University Challenge 2025 - Round 1 - Oriel, Oxford v. Durham

The Teams

Oriel, Oxford

Samin Taseen

Theo Sharkey

Danaan Kilburn (Capt.)

Tom Armstrong

Durham University

Joe Ancell

Amelia Brookfield-Pertusini

Jake Roberts (Capt.)

Luke Nash

Well, it’s been a week or two since we saw a runner up team score enough to have realistic hopes of a repechage slot. Maybe tonight would be different.

Luke Nash came in too early for the first starter about a city on the Tagus and missed the key information that it was home to El Greco for some years. This allowed Samin Taseen in with Toledo to earn bonuses on works on colour. They took two, but should have had a full house, a salutary lesson on the value of nominating the person who gave the answer to say the answer. Amelia Brookfield-Pertusini knew that Annie Ernaux won the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature. Drinking establishments in the works of Charles Dickens were all gettable, but Durham only got the one. A good early buzz from Joe Ancell identified the chess term pin. Handel gave us both a full house. For the picture starter Luke Nash identified the old county flag of Middlesex. I was born in what was then Middlesex but became Greater London when I was 1. Which is probably why I always say I’m from London while my parents, born in virtually the same place, said they came from Middlesex. Anyway, more old county flags brought two correct answers for Durham on what I thought was by no means an easy set. Nobody knew biotin for the ridiculously long starter that followed. A very early buzz from Theo Sharkey identified people linked by the surname Cavendish. I didn’t understand any of the cell biology questions that followed but Oriel took a full house. So on ten minutes Durham had a tiny lead of fifty to forty five.

Both Tom Armstrong and I knew the film director Spike Lee (not personally ) for the next starter. The Chagos Archipelago – which was not the name of a 70s prog rock band surprisingly – brought a full house to Oriel. Jake Roberts knew that you find Harris lines on bones. So named after Dave Harris, a milkman I worked with as a kid who was a notorious teller of tall tales. All the time I knew him he swore blind that he drove the first underground train into Heathrow. But I digress. Headingley brought 2 bonuses. If you’re asked for a classical epic, buzz and mentally flip a coin between the Iliad and the Odyssey. Amelia Brookfield-Pertusini zagged correctly with the Iliad. Saints’ days brought another two bonuses, and Durham were unlucky to just miss out on St. Brice’s Day. So to the music starter. Joe Ancell knowns his Brahms from his Liszt, correctly identifying the latter. Other works which the composers dedicated to their teachers who were also composers brought, well, yes, two bonuses.The world’s oldest continuously inhabited is Damascus. It’s an old stager and Jake Roberts won the buzzer race. Agricultural innovaters brought (say it quietly) two bonuses. It was at this stage that Amol unleashed full strength encouragement upon Oriel, some sixty odd points in arrears at this point. It seemed to work too as Tom Armstrong came up with the correct answer of Justice to the next question on philosophy. Renaissance cartoons brought two much needed correct answers. Tom Armstrong took his double with refractive index for the next starter. Fallen idols brought a full house, and those two or three minutes’ good work ensured that the gap had shrunk. By the 20 minute mark Durham led, but only by 130 – 115.

The second picture round starter showed us a photo of Frank Capra. Nobody recognized him. The next starter showed Amol being generous when Theo Sharkey decided to join in with Tom Armstrong when answering the question. Both knew that if it’s a literary question about an early president you’ll be right more often than you’re wrong with Jefferson. Stills from great Frank Capra films brought nowt. Again, Amol correctly disallowed A Wonderful Life for It’s A Wonderful Life. Samin Taseen knew that the last dynasty to rule the Byzantine Empire was the Palaeologi – gesundheit. That brought Oriel the lead and two bouses on extraterrestrial features increased it. Joe Ancell decreased it by recognising a reference to Hokusai. A full house on Bennington College gave Durham back the lead. A lead which was wiped out by Tom Armstrong as he gave the mathematical term roulette. A full house on English cheeses was taken in short order, and Oriel were back ahead. Jake Roberts played a captain’s innings to buzz early with the term concentration. Tattooing only provided one bonus and the scores were now tied. I’ll be honest, I shouted Norwich as soon as Amol mentioned Julian and Revelations of Divine Love. And winning the buzzer race for this most crucial of starters was Theo Sharkey. Pigments used by L.S. Lowry brought two bonuses. Durham could do it, but they needed a full house. Was there enough time left? Jake Roberts again took a flier on the next starter. It was the right thing to do, even though it didn’t come off this time. This allowed Tom Armstrong to seal the deal by identifying the Tenor clef. Insect anatomy did not do much damage before the gong ended proceedings. Oriel won a superb match by 200 – 165.

