One of my shows from the 2007 SOBM of Mastermind was on Classic Mastermind last week. My friend Untruth emailed me a couple of days ago to tell me anyway, but even if I’d have missed it, I would have known anyway. I’ll tell you how. Mrs. Londinius and I went to a car boot sale this morning, in Rheola market near Neath, and I was stopped by two ladies who said, “Excuse me – were you on Mastermind yesterday?” I knew that they were talking about the classic Mastermind in the afternoon. . . but I’m not sure that they did. They seemed to think that it had been shown live, and asked me when I’d got back, and when I’ve got the next show. I considered telling them that I got back about 6 and a half years ago, but that wouldn’t have been nice, so I explained that it was a repeat. Well, I don’t suppose it’s the worst mistake you can make. Still, it’s good for the ego, and now means that I can say I’ve doubled the number of times a complete stranger has asked me if I was on Mastermind.
In a way, I almost hope that not too many people round here did see it. You see John and I have begun scouting for pastures new, and trying out different quizzes on a Sunday evening. Variety is the spice of life, they do say. I don’t know about you, but when I’m about to try out a quiz in a pub I don’t know I always look up what people have to say about it on Trip Advisor. I did this for the pub we went to last Sunday, and I have to say that reviews headed with phrases like ‘this is a local pub for local people’ did not fill me with enthusiasm. Still, you never know until you try. It was a little bit strange, actually when we went. For one thing the organizer ignored us completely, and we had to go and ask if we could play. The organizer was perfectly nice, but his excuse of ‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know you wanted to play’ was a little odd considering he never asked in the first place. I’m willing to admit that it might all be in my imagination, but it did seem that there was a bit of a frosty atmosphere towards us, until we donated the bottle we won for the first round to one team , and the bottle we won for the second round to another. As I’ve said before I’d never drink it, and John doesn’t want it. Still, the organizer did make a point of saying that we should come and play again, which was nice of him. It won’t be tomorrow, since we’ve another one to try out. Ideally if we could find three or four and rotate between them, then that would be perfect.
I’ve mentioned my son Mike on more than one occasion, I’m sure. He and Ceri have just bought a house about 10 minutes away from us now, and so we’re seeing quite a bit more of them, which is fine by me. OK, I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that Mike is besotted with his new nephew, which I can totally understand too. Still, he asked if I wanted to go to a quiz with them on Wednesday night. Despite the fact that the last time he did this we ended up at a god-awful bingo quiz I still agreed. We actually ended up at a quiz in a place just down the road from us. Then I remembered that we had played once in this quiz about a year ago, and I’d decided that once was enough. I just couldn't remember why. I soon found out. It was a three round quiz, which is fair enough, and home-made, which is all to the good. However, the problem with it is that even though it’s billed as a straight quiz, it is almost exclusively entertainment. Well, OK, I can live with that. But the question master – well – I’m sure that the regulars love him, but he got on my nerves. Jabber, jabber, jabber, like a hospital radio DJ. The kind of question master who wanders around the room while he’s asking the questions, stops to have a look at your answers and then passes a comment. Let me give you an example of the man’s wit and wisdom. In one of the two or three straight general knowledge questions he asked “Which animals do the French train to hunt for truffles ?”. We put the answer ‘pigs’ down, as you would. He leaned over, had a look and said “Ooh, look – he’s just put Smurfs!” Hmm, so Oscar Wilde really is alive and well and living in Port Talbot.
Alright, like I said this really isn’t for me, but I’m sure the regulars love it, and good luck to them. Quizzing is a broad church, and just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s a bad quiz, and if I really don’t like it that much then nobody is forcing me to play in it again, I know that. Poor old Mike though. We had about three wrong all night, and he was sure we were in with a good shout. I tried to tell him that the rules change when it’s an entertainment quiz. In my experience, when people know something about Entertainment, then they tend to know an awful lot, and I thought that chances were we’d be beaten into second. Well, Mike was wrong, and so was I. We didn’t win, but we didn’t even get second. Two teams beat us, and good luck to both of them, because there were some difficult questions in that lot.
What a contrast Thursday night’s quiz was. Brian never does a bad quiz, but Thursday’s was one of the best. Alright, it did help that it suited my team down to the ground, and we played a bit of a blinder. Three full houses in the middle rounds gave us a commanding lead which we never relinquished, and wonder of wonders we even won the picture quiz. Which is all fantastic apart from one thing. It’s my turn again on Thursday, and I have to follow that. Fat chance.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Only Connect - Round One Match One - Lasletts v. Pilots
Lasletts v. Pilots
Well I don’t really know how I let this series sneak up on me, but it was a very nice surprise that, on one of just a very few Mondays when I didn’t actually go out to a quiz the new series of Only Connect started. The same rules apply for qualification for the semi-finals, you have to win two matches out of a maximum of three in the first round. The first of the two teams then in this new series were the Lasletts, Jake Laslett, Emma Laslett and their dad, Chris Laslett. Their opponents, the Pilots, so called because they are all airline pilots were Simon Morgan, Neil Morgan and skipper Paul Judge. Let’s get on with it, then.
Round One – What’s The Connection?
The Lasletts sent the Pilots into bat first, and they chose water, which revealed Dogs: 1871 – Habeas Corpus: 1640 – and here I thought I had it – Trading With The Enemy 1914 – and here I knew I had it. The Pilots took the last clue – Human Rights: 1998 – before giving the answer – Acts that were passed in Parliament and the years they were passed. The Lasletts chose eye of Horus for their first set. Netherlands: Epsom Salts suggested things named after a place they didn’t actually come from, and where they really came from, or words to that effect. Italy – trifle came second, and that suggested something different. In Italy, trifle is zuppa inglese. So are Epsom Salts called English salst, or something like it in the Netherlands, I wondered. France: Custard Sauce confirmed it, since Crème Anglaise is the French for custard. The Lasletts had it at this stage too, for two points. The Pilots opted for Two Reeds, which brought us bucket – which gave me possibility overload – then two onions, and I knew it. Bucket is balti – two onions is dopiaza. What a lovely set – kudos to the setter. The pilots took Former name of Chennai, which of course they knew was Madras. Then they had it that these were the derivation of names of curries – clay oven , or tandoor, being the last. Ah, welcome back OC – I’ve missed you! Lion was the next choice of the Lasletts. Fairy slipper I didn’t know, but nymph who detained Odysseus was Calypso, as was Jacques Cousteau’s ship. The Lasletts had it at this stage as well, for 2 more points. Pictures and Music were left. The Pilots opted for Twisted Flax and found pictures of Amanda Donohoe, Pamela Anderson and John Barron from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Something clicked, as I remembered that Pamela Anderson’s character in Baywatch was called CJ as well. Would we have a picture of the great CJ de Mooi to finish the set? No, but then he is real, not fictional – it was a character from the West Wing. The pilots took 2 points on this, which left the music for the Lasletts. They had an idea that whistling was the connection after the first three, but took the last to be certain. This meant that both teams finished the round with 5 points.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Pilots started with water and received a picture set. We saw Patagonia, and the Gobi Desert, and so it had to be the Sahara to finish the set. The Pilots thought so, correctly, with the Arabian Desert the third. These were non polar deserts in ascending order of size. Now, not that I like to boast, but I might well have had a five pointer on the last one. The only famous MP for Bath I could think of was Lord Chris Patten, and working forwards his latest job is the Chairman of the BBC Trust. I said it at home, but I don’t know if I would have had the guts to go for it off one clue in the studio. Governor of Hong Kong for the second clue confirmed it. The Lasletts took all the clues, and they knew the connection, but just didn’t know his current position. The Pilots were close enough and earned themselves a bonus. The next set chosen by the pilots revealed one of those first clues which could be a number of things – Foreman. Heavyweight champions? The second though was enough to give me the answer – Longman. I have actually asked a question iin thye club about Thuma – Foreman – Longman etc. but it’s one of those things that if you haven’t heard it, then it’s hard to guess. Even with Ringman neither team knew these were old names for the fingers. Walker and Lynch for the Lasletts irresistibly suggested licensees of the Rovers Return in Corrie, but who would complete the sequence? Neither team, nor I , could remember that the Duckworths also ran the pub. The Pilots took their last set of the round with Eye of Horus. I’ll be honest, I should have known this set, but I didn’t. Season of Light – Season of Darkness – Spring of Hope. Neither team managed it. The answer was Winter of Despair. It’s part of the sequence from a Tale of Two Cities which begins “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. “ Not easy, but fair. The Lasletts ended the round with Two Reeds. This was, for serious quizzers, a 5 point set every day of the week. 3: Mike Todd was Liz Taylor’s 3rd husband, and so her 6th had to be Richard Burton, who was also her 5th. The Lasletts had it with 2 clues, and this was enough to leave them a point behind the Pilots, who led by 9 to 8.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Lasletts picked the water wall, and almost immediately isolated French words for extreme weather – glace – éclair- vent – neige (ice – lightning – wind and snow). Breast – Pocket – Lapel and Cuff followed very shortly afterwards – part of a jacket. Shaft – Rockford – Ironside and Cannon , all 1970s US TV detectives were next, and this left snooker terms – Baulk – Bridge – Plant and Kiss. Alright, so it was a relatively gentle round 1 wall, but even so the speed with which they solved it for a maximum was impressive.
If the Pilots weren’t quite as quick solving the Lion Wall, they were just as successful. They soon found the 80s New Romantic bands Talk Talk – Soft Cell – ABC and Visage. Terms or words which complete the simile – as easy as – followed, with winking – pie – falling off a log – and – riding a bike. The last two sets fell after a little bit of jiggery pokery, to show mobile service providers – giigaff – lebara – three and EE, and things you can peel – eyes – orange – old paint and sticker. 10 points, which preserved their one point lead, with 19 to the Lasletts’ 18.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
So it all came down to this. The first set, Sporting Knights and Dames went to the Lasletts 3 – 1. A 3 -1 set of US states also fell to the Lasletts who were now in the lead. I liked the next set – one word compositions and their composers. There was only time for a couple, and both fell to the Lasletts, to seal a 25 – 21 win. Well played both, that was a good contest. Good luck in both of your next contests.
Well I don’t really know how I let this series sneak up on me, but it was a very nice surprise that, on one of just a very few Mondays when I didn’t actually go out to a quiz the new series of Only Connect started. The same rules apply for qualification for the semi-finals, you have to win two matches out of a maximum of three in the first round. The first of the two teams then in this new series were the Lasletts, Jake Laslett, Emma Laslett and their dad, Chris Laslett. Their opponents, the Pilots, so called because they are all airline pilots were Simon Morgan, Neil Morgan and skipper Paul Judge. Let’s get on with it, then.
Round One – What’s The Connection?
The Lasletts sent the Pilots into bat first, and they chose water, which revealed Dogs: 1871 – Habeas Corpus: 1640 – and here I thought I had it – Trading With The Enemy 1914 – and here I knew I had it. The Pilots took the last clue – Human Rights: 1998 – before giving the answer – Acts that were passed in Parliament and the years they were passed. The Lasletts chose eye of Horus for their first set. Netherlands: Epsom Salts suggested things named after a place they didn’t actually come from, and where they really came from, or words to that effect. Italy – trifle came second, and that suggested something different. In Italy, trifle is zuppa inglese. So are Epsom Salts called English salst, or something like it in the Netherlands, I wondered. France: Custard Sauce confirmed it, since Crème Anglaise is the French for custard. The Lasletts had it at this stage too, for two points. The Pilots opted for Two Reeds, which brought us bucket – which gave me possibility overload – then two onions, and I knew it. Bucket is balti – two onions is dopiaza. What a lovely set – kudos to the setter. The pilots took Former name of Chennai, which of course they knew was Madras. Then they had it that these were the derivation of names of curries – clay oven , or tandoor, being the last. Ah, welcome back OC – I’ve missed you! Lion was the next choice of the Lasletts. Fairy slipper I didn’t know, but nymph who detained Odysseus was Calypso, as was Jacques Cousteau’s ship. The Lasletts had it at this stage as well, for 2 more points. Pictures and Music were left. The Pilots opted for Twisted Flax and found pictures of Amanda Donohoe, Pamela Anderson and John Barron from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Something clicked, as I remembered that Pamela Anderson’s character in Baywatch was called CJ as well. Would we have a picture of the great CJ de Mooi to finish the set? No, but then he is real, not fictional – it was a character from the West Wing. The pilots took 2 points on this, which left the music for the Lasletts. They had an idea that whistling was the connection after the first three, but took the last to be certain. This meant that both teams finished the round with 5 points.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Pilots started with water and received a picture set. We saw Patagonia, and the Gobi Desert, and so it had to be the Sahara to finish the set. The Pilots thought so, correctly, with the Arabian Desert the third. These were non polar deserts in ascending order of size. Now, not that I like to boast, but I might well have had a five pointer on the last one. The only famous MP for Bath I could think of was Lord Chris Patten, and working forwards his latest job is the Chairman of the BBC Trust. I said it at home, but I don’t know if I would have had the guts to go for it off one clue in the studio. Governor of Hong Kong for the second clue confirmed it. The Lasletts took all the clues, and they knew the connection, but just didn’t know his current position. The Pilots were close enough and earned themselves a bonus. The next set chosen by the pilots revealed one of those first clues which could be a number of things – Foreman. Heavyweight champions? The second though was enough to give me the answer – Longman. I have actually asked a question iin thye club about Thuma – Foreman – Longman etc. but it’s one of those things that if you haven’t heard it, then it’s hard to guess. Even with Ringman neither team knew these were old names for the fingers. Walker and Lynch for the Lasletts irresistibly suggested licensees of the Rovers Return in Corrie, but who would complete the sequence? Neither team, nor I , could remember that the Duckworths also ran the pub. The Pilots took their last set of the round with Eye of Horus. I’ll be honest, I should have known this set, but I didn’t. Season of Light – Season of Darkness – Spring of Hope. Neither team managed it. The answer was Winter of Despair. It’s part of the sequence from a Tale of Two Cities which begins “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. “ Not easy, but fair. The Lasletts ended the round with Two Reeds. This was, for serious quizzers, a 5 point set every day of the week. 3: Mike Todd was Liz Taylor’s 3rd husband, and so her 6th had to be Richard Burton, who was also her 5th. The Lasletts had it with 2 clues, and this was enough to leave them a point behind the Pilots, who led by 9 to 8.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Lasletts picked the water wall, and almost immediately isolated French words for extreme weather – glace – éclair- vent – neige (ice – lightning – wind and snow). Breast – Pocket – Lapel and Cuff followed very shortly afterwards – part of a jacket. Shaft – Rockford – Ironside and Cannon , all 1970s US TV detectives were next, and this left snooker terms – Baulk – Bridge – Plant and Kiss. Alright, so it was a relatively gentle round 1 wall, but even so the speed with which they solved it for a maximum was impressive.
