Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 8: University Challenge R1M8, Only Connect R1M8, Mastermind Heat 6

Good evening again friends, and welcome to Week 8 of Quizzy Mondays! A sad one though, as its the final first round match of Only Connect tonight, and thus the end of my favourite round of the quiz, largely because no-one goes out, but also because I like recognising people I've seen before on other shows on it! And pointing them out to my Dad, who I do the show with over the phone. More on that final first round match later, but we start, as ever, with UC...

 

Two postgraduate focussed institutions with us tonight. Darwin College Cambridge, firstly, making only their third appearance on the series; their first, back in 2018-19, saw them get all the way to the SFs, largely thanks to their virtuoso captain Jason Golfinos. Their second, two series later, saw them go out in the first round. This year, they were represented by:

Rebecca McClelland, from Essex, studying Optical Microscopy

Sophie Willis, from Derby, studying Pathology

Captain: Harrison Whitaker, from Terre Haute, Indiana, studying Film

Rowan Stewart, from Edinburgh, studying Linguistics 

 

Birkbeck College was a regular in the early days of the BBC era, but, after winning the 2002-03 series, they proceded to vanish for 16 years before finally returning in 2019-20. Their two appearances since, the second of them last series, have seen them reach the semis on both occasions; three quarters of the 2020-21 team went on to win Series 18 of OC as the Strigiformes. Playing for them this series were:

Rosalie Van Onzenoort, from the Netherlands, studying Creative Writing

Uma Moorthy, from London, studying English with Creative Writing

Captain: Alex Evans, from Claygate in Surrey, studying Politics, Philosophy and History

Eric Skidmore, from Salford, studying Early Modern History

The Cambridge side had the better of the early exchanges, with Mr Whitaker taking three of the first four starters, including the first picture starter; after the first picture round, Darwin led 50-20. Birkbeck recovered well, two starters and a few bonuses pulling them back within five; they would've been level but for a penalty for a dreaded 'just an' interruption. But another two starters to the Darwin captain pulled them away again. The Londoners did take the music round, which allowed them to reduce their arrears to 90-65.

But that man Mr Whitaker kept his starter count ticking over, two more and a solid haul of bonuses taking them well over the 100 mark. Birkbeck did take a couple of more starters of their own, including the second picture starter; after the second picture round, Darwin led 135-90. A third starter in a row took the Londoners into three figures, and two bonuses kept them with a chance. But Mr Whitaker suddenly reawoke, and would go on a superb late run that allowed his team to run away with the game, and him to finish with a total not that far off that once managed by his afore-mentioned predecessor. At the gong, Darwin won 205-110.

A decent enough game, both teams gave a fair effort, but it was Mr Whitaker's superb buzzer form that won the game for Darwin; well done them, and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Birkbeck, but they didn't disgrace themselves and came across well too, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Whitaker was by far and away the best buzzer of the night with ELEVEN(!) starters (all eleven of his team's starters in fact, first time something like that's happened for some time), while Ms Van Onzenoort was best for Birkbeck with three. On the bonuses, Darwin managed 19 out of 32 and Birkbeck 10 out of 21 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: Oriel Oxford vs Durham

Only Connect arrived at its final first round heat, and we met our last two new teams: the Uisge Beathas, Julie Galante, Charlie Mollison and captain Charles Dundas, and the Crunchers, Ian Wang, who you’ll remember as the captain of Corpus Christi Cambridge team who were UC runners-up in 2019-20, Chris Nash and captain Dennis Wang, brother of Ian who was part of the Worcester Oxford team who were unlucky to go out in the first round of the 2016-17 series.

 

The Crunchers led 5-3 after the first round, where my Dad and I jointly claim the ‘Numbers next’ question (I say jointly because he got it after I explained the Countdown clue to him!). I definitely claim the swan question on Round 2, and my Dad claims the ‘Rob Peter to pay Paul’ one; after that the Beathas had turned it around to lead 10-7.

 

Two well worked out perfect walls meant it was as you were, the Beathas led 20-17 going into Missing Vowels. The Crunchers, however, had the better of a very good round to come from behind and win 25-23. But a good first showing by both teams; well done and best of luck next time!

