University Challenge 2021-22: Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: Edinburgh vs Trinity

Greetings friends, and welcome back to the now slimmed down Quizzy Mondays! Just Mastermind and UC now, and soon it'll be just Mastermind as UC doesn't exactly have long left now either now we're nearing the business end of the quarter-finals. Tonight's match looked an enticing one on paper, between two of the standout performing teams of the first two rounds; winners would go to the qualifying round, runners-up to the eliminator round...

Edinburgh ran up the highest score of the first round as they beat Peterhouse of Cambridge 270-80, but their second match against the excellent Bristol team was a lot closer, as they won it on the final starter 185-175. They were unchanged from those two previous games: 

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

Lewis Thomas, from London (originally Strathkinnes in Fife), graduated in History

Captain: Rishi Sundar, from Manchester, studying Computational Physics

Al Karunaratne, from Hull, studying Physics

 

Trinity College Cambridge won both their matches thus far easily, firstly defeating Durham 190-90 in the first round, before a very imperious second round performance saw them blow away St Hilda's of Oxford 235-45. They were also the same foursome as before: 

Hattie Innes, from Surrey, studying Linguistics

Navonil Neogi, from Surrey, studying Maths

Captain: Ludwig Brekke, from Oslo, graduated in Law

Luke Kim, from Seoul, graduated in Physics

 

So off we set once again, and Edinburgh shot off the mark with Mr Sundar identifying 'confessions' as the word that preceded various terms listed; just one bonus on trees was taken, but Mr Karunaratne took the second starter and the Scots side took all three bonuses on bands with three letter acronym names. A third Edinburgh player, Mr Thomas, took the next starter, which was followed by another full bonus set, before the fourth, Mr Jones (who seemed to have dropped his middle name from his buzzer call), took the fourth (an odd feat that has happened only once before AFAIK); one bonus followed this time. The Scots side also took the first picture round, on locations of island peaks; two bonuses meant they already led 100-0.

And that lead just kept increasing as Mr Jones took the next starter, with one bonus from a complicated set on astronomy being taken. Mr Kim then finally got Trinity off the mark (Paxo: "You're awake! Good!"), and the Cambridge side quickly banged out a full set of bonuses on the Elder Scrolls game series. Back came Edinburgh quickly as Mr Thomas knew that 'area near Weymouth' and 'shipping forecast area' could only be 'Portland'; just one bonus followed, but you suspected it probably wouldn't matter, especially as Mr Thomas took the next correct starter too; words beginning 'sph' saw Edinburgh take two correct this time. The music round, on performers who adopt robotic personas, went to Trinity, who took once correct bonus, which reduced their arrears to 150-40.

Mr Neogi then gave the Cambridge side a second correct starter in a row, which was followed by a second successive sole bonus, on language families. Mr Thomas, having a fine day on the buzzer, took another for Edinburgh, which was followed by two bonuses on novels published in 1973. Mr Thomas came in a bit too early on the next starter though, allowing Mr Brekke to take it for Trinity; bonuses on mainly green flags gave them a full set which just about kept them within reasonable sight. A penalty of their own didn't help though, though Edinburgh didn't pick up. The Scots side then dropped five on two successive starters, but Trinity couldn't take advantage of either mistake. We then, unusually, went straight from a dropped starter into the second picture round, on artworks predominantly using white paint; Edinburgh took that, and one correct bonus took their lead to 170-75.

And when Mr Karunaratne took the next starter, and two bonuses on musicians was taken, any lingering hopes Trinity might've had of catching up were extinguished for good. Mr Jones ensured this by taking the next starter, which was followed by two bonuses on ibexes (no mention of Jeremy Clarkson's famous WWTBAM gaffe thankfully!). Mr Karunaratne looked like he was guessing on the next starter, but was correct and the bonuses provided a full set. Another penalty did allow Trinity to take the final  starter; the bonuses saw them take the first two and they'd have probably got the third had the gong not gone. Edinburgh won 230-95.

Another strong contest despite being one sided for the most part. Very well done to Edinburgh, another fine performance, maybe even their best yet considering their proven strong opponents, and very best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to Trinity, who were outplayed but still gave a fine account of themselves despite that; best of luck in the elimination round!

The stats: Mr Thomas was, just, the best buzzer of the night with five starters to Mr Jones' four (meaning both their running totals are now 13), while Messrs Brekke and Neogi got two each for Trinity. On the bonuses, Edinburgh managed 24 out of 39 (with four penalties) and Trinity 10 out of 14 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: the first qualifying match! Don't know between who yet, but it'll be two of Reading, Imperial, Emmanuel and Edinburgh (Weaver's Week has predicted the first two)

Mastermind was won by Martin McCann, whose 22 points and no passes saw him just edge out second place Sally Moore with 22 points and one pass; Susan Llewellyn and Matthew Cochran also took part in the high scoring contest, finishing with 20 and 19 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Preliminary Quarter-Final 3: St John's vs Emmanuel

Good evening friends, and welcome to the final full Quizzy Mondays line-up of this season! And possibly ever, as I have a funny feeling the BBC might be about to uproot Only Connect to BBC1, seeing as that seems to be the norm these days for BBC2 shows that start beating EastEnders in the ratings. More on that final later on; firstly, though, tonight's UC, pitted the two teams that came through the repechage (as Paxo called it for possibly the first time ever!) against each other. This was also evidently the first show back after a filming break, as Paxo has his casual tie-less attire from the Xmas shows back!

