Only Connect - Round One - Match 5

The Fantasy Footballers v. The Antiquarians

Well, if we were waiting for a noticeably weaker team to turn up on OC this season, we went away unsatisfied again on Monday night. In all other respects though this was a great contest, between the Fantasy Footballers, hereafter referred to as the Fants, and the Antiquarians, hereafter referred to as the Ants. The Fants consisted of Heidi Shaw, James Bedworth and captain Jonathan Shaw, while the Ants were Simon Belcher, Debbie Challis and Will Howells.

Round One – What’s the Connection ?

The Ants kicked off with The Eye of Horus, and scored their only real own goal of the whole show. Given Bob Hope Impersonator, Physician to inject Vitamin B12, 20 white kittens, and the real giveaway , M&Ms ( no brown ones ) they couldn’t see a connection. The Fants knew that these were famous and less famous celebrity riders. They then opted for Twisted Flax, finding On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco – Shirley Valentine – Krapp’s Last Tape and Tell Me On A Sunday. We don’t often see a team allowing the clock to run down without having a wild guess, but that’s what the Fants did. The Ants knew that these were all one person stage shows. The Ants, now warming to their task, found behind Lion – Achievement through great effort – Gentle way – Empty Hand. I think it was dawning on them with gentle way, but empty hand confirmed that we were dealing with English translations of the names of martial arts. The Fants took water, not literally, mind, and were given the music clues. Three were enough to give them the connection of prayer. Horned Viper gave the Ants Anarchy – Dry clean petroleum solvent – and these two were enough to give them symbols with a circle containing a letter. Lovely set that, and a good shout. Left with two reeds the Fants found pictures of a fish, a pair of dice, and the head of Fabien Barthez. All things you might kiss for luck, as they well knew. So after a bright and brisk first round, the Ants had a slight lead of 6 points to 5.

Round Two – What comes Fourth ?

Its not that often that we see every round two questions correctly answered by one or other of the teams, but it happened in this show. The Ants took Eye of Horus, and given Chuck, Ribs and Loins worked out that the next cut of the beast would be rump. The Fants had a lovely set with Surrey – Tuk Tuk – Segway, and knowing that we had 4 wheels, 3 wheels, and 2 wheeled vehicles, then the last should be unicycle. Lion revealed Laetare – Passion and Palm for the Ants, and they supplied Easter. Given the picture set behind Twisted flax, the Fants saw 4 strawberries, 3 plums and two pears. Working on a fruit machine theme they offered 1 bar. Given a try, the Ants answered 1 apple correctly also working on the same theme. It was an apple, but these were all things eaten in sequence by the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Mind you, the Fants were able to claim back the bonus, when the Ants were given Carson – Leno – O’Brien. They knew it was talk show hosts, but really didn’t know who took over the Tonight show from Conan O’Brien. The Fants knew that it was Jay Leno again. Finally The Fants couldn’t unravel 120 – 24 – 6. The Ants , though, knew that these were Factorials. Over which I will draw a dignified, and dare I say it, an ignorant silence, and observe that this had extended the Ants lead to 12 over 8.

Round Three - The Connecting Walls

The Fants kicked off with a wall which they managed to completely unravel before the time was up. They knew that America – Tonight – Cool – Maria were all songs from West Side Story. After a wee smidgen of a prompt from Victoria they correctly answered that Korea – Dakota – Shields and Atlantic can all be both North and South. They were pretty close on Mctwist – Shifty – Wildcat and Fakie Ollie . I thought that these were all rejected nicknames for the Spice Girls, but no, they were snowboarding terms. Finally they knw that a tomahawk – chopper – adze and ono were all types of axe. 7 points well earned.
So although they didn’t know it, the Ants’ lead was under some pressure. They too solved the wall before the end of the time. They knew that Corden – Horne – Steadman and Lamb are all actors in the regular cast of Gavin and Stacey. The second line – Finishing – Dance – Grammar and Sunday they knew were all schools. Corner – Page – Profit and Deaf Ear were all things that you might turn. Finally they worked out that Rape – Lathe – Hundred and Riding are all subdivisions of counties. A maximum score, which meant that they went into the missing vowels with a healthy lead of 22 to 15.

Round Four – The Missing Vowels

The Fants began like an express, taking the first three of Cities which were purpose built as capitals. They stumbled with the last – Abuja – giving away a hard earned point, and letting the Ants in to add one to their total. The Ants seized on this to build a buffer by taking three on legumes, with only one falling to the Fants. A herculean effort followed from the Fants, as they took the next six points , with a shut out on tallest birds on continents, and 2 points to nothing on footballers wives. In the end the effort fell a little short, but it made for a close finish, as the Ants won by 27 to 24.
Another good show, and another very handy looking team through to the quarters.