Deal or No Deal: 2014 Highlights

Happy New Year all! For my first post of the New Year, I'm going to break from my UC analysis and go back to the blog's origins, with my first Deal or No Deal post since March 2013.

I'll be honest: I haven't been watching Deal much in the past months. Since I began my internship in early September, I've only watched it at weekends and on days off. And since weekend shows were abandoned shortly after this, I've only been watching on days off. My interest in the show had been fading for months anyway, so not watching the show and relying on the excellent commentaries on the forum has been much easier, even if it does mean spending ages waiting for 4OD to load just so I can catalog the player's full names for my archive.

Two new twists have been introduced since the start of last year. The first is the infamous Box 23, which, post game, gives the player a chance to buy it with their winnings, and offers one of the following options: DOUBLE, +£10,000, MONEY BACK, HALF or NOTHING.

The other, more recent addition, is the Offer Button; this is a special feature where, if the player can correctly predict their first offer (10% leeway is allowed), they are allowed to force the Banker to make an offer with one press. It is only allowed to be used once, and no leeway is allowed for accidental use.

Needless to say, both these twists have provoked mixed feelings among, what's left of, the show's fandom. Many on both the forum and on Digital Spy have expressed dissatisfaction with both twists, especially Box 23 and it's ability to bail out blue winners with the +£10,000 option, and even worse when it's upped to +£20,000 for theme weeks.

The Offer Button has been welcomed more, with most of its criticism coming from the Banker's tendency to lowball the first offer to make predicting much harder. Speaking of which, the Banker's offers have had an intriguing year, starting off pretty statistically poor and getting gradually better over the year.

Despite the fandom splitting nature of the alterations, the show has still provided many a memorable moment over the year; here's a quick selection of 2014 Deal highlights:

• 01/01 - Joey: The first game where Box 23 was in play. On the grounds that it wouldn't have one of the bad options in it on its first game, he risked his £10,900 winnings on it, and got an extra £10,000 for his troubles! What a false dawn that would prove to be for the new box.
• 10/01 - Lily: A somewhat forgotten big money win of £40,000, not to mention it being the first Power 5 win of the year.
• 21/01 - Tash: The first blue win to be rescued by +£10,000 from Box 23. And Deal was never the same again.
• 30/01 - Peter: Young lad from Glasgow wins a blue from his box, loses it to Box 23 and takes it horribly, forcing Noel to end the show early. Reports suggest his relatives were not impressed and felt he had been lured into going for it.
• 12/02 - Roop: Wins £250,000! And could've doubled it if he'd had sufficient (ie reckless) courage to risk it on Box 23!
• 20/02 - Dave: Wins 1p. Buys Box 23. Half a penny!
• 25/02 - Stephen: A non canon twist results in a guarantee of an extra £1,000 on every offer, which would've led to an interesting offer on a final two where £1,000 was the highest sum left! Fortunately, he had already bowed out with £9,500.
• 10/03 - Pat: Has the Dream finish in LIVE play! Deals offer of £170,000. Breaks an eight and a third year old record!
• 19/03 - Tendai: Turns down £35,000; wins half a penny!
• 23/03 - Gill: The Banker underestimates a very determined player, who goes on to win £75,000 from her box. Eventually. Noel opens her box to find it empty! The independent adjudicator has to be called on to confirm what has happened!
• 18/04 - Earl: Excellent play by player and Banker nets a well earned £65,000. (Later that night, Lucy Beale is murdered)
• 25/05 - Rosie: After a month of average games, a win of £46,000 comes up out of nowhere!
• 04/06 - Peter: The biggest ever purchase of Box 23: £12,200. And an extra £10,000! Fandom is well and truely split.
• 26/06 - Isabelle: She went to watch the show being recorded, and went home four weeks later with £35,000! It's a long story.
• 07/07 - Stan: Sets out that he's going all the way early on, does so, and wins £50,000!
• 13/07 - Dan: One of the show's biggest fans battles his way to a well earned £10,000.
• 25/07 - Gary: A computer error in Glasgow results in this game being shown to millions of people at the Commonwealth Games stadium!
• 18/08 - Laura: Young girl feels obliged to go all the way after setting her stall out early on, and wins £50,000 as a result!
• 22/08 - Jackie: A well earned deal of £37,500.
• 24/08 - Steve: An equally well earned deal of £40,000.
• 03/09 - Jack: One of the show's most marmite players of all time gets a very ordinary £7,000 Banker Spanking, and totally splits the online fandom!
• 17/09 - Arthur: Old chap and war veteran deals £7,000 at the third offer! Thankfully, it doesn't set the Banker off on a stingy offer spree.
• 19/09 - Helen: A somewhat cautious fourth offer deal of £5,000 leaves everyone expecting Box 23 to be declined; it isn't, and she doubled it!
• 29/09 - Ross: The first game involving the Offer Button. He fails to earn it, but still wins £18,000.
• 01/10 - Julie: First player to earn the use of the Offer Button. She wins £13,000.
• 10/10 - Aaron: Good use of the Offer Button nets a well earned £32,000.
• 16/10 - Carly: Something goes wrong with the Channel 4 broadcast department, and the games end up overrunning by nearly 10 minutes!
• 21/10 - Iris: A well judged press of the Offer Button nets £45,000.
• 31/10 - Bill: A mega money board and good Offer Button usage nets a mighty £80,000!