Surely Durham will be back with that score. Both teams had a BCR of 67. It could have gone either way, but it’s Oriel who deservedly go straight through.

Amol Watch

I agree with Amol that the Wittgenstein answer just wasn’t quite close enough. It’s still a novelty when Amol calls the team members by their first names, as he did here.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

The name for the traditional tattooing practised by Maori people is Ta Moko.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In cell biology a variant of what molecule is used to label proteins in a technique know as apex proximity labelling? Proteins labelled with this molecule are purified by binding them to avidin or streptavidin. A deficiency of this molecule, also known as vitamin B7 can cause hair thinning, brittle fingernails and skin rashes . . . The question wasn’t even finished yet as Joe Ancell was penalised for buzzing in now. For heaven’s sake – the programme is only half a hour long as it is! Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

Mastermind 2025 - First round Heat 7

Alright, let me address the elephant in the room. What on Earth is going on with the specialist rounds this season? Now yes, we all know that the questions in both rounds tend to be much longer than they were ten years ago, but I don’t know, in the last few shows it has seemed worse than ever. You see since the show returned after the early season break for the cricket, we’ve had just one double figure specialist round, and that was a 10. I just think it’s a little disheartening for people who obviously know their subject to end up with 7s and 8s, which in previous years would have been looked on as pretty unimpressive scores.

Well, the first of last night’s contenders was Dan Shoesmith who was answering on the Star Wars sequel trilogy. My son took me to watch The Force Awakens, which I enjoyed, but the last two films which I caught on telly not so much and I took the first but didn’t trouble the scorer again. Dan took 7 points. In previous years this would have meant he would have been out of it by half time. But then in previous years that performance would, I feel, have earned more points.

Emma Cresswell virtually scuppered her own chances as soon as she revealed that she is a teacher. This meant that she received the curse of support from the Clark sofa. Emma was answering on Henry Moore. He is an artist whom I can respect, but I cannot say I have a deep and heartfelt attachment to his work. Which is a long winded way of saying I didn’t add to my aggregate on this round. Emma scored five.

James Sowden offered us the band Elbow. This proved to be another fruitless round for me. James started pretty well, and I never felt that he wasn’t coping with it. However he had only scored 6 by the end of it.

Finally student Morgan Bush with a round on King Edward VI, my banker round for the night. Yes, the traditional history subjects like this have been a steady source of points for me over the years, and I was pretty happy to add four easy ones to my total to give me an aggregate of five. Morgan himself scored five. I did think he missed at least a couple he might have had, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Emma returned to the chair. It’s often hard to say something which isn’t mean about GK rounds where the contender doesn’t do as well as they would have liked. Emma gave it a lash, as we say, but the questions just did not seem to fall her way and she finished with a total of 12.

Right. Morgan Bush’s GK round put me in mind of something I used to say. When my late grandmother used to predict that one day I would win Mastermind – yes, honestly she did – I used to reply that I wasn’t going to go on it until I was in my forties when I’d still be quick to answer, but would know a lot more. This annoyingly precocious attitude is only slightly ameliorated by the fact that I was in my early forties when I did go on it and I won. Still, Morgan’s GK round demonstrated a very good reason to try the show at his age. Because his GK round was very good! Having said that, if he’s that good now, if he keeps quizzing he’ll be great in a decade or two. An absolutely terrific 13 gave him 18 and a shot at a win.

Mind you, James Sowden wasn’t too far behind after his round. In fact, his 12 put him as close as you can be without actually tying. He scored 12 to take his total to 18 and one pass. However Morgan Bush’s old head on young shoulders had seen that he hadn’t passed at all. Just Dan to go, then.

Dan did not answer very quickly. However, that slight pause before a lot of the answers ensured that he gave a correct one rather than blurting out a wrong one. Don’t knock it. A significant number of Mastermind GK questions that you don’t immediately KNOW the answer to will yield results after a moment’s thought. Dan was across the line with a couple of questions to spare and he too scored 13 for 20. Well played, sir. Best of luck for the semi finals.