St John's College Cambridge lost to fellow QFers Imperial in the first round, but recovered with a thrilling 175-170 win over U.C.L. and a comfortably 220-45 win over Queen Mary of London. They were unchanged from those three previous games: 

Thomas Clark, from the USA and Japan, graduated in 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

 

Emmanuel College Cambridge were narrowly beaten by St Andrews in the first round, but they also recovered with a close win and a comfortable one, firstly beating RNCM 180-115, and then St Catharine's of Cambridge 125-120. They were also unchanged from before: 

Nicole Pullinger, from Hong Kong, studying English

Nicholas Thatte, from Oxford (originally Greece), studying Physics

Captain: Kara Malcolm, from Guildford (originally Capetown), studying Engineering

James Wrathall, from Mistley in Essex, studying Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 

So off we set once again, and St John's scored first in the derby with Mr Clark identifying the origins of the word 'trivia'; events of 1991 provided them with one correct answer. Mr Wrathall's answer of 'chicken' adjudged to be close enough to 'rooster' gave Emmanuel their first starter in quick order; they went one better on the bonuses taking two and taking the lead. St John's quickly reclaimed it through Mr Chan, and the gradually improving bonus form continued as they took a full set on mythical creatures. The first picture round, on theatre layouts, went to Emmanuel; one correct bonus left them trailing 40-35.

St John's duly increased that advantage as Ms Ouyang took the next starter, but the resulting bonuses didn't fall for them, none taken. Emmanuel, in contrast, took the next starter and took a full set on a good old fashioned UC bonus set on pairs of words differing in an extra T. They now led, but Mr Clark pulled St John's back level by taking the next starter and one bonus on caves gave them the lead back. Only for Emmanuel to take it straight back with a starter and single bonus of their own. They also took the music round, on classical pieces requiring unusually aggressive instructions; no bonuses were taken, but they did still now lead 85-65.

Mr Chan halved that gap as he took the next starter; only one bonus fell for them again, but a second starter in a row to their captain gave them the lead back again, followed by another sole bonus, on Icelandic literature. Mr Thatte took Emmanuel back into the game then though and, again in contrast, took a full bonus set and the lead back. Now, for the next starter, as soon as Paxo said the words 'move of which chess piece', I'd have been half tempted to take a flyer on 'the knight'; Mr Clark sensibly waited before doing so correctly, and the bonuses finally fell for his side, two on maize gave them the lead back. Mr Chan added to that advantage by knowing that Napoli renamed their stadium after Maradona after his passing two years ago, and a full set of bonuses duly followed. Back came Emmanuel though with the (rather late) second picture round, on artists influenced by Goethe's thoughts on colour; just the one bonus nonetheless cut the gap to 140-125.

And Mr Wrathall then took the next starter to pull them back to within five points; bonuses on years ending 99 gave them the one bonus they needed to pull level, setting up a one starter shoot-out. Mr Thatte won it for them with 'the photoelectric effect' (ironically, an incorrect answer offered by St John's earlier in the game); they took the one bonus there was time to answer, and that was the gong. Emmanuel won 155-140.

A good contest between two well matched teams there; well played to both. Well done to Emmanuel and best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to St John's, but still a decent performance and best of luck in the eliminators!

The stats: Messrs Chan and Wrathall were joint best buzzers of the night with four each for their respective teams, taking their running totals to 26 and 14 respectively. On the bonuses, St John's managed 12 out of 24 and Emmanuel 13 out of 26, and there were no penalties all night.

Next week's match: by process of elimination it must be Edinburgh vs Trinity

Only Connect’s seventeenth final, and 400^th episode overall, was competed by the Golfers, Evan Lynch, George Charlson and Frances Clark-Murray, and the Data Wizards, Claire Turner, Jonathan Cairns and Tim Brown. The Golfers led 4-3 after a close first round, but the Wizards had the better of a very impressive second by both teams to lead 11-9. A better wall allowed the Wizards to increase their advantage to 21-14 going into Missing Vowels, and though the Golfers recovered well, the Wizards held on to win the game, and the series, 23-20. Many congratulations to them, and thanks to all who took part on another most enjoyable series!

 

Mastermind was won by Paul Risebury-Crisp, who led by two points after the specialist round and did so after General Knowledge as well, winning with 19 points, with Kim Humphreys second on 17, Pam Douglas third on 16 and Clare Lowe on 15.