To be honest, I haven't followed the show as much as I used to since Bill's game, but there have still been good wins for players Pam (£40,000), Ross (£35,000), Sophie (£34,000) and Lisa (£30,014).

That's pretty much all you need to know about Deal in 2014. I'll still watch the show when I have a day off, and if they bring back the weekend shows. But it won't occupy as much of my time as it used to. And I won't be regularly talking about it here again for a while.

I'll be back with a summary of the second week of Christmas UC once the final airs in Scotland tomorrow.

Christmas University Challenge 2014: Matches 1-5 (Saturday 20th - Friday 26th)

OK all? Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I had the same quiet Christmas I've been used to over the past few years, mostly spent watching endless animated films and festive TV specials (mostly repeats), and punctuated last Saturday when I went to Pittodrie to watch Aberdeen play Kilmarnock; we won 1-0, so it was worth it!

So, on to Xmas UC. As we've become used to, we've had a sneak preview of minor set adjustments for the next series; the 'UC' logo on our left of the desks and the scores on our right have changed font, but, other than that, it's basically the same. In a slight change from previous years, photos of the graduates as students come up during their intros rather than over the credits, and the regular theme tune is used over the credits rather a festive classical piece.

Saturday 20th: Lady Margaret Hall Oxford vs Warwick
Lady Margaret Hall: Michelle Paver, Philip Hensher, Cathy Newman, Samuel West
Warwick: Bob Kerslake, Jonathan Coe, Simon Calder, Simon Bailey

A pretty one sided match thanks to Mr Hensher, who almost single handedly ran up Lady Margaret Hall's score by taking most of the starters. Warwick just couldn't get in, though they did come close on a couple of early occasions. Eventually, after the music round, Warwick got off the mark, by which time Lady Margaret Hall were out of sight on 125. It finished 195-45 in Lady Margaret Hall's favour; Mr Hensher took eight starters, and his side converted 17 bonuses out of 36 (with two penalties). Warwick finished with 3 out of 7.

Tuesday 23rd: Hull vs Newcastle
Hull: Rosie Millard, Malcolm Sinclair, Jenni Murray, Stan Cullimore
Newcastle: John Yorke, Giles Fraser, Kate Adie, Alistair Reynolds

It started close, with Newcastle starting first, followed by Hull. Hull then pulled away, though they understandably felt hard done by when Paxo refused them an answer they didn't answer fully! Hull's advantage on the buzzer remained throughout most of the rest of the match. Late on, Newcastle tried valiantly to break back in, but this only resulted in their score collapsing through three consecutive penalties. The match finished 205-25, which is totally unfair on Newcastle who did enough to do better than that. Hull converted 18 bonuses out of 34 (with one penalty) and Newcastle 2 out of 9 (with three penalties).