The Details

Dan Shoesmith	The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy	7	2	13	1	20	3
Emma Cresswell	Henry Moore	5	0	7	1	12	1
James Sowden	Elbow	6	1	12	0	18	1
Morgan Bush	Edward VI	5	0	13	0	18	0

University Challenge 2025 First Round - Darwin, Cambridge v. Birkbeck, London

The Teams

Darwin, Cambridge

Rebecca McClelland

Sophie Willis

Harrison Whitaker (Capt.)

Rowan Stewart

Birkbeck, London

Rosalie Van Onzenoort

Uma Moorthy

Alex Evans (Capt.)

Eric Skidmore

Well, the big question is whether Uma Moorthy is the same Uma Moorthy who played in the Birkbeck team of 2000? I don’t know if UC has rules regarding whether you can play in more than one season? I always thought that you couldn’t, but hey, what do I know?

Let’s begin, then. Fair play to Harrison Whitaker for knowing that E.M.Forster’s first book was ‘Where angels fear to tread.’ I’ve heard of the quote from Pope, but never the book. Cities whose names in English have more than one letter Z in their names brought two more correct answers and a namecheck for Alfonso the Battler. A bit like Alfred the Butler, but a tad more aggressive. The next question, asking for a view of History, suddenly became clear with the namechecks for Walpole and Charles James Fox, and Eric Skidmore won the buzzer race to give the answer of whig. Novels of Jane Austen in the words of the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (I thought that was Anne Hathaway) delivered 2 bonuses to level the scores. Marina Abramovitch, another member of the ubiquitous Who family, was the answer to the next starter, gladly supplied by the Cambridge skipper. Song cycles brought me a correct answer with Schubert and both Darwin and I took the last with Vaughan Williams. For the picture starter, was it the word Morlocks that told you the work in question was Wells’ The Time Machine? It was for me. Harrison Whitaker, very much leading his team by example took his second consecutive starter with that one. More redacted contents pages of works of speculative fiction saw none of us recognise the first two, but Muad’Dib gave us both Dune. Sorry, but it is one of my all time favourite books. Rosalie Van Onzenoort was in very quickly with the word elasticity for the next starter but the set of bonuses on glassmaking processes only yielded one correct answer. I thought about taking a lap of honour for annealing, but let it ride. Which was a mistake since I didn’t get another opportunity. This meant that at the ten-minute mark Darwin led by fifty to thirty.

Pashtun Nationalists was the clue with the next starter. Both teams had Pakistan, but neither had Afghanistan so no cigars there. New York, and immigrant German instrument makers had me, and Rosalie Van Onzenoort saying Steinway which was the correct answer. Sicilian food beginning with ca brought just the one bonus, but it meant Birkbeck were just a few points behind Darwin. Various Hamiltons brought another starter for Harrison Whitaker. Ivo Van Hove meant little to me but he still brought both me and Darwin a full house. Poland and cosmetics company gave that man Whitaker another starter – and he wasn’t halfway done yet. Scientific terms beginning with the letter x brought one correct answer. If it sounds like Sinatra, then you might just as well buzz in and answer Sinatra. That’s what Alex Evans did with the music starter and earned his team bonuses on songs referencing the transition from Autumn to Winter. They knew the same two that I knew. Nobody knew Jesus in the line of prophets in the next starter. Harrison Whitaker knew works of David Hume. He’d already had a very satisfactory night’s work, and more was yet to come. Films with scores by Rachel Portman brought them two bonuses and a triple figure score. See if you can guess who knew a reference to The Last Judgement on the walls of the Sistine Chapel? Come in, Harrison Whitaker. Eyes in 20^th century works of art brought a full house, and what had seemed a pretty close contest up to this point was seeming more of a done deal. As we approached 20 minutes Darwin led by 135 – 60.

