University Challenge 2022-23: Round 2: Match 3: Newnham vs Cardiff

Good evening friends, and welcome to the third Quizzy Mondays of the year! Tonight's UC was one of those contests that I'd like to cite as proof that the second round being a straight knockout is highly unfair, as these were two good teams, both of whom would've been worthy quarter-finalists but, alas, only one could be so. I know, I've moaned about this format many times before, but I'll keep doing so until it's gone; but, of course, it won't be gone until someone thinks of something better, so we're stuck with it. Anyway, enough moaning about the format, lets talk about this excellent contest...

Newnham College Cambridge were narrowly beaten by last week's runners-up Courtauld in the first round, but survived to the play-offs, where they comfortably beat Sheffield. They were unchanged from those two previous games: 

Bethan Holloway-Strong, from Surrey and Australia, studying English

Hannah Bowen, from Gateshead, studying German, Russian and Polish

Captain: Roma Ellis, from Nottingham, studying Philosophy 

Chén Zhou, from Suzhou in China, studying the History of Science

 

Cardiff came straight through to this stage with an easy first round victory over a plucky Coventry team, leading from the off and winning 235-50. They were also unchanged from before:

John Wimperis, from Stroud, studying News Journalism

Will Balkwill-Western, from North Devon, studying Chemistry

Captain: Zoe Revell, from Cardiff, studying Maths

Ella Freeman, from Cardiff, studying Psychology

 

So, off we set again then, and it was Newnham who got off the mark first via Ms Holloway-Strong; one bonus on art neaveau got the Cambridge side going, but Cardiff immediately responded with Mr Wimperis taking their first starter and a full bonus set from a classic UC set on words differing in having an X at the end. Newnham pulled level again with Ms Ellis taking the next starter, but no bonuses meant they stayed on level pegging. The first picture round, on the titles in Spanish of works written in English about the Spanish Civil War, also went to the Cambridge side; a sole bonus came this time, but they'd now retaken the lead, 40-25.

A third starter in a row increased Newnham's lead, but their alternation with the bonuses continued, none this time on scientific terms beginning 'para'. Mr Balkwill-Western, as he did so often in the first round, came in for Cardiff to give them their second starter of the night; they too took just one bonus, but a second starter in a row put the Welsh side on level pegging, and two bonuses gave them the lead. Only for Ms Bowen to put Newnham level again with the next starter, and a single bonus to give them the lead back. The Cambridge side also took the music round, on inaugural tracks from the US National Recording Registry; a full house increased their lead to 90-60.

Back came Cardiff with Ms Revell taking the next starter, but it was their turn to draw a blank on the bonuses, on cycling. A second starter in a row to the Welsh side gave them one correct bonus to pull them back within five, only for Ms Ellis to immediately increased the advantage again by taking the next starter; just one bonus followed again, but they had nonetheless reached three figures first. (Ms Ellis reports on Twitter that TPTB cut a snide remark made by Paxo when they could only think of alcoholic drinks when asked for a 'beverage'! Watching it back just now, I could indeed see a pretty obvious jump cut where this should've been!) Neither team identified a still from Carrie for the second picture starter; the bonuses, on films talked about by Carol J Clover in her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws', went to Cardiff, who took a sole bonus to stay in touch, 105-100.

A straight sprint to the finish now then, and Cardiff blinked first as Ms Freeman took the next starter; bonuses on poetry saw them only take five points though, as they could only saw Milton to every one! It did at least give them the lead back, only for Ms Ellis to pull Newnham back level again; just one bonus followed, but the Newnham captain put her side within sight of victory by taking the next starter, with two correct bonuses adding to their cause. One more starter would do it, but Cardiff took the next one instead, and a well-timed full set of bonuses on New Hampshire put the teams on level pegging again! And that was the gong; a 140-each tie!

So, for the second time this series, we went to sudden death! It was Ms Ellis, once again, who was first in on the resulting tie-breaker, and was correct! Newnham had the win!

A fine, close contest between two good teams, neither of whom, as I said earlier, deserved to go out at this stage, or lose that game, a tie was the right result really. Well played Newnham nonetheless, and very best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to Cardiff, but they can leave with their heads high, well played indeed!

