University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 12: Dundee vs RNCM

Good evening friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! It's been a low scoring first round of UC this series, but only two more shows left in the round after tonight, so hopefully things will pick up in the next rounds where the teams are more at ease with the show and with each other. The job for tonight's two teams would be to either win or lose with a score of 140 or more to guarantee a return in the play-offs...

Dundee is appearing on UC for the first time in the BBC era; it appeared at least five times in the original ITV era, of which the finest was undoubtedly when it won the show in 1983, beating Durham in the final. The first Dundee team of the 21st century were:

Connor Philip, from Dunfermline, studying Anatomy

Olivia Russell, from Dundee, studying Pharmacology

Captain: Barnaby Stonier, from Winchester, studying Microbiology

Jacob Spurrell, from Milton Keynes, studying Medicine

 

The Royal Northern College of Music is appearing for only the second time in either era; its first appearance in the 2003-04 series saw it reach the quarter-finals before losing to eventual winners Magdalen of Oxford. This year's team were:

Keelan Carew, from Medway in Kent, studying Classical Piano

Dominic Wills, from Cambridgeshire, studying Composition

Captain: Leela Chrisp, from London, studying Vocal Studies and Opera

Alex Robarts, from Hertfordshire, studying Vocal Studies and Opera

 

So, off we set again, and Mr Philip opened the scoring with 'mint'; the Scots side opened with two bonuses on ancestors of Prince William. A second starter to Dundee saw them take just one bonus, before RNCM unfortunately got going with a penalty; Mr Spurrell picked up the drop and his side added another two bonuses. They also took the first picture round, on US cities larger than 300 square miles; two more correct bonuses gave them a lead of 75-(-5).

RNCM finally got some positive points on the board as Mr Wills took the next starter, and took one bonus from their first set on blood. A second starter went to RNCM thanks to Mr Carew, giving them a bonus set on Polish football of which they, again, took just one. Back came Dundee thanks to Mr Spurrell, and they too added just five points to their score with one correct. RNCM seemed to have found their form now, though, as Mr Carew took the next starter; again, though, just one bonus was taken. The music round, on retro synthesiser theme tunes, went to RNCM, who broke their form with two correct to take the scores to 90-60.

Another starter to RNCM, a full bonus set on video games released in 1991, and they were suddenly just five behind. And when Ms Chrisp took the next, ensuring all four of them had a starter to their names, they had completed the comeback and taken the lead; the bonuses on coastal towns, though, saw them fail to add to their score (I had a full set). Dundee reawoke and retook the lead thanks to Mr Spurrell, and they broke into three figures with one bonus on Roman emperors. The second picture round, on stills from adaptations of John Le Carre novels, went to RNCM, who took two bonuses to retake the lead, 115-105.

A straight sprint to the finish then, and Mr Stonier put the teams level again with the next starter; no bonuses were taken, but a second starter in a row to the Dee skipper gave them the lead again, though no bonuses followed again. But when Mr Spurrell took the next starter, that might've just been enough to see them home; one bonus was taken. RNCM made a last run for it, Mr Robarts taking the next starter, and two bonuses were taken, but there was no time for another starter; at the gong, Dundee won 145-135.

A good match between two pleasant and well-matched teams, well played both! Well done Dundee, and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to RNCM, but still a fine performance, and it might yet be enough for the play-offs; currently, at least one of them, Emmanuel and U.C.L. are definitely in the play-offs, though a tie-breaker may yet be needed. Thanks for playing in the meantime though!

The stats: Mr Spurrell was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Mr Carew's four was best for RNCM. On the bonuses, Dundee, managed 11 out of 27 and RNCM 12 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: Wolfson College Oxford vs Bristol

 

Only Connect completed its elimination matches with the returns of the Godyn Family and the Woolgatherers. The Godyns led 6-3 after the first round, and 11-5 after the second (I got the months question neither team did); a slightly better wall saw them increase their advantage to 21-12 going into Missing Vowels, and they maintained it in the final round to win 24-14.

 

Mastermind was won, very narrowly, by Alice Walker, a heat winner on both old and new Fifteen-to-One, whose 26 points saw her just beat WWTBAM Thirteen Clubber Andrew Whiteley on 25, with Sean Lea not much further behind on 22; Molly Bingham completed the line-up, and finished with 16 points.

 

Brain of Britain’s penultimate heat was won by Alan Burns with 12 points, after a closely fought game where the lead changed hands a few times; Derek Moody, a former Mastermind finalist (in the series our friend Dave Clark won), came second with 9, with Charlotte Jackson-Orland, who I think has been on OC, and Lauren Watts-Keane just behind on 8 and 7 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 11: St Catharine's vs University

Good evening friends! Quizzy Mondays is finally complete again, with Mastermind returning after what was supposed to be a two week break for cricket, though, of course, it ended up only lasting one week thanks to you-know-what. Anyway, after a couple of good UC games in a row, would we get a third in a row tonight? In what was, amazingly, the first Oxbridge match of the series...