Rosalie Van Onzenoort knew Thomas Bayes, which is more than I could say for myself. The Kennedy Center Honours brought just the one bonus at a time when they really needed to start batting doubles and triples. Kudos to Alex Evans for recognising the work of John Singer Sargent so quickly for the second picture starter. More portraits of artists at work by other artists brought another single. Uma Moorthy knew that a german novel about the first world war had to be All Quiet on the Western Front. Words that contain four consecutive vowels saw Birkbeck dithering.Two bonuses put them just one full house behind. -That’s quite enough of that- Harrison Whitaker might well have said, for he buzzed early for the next starter and fortune favoured the brave, as he correctly identified a series of events from the 9^th century. Again, they only managed the one bonus, this time on libraries. The clouds of Venus were all too easy for Harrison Whitaker, and this time Darwin took two bonuses linked by the colour white. Harrison Whitaker was reigning unopposed on the buzzer at this point and took the next starter on Albanian speaking Italians. Types of sleeve were a gettable set, but Darwin only got 1. Harrison Whitaker took the next starter on Salisbury Cathedral. Michael Chabon yielded two bonuses, and the contest ended with Darwin winning comfortably with 205 to Birkbeck’s 110.

What can we say? Well, let’s start with Birkbeck. Their BCR of 48 was not great, and they just didn’t have the firepower on the buzzer to stop Mr. Whitaker in full flow. As for Darwin, their BCR of 59 isn’t bad at all, but doesn’t quite match the top teams so far. On the one hand I salute Harrison Whitaker’s Hall of Fame performance with 11 starters. On the other hand, it worries me what might happen if he has an off night – I may be wrong but I think he answered all of the starters for Darwin.

Amol Watch

Amol is a great fan of caponata. Who would have known? By the time of the consecutive vowel bonuses Birkbeck weren’t that far behind, but Amol, who could see the way the wind was blowing, urged them to give themselves a chance of getting a high score. Good man. It didn’t work, but kudos for trying.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t  Already Know Of The Week

In 1118 the city of Zaragoza was captured by Alfonso the Battler. I bet he was fun on a Saturday night out with the boys.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Yeah, this is rare, but nothing in the show really made my mind switch into standby mode. Well done UC!

Mastermind 2025 Heat 6

At last, dearly beloved, at last we had a roster of specialist subjects in a Mastermind heat that offered me just a chance of more than the slimmest of pickings. Not the first subject though. This was a subject that has featured on Mastermind more than once before, the Ghost Stories of M.R. James – who was not, as I once thought, the author of Fifty Shades of Whatsaname. As you can tell, I’ve ever read them, although I have copied a illustration from one. 

Thomas Banbury had prepared well enough to score 8, which is a competitive score that has given contenders a chance during the series so far. Me? Nul points.

So the first subject to offer me just a glimmer of a chance was snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan, offered by Liam McCarthy. I have actually read the Rocket’s autobiography, name checked in one of the questions, but that was quite a few years ago, so it didn’t seem to do me a lot of good. I limped along to two points. Liam, like Thomas before him, scored a good 8 and no passes, so he was still in the hunt.

Third to go was Jane Northen. Jane was offering my first real ‘fill yer boots’ subject of this series, in the shape of Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds. This was, incidentally, Alan Heath’s winning subject in the 2016 Grand Final. Like a lot of kids of my generation I absolutely loved this show and watched the episodes time and time again. Then, as a dad in the 90s I got to do it all over again with my son, for whom I even made a Blue Peter Tracy Island – and damn good it was too, though I say it myself. So yes, the 7 I got was a good total, although not a surprise. Not as good as Jane’s though. Her 10 was the best round of the night so far.

Having to follow that was Helen Lawson. She was answering on Hans Holbein the Younger and this subject brought me the 1 point I needed to take my aggregate for the specialists into double figures. Yes, you are allowed to indulge in a small celebration at this point. There. Did you enjoy it? Helen again did well, but she was just a tiny bit behind Jane on the clock and finished with 9. Kudos to all four contenders for not passing in any of their specialist rounds.

Thomas did not start his GK round brilliantly, but rather grew into it, so much so that he managed to post double figures. His 10 gave him 18, which we always say is unlikely to prove a winning score, but is enough to make the other contenders have to pass through the corridor of doubt.

Liam McCarthy did even better. He started better but didn’t gain quite as much momentum as Thomas had done. Even so his consistency meant that he scored 11 and 1 pass, a good performance which raised the bar to 19.

Helen Lawson didn’t look quite as comfortable in the chair as she had during her specialist round, but even though she seemed to be making slower progress she was still edging closer to the target. She took 9 which put her up with Thomas, but just one point behind Liam.