The stats: Ms Ellis was the best buzzer of the night with five starters (plus the tie-breaker), while Ms Freeman was best for Cardiff with three. On the bonuses, Newnham managed 10 out of 27 and Cardiff 12 out of 24, so they made up for one less starter with two more bonuses; that's how well matched these teams were.

Next week's match: again, don't know yet, will let you know as soon as I do.

Only Connect concluded its play-offs with the Jugadores playing the Cunning Planners. The latter led 5-1 after the first round, and 10-7 after the second. Two perfect walls meant it was as you were, 20-17 going into Missing Vowels, and the Planners increased that lead in that to win 27-21 to take the final place in the quarter-finals.

 

Mastermind was won easily by Alex Shilton, whose 24 points saw him comfortably beat Hamid Khan and Adeline McCartney, who finished joint second with 19, and Lesley Ravenscroft, who scored 15.

 

Counterpoint was won by Claire Barrow, a former Mastermind finalist, who sprinted away from a close pack in the final round to take the second place in an already strong semi-final line-up.

University Challenge 2022-23: Round 2: Match 2: Robert Gordon vs Courtauld

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to JOW! The second quizzing week of the new year saw the second second round match of this year's UC. Returning tonight were two teams who I probably wouldn't have paired together, given that they were both impressive in different ways in the first round. The winners would join Royal Holloway in the QFs, while the runners-up could consider themselves unlucky to go out now.

Robert Gordon University were comfortable winners over fellow 'new' university Roehampton in their first round match, dominating on the buzzer throughout and winning 210-90. They were unchanged from that game: 

Samuel Fregene, from Nigeria, studying Analytical Science

Donald Anderson, from Aberdeen, studying Accounting and Finance

Captain: Emily Cullen, from Clonroche, County Wexford, studying Pharmacy

Faye Cooke, from Stockport, studying Professional Legal Practice

 

The Courtauld Institute of Art played the previous week, and were more narrow winners, 175-160, over Newnham, who were good enough to return in the play-offs and make it to the second round too. They were also the same four as before: 

Oliver White, from Guildford, studying the Art of Renaissance Italy

Alice Dodds, from Birmingham, studying the History of Art

Captain: Ryan McMeekin, from Hertfordshire, studying Circum-Atlantic Visual Culture of the late colonial period

Lizzie Mackarel, from Liverpool, studying 20th-century Russian Art

 

So, off we set once again then, and Mr Anderson picked up where he left off as he took the first starter for Robert Gordon; bonuses on the Villa Rotonda gave them one correct bonus to start off with. Courtauld followed them off the mark, and then took the lead with two correct bonuses on chemistry, only for Robert Gordon to immediately take it back with the next strater; just one bonus went to the Scots side again. The first picture starter was dropped; the bonuses, on locations of the World's oldest still-operational lighthouses, went to Courtauld, who also took just one bonus, which gave them back the lead, 35-30.

Only for Mr Anderson to take a third starter for Robert Gordon to give them back the lead again; just the one bonus went with it again, but Courtauld then lost five for a 'just an' interruption, and this allowed the Scots side to take a second starter in a row, which they followed up with, yep, just one bonus again. Starting to build up a head of steam on the buzzer, Mr Anderson quickly identified Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the former leader of Liberia; bonuses on record labels saw them finally end their run with two correct. They also took the music round, on songs partially written in 5/4 time; another two correct bonuses, including, what looked like, a guess of Taylor Swift, meant they now led 100-30.

Courtauld finally got some points on the board again through Mr McMeekin, but they got nothing from a bonus set on Indo-European langauges. A penalty from Robert Gordon allowed the Londoners a second starter in a row, but, again, the bonuses didn't fall for them, none taken. Back came Robert Gordon via Ms Cullen; just one bonus accompanied again, but, if they could keep up their buzzer dominance, it probably wouldn't matter. The second picture round, on paintings depicting women and parrots, also went to Robert Gordon; no bonuses were taken this time, but they still led 120-50.

