Good evening my friends, and welcome to the first Quizzy Monday of 2026! Albeit, just like last year, we're on truncated form again for the first few weeks as Mastermind still has some celebrity editions to get through. Luckily, we have three weeks of OC to catch up on, which should more than make up for it hopefully. Firstly though, we begin with the first regular UC of the year, and the last match of the second round...
Churchill College Cambridge won a very good, close first round match, beating Imperial 175-160, the same Imperial team who came back in the play-offs and have since made it to the QFs. Hoping to join them were the unchanged foursome of:
Ella McGovern, from London, studying Medicine
Matt Hasler, from Cambridge, studying Law
Captain: Sam Webber, from Birmingham, studying Chemistry
Shiv Seshan, from Detroit, studying Maths
Merton College Oxford were very easy winners over a capable Durham team in their first match two weeks earlier, leading throughout virtually and winning 235-120. Hoping to be the first Oxford quarter-finalists for two years were the also unchanged quartet of:
Ciaran Duncan, from High Wycombe, studying English Literature
Evelyn Ong, from Singapore, studying Maths and Philosophy
Captain: Elliot Cosnett, from Hatton in Warwickshire, studying History
Verity Fleetwood-Law, from Amersham, studying English and French
The match didn't get off to the best of starts with neither side getting the first starter, and Merton losing five; Churchill took the first positive points of the match, but a quickfire double soon gave the Oxonians the advantage. They also took the first picture round, after which they led 50-15. The lead just kept getting bigger as they kept getting starters and soon they already led by 75 points. Churchill recovered as Mr Seshan took two starters in a row, which were followed by half the resulting bonuses. Merton took the music round though, after which they led 100-45.
The starters just kept coming for Merton as Mr Cosnett, who'd already had a productive night, took two in a row, and all the resulting bonuses meant they now led by 100 points. Churchill took a couple of starters and a decent number of bonuses to pull back, but their opponents remained nearly double the number of points they had. After the second picture round, Merton led 160-85. Another starter pretty much confirmed Merton's victory, especially when Churchill failed to take advantage of a couple of penalties, though Mr Seshan was unlucky on one of them. Churchill did deservedly reach three figures with a couple of late starters, but had been fairly comfortably beaten this time. At the gong, Merton won 180-115.
A good game to start the New Year proper with. Well done Merton, another solid performance from them, Mr Cosnett especially strong; best of luck to them in the QFs! Hard lines to Churchill, who gave a solid account of themselves again and would well have beaten another team; thanks to them for playing.
The stats: Mr Cosnett was the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr Seshan was best for Churchill with five. On the bonuses, Churchill managed 10 out of 21 (with one penalty) and Merton 17 out of 33 (with three penalties).
Next week's match: the first QF! Don't know who's playing yet, but, if the last couple of series are a guide, it'll be Manchester vs Edinburgh, followed by U.C.L. vs Merton the week after. Darwin, Sheffield, Imperial and Warwick complete the QF line-up.
Only Connect’s third quarter-final
on December the 22nd was contested by the Pitchers, who came straight through
the earlier rounds with wins over the Benchwarmers and the Worker Bees, and the
Sorcerers, who defeated the Jive Bunnies and the Keyboard Worriers, but lost to
the Doctors Matthews.
We claim one point on the Annie
music question in the first round; the Pitchers led 6-2 at the end of that. I
claim two points for getting the principle of the house numbers question in the
second round despite not being able to come up with a full answer; the Pitchers
led 8-3 after that.
The Sorcerers went first on the
Walls, but failed to find any groups; they did get three of the connections though,
so three points. The Pitchers, on the other hand, worked out all four groups;
they only got three connections though, so seven points, which nonetheless took
their lead to 15-5 going into Missing Vowels. They only increased their
advantage in that though, and won the game 25-8. Well done them, and best of luck
in the semis next week! And thanks to the Sorcerers for playing.
The final quarter-final on the 29th
saw the returns of the Doctors Matthews, who came straight through to the QFs
with wins over the Keyboard Worriers and the Sorcerers, and the Worker Bees,
who defeated the Scanners and the Benchwarmers, but lost to the Pitchers.
I claim the same two points as the
Doctors on the GIFs question in the first round and the same point as them on
the things won by Williams question; the Bees led 4-3 at the end of that round.
I claim two points on the Crown and Premier League winners (this must’ve been
recorded quite close to when the series started airing if Liverpool had won the
league when it was filmed) and initials questions in the second round; the Bees
led 8-3 after that.
The Bees went first on the Walls,
and worked out two groups, one very quickly, but didn’t manage the other two in
their three attempts; they did get three connections though, so five points.
The Doctors took their time and worked out all the groups and all the connections;
a full ten meant the teams were now level on 13-each going into Missing Vowels!
And it was the Bees who just about did better there to win the game 20-18! Well
done them, and best of luck in the semi next week, and thanks to the Doctors
for playing.
Tonight’s first semi-final was
contested by the Metrophiles, who got here unbeaten by beating the Grapevines,
the Showstoppers and the Whitley Baes, and the 5ks, who lost to the
Showstoppers, but then also beat the Grapevines, then beat the Showstoppers in
a rematch and finally beat Oh No They Didn’t last time around.
I think we half-got the music question
in the first round, but no completely correct ones; the teams were tied on
4-all at the end of that. My Dad definitely claims the same two points as the
Metrophiles on the currencies question in the second round; the 5ks led 11-6 after
that.
The Metrophiles went first on the
Walls, and worked out one group, but not the others; they did get three of the
connections, so four points. The 5ks also got one group pretty quickly, but
couldn’t untangle the others; they only got two connections, so three points,
which narrowed their lead to 14-10 going into Missing Vowels. And they just
about maintained their lead in that to win 19-16! Well done them, and best of
luck in the final! And best of luck Metrophiles in the third place play-off!
Next week's match: the Pitchers vs the Worker Bees in the second SF
Also, Counterpoint returned for
its latest series yesterday, which brings up two points of discussion. Firstly,
they seem to have done away with the audience and replaced their applause with Fifteen-to-One
style stings that are variants of the theme tune, which… I’m not sure I like to
be honest. I think I prefer the audience being there.
Secondly, what has happened to
Brain of Britain? We didn’t get a new series of that last year; instead we had
to endure repeats of TWO series of Nature Table and, OK, to be fair, Route
Masters was a good listen, so I’ll excuse that, but still, will BoB ever be coming
back?
And that's it for this specially extended first week of the year! Thanks as ever for reading; back to sort-of business as usual next week in so far as we only have one OC to cover. In fact, given that we'll probably have another three weeks of Celeb Mastermind and OC only has three shows left, we may well not get another full line-up of new shows this year. What a shame; I do hope TPTB reconsider having so many Celeb Masterminds next(/this!) year. Anyway, I'll be back same time same place next week with my usual write-up, so, see yous then...
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