Finally Jane, then. I often mention momentum in GK rounds, and Jane’s round was a good demonstration of what I mean. Jane took the tactic of passing when an answer – right or wrong – did not occur and in this way she kept up her momentum throughout the round. This meant that she kept going and passed the finishing post with several questions to spare. She scored 12 for a total of 22. Yes, she passed more than any of the other contenders, but this didn’t make the slightest difference because she scored more.

In her piece to camera at the end Jane revealed that she really is a Thunderbirds fanatic. Nothing so wrong with that either. Well Jane, I hope that you have another such subject in your semi. The very best of luck to you.

The Details

Thomas Banbury	The Ghost Stories of M.R.James	8	0	10	1	18	1
Liam McCarthy	Ronnie O’Sullivan	8	0	11	1	19	1
Jane Northen	Thunderbirds	10	0	12	3	22	3
Helen Lawson	Hans Holbein the Younger	9	0	9	1	18	1

University Challenge 2025 - Reading v. Exeter

The Teams

Reading

Kissani Selvamaresh

Josh Finkelstein

Rhiannon Snook (Capt.)

Stuart Rock

Exeter

Ryker Moorcroft

Lucy Carr

Martin Newman (Capt.)

Elliott Mouelhi

I didn’t pick out that all the references in the first starter were pointing to violence, but Elliott Mouelhi did and he claimed first points for Exeter. A relatively gentle set on Scottish Geography brought two bonuses. The next starter saw a long wait until the name Dolores O’Riordan ignited a buzzer race, won by Elliott Moelhi to answer the Cranberries. South African cricket grounds brought a full house. Again both teams waited with the next starter, but with the name check for family favourite Viking Chief Rollo, Elliott Mouelhi took his third consecutive starter with Normandy. Written Japanese seemed right up Ryker Moorcroft’s street as he supplied the answers for another full house. The picture starter that followed showed us a table with national flags, and tonnage of countries producing the most of a particular metal. I was nowhere near a correct answer, but Elliott Mouelhi took his fourth in a row with copper. More tables with more metals brought another full house. The Kjedahl Method gave Josh Finkelstein the opportunity to give Reading a visit to the table. Variation in biological organisms promised me little but meiosis delivered a lap of honour around the sofa. Only a slightly misheard question prevented Reading from taking a full house. Emboldened by his success on the previous starter, Josh Finkelstein came in early with the island of South Georgia. Constitutional legislation in the UK brought Reading’s score to 35, but at the ten minute mark Exeter led with 95.

Now as soon as the words ‘golden record’ were mentioned in the next starter I thought Voyager. But then I’m the right age. Ryker Moorcroft is considerably younger, but he still managed to supply the same answer. A lovely UC set on name drops in the song “Late night double feature” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, saw a point of contention when Flash Gordon was described as a superhero. Comic book hero yes, but what’s super about him? (At this point anyone who brings Batman into the conversation is deliberately being picky) Maybe that’s why Exeter failed to add to their total. Captain Rhiannon Snook knew that Wes Anderson directed several Roald Dahl stories on Netflix to get her team moving again. Steven Vincent Who Benet brought them just the one bonus. So to the music starter. Eddy Grant is a musician very much to my taste and very much of my vintage, and so I recognised his Electric Avenue slightly more quickly than Stuart Rock – another more mature gentleman like myself. Other British tracks that also made the US charts in 1983 were very much music to my ears, and both Mr. Rock and I supplied a full house. The next Science starter was so long winded we would have been in Baby Elephant Walk territory, were it not for the fact that it took a really simple turn at the end, and I had it right with condensation. Ryker Moorcroft was the quickest to work out that yes, it really was that simple and he earned a set of bonuses on geometrical terms as described by some old buffer who was translating Euclid. One was taken but hey, the clock was running down and the gap was still growing. Ryker Moorcroft took another starter knowing that Slovenian not only has singular and plural, but also has dual. Does Old Norse have something similar? Maybe I’ve misremembered that. Jules Hardouin- Mansart – Qui? brought two bonuses – but if they’d known their 1919 treaties they’d have had a full house. Didn’t matter. Just coming up to the 20 minute mark they led by 140 – 75.