And when Ms Cullen took the next starter, and two bonuses on antarctic exploration were taken, they were within sight of victory. Mr McMeekin did the right thing and buzzed quickly on the next starter, but was wrong; Ms Cullen took the points, one bonus followed again, and that was game over. Ms Cooke confirmed it by taking the next starter; two bonuses on science were taken as well. Courtauld did manage a late rally to a more respectable score, taking two late starters and two bonuses, but the game was well over as a contest by now. At the gong, Robert Gordon won 180-75.

Another enjoyable contest, despite the sometimes slow pace. Well done to Robert Gordon, a second impressive showing, and, if they can improve on the bonuses, they'll be a team to watch in the quarter-finals; best of luck to them there. Hard lines to Courtauld, who we know are a capable team, as we saw in their first match, but were simply outplayed this time, but still a fair effort, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Anderson was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr McMeekin was best for Courtauld with three. On the bonuses, Robert Gordon managed 14 out of 36 and Courtauld 5 out of 18, and both sides incurred two penalties.

Next week's match: again, don't know, but keep an eye on Twitter and the BBC website.

Only Connect’s penultimate play-off match pitted the Scrummagers against the Croot Family. The latter led 5-1 after the first round, but a shutout in a very tough second round saw the former cut the gap to 5-4. A better wall saw the Scrummagers take the lead 14-8 going into Missing Vowels, and they survived a good recovery by their opponents to win 18-16.

 

Mastermind was won comfortably by William Andrews with 24 points, with recent UC alumnus Holly Parkinson coming second with 18. Ishmael Silvestro and Boakesey Boakes completed the line-up with 14 and 15 respectively.

 

Counterpoint returned for a new series this afternoon; serial quizzer Anthony Fish won the show to take the first place in the semi-finals.

University Challenge 2022-23: Round 2: Match 1: St Andrews vs Royal Holloway

Good evening friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Back to normal service tonight after two weeks off for the Christmas specials, and we're straight into the second, and toughest, round of UC, where defeat means instant elimination. (Still not happy with this inconsistancy at all, but, until someone thinks of something better, it'll have to do) We began the round with two of the lower scoring first round winners, all eight of them wearing blue and yellow ribbons, presumably in support of Ukraine, suggesting this was probably filmed last March.

St Andrews won a close contest against Gonville and Caius of Cambridge back in early October, ultimately just sneaking home 140-120. Playing their reserve this time, as Mr Gibbons was unavailable due to illness, their new line-up consisited of: 

Alec Csukai, from Wokingham, studying Astronomy and Astrophysics

Sam Hickford, from Rochdale, studying English

Captain: Joseph Cryan, from the Lune Valley in Lancashire, studying History

Sofya Anisimova, from Moscow, studying History

 

Royal Holloway London played two weeks earlier, and were slightly more comfortable winners over Cranfield, leading for the most part and winning 155-110. They were unchanged from that contest: 

Joel Abramovich, from Highgate in London, studying Biology

Joanna Brown, from North London, studying Creative Writing

Captain: George Harvey, from Dunmow in Essex, studying Physics

Micka Clayton, from Richmond (originally South Africa), studying Music and Neuropsychology

 

So, off we set for the first time this year then, and Ms Brown took the first (of many) starter(s) of the night for Royal Holloway; bonuses on adaptations of Jane Austen's Emma, one of which I'm pretty sure was on Drama yesterday, provided them with a full bonus set to start with. A second starter went to Ms Brown, but this time the Londoners took just one bonus on stations. Ms Anisimova opened the scoring for St Andrews, and the Scots side took two of their first bonus set on German institutes. The first picture starter was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on eponymous telescopes, went to St Andrews, who took a single bonus, which cut the gap to 40-35.

And they then took the lead as Mr Csukai took the next starter; just one bonus followed, but Mr Hickford took a third starter in a row to them, which gave them a very complicated bonus set on Spanish words, which they did well to take one of. Back came Royal Holloway as Ms Brown took the next starter, and a single bonus of their own put them back within ten points. The music round, on jazz albums which Rudy van Gelder worked on, also went to the London side, who retook the lead with another sole bonus, 70-65.

