University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 14: York vs Northeastern

Good evening once again my friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! We've arrived at the final match of the first round of a series of UC we were all a bit apprehensive going into, but which has turned out most enjoyable (IMO anyway). Tonight we also saw the first debuting team of the Amol Rajan era, playing one of the most prolific entrants of the Paxo era; their task, win, or lose with 160 or more.

The University of York, not to be confused with Toronto's York University, is the regular, having appeared 19 teams under Paxo (plus a further nine under Bamber if AR is to be believed), of which its best was when it reached the final in 2010-11 before losing soundly to Magdalen of Oxford. This year's foursome were:

Emma Giles, from Cheltenham, studying English Literature

Emma-Mae Smith, from Scunthorpe, studying Linguistics

Captain: Ollie Smith, from Basildon, studying Chemistry

David Bachelor, from Enfield in Middlesex, studying Economics and Politics

Northeastern University London was formerly the New College of the Humanities, before being purchased by the American Northeastern University in 2019, acquiring its new name only last year. Its first ever UC team were:

Colin Garwood, from Hertfordshire, studying Philosophy

Benjamin Schmale, from Germany, Kenya and Switzerland, studying History with Economics

Captain: Chloe Rogers, from Cambridgeshire, studying History with Politics and International Relations

Seamus Conlon, from London, studying Artificial Intelligence

So, off we set once again then, and the first starter of the night was taken by Ms Smith, who was differentiated from her captain by Mr Tilling referring to them as 'York E. Smith' (wasn't he in The Bill?) and 'York O. Smith'; they took one bonus. Mr Garwood gave Northeastern their first ever UC starter, and they also took one bonus from their first ever set. York took the next two starters though, including the first picture round, on locations of funicular railway systems, after which they led 50-15. Two further starters pulled York further ahead, though only three bonuses from six meant they hadn't pulled as far ahead as they could've. Northeastern now got a good run going, taking three starters in a row, including the music round, on Motown disco songs; two bonuses from that meant they'd now cut the gap to 85-65.

And when York lost five on the next starter, and the London side took it, they were just five behind. No bonuses followed, but a fifth in a row gave them the lead, with a full bonus set on Ireland taking them into three figures too. Back came York with two starters in a row, but just one bonus from six meant it was still tight. The second picture round, on paintings by teachers as the Bauhaus (I said Kandinsky before any of them had even been asked!), went to Northeastern; two bonuses meant they now led 120-105. But back came York again, with a late rally on the buzzer that saw them pull away into a strong late lead, though the bonuses continued to trouble them (one of them, on the host of the next Commonwealth Games, is now out of date). At the gong, York won 190-120.

A good close game to end the first round despite being lower scoring than some before it. Well done to York, a decent first showing, though they may need to improve on the bonuses in the next round; best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Northeastern, but a very respectable first ever performance on the show; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Bachelor was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Mr Garwood was best for Northeastern with four. On the bonuses, York managed 14 out of 37 (with two penalties) and Northeastern 10 out of 21.

Next week's match: Trinity vs Southampton in the first play-off, followed, presumably, by Oxford Brookes vs Open the week after. A fuller preview coming up later this week, if I remember.

Only Connect continued its qualifier matches with the Antiphons and the Thrifters returning for their second contests. The latter led 6-2 after the first round (I claim three points on the months question), and 12-6 after the second (I claim the Scottish cities and the exceptions question, complete with the exact model answer(!) at the same times as the teams). A better wall saw the Thrifters increase their lead to 22-13 going into Missing Vowels, and they only increased their advantage in that to win 32-18.

 

Mastermind was another high scoring and very close contest, with Rob Jones just triumphing with 24 points, ahead of Martin Hoskins (formerly of OC) and Steve Barnes (formerly of UC and OC), both of whom scored 22, and Amy Roberts who scored 18.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Colin Kidd (OC alumnus), who raced off the blocks with a ‘five in a row and a bonus point’ in the first round and never looked back, eventually winning with 15 points, four ahead of second placed Andrew Craig with 11. Karen Barnes and Carol Norton also took part, finishing with 7 and 8 respectively.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 13: Lincoln vs King's

Good evening once again friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Only two first round matches left in this series of UC, with the task for the remaining teams to either win, or lose with a score above 155, which, despite a few close misses in the past few weeks, remains the target for the repechage, as AR seems to have embraced calling it after Paxo simply settled for 'play-offs for highest scoring losers', or words to that extent, for years. After so many near misses, would we get a runners-up score above that tonight?

