University Challenge 2021-22: Round 2: Match 5: Reading vs Dundee

Good evening once again friends! After a rather slow start to this series, things have livened up quite a bit in this second round, with some great matches, for very different reasons, and Paxo has perked up a bit as well, having been forgivably subdued for much of the first round due to his illness. Tonight's match, a very similar one to last week: a team that won their first match comfortably vs one who narrowly beat a team who survived to the play-offs (and lost).

Reading won their first match comfortably, but were given a good game by a decent Strathclyde team, who they ultimately beat 175-110. They were the same foursome as before: 

Alex Skopic, from Springville, Pennsylvania, studying English Literature

Margaret Ounsley, from Reading, studying Poor Law History

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

Sylvain Jesudoss, from Thanjuvar, India, studying Marketing

 

Dundee were very narrow winners over RNCM in their first match, leading at first, then their opponents fought back, before they recovered to just win 145-135. They were also the same four as before: 

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

 

So off we set once again, and Mr Hutchinson, comfortably his side's MVP in the first round, picked up where he left off by taking the first starter, with his side taking two bonuses from both sets on Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The Royals captain took the second starter as well, resulting in a bonus set on words that suddenly gained widespread use last March, of which they also took two. Ms Russell got in first on the next starter, but was wrong and lost five, allowing Mr Hutchinson to complete his hat trick and his side to take a full bonuses. They also took the first picture round, on locations of the British Open Golf; they failed to add to the score, but still led 75-(-5).

And the starters just kept on coming for the Reading captain, a fifth in a row (before you ask, no, that's not the record for most successive correct starters at the start of a game, but very close), and another full bonus set meant the Biscuitmen already led by 100+ points. Dundee finally got some points on the board through Mr Stonier, and bonuses on people who turned down peerages saw them get the same two right as I did. Mr Spurrell gave the Scots side a second starter in a row, which was followed by another two correct bonuses. But back came Mr Hutchinson for Reading again, and a single correct bonus was taken, which brought us the music starter, which saw neither team identify The Damned. The bonuses, on music released by Stiff Records, provided two correct answers to take the scores to 135-35.

Neither team got the next starter, though Mr Philip did the right thing by at least having a (joke) guess on it. Mr Hutchinson duly matched his starter total from the first match though with the next starter; two bonuses were followed by him beating that total, though Paxo was a touch lenient to let him off with a slight pause. Just one bonus was taken, but the next starter took that man Hutchinson into double figures for the game! A full bonus set on astronomy was taken. The second picture round, on killer plants in films, went to Dundee, who took the one bonus needed to lift them out of the Sub-50 Club; they now trailed 190-50.

It was now just a question of how high both teams could get. That man Mr Hutchinson took yet another starter next, giving his side a classic UC bonus set on monarchs who came to the throne in the years a listed book was published, of which they took two correct. Two dropped starter were followed by Ms Ounsley taking another starter to Reading; no bonuses were taken, but their imperious captain then took yet another, from which one bonus was taken. The final starter I knew thanks to QI; Ms Ounsley knew it too, but there was no time for bonuses. At the gong, Reading won 245-50.

Another one sided but still enjoyable game. Very well done Reading, Mr Hutchinson in particular on a superb performance, but his teammates played their bit too; very best of luck next time! Hard lines to Dundee, who we know are a better team than that, thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Hutchinson ended the game with TWELVE(!) starters (taking his series total to 20, second only to Mr Chan), while Mr Stonier was best for Dundee with two. On the bonuses, Reading managed 21 out of 39 and Dundee 5 out of 9 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: again, don't know, will retweet anything I find. Two more regular games next week and the week after, then, presumably, we break for Christmas. Last year's Xmas series starts a repeat run on BBC4 next Monday at 7 (I think).

Only Connect began its quarter-finals with the Apollos vs the Animal Lovers. The former led 5-0 after the first round, but the latter recovered well in the second to reduce the gap to 10-8. A better wall saw the Lovers tie it up at 15-each going into Missing Vowels, and they fared a tad better in that round to win 22-18.

 

Mastermind was won by Kit Lane, whose 21 points saw her win by three points ahead of second place Mary Evans; Kathryn Howells and UC alumnus Lillian Crawford also took part and both finished on 16.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 2: Match 4: St Hilda's vs Trinity

Good evening everyone! Thanks once again to my anonymous Twitter source for letting me know tonight's fixture in advance. A tough match to call on paper: one of tonight's teams won their first match comfortably, the other by just five points, but against a team we know to be a good one. Whoever won would take the fourth place in the group stage, as no-one else but myself and Weaver's Week call it...

