sneak into a 13-12 lead, and they just about maintained it a rather short Missing Vowels to win 17-14.

 

Mastermind was won by Harry Heath, whose final score of 18 points saw him finish two clear of second placed contender James Metcalfe, with the other two further back.

University Challenge 2020-21: Qualification Quarter-Final 1: Magdalene vs Warwick

Good evening friends, and welcome to the qualifier matches of this year's UC! In a week when I've started the long task of researching the history of Fifteen to One, watching a whole load of old episodes on YouTube and logging the results; will get an online database set up later this week I hope. But, of course, the big quizzing news this week is that John Humphrys is stepping down from Mastermind at the end of the current series, and much speculation has since begun as to who'll replace him. More on that in due course, but, for now, on with Quizzy Mondays...

Magdalene College Cambridge defeated Univ. of Oxford in the first round, then Corpus Christi of Oxford in the second, and Birkbeck in an excellent preliminary match, seemingly improving with every game. Hoping to carry this on were the unchanged four of: 

James Byrne, from Welwyn Garden City, studying Maths

Adam Davies, from Wichita, Kansas, graduated in History

Captain: Daniel Lawson, from the Wirral, studying Medicine

Kerry Payne, from Little Weighton in East Yorkshire, studying Theology for Ministry

 

Warwick also defeated two Oxford teams, Wolfson and Merton, in the first two rounds, both by comfortabl margins, and then last week, they defeated Imperial in their preliminary match. Also hoping to continue in the same vein were the also unchanged four of: 

Richard Pollard, from Cheshire, studying History and Politics

George Braid, from Brighton, graduated in Physics

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

Owen Burrell, from Lancaster, studying English Literature

 

So off we set once again, and Mr Davies was first off the mark identifying a list of things that make their wearer invisible; two bonuses on philosophy were taken. Mr Braid quickly took Warwick off the mark as well, and they went one better, a full set on the Avengers films. Magdalene then lost five, and Mr Burrell took the points, and the next starter as well, and the Coventry side took three of the resulting six bonuses. The first picture round, on lists of French prefixes and infinitives that can follow them, went to Magdalene; a single correct answer took the scores to 60-25.

Mr Braid re-established Warwick's buzzer advantage with 'Lulu' for the next starter, and they set their stall further out with a full set of bonuses. Another starter and sole bonus took Warwick into three figures, before another starter and full house put them within one starter of a 100 point lead already. Highlight of the show for me came next when I got 'Jump' before Mr Burrell did, giving Warwick that three figure lead. Magdalene got back into the match with the music round, on classical pieces that employ every key in the scale; one correct bonus cut the deficit to 145-45.

Mr Lawson then took a second starter in a row and the Cambridge side took a much needed full set of bonuses. Neither side got the next starter, Ms Payne took the next, and Magdalene took two bonuses from a tricky set on pairs of words whose final letters put together give a Greek letter. A third starter in a row to the Cambridge side took them into three figures, and another two bonuses put them well back in the game. Mr Rout arrested that momentum as he took the second picture starter; the bonuses, on Dresses of the Year and their designers, gave Warwick just one correct answer from what looked like an educated guess, taking their lead to 160-115.

The Warwick captain then took a second starter in a row, giving them a good old fashioned UC bonus set of different genre questions linked by the word 'Emperor', of which they took a full house. And when Mr Braid took 'Richard II' for the next starter, that was game over; just one bonus followed, but it didn't matter really now. Magdalene managed a late flourish, Mr Byrne taking two starters in a row and the side missing just one of the six bonuses. At the gong, Warwick won 200-160.

Another very good high quality contest between two strong teams, well played both. Congrats to Warwick, worthy semi-finalists and surely one of the favourites to win the series; best of luck in the semis! Well done Magdalene as well, who still gave a solid account of themselves and will surely be semi-finalists too if they keep playing like this; best of luck in the play-offs!

The stats: Mr Braid was the best buzzer of the night with four, while Mr Davies was best for Magdalene with three. On the bonuses Magdalene managed a solid 17 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty) and Warwick an also good 20 out of 30, and, for the second week in a row, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter.

Next week's match: the first eliminator match. I have been told by one of the participants who's playing, but I promised I wouldn't say yet. I think I can say, though, that the practice of pairing the teams based of their preliminary opponents will be broken for the first time...

Only Connect began its quarter finals with the obligatory avoidable rematch, with the Whodunnits and the Corkscrews playing each other again. The Whodunnits led 6-3 after the first round thanks to a three-pointer reminiscent of a couple of starters I remember from UC back in the day, but the Corkscrews pulled back in the second round to lead 7-6 going into the Walls. Two perfect walls made it 17-16, and the Whodunnits got the better of it to 26-20.

 

Mastermind was won comfortably by Maxim Hughes, who led after the specialist rounds, and increased that gap on General Knowledge, ending on 22 points, eight clear of the joint second placed contenders.