Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 19: University Challenge R2M3, Only Connect Play-Off 3, Mastermind Heat 17

Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the last 'regular' Quizzy Monday of 2024! Yes, tonight we have the last 'regular' episodes of the three main quizzes for this year; next two weeks, it's Christmas specials, then we resume normal service on January 6th. Well, sort of; more on this later. For now, let's do this thing, beginning with UC, and a match-up that just sums up why I really hate the second round.

 

Exeter defeated Reading in their first match, leading from the off and ultimately winning 240-100. They were unchanged from that match:

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

 

Bristol were also comfortable winners in their first match, indeed getting the highest score of the round as they soundly trounced the decent team from Gonville & Caius of Cambridge 325-80. They were also the same foursome as before:

Ted Warner, from Wiltshire, studying Biology

Bridie Rogers, from Brighton, studying Medicine

Captain: Kevin Flanagan, from Dublin, studying AI

Olivia Watts, from York, studying Organic Chemistry

Bristol started like a house on fire, taking the first four starters of the game and the vast majority of the bonuses, while their opponents were restricted to a penalty (and an unlucky one at that). After the first picture round, Bristol already led 95-(-5). And the one-way traffic just kept on coming; another penalty to Exeter, while Bristol just kept getting starters and generally the bonuses too. After the music round, they led 200-(-10).

Exeter did finally get some points on the board, taking two starters in a row, taking two starters in a row and a sole bonus from both sets, thus ensuring they bettered their predecessors' infamous low score from 2008-09. After the second picture round, Bristol led 255-20. The Avonsiders' previously imperious bonus rate did slow up a bit in the home straight, but it hardly mattered really. Exeter did take a third starter, and another sole bonus, but, alas, were not to make it out of the Sub-50 Club. At the gong, Bristol won 290-35.

A most one-sided contest to say the least, but enjoyable nonetheless. Very well done Bristol, another storming performance, and against such good opponents too, they really are serious contenders for the title now! Best of luck to them in the QFs! As for Exeter, we know from their first match that they're a fine team as well, but they were quite simply outplayed here; thanks very much to them for playing!

The stats: Mr Warner was the best buzzer of the night with seven starters to Mr Flanagan's six, while Messrs Moorcroft and Newman and Ms Carr got one each for Exeter. On the bonuses, Exeter managed 3 out of 9 (with two forgivable penalties) and Bristol a mightily good 30 out of 42.

And that's it for this year; two weeks of Christmas UC coming up, with quick summaries at the ends of both weeks (I hope) before we resume normal service on January 6th.

Only Connect concluded its normal service for the year with the third play-off and another avoidable rematch, with the Uisge Beathas and the Crunchers meeting again; the former subsequently beat the Third Agers after being narrowly beaten in the first match between the two, while the latter were subsequently beaten by the Introverts.

 

I claim two points on the ‘became saints’ question in the first round; the Crunchers led 7-3 at the end of it. My Dad claims three points on the horses question in the second round; thanks largely to an excellent five pointer (possibly the latest in the allotted time a team has ever buzzed in for one!), the Crunchers’ lead had increased to 17-5 at the end of that.

 

The Crunchers went first on the Walls, and got all four groups, but missed a connection point, thus giving them seven points. The Beathas were in desperate need of bettering that, and did indeed get a full house, so 24-15 the scores going into Missing Vowels. The Crunchers easily maintained, and indeed extended their lead there though, finally winning 29-19. Well done them, and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Beathas for playing.

 

OC also now pauses for two weeks of EIGHT(!) Christmas specials; we resume on January 6th with Too Many Cookes vs the Tea Totallers.