Wednesday 24th: King's Cambridge vs Royal Holloway
King's: David Walker, Martin Bell, Noreena Hertz, Thomas Ades
Royal Holloway: Norman Baker MP, Valerie Vaz MP, Francis Wheen, Tori James

A good close match this. Francis Wheen almost single handedly kept Royal Holloway in the match, while Thomas Ades seemed to do most of the work for King's. The Cambridge side's better bonus rate seemed to be keeping them ahead most of the time. The key moment came when Mr Ades took a crucial late starter with not much time left, upping his team's lead from 5 to 25. Royal Holloway pushed hard, but couldn't quite catch up; the final score was 160-150 to King's. King's converted 18 bonuses out of 24 (with two penalties) and Royal Holloway just 12 out of 27, which is where the match was lost.

Thursday 25th: Edinburgh vs Leeds
Edinburgh: Judith Miller, Alan Little, Philippa Gregory, Quentin Cooper
Leeds: David Baulcombe, Jacqui Oatley, James Mates, Julian Dutton

This was a pretty one sided match, with Edinburgh generally being quicker on the buzzer, especially Alan Little, who made some very quick buzzes, as did all the team members at least once. Leeds couldn't find much in the way of traction, and they two fell foul of numerous slip-ups, including one on the first starter which saw them fall to (-5). Edinburgh won 235-45 in the end; they converted 21 bonuses out of 39 and Leeds 4 out of 12 (with three penalties).

Friday 26th: Trinity Hall Cambridge vs Balliol Oxford
Trinity Hall: Tom James, Emma Pooley, Adam Mars-Jones, Dan Starkey
Balliol: Euan Birney, Charlotte Higgins, Alan Beith MP, Roger Cohen

This was probably the best match of the week, played superbly by both teams throughout. Trinity Hall's better bonus rate was probably the only real seperation factor of the two. It wasn't until the Cambridge side began a late surge on the buzzer that they truely began to pull away into a comfortable lead. An amusing moment in the second picture round saw them asked for the figure on Jesus' right in the Last Supper painting, and get confused about A) what was meant by Jesus' right, and B) which one was Jesus! Despite this, they emerged winners 195-120; they converted 21 bonuses out of 29 (with two penalties) while Balliol managed 11 out of 21 (with one penalty).

So, at the end of the first week's play, Edinburgh and Hull are safely through. I imagine at least one of Trinity Hall and Lady Margaret Hall will go through too; in the event of a tie, I'd suspect Trinity Hall will go through due to achieving their score with fewer starters.

I'll be back with a write-up of next week's play sometime next weekend. Since this may be my final post of the year, have a safe New Year, and thank you all readers and contributors for support throughout the year.

University Challenge 2014-15: Round 2: Match 6: Glasgow vs Liverpool

Evening all. Thank you to Weaver's Week for the mention yesterday; it was good to see them look at the subject of female under representation too. Here's an idea: don't enforce a quota that bans all-male teams altogether, but one that bans two all-male teams playing each other in, at least, the first two rounds. That would partly solve some of the relevant problems without seeming too drastic.

