R.I.P. Bamber Gascoigne

Earlier today, we heard the sad news that former UC host Bamber Gascoigne has passed away aged 87; I can only add my condolences to those that have already been expressed elsewhere.

 

Even though I'm too young to have watched him as host of UC first hand, I can still appreciate just how good a host he was just from watching what little there is online; without him, the original show wouldn't have been the success that it was, and we certainly wouldn't have had the revival we know and love today either. We are forever indebted to him for his many years as host of the show. May he rest in peace.

University Challenge 2021-22: Elimination Quarter-Final 1: Birmingham vs King's

Good evenings agan friends, and welcome to an unexpected edition of UC! Normally, we start the second phase of the QFs with a qualifier match, then an eliminator match and alternating accordingly; but this series, TPTB have decided to go with the Only Connect approach of doing the eliminators first, then the qualifiers, which actually makes a lot more sense. Speaking of OC, I'm thinking of creating a Wiki for the show like I did for Fifteen-to-One last year; if enough people like the idea, I'll go ahead and do it in the coming weeks. Anyway, on with UC...

Birmingham had a comfortable first two rounds, beating Sussex and St Andrews by comfortable margins, but then lost a very good close first QF match against Reading. They were the same foursome as before: 

Mark McParlan, from Crosby near Liverpool, studying History and English

John Robinson, from Birmingham (originally Sevenoaks), studying Literature and Culture

Captain: Michael Joel Bartelle, from San Antonio, Texas, studying Shakespeare Studies

Jaimy Sajit, from Derby, studying Medicine

 

King's College London won closer first round matches over Glasgow and Hertford of Oxford, before being overwhelmed by Imperial in their first QF. They were also unchanged from before: 

Ananth Sathyanath, from Fareham in Hampshire, studying Medicine

Rachel Bedwin, from South East London, studying Developmental Biology

Captain: Atyab Rahid, from Daventry, graduated in Philosophy 

Oliver Beard, from South East London, graduated in the History of War 

So off we set again, and it was Mr Beard who opened the scoring with 'pulse'; this gave the London side a bonus set on places that include the names of Star Trek characters in them, which they got none of, unluckily offering the character instead of the place for the last. Birmingham lost five on the next starter, one I remember coming up on UC many years back; Mr Rashid got the right answer of 'gossip', and bonuses of Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples proved more to their liking, two correct. Ms Bedwin then took two starters in a row, but only one bonus was taken out of the resulting six. The first picture round, on literary family trees, also went to King's, who took another sole bonus, which gave them a lead of 70-(-10).

Birmingham finaly returned to positive equity on the next starter with Mr McParlan taking the points; bonuses on characters in Homer's Odyssey gave them two correct answers. Back came King's with Mr Beard doing the honours, and bonuses on medical physics finally provided the London side with a full house of bonuses. Mr Sathyanath then ensured all four of his team had a starter to their name, but bonuses on French art saw them draw a blank. The music starter saw Mr Robinson identify De La Soul; bonuses on songs that sample James Brown's Funk Drummer, gave Birmingham two correct bonuses, which cut the gap to 100-30.

Mr Bartelle then gave Birmingham a second starter in a row, which led to a bonus set on owls in literature, which saw them take the gimme answer of 'the Owl and the Pussycat', but not the other two. The Birmingham captain then took another starter in a row though; bonuses on astronomy gave them just the one correct, but Mr Robinson then gave them a fourth starter in a row, and a single bonus meant they'd cut the gap down to one perfect 25. The second picture round, on illustrations of scenes from the works of Edgar Allen Poe, gave Birmingham the starter they needed, but just one bonus meant they still trailed 100-90.

They had nonetheless closed the gap right up though, setting up a sprint finish. King's blinked first as Mr Rashid provided 'Manchu' for the next starter; bonuses on anthropologists gave them just one correct again, but every little helped in their position. Back came Birmingham with Mr Bartelle doing the honours though, and a timely full bonus set on home and foreign secretaries meant the teams were now level. Next starter would probably win it; just for drama, the next was dropped. Mr Rashid looked very pleased as he took the next crucial one for King's, as he had every right to in the circumstances, and bonuses on geometry gave them a timely clean sweep of their own. The next starter was dropped, and there was no time for the last to be completed; at the gong, King's won 140-115.

Another engaging contest between two good teams well matched on the buzzer, well played both. Well done to King's and best of luck in the play-off round! Hard lines to Birmingham, who just fell short after a fine recovery, but they've had a fine run this series, thanks very much to them for taking part!

The stats: Mr Rashid was the best buzzer of the night with four starters, taking his running total to 16, while Messrs Robinson and Bartelle were Birmingham's joint best with three, the latter ending their run their best buzzer with 17 over four matches. On the bonuses, Birmingham managed 11 out of 21 (with two penalties) and King's 11 out of 27 (with one penalty), so it was two extra starters that won it for King's.

Next week's match: I would guess the second eliminator between St John's and Trinity, but given my track record this series, who knows?!