 

Next week’s match: the first eliminator, between the Hopsters and the Midlanders

 

Mastermind was opened by Thomas Banbury, who you may remember from the Durham team that reached the UC QFs in 2020-21; answering on the ghost stories of MR James, he scored 8. He was followed into the chair by Liam McCarthy, answering on Ronnie O’Sullivan, he matched Thomas’ score, another 8.

 

Jane Northern was next up and, answering on the classic Thunderbirds, went into the lead with 10 points. Finally, Helen Lawson answered on Hans Holbein the Younger, and finished straight down the middle with 9 scores, making it still anyone’s game depending on how GK went.

 

Thomas returned first, and scored a respectable 10 to take his score to 18, but, with a pass in the mix too, it looked likely to be beaten at least once. Liam did indeed beat it, but only just, 19 his final score, also with a single pass. He also wins the prize for best guess of the series so far; asked for a former BBC security correspondent, he guessed ‘Clive Myrie’, who did very well not to let it throw him too much!

 

Helen went next, but a few long pauses before answering wrongly cost her a bit, and she could only equal Thomas’ 18; still a perfectly fine performance though. It left Jane needing to equal her SS score to win the game, and, despite noticeably more passes than her fellow contenders, she did so and more with time to spare; 22 her final score. So she goes through to the semis; congrats to her, and thanks the others for a good contest!

 

Brain of Britain was won by Hannah Reilly, who won it in the second and third rounds with the strongest showing of those two rounds; that and taking one of only two points scored in a tough final round saw her finish with 12 points, three ahead of second place Eithne Cullen with 9. Andrew Bingham and Sean Lea completed the line-up, both scoring 4.

 

And that's it for another week. Thanks once again for reading; join us again same time same place next week as OC begins its elimination round...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 7: University Challenge R1M7, Only Connect R1M7, Mastermind Heat 5

Good evening again my friends, and welcome to Heat 7 of Quizzy Mondays! We're well underway now; the first round of UC is now half done, as I suddenly realised with AR's opening credits, and we have just two more OC teams to meet for the first time after tonight, meaning my personal favourite round of the contest is nearly done. So, on with tonight's action, beginning, of course, with UC...

 

Tonight we welcomed back two institutions who were last with us three series ago, and who both lost to the same team! Reading were, of course, the runners-up of that series, easily their best performance of the BBC era at least, and whose captain Michael Hutchinson we re-met on OC just last week alongside Fatima Sheriff of the Imperial team that beat them. They were represented this year by:

Kissani Selvaramesh, from London, studying Biomedical Sciencea

Josh Finkelstein, from Toronto, studying Agricultural Economics

Captain: Rhiannon Snook, from Rugby, studying Philosophy

Stuart Rock, from West Dorset, studying History

Exeter were beaten by Imperial more comprehensively in the second round of that series, their twelfth of the BBC era, of which their joint best are QF appearances in 1995-96, 2007-08 and a series later, where they famously lost to Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi team with just 15 points (an undeserved total for what was a very decent team). This year's team consisted of:

Ryker Moorcroft, from Ramsgate, studying Natural Sciences

Lucy Carr, from Hitchin, studying Art History and Classics

Captain: Martin Newman, from Leighton Buzzard, studying Modern History

Elliott Mouelhi, from Wells, studying Ancient History and Archaeology

Mr Mouelhi began the show in excellent form by getting the first four correct starters of the game; a fine run, but not a record, I know of at least one occasion where this has been bettered. The run included the first picture round, after which Exeter already led 95-0. Reading recovered well in the second phase, getting a few starters and a respectable run of bonuses. After the music round, which the Biscuitmen took a full house on, they'd cut the gap to 105-75.

Exeter took a couple more starters to up their lead again, but Reading took a starter and full set to stay in touch. Exeter responded with one of their own with the second picture round though, extending their lead to 165-95. Reading kept themselves in the game with a starter and sole bonus, but that was as far as they could get, as Exeter duly turned on the afterburners and impressively ran away in the final quarter. Reading did the right thing in keeping on buzzing in, but only managed to incur penalties, allowing their opponents to keep increasing their lead. At the gong, Exeter won 240-100.

Another fine contest that wasn't as one-sided as that final score suggests. Well done Exeter, a very good first performance and, with a kind draw, they could certainly have a good run in this series; for now, best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Reading, but they gave a respectable account of themselves and came across well; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Messrs Moorcroft and Mouelhi were joint best buzzers of the night with five starters each, while Mr Finkelstein was best for Reading with four. On the bonuses, Reading managed a good 11 out of 18 (with three forgivable penalties) and Exeter a very good indeed 24 out of 33.

