University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 8: Exeter vs Manchester

Good evening friends, and welcome back! We're now into the second half of, what's been, a low scoring first round of University Challenge; this can probably be put down to the difficult circumstances under which these teams were put together, allowing for very little or, in the case of last week's Durham team, no practice at all in actual buzzer conditions. Hopefully, when teams start appearing for a second time, and are thus more comfortable, things will start to improve on that front. For now, on with the first round matches...

Exeter University is appearing for a twelfth series of the BBC era; it has never got beyond the QFs, reaching those three times, all three of which would see them lose heavily to eventual grand finalist teams, two of which would win the final (wording deliberate to include Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi team). This year's four were:

Ollie Kirwin, from Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire, studying Economics and Politics

Jefferson Ting, from Kuala Lumpur, studying Law

Captain: Jacob Evans, from Brecon, studying Geography 

TJ Alabi, from Newnham in London and County Laois in Ireland, studying Creative Writing

 

Manchester University is appearing for a 20th time tonight, and previously underwent a ten year period of reaching at least the SFs, winning three series and being retroactively named winners of a fourth; they haven't hit such heights again in more recent series, two successive QF appearance their more recent high. This year's quartet were:

James McCafferty, from Nuneaton, studying PPE

Tom Stone, from Leicestershire, studying Theoretical Physics

Captain: Alice Irving, from Peterborough, studying Medicine

Richard McNair, from Leatherhead in Surrey, studying Applied Maths

 

So off we set for the eighth time this series, and it was McCafferty who opened the scoring by identifying 'Once Upon a Time' as the words linking the title of listed films; the Mancunians kicked off with one bonus on twinned towns and cities. Mr Kirwin was just as quick to get Exeter off the mark, and they fared better on their first bonuses, two correct. Another starter to Mr Kirwin and two bonuses to Exeter was followed by the first picture starter, where neither team identified a very nice photo of Glasgow at night. The bonuses, on the locations of working shipyards, went to Manchester, who didn't add to their score, leaving the scores at 40-25.

Exeter increased their lead at Mr Evans remembered 2008 as the year Man Utd and Chelsea met in the Champions League final (a timely question given Mr C. Ronaldo's impending return to Stretford!); the Grecians went one better on the bonuses, a full set on Nobel Prize winners with shared surnames. Manchester then lost points on two starters, neither of which Exeter picked up, but they did take another starter and single bonus. Mr Stone finally got Manchester going again, and they took one bonus on characters in the first Matrix film. They also took the music round, on classical German songs from song cycles, but took no bonuses, leaving them trailing 80-40.

The two sides then swapped starters, but got nothing from the resulting bonuses, and Manchester lost another five on the starter that Exeter picked up. Mr Alabi then took Exeter into thee figures, and this time they took two bonuses, which put them within sight of a match winning lead. The second picture round, on winners of the women's Ballon d'Or, went to Exeter, who took one bonus, to increase their advantage to 125-45.

 

And when Mr Alabi very quickly took the next starter, that was most definitely game over; no bonuses followed, but it didn't really matter now. Despite subsequently picking up yet another penalty, Manchester did at least manage a late rally to respectability, taking two successive starters, and the bonuses finally fell their way, two from both sets. At the gong, Exeter won 130-80.

 

Another low scoring contest, but, again, made watchable by two pleasant teams. Well done to Exeter, who look a reasonably decent and promising team, best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Manchester, but they fared pretty well in the circumstances, thanks very much for playing!

 

The stats: Messrs Alabi and Stone were joint best buzzers of the night, with three each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Exeter managed 11 out of 24 (with one 'just a' penalty) and Manchester 6 out of 21 (with four penalties).

 

Next week's match: Edinburgh vs Peterhouse Cambridge

 

Only Connect introduced its final two teams, the Godyn Family, Charles, George and captain Alice Godyn, and the Data Wizards, Claire Turner, Jonathan Cairns and captain Tim Brown. The Wizards led 5-2 after the first round, and 10-6 after a second round where Victoria was maybe a tad lenient to give the Godyns two points on one of their questions. A better wall saw the Wizards increase their lead to 20-11, and they increased it with a better performance on Missing Vowels to win 29-15.

 

Clive Myrie’s second Mastermind was won by Ian Wang, making a triumphant return to Quizzy Mondays after his success on UC a couple of series ago. He won by with 24 points, with Brian Hyslop coming second with 22; Barbara Cunningham and Laura Masters also competed, and finished with 20 and 18 respectively. No show next week, or the week after, Mastermind returns on September 20^th.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Heather Auton with 14 points; Ian McKillop came second with 11, and might yet return as a high scoring runner up. Emma Napper and George Bulmer also took part, and finished with 4 and 3 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 7: Durham vs Trinity

Good evening friends, and welcome back to University Challenge! On a busy Monday, with the eagerly awaited return of Mastermind today completing the Quizzy Mondays triumverate. Or quadumvirate if you add Brain of Britain, as I do. So far, this series of UC has been enjoyable, steady but not terribly spectacular, with no scores over 200 yet; would that change in tonight's rematch of a first round match from two series ago, both of which's teams would reach that series' semis.

