University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 6: King's vs U.C.L.

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Which, next week, will finally be complete again, as Mastermind returns next week! Which means, unless one of them takes a week off, we're in for fifteen weeks of a complete line-up of all the Monday quizzes! On with tonight's UC, the latest in a series that is shaping up nicely under the new regime, with two institutions that went far in the first series I covered on this blog 11 years ago...

King's College Cambridge surprisingly only appeared four times in the Paxman era, of which its most successful team was that of our old friend Jim Gratrex that reached the QFs. Its last appearance was a first round exit in 2015-16 infamous for one of its team wearing a leather vest! (Must've been a slow news day for that to have gotten as many articles as it did) This year's team were:

Elizabeth Zachariah, from Surrey, studying Medicine

Alexander Ward, from Kensington, studying Engineering

Captain: Rex Phillips Dibb, from Islington, studying Russian, Italian and Ukrainian

Krishnan Mulholland, from Hertfordshire, studying Classics

U.C.L., in contrast, sent fifteen teams in the Paxman years, with, among them, two runners-up in 2004-05 and 12-13, two SF exits in 2006-07 and 11-12, and three QF exits, including in the last series with the famous mother-and-son team. This year's quartet were:

James Hall, from North Finchley, studying Law

Ali Izzatdust, from Portugal and Azerbaijan, studying Intellectual History

Captain: Tayana Sawh, from North London, studying Medicine

Jacon Finlay, from Cranleigh in Surrey, studying Public Administration

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Izzatdust who took the first starter of the night, and the Londoners took a full set of bonuses on Hermann Hesse (including the Glass Bead Game, nearly two decades after a question about that book sent their team into the final!). Two further starters and a penalty to their opponents sent U.C.L. into a strong early lead, but King's finally opened their account properly with the first picture round, on Indonesian islands, which they took a full house on, closing that gap to 60-20. A nip and tuck period ensued, as the teams swapped starters and took two bonuses from the resulting sets each, with the gap alternating between 20 and 40 as a result. The music round, on 19th century composers who began composing as kids, broke this sequence as King's only took one bonus; they thus trailed 95-70.

Up went the lead again as U.C.L. maintained their two bonuses record, only for King's to respond likewise. The Londoners then finally went one better again as they took a full set on fictional prime ministers. The second picture round, on paintings featuring umbrellas, went to King's; one bonus took the scores to 140-105. Still either team's game, but another starter and single bonus to U.C.L. made it their's to lose. But King's then lost five on two successive starters; the Londoners didn't pick either up, but a very quick buzz from Ms Sawh put them within sight of victory, and a full bonus set on words beginning 'cat' made it game over. King's did pull back well in the final minutes though, and racked up a sufficient score to push Birmingham off the repechage board, but maybe not quite high enough for a final place on it. The final starter went to Mr Hall, and that was the gong; U.C.L. won 190-145.

A good match, on the buzzer especially with all eight players getting at least two starters right, which I don't recall happening before in recent UC history. Well done to U.C.L., and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to King's, whose score I fear won't quite be enough for the play-offs, but a fair effort, thanks for playing!

The stats: Ms Zachariah and Messrs Hall and Izzatdust were joint best buzzers of the night with three each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, King's managed 15 out of 27 (with a costly four penalties) and U.C.L. 19 out of 27 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: East Anglia vs Strathclyde

Only Connect reached its sixth heat, contested by the Also Rans, all of whom were beaten Mastermind finalists in 2020-21, Harry Heath (also of UC), Claire Barrow (also of Brain of Britain) and captain Dan Afshar (also of Brain of Britain and the revived WWTBAM), and the Gardners, Louise, Kate and captain Anna Gardner. The former led 6-4 after the first round, but the latter took the lead 7-6 after the second (I claim three points on the M question). A better wall gave the Also Rans the lead back, 16-13, going into Missing Vowels, and they fared much better in that to run out 26-15.

