Good evening my friends, and welcome to the first Quizzy Monday of 2025! Not quite the first one with a complete one though, as, as I've mentioned before, Mastermind still has a few celebrity editions to get through before it can bring itself to resume the original series, but, as far as UC and OC are concerned, it's back to business as usual. And, as good as (some of) the festive specials were, it's good to be so. On with tonight's procedings, beginning with UC.
Darwin College Cambridge were comfortable 205-110 winners over Birkbeck of London, a score and performance largely thanks to a superb virtuoso buzzer performance from their captain. They were unchanged from that previous game:
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
Edinburgh defeated Leeds in a closer contest that they led comfortably at first, before their opponents pulled back, only for them to pull away again and win 175-125. They were also unchanged from that previous occasion:
David Aiton, from Glasgow, studying Maths
Jess Mellor, from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire, studying History
Captain: Greg Myles, from Monifieth near Dundee, studying Biomedical Engineering
Caitlin Self, from Ashton-under-Lyne, studying Politics
Mr Whitaker picked up where he left off before, taking the first starter of the game, and buzzing for the second, only for a teammate to answer at the same time as him! AR consistantly, after the events of Friday, let them have the points. Edinburgh took their first starter of the game and two bonuses, but, after the first picture round, which Darwin took, the Cambridge side led 55-15. Edinburgh took another starter, but Mr Whitaker took a further two starters and his side were already within one starter of three figures. Edinburgh took the music round though, after which they trailed 90-45.
The Scots side took a further two starters in a row, and the resulting bonuses pulled them within ten points; it would've been five, but AR was harsh but fair to disallow their answer of 'Dorothy Hodgkins' instead of 'Hodgkin'. Back came Mr Whitaker though to give his side a bit more breathing space, and he also took the second picture starter; after the second picture round, his side led 125-95. Another starter to that man Mr Whitaker put his side within sight of victory, but Edinburgh deservedly reached three figures and two bonuses just about kept them in it. But when Mr Whitaker took the next starter, that was game over. At the gong, Darwin won 155-125.
A low scoring start to the New Year, but still a respectable enough contest that either side could reasonably have won until late on. Well done to Darwin, another strong showing from Mr Whitaker in particular, though I suspect they may need to improve on the bonuses a tiny bit in the QFs; still, best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Edinburgh, but they put up a good show; thanks to them for playing!
The stats: Mr Whitaker was, again, the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Aiton was best for Edinburgh with four. On the bonuses, Darwin managed 13 out of 27 and Edinburgh 10 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty).
Next week's match: Wadham vs Imperial
Only Connect resumed with the
final play-off match, between Too Many Cookes and the Tea Totallers, both of
whom beat the Pipe-Dreamers, but lost to the Bloomsbury Group, though not in
the same order of course! It’s a shame those four teams ended up in the same
bracket TBH; I’d say they could all have been big contenders in another series.
I think I got the sumo fouls
question in the first round at the same time the Totallers did; the Cookes led
4-3 at the end of that round. My Dad claims the words spoken on the moon
question in the second; the Totallers had turned it around to lead 12-8 after
that.
The Cookes went first on the
Walls, and took their time, but got a well earned full house in the end. It was
the same for the Totallers, so as you were, they led 22-18 going into Missing Vowels.
Despite an excellent rally for the Cookes in the final category of the round,
the Totallers maintained their advantage and won 27-23. Well done them, and
best of luck in the QFs, and thanks to the Cookes for playing.
Next week’s match: the Cat Cows vs
the Sprouters in the first QF
And that's it for this first, slightly shorter, week of the New Year. I won't be covering the remaining celebrity Masterminds even if it does make my blogs a bit shorter than before; they'll be so anyway when OC finishes. Anyway, thanks as ever for reading; see you again same time same place next week...
