TV Watch - Only Connect

Only Connect Round One – Match 7 – Insurers v. Gamblers

For the first time this series I actually knew at least one member of both teams. The Insurers consisted of Stephen Gore, Chris Miller, and captain Peter Davies, who have all been insurers. Chris I met back in October, when he took part in the heat of Brain of Britain recorded immediately before mine. He lost to the mighty Doctor Ian , which experience I can sympathise with, having been well and truly Bayleyed in the final myself. Chris comes across as a very nice guy. As for the gamblers, well I know Jenny Ryan, Alan Gibbs, and Captain David Bill to a greater or lesser extent. All three have made appearances on TV before. Jenny has been in both series’ of Are You An Egghead ? “, and was , along with me, a stand in for the semi finals of Mastermind in 2006. Alan also appeared in the last series of “Are You An Egghead ? “. David had a great win in BBC2’s Pointless, and we played in the same side in the Cardiff Grand Prix last year.

OK, that’s enough name dropping for one entry. Now, on with the show.

Round One – What’s The Connection ?

I suspected that the Insurers’ General Knowledge would not be of quite the same standard as the Gamblers. That’s not necessarily a drawback, since puzzling ability can often be just as important in OC. Put into bat by the opposition, the Gamblers correctly saw a set of waterways, and the last years that they froze over. The Insurers had a good go at their set, but didn’t quite see that the set they had weer words for numbers, that had the same number of letters – eg – tre, meaning three, which has three letters. Jenny of The Gamblers had it for a bonus. The Gambler’s picture – a key in the door – gave them a chance of a full 5 marks, but they took the second picture – a pair of legs – just to be certain it was bingo calls. That’s good, safe play. For fun, they correctly predicted two more pictures of two little ducks and two fat ladies. There was a terrific set for the Insurers, of Caravaggio, Roger Casement, Anthony Blunt and Robert Mugabe – all who lost their knighthoods. Great connection. The insurers missed out, but the Gamblers had it. Gamblers were given the music set, and for the first time ever I had it on 2. The Gamblers took the whole set, but did recognise a set of songs or pieces of music about weddings – Marriage of Figaro etc. Finally, the Insurers put points on the board with a set of books which won an award for having daft titles – eg. Living With Crazy Buttocks. The Insurers knew it, and took it for 2 points. So at the end of the round the Gamblers were living up to their quiz pedigree, leading by 7 to 2.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?

The Gamblers didn’t recognise a set of Government Chief Medical Officers. The Insurers knew the connection, but couldn’t remember Liam Donaldson for a bonus. Good set. Talking of good sets, the Insurers’ first set showed pictures of a green boat, some honey – have you got it yet, and a lot of cash. The Insurers failed to suggest that a five pound note would complete a set from The Owl and The Pussycat, but the Gamblers made no mistake. Beautiful connection. Given 6 – green , 7 – Maroon , 8 – black, neither team could see that 9 = yellow stripe. I guessed they were all pool balls, but would have gone for red stripe, I’m afraid, so no points there for the team playing at home. The Insurers, faced with astrological symbols for the planets correctly predicted that the 4th in the sequence would be the male sign for the planet Mars. I thought that was well worth 3 points in anyone’s money. As for the Gamblers, 65mm was enough to have Alan suggesting film sizes, and another clue of 35mm was enough to confirm it for 3 points, as the 4th would be 8mm. The Insurers correctly identified that they had a set of Royal Parks. Thinking it was based on age, they plumped for Green. The Gamblers took the points for supplying Hyde, which was the next one down in terms of area. So at the end of a round where the Insurers had made a spirited fight of the contest, the Gamblers led by 12 points to 5.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

The Insurers made a great start to their wall identifying a set of characters from Richmal Crompton’s Just William books – William, two of the Outlaws, and Jumble his dog. They could see that there was a set of fictional islands there, but just couldn’t pick out the right 4. Still when the wall was resolved or them they identified the set of islands, a set of Spencers – good shout there. I thought it might be, but hadn’t heard of Spencer Tunick, I’m afraid, and a set of independent TV production companies.
As for the Gamblers, they gave a textbook display. There was a set of TV cooks and chefs, but they ignored the dangling carrot of Nigella, instead correctly putting her with a set of spices. That’s good play. Sets of things preceded by Pink, and Fictional Streets – Elm and Bash for example, were found in short order, with more than half the time left. A full ten points. I knew that the Gamblers were good, but they were playing an absolute blinder. The lead had stretched to 22 points to 10.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

It wasn’t impossible that the Insurers could pull back the deficit, but it would need a virtual shut out. The first set was crime writers. Gamblers gained three points, and Insurers had one right and one wrong. The next set was venomous sea creatures, and the Gamblers won by 3 to 1. Films directed by Woody Allen came next , and some more obscure of his films saw the Gamblers take the set 2 – 0 . Sauces followed, and this was a 2 – 1 win for the Gamblers. Finally we had parts of speech, which was shared 2 apiece. So the final score was 33 points to the Gamblers, and 14 to the Insurers.

The Insurers were unfortunate to come up against a fine team, who were absolutely at the top of their game tonight. Shall I burden the Gamblers with the Clark tip ? No, that would be unfair. But you have to say, with form like this they’ll surely go a long way.