If the Pilots weren’t quite as quick solving the Lion Wall, they were just as successful. They soon found the 80s New Romantic bands Talk Talk – Soft Cell – ABC and Visage. Terms or words which complete the simile – as easy as – followed, with winking – pie – falling off a log – and – riding a bike. The last two sets fell after a little bit of jiggery pokery, to show mobile service providers – giigaff – lebara – three and EE, and things you can peel – eyes – orange – old paint and sticker. 10 points, which preserved their one point lead, with 19 to the Lasletts’ 18.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
So it all came down to this. The first set, Sporting Knights and Dames went to the Lasletts 3 – 1. A 3 -1 set of US states also fell to the Lasletts who were now in the lead. I liked the next set – one word compositions and their composers. There was only time for a couple, and both fell to the Lasletts, to seal a 25 – 21 win. Well played both, that was a good contest. Good luck in both of your next contests.
In The News
In The News
Who Or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Usagi
2. Tamiko Bolton
3. Oisin Murphy
4. Richard Whitehead
5. The Elms, Rottingdean
6. Sarah Outen
7. Michael Downey
8. Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum
9. Alice Oswald
10. Tony Martin
11. Emanuele Leo
12. Jake White
13. Charles Taylor
14. Lariam
15. Iain Dale
16. Samantha Lewthwaite
17. Robin Van Helsum
18. Arctic Sunrise
19. Thibault Hutin
20. Richie Humphreys
21. Dominic Sibley
22. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale
In Other News
1. Name the mall , the scene of the massacre by terrorists in Nairobi?
2. Who won the Tour of Britain?
3. Who won the German Election
4. Which became the first premier league football club to sponsor a university technical college?
5. Which city was the venue for the Labour Party Conference?
6. Which band were criticized for their tax arrangements?
7. What was the score between Man City and Man Utd?
8. –and Spurs and Cardiff?
9. Who was the first manager to be sacked in the Premier League this season?
10. Who won the Singapore GP?
11. Who became European Heavyweight Boxing Champion?
12. NHS regulators dropped cases into the conduct of senior medical staff where?
13. Which was the only British show to win an Emmy last week?
14. Which broadcaster admitted last week he has been lying about his age, and he is in fact almost 90?
15. Which entertainer faced charges in Westminster Magistrates Court last week?
16. Which team had the last 100% record in the English leagues?
17. Who is exhibiting at the Halcyon Gallery in November?
18. Who finally officially quit UKIP?
19. What government policy was branded Neo Victorian?
20. Which rugby player, having apologized to the Prime Minister last week was ruled out of the Autumn Tests by injury?
21. Which ‘Strictly’ judge revealed that he is due to have hip operations, and is looking forward to them?
22. Who resigned from the Booker Prize advisory committee over the changes announced in the last few weeks?
23. Which team won the American’s Cup, by which score?
24. The siege of Homs reached which unenviable milestone last week?
25. The so-called World’s Oldest Newspaper announced it is going digital only. what is it?
26. In the capital one cup, what was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool?
27. – and Swansea and Birmingham City?
28. What sentence did Stephen Lee receive for match fixing snooker?
29. Who lost his attempt to recoup his costs from former employee Stella English?
30. What is The Rugby Champions Cup?
31. GB and Ireland’s top golfers have been accused of shunning which competition?
32. Which murder victim’s funeral took place last week?
33. Who left Blue Peter for BT Sport?
34. Why is Harvard University suing Havard School in Milton Keynes?
35. Warrington beat whom to reach the Super League Grand Final?
36. What was the score in the football match between England Women and Turkey?
37. Which former England cricketer has been appointed High Performance Coach in the Australian Centre of Excellence?
38. Which teams won and came second in the County championship?
39. Which teams are relegated from the County Championship?
40. Which teams are promoted from the second division of the county championship?
41. What topped a BBC poll to find the most popular film score of all time?
42. Which 50s rock and roller passed away this week?
43. Who faced a court case for tax evasion in the small Spanish town of Gava this week?
44. Which two teams are playing each other this weekend in the annual Wembley gridiron game?
Who Or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Usagi
2. Tamiko Bolton
3. Oisin Murphy
4. Richard Whitehead
5. The Elms, Rottingdean
6. Sarah Outen
7. Michael Downey
8. Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum
9. Alice Oswald
10. Tony Martin
11. Emanuele Leo
12. Jake White
13. Charles Taylor
14. Lariam
15. Iain Dale
16. Samantha Lewthwaite
17. Robin Van Helsum
18. Arctic Sunrise
19. Thibault Hutin
20. Richie Humphreys
21. Dominic Sibley
22. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale
In Other News
1. Name the mall , the scene of the massacre by terrorists in Nairobi?
2. Who won the Tour of Britain?
3. Who won the German Election
4. Which became the first premier league football club to sponsor a university technical college?
5. Which city was the venue for the Labour Party Conference?
6. Which band were criticized for their tax arrangements?
7. What was the score between Man City and Man Utd?
8. –and Spurs and Cardiff?
9. Who was the first manager to be sacked in the Premier League this season?
10. Who won the Singapore GP?
11. Who became European Heavyweight Boxing Champion?
12. NHS regulators dropped cases into the conduct of senior medical staff where?
13. Which was the only British show to win an Emmy last week?
14. Which broadcaster admitted last week he has been lying about his age, and he is in fact almost 90?
15. Which entertainer faced charges in Westminster Magistrates Court last week?
16. Which team had the last 100% record in the English leagues?
17. Who is exhibiting at the Halcyon Gallery in November?
18. Who finally officially quit UKIP?
19. What government policy was branded Neo Victorian?
20. Which rugby player, having apologized to the Prime Minister last week was ruled out of the Autumn Tests by injury?
21. Which ‘Strictly’ judge revealed that he is due to have hip operations, and is looking forward to them?
22. Who resigned from the Booker Prize advisory committee over the changes announced in the last few weeks?
23. Which team won the American’s Cup, by which score?
24. The siege of Homs reached which unenviable milestone last week?
25. The so-called World’s Oldest Newspaper announced it is going digital only. what is it?
26. In the capital one cup, what was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool?
27. – and Swansea and Birmingham City?
28. What sentence did Stephen Lee receive for match fixing snooker?
29. Who lost his attempt to recoup his costs from former employee Stella English?
30. What is The Rugby Champions Cup?
31. GB and Ireland’s top golfers have been accused of shunning which competition?
32. Which murder victim’s funeral took place last week?
33. Who left Blue Peter for BT Sport?
34. Why is Harvard University suing Havard School in Milton Keynes?
35. Warrington beat whom to reach the Super League Grand Final?
36. What was the score in the football match between England Women and Turkey?
37. Which former England cricketer has been appointed High Performance Coach in the Australian Centre of Excellence?
38. Which teams won and came second in the County championship?
39. Which teams are relegated from the County Championship?
40. Which teams are promoted from the second division of the county championship?
41. What topped a BBC poll to find the most popular film score of all time?
42. Which 50s rock and roller passed away this week?
43. Who faced a court case for tax evasion in the small Spanish town of Gava this week?
44. Which two teams are playing each other this weekend in the annual Wembley gridiron game?
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jonny Mitchell
2. Salustiano Sanchez
3. Javier Gomez
4. Chris Horner
5. Aaron Alexis
6. Christopher Jeffries
7. Nina Davulrui
8. Stephen Lee
9. Yohan Cabaye
10. Jackie Lomax
11. Adrian Lee
12. Alison Balsom
13. Simon McCoy
14. Sunny Ozell
15. Hiroshi Yamauchi
16. Doctor Sleep
17. Tamarillo
18. Glen James
19. Anna Wardley
20. Godfrey Bloom
In Other News
1. Which customer helpline was voted the worst in the UK?
2. American writers will be eligible for what from next year?
3. Which video game was released on Tuesday 18th ?
4. Who defeated Mo Farah in the Great North Run?
5. Who signed a new 5 year deal for Real Madrid?
6. What was the score in the GB v. Croatia Davis Cup tie?
7. A record number of kitesurfers took part in an event off Hayling Island. How many altogether?
8. Which two countries will contest the Davis Cup final?
9. Billy Connolly announced that he is suffering from what?
10. Why was rugby player Manu Tuilagi in the news last week?
11. Which country temporarily closed its last nuclear power plant last week?
12. What was the score in the Swansea v, Liverpool match?
13. Where was the Lib Dem Conference held?
14. What was the final score in the ODI series between England and Australia?
15. Who appealed against his 9 month ban from tennis for failing a drug test?
16. Iran announced plans to send what into space?
17. What was successfully floated last week?
18. What was the Champions League score between Man City and Viktoria Plsen?
19. – and Man Utd. and Bayer Leverkeusen?
20. Which ex – referee hit out against accusations of favouritism?
21. Who alleged in a tweet that other snooker players are guilty of match fixing, and then said he was referring to the past?
22. Which place in the UK has applied to the EU for permission to make Stilton cheese?
23. The ASA upheld claims that which washing up liquid lasts twice as long as competitors?
24. Who won the first time trial in the Tour of Britain?
25. Whose childhood home was put on eBay last week?
26. Child Beauty Pageants have been banned where?
27. GB have been drawn away to whom for their next Davis Cup match?
28. Last week saw a row over Spurs fans’ use of which three letter word?
29. In Europe, what was the score between Chelsea and Basel?
30. – and Arsenal and Marseilles?
31. – and AC Milan and Celtic?
32. Which Scottish town is upset over the use of its name in that new video game released last week?
33. Who is stepping down from presenting Sports Personality of the Year?
34. Which former world heavyweight boxing champion, who once beat Muhammad Ali, passed away last week?
35. What was the score between Swansea and Valencia?
36. – and Spurs and Tromso?
37. Which team clinched the cricket county championship?
38. – and who was their head coach, who suffered a heart attack earlier in the year?
39. To whom is the statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage being returned?
40. Which BBC sitcom is being revived by ITV?
41. What was the score between Wigan and Zulte Waregem?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Head of the Thornhill Academy in Educating Yorkshire
2. World’s oldest man who passed away aged 112
3. Beat Jonathan Brownlee in the final sprint to the line in the World Triathlon Final
4. Oldest person ever to win one of cycling’s grand tours, winning the Vuelta a Espana aged 41
5. Gunman in Washington DC Navy Yard shootings
6. Landlord wrongly arrested over murder of Joanna Yates, finally received an apology
7. New Miss America, who is of Indian heritage
8. Snooker player found guilty of match fixing
9. Player who apologized to Newcastle United fans for trying to move away from the club
10. Singer signed to the Apple label by the Beatles, worked extensively with George Harrison, never had the success he deserved – passed away
11. Chief Constable who has called for privately run drunk tanks
12. 1st British woman to win Artist of the Year in the Gramophone Classical Music Awards
13. Newsreader who mistakenly picked up a ream of copier paper instead of his notes, but in best BBC tradition carried on regardless
14. Married to Sir Patrick Stewart
15. Chief Executive of Nintendo, passed away
16. Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining
17. Olympic trials horse that has been cloned
18. Homeless American man who handed in a backpack he found containing $42,000. Since then he has received donations from the public in excess of this figure
19. Swimmer attempting to swim around the Isle of Wight for charity
20. UKIP MEP who called women ‘sluts’ at the party conference.
In Other News
1. HM Revenue and Customs
2. The Booker Prize
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Kenenisa Bikela
5. Christiano Ronaldo
6. 4 – 1 GB
7. 318 including Richard Branson
8. Serbia and the Czech Republic
9. Billy Connolly
10. Making bunny ears behind David Cameron in a photo shoot.
11. Japan
12. 2 - 2
13. Glasgow
14. 2 – 1 to Australia
15. Marin Cilic
16. A Persian cat!
17. The Costa Concordia
18. 3 - 0
19. 4 - 2
20. Mark Halsey
21. Ronnie O’Sullivan
22. Stilton! Under current EU rules Stilton is not one of the places which can legally call its cheese Stilton.
23. Fairy Liquid
24. Sir Bradley Wiggins
25. Eminem
26. France
27. USA
28. Yid
29. 2 – 1 to Basel
30. 2 – 1 to Arsenal
31. 2 – 0 to AC Milan
32. Hawick
33. Sue Barker
34. Ken Norton
35. 3 – 0 to Swansea
36. 3 – 0 to Spurs
37. Durham
38. Geoff Cook
39. Muhammad Al Fayed
40. Birds of a Feather
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jonny Mitchell
2. Salustiano Sanchez
3. Javier Gomez
4. Chris Horner
5. Aaron Alexis
6. Christopher Jeffries
7. Nina Davulrui
8. Stephen Lee
9. Yohan Cabaye
10. Jackie Lomax
11. Adrian Lee
12. Alison Balsom
13. Simon McCoy
14. Sunny Ozell
15. Hiroshi Yamauchi
16. Doctor Sleep
17. Tamarillo
18. Glen James
19. Anna Wardley
20. Godfrey Bloom
In Other News
1. Which customer helpline was voted the worst in the UK?
2. American writers will be eligible for what from next year?
3. Which video game was released on Tuesday 18th ?
4. Who defeated Mo Farah in the Great North Run?
5. Who signed a new 5 year deal for Real Madrid?
6. What was the score in the GB v. Croatia Davis Cup tie?
7. A record number of kitesurfers took part in an event off Hayling Island. How many altogether?
8. Which two countries will contest the Davis Cup final?
9. Billy Connolly announced that he is suffering from what?
10. Why was rugby player Manu Tuilagi in the news last week?
11. Which country temporarily closed its last nuclear power plant last week?
12. What was the score in the Swansea v, Liverpool match?
13. Where was the Lib Dem Conference held?
14. What was the final score in the ODI series between England and Australia?
15. Who appealed against his 9 month ban from tennis for failing a drug test?
16. Iran announced plans to send what into space?
17. What was successfully floated last week?
18. What was the Champions League score between Man City and Viktoria Plsen?
19. – and Man Utd. and Bayer Leverkeusen?
20. Which ex – referee hit out against accusations of favouritism?
21. Who alleged in a tweet that other snooker players are guilty of match fixing, and then said he was referring to the past?