For the next starter Amol accepted the Independence of India, as opposed to the partition of India, but not to accept it would have been churlish and Amol is not a churl. A really lovely UC special set on places sharing their name with European names of colours took Reading to triple figures, and being only forty behind it looked as if we could be in for a closer contest than it had seemed. Nobody on either team could identify a still from the film Paper Moon. We’re off to paper moon, we followed Mr. Spoon? No, that was Button Moon. Stuart Rock came in too early for the next starter. I don’t blame him – had he been correct and his team have taken all of the bonuses, then the gap would have been much narrowed. But then, if my Auntie had pollocks, she’d have been a fishmonger, as they say. The mention of the Olympics, and the sculptor Myron gave Lucy Carr the discus, and a set of bonuses on other Oscar winning film debuts. A full house fell to Exeter, and with the benefit of hindsight that was the pivotal point of the match. Not that Reading were giving up yet. Josh Finkelstein buzzed in early with bone marrow for the next starter. The roman republic provided a single bonus on what was, to be honest, a very gettable set. Eagles from Mythology gave Ryker Moorcroft another starter, earning a set of bonuses on lead, which led to a full house. Again, Josh Finkelstein threw caution to the winds – which I applaud – but knew he had done so in vain while Roger Tilling was calling his name on the next starter. Exeter skipper Martin Newman knew if Lord Salisbury was talking about a conflict it was probably going to be the Boer War. Two bonuses on judgement of the dead followed. Demolished churches designed by Christopher Wren gave Elliott Mouelhi another starter and his team swiftly took two bonuses on Jonathan Swift. See what I did there?  Poor old Josh Finkelstein came in too early again on the next starter, the answer of which was the astronomical unit as given by Ryker Moorcroft. That was it. There was no time left for bonuses. In the end Exeter had come out comfortable winners with 240 – 100.

Reading managed a BCR of 61, which is pretty decent, but it’s only effective when you’re getting your fair share of starters. Exeter had a fine BCR of 73. Whether they’re amongst the fastest teams on the buzzer – well only time will tell that. But it was a pretty good start.

Amol Watch

I’m not sure if 7 minutes and 38 seconds is the earliest Amol has offered encouragement to a team, but it has to be up there. Mind you, I don’t blame him for Reading were down by almost a hundred at this point. I liked the way that he gee’d on the hesitant Reading team during the roman republic bonuses, and he was right to do so as they still had an outside chance of a repechage score.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

Amarillo, Texas is the largest city of the Texas panhandle AND is named after the tawny colour of the soil. 2 facts for the price of one.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Invented in 1883 by a Danish chemist, the eponymous Kjedahl Method is used to measure the content of which chemical element in substances such as food and fertilisers? It involves digesting a substance with sulphuric acid and determining the amount of ammonia released.

Alright, not complete gibberish, I grant you. Don’t care. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

Mastermind 2025 Round 1 Heat Five

Yes, my first day in my new job went very well, thank you for asking. Don’t worry, I’ll still be supporting teachers in Mastermind, but I’ll also be supporting NHS workers too now.

So, off we go. First up was Mike Noyes and he was answering on the only specialist subject which looked likely to bring me any points during the specialists yesterday. This was Admiral Horatio Nelson. I took three of those, one I knew and two I made educated guesses at. My uneducated guesses in two of the other subjects meant that I was not looking that good as we went into the final specialist. However, I digress. Mike Noyes managed 8. In previous series this would have looked a more modest score, but for this series that looked like a decent effort which would leave him in contention.

Meg Koo offered us Battlestar Galactica. I remember the original series back in the 70s, which I used to watch but which hardly really lit my candle that much. I haven’t ever watched the newer version. Meg Koo has. She was just one correct answer from a double figure score and knew her stuff very well. As I’ve mentioned, scores have been just a tiny bit lower in this series than in the previous – or so it seems to me – and 9 put her certainly in with a chance.

I will put my hand up and say that I am not the least bit familiar with the work of Michael Kiwanuka. Fair play, I doubt he’s familiar with any of mine either. That’s not his fault, though, just my bad luck. Thankfully, Stanley Thomas is definitely familiar with his work. Stanley managed 7. I would have said that this looked a little low, but no, in fact it put him just two points off the lead and we’ve often seen how this can easily be overcome in a GK round.

One specialist subject remained though and this was offered by Emma Gallen, on the films of Sofia Coppola. I wonder whether being her father’s daughter proved to be a help or a hindrance to her career? This is not the kind of question you can ask in a specialist round however, but the ones that were asked brought my specialist aggregate to five in total. Emma again knew her subject, but film rounds can be tricky beasts and she too scored 7 points.