 

St Catharine's College Cambridge, Paxo's old college, though he didn't say so in his intro, is appearing in a fourth BBC series; of the previous three, its best performance was reaching the QFs in 2015-16. This year's team were:

Jenny Hay, from South Lanarkshire, studying Theology, Religion and the Philosophy of Religion

Emma Dinnage, from London, studying Natural Science

Captain: Nick Scott, from London, studying Maths

Lydia Michaelides, from Saffron Walden, studying Veterinary Medicine

 

University College Oxford won the show twice in the ITV era, and were runners-up of its final series; it has appeared four times in the BBC series, most recently just last series where they lost in the first round to eventual runners-up Magdalene. This year's quartet were:

Leonardo Buizza, from London, studying Condensed Metaphysics

Anisha Qausher, from North London, studying English

Captain: Oliver Hargrave, from Hertfordshire, studying Pre-Modern China

Abby Karas, from South-East London, studying Russian

 

So off we set again, and it was Mr Scott who opened the scoring with 'North Macedonia', but the Cambridge side got nothing from the resulting bonuses. University (not 'Univ.' as they've been in past series for some reason) followed them off the mark thanks to Ms Karas, and they fared a bit better on their first set, taking just one correct. A second starter to the Oxonians and two bonuses with it was followed by the first picture round, on UNESCO Creative Cities of Film, which went to St Catharine's; they completed the sequence with a full bonus set, which leveled the teams at 35-each. 

 

The Cambridge side began to stamp authority on the game now, Mr Scott and Ms Dinnage taking the next two starters, and they continued their bonus form, taking two from the first set, and a full house on the second, on pairs of prime numbers. University finally broke back into the game courtesy of Mr Hargrave, but they got nothing from a bonus set on metropolitan areas of England. Another starter to St Catharine's and a single bonus to go with it brought us to the music starter, Donna Summer's I Feel Love; Mr Hargrave took that, and his side took one of the music bonuses, on Giorgio Moroder's Billboard list of favourite disco songs. They now trailed 95-60.

 

Mr Scott took the next starter though, taking his team into three figures, and his side added one correct bonus to their score. Back came University, and they also took just a single bonus on geology (my geologist Dad had a full set). St Catharine's took the next starter though as Ms Hay identified Judges as the book of the Bible various listed stories were told in; they didn't add to their score though, Paxo penalising them for offering wrong information alongside the right answer. The second picture round, on actresses portraying Jane Eyre, went to University, who took one correct to reduce the gap to 120-90.

 

The Oxonians were still very much in the game, as Mr Buizza took the next starter, identifying Ganymede as the moon whose name is made up of various name elements listed. Two bonuses cut the gap to ten points, and a second starter in a row to Mr Buizza put them on level pegging! But they couldn't take any bonuses on ruined cities in Asia. Next starter would surely win it; a dropped one added to the tension, but Mr Scott was first in to take the next starter, on African geography, and that was the gong! St Catharine's just won 130-120!

Another low scoring contest, but a good one between two well matched teams, well played both! Well done St Catharine's, and best of retrospective luck in the next round! Hard lines to University, who so nearly pulled it off at the end, but still a respectable performance, and it may yet be enough for the play-offs; we shall see, but thanks for playing for now!

The stats: Mr Scott was the best buzzer of the night with four, while Messrs Buizza and Hargrave got three each for University. On the bonuses, St Catharine's managed 10 out of 21, and University 8 out of 24, so it was those two extra bonuses that won the game.

Next week's match: Dundee vs the Royal Northern College of Music

Only Connect saw a return for the Debuggers and the Discotheques, with the winners staying in and the runners-up going out. The Discotheques led 6-1 after the first round, and maintained it to lead 11-6 after the second. A better wall allowed them to increase their lead to 21-11, and an almost shutout in the final round saw them run away to win 29-11.

 

Mastermind returned after its cricket break, and was won comfortably by Ro Duns, whose 22 points was four clear of second place David Finlay. Shamina Chowdhury led after the specialist rounds, but fell to third with 17 after General Knowledge; John Charnock-Wilson completed the line-up, ending with 12 points.

 

Brain of Britain was another high scoring contest, Edward Brunt with 17 points, largely thanks to a 5IAR in the third round. OC alumnus John Payne finished second with 13 points, and should have done enough to come back as a high scoring runner-up; Alan Hay and Ian Welham, also OC alumni, also competed, finishing with 6 and 8 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 10: St John's vs Imperial

Good evening friends! Quizzy Mondays back tonight, albeit streamlined with Mastermind still absent. Last week, we saw two institutions that have won the show in the not too distant past, and tonight, we had two more; the winners would go straight through, the runners-up might do so as well. Due to the low scoring nature of the series, the two teams on 135, neither of which would've made it last series, will likely do so again, so anything above that would probably suffice.

