University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 4: Hertford vs U.C.L.

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! The penultimate one with a full line-up too, with Brain of Britain ending next week. We're now halfway through the first series of the Amol Rajan era, and how well is it going? In my opinion, very well indeed! And that looked set to continue tonight with another excellent second round match up, with another excellent team sadly set to bow out whatever the outcome...

Hertford College Oxford were comfortable 230-155 winners in their first match, and look all the more impressive given that their opponents, Open, have since gone on to survive to the repechage and pull off two comfortable wins of their own to reach the QFs. Hoping to join them were the unchanged foursome of:

Ollie Sourbut, from Ware in Hertfordshire (originally Bath), studying Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems

Omer Keskin, from South London, studying Computer Science

Captain: Daniel Whittle, from Manchester (originally Saskatchewan), studying Classical Reception

Rupavardhini Balakrishnan Raju, from India, studying Law

U.C.L. defeated King's of Cambridge two weeks earlier, leading a close contest throughout and surviving a decent recovery from their opponents to win 190-145. They were also the same quartet as before:

James Hall, from North Finchley, studying Law

Ali Izzatdust, from Portugal and Azerbaijan, studying Intellectual History

Captain: Tayana Sawh, from North London, studying Medicine

Jacob Finlay, from Cranleigh in Surrey, studying Public Administration

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Whittle who visibly beat two others to the buzzer to take the first starter of the night; two bonuses followed, before Mr Keskin, their MVP in the first round, pounced on a slip-up from their opponents to take his first starter of the night, which was followed by another pair of bonuses. U.C.L. did take their first starter to get back into positive figures, and took all three bonuses to boot, but Hertford responded likewise. The first picture round, on locations of cities where peace treaties were signed, went to U.C.L.; one bonus meant they trailed 65-35. Another starter and full bonus set put them within five, only for a penalty to set them back again. Mr Izzatdust recouped the points, taking, what was already, his fourth starter of the game, and another full house gave them the lead. And they weren't stopping there, as two starters in a row to Mr Hall, plus a penalty to their opponents, meant they had suddenly pulled away to twice the Oxonians' score. Hertford did reawake with the music round, on preludes for solo instruments; two bonuses cut the gap to 125-80.

A second starter in a row gave Hertford took them into three figures, and another penalty from their opponents suggested they could pull back again. But U.C.L. duly reawoke through the impressive Mr Izzatdust again, taking two bonuses, only for Hertford to respond likewise. But U.C.L. then took two starters in a row, including the second picture round, on artefacts and their cultures; their impressive bonus form dried up with just one of the resulting six, but they did now lead 165-120. Still either team's game, but another starter to U.C.L. put them within sight of victory; just one bonus followed though, and no bonuses came from their next set, leaving the door ajar for their opponents. Up popped Mr Keskin to take the next starter, and two bonuses kept them in the game. But another starter to U.C.L. put them out of sight, as did two bonuses on porridge. There was time for one more starter and correct bonus to the Londoners before the gong; U.C.L. won 225-140.

Another good contest that was either team's contest until the very end. Well done to U.C.L., another good showing, an improvement on their first, and very best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Hertford, a strong team too who could easily have won in different circumstances; a good effort to go out on though, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Izzatdust was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr Keskin was, again, best for Hertford with four. On the bonuses, Hertford managed a good 15 out of 21 (with one penalty) and U.C.L. a strong 22 out of 39 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: Manchester vs Edinburgh

Only Connect concluded the play-off round with the Isotopes vs the Gardners. The former led 3-2 after the first round, and 8-5 after the second. Two perfect walls meant it was as you were, 18-15 going into Missing Vowels, and the Isotopes increased their advantage in that to win 26-16.

 

Mastermind was a ridiculously close contest, resulting in three contenders, Scott Torrance, Pamela Fell and Damian Pugh all finishing with 19 points! It came down to passes and, with none to Pamela’s two and Damian’s four, it was Scott won emerged triumphant. Nicola Grant completed the line-up with 13.

 

Brain of Britain’s fourth and final semi-final got off to a most unusual start as, at the end of it, all four players had 3 points! George Scratcherd ended up winning, sprinting away in the third and fourth rounds, and ultimately winning with 16, six ahead of second placed Sue Brooks with 10. Matt Barr and Brian Leddy completed the line-up with 8 and 7 respectively. So, George joins Dan Adler, Eleanor Ayres and Colin Kidd in a(nother) high quality grand final line-up; it’s going to have to go to something to beat last year’s, but this line-up is certainly capable of it! Best of luck to all four next week!