Next week's match: Darwin Cambrdge vs Birkbeck London

Only Connect’s penultimate first round match was contested by the Third Agers, Elizabeth Manning, Pam Stanier and captain Aidan Lawrence, and the Introverts, Naomi Koppel, Varun Chaubey and captain Bradley Cates, a former Countdown semi-finalist.

 

I claim two points on the ‘berry’ question in the first round, at the end of which the Introverts led 4-1. My Dad and I got the space nationalities question between us in the second round, and I got the abbreviations and West End questions at the same time as the teams; the Introverts had upped their lead to 8-3 after that.

 

The Agers bounced back with a well worked out full house on their Wall, scoring a full ten. The Introverts worked theirs out similarly well, another full house, so, as you were, they led 18-13 going into Missing Vowels. The Introverts maintained their advantage there to win 22-18. Another well played contest, well done both teams, best of luck next time!

 

Next week’s week: Uisge Beathas vs Crunchers

 

Mastermind was opened by Mike Noyes, who, answering on Lord Nelson, scored 8 points with a good round soured only by a pass right at the end. Meg Koo, answering on the Battlestar Galactica TV series, would go one better with 9, with, again, the last question of the round giving the only mistake of the round.

 

Next up was Stanley Thomas, captain of the Gunners on the last series of OC, who was answering on musician Michael Kiwanuka, but couldn’t quite reach his opponents’ scores, finishing with 7. Emma Gallen would conclude the round with the films of Sofia Coppola, and would match Stanley’s score of 7.

 

Stanley returned for GK first, and, while his round wasn’t to his liking, just over doubled his score to 15, a respectable score but probably not going to be enough. Emma was next, but her round was also not for her, and she just fell short of Stanley’s score, ending with 14.

 

Mike fared a lot better, passing both scores handily to finish with a very good 21 points. Meg thus needed 12 to win, provided she didn’t pass; after a good start, she fell off the pace though, and finished with a still decent 19. So, Mike wins the show and takes the fourth place in the QFs; well done him and thanks the others for playing!

 

Brain of Britain was a lower scoring affair than of late, but was still very close, with the four contenders all finishing within a point of each other. Paula Dempsey ended up with the highest score, 9 to the 8 of Simon Mason, the 7 of Jim Murdock and the 6 of Annabel Lloyd, and so progresses to the semi-finals.

 

And that's another week done. Next week, we'll meet the last two teams of this year's OC and, hopefully, the action of all four quizzes will continue to be satisfactorily enjoyable. So, see you again same time same place next week...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 6: University Challenge R1M6, Only Connect R1M6, Mastermind Heat 4

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! And a very high quality one indeed we have tonight! Finally a full line-up again with Mastermind back as well. It's a shame the Radio 4 PTB decided to move Brain of Britain to Sundays so we won't have a full round again, but at least we have Sounds to fix that little problemo. On with tonight's pretty explosive events...

 

Beginning with UC as ever, and two of the most successful institutions in the show's history. Firstly, reigning champions Imperial, whose title win last series was their fifth, a new record for the series; their previous four came in 1995-96, 2000-01, 2019-20 and 2021-22 (more on that later). Big things no doubt expected, therefore, of this year's team; they were:

Charlotte Stokes, from Chester, studying Applied Genomics

Mattia Elkouby, from South London, studying Chemistry

Captain: Matthew Spry, from Gateshead, studying Electrochemistry

Jaime Salamanca Camacho, from Madrid, studying Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces

Manchester is now the joint second most successful, winning three titles and being retroactively awarded a fourth within a ten year period that saw them reach at least the semis in all nine series they partook in. After that, though, they didn't reach the semis again until last series. This year's line-up comprised of:

Adam Dodd, from Exeter, studying Medicine

Millie Sutherland, from Brasted in Kent, studying Philosophy and Political Theory

Captain: Joel Crossley, from Chester, studying Physics

Nathan Easow, from Chelmsford, studying Medicine

Imperial immediately picked up where their predecessors left off last series, taking the first three starters of the game and every bonus bar one to immediately pull into a strong lead. Manchester were restricted to a penalty, but did eventually get some points on the board proper with the first picture round, a full set on which took the scores to 70-20. But another penalty allowed Imperial to quickly take the initiative back, and they never looked back; starter after starter and the vast majority of bonuses, and their lead was soon already in three figures. After the music round, the lead stood at 175-15.