22. Which place in the UK has applied to the EU for permission to make Stilton cheese?
23. The ASA upheld claims that which washing up liquid lasts twice as long as competitors?
24. Who won the first time trial in the Tour of Britain?
25. Whose childhood home was put on eBay last week?
26. Child Beauty Pageants have been banned where?
27. GB have been drawn away to whom for their next Davis Cup match?
28. Last week saw a row over Spurs fans’ use of which three letter word?
29. In Europe, what was the score between Chelsea and Basel?
30. – and Arsenal and Marseilles?
31. – and AC Milan and Celtic?
32. Which Scottish town is upset over the use of its name in that new video game released last week?
33. Who is stepping down from presenting Sports Personality of the Year?
34. Which former world heavyweight boxing champion, who once beat Muhammad Ali, passed away last week?
35. What was the score between Swansea and Valencia?
36. – and Spurs and Tromso?
37. Which team clinched the cricket county championship?
38. – and who was their head coach, who suffered a heart attack earlier in the year?
39. To whom is the statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage being returned?
40. Which BBC sitcom is being revived by ITV?
41. What was the score between Wigan and Zulte Waregem?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Head of the Thornhill Academy in Educating Yorkshire
2. World’s oldest man who passed away aged 112
3. Beat Jonathan Brownlee in the final sprint to the line in the World Triathlon Final
4. Oldest person ever to win one of cycling’s grand tours, winning the Vuelta a Espana aged 41
5. Gunman in Washington DC Navy Yard shootings
6. Landlord wrongly arrested over murder of Joanna Yates, finally received an apology
7. New Miss America, who is of Indian heritage
8. Snooker player found guilty of match fixing
9. Player who apologized to Newcastle United fans for trying to move away from the club
10. Singer signed to the Apple label by the Beatles, worked extensively with George Harrison, never had the success he deserved – passed away
11. Chief Constable who has called for privately run drunk tanks
12. 1st British woman to win Artist of the Year in the Gramophone Classical Music Awards
13. Newsreader who mistakenly picked up a ream of copier paper instead of his notes, but in best BBC tradition carried on regardless
14. Married to Sir Patrick Stewart
15. Chief Executive of Nintendo, passed away
16. Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining
17. Olympic trials horse that has been cloned
18. Homeless American man who handed in a backpack he found containing $42,000. Since then he has received donations from the public in excess of this figure
19. Swimmer attempting to swim around the Isle of Wight for charity
20. UKIP MEP who called women ‘sluts’ at the party conference.
In Other News
1. HM Revenue and Customs
2. The Booker Prize
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Kenenisa Bikela
5. Christiano Ronaldo
6. 4 – 1 GB
7. 318 including Richard Branson
8. Serbia and the Czech Republic
9. Billy Connolly
10. Making bunny ears behind David Cameron in a photo shoot.
11. Japan
12. 2 - 2
13. Glasgow
14. 2 – 1 to Australia
15. Marin Cilic
16. A Persian cat!
17. The Costa Concordia
18. 3 - 0
19. 4 - 2
20. Mark Halsey
21. Ronnie O’Sullivan
22. Stilton! Under current EU rules Stilton is not one of the places which can legally call its cheese Stilton.
23. Fairy Liquid
24. Sir Bradley Wiggins
25. Eminem
26. France
27. USA
28. Yid
29. 2 – 1 to Basel
30. 2 – 1 to Arsenal
31. 2 – 0 to AC Milan
32. Hawick
33. Sue Barker
34. Ken Norton
35. 3 – 0 to Swansea
36. 3 – 0 to Spurs
37. Durham
38. Geoff Cook
39. Muhammad Al Fayed
40. Birds of a Feather
University Challenge - Round One - Match Eleven
Pembroke, Cambridge v. Somerville, Oxford
After a little bit of a lacklustre opening this series has really picked up in the last few weeks, and an Oxbridge contest is usually well worth the price of admission. Venerable Pembroke College was represented by Mark Nelson, Lizzie Colwill, Matthew Anketell and their captain Harry McNeill-Adams. The relative stripling Somerville College’s team consisted of Hasneen Karbalai, Zach Vermeer, Chris Beer and their skipper Michael Davies.
Harry McNeill-Adams knew that Bill Clinton made his first inaugural address in 1993, and took the first starter for Pembroke. Hans Holbein the Younger provided them with 2 bonuses. Pythagorean Triples provided Matthew Anketell with the second starter for Pembroke, and they took one of a tricky set of bonuses on Byron. Had the last question come first, and the first last I dare say they would have had two of them. Never mind. Something about the point between Leo and Libra and a visible hue of something or other (stop me if I’m getting too technical) allowed Hasneen Karbalai in for Somerville’s first starter with VI. Now, a bonus set on biochemistry gave me a rare science bonus when I knew that Omega 3 is found in fish oils. Of course, Somerville had all three of the bonuses. Right, I didn’t actually know the answer to – add the total number of EU member states to the total number of EU official languages, and divide by the number of US States, but I guessed that if it was a whole number it had to be 1. Judging by the tone of his voice it was a guess for Michael Davies too. Didn’t matter. As long as they’re right they all count. There was a nice set of bonuses on Tewkesbury Abbey, of which Somerville managed 2, putting them into the lead. The picture starter showed us the crest of Munster RFC. This wasn’t taken by either team, so the picture bonuses rolled over. An impressive early buzz from Zach Vermeer identified a quotation from Edmund Burke. More rugby team crests followed, and I knew Llanelli – not that far down the road – and Ulster – the red hand, as JP said, being a giveaway. Somerville just knew Ulster. On the cusp, then of the ten minute mark Somerville, having weathered Pembroke’s blitz start led by 60 to 35.
A lovely starter on flags immediately followed. This asked for two of the other three Mediterranean countries apart from Turkey whose flags feature a star and crescent symbol. Mark Nelson gave us Algeria and Tunisia, the other being Libya. Yes, ladies and gents, if any quiz master tries to tell you that Libya’s flag is all green, you tell them that they are getting their questions from an out of date quiz book. So there. Places named after rivers provided them with a further 10 points. Zach Vermeer took a good early buzz to identify the word factotum as the term derived from the latin for ‘do everything’. Some maths thing followed, and Somerville managed the first two. I had a great guess or the next starter, about a quotation about England from a group of writers and artists made in 1914, made all the more impressive since neither team managed it – the Vorticists. Yes, not my cup of tea at all, but each to their own, I suppose. Now the next starter was one of those that rewarded the team who kept their nerve and waited until it became obvious. Asked for a literary figure, once Pembroke had buzzed in too early, then Somerville were given the choice piece of information that he was the brother in law of Southey, and composed the lyrical ballads with Wordsworth. Chris Beer provided the correct answer of S.T.Coleridge. Social Sceinces only brought one bonus for Somerville. Which didn’t really matter since they were well on a roll by now. Zach Vermeer offered pathenogenic for the term derived from the greek for virgin birth, and JP did correct him to parthenogenesis, but still allowed the correct answer. Bonuses on Harold Nicholson’s diaries brought a full set, and pushed Somerville comfortably through the 100 point barrier. The music starter followed, asking the teams to identify the theme music of a popular film. I always love seeing how the subtitles described these pieces of music. In this case the theme of Chariots of Fire was, and I quote , “Quivering electronic notes.” Well, quite. Chris Beer had that. More films followed. ‘Plaintive strings’ was Schindler’s List, ‘Epic Orchestral Sweep’ was Ben Hur, and ‘Dramatic Intro’ was 2001: A Space Odyssey. Somerville had two of these. Right then – a question which asks about a seminal French thinker in 1941 will about 65- 70% of the time require the answer Jean Paul Sartre. The rest of the time it’s usually Albert Camus, and this next starter was one of them. Zach Vermeer knew it, and thus earned a set of bonuses on scientists born in 1913. They took one of these. A second flags starter asked the flag of which country in Central America has two woodcutters on it. I suspect that announcing that the country gained independence from the UK made it somewhat easier. Harry McNeill-Adams won the buzzer race on that one. A nice UC set on eye rhymes followed – these are normally gettable, and Pembroke made no mistake with them. Nobody knew that E101 is also B2. There you go. Michael Davies onw the buzzer race on the next question to answer that Pinyin is the word used for the system of transcribing Chinese characters into the latin alphabet. Industrial chemical processes saw me answering ‘Haber-Bosch’ to each until it was right for the last one. That’s the one Somerville had as well. Which was enough to ensure that they had a lead of 100, by 170 to 70 on the 20 minute mark. Game over? Not necessarily, but it was going to need a huge effort from Pembroke just to get them into a repechage slot, let alone to win.
It didn’t help when Harry McNeill-Adams buzzed too early on the next question. I’ll be honest, it was getting late and I didn’t really get the question, but Hasneen Karbalai had it with amare. I liked the bonus set though, on published works whose titles begin with “The Man Who “ – which is also a wonderful album by Travis. Would be King – Was Thursday – Mistook his wife for a hat - gave them a full set. The second picture starter showed us something which looked like a Constable, and Matthew Anketell won the buzzer race to say that it was just that. Paintings by three other artists who were born in one century but died in the next brought them one correct answer on a tough set. They were unlucky not to get Caravaggio, as ‘the young guy who got kicked out of his town’ is not a bad description of him. Lizzie Colwill knew that TNA at Kew is the National Archives. Railway lines in England were gettable, but Pembroke didn’t quite manage any of them. In the next starter on Probability Theory I was lost after the word ‘what’ , but Mark Nelson had it. This brought them a 3 figure score, which they’d certainly earned in the last couple of minutes. A good old set of quiz chestnuts on metal ores followed, and Pembroke managed two of them. Harry McNeill-Adams had a great early buzz for the next starter identifying slang words used in Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange”. A nice set on geographical features in south America were gettable, but they only managed two of them. There was a buzzer race for the next starter, asking which Shakespeare play was the source for the opera “Beatrice and Benedict”, and it was won by Zach Vermeer, who knew that it was of course Much Ado About Nothing. Later sequels to classic fiction provided a full set, and took Somerville through the 200 point barrier. Harry McNeill-Adams knew that Viscontis and Sforzas were associated with Milan. Ac or Inter? A real UC special set on anagrams in French followed. They took one, but could and should have had two. This put them on 145, and a repechage slot was not totally out of the question. Mind you, as soon as JP said the abbreviation AGN Chris Beer was straight in with Active Galactic Nucleus. (Altogether now – a bit of ointment . . . ) This brought them a full set of bonuses on former capital cities. As quick as Chris Beer had been on the previous starter, Michael Davies was just as speedy on the next starter, identifying Ontology as being the branch of metaphysics taking its name from the Greek for being. Good shout. A lovely set on broken engagements in the works of Charles Dickens didn’t allow them to add to their score of 255 before the gong.They won by 255 to 145.
I seem to be saying this a lot in this series, but this Somerville team seem to be a distinctly useful outfit, with starter answers coming from every member of the team. I think we could be in for some very good second round match ups this year. It was bad luck for Pembroke to meet such a good team in the first round, but their score of 145 is nothing to be ashamed of.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Somehow I doubt that The Iron Law of Oligarchy has ever raised that much public laughter before, but when it was offered by Somerville as the answer to the second bonus on social sciences, JP’s announcement – (pause) No, it was Elite Theory- earned enough of a guffaw from the audience for the great man to follow it up with “Very nicely confident, though!”. Of course, the Iron Law of Oligarchy had to be the answer to the next question after that, didn’t it.
Our hero was fairly restrained after that flurry, although he did manage a wonderfully old fashioned look when Pembroke offered ‘Devon’ as the railway line named after a character in the title of a Henry Williamson book. It was Tarka, as in the otter. ( We have a water otter in the kitchen you know. Really? Yes, it’s the kettle, which makes the water ‘otter. I don’t wish to know that, Kaindly leave the stage.)
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Harold Nicholson described the whole Suez affair in 1956 as “A smash and grab raid that was all smash and no grab”. Quality.
After a little bit of a lacklustre opening this series has really picked up in the last few weeks, and an Oxbridge contest is usually well worth the price of admission. Venerable Pembroke College was represented by Mark Nelson, Lizzie Colwill, Matthew Anketell and their captain Harry McNeill-Adams. The relative stripling Somerville College’s team consisted of Hasneen Karbalai, Zach Vermeer, Chris Beer and their skipper Michael Davies.
Harry McNeill-Adams knew that Bill Clinton made his first inaugural address in 1993, and took the first starter for Pembroke. Hans Holbein the Younger provided them with 2 bonuses. Pythagorean Triples provided Matthew Anketell with the second starter for Pembroke, and they took one of a tricky set of bonuses on Byron. Had the last question come first, and the first last I dare say they would have had two of them. Never mind. Something about the point between Leo and Libra and a visible hue of something or other (stop me if I’m getting too technical) allowed Hasneen Karbalai in for Somerville’s first starter with VI. Now, a bonus set on biochemistry gave me a rare science bonus when I knew that Omega 3 is found in fish oils. Of course, Somerville had all three of the bonuses. Right, I didn’t actually know the answer to – add the total number of EU member states to the total number of EU official languages, and divide by the number of US States, but I guessed that if it was a whole number it had to be 1. Judging by the tone of his voice it was a guess for Michael Davies too. Didn’t matter. As long as they’re right they all count. There was a nice set of bonuses on Tewkesbury Abbey, of which Somerville managed 2, putting them into the lead. The picture starter showed us the crest of Munster RFC. This wasn’t taken by either team, so the picture bonuses rolled over. An impressive early buzz from Zach Vermeer identified a quotation from Edmund Burke. More rugby team crests followed, and I knew Llanelli – not that far down the road – and Ulster – the red hand, as JP said, being a giveaway. Somerville just knew Ulster. On the cusp, then of the ten minute mark Somerville, having weathered Pembroke’s blitz start led by 60 to 35.