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 3: Emmanuel vs Christ Church

Good evening my friends, and welcome back to JOW! Another packed Monday of quizzing today, the antepenultimate we have a full line-up including Brain of Britain for. Starting, as usual, with UC though, and tonight we welcomed back two teams who won successive first round matches back in August, one comfortably, one a tad more narrowly, but against a team who survived to the repechage.

Emmanuel College Cambridge beat Jesus College Oxford in their first match, pulling away after a closely fought start and ultimately running out easy winners 240-60. They were the same foursome as before:

Jerry Chen, from Glasgow, studying Medicine

Alex Sutton, from Reading, studying Biological Anthropology

Captain: Jaya Alagar, from Pennsylvania, studying Population Health Sciences

Alexander Harrison, from Cardiff, studying Chemical Engineering

 

Christ Church Oxford had a closer win over Southampton, trailing at first, before pulling level and eventually into the lead, before a late sprint from their opponents wasn't quite enough, as they won 180-155. They were also the same quartet as before:

Eliza Dean, from Edinburgh, studying Classics and French

Melika Gorgianeh, from Leeds, studying Astrophysics

Captain: Arthur Wotton, from Cardiff, studying Spanish

Elliot Lowe, from Thames Ditton in Surrey, studying Classics

 

So, off we set once again then, and Emmanuel scored first as Ms Alagar took a captain's innings, and followed it up with two bonuses on French artists; Christ Church responded in kind with a starter and pair of bonuses, only to then lose five to an interruption. Emmanuel took the points, but no bonuses, allowing their opponents to quickly pull level again, and then the lead with the first picture round, on flags featuring horses, after which the Oxonians led 55-30. Back came Emmanuel with three starters in a row, including two from Mr Harrison, their MVP of the first round, but just three bonuses from nine kept Christ Church in touch, as proven when they then took a starter and two bonuses to pull level. The music round, on pop songs whose music videos were directed by Tanu Muino, gave the Oxonians the lead back 95-75.

Back came Emmanuel again as Mr Harrison took a starter that is now out of date (Forest Green are no longer in League One); just one bonus followed, but, as Christ Church lost another five on the next starter, it was enough to pull them level again. The Oxonians quickly pulled ahead again with the next starter though, but they failed to score with their bonuses. For the next starter, 'Mayor of Aldeburgh' was enough for me to declare 'Elizabeth Garrett Anderson', but neither side took this old chestnut. Mr Wotton took the next starter to increase his side's lead, followed up by two bonuses. The second picture round, on paintings of giants, went to Emmanuel though, as did two bonuses of their own, which cut the gap to 120-110. A penalty handed Christ Church the initiative back though, with two starters putting them within sight of victory; the bonuses were a struggle though, none of the six, kept the door open. Emmanuel went for it with a starter and a quick full bonus set, but when Mr Harrison zigged with 'geometry', allowing Ms Dean to zag with 'triganometry', that was game over. At the gong, Christ Church won 155-130.

 

A close contest, despite the low scores, both sides rather struggling with the bonuses I thought. Well done to Christ Church nonetheless, and best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to Emmanuel, a decent team who can consider themselves unfortunate to go out now, but a fair showing to go out on, thanks for playing!

 

The stats: Messrs Harrison and Wotton and Ms Dean were joint best buzzers of the night with five each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Emmanuel managed 11 out of 24 (with one penalty) and Christ Church 13 out of 30 (with two penalties), so both teams did OK on the buzzer, but did indeed have difficulty with the bonuses.

Next week's match: Hertford vs U.C.L.

Only Connect’s penultimate play-off was another avoidable rematch, with the Solomons Family and the Video Nasties playing again. The latter led 7-3 after the first round, and 12-10 after the second. A better wall saw the Solomonses close the gap to 18-17 going into Missing Vowels, but the Nasties just hung on in that to win 25-24!

 

Mastermind was also very tight and, indeed, went right to the wire, with Oli Hanson and Scott Dalgleish finishing tied on 21 each! The former won the resulting tie-break 4-3 to scrape through to the next round! Tom de Salis finished just behind them both with 20, with Angela Hawke completing the line-up with 14.

 

Brain of Britain’s third semi-final was also another very close one, ending, for the second week in a row, on a tie-breaker! (Albeit between just two players this time!) Eleanor Ayres and Sue Brearley both ended up on 12, with twelve each, and it was the former who took the tie-breaker and, with it, the penultimate place in the final! (Slapped wrists to TPTB for publishing the line-up for the final on the BBC website! Thankfully, I stopped scrolling before I could have the result of next week’s show spoiled.) Jason Butler and John Esling also competed, finishing with 8 and 9 respectively.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 2: Open vs UEA

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to JOW for another Quizzy Mondays! Just four weeks left of the full set, as Brain of Britain is nearly over for the year now. Still plenty to go for the other quizzes though, UC especially, and, given the very high standard this series, there's going to be plenty more drama to come; drama to make Chelsea's last two games look calm! (OK, maybe not, but you get the idea!) Tonight, the second repechage survivors met one of the infamous 'five' that I made a right mess of assessing in my second round preview...

