University Challenge 2017-18: Series Highlights

OK, time for my annual University Challenge end of series retrospective. After a rather inconstant first round, the series jumped into life in the knockout round, and that momentum carried on throughout the series. So, let's do this thing...

Starting with my usual selection of the best match of each phase:

• First Round + Play-Offs: Emmanuel vs St Hugh's just gets my pick here, followed very closely by Edinburgh vs Ulster.
• Second Round: Warwick vs Ulster, followed by U.C.L. vs Edinburgh. As I said at the time, those would be a good pair of matches to chose if you're going to get someone started on UC.
• Quarter-Finals: Has to be Newcastle vs St John's, with Fitzwilliam vs Emmanuel not far off.
• The Final Three: All were pretty good, but I enjoyed St John's vs Edinburgh most.

 Not a great deal to chose from in terms of close matches, but the series remained enjoyable almost throughout. As Dave C. said on LAM, even a weaker episode of UC is more watchable then average episodes of other quizzes.

In terms of the diversity of the institutions that appeared, we had a good range of non-Oxbridge teams this year, with four London teams, three from Scotland and one each from Scotland and Wales. No Manchester this series, the first absence of the former powerhouse for a few series, and Oxford Brookes and Sheffield Hallam flying the flag for the post 92 intake. For the third year in a row, Cambridge slightly outranked Oxford with six to five.

U.C.L. take the prize for the highest score of the series, with 315 in their play-off demolition of St Hugh's; they and Ulster narrowly avoid the ignominy of being the lowest scorers of the season, with Cardiff and Sheffield Hallam taking that unfortunate accolade with 40 each. U.C.L.'s winning margin in that play-off, 270, is also the largest of the series, while the largest aggregate score is 430, from Merton's second round win over Oxford Brookes.

Now for the annual highlights reel:

• "Yul Brynner." "No-one's saying anything!" Also, the Red Dwarf theme tune in the music round.
• "Katy Perry" and "One Direction" in a music round!
• "My brother is an aficionado of oolong tea."
• Mr Raii's attempts to hurry Paxo through his pre-bonus spiel!
• "Brexit?" "Yes!"
• Ms Dihal's single handedly answering a bonus set on her homeland! Also, "Troilus and Cressida?" "Good heavens no!
• The music round on songs that received attention the day after the 2016 US election!
• "Fear of bellybuttons!"
• Paxo spookily pre-empting Jose Mourinho's 'Bristol were lucky' comments!
• "Justin Bieber!"
• "Cole Porter" being right this time!
• Newcastle achieveing two 'ONE YEAR OUT!'s in a row!
• Ulster suggesting Roland Garros has had a sex change!
• "Irn Bru!" "Doubtless made you what you are!"
• "Oasis?" "Good heavens no! That's Led Zeppelin's IMMORTAL Stairway to Heaven!"
• Mr Carson's brilliant shout of "Tristan and Isolde". Also, "Denis Compton".
• "1 6 15 20 15 6 1?"

Wow, came up with more than I thought I might there. If anyone has anymore, do let me know.

So, that's it for this series of University Challenge on this blog. It's been another great series to cover, and if it is the last one I decide to do in this format, then it's a great one to go out on. Thanks once again to Paxo, Roger Tilling and all the teams involved for the last few months' viewing, been great as always!

I will post up some more serious thoughts next Friday, once Only Connect has finished up too, as they are connected to it as well. Hopefully I will get my blog of the OC final done promptly in the week.

University Challenge 2017-18: Best Buzzer Per Team

OK, right so, time to get on with my annual look back at the University Challenge series just finished. Starting with a small taster of the buzzer stats for the eight quarter-finalist teams. Firstly, a recap of each of their best buzzers:

Rosie McKeown (St John's) - 32 over six games
Alex Peplow (Merton) - 27 over six matches
Jonathan Noble (Newcastle) -  22 over six matches
Ollie Bowes (Bristol) - 19 over five matches
Innis Carson (Edinburgh) - 19 over six matches
Jack Maloney (Fitzwilliam) - 18 over five matches
Ian Jack (Ulster) - 17 over five matches
James Fraser (Emmanuel) - 14 over four matches

And honourable mentions for the other players go to:

Akira Wiberg (Merton) - 24 over six matches
Molly Nielsen (Newcastle) - 18 over six matches
John-Clark Levin (St John's) and Leonie Woodland (Merton) - 17 each over six matches
Sam Hosegood (Bristol) - 16 over five matches
James Devine-Stoneman (St John's) - 16 over six matches
Theo Tindall (Fitzwilliam) - 13 over five matches
Jack Reynard (Newcastle) - 13 over six matches
John Heaton-Armstrong (Edinburgh) - 12 over six matches

So that's a (quite large) selection of some of the higher totals. As usual, I am happy to send the complete stats on request; get in touch either below or via PM on Twitter.