Durham University, the second of my mother's alma matas to feature in as many weeks, is the most frequent sender of teams to UC in the BBC era, tonight's being its 22nd; its best performance, of course, was winning in 99-2000, plus five SF appearances and a QF run last series. This year's team were:

Jack Griffiths, from Durham, studying Theoretical Physics

Charlie Hetherington, from Royton, studying Physics

Captain: Emily Mitchell, from Suffolk, studying English Literature

Isaiah Silvers, from Washington DC, studying History

 

Trinity College Cambridge is the most frequent supplier of Cambridge UC teams in the BBC series thus far, tonight being its 12th appearance; two of the previous 11 were wins, in the first BBC series of 94-95 and 13-14, and there have also been an SF run and two QF appearances. This year's quartet were:

Hattie Innes, from Surrey, studying Linguistics

Navonil Neogi, from Surrey, studying Maths

Captain: Ludwig Brekke, from Oslo, studying Law

Luke Kim, from Seoul, studying Physics

 

So off we set once again, and it was Mr Neogi who opened the scoring by identifying V as the letter linking the clues being listed; the Cambridge side firmly put their stall down with a full set of bonuses. Mr Kim quickly gave them a second, which was followed by two bonuses, before Durham opened their scoring thanks to Mr Silvers, and they also took all three of their first bonuses. The first picture round, on trans-African highways currently being built, went to Trinity, who took two more correct answers to increase their lead to 65-25.

Mr Kim increased it when he took the next starter, but this time only one bonus on artists' models was taken (I got Effie Gray). Mr Brekke gave his side a third starter in a row, and two of the resulting bonuses took them into three figures. Durham fought back into the game, with Mr Hetherington taking the points, but they got nothing from a bonus set on archaeological sites. Back came Trinity thanks to Mr Kim, but they also got nothing from their bonuses. They did take the music round though, on Italian operas sung in German, and two correct increased their lead to 130-35.

Paxo uttered the fateful words "still plenty of time to catch up Durham", but it was Trinity who took the next two starters, though they couldn't add to their score with any bonuses. Mr Hetherington did the right thing and had a guess at the next starter, but only managed to lose five for a 'just an' interruption. Ms Innes duly made sure all four Trinity players had a starter to their name, but, again, they got nothing from a bonus set on football clubs from the East of Scotland league (I knew Dunbar and Hawick). The second picture round, on illustrations of plants from Elizabeth Blackwell's 'A Curious Herbal', went to Trinity; one correct bonus took their lead to 175-30.

All over as a contest, but could Durham reach respectability at least? Mr Griffiths pulled the next starter back for them, but they got nothing from the bonuses. Mr Hetherington did take the next two starters though, and the Wearsiders took full marks from both sets to, indeed, give them a respectable total. Mr Neogi took the final starter for Trinity, and one bonus came from the final set. At the gong, Trinity won 190-90.

Another good contest despite being a bit one-sided. Well done to Trinity though, an excellent team on the buzzer who could be one to watch in the coming rounds, best of luck to them there. Hard lines to Durham, who did OK when they did get in and I'm sure could've beaten other teams in this series, but they still gave a good account of themselves, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Kim was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Mr Hetherington was best for Durham with three. On the bonuses, Durham managed 9 out of 15 (with the night's one penalty) and Trinity 14 out of 36.

Next week's match: Exeter vs Manchester

Only Connect introduced two teams of UC alumni: the Ramblers, Niall Jones, Lorna Frankel and captain Steve Barnes, all of whom have represented Southampton (Mr Jones and Ms Frankel in 17-18, Mr Barnes in 19-20), and the Woolgatherers, Gill Taylor, Beverley Randle and captain Chris Macklin, who were all part of the Open University team last series. The Ramblers led 3-1 after a low scoring first round, before the Woolgatherers recovered to tie the scores at 6-each after the second. Two seven point walls meant as you were, 13-all going into Missing Vowels, where the Ramblers fared better to win 19-13.