 

Mastermind’s final regular episode of the year was opened by Phil Nowek, answering on George RR Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels; he put in a respectable effort, scoring a par for this series 7 points. Chris Murphy followed him into the chair, answering on whales; he started well, but then ran out of steam, finishing on 4 points, with two passes too. Next was Marianne Harman, answering on Italian climber Reinhold Messner; she fell just one short of Phil’s score, finishing with 6. Finally, Emma Carter-Browne was answering on Emily Bronte; she did equal Phil’s score, another 7, leaving the show more or less a three-horse race going into GK.

 

Chris returned first needing a really good performance to stand a chance; he didn’t manage that, but he did score a further 8 points to finish with a respectable score of 12 points. Marianne came next; her round was a steady round where she started rather slowly, then a late run took her into the lead and she scored 10 for a good total of 16.

 

Phil then gave us a very good round indeed, not quite as good as Dom’s last week, but still pretty good indeed; 14 for a total of 21 was an excellent showing, and left Emma needing near perfection to stand a chance. She gave it a go, but, after a decent start, fell off the pace and was soon out of the running. Still, another 10 gave her a decent total of 17. Which makes Phil the winner! Well done him, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Mastermind will also be running celebrity specials for much of the next two weeks, with one straying into the first ‘regular’ week of the New Year too, plus a further three supposedly in the bag as well; surely they won’t keep showing them a full four weeks into the year? As it stands, the earliest we can expect the regular series to resume is January 13th.

 

Brain of Britain’s final quarter-final featured two heat winners and two HSNWs; sadly, David Edwards, who’d already had to pull out of the first QF, was unable to make it this time as well, so Alan Eeles took his place in the line-up alongside Tim Hall, fellow HSNW Caroline Latham and Sarah Thornton.

 

For the third show in a row, we began with 5IAR+ABP, courtesy of Tim, who was thus quite far ahead of the rest at the end of the first round and ended up maintaining that advantage for the rest of the show, ultimately winning with 18 points, 7 ahead of Alan and Sarah in joint second with 11 each, while Caroline finished not far behind with 9.

 

So, the line-up for Sunday’s final is Tim, Andrew Fanko, Alan Gibbs and Anthony Fish; a very good line-up that, best of retrospective luck to all four! A summary will be coming up on here next Monday.

 

And that's it for this week, and this year as well! Thanks to everyone who's read and supported this blog in 2024; much appreciated as ever! Normal service (sort of) resumes on January 6th as I've said before. I'll be back next Monday with a summation of the BoB final, so, see you then.

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 18: University Challenge R2M2, Only Connect Play-Off 2, Mastermind Heat 16

Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the penultimate Quizzy Monday of 2024! Well, full strength one anyway; UC and OC are, of course, carrying on with Christmas specials over the festive fortnight, OC this year doubling their festive output to EIGHT specials! Mastermind will be breaking for three weeks after next week and Brain of Britain's final will be dealt with in a seperate blog post on here two weeks today. I hope. Anyway, coming up, the latest installments of those shows, beginning, as ever, with UC, and the second second round match.

 

Durham made a swift return to our screens after their dramatic play-off win over SOAS two weeks ago, winning on a tie-breaker after a 150-each draw; their first match, of course, saw them lose to Oriel. Playing for them for a third time were:

Joe Ancell, from South Gloucestershire, studying History

Emelia Brookfield-Pertusini, from Balham in South London, studying English Literature

Captain: Jake Roberts, from Goostrey in Cheshire, studying Physics

Luke Nash, from Hindolveston in Norfolk, studying Biology

Open were the winners of the second match of the series, and defeated the U.C.L. team who have since strolled into the QFs most easily 190-175. Hoping to join them were the also unchanged team of:

Nicky Maving, from Jarrow, studying Natural Sciences

Tom Barber, from Bournemouth, studying Physics

Captain: Karie Westermann, from Glasgow (originally Denmark), studying Art History

Hector Payne, from Teddington in Middlesex, studying Finance

Durham got off to the better start, taking the first two starters and half the bonuses; Open, in contrast, got nothing from their first set. After the first picture round, Durham led 55-10. Open didn't get any bonuses from their second set either, but then got a run of starters together and the bonuses finally began falling for them. After the music round, which they, or rather, Mr Payne, took a full house on, they'd pulled level on 75-each.