University Challenge 2021-22: Preliminary Quarter-Final 2: King's vs Imperial

Good evening friends, and welcome back to the penultimate week of the season when we have a full three part line-up for Quizzy Mondays! Only Connect ends next week; haven't decided yet whether I'm going to do a full blog or not this year. In the meantime, we carry on with UC, and our second preliminary quarter-final, a London derby and a rematch from last series.

 

King's College London reached the quarter-finals for a second series running via a low scoring 115-100 first round win over Glasgow and an improved 175-115 second round victory over Hertford of Oxford that ended that university's interest in this series. They were unchanged from those two wins: 

Ananth Sathyanath, from Southampton, studying Medicine

Rachel Bedwin, from South East London, studying Developmental Biology

Captain: Atyab Rahid, from Daventry, studying Philosophy 

Oliver Beard, from South East London, studying the History of War 

Imperial College London had two higher scoring victories to reach a third successive group stage, firstly beating fellow QFers St John's 210-155 in the first round, and then just two weeks ago, they beat Exeter 205-70 in the second round. They were also the same foursome as before: 

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 for the second time in this longest of long rounds, and for the second week in a row, five points were lost on the first starter; Imperial took advantage of their opponents' mistake as Ms Sheriff took the points and two bonuses were taken. Mr Zeng confirmed his geography expertise hadn't vanished between recordings as he quickly took yet another on the next starter; Imperial consistantly took another two bonuses, before Mr Rashid took King's off the mark, and they went one better taking a full set on their first bonus set. The first picture round, on Indian state capitals and their states, went to Imperial, or rather to Mr Zeng, who single handedly took the starter and all three bonuses to take his side's lead to 65-20.

Both sides then lost five on successive starters, before Mr Zeng got the scoring going the right way again; bonuses on art though saw them get just one starter, and then those five points were lost to yet another penalty. Ms Sheriff identified the origins of the phrase 'tenterhooks' for the next starter, but they got nothing from a bonus set on fungi. Mr Zeng looked to have been beaten by a swerve on the next starter, but quickly adjusted his answer to collect the points; bonuses on the band They Might Be Giants gave Imperial a full set, though, to my astonishment, Malcolm in the Middle wasn't an answer! The music round, on mothers singing to their children in opera, also went to Imperial, but their fortunes on the bonuses swung right back the other way again with none taken; still, they led 120-15.

And when Mr Zeng quickly took the next starter, and all three bonuses on bank notes were taken, the match already looked good as over. At which point, Mr Sathyanath reawoke King's by identifying Chievo and Hellas as the two main football teams in Verona; one bonus was taken. Mr Sathyanath did the right thing and buzzed quickly again on the next starter, but no answer came; Ms Sheriff took the points and two points were taken. Mr Zeng then predictably took yet another geography starter very quickly, and Paxo brought out the old favourite "sorry it's so easy!" when Imperial took the first bonus; they took one of the other two as well. The second picture round, on long serving non-royal world leaders, went to King's, who took another sole bonus to take the scores to 185-40.

Mr Rashid took a second starter in a row to deservedly lift his side out of the Sub-50 Club, and another sole bonus on anatomy was taken with it. The King's captain went for the hattrick, but this time was wrong, allowing Mr Zeng to take the points; no bonuses were taken, but Mr Mays took the next starter and a full set on US geography was once again duly swept up by that man Mr Zeng. He took the next starter too; just one bonus followed, but it mattered not. At the gong, Imperial won 235-50.

Another one sided but enjoyable contest. Very well done to Imperial, Mr Zeng in particular, on another superfluous performance which marks them down as a team to beat; very best of luck in the qualifier matches! Hard lines to King's, who were simply outplayed and did the right thing in keeping on going for it early; best of luck to them in the eliminator rounds!

The stats: Mr Zeng was easily the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters (taking his running total to 19), while Mr Rashid was best for King's with three. On the bonuses, King's managed 6 out of 12 (with four penalties) and Imperial a decent 23 out of 39 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: don't know yet, except that it'll be two of St John's, Emmanuel, Edinburgh and Trinity; if I find anything for definite, I'll say so on Twitter.

Only Connect paused before next week’s final with the third place play-off, between the Ramblers and the Animal Lovers, a line-up composed almost entirely of recent UC alumni. The Ramblers led 6-4 after the first round, before a shutout second round saw that lad increase to 18-4 (I claim two points on the Charles Ingram question, natch, and the horizontal numbers). A better wall saw them increase their advantage to 28-9, which meant Missing Vowels was just a formality, the final score 30-13.

 

Mastermind would be won by Tom Lea with 22 points, with Louisa Radice finishing second with 18, and third and fourth place Shanine Salmon and John Ball finishing just behind with 16 and 14 respectively.