University Challenge 2022-23: Round 1: Match 14: Robert Gordon vs Roehampton

Good evening friends, and welcome to the final first round match of this year's UC! The task for the two teams tonight was pretty simple: win, or lose with a score of 135 or more to get into the play-offs. Pleasingly, both tonight's teams were from 'new' universities, and one of them was making its UC debut on the show, as you may recall from the 'at 60' programme back at the start of the series. And, for the first time in years, one of my local unis showed up as well!

Robert Gordon University has appeared once on the show before, way back in Paxo's very first series in 94-95 (nice bit of symmetry there!), where they were soundly beaten 225-75 by Bristol in the first round. Hoping to better that were this year's team of:

Samuel Fregene, from Nigeria, studying Analytical Science

Donald Anderson, from Aberdeen, studying Accounting and Finance

Captain: Emily Cullen, from Clonroche, County Wexford, studying Pharmacy

Faye Cooke, from Stockport, studying Professional Legal Practice

 

Roehampton University is making its first ever appearance on the show and, you may recall from the afore-mentioned 'at 60' progreamme, the team were coached by Alex Bubb, part of the Christ Church Oxford team who won the show in 2007-08. Said team were:

Katherine Birditt, from Zimbabwe, studying Biomedical Science

Jay Patel, from Leicester, studying Anthropology

Captain: Odhran O'Donoghue, from County Cork, studying Queer Theory in Young Adult Fiction

Victoria Holt, from Manchester, studying Feminism and the Social Sciences

 

So off we set for the final time this round, and Ms Cullen quickly took the first starter for Robert Gordon, who followed it up with a single bonus on astronomical symbols. A second quickly went to them via Mr Anderson, with another sole bonus being taken, before Ms Holt gave Roehampton their first ever UC starter; they took two bonuses from their first ever set. The first picture round, on Chinese high speed railway lines, went to Robert Gordon; two bonuses took their lead to 50-20.

The points kept coming for them as Ms Cullen took the next starter, and Mr Anderson the one after, but, again, just one bonus from each set went with them. Ms Holt did the right thing and had an early guess on the next starter, but was wrong and lost five, allowing Ms Cooke to take the points; no bonuses went with it this time tough. The music round, on pop remixes that charted higher than the original, also went to Robert Gordon; just one bonus was taken again, though they were unlucky to offer the remixer instead of the original for one of the others, but they nonetheless led 105-15.

And the lead was just getting bigger as Ms Cooke took a third starter in a row, which was followed by another sole bonus on the Congress of Vienna. Robert Gordon were struggling a bit with the bonuses, but their excellent buzzer work meant it didn't really matter. Another starter went their way, as did another sole bonus, on British birds, and Paxo felt the need to reassure Roehampton there was plenty of time left. But Mr Anderson identified Sir Andrew Motion for the next starter, and this time they managed two bonuses on opera. The second picture round, on biopics directed by Derek Jarman, finally gave Roehampton some points on the board; two correct bonuses took the scores to 155-30.

The game was long over bar the shouting, as confirmed when Mr Anderson took the next starter, and Robert Gordon finally got a full bonus set, on presidents and prime ministers; now it was just a question of how high both could score. Ms Birditt took another starter for Roehampton, and two bonuses on EGOTs ensured they wouldn't be joining the Sub-50 Club. Roehampton did manage a nice final flourish, taking a couple more starters and a good haul of bonuses to give them a respectable score. But Robert Gordon kept pushing as well, with Mr Anderson's answer of 'saxophone' pushing them past 200. At the gong, Robert Gordon won 210-90.

A one sided, but still pretty enjoyable contest. Well done Robert Gordon, a brilliant first showing; if they can match that buzzer showing against a better team and improve on the bonuses, they'll definitely be a team to watch! Very best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Roehampton, who did pretty decently when they got their chances and would've certainly done better against another team; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Anderson was best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr O'Donoghue and Ms Holt got two each for Roehampton. On the bonuses, Robert Gordon managed 16 out of 39 and Roehampton 9 out of 15 (with the night's one penalty).