Back tomorrow evening with a more thorough look back at the series, plus my usual highlights reel; my now annual 'serious thoughts' will be saved for next week, once Only Connect is done too.

Only Connect Series 13: Semi-Final 2: Inquisitors vs Escapologists

OK, the second semi-final of, what could well be, the final series of Only Connect I cover in this much depth on this blog, but, as with my proposed UC streamlining, I haven't made any firm decisions yet. Not this week anyway.

Anyway, playing last night were two teams who have demonstrated the validity of the show's bizarre new rules on second chances; the Inquisitors, Luke Kelly, Rob Cumming and captain Julia Hobbs, lost in the second round to the Wanderers, but have otherwise comfortably beaten the Cricketers, the Snake Charmers, the Meeples, the Eco-Warriors and the Vikings, while the Escaplogists, Frank Paul, Tom Rowell and captain Lydia Mizon, lost their first match to the Eco-Warriors, but came through as highest scoring first round runners-up, then beat the Cricketers, the Dandies, the Detectives and then won a rematch against the Eco-Warriors, while also narrowly losing to the Belgophiles along the way.

Round 1. The Escapologists kicked the show off with Lion: 'Afghanistan i/e', then 'Mozambique z/c'; they came in here and suggested that they are swapped letters in the countries' native language, and collected three points in a good start to the show. The Inquisitors began their night with Eye of Horus, and the music set: we heard Scroobius Pip with 'Thou Shalt Always Kill', then 'Where Do You Go To My Lovely' by Peter Sarstedt, then Billy Joel's classic 'We Didn't Start the Fire', and finally Madonna's 'Vogue'. They identified them as songs noted for numerous celebrity namechecks, and collected a point. The Escapologists chose Two Reeds next, and got the picture set: we saw American football player Chad Johnson, then Mr Chad the graffiti man (Kilroy was here), then a map of Africa with Chad highlighted; they saw the link, and collected two points. The Inquisitors chose Twisted Flax next: 'Gi estas lau mi Volapukajo', then 'Per me e arabo', then 'Dat is Latin voor mij'. They came in here, but could not offer an acceptable answer. Their opponents saw 'C'est du chinois pur moi', and offered them to be the phrase 'It's all Greek to me', in various languages, with the appropriate languages that country uses instead, and collected a bonus. For their own question, the Escapologists chose Water: 'Tim Pigott-Smith: Audiobook', then 'Morgan Freeman: Film', then 'Richard Burton: Album', and finally 'Orson Welles: Radio'. They saw them to be narrators of various versions of War of the Worlds, and collected another point. Left with Horned Viper, the Inquisitors saw 'Film director and producer Alexander Korda', then 'Jockey Gordon Richards', then 'Actor Henry Irving'; they saw them to be the first men in their field to be knighted, and collected two points. (Unsurprisingly, 'Footballer Stanley Matthews' would have been the final clue) At the end of the first round, the Escapologists led 7-3.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Escapologists kicked off with Horned Viper: '0 -> script', then '1 -> triceps', and then '2 -> receipts'. They offered '3 -> treespice', which was acceptable, the trick here being that an 'E' is added each time and an appropriate anagram is generated. The Inquisitors chose Lion next: 'When I consider everything that grows', then 'But wherefore do not you a mightier way', and then 'Who will believe my verse in time to come'. They saw it to be something to do with Shakespeare's sonnets, and guessed 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'; correct for the two points, the sequence being the first lines of sonnets 15, 16, 17 and 18. The Escapologists chose Eye of Horus next: 'Many a Slip', then 'Ghostwatch', and then 'Nationwide'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents: they are shows hosted by successive Desert Islands Discs presenters, Roy Plomley, Michael Parkinson and Sue Lawley, so something Kirsty Young has presented, such as 'Crimewatch', or 'Have I Got News for You', would complete the sequence. The Inquisitors chose Water next: '!', then '" "'; they suggested '$ $ $ $', which was correct, the sequence being the extra symbols one can generate on a QWERTY keyboard with the number keys, and the appropriate number of them. For their final choice, the Escapologists chose Twisted Flax, and got the picture set: we saw an exactly square Tetris piece alongside an O, then another Tetris piece with the top row shifted along one alongside an S, and then a Tetris piece with three at the top and one at the bottom alongside a T. They didn't get it, their opponents did: they are letters that can be Tetris shapes resemble in alphabetical order, so a reverse of the second one alongside a Z would be fourth. Left with Two Reeds for their own final question, the Inquisitors saw 'The Aviator: Jamie Foxx', then 'Blood Diamond: Forest Whitaker', and then 'The Wolf of Wall Street: Matthew McConaughey'. Neither team got this: they are films for which Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor and the actors that won in the year in question, so 'The Revenant: Leonardo DiCaprio' himself complete the set. At the end of the second round, the teams were tied on 9-each.