St Hilda's College Oxford defeated U.C.L. in their first round match by just five points, 140-135, though they did lead for the vast majority of the game. They were unchanged from that previous game: 

Luca Chilvers, from Colchester, studying Philosophy and Linguistics

Akshay Pal, from Bolton, studying Engineering

Captain: Catriona Dionisio, from London, studying Classics

Christopher Bennett, from Cobham in Surrey, studying Theology and Science

 

Trinity College Cambridge led from the off in their first match against Durham, and ultimately came in home with a healthy win of 190-90. They were also the same four as before: 

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 more, and St Hilda's got off the mark first as Mr Chilvers identified a list of anthologies; their first bonus set on Cleopatra gave them two correct answers. An unfortunate incident saw, when asked for 'Bonnie Parker's partner-in-crime', Mr Bennett zigged with 'Clyde' and lost five, allowing Mr Neogi to zag with 'Barrow'; the Cambridge side took the lead with two bonuses, and then Mr Kim gave them a second starter and pair of bonuses in a row. They also took the first picture round, on definitions of ballet terms in French; another two correct took their lead to 60-15.

And up they kept going, as Mr Kim identified Nicholas II for the next starter, though their bonus rate ended as they only took one on the work of Louis Leon Thurstone. Ms Innes took the next starter though, and another two bonuses were taken on cities on the River Danube, before Mr Kim identified William III (at the same time I did) on the next starter and the side was only denied a full bonus set by a last minute answer switch on the third. Still, they now led by 100 points; Mr Chilvers did the right thing and had an early punt at the next starter, but only lost five, allowing Mr Brekke a tap in, with one bonus following. The Trinity captain also identified David Bowie for the music starter; the bonuses, on artists who regularly employed alter egos, gave them a full set, giving them a lead of 155-10.

And that lead was just getting bigger as Mr Brekke took a third starter in a row, and a second full bonus set in a row just rubbed salt into St Hilda's wounds. Mr Bennett had another early punt on the next starter, but his answer was close but not close enough, costing them another five. Another misfire reduced the Oxford side's score back to 0; Mr Neogi picked up the points, and two bonuses took their score and lead to 200. Another starter taken by Mr Kim and single bonus was followed by the second picture round, on paintings depicting figures by windows, which Trinity got nothing from, but their lead was now 225-0.

St Hilda's finally got some points back on the board as Mr Chilvers took the next starter, but a bonus set on biology didn't give them any further points. Ms Dionisio did take them a second starter in a row though, and bonuses on kings who came to the throne at a young age gave them two correct answers. The St Hilda's captain then gave them a third starter in a row, from which they took one bonus. Mr Kim took the final starter of the game, but there was no time for any bonuses; at the gong, Trinity won 235-45.

A very one sided game, but still an enjoyable game to watch. Very well done Trinity, a storming performance that marks them out as one of the series favourites, very best of luck in the group stage! Hard lines to St Hilda's, who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and who we know are capable of much better things, thanks very much indeed for playing.

The stats: Mr Kim was the best buzzer of the night with six, taking his running series total to 11, while Mr Chilvers and Ms Dionisio took two each for St Hilda's. On the bonuses, St Hilda's managed 5 out of 12 (with four penalties) and Trinity 21 out of 37.

Next week's match: again, don't know, but anything I find out publicly will be retweeted

Only Connect concluded its opening round with the final qualifier, between the Steelers and the Discotheques. The latter led 4-2 after the first round, and 9-5 after the second (I got the Countdown question for 3 points). A full wall allowed them to increase their lead to 19-10 going into Missing Vowels, and maintained it there to win 22-15.

 

Mastermind was a very high scoring affair indeed, with Patrick Buckingham winning on 27 points and OC winner Andrew Fanko just behind him on 26 and Dan Sheehy third on 23, all three having secured 13 on their specialist rounds. Emma Harris also took part, and finished on 10 points.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 2: Match 3: Edinburgh vs Bristol

Good evening friends! Although it's a sombre mood in the quizzing world right now, after the revelation in yesterday's Weaver's Week that Bill McKaig, he of the 433 score on Fifteen-to-One, passed away a few months back; my condolences to his family and friends and anyone else who knew him. Tonight's UC would be between two of the teams I was hoping wouldn't be drawn against each other in the knockout round; the winners would go through and the runners-up could consider themselves unlucky to have been drawn against such good opponents so soon...

