University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 11: Warwick vs Wolfson

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays once again! As AR said in his intro, we're into the business end of the first round now, and what a first round it's been! For tonight's two teams, any winning score would do, but a runners-up score above 205 would give them a definite place in the repechage, while one of 160 or more would be sufficient for a place on the board for the time being.

Warwick appeared 19 times under the old BBC regime, winning twice, in 2006-07 and 2020-21, and reaching the semis once and the QFs three times, but falling in the second round a whopping nine times. This year's foursome were:

James Coe, from Coventry (originally Buckinghamshire), studying Chemistry

Luke Beresford, from Chesterfield, studying Maths

Captain: Matthew Bliss, from Solihull, studying British Urban History

Abby Akarapongpisakbi, from Bangkok, studying Film Studies

Wolfson College Cambridge, in contrast, only appeared four times in the Paxo era, and the only one of those teams not to go out in the first round was, of course, that of Eric Monkman in the 2016-17 series. This year's quartet were:

Scott Wilson, from Welwyn Garden City, studying Neuroscience

Grace An, from New York, studying the Conservation of Easel Paintings

Captain: Rob Steel-Browne, from Grantham, studying Law

Patrick Pan, from Houston, studying Philosophy

So, off we set again then, and, for the third show in a row, we started with a penalty, this time to Wolfson; Warwick immediately capitalised with a pick-up and full bonus set. A second penalty dropped the Cambridge side back further, and Warwick otherwise dominated on the buzzer after that; after the first picture round, on cold deserts, the Coventry side led 80-(-10). A third penalty dropped Wolfson back to -15, I believe only the third time (at least) that's happened in the BBC era. After that, though, the Cambridge side recovered very well, with a solid run of starters and a good haul of bonuses, including a full set on the Simpsons that I got all the answers to before the questions had finished! They also took the music round, on classical pieces written to be performed by two pianists, after which, they had suddenly tied the scores at 80-each!

Back into the lead went Warwick with the next starter and a pair of bonuses though, and, while Wolfson did take the next starter, no bonuses followed, and Warwick then went on a buzzer run of their own that pulled them back out into a steady lead. After the second picture round, on paintings depicting poisonings, Warwick led 150-90. Still plenty to play for in the game, but another starter and a full bonus set to Warwick meant Wolfson would have to go for it to stand a chance. And go for it they did taking a full house of their own; but another starter to Warwick made their task harder still. Another full house to Wolfson put them within sight of a play-off place at least, but that was as far as they could go, as Warwick ran away with it and ran up yet another 250+ score, again, the third in as many weeks. At the gong, Warwick won 265-140.

Another fine contest that really wasn't as one-sided as the score suggests until the very end. Well done Warwick, an excellent first performance, another team worth watching out for in the second round; best of luck there! Hard lines to Wolfson, who did very well to recover so well from that start they had, and who, again, could well have beaten another team; a good effort though, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Beresford was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Pan was Wolfson's best with four. On the bonuses, Warwick managed 25 out of 41 and Wolfson 15 out of 24 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: Bangor vs Edinburgh

Only Connect continued the eliminators with the returns of the Academicals and the Gardners. The latter led 4-1 after the first round, but the former recovered well and took the lead 10-7 after the second. A better wall gave the Gardners the lead back 17-15 going into Missing Vowels, and they maintained that after a final round where both lost points to win 21-16.

 

Mastermind was very close indeed, with Ben Jones (formerly of UC) winning with 20 points, one ahead of second place Hannah Mitchell with 19, two ahead of third place Simon Pinnell with 18, and three ahead of fourth place Michael Thompson with 17!

 

Brain of Britain was won narrowly by Jude Cole, for whom a good run in the final round saw her finish with 13 points, one ahead of John Robinson (formerly of UC, OC and WWTBAM), whose 12 points currently sees him joint second (with two others) on the HSNW board. Julie Byres and Haydn Thompson (twice a Fifteen-to-One finalist in the mid 90s) completed the line-up, both scoring 9.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 10: Sheffield vs Loughborough

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to JOW for another Quizzy Mondays! Another fine Monday in quizland tonight, as we're now well settled into the Autumnal quizzing season of all three on Monday night, plus Brain of Britain in the afternoon. As far as UC is concerned, the new series under the new regime has been a success so far, for most, as is shaping up very nicely indeed with plenty of promising looking teams. What would tonight bring?