Next week's match: the first play-off, between two of Bristol, Sheffield, Newnham and Oriel. Smart money says Bristol vs Oriel next week and Sheffield vs Newnham the week after, but we shall, as usual, see...

 

Only Connect continued its qualification with Mothers Ruined and the Cryptics returning for a second time. The latter led 4-2 after the first round, but the former took the lead 11-6 after the second. A better wall saw that lead increase to 18-9 going into Missing Vowels, and Mothers Ruined saw it out there to win 22-11.

 

Mastermind was a high scoring affair, won by Lee Ansett, whose 28 points saw him just edge out James Devine-Stoneman, former UC winning captain, with 26. Katie Bamber and Jane Mackey also competed, finishing with 24 and 21.

University Challenge 2022-23: Round 1: Match 13: Newnham vs Courtauld

Good evening my friends, and welcome back, at last, to Quizzy Mondays! Though it's been more like Busy Monday for me today, as I've packed a lot in: the first episode of the US version of Ghosts (as shown on BBC3 last night), the Brain of Britain final (more on that later), a certain football tournament that I'm trying to watch sparingly (yep, I missed the Wales game so I could watch the quizzes tonight), and now, of course, the quizzes themselves. So, let's get down to business; the task for tonight's two teams: win, or lose with more than 130 points.

Newnham College Cambridge, one of only two all-woman colleges left in the university (Oxford now has none), has appeared six times before in the BBC era, but has never gotten beyond the second round; its last team, way back in the 2010-11 series, were soundly beaten at that stage by Bristol. This year's foursome were:

Bethan Holloway-Strong, from Surrey and Australia, studying English

Hannah Bowen, from Gateshead, studying German, Russian and Polish

Captain: Roma Ellis, from Nottingham, studying Philosophy

Chén Zhou, from Suzhou in China, studying the History of Science 

The Courtauld Institute of Art has appeared in three previous series, all of them within the past ten years; the first two were first round exits, but the third saw them get all the way to the QFs before falling in the eliminators; captain Harry Prance has gone on to appear in the current series of OC. This year's quartet were:

Oliver White, from Guildford, studying the Art of Renaissance Italy

Alice Dodds, from Birmingham, studying the History of Art

Captain: Ryan McMeekin, from Hertfordshire, studying Circum-Atlantic Visual Culture of the late colonial period

Lizzie Mackarel, from Liverpool, studying 20th-century Russian Art

 

So, off we set again, and Courtauld got off to the stronger start as Ms Mackarel identified Boudicca for the first starter, which was followed by bonuses on the Voyager 1 spacecraft; two were taken, before Mr McMeekin took the second starter, but no bonuses followed that time. Newnham got their first points on the board via Ms Ellis, which gave them a classic UC set on pairs of words differing by a C at the start, which they also took two from. The first picture round, on flags which contain maps of islands, went to Courtauld; two correct bonuses took their lead to 50-20.

Now, as Dave C. might say on LAM, if you hear the name 'James Lind' mentioned, then 'scurvy' will probably be right more often than not; Ms Ellis waited until it became a bit more obvious before doing so, and the Cambridge side took a single bonus on constants. Another starter and two bonuses gave Newnham the lead, but Ms Dodds duly fired Courtauld well ahead again with an impressive three starters in a row; neatly, two bonuses were taken from all three sets. Newnham finally got going again through Ms Holloway-Strong, with just a single bonus being taken. The (belated) music round, on songs from the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge, went to Courtauld; another two bonuses took their lead to 130-70.

 

Ms Ellis pulled more points back for Newnham with yet another starter about new events at last year's Olympics; a full bonus set showed they weren't out of the game yet, but a penalty then handed Courtauld possession back, followed by, yep, you guessed it, two correct bonuses. That record was finally broken on their next set though, as the theatre in 1921 didn't add to their score. Back came Newnham, with two starters in a row taking them into three figures, and three bonuses out of six put them one starter away from the repechage. The second picture round, on TV series starring trans actors who appeared in Sam Fender's Disclosure, went to Courtauld; two correct bonuses meant they now led 175-120.