Edinburgh ran up by far the highest score of the first round as they soundly demolished Peterhouse of Cambridge 270-80. Hoping to continue in that form tonight were the unchanged four of: 

Ben Russell Jones, from Cascade near Caerphilly (originally Bridgend), studying Philosophy and Politics

Lewis Thomas, from Strathkinnes in Fife, studying History

Captain: Rishi Sundar, from Manchester, studying Computational Physics

Al Karunaratne, from Hull, studying Physics

 

Bristol also looked a solid team in their first round match against Wolfson of Oxford, trailing at first before recovering in the second half to win 165-110. They were also the same four as before: 

Alex Regueiro, from London, studying Philosophy of Physics

Sam Woodcock, from Birmingham, studying Geology

Captain: Seb Priest, from Lippstadt, Germany, studying Medicine

Anna Brian, from Tunbridge Wells, studying Economics

 

So off we set again, and Edinburgh started the match off in ominous form, with Mr Russell Jones taking the first starter, and Mr Karunaratne the second, and they took full points from both resulting bonus sets, on literature and Africa in 2011 respectively (I remember the Tunisian revolution being a question on the show ten years ago when it was still fresh in the mind, that's how long I've been doing this for now!) A third starter in a row went to the Scots side, but their impressive early form ran out as they only took one bonus on number theory. They also took the first picture round, on the opening lines of Shakespeare plays in German, after which they led 80-0.

Bristol finally got off the mark as Mr Woodcock identified goose barnacles for the next starter, and the Avonsiders opened their account with two bonuses on early prime ministers. Another starter and two bonuses to Bristol meant they had already halved their early deficit. Edinburgh reawoke again from Mr Russell Jones though, giving them a bonus set on ducks which they took just one of, just falling short of three figures. Back came Bristol with Mr Woodcock again doing the honours for them, and a fairly straight forward set of bonuses on Hinduism gave them a full house. The Avonsiders also took the music round, on opera arias sung by Leontyne Price; no bonuses followed, but they had now cut the gap to 95-75.

Mr Russell Jones then increased Edinburgh's lead with the next starter though, and two correct bonuses gave them a bit more room to breathe. And when Mr Thomas took the next starter, and another two bonuses were taken, it looked like they might be pulling away again. But a penalty then stopped their momentum and handed possession to Bristol, who took two bonuses of their own to stay in contention. But Edinburgh then took the second picture round, on 'local hero' cricketers who featured in the Hundred, and took a clean sweep of the bonuses, after which they led 155-95.

They weren't totally out of sight yet though, and another penalty handed Bristol another free shot, which they duly took and another two bonuses took them intro three figures as well. Back came Edinburgh though, Mr Russell Jones once again doing it for them, and two bonuses on Stilton producing counties put them within sight of victory. A very quick buzz from Mr Woodcock kept Bristol in it though, and two bonuses on musical notes kept them within touching distance. A second starter in a row to the Avonsiders, a timely full set of bonuses, and they were now just ten behind! And another quick starter to Mr Woodcock put them on level pegging! Just one bonus on decades was taken, but it was enough to sneak them into the lead! But Mr Thomas won the race on the next starter to put Edinburgh back in front! One bonus was taken, and that was the gong! Edinburgh won 185-175!

A great game between two great teams, neither of whom deserve to go out at this stage quite honestly. Well done to Edinburgh and very best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to Bristol, who, as I said, can totally feel unlucky to being going out here, but a great performance to go out, thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Russell Jones was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters to Mr Woodcock's five. On the bonuses, Edinburgh managed 19 out of 29 (with two penalties) and Bristol 17 out of 27.

Next week's match: again, don't know yet, will retweet anything I find...

Only Connect’s penultimate match of the group stage pitted the Godyn Family against the Ramblers. The latter led 6-0 after the first round, and 15-2 after surely one of the best second round performances in the show’s history (in contrast to the no-score draw in the second round of their last match). Two perfect walls took the scores to 25-12 going into Missing Vowels, but it was always a big ask for the Godyns to catch up; the Ramblers won 33-13.

 

Mastermind was won by serial quizzer and blog reader Rachael Neiman-Wiseman, who led after the specialist rounds and maintained her advantage in GK to win with 23 points, three ahead of Anna Melville-James in second. Emma Birch and Justin Wong, of last series’ Imperial team on UC, completed the line-up with 17 and 18 respectively.