Another starter and full bonus set in a row gave Open the lead. Their tails firmly up now, two further starters meant they now had nearly doubled their opponents' score; AR duly told Durham there was plenty of time for another dramatic comeback! The Wearsiders did take the second picture round, after which they'd cut the gap to 145-95. Another two starters suggested a repeat of two weeks' ago could be on, but Durham only took one of the resulting six bonuses, and Open duly reawoke and increased their lead with a starter and sole bonus. Mr Roberts did the right thing and took an early punt on the next starter, but was wrong and lost five; Mr Maving picked up the points and that was game over. At the gong, Open won 180-115.

A good contest that could easily have gone to either team until Open snuck away again at the end. Well done to them, another good showing against strong opponets; best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to Durham, but they gave a good contest and can be pleased with their performances this series; thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Maving was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Mr Nash was best for Durham with four. On the bonuses, Durham managed 10 out of 21 (with the night's one penalty) and Open 14 out of 30.

Next week's match: Exeter vs Bristol, the final regular match of the year, then we break for two weeks of Christmas specials

Only Connect’s penultimate regular match of the year was the second play-off match, between the Hopsters and the Al Frescans, both of whose two previous appearances were wins over the Midlanders and defeats to the Sprouters! Though not in the same order of course.

 

I claim the same point as the Hopsters on the first question of the show, my Mum claims the same point as the Al Frescans on the trees question. The former led 4-3 at the end of the first round. My Dad and I were in the process of getting the singing voices question when the Hopsters got it for three in the second round; I worked out the A-N-G-E-L-A question after I heard them say the first pic was of Ang Lee and I’m claiming two for a flat-out guess of ‘1 is A’ for the Base 26 question! The Hopsters now led 10-8 after that.

 

The Frescans went first on the Walls, and got a very quick and well worked out full ten. The Hopsters took longer, but same result, another full ten, so as you were, they led 20-18 going into Missing Vowels. But the Frescans fared considerably better on that to come from behind and win 26-23. Well done them, and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Hopsters for playing.

 

Next week’s match: another avoidable rematch, the Uisge Beathas vs the Crunchers, then we also break for two weeks of specials

 

Mastermind entered the second half of its heats; Jeremy Hicks opened the show, answering on Sir Mark Cavendish, and put in a respectable round about on a par with the series so far, 8 his score. Lucie Knight followed him into the chair; answering on the Darkness, she just bettered Jeremy’s score, finishing with 9. Next up was Dom Tait, captain of the Scribes who won Series 6 of OC and who has also been on UC and the revived Fifteen-to-One; answering on The Day Today, he very much raised the bar with an excellent round and score of 11. Finally, Jeff Davies was answering on author Sylvia Townsend Walker; he duly put in a perfect round and matched Dom’s score of 11.

 

So, all four still reasonably in contention going into GK. Jeremy returned first, and put in an excellent showing that very much gave his opponents something to think about; 13 gave him a very good total of 21. Lucie couldn’t equal that score, starting well before losing momentum and a pass plus some long pauses pretty much ruled her out; she still finished with a respectable total of 17.

 

Dom, on the other hand, gave a very good performance indeed, answering quickly and never really losing momentum despite a few wrong answers; he passed Jeremy’s score with time to spare and ended up scoring a mightily impressive 16 for a superb total of 27. So Jeff had a bit of a task on his hands to match that, let alone better it; he started well, but then hit a run of wrong answers and never looked like catching up afterwards. Clive M was somewhat harsh I thought to disallow one of his later answers, but it didn’t matter in the end; 8 points gave him a respectable total of 19. So Dom is through to the semis! Well done him, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Brain of Britain’s third semi-final featured a rather neatly themed line-up, with Anthony Fish, token HSNW Andrew Fisher and Shanine Salmon involved; Russell D assured us this was purely coincidental, before saying it was just the ‘net result’ of the draw! (rolling eyes emoji) Vicky Johnson completed the line-up.