 

But Newnham weren't finished, as Ms Ellis shot in to identify 'Mauritius' for the next starter, which took them over the score needed for the play-offs, with two bonuses on fictional newspapers confirming this for sure. A second starter in a row, taken by Ms Chen, pulled them within 25, but no bonuses meant they were running out of time to catch up. A third in a row put them within 15 points; one bonus meant they could force a tie-breaker with the final starter, but no answer came when Ms Chen buzzed in on it, so minus five. At the gong, Courtauld won 175-160.

A great contest between two very pleasant and watchable teams, both of whom fully deserve to return! Well done Courtauld and best of luck in the second round; hard lines to Newnham, but you deserve your play-off place, best of luck in them!

The stats: Ms Dodds was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Ms Ellis was best for Newnham with five. On the bonuses, Newnham managed 14 out of 30 (with two penalties) and Courtauld 16 out of 30 (with one penalty), so a very close match indeed; well played again both teams!

Only Connect began its qualifier matches with the returns of the Jillies and the Morporkians. The latter led 3-0 after a tricky-even-by-OC-standards first round before the former rebounded in the second to take the lead 6-4 (I claim three points on the Taskmaster question). A better wall increased the Jillies’ advantage to 13-8 going into Missing Vowels, and they maintained the lead there to win 17-11.

 

Mastermind was won easily by Alison Rose with 22 points, with Sangeetha Navaratnam-Blair of last year’s OC second with 16; Alan McClarty and Harry Hodson completed the line-up with 14 and 11.

 

Brain of Britain concluded with its first ever all-female final, and what a great final it was! Marianne Fairthorne immediately scored 5IAR and a bonus point, as did Emma Laslett, meaning they led after the first round with 7 and 6, with Isabelle Heward and Sarah Trevarthen both a bit behind on 3 and 2. Both close the gap on Emma after the second round, 4 and 5 respectively to her 7, but Marianne had pulled ahead on 11.

After the third, Sarah pulled into joint second with Emma on 9 each, with Isabelle on 5 and Marianne on 13. What followed was the most dramatic final round, with Marianne adding three to her score to seemingly wrap the title up. But Sarah picked up two bonuses to pull to five behind… and duly pulled off a 5IAR which meant she came from nowhere and won the title by a single point! She ended up with 17, with Marianne just behind on 16, and Emma and Isabelle finished with 13 and 9 respectively. Well done all four of them, a brilliant final, and well done Sarah on a hard earned but well deserved victory!

University Challenge 2022-23: Round 1: Match 12: Bangor vs Nottingham

Good evening friends, and welcome to the final installment (for now, at least, World Cup on the way...) of Quizzy Tuesdays! Back to business as usual on Monday next week, and just in time for one final Monday where all four of the major quizzes are on the same day! On with tonight's UC, the ante-penultimate first round match, with the task for the teams to either win, or lose with a score above 170 for a guaranteed play-off place, though 140 or 150 will probably be sufficient...

Bangor University is appearing in a sixth BBC series, having reached the semis twice before, including the team from the 2012-13 series than included our old friend Adam 'Welshguy' Pearce; its last appearance before tonight was a series later, where they lost in the second round to another 'blog reader' team, Messrs Evans, De Caux and Loxham's Southampton. This year's foursome were:

Gus Bastiani, from Dorset, studying History and Archaeology

Ethan Silcocks, from Cumbria, studying Molecular Medicine

Captain: Laura Lloyd-Williams, from North Wales, studying Medical Sciences

Ro Pounder, from Reading, studying Medieval and Early Modern History

 

Nottingham University is appearing for its twelfth series of the BBC era tonight, of which its first, in 97-98, was its best, reaching the semi-finals (after defeating the infamous New Hall Cambridge team in the first round); it's last appearance was a first round defeat to Bobby Seagull's Emmanuel team six series ago. This year's quartet were:

Karen Moran, from Lincoln, studying Medicine

Will Noble, from Leicester, studying Contemporary British History

Captain: Robert Allen, from Norfolk, studying Mathematical Neuroscience

James Hadland, from Chelmsford, studying French and Spanish 

So, off we set again, and Bangor got off to the better start, Messrs Pounder and Silcocks taking the first two starters; two bonuses came from the first set on scientific awards, but none from the second set on The Great Gatsby. Nottingham made it off the mark on the third starter via Mr Allen, and they also took two bonuses on Australia. The first picture round, on galaxies, went to Nottingham; another two correct bonuses gave them the lead, 40-30.

Mr Bastiani pulled Bangor back level again with the next starter, and they took the lead with a single bonus on pairs of people with shared given names. A second starter in a row went to the Welsh side, but no bonuses meant Nottingham quickly pulled level again with a starter and sole bonus of their own. Mr Silcocks put Bangor in front again by knowing K2 to be the second highest mountain in the world, but, again the bonuses didn't fall for them. The music round, on film scores involving harmonicas, also went to Bangor, but, again, they didn't get anything from the bonuses (they knew one of them to be Moon River, but didn't remember it to be from Breakfast at Tiffany's). Nonetheless, they led 75-55.

That lead went up again as Mr Pounder quickly identified the prime minister at the start of the 20th century to be 'Robert Gascoigne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury' ("Thank you for such a full answer!"), and the bonuses finally fell for them, two on tv shows set in Philadelphia. Back came Nottingham, with Mr Allen and Ms Moran providing them with two starters in a row, and three bonuses from the resulting six put them back within five points. Only for Ms Lloyd-Williams to take the next to increase Bangor's lead, and a full bonus set on words with multiple definitions kept them in the driving set. The Welsh side also took the second picture round, on locations featured in the works of Jane Austen; one correct left their lead at 135-90.

Still time for Nottingham to pull back, and Mr Noble pulled the next starter back to help their cause, but no bonuses on 00s novels didn't help it. Mr Allen gave the Trentsiders a second starter in a row, and one bonus was sufficient to keep them in the game. A second starter in a row from the Nottingham captain pulled them within ten points, and, just, into the play-off places, but no bonuses on Olympic mascots were taken. The final starter was missed by both sides, and that was the gong; Bangor won 135-125.

A low scoring but close contest, ultimately just won on the buzzer. Well done to Bangor, and best of luck to them in the second round! Hard lines to Nottingham, but their score does at least get them into contention for the play-offs and, with just two games to go, they may yet make them; thanks for playing in the meantime though!

The stats: Mr Allen was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Mr Silcocks and Ms Lloyd-Williams were joint best for Bangor with three each. On the bonuses, Bangor managed 9 out of 27 and Nottinam 9 out of 24, so it really was one extra starter that won it for Bangor there.

Next week's match, back on Monday at 8:30: Newnham Cambridge vs Courtauld Institute of Art

Only Connect had its final eliminator, with the Scrummagers and the Irregulars returning. The latter led 9-1 after a rather one-sided first round where they got three points on two questions (I claim three on the Hitchcock question), and 12-7 after a more balanced second. A better wall saw the Scrummagers close it up to 15-13 going into Missing Vowels, and they just snuck it on that after a tense round to win it 20-19!

 

Mastermind was won comfortably by Ben Farren, who led after the specialist round and increased his advantage in the GK round to finish on 25 points, 7 ahead of second placed Richard Taylor with 18. Raminder Kaur and Quinn Holmes also competed, and scored 10 and 11 respectively.

 

Yesterday’s final semi of Brain of Britain was a real cracker, with Emma Laslett beating second place Darren Martin by a single point on the final question of the game(!), with 17 points to his 16, to complete (what she herself assures me on Twitter is) the show’s first ever all-female final line-up! Tom Gibson and Helen Blackburn also competed, finishing with 12 and 3 respectively.