On to the Walls. The Inquisitors went first this time, and chose the Lion wall. They fairly quickly isolated 'C-4', 'Semtex', 'Cordite' and 'ANFO', which are explosives, followed in short order by 'DX', 'Hermes', 'TNT' and 'Yodel', which are delivery companies. After carefully studying the rest, they had it on their second go: 'Hestia', 'Hera', 'Leto' and 'Demeter' are Greek goddesses, while 'Poseidon', 'Torrin', 'Orca' and 'Venture' are fictional sea vessels, which they didn't quite get right enough. Seven points there then.

The Escapologists thus set to work on the Water wall. They too isolated a first set reasonable quickly: 'Lettice and Lovage', 'Equus', 'Black Comedy' and 'Amadeus' are plays by Peter Shaffer. After a few wrong tries, they had a second set, 'Pinkeye', 'Mono', 'Heartburn' and 'Croup' are colloquial names for diseases. With just seconds to go, the final sets slotted in on their final try: 'Lupus', 'Cerva', 'Bos' and 'Avis' are Latin names for animals, while 'Egan', 'Ollie', 'Argo' and 'Aria' become girls names when an M is added in front. A full ten there, which gave them a lead of 19-16 going into the final round.

So, Missing Vowels would decide the second place in the final. 'TV programs merged with US states', such as 'ONLY CONNECTICUT', went to the Escapologists 3-1. 'People whose surnames are types of cake', such as 'CROCODILE DUNDEE' and 'KEITH LEMON' was a clean sweep to the Escapologists. 'Words whose letters are in alphabetical order', such as 'ABHORS' and 'ALMOST' was another Escapologists full set. 'Performers and their acts' gave the Inquisitors the one clue there was time for. The Escapologists won 30-18.

Another fine show, some excellent quizzing by both sides, and nowhere near that one sided until right at the end. Unlucky Inquisitors, but a fine series of performances, thanks very much indeed for taking part. Very well done Escapologists though, and very very best of luck in the final next week!

Next week: that grand final, a rematch between the Belgophiles and the Escapologists

Stay tuned for my usual UC stats and recaps throughout the week.

University Challenge 2017-18: Grand Final: St John's vs Merton

Evening all. What an odd day I've had: had very little sleep last night, and the strange feelings carried on at work this morning, though various other incidents there didn't help. My Mum suggested I might be distracted in anticipation of tonight; I dismissed that theory, but, as the evening drew on, I realised she was right. This has been, by far, the hardest grand final I've ever had to call, either on LAM or on here; these are two seriously good teams, and either would make very worthy champions. So, let's do this...

St John's College Cambridge got here undefeated, with victories over St Andrews, Corpus Christi of Cambridge, Ulster, Newcastle and Edinburgh, with only the game against the Tynesiders coming close to close. Hoping to reclaim the title for Cambridge were:
John-Clark Levin, from Ojai, California, studying Politics and International Studies   
Rosie McKeown, from Kingston-upon-Thames, studying French and German 
Captain: James Devine-Stoneman, from Southall in London, studying Superconducting Spintronics
Matt Hazell, from Ringwood in Hampshire, studying Veterinary Medicine

Merton College Oxford are also unbeaten thus far, having seen off King's of London, Oxford Brookes, Fitzwilliam of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Newcastle, all by very comfortable margins. Hoping to make it two in a row for Oxford for the first time in a while were:
Edward Thomas, from Kent, studying Ancient and Modern History  
Alexander Peplow, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, studying Medieval Studies  
Captain: Leonie Woodland, from Cambridge, studying Physics  
Akira Wiberg, from Sweden and Japan, studying Molecular and Cellular Medicine