Glasgow won their first match against Bath 190-120, and did so quietly but determined, and got a good haul of bonuses too. The Scots were the same four as before:
Jonathan Gillan, from Inverness, studying Classics
Christina McGuire, from Glasgow, studying Chemistry
Captain: Daniel Hill, from the Kingdom of Fife, studying Archaeology and History
Erin White, from Edinburgh, studying Genetics

Liverpool defeated Sheffield the preceding week 155-130, building up a steady lead in the first half before trailing off somewhat and allowing their opponents to draw close. The Liverpool four, who all appeared to be wearing the same top at a squint, were also the same as before:
Ben Mawdsley, from Southport, studying Astrophysics
Jim Davis, from Gullane near Edinburgh, studying Tropical Disease Biology
Captain: Dachman Crew, from Liverpool, studying Biochemistry
Hugh Hiscock, from Southampton, studying French

Off we set again then, and Glasgow started first, with Jonathan Gillan getting the first starter, and the side took two bonuses on English cathedrals. Neither side took the second starter, and Mr Gillan slipped up on the third, allowing Liverpool to kick off and draw level. Liverpool took a second starter, and one bonus. The first picture round, on WW1 poems with missing words, went to Liverpool, but they infuriated Paxo, who did a documentary on the subject a few years ago IIRC, by not getting any of the bonuses! They led 40-15 at this point.

Liverpool continued their buzzer run by taking the next starter, but only got one bonus from a tough set on Sir Robert Walpole. Glasgow dropped five again on the next starter, but repeating their wrong answer got Liverpool nowhere! Another starter went to Liverpool, but again, they got little from the bonuses. By contrast, Glasgow took their second starter of the match, and took all three bonuses, one of which saw them interrupt an unnecessary ramble from Paxo! If they could string some starters together and keep that up, they'd be in with a shout.

The music round, on classical music inspired by fairy tales and folk tales, went to Liverpool, but, again, they only took one bonus. This gave them a lead of 90-35. Two starters in a row were dropped before Liverpool struck again, and did somewhat better this time, taking two bonuses. Glasgow took a third starter, and, again, took all three bonuses from a set on Harry Potter characters. They were certainly better on the bonuses, but Liverpool's better buzzing hands were keeping them out of reach.

The second picture round, on artworks sold for record prices at auction, went to Liverpool, and this time, they took all three bonuses, which upped their lead to 135-60. They then lost five of those points to a slip-up, but Glasgow couldn't pick up the points. The Scots did get another starter, but, in contrast to earlier on, took no bonuses from a set on reptiles. The Clydesiders then took a second starter in a row, and restored earlier form with a full house.

Going into the final minutes, a buzzer run would win it for either side for different reasons. Liverpool steadied themselves by taking the next starter, but only managed one bonus, narrowly missing a second. But when the Merseysiders took the next starter, that looked like it would suffice to see them safely home. They only took one bonus, and got none from their next set, but, by now, it was too late on to matter. Glasgow took the final starter of the match, but the gong cut off the first bonus. Liverpool won 170-105.

A pretty slow moving match throughout really. Bad luck to Glasgow, who, had they done better on the buzzer, could well have walked this match given their much better bonus work, but two good showings they can hardly be disappointed with; well done them. Well done Liverpool too, but, as Paxo said, they'll need to do better in the QFs if they're going to progress; best of luck to them for then, and we'll see how they fare.

Hugh Hiscock was the best buzzer of the night, with six starters, while Daniel Hill was best for Glasgow with three. On the bonuses, Glasgow converted a superb 11 out of 15 (with two penalties), while Liverpool managed just 13 out of 33 (with one penalty); that will definitely need to be improved on the QFs.

So, now we take a break for Xmas UC, which begins Saturday and runs sporadically over the festive fortnight. I'll be providing short summaries (roughly) half way through the series and at the end of it as usual. We resume in the New Year with, I gather, U.C.L. vs Oxford Brookes and St Peter's vs Selwyn.

Only Connect saw two UC champions with Trinity College Cambridge face off: Sean Blanchflower, and our friend Filip Drnovsek Zorko, who VCM put on the spot by making him solve a Rubik's cube during her rules spiel! He did it! A good close match between two good teams ensued.

Fifteen-to-One 2.0: Series 2 Final

As you may have gathered, the revived Fifteen-to-One has been back for a second series the past few weeks. It was the Grand Final last Friday, and I have yet to find a review of it in any of the usual places, so here is a quick summary of it for yous.