Mastermind was narrowly won by Ashleigh Evans, who led after the specialist rounds with 11 and just about maintained that lead to win with 18, two clear of second place Jason Hill; Eva Harrison and Sirin Kamalvand also took part and finished with 15 and 12 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: Edinburgh vs Trinity

Greetings friends, and welcome back to the now slimmed down Quizzy Mondays! Just Mastermind and UC now, and soon it'll be just Mastermind as UC doesn't exactly have long left now either now we're nearing the business end of the quarter-finals. Tonight's match looked an enticing one on paper, between two of the standout performing teams of the first two rounds; winners would go to the qualifying round, runners-up to the eliminator round...

Edinburgh ran up the highest score of the first round as they beat Peterhouse of Cambridge 270-80, but their second match against the excellent Bristol team was a lot closer, as they won it on the final starter 185-175. They were unchanged from those two previous games: 

Ben Russell Jones, from near Caerphilly (originally Bridgend), studying Philosophy and Politics

Lewis Thomas, from London (originally Strathkinnes in Fife), graduated in History

Captain: Rishi Sundar, from Manchester, studying Computational Physics

Al Karunaratne, from Hull, studying Physics

 

Trinity College Cambridge won both their matches thus far easily, firstly defeating Durham 190-90 in the first round, before a very imperious second round performance saw them blow away St Hilda's of Oxford 235-45. They were also the same foursome as before: 

Hattie Innes, from Surrey, studying Linguistics

Navonil Neogi, from Surrey, studying Maths

Captain: Ludwig Brekke, from Oslo, graduated in Law

Luke Kim, from Seoul, graduated in Physics

 

So off we set once again, and Edinburgh shot off the mark with Mr Sundar identifying 'confessions' as the word that preceded various terms listed; just one bonus on trees was taken, but Mr Karunaratne took the second starter and the Scots side took all three bonuses on bands with three letter acronym names. A third Edinburgh player, Mr Thomas, took the next starter, which was followed by another full bonus set, before the fourth, Mr Jones (who seemed to have dropped his middle name from his buzzer call), took the fourth (an odd feat that has happened only once before AFAIK); one bonus followed this time. The Scots side also took the first picture round, on locations of island peaks; two bonuses meant they already led 100-0.

And that lead just kept increasing as Mr Jones took the next starter, with one bonus from a complicated set on astronomy being taken. Mr Kim then finally got Trinity off the mark (Paxo: "You're awake! Good!"), and the Cambridge side quickly banged out a full set of bonuses on the Elder Scrolls game series. Back came Edinburgh quickly as Mr Thomas knew that 'area near Weymouth' and 'shipping forecast area' could only be 'Portland'; just one bonus followed, but you suspected it probably wouldn't matter, especially as Mr Thomas took the next correct starter too; words beginning 'sph' saw Edinburgh take two correct this time. The music round, on performers who adopt robotic personas, went to Trinity, who took once correct bonus, which reduced their arrears to 150-40.

Mr Neogi then gave the Cambridge side a second correct starter in a row, which was followed by a second successive sole bonus, on language families. Mr Thomas, having a fine day on the buzzer, took another for Edinburgh, which was followed by two bonuses on novels published in 1973. Mr Thomas came in a bit too early on the next starter though, allowing Mr Brekke to take it for Trinity; bonuses on mainly green flags gave them a full set which just about kept them within reasonable sight. A penalty of their own didn't help though, though Edinburgh didn't pick up. The Scots side then dropped five on two successive starters, but Trinity couldn't take advantage of either mistake. We then, unusually, went straight from a dropped starter into the second picture round, on artworks predominantly using white paint; Edinburgh took that, and one correct bonus took their lead to 170-75.

And when Mr Karunaratne took the next starter, and two bonuses on musicians was taken, any lingering hopes Trinity might've had of catching up were extinguished for good. Mr Jones ensured this by taking the next starter, which was followed by two bonuses on ibexes (no mention of Jeremy Clarkson's famous WWTBAM gaffe thankfully!). Mr Karunaratne looked like he was guessing on the next starter, but was correct and the bonuses provided a full set. Another penalty did allow Trinity to take the final  starter; the bonuses saw them take the first two and they'd have probably got the third had the gong not gone. Edinburgh won 230-95.

Another strong contest despite being one sided for the most part. Very well done to Edinburgh, another fine performance, maybe even their best yet considering their proven strong opponents, and very best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to Trinity, who were outplayed but still gave a fine account of themselves despite that; best of luck in the elimination round!

The stats: Mr Thomas was, just, the best buzzer of the night with five starters to Mr Jones' four (meaning both their running totals are now 13), while Messrs Brekke and Neogi got two each for Trinity. On the bonuses, Edinburgh managed 24 out of 39 (with four penalties) and Trinity 10 out of 14 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: the first qualifying match! Don't know between who yet, but it'll be two of Reading, Imperial, Emmanuel and Edinburgh (Weaver's Week has predicted the first two)

Mastermind was won by Martin McCann, whose 22 points and no passes saw him just edge out second place Sally Moore with 22 points and one pass; Susan Llewellyn and Matthew Cochran also took part in the high scoring contest, finishing with 20 and 19 respectively.