Off we set again then, and Mr Peplow was first out of the traps with 'Lord Reith', and his side set out their stall with two bonuses on 'effability'. Ms Woodland increased that advantage identifying 'dil' (the dog) as the herb featuring in the names of various defined words; another two bonuses, on the Shipping Forecast, and they were already looking in ominous form. The Merton captain took a second starter in a row, but just one bonus, a tough set on probabilities, followed this time. The first picture round, on word clouds of works of critical theory, allowed St John's to get off the mark; none of the bonuses, followed though, leaving them trailing 55-10.

Mr Levin gave St John's a second starter in a row, but, again, the Cambridge side drew a blank on the bonuses. A penalty from Merton then handed Ms McKeown a second starter of the night, and their first bonuses of the night, on the works of Anna Komnene, reduced their arrears further, and the show rattled on a brisk pace.

The music round, on recordings from the last night of the 2013 proms, conducted by Marin Alsop, went to St John's, with Merton dropping another five following a swerve on a replacement starter; only one bonus was taken, but the Cambridge side now had the lead, 55-45. And it increased when Ms McKeown took the next starter, and one bonus followed. St John's seemed to be starting to better the buzzer race, but weren't really making the most of the bonuses, thus keeping Merton in the game. Another penalty didn't help their cause though, giving Ms McKeown a fourth correct starter in a row; a full bonus set meant it was now their game to lose, you'd image. Mr Wiberg woke Merton up with a much needed starter, and they kept themselves well in the game with two bonuses on Chinese literature.

The second picture round, on 20th century artworks depicting motherhood, went to St John's, who took two bonuses, and now led 115-60. It was then their turn to drop five though, and Mr Wiberg did the honours for Merton; two bonuses, on the work of Willa Cather, meant they were still very much in this final heading into the home straight.

Ms McKeown then declared 'John Clare' however, giving her side more room to breath; just one bonus followed, but you fancied if they could keep up the buzzing that had got them this far, they'd likely be home and dry. Indeed, Ms McKeown took the next starter too, and you fancied, with such little time left, that was game over. Two bonuses seemed to confirm thus. Merton were going down fighting however, Ms Woodland taking 'lumen' for the next starter, and two bonuses on Boutros Boutros-Ghali deservedly took them into triple figures. And that was the gong: St John's won the game, and the series, 145-100!

The trophy was thus handed over to the winners by the composer Judith Weir, the current Master of the Queen's Music, before the traditional over-credits handshakes.

Not quite on a par with the drama of last year's final, but still a fine end to another fine series. Unlucky Merton, but no shame in coming second after doing so well in this series, thanks very much indeed for playing for us. Very very well done to St John's though, deserved champions, and a worthy addition to the champions list; very well done indeed!

The stats: Ms Woodland was Merton's best buzzer of the night with three to her name, though Mr Peplow was their best for the series as a whole, with 27; Ms McKeown, though, was the best buzzer both of the night, with seven, and the series, with a grand total of 32. (Full stats will be made available later in the week) On the bonuses, St John's converted 12 out of 27 (with one penalty), while Merton managed 11 out of 18 (with three penalties), so, as has quite often been the case this series, it was the buzzers that won the game.

And that's it for another series! Thanks very much to all readers for their ever useful correspondence! Stay tuned for my usual end of series look backs later in the week. And, of course, we still have work to do with Only Connect.

University Challenge 2017-18: Grand Final Preview

Well, another year, another University Challenge grand final, and of all the grand finals I've covered on here over the years, this is, by some way, the hardest I've ever had to call. And I've had to call some very close finals. This year's grand finalists are:
St John's College Cambridge: John Clark-Levin, Rosie McKeown, James Devine-Stoneman and Matt Hazell.
and
Merton College Oxford: Edward Thomas, Alex Peplow, Leonie Woodland and Akira Wiberg.

Yep, it's a fifth Oxbridge final in a row. Last year's final was the best in years, but I fancy these two teams, both of whom have made it undefeated, to top it, somehow, if possible.

St John's made easy work of their first two matches, beating St Andrews and Corpus Christi of Cambridge in the first two rounds. The quarter-finals saw them overcome Ulster via an impressive first half performance, then win a very good close match over Newcastle, and in the semis, they pulled one of their best performances of the series out of the hat as they demolished Edinburgh.

