Only Connect – Quarter Final 4 – Alesmen v. In-Laws
Can it really be the last of the quarter finals already ? It surely can. Tonight saw the return of the mighty Alesmen, Chris Quinn, Graham Barker and captain Mark Kerr, who accounted for the Pool Sharks in the first round. Their opponents were the In-Laws. Jon Heal, Penny Heal and skipper Jason Stevens provided one of the most exciting matches of the first round when they managed to beat the Mountain Men in a tense last round.
Round One – What’s the Connection ?
The Alesmen kicked off with Lion, and once they saw Early Return from Transportation – Destroying a Fishpond – Sacrilege they knew that these were all crimes which once received the death penalty in England. 2 points. The IN-Laws took Horus, and knew that Moe’s Tavern 1993 – Broadcasting House 2009 – No.3 Saville Row 1969 were all rooftop gigs. The third one gave it to me as well. 2 points. Ales took Viper, and a lovely set with Adam at Adam’s Peak – Flamingoes – Actors under the Hayes Code. They could see that they all keep one foot on the ground. 2 points. The Laws took Flax, and only needed to hear Ace of Base then Ben E. King on the music set to know that these were all connected by names of playin cards. 3 points for that. Ales took Reeds for a hard picture set. Neither team could see that cycle helmets – Gateau – Books and Children’s clothes are all zero rated for VAT. I didn’t see it either. A good set lay under Water for the Laws. Blue Mn – Yellow Cd – Gree Co gave them names for pigments in acrylic pains – I’d heard of cadmium yellow and the last one – titanium white. A high quality round, which saw the In-Laws lead by 7 to 4.
Round Two - What Comes Fourth ?
Ales took Horus , and a well earned 3 points. They knew that Saatchi and Saatchi , and Football Association both previously enjoyed the services of Adam Crozier, and that ITV would be 4th. The Laws then had one of the shouts of the night, when they saw that Milli Vanilli ( Mili ) – A Micro Scooter – an ipod Nano would be followed by something with Pico. Each decreasing in magnitude by 1000. Fantastic shout. Ales took reeds, and both teams failed with a real toughie. 2= seven , 3=eleven, 4=twenty seven. The answer I failed to write down, but the connection is that each number is the lowest one with that number of syllables. Very tough. The Laws were given Stephen, John , Anne, and knew that the next monarch with no number would be Victoria. Then the Ales’ last set saw Chris repeat his amazing feat from the heat of getting a full five points , by knowing that 401 unauthorised would end with 404: Page not found – error messages on the net. Brilliant shout. The Laws were unlucky with theirs. They knew from 4th Nurse selling poppies that we were dealing with characters in Penny Lane. They cautiously took the next two, and knew that 1st would be the barber. But they said he was selling photographs, and weren’t correct. The Ales knew he was showing them. Harsh, but fair. Now the Alesmen led by 13 to 11.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Laws opted for the Lion wall. They very quickly sorted out the first two sets –
No – Drax – Klebb – Orlov – who were all Bond Villains, and then Tub – Rocking – Windsor – Carver – all types of chair. Penny tentatively suggested that Jekyll might well be leading them to gardeners- but this suggestion was forgotten about. Eventually they did untangle the last two lines – which were Belmont – Crimond – Richmond and Cwm Rhondda, which Penny knew were hymn tunes, leaving Jekyll – Repton – Kent and Loudon. Alas, they opted for alter egos , missing the point, and leading Victoria to remind them that they had dismissed gardeners, which was the correct answer. 7 points.
The Ales, left with water, quickly untangled all 4 lines. Bearn – Bordel – Holland and Mayonn they knew could all precede – aise for sauces. St. Ives – Newlyn – Euston Road and Glasgow gave them schools of Art. Norwich – Italy – Boltop and Swalk were all endings or love letters. I was delighted that Victoria got mark to explain (K)knickers Off Ready When I Come Home for Norwich. Finally Air – Judas – French and Butterfly gave them a set of kisses. 10 points gained , and they barely even broke any metaphorical sweat. Not only that, but it earned lots of lovely time for the last round.
Alesmen led by 23 to 18
Round Four – The Missing Vowels
The In-Laws won their first round match on the vowels, so had some form in this game. They took the first set, stage works banned by the Lord Chancellor by 3 to 1. The next 3 sets – People known as Q – Road Junctions and Cube Numbers were shared two apiece. In many ways this was the round for the two captains to shine tonight, as Mark and Jason seemed to be weighing in with the lions’ share . The next set – dialects and accents did see Mark buzz in wrongly, and thus the Laws made a tiny bit more ground. They were within two points, but there was only time for two more words, in the Seafood category. Both teams managed one of them. The final score , a terrific 32 – 30 win for the Alesmen.
Congratulations to the Alesmen, but congratulations too to the In-Laws. Yours was also a performance from the top drawer. A wonderful match to watch.
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2 comments:
I thought this episode had some of the toughest Only Connect questions in so those scores were very impressive. I thought the '404: Page not found' question was a bit odd though as 401 and 404 are the well known ones znd there is nothing else it could be, so 402 and 403 wouldn't be much help.
The Alesman have been very strong in both their matches, so they complete a great semi-final line-up
Seventy-seven is the lowest five syllable number.
Hugh - Many congratulations on your epic win last night. I thought that th way your whole team held their nerve, and kept fighting through was superb TV. Very well done !
Dave
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