Open lost their first match to Hertford and only just made it into the play-offs, but really made the most of their second chance as they soundly thumped the favoured Oxford Brookes side 255-155. They were unchanged from those previous matches:

Ellie Romans, from Henley-on-Thames, studying Nursing

Mike Holt, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, studying towards the Open degree

Captain: Ann Gavaghan, from London, studying Art and Architectural History

James Davidson, from Fraserburgh, studying English Literature

UEA were comfortable winners over Strathclyde in their first round match, one week before Open's first, winning 235-125, but it wasn't that one-sided until the final minutes. They were also the same quartet were:

Melissa Shiress, from London, studying Pacific Collections in National Museums Scotland

Bryony Yates, from Wolverhampton, studying Plant Biology

Captain: Owen Tobin, from Nottingham, studying Medicine

Matthew Jennings, from King's Lynn, studying Philosophy

So, off we set once again then, and Mr Davidson shot off the mark to take the first starter, which Open followed up with two bonuses on blue plaques. A second starter to Mr Davidson provided them with a very quickly taken full bonus set; he didn't make it a hat-trick with the third starter, which UEA lost five on, but did with the fourth, followed by two bonuses. UEA did finally get a word in with two starters in a row, including the first picture round, on postal districts and chemical elements (been a while since that came up on this show); two correct bonuses from both took the scores to 60-35. But a penalty allowed Mr Davidson in once again, increasing Open's lead further. UEA were at least picking up points now, but Open were matching (and bettering) them. After the music round, on five movement symphonies, Open led 140-55.

Mr Tobin did ensue all four UEA players had a starter to their name, and they quickly fired out two correct bonuses; but Mr Davidson was, again, in like a shot with the next, which may have been only followed by just one bonus, but their lead was sufficiently strong that it didn't matter, for now at least. UEA took another starter, but no bonuses followed, and on the next, Ms Shiress buzzed, but the answer agonisingly escaped her just after she'd done so; Open duly swooped, and then went on to ensure yet another match where all eight players had a correct starter under their belts. After the second picture round, on paintings discussed by John Berger in his Ways of Seeing series, Open led 205-80. UEA did take another starter, and quickly banged out three bonuses deservedly to reach three figures, but another quick buzz from that man Mr Davidson and a full house of Open's own officially ended the game as a contest. A couple more starters pushed UEA to a good final total, but a late run from Open meant they had accrued their highest score of the series so far. At the gong, Open won 265-130.

Another excellent and high quality contest despite its one-sidedness. Very well done Open, another superb performance, which certainly stands them in strong stead heading into, what looks already to be, a high quality second round; best of luck there! Hard lines to UEA, who did very well indeed to get that score against such strong opponents; thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Davidson was, by far and away, the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters, while Mr Jennings was best for UEA with four. On the bonuses, Open managed 26 out of 42 (with one penalty) and UEA 11 out of 27 (with three penalties) and, for, I think, the fourth time this series, all eight players answered at least one starter correctly. (Incidentally, as pointed out by someone on LAM over the weekend, last week's show saw all eight players get at least TWO starters right, a superb, and ultra rare, feat that I missed completely; well done to them again!)

Next week's match: Christ Church vs Emmanuel

Only Connect continued the play-off round with one of its classic avoidable rematches, with the Roadies and the Stitchers meeting again. The teams were level on 4-each after the first round (I claim three on the Track and Field question) before the former took a narrow lead 6-5 after a tough second round. A better wall gave the Stitchers the lead 15-13 going into Missing Vowels, and they just about maintained that lead there to win 19-17.

 

Mastermind was won by Caryn Ellis, whose 21 points saw her finish three ahead of Seb Dwyer and Anne McElhinney (also on the current series of Brain of Britain) in joint second on 18, with Jonathan Paxton (formerly of OC last series) completing the line-up with 16.

 

Brain of Britain’s second semi-final was a very good contest indeed, with Dan Adler leading with 12 points going into the final round, only for both Jude Cole and, spectacularly via a 5IARAABM, Dave Cowan to both draw level in the final round and force a three-way tie! Mr Adler won that to take the second place in the final. Mickie Wynn-Davies completed the line-up with 5.