Now, due to work commitments, I wasn't able to catch as much of this series as I did the first earlier this year. I caught a week's worth of shows during my week off, and recorded our friend Dave Clark's appearance a couple of week's ago and Friday's final. The fifteen highest scoring winners out of the thirty-nine came back to fight for the £40,000 cash prize.

Top of the finals board was serial quizzer Mark Kerr, whose previous achievements include a Brain of Britain finalist, an Only Connect semi-finalist, a WWTBAM? Thirteen Clubber (£250,000 winner) and he was Pat Gibson's Phone-a-Friend on his Million Pound question! I caught his show during my week off, and witnessed him run up a grand total of 251 in the final, the highest score of the revival so far, and top of the finals board by a long way.

The fifteen contestants in the Grand Final were: Jim Ferns, David Nickeas, Gerard Mackay, Peter Watson, Ben Holmes, Jane Kendrick, Peter Styles, Mr Kerr, Dave Tagg (conqueror of Dave C.), Jascha Elliott, Andy Killeen, Pat Lucas, John Wheeler, Gareth Aubrey (2006 UC champion with Manchester) and Joanna Craig.

The first round was very high quality, as you'd expect. Only Mr Elliott, who was second on the finals board, got both his questions wrong and was thus eliminated. Of the remaining 14 contestants, nine got both questions right and went into the second round with all three lives intact.

The second round was where the red mist began to descend, as things became frantic as the contestants began nominating each other like mad. Dave Tagg was the great survivor of the round, being nominated multiple times, and clinging on to his final life on several occasions. His luck eventually ran out, and he finished fifth. Ben Holmes was last to be eliminated, finishing fourth.

So, the final three were: Gerard Mackay, Peter Watson and Mark Kerr.

The final round: forty questions, all on the buzzer; last man standing or whoever has most points when all the questions are gone wins. Mark raced out to an early lead, but lost two lives on some unlucky buzzes, and thus allowed the other two to catch up. All three then swapped questions for a while; at the halfway point, Mark was narrowly ahead. But then, with seventeen questions left, Mark buzzed in wrongly for a third time, lost his final life, and bowed out graciously in third place.

So, it was down to Gerard and Peter. Gerard was in the lead at this point, and the two men managed to survive to the end of the deck without losing all their lives. Though Peter often managed to reduce Gerard's lead to a couple of questions, he was never quite able to overtake him. At the end of the round, Gerard had 172 points to Peter's 132.

So, Gerard Mackay won the final, and the £40,000 Jackpot. Well done to him!

So, that's that then. Even though I didn't see as much of this series as I did of the first, I really enjoyed what I did see. It flows much better now that they've moved the pointless third break from halfway through Round 1 to (roughly) halfway through Round 2. And Sandi T. seems to have settled in nicely too, using the Pointless method of dragging the obligatory chat out across the rounds, rather than clumping it all up at the start of each round.

I know the revival has come in for criticism from traditionalists, and I can understand why, but I've really enjoyed what I've seen of it so far. I do hope they will make a third series; if they, I may consider popping along to give it a go myself. Why not?

I'll be back on Monday with my usual UC write-up; Cassiopeia confirmed this afternoon it's between Liverpool and Glasgow.

University Challenge 2014-15: Round 2: Match 5: L.S.H.T.M. vs Bristol

Evening all. Not much to say this week, except that I've had another idea about structural reform: bring back the best of three grand finals they had in the original ITV run. Use them at earlier stages maybe, but that would be a bit much.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine defeated the L.S.E. team 150-140 in a close first round match, and seemed genuinely surprised whenever they got questions right! They were the same four as before:
Andy Taylor, from Oxford, studying Tropical Medicine and International Health
Rebecca Glover, from Ottawa in Canada, studying the Control of Infectious Disease
Captain: Sarah Legrand, from London, studying Epidemiology
Anjaneya Bapat, from the Wirral, studying Tropical Medicine and International Health

