University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 9: Balliol vs Imperial

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to another Quizzy Monday! All the Monday quizzes are motoring along nicely; Only Connect has been brilliant as ever, Mastermind has been very strong in all its games so far, Brain of Britain has proven itself a worthy fourth member of the quartumvirate, and UC has, in my opinion anyway, settled into its new era great too! Tonight, we have the Ian Bayley derby, as two teams with a strong history on the BBC era of the show fought it out...

Balliol College Oxford appeared in nine series of the Paxo era, reaching the QFs twice, the SFs twice also and, of course, winning the 'Monkman and Seagull series of 2016-17; its last appearance, though, was a first round exit last series. This year's foursome were:

Elise Cox, from the USA, studying Political Theory

Oliver Ellingham, from Bournemouth, studying Classics

Captain: John Maier, from London, studying Philosophy

Nikita Trojanskis, from Riga, studying Biology

Imperial College London is, of course, one of three teams to have won four series of UC, in 1995-96, 2000-01, 19-20 and 21-22; it also narrowly lost the 2001-02 final and reached the semis in 09-10 and 20-21. This year's quartet were:

Justin Lee, from Hong Kong and Canada, studying Chemistry

Adam Jones, from Hong Kong, studying Computer Science

Captain: Suraiya Haddad, from Manchester, studying Medicine

Sourajit Debnath, from Calcutta, studying Applied Computational Science and Engineering

So, off we set once again then, and a penalty to Balliol immediately put them on the back foot; Imperial didn't pick up, but did quickly move off the mark with the next starter, and took two bonuses on poetry. They took the next two starters as well, with Balliol losing another five in the process, and one of the resulting bonuses saw the first instance for a while of a captain mishearing a confer and thus giving a wrong answer (hasn't been a problem for the last few series what with the extra mics). Balliol did take the first picture round, on texts of political philosophers in their original language, and took two bonuses to cut the gap to 55-10. But Imperial quickly reasserted their dominance with another starter and full bonus set. Balliol did take two starters and all but one of the resulting bonuses, the one miss being misidentifying Brian Clough's famous 44 day reign at Leeds as being at West Ham! But Imperial took two starters and full bonus sets in a row, including the music round, on classical pieces composed around the year of Rachmaninoff's birth, after which they led 130-55.

And the lead was just getting bigger as Mr Lee took another starter, which was followed by yet another full set of bonuses. The run was halted by a penalty, which Balliol took advantage of with two bonuses following. But another strong run saw Imperial, three starters in a row including the second picture round, on paintings of the artist's family, after which they led 235-75. Game over, but could Balliol put in a late run for the play-offs? They gave it a great go, a run of starters taking them into three figures and rattling through the bonuses, getting them mostly right, and, had Mr Maier not forgivably lost another five, they'd probably have made it. Another starter kept their chances alive, but a full dropped bonus set on South African languages ended their chances. At the gong, Imperial won 285-145.

A superb contest despite its one-sidedness, two great teams. Very well done Imperial, a fantastic first showing that, if they keep it up, will surely see them right into the SFs at least; best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Balliol, who deserve immense credit for that great late run; they'd have easily beaten another team playing like that; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Lee was the best buzzer of the night with seven, while Mr Ellingham was best for Balliol with five. On the bonuses, Balliol managed 14 out of 21 (with three penalties) and Imperial a very impressive 30 out of 42 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: Sheffield vs Loughborough

Only Connect began its elimination round with the first two returnees of the series, with the Roadies playing the Cribbagers. The former led 4-2 after the first round, but the latter turned it around to lead 11-9 after the second. A better wall gave the Roadies the lead back 19-18 going into Missing Vowels, and they just about maintained that lead there to win 24-23!

 

Mastermind was won very narrowly by Peter Wilson, whose 17 points saw him just edge out second place Thomas Nelson with 26 (honestly, how can TPTB keep seeing people go out in R1 with such high scores and not think something needs to change?); Madeleine Roper and Bernie Morgan also competed, finishing with 19 and 13 respectively (the latter recovering decently after scoring just 2 on her SS).

 

Brain of Britain was won by Gill Hollis, who won a closely fought contest with 12 points ahead of Brian Craythorne with 10, Jean Burtonward with 8 and UC alumnus Rob Greenhill, who drew an unlucky blank on the first two rounds before recovering well, with 7. (His performance reminds me of a comment on BoB’s format made on the site formerly known as Twitter last year, which I may decide to go into in more detail another time)

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 8: Open vs Hertford

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to JOW for more Quizzy Mondays! On what's been a rather hot day here, I really needed something to take my mind off the heat, and thankfully a fine day of quizzing has done just that, with excellent performances on all four shows today! Starting with UC, and the first match of the second half of the first round...