University Challenge 2021-22: Preliminary Quarter-Final 3: St John's vs Emmanuel

Good evening friends, and welcome to the final full Quizzy Mondays line-up of this season! And possibly ever, as I have a funny feeling the BBC might be about to uproot Only Connect to BBC1, seeing as that seems to be the norm these days for BBC2 shows that start beating EastEnders in the ratings. More on that final later on; firstly, though, tonight's UC, pitted the two teams that came through the repechage (as Paxo called it for possibly the first time ever!) against each other. This was also evidently the first show back after a filming break, as Paxo has his casual tie-less attire from the Xmas shows back!

St John's College Cambridge lost to fellow QFers Imperial in the first round, but recovered with a thrilling 175-170 win over U.C.L. and a comfortably 220-45 win over Queen Mary of London. They were unchanged from those three previous games: 

Thomas Clark, from the USA and Japan, graduated in Linguistics  

Louie George, from Lyme Regis, studying Human Social and Political Sciences   

Captain: Jonathan Chan, from Cambridge, studying Veterinary Medicine 

Kyanna Ouyang, from New Jersey, studying Natural Sciences

 

Emmanuel College Cambridge were narrowly beaten by St Andrews in the first round, but they also recovered with a close win and a comfortable one, firstly beating RNCM 180-115, and then St Catharine's of Cambridge 125-120. They were also unchanged from before: 

Nicole Pullinger, from Hong Kong, studying English

Nicholas Thatte, from Oxford (originally Greece), studying Physics

Captain: Kara Malcolm, from Guildford (originally Capetown), studying Engineering

James Wrathall, from Mistley in Essex, studying Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 

So off we set once again, and St John's scored first in the derby with Mr Clark identifying the origins of the word 'trivia'; events of 1991 provided them with one correct answer. Mr Wrathall's answer of 'chicken' adjudged to be close enough to 'rooster' gave Emmanuel their first starter in quick order; they went one better on the bonuses taking two and taking the lead. St John's quickly reclaimed it through Mr Chan, and the gradually improving bonus form continued as they took a full set on mythical creatures. The first picture round, on theatre layouts, went to Emmanuel; one correct bonus left them trailing 40-35.

St John's duly increased that advantage as Ms Ouyang took the next starter, but the resulting bonuses didn't fall for them, none taken. Emmanuel, in contrast, took the next starter and took a full set on a good old fashioned UC bonus set on pairs of words differing in an extra T. They now led, but Mr Clark pulled St John's back level by taking the next starter and one bonus on caves gave them the lead back. Only for Emmanuel to take it straight back with a starter and single bonus of their own. They also took the music round, on classical pieces requiring unusually aggressive instructions; no bonuses were taken, but they did still now lead 85-65.

Mr Chan halved that gap as he took the next starter; only one bonus fell for them again, but a second starter in a row to their captain gave them the lead back again, followed by another sole bonus, on Icelandic literature. Mr Thatte took Emmanuel back into the game then though and, again in contrast, took a full bonus set and the lead back. Now, for the next starter, as soon as Paxo said the words 'move of which chess piece', I'd have been half tempted to take a flyer on 'the knight'; Mr Clark sensibly waited before doing so correctly, and the bonuses finally fell for his side, two on maize gave them the lead back. Mr Chan added to that advantage by knowing that Napoli renamed their stadium after Maradona after his passing two years ago, and a full set of bonuses duly followed. Back came Emmanuel though with the (rather late) second picture round, on artists influenced by Goethe's thoughts on colour; just the one bonus nonetheless cut the gap to 140-125.

And Mr Wrathall then took the next starter to pull them back to within five points; bonuses on years ending 99 gave them the one bonus they needed to pull level, setting up a one starter shoot-out. Mr Thatte won it for them with 'the photoelectric effect' (ironically, an incorrect answer offered by St John's earlier in the game); they took the one bonus there was time to answer, and that was the gong. Emmanuel won 155-140.

A good contest between two well matched teams there; well played to both. Well done to Emmanuel and best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to St John's, but still a decent performance and best of luck in the eliminators!

The stats: Messrs Chan and Wrathall were joint best buzzers of the night with four each for their respective teams, taking their running totals to 26 and 14 respectively. On the bonuses, St John's managed 12 out of 24 and Emmanuel 13 out of 26, and there were no penalties all night.

Next week's match: by process of elimination it must be Edinburgh vs Trinity

Only Connect’s seventeenth final, and 400^th episode overall, was competed by the Golfers, Evan Lynch, George Charlson and Frances Clark-Murray, and the Data Wizards, Claire Turner, Jonathan Cairns and Tim Brown. The Golfers led 4-3 after a close first round, but the Wizards had the better of a very impressive second by both teams to lead 11-9. A better wall allowed the Wizards to increase their advantage to 21-14 going into Missing Vowels, and though the Golfers recovered well, the Wizards held on to win the game, and the series, 23-20. Many congratulations to them, and thanks to all who took part on another most enjoyable series!

 

Mastermind was won by Paul Risebury-Crisp, who led by two points after the specialist round and did so after General Knowledge as well, winning with 19 points, with Kim Humphreys second on 17, Pam Douglas third on 16 and Clare Lowe on 15.