Only for St Andrews to immediately retake the lead as Mr Csukai wisely went with the old trick of saying '1' (or '0') to a tricky sounding maths question! The teams' struggles with the bonuses continued as just one was taken, before Mr Cryan ensured all four St Andrews players had a starter to their names; bonuses on sci-fi novels resulted in, yep, another single bonus. Back came Royal Holloway, Ms Brown again, but this time none of the bonuses, on opera, were taken. The second picture round, on images anylsed by Susan Sontag in her work 'On Photography', also went to the London side; two bonuses gave them the lead, 100-95.

And that lead increased further as Mr Harvey took the next starter; just the one bonus followed again, but Ms Brown was once again on the money with the next, though, again, they only followed it up with a single bonus. St Andrews could still catch up, but Mr Csuaki's valiant buzz on the next starter was wrong and lost them five; Royal Holloway didn't follow up, but when Ms Brown took the next starter, that was game over. Bonuses on living things whose names end 'ock' resulted in, yep, just one bonus correct again, but it mattered not now. At the gong, Royal Holloway won 145-90.

A rather slow match, with both teams struggling a bit with the bonuses throughout, but still a pleasant enough contest overall. Well done Royal Holloway, Ms Brown in particular, and very best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to St Andrews, but a respectable performance, thanks for playing!

The stats: Ms Brown was, easily, the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Messrs Csukai and Hickman got two each for St Andrews. On the bonuses, St Andrews managed 7 out of 18 (with the night's one penalty) and Royal Holloway 11 out of 27, so both sides struggled on the bonuses, meaning it was the buzzer wot won it.

Next week's match: don't know yet, will let you all know on Twitter as soon as we do.

Only Connect returned with its second play-off match, and a second avoidable rematch in a row, with the Statisticals and the Morporkians meeting again. The teams were tied on 4-each after the first round, before the Morkporkians took a 6-5 lead after a very tough second round (during which their opponents, jokingly, answered ‘fish’ to all three of their questions!). A better wall saw that lead increase to 16-10 going into Missing Vowels, and they maintained it there to win 20-13.

 

Mastermind was won very narrowly by Ann Mayner, whose 19 points saw her just beat the 18 of second placed Robin Geddes. Chidi Ngwaba and Rebecca Lodge Birkebaek also took part, finishing with 11 and 14 respectively.

Christmas University Challenge 2022: Matches 6-10 (Monday 26th - Friday 30th)

Greetings friends, and Happy New Year! So, time to look back at the second week of the Christmas series of UC just finished. A pretty good series I thought, and the standard of the matches this week, especially the semi-finals, was pretty decent too. So, let's do this...

Monday 26th: U.C.L. vs Aberdeen

U.C.L.: Jess French, Ken Follett, Ria Lina, Susan Collins

Aberdeen: Margaret McCartney, Neil Fachie, Jon Baird, Lorna Dawson

Aberdeen started the stronger, but U.C.L. recovered nicely later on and it proved a close affair in the end. Aberdeen just about won out 115-85 in the end, a score not good enough for a return.

Tuesday 27th: Bristol vs Cardiff

Bristol: Nigel Marven, Georgie Twigg, Dominic Waghorn, Nizar Ibrahim

Cardiff: Rachel Burden, Heather Knight, Adam Price, Dan Saladino

Bristol led from the off and quickly pulled away, and, though Cardiff did eventually get some points on the board, they were second best throughout. Bristol soon put themselves one starter and bonus away from the semis, but Cardiff denied them those points with an impressive late rally which saw them close the gap right up. Bristol still won 125-105, but, again, not enough for a return.

Wednesday 28th: York vs Hull

Ms Kind was unable to return due to work, so James Mooney came in to replace her. York led at first, but Hull seized the initiative in the second half and, with an impressive late rally, won the game 155-100.

Thursday 29th: Balliol vs Exeter

This was a seriously good contest, between two very good teams, neither of whom deserved to go out now in all honesty. Exeter led at first, but, again, Ballioll recovered strongly in the second half and ran away in the final minutes to 215-125. Special mention to Mr O'Neill for his very impressive haul of NINE starters.