Merton also breezed through the first two rounds, beating King's of London and Oxford Brookes comprehensively. They then recovered from a slow start to overpower Fitzwilliam of Cambridge, and then they too defeated Edinburgh comfortably and then Newcastle by a somewhat larger margin, but a similarly close match to their opponents' encounter until near the end.

So, that's their form thus far summarised, but what of the hardcore stats?

Well, St John's have accumulated 1,155 points thus far, an average of 231 per game, while Merton better that somewhat with 1,235 points, an average of 247 per game. St John's also have the lowest score acquired by these teams, 160, whereas Merton's lowest is 210. Both sides' highest score thus far is 285.

The average points conceded is more interesting: St John's have conceded 525, for an average of 105, while Merton have conceded 595, an average of 119. That's quite interesting, considering Merton have won all their matches comfortably, whereas St John's have a close win going into that total.

Now on to the stats that might just decide the final. Starting with the bonuses, both sides are pretty much even on the bonuses, both converting roughly two thirds: St John's 112 out of 178, and Merton 124 out of 186. Virtually very little in it on that front.

The buzzer stats are maybe a bit more telling: Merton's best buzzer thus far is Mr Peplow on 26, with Mr Wiberg not far behind on 22. For St John's, Ms McKeown leads the way with 25, while their next highest thus far is Mr Levin with 16. That suggests that Merton are maybe better prepared with two buzzers on +20 compared to St John's. That said, Merton have only answered three starters more than St John's thus far.

So, the majority of the raw stats will suggest a narrow Merton victory, but, literally, there's barely anything in it.

As if to prove this, I set a poll up on Twitter on Monday evening, asking who do you think would win the final; at the time of writing, 45 votes have been cast, and St John's lead 51% to 49%.

That just goes to show you how tight this grand final is to call on paper. I have found it hard to pick a winner on this blog in past years, but this year's has to be one of the tightest of all. Both sides have been absolutely brilliant this series thus far, a match between them has been long awaited, and hopefully it will live up to expectations.

Whatever happens on Monday, all I can hope is that we get a great final. This series has really turned around after a somewhat patchy first round, and hopefully the final will carry on this momentum. Best of retrospective luck (once again) to all teams!

Back next week with my recap of the UC final on Monday. OC and my usual UC retrospectives will, hopefully, follow later in the week.

Only Connect Series 13: Semi-Final 1: Vikings vs Belgophiles

OK, we've arrived at the semi-finals of this year's Only Connect. It has been a most interesting series, not least because of its highly unusual format. I still prefer the Series 7-11 format where each team gets at least two games, but this format has its merits. For starters, the two teams playing next week have both demonstrated its validity, but more on them next week.

In the mean time, playing last night were the Vikings, Mark Oxley, John Wilson and captain Mick Lee, who have defeated the Geocachers, the Parishioners, the Wanderers and the Detectives, but been beaten by the Inquisitors as well, and the Belgophiles, Helen Fasham, Phil Small and captain Ben Fasham, who are the only undefeated semi-finalists, having beaten the Lapsed Physicists, the Meeples, the Beaks and the Escapologists thus far.