Stanley gave it a lash in his GK round, and he certainly didn’t do badly. However the whole thing was a little bit staccato. He never quite got the run of three or four consecutive correct answers you need to build up momentum. In the end a late rally saw him score a respectable 8 to set the bar at fifteen.

You could make a similar observation about Emma’s GK round. Once again she gave it a good old go, never seeming to lose her composure, but again she couldn’t really get the momentum going to set a really competitive score. She finished with 14.

I made the point about momentum, because that’s what Mike managed to do by way of contrast with his own GK round. With the first four or five answered correctly on the bounce at the start of the round he was moving well. This meant that on the few occasions when he gave wrong answers he was able to keep going and driving on towards a score in the teens. He finished with 13 points. This set the target at 21 and meant that Meg had to get at least 12 and no passes for an outright win.

She certainly tried. Actually, I still refuse to believe that anybody does ever sit in the chair and not at least try to do as well as they can. But the clock can be a harsh mistress and the second minute it looked as if Meg was off the pace a little. She was just a smidgeon away from a 20 point total, scoring 10 for 19 and second place.

Well done Mike! Best of luck in the semis.

The Details

Mike Noyes	Horatio Nelson	8	1	13	0	21	1
Meg Koo	Battlestar Galactica	9	0	10	0	19	0
Stanley Thomas	Michael Kiwanuka	7	0	8	1	15	1
Emma Gallen	The Films of Sofia Coppola	7	0	7	1	14	2

 

University Challenge 2025 - Round 1 - Imperial v. Manchester

Before we get started on last night’s UC, if you haven’t see the latest Only Connect can I say that you might like to do so. The two teams, The Bloomsbury Group, and the Tea Totallers put on a contest that was frankly better than some Grand Finals. Hardly surprising considering the amount of quiz talent across the two teams. After a dazzling display of brilliance from both teams, the Bloomsbury Group won. But I reckon both teams are going to go far this year. Fatima Sheriff, the winning captain, was part of the Imperial team that won UC in 2022, ironically beating her team mate Michael Hutchinson’s Reading team in the Final. Has anyone yet won both UC and Only Connect? Answers on a postcard, please.

The UC review may now begin.

The Teams

Imperial

Charlotte Stokes

Mattia Elkouby

Matthew Spry (Captain)

Jaime Salamanca Camacho

Manchester

Adam Dodd

Millie Sutherland

Joel Crossley (Captain)

Nathan Easow

It was a battle of the multi champs last night on UC. Imperial (five times winners, three times in the last five years) and Manchester (four times winners between 2008 and 2013). That’s some serious previous form.

Millie Sutherland came in too quickly on the first starter. She was unlucky for if she’d been a second later she would have heard nine-banded, which gave me and Matthew Spry the answer that the creatures in question were armadillos. Thalassocracies – altogether now, gesundheit! – brought a full set of bonuses in fairly short order. I thought that both teams sat on their buzzers a bit with the next starter. Asked for a pair of roman deities appearing in a set of paintings , Venus and Mars is always likely to be a good shout. That provided Jaime Salamanca Camacho with his first starter of the night. Mythological firsts brought a second consecutive full house. Matthew Spry lived a little dangerously by pausing almost too long before giving the correct answer of Henry Kissinger (how we’re missing ‘yer) for the next starter. I am not familiar with the Baillie Gifford Winner of Winners Prize, but I took a full house, while Imperial missed out on the last through not listening carefully enough to the question. Nonetheless it had been a great start for them. Likewise, Mattia Elkouby missed out on a correct answer to the picture starter. We saw a map with a location highlighted, and a blank periodic table with the space for one element highlighted. The name of the element was taken from the location. Mr. Elkouby gave us the location, Stockholm but we wanted the element – Holmium. Hard lines. This enabled Nathan Easow to lift Manchester out of negative equity with Therevada. The picture bonuses on more elements and locations brought us both a full house which I celebrated with a lap of honour around the Clark sofa. I didn’t have a scooby about the chemistry starter that followed but Mattia Elkouby knew it was chromatography. Two bonuses on the circulatory system ( which for some reason made me think of Hanger Lane) meant that the score at the ten minute mark stood at 90 – 15 to Imperial.