Lincoln College Oxford only appeared twice under the old regime, but both were highly memorable; firstly, in 2008-09, they reached the semi-finals before being resoundingly trounced 345-30 by eventual (default) champions Manchester, while the second, in 2012-13, saw them also lose to Manchester, by just five points, in the first round before losing in the play-offs. This year's foursome were:

Ella Warde, from Cambridge, studying Maths and Statistics

Mehmet Tatoglu, from Umraniye, Istanbul, studying History

Captain: Alexander Baker, from Goring-by-Sea in West Sussex, studying Physics 

Anna Drummond Young, from Edinburgh, studying Physical Chemistry

King's College London appeared six times in the Paxo era, but, surprisingly, four of those appearances came in the past six series; the latter two of those appearances saw them reach the QFs, firstly going out in the eliminators to Imperial, the latter narrowly losing the lowest scoring UC of the era to Emmanuel Cambridge. This year's quartet were:

Alex Halliwell, from Manchester, studying Law

Allesandro Bogo, from Italy and Russia, studying Law

Captain: Taiga Clarke, from Japan, studying Pharmacology

Zahra Sultan, from Buckinghamshire, studying Philosophy 

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Bogo who opened the scoring for the night, and King's took a full bonus set. Lincoln responded in kind via Mr Tatoglu, with the first of many for the night, pulling level before taking the lead with a second starter in a row. The Oxonians also took the first picture round, on seels of US federal agencies, after which they led 60-25. And that lead was just getting bigger as they kept dominating on the buzzer, and, while their bonus rate wasn't as good as some similarly dominant-on-the-buzzer teams we've had this series, it wasn't mattering for now. AR did give King's his now customary 'plenty of time', but this only resulted in Mr Tatoglu getting the next starter very quickly. After the music round, on classical pieces that premiered in 1962, the same year UC first aired, Lincoln led 135-25.

A penalty gave King's a chance to get back into the game, but they couldn't take it, and Lincoln duly recouped those points on the next starter. The London side did finally buzz in first on the next starter, but forgivably lost five, allowing Lincoln a tap in, which really did finish the game as a contest. King's finally got some more points on the board with the second picture round, on moons of Jupiter; one bonus took the scores to 185-35. Mr Bogo gave King's a second starter in a row, and two bonuses ensured they wouldn't be the first Sub-50 clubbers of the AR era. Another starter to Mr Tatoglu put Lincoln within touching distance of 200; they couldn't get there with the bonuses, but a second in a row, to Ms Warde, got them there. King's did at least manage another starter, which ensured they wouldn't have the lowest score of the series so far. At the gong, Lincoln won 225-65.

Another one-sided contest, and slightly lower scoring than of late, but still a decent enough watch. Well done to Lincoln, another excellent first performance and, if their somewhat low bonus rate improves in the second round, they'll be yet another team to be watched; best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to King's, who did decently enough when they got the chance and would surely have done better against a different opponent; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Tatoglu was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Bogo was best for King's with three. On the bonuses, Lincoln managed 18 out of 39 (with one penalty) and King's 7 out of 12 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: York vs Northeastern University London (the first debutants of the AR era!)

Only Connect began its qualifier round with returns of the Stitchers and the Gunners (whose captain Mr Thomas revealed himself to be the son of Nick Thomas who was on the show with the Electrophiles four series ago). The teams were level on 2-each after the first round, before the latter pulled out into a 7-5 lead after the second (I claim 3 points on both the Horrible Histories and the BBC Political Editors). A better wall increased the Gunners’ lead to 17-10 going into Missing Vowels, and, unlike their namesakes(!), they maintained the lead there to win 25-13.

 

Mastermind was won by Paul Judge (formerly of OC), whose 22 points saw him edge out a close contest ahead of Isobel Moseley with 20, Reena Patel on 18 and Robert Hemming on 17.

 

Brain of Britain was won by Mickie Wynne-Davies, who won a contest with very few ‘rallies’, resulting in there being time for an extra round. In the end, her 13 points saw her comfortably beat second place Carolyn Schofield with 10, with Michael Frankl just behind her with 9, and Ray Eaton (who I think might have been on OC many years ago) just behind him on 8.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 12: Bangor vs Edinburgh

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to JOW for another round of Quizzy Mondays! You join us for my first blog written using my new living room table, which I'm still getting used to, so apologies if there are more typos than usual! Anyway, a series of UC that we went into with even more uncertainty than usual has, IMO anyway, proven a most enjoyable and high quality one indeed! Hoping to continue that tonight were two more teams hoping to either win or lose with 160 or more.