Friday 30th: Hull vs Balliol

Another substitution, with Sarah Peverley coming in for Hull to replace Mr Graham. Balliol were the favourites for this match, and duly delivered, though their performance was much more of a team effort this time. Hull didn't disgrace themselves, but were a clear second best. Balliol won the game, and the series, 165-70.

Another fine Christmas series; thanks to all the teams who took part, and well done again to Balliol, worthy winners! And special mention to Paxo too, for whom the final was, canonically as the rest of the regular series was filmed first, his final game in charge! An occasion which he marked with a very snazzy Xmas jumper in lieu of his usual suit! Thanks once again to him for his many years of service, and all the best to him on his retirement!

Regular series resumes tomorrow night with the first second round match, which we now know will be between St Andrews and Royal Holloway, and OC and Mastermind return to business as usual too. Back with my usual write-up tomorrow night; until then, sayonara...

Christmas University Challenge 2022: Matches 1-5 (Monday 19th - Friday 23rd)

Greetings friends! Hope you all had a good Christmas yesterday! I suppose mine was sufficient. Anyway, I meant to do this yesterday, but, mea culpa, I forgot, so, let's do this now. Hopefully, doing this while trying to watch Death in Paradise at the same time won't be too distracting...

Monday 19th: SOAS vs Balliol Oxford

SOAS: Alys Tomlinson, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Emma Dabiri, Sherelle Jacobs

Balliol: Elizabeth Kiss, Andrew Copson, Martin Edwards, Martin O'Neill

The series kicked off with a match that was won on the bonuses; the two teams were pretty well matched on the buzzer, but SOAS only managed 3 of their 18 bonuses, compared to the 17 Balliol managed from their eight sets. The Oxford side thus won 155-75, which was enough to ensure they'd qualified for the semis at the end of the week.

Tuesday 20th: University Oxford vs Glasgow

University: Sophie Solomon, Owen Jones, Paul Gambaccini, Ivo Graham

Glasgow: Helen Smith, Alana Vincent, Chris Brookmyre, Tamara Galloway

University started out stronger, taking the first three correct starters, but then Glasgow dominated the rest of the contest and pulled well away. University did get a couple more starters late on, but the game was done by then. Glasgow won 110-75, a score which sadly won't bring them back later this week.

Wednesday 21st: Durham vs York

Durham: Gillian Foulger, Simon Parson, Chris Terrill, Emma Chapman

York: David Conn, Vanessa Kind, Tom Scott, Sophie Woodward

York dominated this game, Mr Scott and Ms Kind both answering five starters each, and a solid haul of 19 bonuses went with them. Durham weren't bad, just in thr wrong place at the wrong time. York won 200-45, a score which will easily see them back later this week.

Thursday 22nd: Exeter Oxford vs Queen Mary

Exeter: Alexandra Watson, Sanchia Berg, Reeta Chakrabarti, Andy Anson

Queen Mary: Nighat Arif, Lynsey Hansen, Lucy Siegle, George Parker

A comfortable start from Exeter saw them race into an early lead, before their opponents got some points on the board, but not enough to seriously trouble them at any point. Again, a decent team performance from Exeter, with all four players contributing well; they won 150-70, a score which, as confirmed by tonight's game, will bring them back.

Friday 23rd: Hull vs West of England

Hull: Katharine Norbury, James Graham, Sian Reese-Williams, Graeme Hall

West of England: Ita O'Brien, Rebecca Salter, Victoria Gill, Seyi Rhodes

West of England got the first starter of the game, but Hull then pulled away and looked comfortable for the rest of the game as the starters just didn't fall for their opponents. Hull won the game 135-35, and, unless tomorrow's winners beat that score, they'll be back later this week too.

So, York and Balliol were confirmed as being through at the end of the week; Exeter are now confirmed after tonight's game, and, if tomorrow's winners score 130 or less, Hull will be back too. Whatever happens, we await the remaining matches as eagerly as the ones so far.

Back on Sunday, if I remember, with my review of this week's games. Until then, have a safe and Happy New Year, and sayonara...