Sheffield appeared 15 times in the Paxo era, reaching the final in 2007-08 and the semis twice, including the 2010-11 team of our old friends Tris Cole and Hugh Bennett, but its last two appearances, 19-20 and last series, were both very unlucky first round defeats, both on tie-breaks, followed by defeat in the play-offs. This year's foursome were:

Safia Rujak, from Plymouth, studying History

Joseph McGough, from Coventry, studying Spanish

Captain: Cameron Colclough, from Sheffield, studying Biophysics

Matthew Nail, from Blyth, studying Philosophy 

Loughborough, in contrast, only made two appearances under the old regime, the first a very high scoring second round defeat to eventual runners-up St John's Oxford in 2009-10, the other, ten series ago, seeing them lose in the play-offs to the Southampton team of our old friend Richard Evans. This year's quartet were:

James Jones, from Luton, studying Mathematical Sciences

Rachael Alvey, from Southwell in Nottinghamshire, studying English with Creative Writing

Captain: Tudor Simmons, from London, studying Psychology

Milan Campion, from Nottingham, studying Sport Management, Politics and International Development

So, off we set once again then and, for the second week in a row, we started the game with one side losing five straight away, but the other side not capitalising. Sheffield quickly put that behind them though, as they took the first three correct starters and quickly pulled away into a decent early lead. Loughborough got off the mark with the first picture round, on UK Sites of Special Scientific Interest, taking two bonuses, which took the scores to 50-15. Another starter to Loughborough plus a full bonus set brought them within touching distance, but Sheffield then pushed further ahead with a starter and full set of their own, and never looked back. Already, all four Sheffield players had at least one starter to their name, and, all of a sudden, their lead was nearly at 100 points. After the music round, on pop songs recorded at the artist's home using their own equipment, which they took another perfect 25 on, Sheffield led 160-40.

And that lead was just getting bigger and bigger as Mr Nail ensured all four Steelmen had at least two correct starters to their name; just one bonus followed, ditto their next set, but it mattered not given they were already out of sight. Mr Campion did the right thing and had an early punt on the next starter, but only managed to lose five; Sheffield, in contrast, pushed past 200 with the next starter and their lead was nearly at that too. After the second picture round, on stills from 'post-horror' films, Sheffield led 255-35. Loughborough finally broke back into the game as Mr Campion finally gave them a third correct starter, and two bonuses on nominative determinism ensured they wouldn't be joining the Sub-50 club. In fact, Loughborough actually had a very good late rally, taking four starters in a row and a solid haul of bonuses that took them into three figures. What a shame it came too late to get them into contention for the play-offs. Sheffield did take the final starter, and the one bonus there was time for, and that was the gong; Sheffield won 290-115.

Another one sided, but most enjoyable contest, two good teams making it so. Very well done Sheffield, a very impressive first performance, with all four players getting at least three starters right, and a deserved one too given how unlucky their last two teams were; best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Loughborough, who proved themselves a solid team with that impressive late flourish and would've certainly won against another opponent; thanks for playing!

The stats: Ms Rujak and Mr Campion were the joint best buzzers of the night with five each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Sheffield managed a solid 29 out of 43 (with one penalty) and Loughborough a very good 13 out of 18 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: Warwick vs Wolfson Cambridge

Only Connect continued with its second eliminator match seeing the returns of Drop of Red and the Suncatchers. The latter led 6-4 after the first round, before the former pulled it level on 12-each after the second. A better wall gave the Suncatchers the lead back 22-19 going into Missing Vowels, and they ran away with it there to win 29-20.

 

Mastermind was won by UC and OC alumnus George Twigg, who won a close contest with 23 points, two ahead of second placed Arijit Goveas with 21, with Anna Lister just behind on 20 and Sharon Malley not far off either with 18.

 

Brain of Britain was a very close contest indeed, with all four contenders within two points of each other, until after the Beat the Brains interval, after which Brian Leddy ran away a bit and won with 12 points, five clear of Tracey Lambert and Gareth Williams joint second with 7 each; Julia Mayer completed the line-up with 5.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 9: Balliol vs Imperial

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! All the Monday quizzes are motoring along nicely; Only Connect has been brilliant as ever, Mastermind has been very strong in all its games so far, Brain of Britain has proven itself a worthy fourth member of the quartumvirate, and UC has, in my opinion anyway, settled into its new era great too! Tonight, we have the Ian Bayley derby, as two teams with a strong history on the BBC era of the show fought it out...