A lovely starter on flags immediately followed. This asked for two of the other three Mediterranean countries apart from Turkey whose flags feature a star and crescent symbol. Mark Nelson gave us Algeria and Tunisia, the other being Libya. Yes, ladies and gents, if any quiz master tries to tell you that Libya’s flag is all green, you tell them that they are getting their questions from an out of date quiz book. So there. Places named after rivers provided them with a further 10 points. Zach Vermeer took a good early buzz to identify the word factotum as the term derived from the latin for ‘do everything’. Some maths thing followed, and Somerville managed the first two. I had a great guess or the next starter, about a quotation about England from a group of writers and artists made in 1914, made all the more impressive since neither team managed it – the Vorticists. Yes, not my cup of tea at all, but each to their own, I suppose. Now the next starter was one of those that rewarded the team who kept their nerve and waited until it became obvious. Asked for a literary figure, once Pembroke had buzzed in too early, then Somerville were given the choice piece of information that he was the brother in law of Southey, and composed the lyrical ballads with Wordsworth. Chris Beer provided the correct answer of S.T.Coleridge. Social Sceinces only brought one bonus for Somerville. Which didn’t really matter since they were well on a roll by now. Zach Vermeer offered pathenogenic for the term derived from the greek for virgin birth, and JP did correct him to parthenogenesis, but still allowed the correct answer. Bonuses on Harold Nicholson’s diaries brought a full set, and pushed Somerville comfortably through the 100 point barrier. The music starter followed, asking the teams to identify the theme music of a popular film. I always love seeing how the subtitles described these pieces of music. In this case the theme of Chariots of Fire was, and I quote , “Quivering electronic notes.” Well, quite. Chris Beer had that. More films followed. ‘Plaintive strings’ was Schindler’s List, ‘Epic Orchestral Sweep’ was Ben Hur, and ‘Dramatic Intro’ was 2001: A Space Odyssey. Somerville had two of these. Right then – a question which asks about a seminal French thinker in 1941 will about 65- 70% of the time require the answer Jean Paul Sartre. The rest of the time it’s usually Albert Camus, and this next starter was one of them. Zach Vermeer knew it, and thus earned a set of bonuses on scientists born in 1913. They took one of these. A second flags starter asked the flag of which country in Central America has two woodcutters on it. I suspect that announcing that the country gained independence from the UK made it somewhat easier. Harry McNeill-Adams won the buzzer race on that one. A nice UC set on eye rhymes followed – these are normally gettable, and Pembroke made no mistake with them. Nobody knew that E101 is also B2. There you go. Michael Davies onw the buzzer race on the next question to answer that Pinyin is the word used for the system of transcribing Chinese characters into the latin alphabet. Industrial chemical processes saw me answering ‘Haber-Bosch’ to each until it was right for the last one. That’s the one Somerville had as well. Which was enough to ensure that they had a lead of 100, by 170 to 70 on the 20 minute mark. Game over? Not necessarily, but it was going to need a huge effort from Pembroke just to get them into a repechage slot, let alone to win.
It didn’t help when Harry McNeill-Adams buzzed too early on the next question. I’ll be honest, it was getting late and I didn’t really get the question, but Hasneen Karbalai had it with amare. I liked the bonus set though, on published works whose titles begin with “The Man Who “ – which is also a wonderful album by Travis. Would be King – Was Thursday – Mistook his wife for a hat - gave them a full set. The second picture starter showed us something which looked like a Constable, and Matthew Anketell won the buzzer race to say that it was just that. Paintings by three other artists who were born in one century but died in the next brought them one correct answer on a tough set. They were unlucky not to get Caravaggio, as ‘the young guy who got kicked out of his town’ is not a bad description of him. Lizzie Colwill knew that TNA at Kew is the National Archives. Railway lines in England were gettable, but Pembroke didn’t quite manage any of them. In the next starter on Probability Theory I was lost after the word ‘what’ , but Mark Nelson had it. This brought them a 3 figure score, which they’d certainly earned in the last couple of minutes. A good old set of quiz chestnuts on metal ores followed, and Pembroke managed two of them. Harry McNeill-Adams had a great early buzz for the next starter identifying slang words used in Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange”. A nice set on geographical features in south America were gettable, but they only managed two of them. There was a buzzer race for the next starter, asking which Shakespeare play was the source for the opera “Beatrice and Benedict”, and it was won by Zach Vermeer, who knew that it was of course Much Ado About Nothing. Later sequels to classic fiction provided a full set, and took Somerville through the 200 point barrier. Harry McNeill-Adams knew that Viscontis and Sforzas were associated with Milan. Ac or Inter? A real UC special set on anagrams in French followed. They took one, but could and should have had two. This put them on 145, and a repechage slot was not totally out of the question. Mind you, as soon as JP said the abbreviation AGN Chris Beer was straight in with Active Galactic Nucleus. (Altogether now – a bit of ointment . . . ) This brought them a full set of bonuses on former capital cities. As quick as Chris Beer had been on the previous starter, Michael Davies was just as speedy on the next starter, identifying Ontology as being the branch of metaphysics taking its name from the Greek for being. Good shout. A lovely set on broken engagements in the works of Charles Dickens didn’t allow them to add to their score of 255 before the gong.They won by 255 to 145.
I seem to be saying this a lot in this series, but this Somerville team seem to be a distinctly useful outfit, with starter answers coming from every member of the team. I think we could be in for some very good second round match ups this year. It was bad luck for Pembroke to meet such a good team in the first round, but their score of 145 is nothing to be ashamed of.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Somehow I doubt that The Iron Law of Oligarchy has ever raised that much public laughter before, but when it was offered by Somerville as the answer to the second bonus on social sciences, JP’s announcement – (pause) No, it was Elite Theory- earned enough of a guffaw from the audience for the great man to follow it up with “Very nicely confident, though!”. Of course, the Iron Law of Oligarchy had to be the answer to the next question after that, didn’t it.
Our hero was fairly restrained after that flurry, although he did manage a wonderfully old fashioned look when Pembroke offered ‘Devon’ as the railway line named after a character in the title of a Henry Williamson book. It was Tarka, as in the otter. ( We have a water otter in the kitchen you know. Really? Yes, it’s the kettle, which makes the water ‘otter. I don’t wish to know that, Kaindly leave the stage.)
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Harold Nicholson described the whole Suez affair in 1956 as “A smash and grab raid that was all smash and no grab”. Quality.
Mastermind - Round One - Heat 7
I was delighted to see our own Paul Philpot having another go on Mastermind this week. You might remember that Paul was defeated by LAM regular Brian Pendreigh in Ian’s series in 2011, when Brian posted a monster of a score in the first round. Back then Paul was answering on the history of Alcatraz, and he scored a brilliant 17. Well, with the length of first round questions in this series there was never the slightest chance of doing that. As it was though Paul offered us a tremendous round on Sebastian Coe last night. He rattled off the answers at top speed, and with only one error he still only managed 14. As I’ve noted before in this series, 14 on these questions is worth 17 in old money.
Eadward Mubridge – why did that name ring a bell? – I asked myself. Then I remembered that he was the guy who took a sequence of photos of a horse galloping to prove that all 4 hooves did leave the ground at the same time. Well, he also did a lot more than that, as Andrew Spooner’s round went on to prove. In a week of relatively high scores, poor Andrew’s stuck out a little, as he hesitated on some, had a couple wrong, and just couldn’t bring others past the tip of his tongue. So he finished on nine, although he obviously knew his subject. Still, he did seem to be enjoying himself tremendously, with the smile never leaving his face. I like that.
Ron Wood – no, not that one – was the third up. His subject was The Byrds. I was first encouraged to listen to their music by my History Teacher, Mr. Leveson, who was an all round good egg, with a wonderfully self-deprecating line of humour, but I digress. I’d managed 7 on Seb Coe, having only recently read his autobiography, and though I might get a few on this round. Few was the operative word – 3 to be precise. Ron on the other hand managed 13 with only one incorrect answer denying him a perfect round. It was shaping up to be a good contest.
Carol O’Byrne offered what I would say was the most traditional Mastermind specialist subject of the evening, Violette Szabo GC. Violette Szabo’s activities in the SOE during World War Two, which led to her capture and death rightly won her the George Cross, and were celebrated in the book and film “Carve Her Name With Pride”. Carol O’Bryne served us up that relative rarity, a perfect round. Now, I know that I’ve been banging on about the length of the specialist questions in this series, but come on – this was a perfect round, with hardly any hesitation at all, and it still only scored 14. Is it really necessary to overload the questions with needless details? Anyway, a great round from Carol, which put her in with a decent chance of going through to the semis.
In fact three of the four contenders were all in with a good chance of getting to the semis one way or another. First of all we had the contender who really wasn’t in contention, so to speak, and that was Andrew. Actually he wasn’t doing that badly on his GK round, and once again seemed to enjoy it, but he really wasn’t answering very quickly, and a little run of passes in the middle of the round put paid to his chances of posting anything which might place the others into the corridor of uncertainty. He reached double figures and respectability with a total of 19.Now, in this series 13 would usually place you higher than third by the halfway stage, so Ron Wood could think himself a little unlucky to be the second one back for the GK round. He performed really well, though, picking off the answers, and if it wasn’t the fastest GK round we’ve ever seen it was still pretty good, and maintained its momentum from start to finish. 15 put him up to 28, a good bet for a repechage slot even if it could be overhauled by either Paul or Carol.
Paul had certainly answered more quickly in his specialist round than any of the other three contenders, and he used the same tactic in his GK round. Showing great presence of mind he also made sure to provide an answer to every question. As the round drew to a close this began to look like a very wise tactic indeed. With the finishing line inside it looked as if he wouldn’t equal Ron’s 15, but then he didn’t have to – he needed 14 , since Ron had passed 3 times. The last question gave Paul the point he needed, and he too finished with 28.
I wonder if any other viewers thought there was a controversial moment in Carol’s round as well. When asked about the hotel, whose ‘round table’ included writers such as Dorothy parker, Carol offered the ‘Alonquin’. John corrected her to the Algonquin, and the point was awarded. Now, it was obvious that she knew the right answer, I’ve no doubt about that. But I wonder what other people’s views about allowing ‘close enough’ answers are. Not that it made a huge amo0unt of difference. Carol impressed with the range of her answers, but they just weren’t coming quickly enough, and by the end of the round she had fallen just one point heartbreakingly short.
So well done Paul! I’m made up for you reaching the semis, and I wish you the best of luck. All is not lost for Ron and Carol, though, both of whom scored highly enough to feature on the repechage board, although there’s still quite a way to go until we ‘ll know whether they will stay there or not.
The Details
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 – 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 – 5
Eadward Mubridge – why did that name ring a bell? – I asked myself. Then I remembered that he was the guy who took a sequence of photos of a horse galloping to prove that all 4 hooves did leave the ground at the same time. Well, he also did a lot more than that, as Andrew Spooner’s round went on to prove. In a week of relatively high scores, poor Andrew’s stuck out a little, as he hesitated on some, had a couple wrong, and just couldn’t bring others past the tip of his tongue. So he finished on nine, although he obviously knew his subject. Still, he did seem to be enjoying himself tremendously, with the smile never leaving his face. I like that.
Ron Wood – no, not that one – was the third up. His subject was The Byrds. I was first encouraged to listen to their music by my History Teacher, Mr. Leveson, who was an all round good egg, with a wonderfully self-deprecating line of humour, but I digress. I’d managed 7 on Seb Coe, having only recently read his autobiography, and though I might get a few on this round. Few was the operative word – 3 to be precise. Ron on the other hand managed 13 with only one incorrect answer denying him a perfect round. It was shaping up to be a good contest.
Carol O’Byrne offered what I would say was the most traditional Mastermind specialist subject of the evening, Violette Szabo GC. Violette Szabo’s activities in the SOE during World War Two, which led to her capture and death rightly won her the George Cross, and were celebrated in the book and film “Carve Her Name With Pride”. Carol O’Bryne served us up that relative rarity, a perfect round. Now, I know that I’ve been banging on about the length of the specialist questions in this series, but come on – this was a perfect round, with hardly any hesitation at all, and it still only scored 14. Is it really necessary to overload the questions with needless details? Anyway, a great round from Carol, which put her in with a decent chance of going through to the semis.
In fact three of the four contenders were all in with a good chance of getting to the semis one way or another. First of all we had the contender who really wasn’t in contention, so to speak, and that was Andrew. Actually he wasn’t doing that badly on his GK round, and once again seemed to enjoy it, but he really wasn’t answering very quickly, and a little run of passes in the middle of the round put paid to his chances of posting anything which might place the others into the corridor of uncertainty. He reached double figures and respectability with a total of 19.Now, in this series 13 would usually place you higher than third by the halfway stage, so Ron Wood could think himself a little unlucky to be the second one back for the GK round. He performed really well, though, picking off the answers, and if it wasn’t the fastest GK round we’ve ever seen it was still pretty good, and maintained its momentum from start to finish. 15 put him up to 28, a good bet for a repechage slot even if it could be overhauled by either Paul or Carol.
Paul had certainly answered more quickly in his specialist round than any of the other three contenders, and he used the same tactic in his GK round. Showing great presence of mind he also made sure to provide an answer to every question. As the round drew to a close this began to look like a very wise tactic indeed. With the finishing line inside it looked as if he wouldn’t equal Ron’s 15, but then he didn’t have to – he needed 14 , since Ron had passed 3 times. The last question gave Paul the point he needed, and he too finished with 28.
I wonder if any other viewers thought there was a controversial moment in Carol’s round as well. When asked about the hotel, whose ‘round table’ included writers such as Dorothy parker, Carol offered the ‘Alonquin’. John corrected her to the Algonquin, and the point was awarded. Now, it was obvious that she knew the right answer, I’ve no doubt about that. But I wonder what other people’s views about allowing ‘close enough’ answers are. Not that it made a huge amo0unt of difference. Carol impressed with the range of her answers, but they just weren’t coming quickly enough, and by the end of the round she had fallen just one point heartbreakingly short.
So well done Paul! I’m made up for you reaching the semis, and I wish you the best of luck. All is not lost for Ron and Carol, though, both of whom scored highly enough to feature on the repechage board, although there’s still quite a way to go until we ‘ll know whether they will stay there or not.
The Details
| Paul Philpot | Life and Career of Sebastian Coe | 14 – 0 | 14 - 0 | 28 - 0 |
| Andrew Spooner | Life and Work of Eadward Muybridge | 9 - 3 | 10 - 3 | 19 - 6 |
| Ron Wood | The Byrds | 13 - 0 | 15 - 3 | 28 - 3 |
| Carol O’Byrne | Violette Szabo GC | 14 - 0 | 13 - 2 | 27 - 2 |
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 – 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 – 5
Saturday, 21 September 2013
University Challenge - Round One - Match Ten
York v. Bath
Sorry about the lateness of the review again. I do manage to just about find time to watch the show once during the week on the iplayer, but I like the first time I watch the show to be just for my own pleasure, to give me the chance to play along at home. So anyway, enough of excuses. The first of this heat’s teams, York, comprised of Greg Carrick, Brian Morley, Laura Kemp, and captain Jeremy Harris. Their opponents were Bath, and they were Lily Morris, Callum Woof, Jack Davies and captain Simon Love. York have played every year since 2004, and this is Bath’s 3rd consecutive year.