 

Brain of Britain continued this afternoon; unfortunately, I was out this afternoon and missed it, so I’ll listen to it in my own time some time this coming week and do a double summary next week.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 5: Emmanuel vs Jesus

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to the new slightly bigger Quizzy Mondays! For Brain of Britain returned this afternoon for its 70th(!) series, so recaps of that coming from now on too (except next week, where I won't be able to listen, so double recap in two weeks' time). Anyway, the new era of UC continues to motor along nicely; the repechage board is now full and, given the higher scores of this series, Southampton's score last week may well not be enough for a return. Tonight, the first Oxbride derby of the new era...

Emmanuel College Cambridge was a fairly irregular sender of teams for most of the Paxo era, but following our friend Bobby Seagull's team's run to the semis in the 2016-17 series, it has appeared in a further three of the six series since, reaching at least the QFs each time. It's best team, though, was Alex Guttenplan's series winning team of 2009-10. This year's foursome were:

Jerry Chen, from Glasgow, studying Medicine

Alex Sutton, from Reading, studying Biological Anthropology

Captain: Jay Alagar, from Pennsylvania, studying Population Health Sciences

Alexander Harrison, from Cardiff, studying Chemical Engineering

 

Jesus College Oxford is another relatively infrequent sender of teams to the BBC era, with six so far, its best performers being the team that reached the QF play-offs four series ago; the second best, ironically, lost to Alex Guttenplan's Emmanuel in the 2009-10 QF prelims. It also won the penultimate ITV series in 1986. This year's quartet were:

Andy Deng, from Croydon, studying Physics

Andy Schweber, from Birmingham, Alabama, studying History and Politics

Captain: Ben Biggs, from Southend-on-Sea, studying History and Politics

Meg Groundry-Napthine, from Bishop Auckland, studying History and English

 

So, off we set once again then, and Mr Harrison, who was to have a most impressive night, started as he meant to go by taking the first two starters of the game; four bonuses from six gave the Cambridge side a decent head start. But Jesus responded well with two starters of their own, including the first picture round, on graphs of trigonometric functions, after which the teams were level on 40-each. But after that, Emmanuel began to run away with it, with Mr Harrison in particular dominating the buzzer race, and a steady bonus race saw them quickly pull away into three figures. Neither side got the music starter; Mr Deng did the right thing and had an early buzz on the replacement starter, but was wrong and lost five. Mr Harrison swooped and Emmanuel got the music bonuses, on symphonies known by the names of cities; one bonus took their lead to 135-35.

And the lead was just getting bigger, as Ms Alagar took the next starter, which pushed their score to 150. Mr Deng was most unlucky on the next starter as he offered 'Vienna School' when AR wanted 'Second Viennese School' (having specified he wanted three words), losing another five to boot. Emmanuel duly resumed their buzzer dominance and, despite Mr Harrison incurring the first penalty for a 'just an' interruption of the AR era, were well on their way to the biggest win of the series so far. Jesus did take the second picture round, on buildings featured in World Heritage Sites dedicated to a single architecht; one bonus took the scores to 180-45. Just a question of how much both teams could score in the final minutes; Mr Chen ensured all four Emmanuel players had answered at least one starter as he took the next starter, and two bonuses took their score past 200. Two further starters pushed them close to a 200+ lead, but Jesus did take the final starter, thus avoiding becoming the first Sub-50 Club members of the AR era. They took the one bonus there was time for; at the gong, Emmanuel won 240-60.

A one-sided contest (that I guess we were due), but still as enjoyable as the rest of the series has been so far. Well done Emmanuel, an impressive performance, from Mr Harrison in particular, that marks them as a team to watch in the second round; best of luck in that! Hard lines to Jesus, who are almost certainly a better team than that and would've fared better on another day; thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Harrison was, easily, the best buzzer of the night with (another) NINE(!) starters, while Mr Biggs was best for Jesus with three. On the bonuses, Emmanuel managed 23 out of 39 (with one penalty) and Jesus 6 out of 10 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: King's Cambridge vs U.C.L.

Only Connect entered the second half of its first round with the Isotopes, Matilda Makemson, Angus Eady and captain Sanjay Boor, playing the Academicals, Yvonne Corbishley, Chris Jackson and captain Tom Kelly. The former led 4-3 after the first round, but the latter turned it round to win 11-6 after the second. A better wall for the Isotopes put the teams level on 13-each going into Missing Vowels, and they fared better on that too to win 22-17.