Did you know that Gjirokaster is in Albania? Matthew Spry did. Large dams did nothing to stem the flood of points for Imperial and they added another full house. Despite Amol’s encouragement for Manchester it was Jaime Salamanca Camacho who took the next starter on swans. Celebrations depicted in opening scenes of Daniel Craig Bond films sadly did not include the Hanwell Carnival, but then that might have prevented Imperial from taking the full house that they did take. And the agony continued for Manchester as Mattia Elkouby buzzed in with valence for the next starter. The end of history – which we all know is y – saw Imperial falter a little as they scored just the one bonus. Didn’t matter. They were closer to 200 than 100 already. It’s been a while since we had a jazz starter and Jaime Salamanca Camacho came in very early to identify Rhapsody in Blue. I loved the story which followed about how Gerschwin, thinking he’d refused to compose the piece, had to compose it in a hurry when he read about where and when the premiere was being held. More musical rush jobs took Imperial to one full set away from 200.Jaime Salamanca Camacho knew about the mathematician Bernhard Riemann for the next starter. Observatories brought me a second science based full house of the night, and took Imperial to a score of 200. The next starter became a frantic buzzer race when the title “Leaves of Grass” was spoken, and Nathan Easow showed a clean pair of heels as he won to answer Walt Whitman. Bouses on Art brought two correct answers. Captain Joel Crossley built on the good work by knowing that Matadi is a port in Congo. Personally I still think you ought to distinguish between the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo in your answer, but there we are. Writers whose names are anagrams of constellations – Hardy and Hydra eg – brought two more correct answers. Sadly Joel Crossley pushed his luck a little too far and only gave half the answer to the next starter after buzzing early, allowing Matthew Spry in with Sun and Son. Two bonuses on decimalisation meant that by the twenty minute mark Imperial were home and dry with 220, while Manchester were some way short of a repechage score with fifty.

They didn’t get any closer with the second picture starter which showed pictures of Mary Shelley and her ole mum Mary Wollstonecraft. Jaime Salamanca Camacho added that one to his starter collection. More family pictures brought two bonuses. James Crossley beat Imperial with diffraction for the next starter. The heritage orchestra supplied a bonus. The deliberately excruciating rhyme alluded to in the next starter pointed to Byron’s Don Juan, and Mattia Elkouby took it. The enzyme amylase, always such a popular topic of conversation around the dinner table, brought two bonuses. Could Imperial break 300? Well Matthew Spry’s answer of the human development index HDI for the next starter would help. A full house on people born in 1923 pushed them to the brink. Matthew Spry raced in to answer that Brisbane is set to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. Incidentally I think that will make Australia the first country to host Summer Olympics in three different cities (and none of them is the capital city!). You can have that one for free. One bonus would have been enough to put Imperial on 300, but Emily Dickinson failed them on this score. Look , don’t ask me about Qubits. It was the correct answer that Jaime Salamanca Camacho gave to the next starter which brought up Imperial’s triple century. Wartime Cabinet Ministers yielded one bonus. Didn’t matter now. Imperial were over 300 and Manchester weren’t going to get a repechage score. Joel Crossley knew a series of events occurring in years ending in 89, but they didn’t get the one bonus on a French river before the gong sounded. Imperial 310, Manchester 75.

Manchester were living off famine rations from their buzzers, but managed a good BCR of 62 on the bonuses they did earn. Imperial had a BCR of 71. A great score, and a great performance. As impressive as the BCR they scored was the fact that Mattia Elkouby, Jaime Salamanca Camacho and Matthew Spry each took multiple starters – with the two latter taking 6 each.

Amol Watch

Fair play to Amol, he usually makes a telling off still seem friendly, as seen when he warned Matthew Spry about hesitating on a starter. With Jeremy Paxman you always felt he wanted to say – don’t do it again or I’ll smash yer face in.

Amol’s encouragements have been more timely this series than they seemed to be last year, but it can’t have been much consolation to Manchester when he felt moved to issue his first before 11 minutes were on the clock. A few minutes later he reiterated his encouragement, this time with rather more urgency.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

The official terminology for rule by Maritime Empire is Thalassocracy.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In analytical chemistry a compound’s RF value or retention factor can be used to identify components of a mixture in what class (here there was an incorrect interruption) of analytical techniques based on a compound’s interactions with stationary and mobile phases? Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.