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.