St John's College Cambridge is appearing for the seventh time in the BBC era tonight; its most succesful prior appearance was winning in 2017-18, its second most being reaching the semis in 08-09 before losing to Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi. This year's foursome were:

Thomas Clark, from the USA and Japan, studying Linguistics

Louie George, from Lyme Regis, studying Human Social and Political Sciences

Captain: Jonathan Chan, from Cambridge, studying Veterinary Medicine

Kyanna Ouyang, from New Jersey, studying Natural Sciences

 

Imperial College London has appeared 14 times before in the BBC series, and has won three of those series, in 95-96, 00-01 and most recently 19-20; its also been runners-up once, and gone out in the SFs and the QFs twice each. This year's quartet were:

Max Zeng, from Singapore, studying Biochemistry

Fatima Sheriff, from Hitchin in Hertforshire, studying Science Communication

Captain: Michael Mays, from Montrose, studying Computational Fluid Dynamics

Gilbert Jackson, from Bury St Edmunds, studying Chemistry

 

So off we set once again, and Ms Sheriff's buzz on the first starter was most odd as, instead of zooming in on her as per usual, it cut away to a reaction shot of Paxo instead; maybe the take went wrong. She was right, in any case, and the Londoners took two of their first bonus set. Mr George quickly got St John's going with the second starter, and they matched their opponents with two bonuses. A pedantic penalty for Imperial was quickly forgotten as Mr Mays recouped the points, and they added another five from one bonus. The first picture round, on Venn diagrams of countries and their orders, went to Imperial, with Mr Zeng impressively taking the starter and all three bonuses, giving them a lead of 55-20.

 

The next starter and bonus set were also geographical, and Mr Zeng once again quickly polished off all four, increasing his side's advantage. Mr Chan finally stopped him in his tracks as he took the next starter, but they could only add one bonus from the resulting set on birds. Back came Imperial with another starter and full bonus set taking them intro three figures. Back came Mr Chan for St John's, and two bonuses on South America saw them clear 50 points. The music starter, Liszt's 'What One Hears on the Mountain', was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on pieces influenced by it, went to St John's, who took a full set of their own to cut the gap to 105-80.

But Mr Zeng then took two starters in a row to allow Imperial to pull away again; the two bonus sets saw them take one from the first set, and all three from the second on Greek letters. Mr Mays took the next, another full set of bonuses was polished off, and the London side were close to being home and dry. The second picture round, on paintings depicting washerwomen, went to St John's, who took two correct, which took the scores to 170-100.

Mr Zeng took the next starter though, and two correct bonuses pretty much ended the game as a contest. Which left St John's with the task of getting as high a score as possible; Mr Chan duly took two starters in a row, with one bonus from each set putting them pretty much high enough you suspected. A penalty though handed possession back to Imperial, who took two correct bonuses to take them past 200. But another starter to Mr Chan, two bonuses to St John's, and they were now top of the play-offs and pretty much guaranteed a return. There was time for the Cambridge captain to take yet another starter and his side to take one bonus before the gong; Imperial won 210-155.

A good contest between two excellent teams, both of whom deserve to return, well played both! Very well done to Imperial, who look a very solid team indeed, could be one to watch in the next round, best of luck there! Hard lines to St John's for coming up against such a good team, but their also good score will surely bring them back too; best of luck to them in the play-offs then!

The stats: Mr Chan was the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Zeng's five were Imperial's best. On the bonuses, St John's managed 14 out of 27 and Imperial a very good 23 out of 30(!), and both sides incurred one penalty each.

Next week's match: St Catharine's Cambridge vs University College Oxford

Only Connect’s second eliminator match pitted the Apollos against the Wildlifers. The former led 5-2 after the first round, which increased to 14-4 after the second. A better wall allowed the Wildlifers to close the gap to 19-14, but the Apollos held off in the final round to win 24-19. Highlight was the very last Missing Vowels question, on ‘assistants’, where the clue ‘CRTN’ brought the response ‘CRETIN’! Victoria decided, even though it was wrong, it was a close enough fit to be worth a point!

 

Brain of Britain was, for the second week in a row, a two horse race between Quizzy Mondays alumni Innis Carson and Dave McBryan; the latter took a slim lead early on, and maintained it to win with 17 points, though Mr Carson’s 13 will surely bring him back too. Dorothy Clarkson and John O’Malley also took part, finishing with 9 and 4 respectively.