It’s a few years since I’ve heard an ‘el Nino’ question, so it was nice to see this venerable question make an appearance as the first starter, which Brian Morley was very happy to take on the volley. What followed was an early UC special set on people with linked names – the first’s surname being the second’s given name – for example – Jane AUSTEN Chamberlain. York were perfectly happy with this and took a full set. An ancient order of knighthood and the emblem of the Encyclopaedia Britannica are linked by a thistle. Sadly Simon Love didn’t get it, suggesting a red cross, but Brian Morley took his second consecutive starter with thistle. The camera cut to Simon Love throwing a hand up in frustration with himself. Well, it’s better to buzz when you have an idea, than to wait until you’re certain and get beaten on the buzzer. Not a lot of consolation, I know. Vegetables as described by Antonio Carluccio provided just one correct answer, but they certainly weren’t an easy set. The ancient city linking Caxton’s first printed book, and a sergeant in “Far From The Madding Crowd” saw skipper Jeremy Harris supply the third correct answer to a starter in a row from York with Troy. Always worth answering to an ‘ancient city’ question, even if you don’t have a Scooby. The physical chemistry of water sounded like the title of a mid 70s prog rock album, but was actually the subject of the next bonus set. Surprisingly I actually got one of these – sublimation is a bit of an old chestnut. A full set from York earned them a rarely awarded ‘well done’ from the great man. The first picture starter showed an area on a map of England where a foodstuff on the EU’s protected food name scheme is produced. I was in two minds whether it would be Stilton cheese or Melton Mowbray Pork pies – I did think the areas overlapped. It was the pork pies, and Jeremy Harris knew it. More areas yielded another full set. I’m not sure that I completely understood the palaeontology starter that followed. It was something about something vanishing from the fossil record than appearing later. Brian Morley understood it though, and he supplied the correct answer of Elvis. Bonuses on the Star Trek Universe provided another 10 points. This completed that rarity, a complete shut out for the first ten minutes, as York led by 110 – 0
Callum Woof ensured that Bath would not be completely shut out in the second ten minutes, by answering the chemistry question with ‘molecule’. Bonuses on Seneca – or should that be Senecae? – yielded one. Never mind, off the mark now at least. Showing fallibility for once Brian Morley buzzed in too early on the chestnutty ‘le Douanier’ but Simon Love couldn’t capitalize with Rousseau. A real buzzer race question for the next starter asked which letter you add to a word meaning not on time, to make a word meaning a source of rubber. If you add X to late you get, well, you can see it, I’m sure. Greg Carrick did, anyway. Going through the early day motions brought them another full set. A list of titles of paintings in the Rakes Progress series by Hogarth ( he taught my great, great, great, great grandfather to draw – true story) was recognized first by Jeremy Harris, and this brought York a set on astronomy. These can be a little hit or miss for me, and so I was pleased with 2, the same number as answered by York. The music starter brought us a little bit of the theme to Il Buono, Il Brutto e Il Cattivo, or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and asked for the name of the composer, Ennio Morricone. I must say that I was amused to see the iplayer subtitles describe it as , and I quote “HOWLING SOUND”! Jeremy Harris earned three more Morricone tunes for his team, and they managed one of them. A second bout of encouragement from Jp galvanized Callum Woof to answer Aslan correctly to a question about a quote. I suspect that they weren’t overjoyed to be given a set of bonuses on ballet. After answering the first two incorrectly Lily Morris suggested the correct answer of Ballet Rambert, but the team passed. As has been noted before, when things don’t run for you, they really don’t run. Neither team could answer a question on focal lengths – not surprised. Neither knew a slightly easier question, that Mary McAleese was the first woman to succeed a woman head of state. Callum Woof stopped the rot, knowing that Lombok is an island of Indonesia. Exiled rulers saw the team throw away another bonus, not answering the Shah of Iran because they didn’t know his name, even though that would have done. They managed the other two, though. Greg Carrick was the first to recognize a description of an arachnid for the next starter. Bonuses on a geologist brought one more correct answer. By this, the twenty minute mark the game was already over, as York led by 180 to 45. The only questions left were academic, namely how many could they score before the gong?
Brian Morely identified Charles Lindbergh in the second picture starter. His team only managed the Montgolfier Brothers out of three more sets of aviation pioneers. After an incorrect buzz from Bath , York couldn’t identify the word derived from the Hebrew for ram’s horn. Jack Davies knew that the website taking its name from a fictional family created by William Faulkner is Snopes.com. Fair enough. Bonuses on Shakespeare’s Henry VIII were gettable with a knowledge of either the play, or the history, but not easy, and with Bath’s fortune still proving outrageously bad they didn’t get them. Throwing caution to the wind Callum Woof buzzed too early on the next question about a planet in the solar system, and watched Brian Morley supply the correct answer of Mercury. A set of bonuses on figs promised little but delivered another full house. UC old favourite John Stuart Mill ( who reportedly on half a pint of shandy was particularly ill) gave Brian Morley another starter, and York another set of bonuses, this time on Mathematics. They managed one. Given the names of three regions of the homelands of a European people it was almost inevitable that it would be one of the York players to buzz in first with a correct punt at the Basques, and it was Jeremy Harris who did so. Bonuses on statues brought a full set in short order. Callum Woof buzzed in with the anagrams molar and moral for the next starter. Bonuses on 19th century railways brought one correct answer. Jack Davies knew that Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest institution of learning, and for the first time in the contest Bath had managed two consecutive starters. Bonuses on novels written in 1913 provided no further points. Greg Carrick knew that a number given in binary worked out at 63 in decimal. That was that. At the end of the contest York had 270 to Bath’s 70.
Scant consolation to you, Bath, but York do seem to be a very good team. When you can’t beat a team to the buzzer for the starters, then it’s very difficult, and that happened to Bath in this show. As for York, well, that was certainly impressive. There seems to be a wide range of knowledge within the team, and you never know, they could well have an extended run within this year’s competition.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP found it difficult to contain his enthusiasm for this York team. When Jeremy Harris correctly identified the ‘rhubarb triangle’ he couldn’t help himself from giving out a second ‘well done’ in as many minutes. He then proceeded to give the kiss of death to Bath by telling them that there was plenty of time left yet. Being told this is by JP is bad enough – because he only says it when one team looks like being overwhelmed. Saying it before ten minutes is up is adding injury to insult.
Brian Morley’s answers to the first two Star Trek bonuses led our hero to level the accusation, in tone reminiscent of Matthew Hopkins, “Are you a real Trekkie? . . . You are!” Thus cowed he didn’t answer the third, which moved our hero to say “Astonishing!” Now, if he had arched an eyebrow and said “Fascinating, captain.“ now that would have been a response.
Mind you, he wasn’t by any means finished in this show yet. When a question asked about early day motions in Parliament he added,” It’s completely fatuous, but that’s what it’s called.” This was followed almost immediately with his comment on Mohammad Sarwar’s early day motion in 2009 to recognize Glasgow as the birthplace of Chicken Tikka Masala, “They pay public money for this!” Well, quite.
I’m not sure I can remember JP ever issuing the ‘there’s still time to come back’ coup de grace twice to the same team in the same show, but he did it to Bath when they trailed by over 150 points. Talk about kicking a team when they were down.
Actually talking about that, he finished off saying to them,”We never really got a chance to see what you were made of, Bath” – yes Jez – I thought – now leave it there. But no, he kept on , rubbing in that salt with, “Or perhaps we did. I don’t know! I hope we didn’t!”
Ouch.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The word ‘jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew for ram’s horn.
Sorry about the lateness of the review again. I do manage to just about find time to watch the show once during the week on the iplayer, but I like the first time I watch the show to be just for my own pleasure, to give me the chance to play along at home. So anyway, enough of excuses. The first of this heat’s teams, York, comprised of Greg Carrick, Brian Morley, Laura Kemp, and captain Jeremy Harris. Their opponents were Bath, and they were Lily Morris, Callum Woof, Jack Davies and captain Simon Love. York have played every year since 2004, and this is Bath’s 3rd consecutive year.
It’s a few years since I’ve heard an ‘el Nino’ question, so it was nice to see this venerable question make an appearance as the first starter, which Brian Morley was very happy to take on the volley. What followed was an early UC special set on people with linked names – the first’s surname being the second’s given name – for example – Jane AUSTEN Chamberlain. York were perfectly happy with this and took a full set. An ancient order of knighthood and the emblem of the Encyclopaedia Britannica are linked by a thistle. Sadly Simon Love didn’t get it, suggesting a red cross, but Brian Morley took his second consecutive starter with thistle. The camera cut to Simon Love throwing a hand up in frustration with himself. Well, it’s better to buzz when you have an idea, than to wait until you’re certain and get beaten on the buzzer. Not a lot of consolation, I know. Vegetables as described by Antonio Carluccio provided just one correct answer, but they certainly weren’t an easy set. The ancient city linking Caxton’s first printed book, and a sergeant in “Far From The Madding Crowd” saw skipper Jeremy Harris supply the third correct answer to a starter in a row from York with Troy. Always worth answering to an ‘ancient city’ question, even if you don’t have a Scooby. The physical chemistry of water sounded like the title of a mid 70s prog rock album, but was actually the subject of the next bonus set. Surprisingly I actually got one of these – sublimation is a bit of an old chestnut. A full set from York earned them a rarely awarded ‘well done’ from the great man. The first picture starter showed an area on a map of England where a foodstuff on the EU’s protected food name scheme is produced. I was in two minds whether it would be Stilton cheese or Melton Mowbray Pork pies – I did think the areas overlapped. It was the pork pies, and Jeremy Harris knew it. More areas yielded another full set. I’m not sure that I completely understood the palaeontology starter that followed. It was something about something vanishing from the fossil record than appearing later. Brian Morley understood it though, and he supplied the correct answer of Elvis. Bonuses on the Star Trek Universe provided another 10 points. This completed that rarity, a complete shut out for the first ten minutes, as York led by 110 – 0
Callum Woof ensured that Bath would not be completely shut out in the second ten minutes, by answering the chemistry question with ‘molecule’. Bonuses on Seneca – or should that be Senecae? – yielded one. Never mind, off the mark now at least. Showing fallibility for once Brian Morley buzzed in too early on the chestnutty ‘le Douanier’ but Simon Love couldn’t capitalize with Rousseau. A real buzzer race question for the next starter asked which letter you add to a word meaning not on time, to make a word meaning a source of rubber. If you add X to late you get, well, you can see it, I’m sure. Greg Carrick did, anyway. Going through the early day motions brought them another full set. A list of titles of paintings in the Rakes Progress series by Hogarth ( he taught my great, great, great, great grandfather to draw – true story) was recognized first by Jeremy Harris, and this brought York a set on astronomy. These can be a little hit or miss for me, and so I was pleased with 2, the same number as answered by York. The music starter brought us a little bit of the theme to Il Buono, Il Brutto e Il Cattivo, or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and asked for the name of the composer, Ennio Morricone. I must say that I was amused to see the iplayer subtitles describe it as , and I quote “HOWLING SOUND”! Jeremy Harris earned three more Morricone tunes for his team, and they managed one of them. A second bout of encouragement from Jp galvanized Callum Woof to answer Aslan correctly to a question about a quote. I suspect that they weren’t overjoyed to be given a set of bonuses on ballet. After answering the first two incorrectly Lily Morris suggested the correct answer of Ballet Rambert, but the team passed. As has been noted before, when things don’t run for you, they really don’t run. Neither team could answer a question on focal lengths – not surprised. Neither knew a slightly easier question, that Mary McAleese was the first woman to succeed a woman head of state. Callum Woof stopped the rot, knowing that Lombok is an island of Indonesia. Exiled rulers saw the team throw away another bonus, not answering the Shah of Iran because they didn’t know his name, even though that would have done. They managed the other two, though. Greg Carrick was the first to recognize a description of an arachnid for the next starter. Bonuses on a geologist brought one more correct answer. By this, the twenty minute mark the game was already over, as York led by 180 to 45. The only questions left were academic, namely how many could they score before the gong?
Brian Morely identified Charles Lindbergh in the second picture starter. His team only managed the Montgolfier Brothers out of three more sets of aviation pioneers. After an incorrect buzz from Bath , York couldn’t identify the word derived from the Hebrew for ram’s horn. Jack Davies knew that the website taking its name from a fictional family created by William Faulkner is Snopes.com. Fair enough. Bonuses on Shakespeare’s Henry VIII were gettable with a knowledge of either the play, or the history, but not easy, and with Bath’s fortune still proving outrageously bad they didn’t get them. Throwing caution to the wind Callum Woof buzzed too early on the next question about a planet in the solar system, and watched Brian Morley supply the correct answer of Mercury. A set of bonuses on figs promised little but delivered another full house. UC old favourite John Stuart Mill ( who reportedly on half a pint of shandy was particularly ill) gave Brian Morley another starter, and York another set of bonuses, this time on Mathematics. They managed one. Given the names of three regions of the homelands of a European people it was almost inevitable that it would be one of the York players to buzz in first with a correct punt at the Basques, and it was Jeremy Harris who did so. Bonuses on statues brought a full set in short order. Callum Woof buzzed in with the anagrams molar and moral for the next starter. Bonuses on 19th century railways brought one correct answer. Jack Davies knew that Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest institution of learning, and for the first time in the contest Bath had managed two consecutive starters. Bonuses on novels written in 1913 provided no further points. Greg Carrick knew that a number given in binary worked out at 63 in decimal. That was that. At the end of the contest York had 270 to Bath’s 70.
Scant consolation to you, Bath, but York do seem to be a very good team. When you can’t beat a team to the buzzer for the starters, then it’s very difficult, and that happened to Bath in this show. As for York, well, that was certainly impressive. There seems to be a wide range of knowledge within the team, and you never know, they could well have an extended run within this year’s competition.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP found it difficult to contain his enthusiasm for this York team. When Jeremy Harris correctly identified the ‘rhubarb triangle’ he couldn’t help himself from giving out a second ‘well done’ in as many minutes. He then proceeded to give the kiss of death to Bath by telling them that there was plenty of time left yet. Being told this is by JP is bad enough – because he only says it when one team looks like being overwhelmed. Saying it before ten minutes is up is adding injury to insult.
Brian Morley’s answers to the first two Star Trek bonuses led our hero to level the accusation, in tone reminiscent of Matthew Hopkins, “Are you a real Trekkie? . . . You are!” Thus cowed he didn’t answer the third, which moved our hero to say “Astonishing!” Now, if he had arched an eyebrow and said “Fascinating, captain.“ now that would have been a response.