Round 1. The Belgophiles kicked the show off with Eye of Horus: they saw 'J.K. Galbraith', and immediately offered 'a female author's first name and their male pen surname', which was correct for FIVE POINTS! Great stuff that! The Vikings set to work with Water: 'South Africa: Big Five', then 'Toronto: Seven Sisters', then 'New York City: Charmed Circle', and finally 'UK: Magic Circle'. All they could offer were 'secret societies of magicians', which wasn't quite right. Their opponents offered 'law firms' for a bonus. For their own question, the Belgophiles chose Two Reeds: 'Wolf Man', then 'Dora', then 'Rat Man', and finally 'Little Hans'. Neither team got this: they are case studies by Sigmund Freud. (If only Frasier had been on the panel!) The Vikings chose Horned Viper next, and got the music set: we heard The Clash's classic 'London Calling', then 'YYZ' by Rush, then the theme tune to Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, and finally the Inspector Morse theme tune. Again, neither team saw it: they all are, or contain, Morse code. The Belgophiles chose Lion next, and got the picture set; we saw some carpaccio, then some boudin sausage, then a chicken, and finally some bacon. They saw them to be the surnames of artists, and collected a point. Left with Twisted Flax, the Vikings saw 'Peru and a small part of the Solomon Islands', then 'Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan and just under half of Somalia', then 'Afghanistan and well over half of Afghanistan'; they identified the latter descriptions to be clues to the names of the currencies of the formers, and collected their first two points. At the end of the first round, the Belgophiles led 7-2.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Belgophiles opened with Eye of Horus again: '2 (12)', then '12 (11,12), and then '11,12 (31,12)'. Neither team got this nice cryptic clue: 2 contains one two, 12 contains one one and one two, 11,12 contains three ones and one two, so '31,12 (13,21,12)' would complete the sequence. The Vikings chose Lion next: 'J. Edgar Hoover', then 'Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons', and then 'Chris Kyle'. Again, it eluded both sides: they are the subjects of Clint Eastwood films, so 'Chesley Sullenberger' would complete the set. The Belgophiles chose Water next, and got the picture set: we saw a bath, then a see-saw, and then a man diving. Once again, both sides didn't see it: it's the classic Mouse Trap game mechanism, so the classic mousetrap cage would complete the set. The Vikings chose Horned Viper next: 'Darmstadtium', then 'Hassium'; they came in here with 'Nihonium', not right. Their opponents saw 'Germanium', and correctly offered 'Europium' for a bonus, the sequence being they are elements by increasing size of eponymity. For their own final choice, the Belgophiles chose Two Reeds: 'Senate', then 'People'; they saw it to be 'SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus', but their offer of 'Rome' was not correct. Their opponents saw 'And', but their offer of 'Romani' was just as wrong. Just 'Roman' would suffice. Left with Twisted Flax again, the Vikings saw 'Palmerston', then 'Beaconsfield', and then 'Salisbury'. Once again, neither side knew it: they are 'Viscount Palmerston', 'The Earl of Beaconsfield' and 'The Marquess of Salisbury', so a famous Duke, such as 'Wellington', would suffice. At the end of a very tough second round, the Belgophiles led 8-2.

On to the Walls. The Vikings went first, and chose to tackle the Water wall. After spotting a set of eye disorders, they managed after a few wrong turns to isolate 'Stye', 'Boston's sign', 'Glaucoma' and 'Miosis'. A second set, 'Bullet', 'Balcony', 'Nursing' and 'Plunge', which are types of bra, followed. They couldn't untangle what was left in their three tries though, so had to go for bonuses: 'Cataract', 'Cascade', 'Horsetail' and 'Punchbowl' are types of waterfall, which they got, while 'Fountain', 'Mills' Mess', 'Multiplex' and 'Columns' are juggling terms, which they didn't. Five there then.

The Belgophiles could thus put the game out of realistic reach if they could better that on the Lion wall. They quickly isolated a first set: 'Diadora', 'Macron', 'Kappa' and 'Umbro' are sportswear companies. But that was all they could come up with, so they too had to go for bonus points: 'Fondu', 'Frappe', 'Flic-Flac' and 'Glissade' are moves in ballet, which they didn't see, 'Breve', 'Latte', 'Cortado' and 'Macchiato' are types of coffee, which they did get, while 'Cedilla', 'Diaeresis', 'Ogonek' and 'Grave' are diacritic accents. Four points there, which gave them a lead of 12-7 going into the final round.

So, just about still to play for in Missing Vowels. 'People's names with the capitals swapped for countries', such as 'FRANCE HILTON' and 'IRVING GERMANY', saw multiples errors, and ended 1-each. 'Usually abbreviated to three letters', such as 'QUEENS PARK RANGERS', went to the Belgophiles 3-(-2). 'Authors with their names rearranged' gave one point to the Belgophiles, and that was time. The Belgophiles won 17-6.

A very elitist match, both teams did pretty well all things considered. Unlucky Vikings, but no shame in having gotten this far, thanks very much indeed for playing. Well done Belgophiles though. and very very best of luck in the final!

Next week's match: the second semi, between the Inquisitors and the Escapologists.

University Challenge 2017-18: Semi-Final 2: Merton vs Newcastle

Evening all. So, the penultimate match of the series, with two teams who've both pulled off some great performances to get this far, and who'd both be deserved finalists, as they play St John's next week. Whichever team won would give us an interesting match up: one team had lost to them already, albeit narrowly, the other we'd been anticipating against St John's since the first round. So, which way would it go?