 

For the second week in a row, we began with a 5IAR+ABP, this time courtesy of Anthony, who thus led with 7 after the first round. A shutout in the second, however, allowed Andrew and Vicky to pull level, with Shanine just behind on 6. Anthony just eked back ahead in the third round, however, and fared best in a high scoring final round to win with 15 points, two ahead of Andrew with 13; Vicky and Shanine finished with 10 and 8 respectively. Well done all of them, and best of luck Anthony in the final!

 

And that's the penultimate regular week of the year done! Thanks as ever for reading; next week, the last one of the year, then this blog series will be taking a break for Christmas, with a single post for the BoB final and two for the two weeks of Christmas UC. So, until same time same place next week, sayonara...

Quizzy Mondays 2024-25 Week 17: University Challenge R2M1, Only Connect Play-Off 1, Mastermind Heat 15

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! Coming up, the 'second round' of Only Connect begins and both Mastermind and the semi-finals of Brain of Britain continue, the latter with a very good contest indeed. But first, the beginning of my least favourite round of University Challenge, the second round. You all know why, I won't repeat myself again here, but, suffice to say, fixtures like tonight's, and the two Wikipedia claims are coming up this week and next, are three big reasons why.

 

U.C.L. came here through the repechage, narrowly losing to Open in their first match, but recovering well with a convincing 215-105 win over St Andrews only two weeks ago. They were represented for a third time by:

Calum Jack, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Science Communication

Josh Mandel, from North London, studying US History and Politics

Captain: Olivia Holtermann Entwistle, from London, studying Human Geography

Sanjay Prabhakar, from London, studying Science Education

L.S.E. are also joining us for the second time in less than a month, having comfortably beaten Leicester 235-100 in the penultimate first round match four weeks ago. Playing for them for a second time were:

Albert Ying Zhi Nyang, from Singapore, studying Maths and Economics

Grant Dalton, from Richmond in Yorkshire, studying Economic Policy for International

Development

Captain: Sebastian Bramley, from Esher in Surrey, studying History

Christina Jiang, from Liverpool, studying Philosophy and Economics

U.C.L. began better, taking the first three starters and two thirds of the resulting bonuses, while their opponents were restricted to just a penalty. They also took the first picture round, and a full house on that meant they already led 85-(-5). Another starter and full bonus set meant both their score and their lead had already reached three figures, but a penalty finally allowed their opponents onto the board properly; they took two bonuses. L.S.E. took a second starter soon after, and a full bonus set suggested they could get back into the game if they could get a run together. U.C.L. took the music round though, after which they led 140-40.

And from then on in, it was virtually one-way traffic, as U.C.L. just pulled further and further away in the second half of the game, dominating on the buzzer and doing very good on the bonuses. It must be said, unlike their first two matches, where Mr Mandel had taken the majority of their starters, all four were contributing pretty well in this game. L.S.E. did get another starter, and two bonuses, but, after the second picture round, they trailed 195-55 and the game was all but over. But U.C.L. weren't stopping here, and just pulled away even further in the final stretch, and, with just seconds to go, their lead had reached 200. At the gong, U.C.L. won 255-55.

A pretty one-sided contest, but another pretty enjoyable one. Very well done U.C.L., a very impressive performance and against a team we know to be very good too, really marks them down as a team to watch in the QFs; best of luck to them there! But very hard lines to L.S.E., for whom AR summed it up perfectly in saying that the final score didn't do them justice at all, as we know they're a much better team than this; thanks to them for playing.

The stats: Mr Mandel was, again, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters, while Mr Nyang was best for L.S.E. with two. On the bonuses, U.C.L. managed a very good indeed 25 out of 40 and L.S.E. an also very good 7 out of 9, and both sides incurred two penalties each.