Bristol defeated the Courtauld Institute of Art 190-75 in their first match, but were never really challenged, thus raising questions on how they'd fare against a better team. They were also the same four as before:
Lewis Rendell, from Saffron Walden, studying Maths
Benjamin Moon, from Marksbury and Bath, studying Geology
Captain: Anastasia Reynolds, from Scholes in West Yorkshire, studying Czech and Russian
Miles Coleman, from North London, studying Spanish and Portuguese

Off we set again then, and L.S.H.T.M. got off to the better start, with Sarah Legrand, impressive in their first outing, getting the first two starters of the night, though only three bonuses went with them. Ms Legrand took a third starter, and the side took all three bonuses. Paxo already felt the need to tell Bristol there was plenty of time left, which was a bit unfair seeing as we were only just going into the first picture round. The starter was dropped, but the bonuses, on sites of Mediterranean military actions of WW2, went to Bristol after a harsh but fair ruling cost L.S.H.T.M. five points. They still led 55-20.

Bristol were now into the game, though, and took a second starter in a row; they took no bonuses though, with another harsh but fair ruling resulting them not being given the points. Another starter and bonus set bought them within five points, and a fourth in a row gave them a narrow lead. At this point, both sides were pretty even, and there was nothing in it.

The music starter, asking after the composer of the music to a 1990 film, was dropped after guesses of Elgar and Purcell which seemed to annoy Paxo! The bonuses, on Oscar winners for best original film score, went to L.S.H.T.M., and gave them a narrow lead of 75-70. Bristol reclaimed the lead with the next starter, and then pulled into triple figures with the next starter, and they took two bonuses. It wasn't a high scoring game, but it was certainly close.

The second picture round, on university buildings with UNESCO world heritage site status, went to L.S.H.T.M., and allowed them to cut Bristol's lead to 110-95. The Londoners then began a surge, taking the next starter and two bonuses to give them back the lead. They then took a third starter in a row, and two more bonuses, giving them a 25 point lead.

A surge would win it for either side now, and Bristol took the next starter and all three bonuses to level the scores. Whoever took the next starter would look good for the win; Benjamin Moon took it for Bristol, and they took a full set of bonuses on sausages, one of which seemed to be a total guess! That might just have been enough to see them home, and so it proved, as the remaining starters were dropped. At the gong, Bristol narrowly won 160-135.

Not a very high scoring match, but it was certainly close. Well done anyway to L.S.H.T.M. on two very pleasant outings, and they were a very pleasant team to watch. Well done to Bristol though; another sufficient performance, but I feel they'll need to play better in the QFs. Best of luck to them for then!

Sarah Legrand was the best buzzer of the night, with five starters for L.S.H.T.M., while Miles Coleman was best for Bristol with three. On the bonuses, L.S.H.T.M. managed a respectable 14 out of 21 (with one penalty) and Bristol an also good 16 out of 24.

Again, look to Twitter to find out who's on next week.

Only Connect saw another team reach their QFs tonight, with a fairly close match, which included a humourous missing vowels round on 'party leaders with a letter changed'. I also understand they're trying music questions in Round 2 now.

University Challenge: Gender Imbalance, Women need to be Encouraged

OK, time for me to be serious, and address a subject that has always been hanging around UC, but has really come to the forefront this past year: gender imbalance.

It all started when the BBC introduced that rule that all light hearted panel shows must have at least one female panelist. Then, it garnered further attention prior to this year's final, when Mary Beard wrote an article online bemoaning the fact that, not only were both the teams all male, but one of them came from a previously women only college.

And, with the rise of Cassiopeia and her excellent UCCrush blog, the subject has been lingering around the discussions online predominantly this series.

As if to prove this: four teams are safely through to the quarter finals; of the sixteen competitors, there is only one female amongst them (Claire Hall of Trinity).