Mind you, he wasn’t by any means finished in this show yet. When a question asked about early day motions in Parliament he added,” It’s completely fatuous, but that’s what it’s called.” This was followed almost immediately with his comment on Mohammad Sarwar’s early day motion in 2009 to recognize Glasgow as the birthplace of Chicken Tikka Masala, “They pay public money for this!” Well, quite.
I’m not sure I can remember JP ever issuing the ‘there’s still time to come back’ coup de grace twice to the same team in the same show, but he did it to Bath when they trailed by over 150 points. Talk about kicking a team when they were down.
Actually talking about that, he finished off saying to them,”We never really got a chance to see what you were made of, Bath” – yes Jez – I thought – now leave it there. But no, he kept on , rubbing in that salt with, “Or perhaps we did. I don’t know! I hope we didn’t!”
Ouch.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The word ‘jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew for ram’s horn.
In the News
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jonny Mitchell
2. Salustiano Sanchez
3. Javier Gomez
4. Chris Horner
5. Aaron Alexis
6. Christopher Jeffries
7. Nina Davulrui
8. Stephen Lee
9. Yohan Cabaye
10. Jackie Lomax
11. Adrian Lee
12. Alison Balsom
13. Simon McCoy
14. Sunny Ozell
15. Hiroshi Yamauchi
16. Doctor Sleep
17. Tamarillo
18. Glen James
19. Anna Wardley
20. Godfrey Bloom
In Other News
1. Which customer helpline was voted the worst in the UK?
2. American writers will be eligible for what from next year?
3. Which video game was released on Tuesday 18th ?
4. Who defeated Mo Farah in the Great North Run?
5. Who signed a new 5 year deal for Real Madrid?
6. What was the score in the GB v. Croatia Davis Cup tie?
7. A record number of kitesurfers took part in an event off Hayling Island. How many altogether?
8. Which two countries will contest the Davis Cup final?
9. Billy Connolly announced that he is suffering from what?
10. Why was rugby player Manu Tuilagi in the news last week?
11. Which country temporarily closed its last nuclear power plant last week?
12. What was the score in the Swansea v, Liverpool match?
13. Where was the Lib Dem Conference held?
14. What was the final score in the ODI series between England and Australia?
15. Who appealed against his 9 month ban from tennis for failing a drug test?
16. Iran announced plans to send what into space?
17. What was successfully floated last week?
18. What was the Champions League score between Man City and Viktoria Plsen?
19. – and Man Utd. and Bayer Leverkeusen?
20. Which ex – referee hit out against accusations of favouritism?
21. Who alleged in a tweet that other snooker players are guilty of match fixing, and then said he was referring to the past?
22. Which place in the UK has applied to the EU for permission to make Stilton cheese?
23. The ASA upheld claims that which washing up liquid lasts twice as long as competitors?
24. Who won the first time trial in the Tour of Britain?
25. Whose childhood home was put on eBay last week?
26. Child Beauty Pageants have been banned where?
27. GB have been drawn away to whom for their next Davis Cup match?
28. Last week saw a row over Spurs fans’ use of which three letter word?
29. In Europe, what was the score between Chelsea and Basel?
30. – and Arsenal and Marseilles?
31. – and AC Milan and Celtic?
32. Which Scottish town is upset over the use of its name in that new video game released last week?
33. Who is stepping down from presenting Sports Personality of the Year?
34. Which former world heavyweight boxing champion, who once beat Muhammad Ali, passed away last week?
35. What was the score between Swansea and Valencia?
36. – and Spurs and Tromso?
37. Which team clinched the cricket county championship?
38. – and who was their head coach, who suffered a heart attack earlier in the year?
39. To whom is the statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage being returned?
40. Which BBC sitcom is being revived by ITV?
41. What was the score between Wigan and Zulte Waregem?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jonny Mitchell
2. Salustiano Sanchez
3. Javier Gomez
4. Chris Horner
5. Aaron Alexis
6. Christopher Jeffries
7. Nina Davulrui
8. Stephen Lee
9. Yohan Cabaye
10. Jackie Lomax
11. Adrian Lee
12. Alison Balsom
13. Simon McCoy
14. Sunny Ozell
15. Hiroshi Yamauchi
16. Doctor Sleep
17. Tamarillo
18. Glen James
19. Anna Wardley
20. Godfrey Bloom
In Other News
1. Which customer helpline was voted the worst in the UK?
2. American writers will be eligible for what from next year?
3. Which video game was released on Tuesday 18th ?
4. Who defeated Mo Farah in the Great North Run?
5. Who signed a new 5 year deal for Real Madrid?
6. What was the score in the GB v. Croatia Davis Cup tie?
7. A record number of kitesurfers took part in an event off Hayling Island. How many altogether?
8. Which two countries will contest the Davis Cup final?
9. Billy Connolly announced that he is suffering from what?
10. Why was rugby player Manu Tuilagi in the news last week?
11. Which country temporarily closed its last nuclear power plant last week?
12. What was the score in the Swansea v, Liverpool match?
13. Where was the Lib Dem Conference held?
14. What was the final score in the ODI series between England and Australia?
15. Who appealed against his 9 month ban from tennis for failing a drug test?
16. Iran announced plans to send what into space?
17. What was successfully floated last week?
18. What was the Champions League score between Man City and Viktoria Plsen?
19. – and Man Utd. and Bayer Leverkeusen?
20. Which ex – referee hit out against accusations of favouritism?
21. Who alleged in a tweet that other snooker players are guilty of match fixing, and then said he was referring to the past?
22. Which place in the UK has applied to the EU for permission to make Stilton cheese?
23. The ASA upheld claims that which washing up liquid lasts twice as long as competitors?
24. Who won the first time trial in the Tour of Britain?
25. Whose childhood home was put on eBay last week?
26. Child Beauty Pageants have been banned where?
27. GB have been drawn away to whom for their next Davis Cup match?
28. Last week saw a row over Spurs fans’ use of which three letter word?
29. In Europe, what was the score between Chelsea and Basel?
30. – and Arsenal and Marseilles?
31. – and AC Milan and Celtic?
32. Which Scottish town is upset over the use of its name in that new video game released last week?
33. Who is stepping down from presenting Sports Personality of the Year?
34. Which former world heavyweight boxing champion, who once beat Muhammad Ali, passed away last week?
35. What was the score between Swansea and Valencia?
36. – and Spurs and Tromso?
37. Which team clinched the cricket county championship?
38. – and who was their head coach, who suffered a heart attack earlier in the year?
39. To whom is the statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage being returned?
40. Which BBC sitcom is being revived by ITV?
41. What was the score between Wigan and Zulte Waregem?
Friday, 20 September 2013
Mastermind - Round One - Heat 6
Another week, and another first round characterized by long questions – unnecessarily long in my opinion. Three of the rounds gave every evidence of being very good rounds, yet 13 was the highest score again.
Right then, to business. Anne-Marie Rosoman was the first into the chair, and she offered us Swedish pop combo Abba. Cards on the table here – even if I had time now to take the wiki challenge, which I don’t, I would have had a go at this one without a wiki boost. I didn’t do too badly either. There were enough gentle ones for those of us who were around at the time and have long memories to pick off a half dozen, and 6 is exactly the number that I managed myself. 12 points and no passes, and little doubt in my mind that Anne-Marie was very much in contention going into the GK round.
I’ve been racking my brain to try to think of exactly where I’ve seen Richard Chaney before. He looks very familiar, and I’m sure that I’ve seen him at a quiz event – but I can’t remember which one it is. Whatever the case, I announced from the sofa to no one in particular ‘This guy’s a quizzer, and unless he has a ‘mare on his specialist he’s going to be very difficult for them to beat.’ Answering on Charles M. Schultz Richard certainly didn’t have a ‘mare at all. He managed 12 and 1 pass. Slightly more remarkable to me was the fact that I managed 6 of them, with 4 known answers and 2 good guesses. I won’t say that I thought the game was over then and there, but I did think that this round made Richard a favourite to take the show.
That may have been doing a disservice to the remaining contenders. Bernard Walsh, the third contender of the evening, offered us a sterling performance on the England bowler Harold Larwood, he of the infamous ‘bodyline’ Ashes series. My luck ran out on this round and I only managed 2, which was still enough to give me one of my higher aggregates on specialist. Given the length of the questions Bernard went like the clappers, and his reward was a score of 13 points and no passes, the specialist round of the evening.
Michael Frankl’s subject of Frederick the Great was probably the most traditional of the subjects on offer in last night’s show. Michael obviously knew his stuff – a lot more than me since I was lucky to get 2 – but he wasn’t the quickest of the evening at getting his answers in. A couple of wrong answers didn’t help, and he leveled out at 10 and 3 passes. That’s a perfectly respectable score under these conditions, but I fancied it would leave him trailing in the Gk round.
We would soon find out the truth of my prognosis, since Michael was the first to return to the chair. In terms of correct answers he actually started really well. However he was going for accuracy rather than speed, and in a two and a half minute round it can be very difficult to maintain your focus if you haven’t built up the momentum. Some long pauses meant that a round which actually looked quite a bit better provided him with 11 points. As with his specialist round this is a perfectly respectable performance – 21 is not a score to be the least bit ashamed of. However it is not a winning score in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. Anne Marie’s round provided a fine contrast to Michael’s. She seemed to go for speed rather than accuracy. She only passed on 1, but had a number of unlucky guesses, and didn’t quite manage to get into double figures. So she too finished with 21 points.
I had already predicted that Richard would win on general knowledge, and thankfully my reputation as a prognosticator remained intact at the end of his round. His very good round. With Richard we had the combination of both accuracy and speed that you need to post a genuinely good GK total. In Richard’s case it was 16, and his total of 28 achieved two things. It pretty much guaranteed him a repechage slot, and to my mind set a target which was going to be very difficult for our final contender, Bernard, to reach. He had a go, I give him that. Bernard kept answering, and indeed answered every question. However I dare to say that he isn’t a regular quizzer, because he missed quite a few, well, not exactly ‘sitters’ , but questions which were the sort of thing that a regular quizzer would know without even having to think that much about the answers. He posted 11 to finish with 23, and second place, but no repechage slot.
So well played Richard. A good performance. Good luck in the semis.
The Details
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 – 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 – 5
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
Right then, to business. Anne-Marie Rosoman was the first into the chair, and she offered us Swedish pop combo Abba. Cards on the table here – even if I had time now to take the wiki challenge, which I don’t, I would have had a go at this one without a wiki boost. I didn’t do too badly either. There were enough gentle ones for those of us who were around at the time and have long memories to pick off a half dozen, and 6 is exactly the number that I managed myself. 12 points and no passes, and little doubt in my mind that Anne-Marie was very much in contention going into the GK round.
I’ve been racking my brain to try to think of exactly where I’ve seen Richard Chaney before. He looks very familiar, and I’m sure that I’ve seen him at a quiz event – but I can’t remember which one it is. Whatever the case, I announced from the sofa to no one in particular ‘This guy’s a quizzer, and unless he has a ‘mare on his specialist he’s going to be very difficult for them to beat.’ Answering on Charles M. Schultz Richard certainly didn’t have a ‘mare at all. He managed 12 and 1 pass. Slightly more remarkable to me was the fact that I managed 6 of them, with 4 known answers and 2 good guesses. I won’t say that I thought the game was over then and there, but I did think that this round made Richard a favourite to take the show.
That may have been doing a disservice to the remaining contenders. Bernard Walsh, the third contender of the evening, offered us a sterling performance on the England bowler Harold Larwood, he of the infamous ‘bodyline’ Ashes series. My luck ran out on this round and I only managed 2, which was still enough to give me one of my higher aggregates on specialist. Given the length of the questions Bernard went like the clappers, and his reward was a score of 13 points and no passes, the specialist round of the evening.
Michael Frankl’s subject of Frederick the Great was probably the most traditional of the subjects on offer in last night’s show. Michael obviously knew his stuff – a lot more than me since I was lucky to get 2 – but he wasn’t the quickest of the evening at getting his answers in. A couple of wrong answers didn’t help, and he leveled out at 10 and 3 passes. That’s a perfectly respectable score under these conditions, but I fancied it would leave him trailing in the Gk round.
We would soon find out the truth of my prognosis, since Michael was the first to return to the chair. In terms of correct answers he actually started really well. However he was going for accuracy rather than speed, and in a two and a half minute round it can be very difficult to maintain your focus if you haven’t built up the momentum. Some long pauses meant that a round which actually looked quite a bit better provided him with 11 points. As with his specialist round this is a perfectly respectable performance – 21 is not a score to be the least bit ashamed of. However it is not a winning score in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. Anne Marie’s round provided a fine contrast to Michael’s. She seemed to go for speed rather than accuracy. She only passed on 1, but had a number of unlucky guesses, and didn’t quite manage to get into double figures. So she too finished with 21 points.
I had already predicted that Richard would win on general knowledge, and thankfully my reputation as a prognosticator remained intact at the end of his round. His very good round. With Richard we had the combination of both accuracy and speed that you need to post a genuinely good GK total. In Richard’s case it was 16, and his total of 28 achieved two things. It pretty much guaranteed him a repechage slot, and to my mind set a target which was going to be very difficult for our final contender, Bernard, to reach. He had a go, I give him that. Bernard kept answering, and indeed answered every question. However I dare to say that he isn’t a regular quizzer, because he missed quite a few, well, not exactly ‘sitters’ , but questions which were the sort of thing that a regular quizzer would know without even having to think that much about the answers. He posted 11 to finish with 23, and second place, but no repechage slot.
So well played Richard. A good performance. Good luck in the semis.