 

Brain of Britain returned this afternoon as I meantioned earlier; Jason Butler was the first winner of the series, winning with 12 points to the 9 of joint second placed Jude Child and Susannah Croft and the 4 of Akin Yilmaz.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 4: Southampton vs Christ Church

Good evening once again friends, and welcome to Week 4 of Quizzy Mondays! Some were saying we'd have Mastermind back this week too, but this doesn't appear to be the case just yet; surely not much longer though. Hopefully, when it does come back, its new series will be just as good as those of UC and OC have been so far! Tonight, UC's fourth first round match was between the two institutions who won the two play-offs ten series ago; one fell in the second round and hasn't been back since, the other went on to the QFs and has been back many times in the years since...

Southampton were the quarter-finalist team of that series, which was their best showing of the BBC era until, last series, they went one better and reached the semis before losing to Bristol; their other eight BBC era showings were either first or second round exits. This year's foursome were:

Elise Harrington, from Vancouver, studying Geochemistry

Rhys Counsell, from Bangor in Northern Ireland, studying Neutron Star Physics

Captain: Roshana Wickremasinghe, from Watford, studying Education

Chris Meredith, from Horsham, studying Maths

 

Christ Church Oxford were most unlucky to lose that epic second round match on a tie-breaker that series. Of their previous six BBC appearances, their best was unquestionably when they won the 2007-08 series. This year's quartet were:

Eliza Dean, from Edinburgh, studying Classics and French

Melika Gorgianeh, from Leeds, studying Astrophysics

Captain: Arthur Wotton, from Cardiff, studying Spanish

Elliot Lowe, from Thames Ditton in Surrey, studying Classics

 

So, off we set once again then, and, for the second week in a row, we started with a penalty, this time to Southampton; this allowed Mr Wotton to take the first starter of what would be a good night for him, with one bonus following. Despite this early setback, Southampton then went on to dominate the buzzer for the rest of the first quarter and, after the first picture round, on literary verb tenses, they led 55-15. Christ Church recovered nicely after this, with Mr Wotton taking two more starters to pull them within ten, before another took the Oxonians into the lead. The music round, on pop songs where guitar solos are played backwards, went to Southampton, and two bonuses gave them the lead back, 90-75.

Three starters in a row then put Christ Church into three figures first; a bonus set on Japanese films gave them nothing, but five bonuses from the other six gave them a solid lead. Ms Harrington pulled one back for Southampton, but the Oxonians were into their groove now and, after the second picture round, on artworks depicting funerals, they 145-110. Two more starters put Christ Church within sight of victory, but a penalty gave Southampton the chance to get back into the game; they didn't take it, but did take the next two starters, and five bonuses from six meant they were just 15 behind again. But Mr Wotton took yet another starter, and that was game over. The gong went during the resulting bonuses; Christ Church won 180-155.

Another good enjoyable contest between two decent teams; well played both. Well done Christ Church, Mr Wotton especially impressive, and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Southampton, whose score I fear will be right on the borderline of whether they come back or not, but thanks for playing for now, hopefully we'll see you again.

The stats: Mr Wotton was by far and away the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters, while Ms Wickramesinghe was best for Southampton with four. On the bonuses, Southampton managed a good 16 out of 24 and Christ Church 15 out of 35, and both sides incurred one penalty each.

 

Next week's match: Emmanuel Cambridge vs Jesus Oxford

 

Only Connect’s first round continued with the Thrifters, Will Chadwick, Jack Karimi and captain Sam Haywood, playing the Suncatchers, Alice Nettleship, Charlotte Ashton and captain Ben Warth. The former led 4-2 after the first round and 12-10 after the second in which they also claimed the first five pointer of the series! (I claim five points on the months question) Two perfect walls meant it was as you were, 22-20 going into Missing Vowels, which was an epic round all round, and ended with the Thrifters just maintaining their lead to win 29-28!