I decided to do a bit of research, and here are my findings on women and UC grand finals:

• Of the twenty BBC grand finals, seven have featured eight males; six have featured one female, five two and two (1997 and 2004) three.
• Only five grand finals have featured at least one woman on both teams.
• Of the forty grand final captains, six have been women; four led their teams to grand final victory (wording deliberate to include Gail the Great)
• The last time both teams had at least one woman was the Alex Guttenplan final of 2010.

So, those are my findings on women in UC grand finals.

Needless to say, of course, a ten man show (Paxo and Roger T. along with eight male competitors) will not go unnoticed on Twitter, usually coupled with some sarky comment about the show being a repeat from the '50s!

So, what's to be done about it? Well, some have suggested a quota similar to the one mentioned earlier that all teams must have at least one woman on board. That would, practically, solve the problem, and ensure that all the shows have at least one woman. But others could see this as political correctness gone mad. Two posters, musicman and Simon Joyce from the Oxford Brookes team, spoke out against a quota, saying it would take tokenism to a huge level.

At the end of the day, UC is a quiz show. Not only that, it's a quiz show competition. The aim is to win; to make this more likely, the university/college will send the strongest team they can put together. Sometimes, this means a team of four men; it could, in some cases, mean a team of four women. It can vary.

There is one thing was can do though: encourage more women to take part. As musicman says, there are generally more men on shows like UC because they are more prepared to put themselves out there, and display their knowledge to the public.

It's hard enough to avoid at least one abusive post on Twitter nowadays as it is; even our own Jim Gratrex got one directed at him following his side's defeating Warwick two years ago today(!). I think a lot of people may get put off by this; there was a chap on the DoND forum who said a few years ago that he didn't apply for the show himself due to not wanting to be abused online, as he would almost certainly lose his temper if he was.

There's another thing that may put women off, and I do not mean any offense at all by bringing this up: objectification.

Just ask Gail the Great and Sarah (Fitzpatrick) Healey, both of whom received requests from lads mags to do a strip shoot for them after leading their respective teams to grand final victory. Both very sensibly declined the invite.

Rather oddly, it was Jeremy Clarkson who summed it up best, when he theorised that there are no female F1 drivers because, the moment a woman steps near an F1 car, they become treated as a sex object. ("I mean when was the last time someone said to Kimi Raikkonen 'would you mind posing in a rd bikini'")

The same could apply to UC: all the Quagmires watching would be after some women on the show endlessly. Just ask poor Marine Debray, who was on the show back in 2010 and received a lot of unwelcome attention from lecherous men following her team's only match.

I mean, objectification is just simply unacceptable no matter what the context. A lot of the women who consider applying for UC could be quiet and private individuals, and getting bombarded with lecherous comments online and receiving requests to strip by lads mags would just scare them off altogether. I mean, have we had women's mags asking Ralph Morley to show us his abs after last year's final?! No, we haven't! Women should stop being objectified just because they are attractive and clever at the same time; it's just disgraceful.

Sorry, I got a bit carried away there. The point I'm making is that women need to be encouraged to try out for UC. And there are many factors out there that may stop them from doing so.

Gender imbalance on UC is unfortunate, but there isn't a legitimate way that would increase the numbers of women who compete. Women need to be encouraged to give the show a go, and brush off any ludicrous attention they may receive as a result. After all, it's only a quiz show.

I'll be back on Monday with my usual UC write-up; no word on the draw yet, but we're all keeping an eye out.

University Challenge 2014-15: Round 2: Match 4: Caius vs Manchester

Evening all. I'm really surprised and pleased with all the debate my comment on second round and feminine equality reform has provoked among contestants and commentators alike; thanks to all for your comment in recent weeks. Weaver's Week have got in on it too, albeit less so now they only do scores and light comment; yesterday, they accused the producers of rigging the draw so that Trinity, Magdalen and Manchester would meet in the group phase. I feel another thoughts post coming on later this week.