The Details
| Anne-Marie Rosoman | Abba | 12 – 0 | 9 - 1 | 21 - 1 |
| Richard Chaney | Life and Work of Charles M. Schultz | 12 - 1 | 16 - 3 | 28 -4 |
| Bernard Walsh | Harold Larwood | 13 - 0 | 10 – 0 | 23 - 0 |
| Michael Frankl | Frederick the Great | 10 - 3 | 11 - 2 | 21 - 5 |
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 – 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 – 5
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
Answers to News Questions
In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Howard Jacobson
2. Sarah Teather
3. Tony Abbott
4. Gordon Cutting
5. Victor Miller
6. Louis Tomlinson
7. Sunset at Montmajour
8. Raul Gomez Cincunegui
9. Thomas Bach
10. Ian Katz
11. Nigel Evans MP
12. Crackanory
13. Mark Sutton
14. Maria Miller
15. Jonathan Trappe
16. Goncalo Amaral
17. The Four Streets
18. Victoria Newton
In Other News
1. Which competition’s final round has caused protests in Bali?
2. Who admitted having had a secret crush on Cherie Blair
3. Which supermarket chain last week banned the sale of Lads Mags
4. Who appealed to the European Court of human Rights over his tax fraud conviction?
5. Which city will host the 2020 Summer Olympics?
6. Who contested the Men’s US Open final?
7. Who won the Italian GP?
8. Which became the second union to cut funding to the Labour Party?
9. Which golf competition was won lst week by the USA?
10. Which sport has been reinstated to the Olympic programme?
11. Which unusual property will the National Trust be opening to the public?
12. The return of which musical to the West end saw the biggest single day’s ticket sales ever?
13. Ricky Burns fought the last three rounds of his world title fight with which handicap?
14. Who beat whom in the US Open women’s singles final?
15. Who is to make an attempt on the bicycle land speed record?
16. Bulgaria announced that it has closed its investigation into what?
17. Who played his first competitive match for England v. Ukraine?
18. The Yorkshire Bank 40 final will contested by which two teams?
19. What was the score in a rugby match between Llanidloes and Holyhead last week?
20. – and England v. Ukraine?
21. – and Scotland v. Macedonia?
22. – and Wales v. Serbia?
23. Who many singles grand slam titles has Rafael Nadal won?
24. English and French rugby clubs announced their intention to do what next season?
25. Who confirmed that he will be leaving Ferrari, and who will be taking his place?
26. Who was acquitted of all sex charges in court?
27. Why was Brian May criticized by jewish leaders last week?
28. Who is to host a new blues show on Radio 2?
29. What was the score in Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg?
30. – and the Rep. of Ireland v. Austria?
31. Frank Lampard became the latest player to reach 100 caps for England. How many players had previously reached this milestone?
32. Which 70s classic? had its 50th birthday last week?
33. Who is the newest judge on BBC’s The Voice?
34. Which 36 year old former England Ashes hero is retiring from cricket?
35. Who was sacked as Ireland manager last week?
36. Which project was turned down by the Heritage Lottery fund last week, but rescued by B and Q?
37. Who claimed she was frozen out of an interview she had arranged with The Duke of Edinburgh by the BBC?
38. A public enquiry into what was rejected last week?
39. Which food outlet are opening up to 150 UK stores?
40. Name the two teams contesting the America’s Cup?
41. Who said that he had returned his 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medal?
42. NASA confirmed that what has left the solar system?
43. Brian Sollitt passed away last week. He was the inventor of which food stuff?
44. GB have been playing against which country in their Davis Cup play off?
45. Who is to voice Paddington Bear in a new film?
46. Which audio pioneer passed away aged 80?
Answers
Who or what are the following in and why have they been in the news?
1. He’s rewriting the Merchant of Venice to deal with its anti semitism
2. Lib Dem MP who has accused Nick Clegg of backing Tory welfare policies
3. New PM of Australia
4. Bus Driver of the Year
5. He was found in a State Room in Buckingham Palace
6. One Direction singer who threw up on the touchline after a tackle by Gabriel Agbonlahor in a charity match at Celtic
7. Painting, previously ascribed as a fake, now authenticated as a Van Gogh
8. Lost hiker who had lived for four months lost in the Andes
9. New President of the IOC
10. Newsnight editor who tweeted that Shadow Cabinet minister Rachel Reeves was ‘boring snoring’
11. Deputy Speaker arrested a 3rd time over sex allegations – resigned as Deputy Speaker
12. New TV series – a twist on Jackanory – to star Harry Enfield, Jack Dee amongst others
13. Stuntman who doubled for Daniel Craig in the parachute jump for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics – passed away last week
14. He tried – and failed – to cross the Atlantic using cluster balloons
15. He is being sued for claims he made in his book about the Maddie McCann case
16. 1st novel in a series planned by Nadine Dorries
17. New Editor of the Sunday Sun
In Other News
1. Miss World
2. David Beckham
3. Co-op
4. Silvio Berlusconi
5. Toyko
6. Djokovic v. Nadal
7. Sebastian Vettel
8. Unison
9. The Walker Cup
10. Wrestling
11. The Big Brother House
12. Miss Saigon
13. A broken jaw
14. Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka
15. Graham Obree
16. The murder of Giorgi Markov
17. Ricky Lambert
18. Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire
19. 181 - 0
20. 0 - 0
21. 2 - 1
22. 0 - 3
23. 13
24. Pull out of the Heneken Cup and form their own competition.
25. Felipe Massa – being replaced by Kimi Raikkonen
26. Michael Le Vell
27. For describing the badger cull using the word ‘holocaust’
28. Hugh Laurie
29. 2 - 3
30. 0 - 1
31. 7
32. The lava lamp
33. Kylie Minogue
34. Matthew Hoggard
35. Giovanni Trappatoni
36. The Poppy Project
37. Selina Scott
38. The Omagh Bombing
39. Dunkin’ Donuts
40. Team Oracle USA ( featuring Sir Ben Ainslie) and Emirates Team New Zealand
41. Lance Armstrong
42. Voyager I
43. The After Eight Mint ( and other Rowntrees products, but especially the After Eight)
44. Croatia
45. Colin Firth
46. Ray Dolby
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Howard Jacobson
2. Sarah Teather
3. Tony Abbott
4. Gordon Cutting
5. Victor Miller
6. Louis Tomlinson
7. Sunset at Montmajour
8. Raul Gomez Cincunegui
9. Thomas Bach
10. Ian Katz
11. Nigel Evans MP
12. Crackanory
13. Mark Sutton
14. Maria Miller
15. Jonathan Trappe
16. Goncalo Amaral
17. The Four Streets
18. Victoria Newton
In Other News
1. Which competition’s final round has caused protests in Bali?
2. Who admitted having had a secret crush on Cherie Blair
3. Which supermarket chain last week banned the sale of Lads Mags
4. Who appealed to the European Court of human Rights over his tax fraud conviction?
5. Which city will host the 2020 Summer Olympics?
6. Who contested the Men’s US Open final?
7. Who won the Italian GP?
8. Which became the second union to cut funding to the Labour Party?
9. Which golf competition was won lst week by the USA?
10. Which sport has been reinstated to the Olympic programme?
11. Which unusual property will the National Trust be opening to the public?
12. The return of which musical to the West end saw the biggest single day’s ticket sales ever?
13. Ricky Burns fought the last three rounds of his world title fight with which handicap?
14. Who beat whom in the US Open women’s singles final?
15. Who is to make an attempt on the bicycle land speed record?
16. Bulgaria announced that it has closed its investigation into what?
17. Who played his first competitive match for England v. Ukraine?
18. The Yorkshire Bank 40 final will contested by which two teams?
19. What was the score in a rugby match between Llanidloes and Holyhead last week?
20. – and England v. Ukraine?
21. – and Scotland v. Macedonia?
22. – and Wales v. Serbia?
23. Who many singles grand slam titles has Rafael Nadal won?
24. English and French rugby clubs announced their intention to do what next season?
25. Who confirmed that he will be leaving Ferrari, and who will be taking his place?
26. Who was acquitted of all sex charges in court?
27. Why was Brian May criticized by jewish leaders last week?
28. Who is to host a new blues show on Radio 2?
29. What was the score in Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg?
30. – and the Rep. of Ireland v. Austria?
31. Frank Lampard became the latest player to reach 100 caps for England. How many players had previously reached this milestone?
32. Which 70s classic? had its 50th birthday last week?
33. Who is the newest judge on BBC’s The Voice?
34. Which 36 year old former England Ashes hero is retiring from cricket?
35. Who was sacked as Ireland manager last week?
36. Which project was turned down by the Heritage Lottery fund last week, but rescued by B and Q?
37. Who claimed she was frozen out of an interview she had arranged with The Duke of Edinburgh by the BBC?
38. A public enquiry into what was rejected last week?
39. Which food outlet are opening up to 150 UK stores?
40. Name the two teams contesting the America’s Cup?
41. Who said that he had returned his 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medal?
42. NASA confirmed that what has left the solar system?
43. Brian Sollitt passed away last week. He was the inventor of which food stuff?
44. GB have been playing against which country in their Davis Cup play off?
45. Who is to voice Paddington Bear in a new film?
46. Which audio pioneer passed away aged 80?
Answers
Who or what are the following in and why have they been in the news?
1. He’s rewriting the Merchant of Venice to deal with its anti semitism
2. Lib Dem MP who has accused Nick Clegg of backing Tory welfare policies
3. New PM of Australia
4. Bus Driver of the Year
5. He was found in a State Room in Buckingham Palace
6. One Direction singer who threw up on the touchline after a tackle by Gabriel Agbonlahor in a charity match at Celtic
7. Painting, previously ascribed as a fake, now authenticated as a Van Gogh
8. Lost hiker who had lived for four months lost in the Andes
9. New President of the IOC
10. Newsnight editor who tweeted that Shadow Cabinet minister Rachel Reeves was ‘boring snoring’
11. Deputy Speaker arrested a 3rd time over sex allegations – resigned as Deputy Speaker
12. New TV series – a twist on Jackanory – to star Harry Enfield, Jack Dee amongst others
13. Stuntman who doubled for Daniel Craig in the parachute jump for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics – passed away last week
14. He tried – and failed – to cross the Atlantic using cluster balloons
15. He is being sued for claims he made in his book about the Maddie McCann case
16. 1st novel in a series planned by Nadine Dorries
17. New Editor of the Sunday Sun
In Other News
1. Miss World
2. David Beckham
3. Co-op
4. Silvio Berlusconi
5. Toyko
6. Djokovic v. Nadal
7. Sebastian Vettel
8. Unison
9. The Walker Cup
10. Wrestling
11. The Big Brother House
12. Miss Saigon
13. A broken jaw
14. Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka
15. Graham Obree
16. The murder of Giorgi Markov
17. Ricky Lambert
18. Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire
19. 181 - 0
20. 0 - 0
21. 2 - 1
22. 0 - 3
23. 13
24. Pull out of the Heneken Cup and form their own competition.
25. Felipe Massa – being replaced by Kimi Raikkonen
26. Michael Le Vell
27. For describing the badger cull using the word ‘holocaust’
28. Hugh Laurie
29. 2 - 3
30. 0 - 1
31. 7
32. The lava lamp
33. Kylie Minogue
34. Matthew Hoggard
35. Giovanni Trappatoni
36. The Poppy Project
37. Selina Scott
38. The Omagh Bombing
39. Dunkin’ Donuts
40. Team Oracle USA ( featuring Sir Ben Ainslie) and Emirates Team New Zealand
41. Lance Armstrong
42. Voyager I
43. The After Eight Mint ( and other Rowntrees products, but especially the After Eight)
44. Croatia
45. Colin Firth
46. Ray Dolby
Saturday, 14 September 2013
University Challenge - Round One - Match Nine
Balliol, Oxford v. Peterhouse, Cambridge
Two venerable Oxbridge colleges slugged it out in last Monday’s heat. Balliol, alma mater to such luminaries as ted Heath, Richard Dawkins and Captain Hook were represented by George Corfield, Michael Bennett, Robin Edds, and captain Amy Vickers. Nice to see that Amy Vickers is from Chiswick, since that’s where I was born. Peterhouse, on the other hand, could boast David Mitchell, Christopher Cockerell and Sam Mendes. Their team were Mark Smith, Edmund Zimmer, Melanie Etherton and Alex Davis. Let’s crack on.
Mark Smith buzzed in on a description of a work of medieval literature. I’d already offered The Divine Comedy when he chanced his arm with the Canterbury Tales. Far too secular, I’m afraid, and it fell to Amy Vickers to supply the same answer as mine to take first blood. The first set of bonuses, on the diaries of Chris Mullins, was tricky but gettable, and they managed one. George Corfield knew that the 8 letter mathematical word which can also describe a type of argument is circular. This brought up Balliol’s second set of bonuses in the shape of British raptors. They missed the hen harrier and the hobby, but took the buzzard for five points. A fine buzz from Robin Edds saw him reveal the sword, mirror and jewel as part of the sacred royal regalia of Japan. Good shout that. A set of bonuses on David Hume saw them take a further 10 points. For the picture starter we saw an html tag, and Amy Vickers was first in to identify it as the paragraph tag. This earned three more of the same, and for the second set running Balliol took two of the three. The words ‘buying’ , ‘books’, ‘submission’, and ‘flog’ held out an irresistible invitation to leap in with the title “Fifty Shades of Grey” for the next starter, and Edmund Zimmer was the first to succumb. He was right to do so, earning Peterhouse their first points of the competition, and a set of bonuses on historical musical instruments. One was taken, but at least they were off and running now. On the cusp of the 10 minute mark Balliol led by 70 to 10. Balliol had by far the better of this opening period, but they hadn’t capitalized on it by taking a huge number of bonuses. Plenty of time for Peterhouse to come back.
George Corfield knew that the term ‘pecking order’ really does come from the hierarchy hens establish among themselves. A set of bonuses on herbalists certainly wasn’t easy, and they managed to take one. Then for the next starter we had one of those moments that, while they may seem relatively trivial as the competition progresses, can turn out to have been pivotal moments in the contest. The teams were given a list of people, and asked which sporting event linked them. George Corfield supplied the correct sport, rowing, but not the actual event, the University Boat race. This put Alex Davis in, and gifted Peterhouse a set of bonuses on Turkish words. I’d suggest that there isn’t a big football fan on the team, as they missed out on saray, as in the end of Galatasaray. They took the next two, though. Not daunted Amy Vickers took the next starter for Balliol, recognizing a question linking RP and RIP. A set of bonuses on diffraction followed. They did nowt for me, and they did nowt for Balliol either. The music starter gave us a little snatch of don Maclean – ah, I remember him with Peter Glaze on Crackerjack ( no? Ask your mum or dad) – which was enough for Alex Davis to buzz in with the title Vincent. The bonuses were bands named after artists. I was pleased with myself for dredging up the Dandy Warhols. I knew the Rembrandts and guessed Bauhaus. Peterhouse knew the Rembrandts. A very good early buzz from Amy Vickers identified a quote from Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”. Having just had a bonus set on Physics, they drew another short straw w3ith a set of German films. To be fair, they managed two, which was two more than I did. Respect to Alex Davis for knowing that Hamilton was the surname of the protomartyr of the Scottish Reformation – and for knowing it so quickly as well. A good UC set followed, with questions such as – the last four letters of the name of which European country are the name of the location of the earthly location first mentioned in chapter two of the book of Genesis. The answer is Sweden – Sw – Eden. Got it? I’m sure. Peterhouse did, although they couldn’t quite manage the next two. A lovely starter followed. Six of the states of the USA have names that do not contain the letters US or A. We were given two – New Mexico and New York, and asked for 2 others. Amy Vickers offered Ohio and Vermont, and was correct to do so. Oregon and Wyoming are the other two. Two bonuses were taken on the Pygmalion effect, and its opposite, the Golem effect. Something about isosceles Triangles followed. It was basically an arithmetic question, but by jingo Edmund Zimmer had it quickly. Bonuses on Bismarck took their score to 80 at the twenty minute mark. Still 50 points behind, but at least it had been a better period than the first, and they were within two full sets of closing the gap completely. Balliol led with 130.