Bangor appeared six teams on the show under the old regime, as was the most successful Welsh institution to do so, reaching the semis twice, including the team of Adam 'Welshguy' Pearce in 2012-13; last year, its team reached the second round before getting soundly trounced by eventual champs Durham. This year's foursome were:

Nihal Bhatt, from Banbury, studying Biology with Biotechnology

Katie Barnes, from Rugby, studying Marine Biology

Captain: Jack Cunliffe, from Croesor in North Wales, studying Counselling

Luke O'Hagan, from Birkenhead, studying History

Edinburgh appeared a whopping 21 times during the Paxman era, including 13 series in a row between 99 and 2012, reaching the QFs four times, the semis four times and, of course, winning the 2018-19 series; its last team, two series ago, were one of the SF teams, who ultimately lost a close match to Reading. This year's quartet were:

Matt Stafford, from Ashton-under-Lyne, studying Maths

Frances Hadley, from London, studying Music

Captain: Arun Uttamchandani, from Glasgow, studying Law

Matt McGovern, from Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, studying Mechanical Engineering

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Uttamchandani who opened the scoring for the night, as he waited until 'arrested in November 1605' gave away that it was Guy Fawkes he was after; two bonuses followed, before Bangor followed them off the mark with Mr Bhatt doing the honours. No bonuses came with the Welsh side's first set, but a second starter gave them a full set on chess and the lead. The first picture round, on Naval ensigns, went to Edinurgh; a full bonus set of their own gave them the lead back 45-35. Another starter and two bonuses increased their lead, but Bangor responded in kind to keep them close. After this, though, Edinburgh pulled away on the buzzer, as three starters in a row plus bonuses took them past 100. They also took the music round, on songs featuring Hal Blaine on instrumentals, after which they suddenly led 140-55.

And the lead was just getting bigger as Mr Uttamchandani gave them yet another starter which was followed by two bonuses. Mr Cunliffe did the right thing and buzzed early on the next starter, but was wrong and lost five; in swooped Edinburgh, who poured salt into the wound with a full bonus set. Mr O'Hagan finally gave the Welsh side more points, but just one bonus went with it; in contrast, another Edinburgh starter gave them a full set that took them past 200. The second picture round, on paintings of John the Baptist, also went to the Scots side; two bonuses took the scores to 230-65. All over as a contest, but could Bangor recover to respectability? Yes they could, as two starters in a row took them past 100, and a third plus a full set put them within sight of the play-offs. A fourth followed, plus two bonuses, which left them just one more starter away from the POs. Alas, that starter didn't come, as Edinburgh took the remaining two starters which, along with all but one of the resulting bonuses, took them past 300, I believe the first student team to do that since Trinity Cambridge in the 2019-20 QFs! At the gong, Edinburgh won 320-150.

An astonishing contest, two very good teams indeed, very well played both. Very very well done to Edinburgh, possibly the best performance of the series so far, and we've had many great ones; surely one of THE favourites in the second round, very best of luck there! Very hard lines to Bangor, who firstly came up against a team that good, and then literally just fell short of a possible play-off place; a great performance though, thanks for playing!

The stats: Messrs Stafford and Uttamchandani were joint best buzzers of the night with six each, while Mr O'Hagan was best for Bangor with five. On the bonuses, Bangor managed a good 15 out of 24 (with the night's one penalty) and Edinburgh an astonishing 34 out of 44! Great stuff that! Well done both teams, an incredible game!

Next week's match: Lincoln Oxford vs King's London

Only Connect completed the elimination round with the Solomons Family playing the Volunteers. The former led 7-2 after the first round, and 11-4 after the second. A better wall saw the Volunteers close the gap to 16-11 going into Missing Vowels, but the Solomonses maintained their lead to win 23-18.

 

Mastermind was won by Jane Hill, who had easily the strongest GK round of the contenders and thus finished comfortably ahead with 25 points, six ahead of second place Krishna Jada with 19. Bob Teasdale and Lisa Wallace also competed, finishing with 18 and 17 respectively.

 

Brain of Britain was another heavyweight contest, with Ian Fennell (also on the current series of OC with the Mercians) recovering from a bad start to win with 15 points, three ahead of second place Jim Cook (a three time Fifteen-to-One finalist and participant in the show’s famous Millennium Quiz), who joins Mr Robinson from last week and two others on the HSNW board with 12, meaning, unless we get three scores above that in the remaining heats, a very close tie-break will be called for. Ian Mostyn and Joanna Munro (UC alumnus) completed the line-up with 9 and 10 respectively.