The Open University appeared in the first five series of the Paxo era, but, after winning in 98-99 (the first UC series I ever watched!), disappeared until 2014-15, and has appeared a further five times since, but hasn't been beyond the second round any of those times. This year's foursome were:

Ellie Romans, from Oxfordshire, studying Nursing

Mike Holt, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, studying towards the Open degree

Captain: Ann Gavaghan, from London, studying Art and Architectural History

James Davidson, from Fraserburgh, studying English Literature

Hertford College Oxford took until 2010-11 to appear in the Paxo era, going out in the first round there; it since reappeared in 2018-19 (with future WWTBAM Thirteen Clubber Chris Page on that team) and 21-22, going out in the second round both times. This year's foursome were:

Ollie Sourbut, from Bath, studying Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems

Omer Keskin, from South London, studying Computer Science

Captain: Daniel Whittle, from Manchester (originally Saskatchewan), studying Classical Reception

Rupavardhini Balakrishnan Raju, from India, studying Law

So, off we set once again then, and Hertford shot out of the blocks with Mr Keskin taking the first two starters and all six bonuses from the two sets following. A third duly followed, as did the first picture round, on places that share their names with novels, after which, with Open having been restricted to a penalty thus far, Hertford led 80-(-5). Mr Davidson, a finalist in the last series of Mastermind, duly pushed Open back into positives with a starter, and a full bonus set of their own went with it, but three more starters to the Oxonians, another to Mr Keskin and two to Mr Sourbut, quickly gave them a three figure lead. Open did take the music round, on female singers from the Punk era of the 70s and 80s, went to Open though, and a second full bonus set took the scores to 135-45.

A second starter in a row to Ms Gavaghan (who you may remember from the last series of OC) added further to Open's score, but just the one bonus went with it this time. Back came Hertford as Mr Keskin took yet another starter, which gave them a bonus set on North Macedonia, including their famous football win over Italy last year! Two were taken, but back came Open again through Mr Davidson, resulting in yet another full set. But Hertford took two starters in a row, including the second picture round, on sacred mountains, after which, they led 200-85. Probably too big a gap for Open to close, but could they at least reach the repechage? Three starters in a row and a good haul of bonuses took them into strong contention for one, but probably in need of just a bit more. Hertford, though, took two starters in a row, which confirmed their win and gave them the joint-second highest score of the series so far. Open did take the final starter, to get them fully onto the repechage board, but they didn't take the one bonus there was time for. At the gong, Hertford won 230-155.

A very strong match indeed, two very good teams, what a shame this was a first round match. Very well done to Hertford, a very strong performance, Mr Keskin in particular, they could be one to watch in the second round; best of luck there! Hard lines to Open, who'd definitely have beaten another team, and whose score is going to be VERY borderline for the play-offs (they're currently joint third with Southampton), but thanks for playing for now!

The stats: Mr Keskin was the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Ms Gavaghan was best for Open with four. On the bonuses, Open managed a very good 16 out of 22 (with one penalty) and Hertford an also very good 25 out of 36 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: Balliol Oxford vs Imperial

Only Connect completed its first round with the final two new teams of the series, the Video Nasties, Jack Lewis, Nina Fetherston (who I remember being on UC back in the first series I did on this blog and then appearing on Mastermind the very next week!) and captain Lewis Jones (who was on UC last series), and the Solomons Family, Mark, Naomi and captain Harry Solomons. The former led 5-3 after the first round, but the latter turned it around to lead 12-10 after the second. A better wall gave the Nasties the lead back 20-17 going into Missing Vowels, and they improved on that lead in that to win 30-21.

 

Mastermind was a close affair that ended in a tie-breaker, with Pete Rosser and Sadie de Sousa both ending with 23 points, with Katie Chambers just behind on 22 and Eoin O’Connell completing the line-up with 15. Sadie won the resulting tie-breaker 3-2 to take the victory. Great contest that only emphasises what a travesty it is that there are no high scoring non-winner places in the SFs anymore. Perhaps, if we moan about it enough, TPTB will take note and do something about it like they did (or appeared to do) with OC.

 

Brain of Britain was won very easily by Eleanor Ayres (formerly of Mastermind and revived WWTBAM), who scored a perfect six on the first round and never looked back, eventually winning with 19 points, seven ahead of second place Matt Barr, whose impressive rally in the final round took him to 12 and a not bad shot at a HSNW place. Richard Burr and Ruth Downing completed the line-up with 3 and 8 respectively. (Highlight of the show for me was a question about the ‘original’ height of Everest being 29,002 feet, which I knew thanks to QI!)

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 7: UEA vs Strathclyde

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to the now complete Quizzy Mondays! Yep, Mastermind is back, so, at last, the four big Monday quizzes are all running at the same time! Enjoy it while it lasts! Anyway, on with UC firstly, and the first first round of the Amol Rajan era is halfway through, and so far things have been going pretty good all things considered. Tonight, two 60s university teams fought for the seventh place in the second round...

