Hello my friends, and welcome to another Quizzy Monday! Coming up, the next Mastermind semi-final, plus an update on, what used to be (and, indeed, still is for me), the 3pm Monday slot on Radio 4. But we begin as ever with UC, and the final quarter-final match, between two teams, one of whom began the process as favourites to progress, the others as rank outsiders, but only one of them would join Edinburgh, Imperial and Manchester as the final team, and, indeed, sole Oxbridge representatives, in the semi-finals...
Merton College Oxford defeated Durham and Churchill of Cambridge comfortably in the first two rounds, and U.C.L. narrowly in their first QF, but their second against Edinburgh saw both teams struggle quite a bit, before their opponents edged a very low scoring affair 105-85. They were the same foursome as all those previous affairs:
Ciaran Duncan, from High Wycombe, studying English Literature
Eveline 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
Darwin College Cambridge defeated two Oxford teams, Green Templeton and Magdalen, narrowly and comfortably respectfully in Rounds 1 and 2, then lost to Sheffield in their first QF, but bounced back by once again defying the form book and beating Warwick 175-125 in their second. They were also the same quartet as all those previous encounters:
Lewis Strachan, from North Lanarkshire, studying Parasite Biology
Ruth Ni Mhuircheartaigh, from Cork, studying Education
Captain: Louis Cameron, from London, studying English
Jonathan White, from Buckinghamshire, studying Geography
Merton got off the mark first with a starter and pair of bonuses; their opponents didn't get any of their first set, but a penalty to the Oxonians allowed Darwin to take the lead with the third starter of the night. The first picture round went to Merton, who took one bonus and were unfortunate not to get another, after which the teams were level on 30-each. A starter and full set of bonuses saw Merton pull back in front, but Darwin responded in kind to pull level again and a second starter in a row put them back in front. A third starter in a row ensured all four of the Cambridge team had at least one correct starter, and, again, all three bonuses were taken. Merton took the music round though; after the music bonuses, they'd cut the gap to 95-65.
A further two starters went to the Oxonians, which also ensured that, for the second week in a row, all eight players had answered a starter correctly, and the resulting bonuses put them back in front. But back in front went Darwin with the next starter, only for Merton to immediately bite back and draw level again! The second picture round gave the Cambridge side the lead back; after the second picture bonuses, they led 130-115. A second starter in a row gave Darwin more room to breathe, and, two dropped starters later, a third plus one bonus gave them a 50-point lead and they had one foot in the semis. Mr Cosnett kept his side in the game with the next starter; two bonuses followed, but they'd really needed all three, and, when they forgivably lost five on the next starter, which they did need to go for, that was game over. Darwin picked up the points and saw the game out. At the gong, they won 175-130.
A good close contest between two excellent teams which could've gone either way until the final straight. Well done Darwin, and very best of luck to them in the semi-finals! Hard lines to Merton, but they've had a fine run in the competition and can go out of it pleased with themselves; thanks for playing!
The stats: Messrs Cosnett and Cameron were joint best buzzers of the night with four starters each, the former ending the series his side's best buzzer with a total of 23 over five games. On the bonuses, Merton managed 13 out of 24 (with three penalties) and Darwin 15 out of 28 and, as I said before, for the second week in a row, all eight players contributed at least one correct starter to the game (in fact, all four of Darwin had at least two).
Next week's match: the first semi-final! Don't know the draw but, if it were up to me, Edinburgh and Manchester, who've already met, would be kept apart, so it would be Edinburgh vs Darwin and Imperial vs Manchester; but then, given Quizzy Mondays PTB's well-established love for avoidable rematches, who knows?
Mastermind’s fourth semi-final was
opened by Roger Easy, who was answering on the composer Handel; he made a good
start, then dipped slightly, then recovered well and finished with 9. He was
followed into the chair by Danielle Connolly, who was answering on the films of
Christopher Nolan; like Ross last week, she made light work of a risky subject,
a single pass her only missed answer as she scored 11.
Next up was Richard Carr, who was
answering on Hannibal; he started well before dropping off a bit and a few noticeable
pauses before answering ran the clock down a bit, but he still scored 8 points.
Finally, Alan Hotchkiss was answering on the US Masters from 1990 onwards; his
round was similar to Roger’s, he started well, wavered and bit, then came back
strongly and indeed also scored 9.
Richard thus returned for GK
first, but his round stalled quite early on and, when he had to pass a second
time, I think he knew he probably wasn’t going to win; he recovered afterwards
and scored 7 for a respectable total of 15. Roger then went first of the two
gentlemen on 9; his round was also a bit stop start, scoring steadily but not
that highly, and he too scored 7, giving him a perfectly fine total of 16. Alan
was next, and his round too never really caught fire; he nonetheless scored 6,
equalling Richard’s total of 15.
Which left Danielle needing just 6
to win; even a modest target like that is easier said than done on Mastermind
though, and, for a long time as the questions didn’t fall for her too, it
looked like she might not make it. In the end, on the very last question, which
Clive M got the dramatic effect pause on just right(!), she did it, scoring 6
for a total of 17! Well done her, and best of luck in the final!
Also, yesterday saw the final of
Counterpoint. Greg Butler was the winner, beating fellow finalists Paul and Cavan,
whose surnames I unfortunately missed, apologies to them; well done to him! I’m
still not exactly satisfied with the show’s lack of an audience though; it
somehow makes the show feel rather different and less satisfying than before.
Next week(/this coming Sunday),
Round Britain Quiz returns, which means still no new series of Brain of
Britain; I did see on Twitter X earlier that auditions for one are now open
though, so we should be getting one later in the year hopefully.
And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; only three weeks left to go now, with UC finally reaching its semi-finals next week, and then we'll be done for another season! Hopefully said season can end on a high in those remaining weeks. Anyway, I'll be back, same time same place next Monday with my write-up of the ante-penultimate quizzes of the season, so, see yous then...
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