Merton College Oxford have made it this far undefeated, and been very consistent too, scoring over 200 on each occasion as they saw of King's of London, Oxford Brookes, Fitzwilliam of Cambridge and fellow semi-finalists Edinburgh in the quarter-final. Hoping to keep alive their hopes of a second UC title (having beaten Stephen Fry's Queens' Cambridge team to the title in 1980) were the unchanged foursome of:
Edward Thomas, from Kent, studying Ancient and Modern History  
Alexander Peplow, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, studying Medieval Studies  
Captain: Leonie Woodland, from Cambridge, studying Physics  
Akira Wiberg, from Sweden and Japan, studying Molecular and Cellular Medicine

Newcastle got off to a slow start with a low scoring win over Sheffield Hallam, then hit top gear with good wins over Southampton and Bristol, only just falling short against St John's, and then also beating Fitzwilliam comfortably in the play-offs. Hoping to kill off a fifth Oxbridge final in a row were the also unchanged quartet of:
Jack Reynard, from Leeds, studying Medicine  
Molly Nielsen, from London, studying Medicine  
Captain: Jonathan Noble, from Newcastle, studying for a PGCE  
Adam Lowery, from Sunderland, studying Chemistry

Off we set again then, and Mr Peplow opened the night's scoring with 'Figaro', and his side set the ball rolling with two bonuses. Neither side took the next starter, though they did sort of get the right answer between the two of them. Mr Peplow then took a second starter, and a full bonus set on that old quiz staple, the Nobel Physics Prize, gave them a full house. Mr Noble set Newcastle off the mark, and they proved they weren't going to lay over as they took two bonuses. The first picture round, on emblems of US presidents alma maters, including Mr D. Trump, went to Merton, who took another two correct answers, giving them a lead of 65-20. 

Merton then very harshly lost five after Mr Peplow offered 'church visiting' instead of 'church going', and it was close enough to be considered an interruption too, even though it wasn't really. Newcastle then lost five for, what was definitely this time, an interruption, and Merton did pick up, but got nothing from the resultant bonuses. Mr Peplow took a second starter in a row though, and they made up somewhat with a full bonus set on Greek myth. Another five were then lost though, and Newcastle took possession back, and they too took a full set of bonuses, keeping them in contention when the match looked to have been getting away from them. 

The music round, on classical music of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, went to Newcastle, who took a second full set in a row, which reduced the gap to 90-65. A third starter in a row then went the Tynesiders' way, but a tough bonus set requiring words to be spelt saw them take just one bonus. Ms Nielsen then had something of a rush of blood to the head as she buzzed then failed to answer, losing five; Merton took the points, and two of the resultant bonuses. Two more starters were then dropped, including an unfortunate repeat incident from Ms Nielsen which Paxo seemed to feel sorry for her over. Mr Wiberg then added another ten to Merton's score, putting them in poll position heading into the home straight. 

The second picture round, on French realist paintings, went to Newcastle, who took the full set they needed to keep them in the game, the gap now stood at 130-95. Mr Wiberg then took yet another starter though, and a full set of bonuses might just have been enough to put the game out of reach. 

And when Ms Woodland took the next starter, that was game over. Two bonuses followed. Ms Nielsen deservedly took Newcastle into triple figures, and her side took two of the resultant bonuses. That was as far as they could go though, as Ms Woodland took another starter, and almost single handedly banged out a full set of bonuses. There was time for Mr Wiberg to take the final starter, and for all the resultant bonuses, with one of them taken. At the gong, Merton won 215-110.

Another good match, with both sides playing very well considering the difficulty at this stage, and bravo for applauding each other at the end. Unlucky Newcastle, but nothing to be ashamed of getting this far, a fine series of performances, thanks very much for giving us them. Very well done Merton though, and very very best of luck in the final next week!

The stats: Mr Wiberg was the best buzzer of the night, with six starters under his belt, while Ms Nielsen was Newcastle's best with three, though Mr Noble finishes their campaign their best buzzer, with 22 in total. On the bonuses, Merton converted a good 23 out of 33 (with two penalties), while Newcastle managed a very good 14 out of 18 (with a not so very good four penalties), so it was a game won on the buzzer.

Next week: the final! St John's vs Merton, and, on paper, it promises to be a cracker; best of luck both teams! A preview coming up later this week, I hope.

As will, hopefully, be my review of tonight's first Only Connect semi-final. Right, now off for a much needed rest!