Gonville & Caius College Cambridge notched up the highest score of the first round, as they defeated the gallant St Anne's College Oxford side 305-105; an impressive performance, despite them claiming not to know anything about works by female psychologists purely because they were written by women. They were the same quartet as before:
Ted Loveday, from Hammersmith, studying Law
Michael Taylor, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, studying History
Captain: Anthony Martinelli, from Hertfordshire, studying Medicine
Jeremy Warner, from Southampton, studying Natural Sciences

Manchester (the team everyone wants to beat, according to WW) came through the repechage, losing to Selwyn College Cambridge, but recovering with a decent win over Sussex by 210-95, in a match noted for at least three lucky guesses, as Paxo pointed out. The Manchester side were also the same as in their prior outings:
Edmund Chapman, from Norwich, studying Literature and Translation
Matthew Stallard, from Wolverhampton, studying American Studies
Captain: John Ratcliffe, from Manchester, studying Chemical Engineering
Charlie Rowlands, from Albrighton in Shropshire, studying Genetics and Chinese

Off we set again then, and it was Caius who struck first courtesy of Michael Taylor getting in first after a very long starter of the sort WW have bemoaned as of late. The Cambridge side took two bonuses; Manchester soon set off in pursuit though, but they only managed one bonus from a rather complex set. They made up for it by taking the second starter and, with it, the lead, and took two bonuses on Irish cricket. The first picture round, on maps showing airports named after musicians or composers, went to Caius, who narrowly took the lead 40-35.

A harsh but fair adjudication by Paxo, who rejected 'Mexico' when seeking 'Mexican', cost Manchester five and gave Caius a larger lead, but they couldn't manage any bonuses. Neither side worked out a complicated literary arithmetic starter, before Caius shot back in, and took two bonuses, one of which Paxo was maybe a bit lenient to accept. In danger of falling behind, Manchester got back in after Matthew Stallard worked out that 'Trotter' was the surname linking a list of fictional characters. Their bonuses on US presidential inaugural addresses included a comment on Obama's mistaken claim about 44 men becoming president, as first pointed out by QI.

The music round saw Mr Taylor quickly identify Psychokiller by Talking Heads; the bonuses, on favourite songs of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman, gave Caius two bonuses and a lead of 90-50. Manchester lost another five on the next starter, but Caius couldn't capitalise this time. Ted Loveday, impressive in the first round, took his first starter of the night and break the side into three figures. Mr Stallard bought Manchester back in, and when John Ratcliffe got the side's second starter in a row and they took all three bonuses, it looked like they might be starting to fight back into the game.

The second picture round, on paintings from the Wallace collection's 'Great Gallery', went to Caius, who took all three bonuses, and thus took a lead of 130-85. Mr Taylor took the next starter, and when the side swept the board on the bonuses again, Manchester looked in serious trouble. Back they came, though, courtesy of Mr Rowlands, but the side only managed one bonus. Another starter went to the Mancunians, but no bonuses followed. The shock was on.

Manchester needed to sweep up all the starters from now on, but when that man Michael Taylor took the next and the side took all three bonuses, that looked like it would do to see them home safely. As if to confirm that, the Cambridge side took the next starter and took two bonuses. Manchester did manage the final two starters of the match, but it wasn't going to be enough. At the gong, Caius won 200-135.

Well, if that theory of WW's is correct, it seems to have backfired spectacularly! Bad luck to Manchester, who didn't seem to quite find their feet tonight, but Paxo rightly described them as an entertaining team who made good telly; well done to them on three good showings. Very well done to Caius though on another fine showing against good opposition, and they must be favoured to do well in the QFs; best of luck to them for then!

Michael Taylor was the night's best buzzer, taking six starter, while Matthew Stallard was best for Manchester with four. The bonus rates were telling: Caius converted 20 out of 30, and Manchester 11 out of 24 (with two penalties). So, a better bonus rate from Caius, coupled with a couple of extra starters, won the game.

Again, it's over to Cassiopeia and the other Twitterers to find out who's on next week.

Only Connect has now reached the stage where teams make it into the QFs; a good match between two good teams tonight.