Next week's match: Durham vs Open

Only Connect began its play-off round with one of those annoying avoidable rematches, as the Harmonics and the Cat Cows met for a second time. Look, I get why they do these, it’s to do with recording schedules, but I really would rather they tried not to let these happen until they really do become totally unavoidable.

 

I claim a point on the first question of the show, people who married Robinsons; I also mentioned phone boxes on the first clue of the second question, but I probably wouldn’t have risked it then. I am also claiming the same point as the Harmonics on the punctuation question, and two on the male animals picture question. The Cows led 5-1 at the end of that round. My Dad and I jointly claim two points for the Astana question in the second round, and he claims two points on the two minutes question. The Cows had increased their lead to 8-1 after that.

 

The Cows went first on the wall, and scored a well worked out full house for a full ten. The Harmonics didn’t take as long, but the same result, a full ten, so as you were, the Cows led 18-11 going into Missing Vowels. And the Cows increased their advantage in that to win 23-13. Well done them and best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Harmonics for playing.

 

Next week’s match: the Hopsters vs the Al Frescans

 

Mastermind was opened by Charles Boden, who was answering on the solo work of Robbie Williams; he clearly knew his stuff and I was a bit surprised that he ‘only’ scored 6 as it felt like he’d gotten a lot more right. Mike Kerr followed him into the chair, answering on CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books; he went one better than Charles did, 7 his score there.

 

Next up was Matilda Makemson, who you may remember from the last series of Only Connect, who was answering on the fauna of Madagascar; sadly, the questions didn’t fall for her and two passes didn’t help her cause much either; 4 her score and, unless she had a really good GK, she was probably out of the running already. Finally, Roopam Carroll was answering on the Matrix film series; she gave us the best total of the round and only missed out on double figures due to a very slightly wrong answer, 9 her score.

 

Matilda returned first for GK then, and gave it a good go, 10 points a respectable score for a final total of 14, but it almost certainly wouldn't be a winning score, especially as she incurred a third pass. And so it would prove as Charles returned for his round; while he failed to match Matilda’s round, scoring 8, it was nonetheless enough to equal her score and put himself ahead on passes.

 

Mike was next up and started very strongly to pull up within behind one point of his opponents, but then hit a run of wrong answers; he soon got going again though and overtook them both, finishing with 10 for a good final score of 17, leaving Roopam needing 9 to win. It was a close one, especially when she passed, leaving her really needing 9, but in the end, she just about scored 10 as well, giving her a final total of 19 and winning the game! Well done her, and thanks to the others for playing.

 

Brain of Britain’s second semi-final did compromise the line-up we were expecting this time, and a very strong one it was too, comprising of Jack Bennett, Alan Gibbs, token HSNW Helen Lippell and Hannah Reilly. Jack got off to a flying start with an immediate 5IAR+ABP, but Alan responded well and was only one behind after that round; at the pause for Beat the Brains, it looked like a two horse race between them, but the two ladies pulled back in the third round, at which point Jack led Alan by 4 points.

 

Jack failed to score in the next round though, allowing Alan to pull level on 12 each, and, with Hannah and Helen now three and six behind respectively, it looked like it was once again between the two chaps. Helen, to be fair, did have a pretty good final round, answering round on her own questions and picking up at least one bonus, but it wasn’t enough to catch the gentlemen; she finished with 11, Hannah with 9, Jack with 13, while Alan had the better final round of the two to win with 15! Well done him, and the others for that matter, a great contest all round; best of luck to Alan in the final!

 

And that's this week done. Another excellent week as well it must be said. Only a couple more full rounds to go until we break for Christmas I believe; I do plan to cover Christmas UC seperately like I've always done before, but we'll see nearer the time once the schedule becomes clearer. For now, see yous again next week, same time same place.