Manchester did manage to get a couple more starters and a solid haul of bonuses, but this run was halted by a forgivable penalty, which handed Imperial back possession. After the second picture round, the gap stood at 240-50. It was now just a question of how high both teams could get; Manchester did get another starter, but just one bonus followed, and their hopes of a late play-off charge were dashed as Imperial went on a strong late run of their own, which saw them reach and break 300. At the gong, Imperial won 310-75.

Another forebodingly brilliant first performance from Imperial; carry on like that and they'll be finalists at least again! For now, though, best of luck in the second round! Bad luck to Manchester to come up against that; they'd have beaten another team on the evidence of what they managed. Thanks very much for playing though!

The stats: Messrs Spyr and Salamanca Camacho were joint best buzzers of the night with six starters each, while Mr Crossley was best for Manchester with three. On the bonuses, Imperial managed an amazing 32 out of 45(!) and Manchester an also pretty good 8 out of 13 (with three forgivable penalties).

Next week's match: Reading vs Exeter

Only Connect featured a pretty strong line-up indeed tonight, as we met the Bloomsbury Group, Michael Hutchinson (UC runner-up captain with Reading three series ago and a strong player on UK Jeopardy earlier this year), Michael Kohn (UC semi-finalist captain with Imperial a year prior) and captain Fatima Sheriff (part of the Imperial team that beat Mr Hutchinson’s Reading to win that series), and the Tea Totallers, Eleanor Ayres (Mastermind and Brain of Britain finalist and big winner on revived WWTBAM), Rob Sassoon and captain Matt Taylor.

 

The former led 6-5 after a very high quality first round which saw some very complex questions worked out by both teams; I got the Catchphrase question at the same time as the Totallers did in the second round, but that was nothing compared to the two teams, who managed to get all six questions for three points, a truly spectacular achievement, after which the BG led by a record after R2 aggregate of 15-14!

 

The high quality continued as the Totallers easily solved their wall for a full ten in pretty quick order; the BG took rather longer, solving everything with just seconds to go, but the result was the same, so, as you were, 25-24 going into Missing Vowels. The BG fared better on a pretty tough and lower scoring round (“Finally foxed you!”) to win a superb contest 29-26. The show certainly lived up to the expectations I had when I saw the two line-ups though; very well done indeed both teams and best of luck next time!

 

Next week’s match: Third Agers vs Introverts

 

Mastermind returned from its break tonight. James Waller resumed the series with the films of Martin Scorsese, doing well to score 7 on a pretty broad category. Tom Clarke followed him into the chair, answering on singer-songwriter Phil Ochs, and matched James’ score, another 7. Michelle Miller was next, answering on costume designer Edith Head, but fell short of matching the previous score, 6 her total. Finally, Lizzie Hancock gave us the best score of the round, scoring 10 on Mary I, putting her in pole position for GK.

 

So Michelle returned for GK first, and gave a very good effort indeed, scoring 12 to take her total to 18 and set a solid benchmark for the others. James did better though; despite a few pauses, he scored a good 13 to take his score to 20. Tom’s round never got going for him sadly; he could only manage 6, giving him a final score of 13. Lizzie thus needed 11 to win the game, but she fell agonisingly just short; 9 points gave her a final score of 19.

 

So James goes through to the semis; well done him, and thanks all for a close contest!

 

Brain of Britain was also a pretty formidable line-up yesterday, and, for the second week in a row, ended in a dead heat, with Helen Lippell (another Mastermind finalist and OC alumnus) and Shanine Salmon (a recent contestant on Counterpoint) both finishing on 13 points! Shanine won the resulting tie-breaker to ensure passage to the SFs, though Helen’s score stands her a fine chance of going through too. UC and OC runner-up Dennis (using his mononym like he did on the latter as opposed to his full name on the former) wasn’t far behind on 11, which sadly won’t be enough for a HSNW slot probably; Mark Robotham, a former Mastermind semi-finalist) completed the line-up with 8.

 

And that's this week's action done, and what a week it was! Even with the later stages of these fine shows to come, it's going to have to go to some distance to top the quality on display today, on UC and OC especially! Anyway, thanks as ever for reading, and see yous again same time same place next week...