 

Mastermind returned with Clive Myrie as the new host, and he gave an excellent first impression; the show is definitely safe in his hands. Ranvir Singh Kalare won the show with 20 points; Tom Jewsbury came second with 18 and Megan Sutcliffe and Eleanor Launchberry finished joint third with 17 each.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Derek Heyes with 10 points, after a hard fought contest where the lead changed hands a couple of times; Sarah Hunt came second with 8, Malcolm Barraclough and Neil Wright, again, came joint third with 6 each.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 6: Strathclyde vs Reading

Good evening friends, and welcome back to University Challenge! Tonight's edition started with Paxo reminding us of the special measures taken to keep the participants safe, and also revealed that, as the show will, again, be filmed over two academic years, graduates will be allowed to continue to play after completing their degree, which was, of course, banned after what happened in 2009. And with that info, on with tonight's show...

 

Strathclyde University is appearing in its seventh BBC series, and for the fourth time in five series; last year, its team made it all the way to the play-off quarter-finals before losing to Magdalene, which was its best run in the BBC era. This year's team were:

Nicolas Kirsch, from Potsdam, Germany, studying Data Analtyics

Andrew Laird, from Denny near Falkirk, studying Chemical Engineering

Captain: Martin Monaghan, from Whiteinch near Partick, studying Physics

Rihanna McGhee, from Gourock in Inverclyde, studying English and French

 

Reading University has also appeared six times before in the BBC revival, but has yet to reach the QFs; last year's team were unlucky to face Birkbeck of London in the first round and were soundly beaten by the team who would later lose to Strathclyde. This year's foursome were:

Alex Skopic, from Springville, Pennsylvania, studying English Literature

Margaret Ounsley, from Reading, studying Poor Law History

Captain: Michael Hutchinson, from Caversham (originally Andover), stuyding for a PGCE

Sylvain Jesudoss, from Thanjuvar, India, studying Marketing

 

So off we set again, and Paxo was maybe a touch lenient to accept Ms Ounsley's offer of 'showers' for 'rain' for the first starter, but accept it he did, and the Berkshire team took a full set on films whose titles begin with 'My'. Ms Ounsley took the second starter, and Mr Hutchinson the third, only one of the resulting six bonuses gave them more points. The first picture round, on departments of France with shared name elements, gave Strathclyde their first points; a full set of their own cut their deficit to 50-25.

It then increased again, though, as the Scots side lost five and Mr Hutchinson took the points, followed by two bonuses. Strathclyde recovered well though, with two starters in a row taken by Messrs Laird and Monaghan and three of the six resulting bonuses. Mr Hutchinson maintained breathing space for his side taking the next starter and two bonuses with it. Neither side identified the singer Daddy Yankee for the music starter; the bonuses, on reggaeton collaborations, went to Strathclyde, who took one bonus to reduce the gap to 90-70.

Mr Monaghan identified Philip II of Spain for the next starter to cut the gap to 10 and give his side a chance of the lead, but they got nothing from the resulting bonuses on ratios. Back came Reading with Mr Hutchinson once again taking the points, putting them into three figures, and two bonuses maintained their slender lead. Strathclyde came back again and took two bonuses to also reach three figures. The second picture round, on stills from folk horror films, went to Reading, who took another two bonuses to increase their lead to 130-100.

And it was that man Mr Hutchinson who once again did the honours for the next starter, and a full set of bonuses on the Isle of Lewis pretty much confirmed victory for the Biscuitmen. Two further starters for the impressive Reading captain confirmed the win; no points came from either of the bonus sets, including one on Latin mottos of English football clubs not dissimilar to one Alex Guttenplan's Emmanuel team encountered many years ago, but it didn't really matter now. Mr Laird did take the final starter for Strathclyde, but the gong went before they could answer the first bonus; Reading won 175-110.

A good contest I thought, either teams' game until Reading pulled away in the final third. Well done to them, Mr Hutchinson in particular who was very good on the buzzer, and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Strathclyde, but they gave a good account of themselves, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Hutchinson was easily the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Laird was best for Strathclyde with three. On the bonuses, Strathclyde managed 9 out of 19 and Reading 16 out of 30, and both sides incurred one penalty each.

Next week's match: Durham vs Trinity Cambridge

Only Connect pitted the Debuggers, Patrick Knowles, Rohit Gupta and captain Jacob Warbrick, against the Steelers, Henrietta Ford, Jennifer Martino and captain Andrew Fisher. The latter led 5-3 after the first round, which increase to 10-5 after the second. A better wall increased the Steelers’ lead to 20-10; the Debuggers fought back valiantly in the final round, but ultimately fell just 1 short, the Steelers won 21-20.

 

Brain of Britain was won comfortably by Alan Hodgson with 14 points, 10 ahead of second place Paul Hood on 4; Colin Atkinson and Gaetana Trippetti also competed and both finished with 3.

 

And don't forget Mastermind returns next Monday at 7:30 with new host Clive Myrie!