The University of East Anglia surprisingly only appeared three times in the Paxman era: a second round exit to eventual runners-up U.C.L. in 2004-05, a (somewhat controversial) second round loss to eventual winners Warwick in 2006-07, and a first round defeat in 2018-19. This year's foursome were:

Melissa Shiress, from London, studying Pacific Collections in National Museums Scotland

Bryony Yates, from Wolverhampton, studying Plant Biology

Captain: Owen Tobin, from Nottingham, studying Medicine

Matthew Jennings, from King's Lynn, studying Philosophy

Strathclyde University appeared seven times on the BBC series, five of which came in this blog's lifetime, and three of which saw them lose to Durham; the most successful of the seven was the team of 2020-21 who reached the quarter-finals. This year's quartet were:

Nina Reid, from Worcestershire, studying Forensic and Analytical Chemistry

Gregor MacDowall, from the Black Isle, studying Aeromechanical Engineering

Captain: Stephen Gault, from Glasgow, studying Educational Leadership

Prys Hughes, from Deiniolen in Gwynedd, studying Mechanical Engineering

So, off we set once again then, and an immediate penalty from UEA (not 'East Anglia' as Mr Tilling called them on their previous appearances) allowing Strathclyde to open the scoring, but they only took one bonus from their first set. UEA immediately bounced back and took two bonuses to draw level, only for the Scots side to immediately go back in front again with a starter and two bonuses of their own. The first picture round, on diagrams of sub units of a kidney nephron, went to UEA; one bonus meant they just trailed 35-30. The Norwich team then took the lead with the next starter, and went on to take another two in a row, which saw them pull away into a lead. The run stopped when Mr Tobin unluckily offered 'Cult' instead of 'Blue' when asked for the adjective in the name of the band who sang 'Don't Fear the Reaper'; Mr Gault swooped, but his side only took one bonus. The music starter saw Mr Tobin identify that old UC fave the Buggles; the bonuses, on bands produced by their frontman Trevor Horn, gave UEA a full set, after which they led 95-50.

The lead only got better with two starters in a row to Ms Yates and three of the resulting six bonuses. But Strathclyde bounced back well now, as Mr MacDowall took three starters in a row, which saw his team deservedly reached three figures and cut the gap to just 30 points. But UEA took the second picture round, on stills from rediscovered films (no Hal Roach stuff sadly), and a full bonus set increased their lead to 155-100. Strathclyde were still in the game though, as responded with a starter and a full bonus set of their own, on German football captains. But that would be as close as they would get, as UEA ran away with it on the buzzer from here on in, and, despite their bonus rate alternating wildly between three and none, it mattered not as they ran out into an impressive late lead. At the gong, UEA won 235-125.

Another good contest that was actually a bit closer than that scoreline suggests IMO. Well done to UEA, a most impressive performance against decent opponents, suggests they'll be a team to watch if they keep this form up; best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Strathclyde, a decent team who'd have probably beaten another opponent; thanks for playing!

The stats: Ms Yates was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Mr MacDowall was Strathclyde's best with four. On the bonuses, UEA managed 21 out of 39 (with two penalties) and Strathclyde 11 out of 21.

Next week's match: Open vs Hertford Oxford

Only Connect’s penultimate first round match pitted the Mercians, Ian Fennell (formerly of Brain of Britain and Mastermind), Pam Douglas (also formerly of Mastermind) and captain Jamie McNeill, against the Volunteers, Sunth Siva, Rebecca Brown and captain Sarah Holey. The former led 5-1 after the first round (I claim three points on the failed mergers question) and 14-3 after the second. A better wall increased that big lead to 24-8 going into Missing Vowels, and it only increased further there to leave the Mercians winners 36-10.

 

Mastermind returned for its new series tonight of course. Ruth Hart was the first winner of the new series, winning a high scoring contest with 26 points, ahead of Chas Bedford with 23 and Christine McBurney with 19. (Sadly, despite, what looks like, a new format, it seems there’s still no room for high scoring non-winners in the SFs; what a shame). Sanjay Nath completed the line-up with 10.

 

Last week’s Brain of Britain was won by UC and Fifteen-to-One 2.0 alumnus George Scratcherd, whose 18 points saw him win ahead of Sue Brearley with 12 and Peter Almond with 11, both of whom are in early contention for a possible high scoring non-winners place. Leigh Hagger completed the line-up with 8.

 

This afternoon’s show was another close high scoring one, with John Esling winning with 15 points ahead of Dave Cowen (another revived Fifteen-to-One alumnus), whose 13 points will surely be enough for a HSNW place. Emma Goodridge-Hobson and Atalanta Beaumont also competed, finishing with 9 and 8 respectively.