Balliol College Oxford appeared in nine series of the Paxo era, reaching the QFs twice, the SFs twice also and, of course, winning the 'Monkman and Seagull series of 2016-17; its last appearance, though, was a first round exit last series. This year's foursome were:

Elise Cox, from the USA, studying Political Theory

Oliver Ellingham, from Bournemouth, studying Classics

Captain: John Maier, from London, studying Philosophy

Nikita Trojanskis, from Riga, studying Biology

Imperial College London is, of course, one of three teams to have won four series of UC, in 1995-96, 2000-01, 19-20 and 21-22; it also narrowly lost the 2001-02 final and reached the semis in 09-10 and 20-21. This year's quartet were:

Justin Lee, from Hong Kong and Canada, studying Chemistry

Adam Jones, from Hong Kong, studying Computer Science

Captain: Suraiya Haddad, from Manchester, studying Medicine

Sourajit Debnath, from Calcutta, studying Applied Computational Science and Engineering

So, off we set once again then, and a penalty to Balliol immediately put them on the back foot; Imperial didn't pick up, but did quickly move off the mark with the next starter, and took two bonuses on poetry. They took the next two starters as well, with Balliol losing another five in the process, and one of the resulting bonuses saw the first instance for a while of a captain mishearing a confer and thus giving a wrong answer (hasn't been a problem for the last few series what with the extra mics). Balliol did take the first picture round, on texts of political philosophers in their original language, and took two bonuses to cut the gap to 55-10. But Imperial quickly reasserted their dominance with another starter and full bonus set. Balliol did take two starters and all but one of the resulting bonuses, the one miss being misidentifying Brian Clough's famous 44 day reign at Leeds as being at West Ham! But Imperial took two starters and full bonus sets in a row, including the music round, on classical pieces composed around the year of Rachmaninoff's birth, after which they led 130-55.

And the lead was just getting bigger as Mr Lee took another starter, which was followed by yet another full set of bonuses. The run was halted by a penalty, which Balliol took advantage of with two bonuses following. But another strong run saw Imperial, three starters in a row including the second picture round, on paintings of the artist's family, after which they led 235-75. Game over, but could Balliol put in a late run for the play-offs? They gave it a great go, a run of starters taking them into three figures and rattling through the bonuses, getting them mostly right, and, had Mr Maier not forgivably lost another five, they'd probably have made it. Another starter kept their chances alive, but a full dropped bonus set on South African languages ended their chances. At the gong, Imperial won 285-145.

A superb contest despite its one-sidedness, two great teams. Very well done Imperial, a fantastic first showing that, if they keep it up, will surely see them right into the SFs at least; best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Balliol, who deserve immense credit for that great late run; they'd have easily beaten another team playing like that; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Lee was the best buzzer of the night with seven, while Mr Ellingham was best for Balliol with five. On the bonuses, Balliol managed 14 out of 21 (with three penalties) and Imperial a very impressive 30 out of 42 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: Sheffield vs Loughborough

Only Connect began its elimination round with the first two returnees of the series, with the Roadies playing the Cribbagers. The former led 4-2 after the first round, but the latter turned it around to lead 11-9 after the second. A better wall gave the Roadies the lead back 19-18 going into Missing Vowels, and they just about maintained that lead there to win 24-23!

 

Mastermind was won very narrowly by Peter Wilson, whose 17 points saw him just edge out second place Thomas Nelson with 26 (honestly, how can TPTB keep seeing people go out in R1 with such high scores and not think something needs to change?); Madeleine Roper and Bernie Morgan also competed, finishing with 19 and 13 respectively (the latter recovering decently after scoring just 2 on her SS).

 

Brain of Britain was won by Gill Hollis, who won a closely fought contest with 12 points ahead of Brian Craythorne with 10, Jean Burtonward with 8 and UC alumnus Rob Greenhill, who drew an unlucky blank on the first two rounds before recovering well, with 7. (His performance reminds me of a comment on BoB’s format made on the site formerly known as Twitter last year, which I may decide to go into in more detail another time)