The second picture starter showed us a photograph of famous Darth Vader soundalike James Earl Jones, who despite an answer I was given in a quiz once did NOT shoot Martin Luther King. Edmund Zimmer supplied the correct answer . A nice bonus set followed. James Earl Jones has an EGOT ( altogether now – a bit of ointment will clear that up for you, mate) – that is the set of Emmy – Grammy – Oscar and Tony – and for the bonuses we were given three more EGOT holders. Mel Brooks escaped them, but Sir John Geilgud and Whoopi Goldberg brought home the metaphorical bacon. Fully warmed up now Edmund Zimmer buzzed in early with filibuster as the political term adopted from piracy etc. etc. I got a maths bonus right at this point, knowing a Fibonacci sequence when I heard it defined. That was it for me, but Peterhouse managed a full set, which put them a mere 5 points behind. Edmund Zimmer knew that Wrens were both a baroque architect, and the author of Beau Geste. For the first time in the contest Peterhouse had taken the lead. Would they relinquish it again? Well, they didn’t quite take a full set on John Osborne – that’s the playwright, not the former West Brom goalkeeper. Still it was another 10 points, and they had all the momentum. They capitalised as well when Alex Davis recognized that the biological term being asked for in the next definition was adaptation. French cities saw the team momentarily stumped, but they were in the lead, and that was what mattered. Edmund Zimmer won the buzzer race to identify Erasmus as an anagram of masseur. Well, it wasn’t quite as simple as that, but you get the gist. One bonus of the following set on vertebrae was converted. No matter, for Alex Davis took the next, knowing about x rays coming from a crystal lattice. A timely full set on economists put Peterhouse right on the brink of the finishing line, although George Corfield proved that there was still life in Balliol by answering that frogs do battle with mice in some old work from long ago. Bonuses on towns with 4 letter names only yielded 5 points. Alex Davis knew that if you’re asked for a Spanish painter born in the 1880s Picasso will always give you a pretty good chance of the points. The bonuses were all shorter words that can be made from the letters in the word affluent. Not all easy, and they took one. It didn’t matter, for it was just a question of the final score left now. Edmund Zimmer knew that the DPRK is North Korea. Early aviation yielded another 10 points for Peterhouse. Edmund Zimmer was having a field day in this last part of the contest, and buzzed in to link Britain’s assassinated prime minister and Prince Charles’ first wife via the name Spencer. Those old favourites, definitions from Johnson’s dictionary, followed , giving another five points to Peterhouse. That was it. Following a turbo charged last ten minutes, Peterhouse won, and they won by more than 100 points, with 250 to Balliol’s 145. Hard lines Balliol. I have a feeling that they might regret those missed bonuses earlier, as they might just miss out on a repechage slot. I don’t know, they just seemed to become discouraged, and lose that vital half second of speed on the buzzer once Peterhouse started making a fight of it. Congratulations to Peterhouse – good luck in the next round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
When Balliol offered chicken hawk as the answer to the name of a British raptor JP was nearly in apoplexy. “Chicken Hawk?!!!It doesn’t exist in this country. Or anywhere as far as I’m aware!” Right then Jez. Prepare yourself to be educated. In a number of the Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons, Foghorn Leghorn has to deal with a tiny pipsqueak of a bird who keeps attacking him because he is, and I quote, a ‘chicken hawk’. So even if it doesn’t exist anywhere else, it exists in that world, and that’s good enough for me, I say, boy, I say that’s good enough for me.
George Corfield earned a wonderful old-fashioned look from the great man when he chanced his arm by offering just James for the name of James Earl Jones.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
A piece of crucial evidence for the wave theory of light is the Poisson Spot. ( wait for it, wait for it) Sounds a bit fishy to me . . . I’m here all week, ladies and gents.
Two venerable Oxbridge colleges slugged it out in last Monday’s heat. Balliol, alma mater to such luminaries as ted Heath, Richard Dawkins and Captain Hook were represented by George Corfield, Michael Bennett, Robin Edds, and captain Amy Vickers. Nice to see that Amy Vickers is from Chiswick, since that’s where I was born. Peterhouse, on the other hand, could boast David Mitchell, Christopher Cockerell and Sam Mendes. Their team were Mark Smith, Edmund Zimmer, Melanie Etherton and Alex Davis. Let’s crack on.
Mark Smith buzzed in on a description of a work of medieval literature. I’d already offered The Divine Comedy when he chanced his arm with the Canterbury Tales. Far too secular, I’m afraid, and it fell to Amy Vickers to supply the same answer as mine to take first blood. The first set of bonuses, on the diaries of Chris Mullins, was tricky but gettable, and they managed one. George Corfield knew that the 8 letter mathematical word which can also describe a type of argument is circular. This brought up Balliol’s second set of bonuses in the shape of British raptors. They missed the hen harrier and the hobby, but took the buzzard for five points. A fine buzz from Robin Edds saw him reveal the sword, mirror and jewel as part of the sacred royal regalia of Japan. Good shout that. A set of bonuses on David Hume saw them take a further 10 points. For the picture starter we saw an html tag, and Amy Vickers was first in to identify it as the paragraph tag. This earned three more of the same, and for the second set running Balliol took two of the three. The words ‘buying’ , ‘books’, ‘submission’, and ‘flog’ held out an irresistible invitation to leap in with the title “Fifty Shades of Grey” for the next starter, and Edmund Zimmer was the first to succumb. He was right to do so, earning Peterhouse their first points of the competition, and a set of bonuses on historical musical instruments. One was taken, but at least they were off and running now. On the cusp of the 10 minute mark Balliol led by 70 to 10. Balliol had by far the better of this opening period, but they hadn’t capitalized on it by taking a huge number of bonuses. Plenty of time for Peterhouse to come back.
George Corfield knew that the term ‘pecking order’ really does come from the hierarchy hens establish among themselves. A set of bonuses on herbalists certainly wasn’t easy, and they managed to take one. Then for the next starter we had one of those moments that, while they may seem relatively trivial as the competition progresses, can turn out to have been pivotal moments in the contest. The teams were given a list of people, and asked which sporting event linked them. George Corfield supplied the correct sport, rowing, but not the actual event, the University Boat race. This put Alex Davis in, and gifted Peterhouse a set of bonuses on Turkish words. I’d suggest that there isn’t a big football fan on the team, as they missed out on saray, as in the end of Galatasaray. They took the next two, though. Not daunted Amy Vickers took the next starter for Balliol, recognizing a question linking RP and RIP. A set of bonuses on diffraction followed. They did nowt for me, and they did nowt for Balliol either. The music starter gave us a little snatch of don Maclean – ah, I remember him with Peter Glaze on Crackerjack ( no? Ask your mum or dad) – which was enough for Alex Davis to buzz in with the title Vincent. The bonuses were bands named after artists. I was pleased with myself for dredging up the Dandy Warhols. I knew the Rembrandts and guessed Bauhaus. Peterhouse knew the Rembrandts. A very good early buzz from Amy Vickers identified a quote from Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”. Having just had a bonus set on Physics, they drew another short straw w3ith a set of German films. To be fair, they managed two, which was two more than I did. Respect to Alex Davis for knowing that Hamilton was the surname of the protomartyr of the Scottish Reformation – and for knowing it so quickly as well. A good UC set followed, with questions such as – the last four letters of the name of which European country are the name of the location of the earthly location first mentioned in chapter two of the book of Genesis. The answer is Sweden – Sw – Eden. Got it? I’m sure. Peterhouse did, although they couldn’t quite manage the next two. A lovely starter followed. Six of the states of the USA have names that do not contain the letters US or A. We were given two – New Mexico and New York, and asked for 2 others. Amy Vickers offered Ohio and Vermont, and was correct to do so. Oregon and Wyoming are the other two. Two bonuses were taken on the Pygmalion effect, and its opposite, the Golem effect. Something about isosceles Triangles followed. It was basically an arithmetic question, but by jingo Edmund Zimmer had it quickly. Bonuses on Bismarck took their score to 80 at the twenty minute mark. Still 50 points behind, but at least it had been a better period than the first, and they were within two full sets of closing the gap completely. Balliol led with 130.
The second picture starter showed us a photograph of famous Darth Vader soundalike James Earl Jones, who despite an answer I was given in a quiz once did NOT shoot Martin Luther King. Edmund Zimmer supplied the correct answer . A nice bonus set followed. James Earl Jones has an EGOT ( altogether now – a bit of ointment will clear that up for you, mate) – that is the set of Emmy – Grammy – Oscar and Tony – and for the bonuses we were given three more EGOT holders. Mel Brooks escaped them, but Sir John Geilgud and Whoopi Goldberg brought home the metaphorical bacon. Fully warmed up now Edmund Zimmer buzzed in early with filibuster as the political term adopted from piracy etc. etc. I got a maths bonus right at this point, knowing a Fibonacci sequence when I heard it defined. That was it for me, but Peterhouse managed a full set, which put them a mere 5 points behind. Edmund Zimmer knew that Wrens were both a baroque architect, and the author of Beau Geste. For the first time in the contest Peterhouse had taken the lead. Would they relinquish it again? Well, they didn’t quite take a full set on John Osborne – that’s the playwright, not the former West Brom goalkeeper. Still it was another 10 points, and they had all the momentum. They capitalised as well when Alex Davis recognized that the biological term being asked for in the next definition was adaptation. French cities saw the team momentarily stumped, but they were in the lead, and that was what mattered. Edmund Zimmer won the buzzer race to identify Erasmus as an anagram of masseur. Well, it wasn’t quite as simple as that, but you get the gist. One bonus of the following set on vertebrae was converted. No matter, for Alex Davis took the next, knowing about x rays coming from a crystal lattice. A timely full set on economists put Peterhouse right on the brink of the finishing line, although George Corfield proved that there was still life in Balliol by answering that frogs do battle with mice in some old work from long ago. Bonuses on towns with 4 letter names only yielded 5 points. Alex Davis knew that if you’re asked for a Spanish painter born in the 1880s Picasso will always give you a pretty good chance of the points. The bonuses were all shorter words that can be made from the letters in the word affluent. Not all easy, and they took one. It didn’t matter, for it was just a question of the final score left now. Edmund Zimmer knew that the DPRK is North Korea. Early aviation yielded another 10 points for Peterhouse. Edmund Zimmer was having a field day in this last part of the contest, and buzzed in to link Britain’s assassinated prime minister and Prince Charles’ first wife via the name Spencer. Those old favourites, definitions from Johnson’s dictionary, followed , giving another five points to Peterhouse. That was it. Following a turbo charged last ten minutes, Peterhouse won, and they won by more than 100 points, with 250 to Balliol’s 145. Hard lines Balliol. I have a feeling that they might regret those missed bonuses earlier, as they might just miss out on a repechage slot. I don’t know, they just seemed to become discouraged, and lose that vital half second of speed on the buzzer once Peterhouse started making a fight of it. Congratulations to Peterhouse – good luck in the next round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
When Balliol offered chicken hawk as the answer to the name of a British raptor JP was nearly in apoplexy. “Chicken Hawk?!!!It doesn’t exist in this country. Or anywhere as far as I’m aware!” Right then Jez. Prepare yourself to be educated. In a number of the Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons, Foghorn Leghorn has to deal with a tiny pipsqueak of a bird who keeps attacking him because he is, and I quote, a ‘chicken hawk’. So even if it doesn’t exist anywhere else, it exists in that world, and that’s good enough for me, I say, boy, I say that’s good enough for me.
George Corfield earned a wonderful old-fashioned look from the great man when he chanced his arm by offering just James for the name of James Earl Jones.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
A piece of crucial evidence for the wave theory of light is the Poisson Spot. ( wait for it, wait for it) Sounds a bit fishy to me . . . I’m here all week, ladies and gents.
Mastermind - Round One - heat Five
Well, it was nice to see Mastermind back after that hiatus, wasn’t it? Three Mastermind virgins took on my internet friend Andrew Teale. We’ll come to Andrew shortly. For me one of the other main points of interest was seeing whether this heat kept up the practice of death by long questions which we’ve seen in the specialist rounds of this series so far. The answer was, well, yes, it did. The way that the specialist questions are being phrased now I would say that 13 is a very good score on GK, and 15, exceptional. OK, moan over. Let’s look at the specialist rounds. I haven’t the time to wiki at the moment, and of the four rounds I thought that I could get one or two points on each of them , but only one of them offered much more.
I have a bit of a problem with Bob Dylan. You see it’s like this. I’m perfectly able to concede that Dylan was/is a brilliant songwriter. I equally concede that his influence on popular music has been immense. But . . . (say it softly, Dave) . . . I never thought that much of him as a performer. Sorry, that’s just the way I feel. I don’t feel the same attachment to him as I feel to other artists who were contemporary with him. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t really there first time round with him, not having been born until 1964. I don’t know. Still, the upshot is that I really didn’t fancy my chances on Howard Davies’ round, so was very happy when a couple of sitters gave me two points. I did say at the outset that 13 is a very good specialist score at the moment, and that’s exactly what Howard produced. Consider the gauntlet to have been lain.
Janet Parfitt was answering on Sitting Bull. Right, there’s no gentle or soft way to say this, but even with questions of this length, 6 is not a great score. I’ve watched the round a couple of times, and I can’t say that I’m really sure exactly what went wrong for Janet. I don’t think it was nerves – her GK round was a bravura performance which didn’t show any sign of being affected by nerves. Likewise, granted that my knowledge of the subject is limited – Hunkpapa produced my only point in the round – it didn’t seem to me that the questions were especially obscure, or outside what might be taken as the parameters of the subject. So I don’t know. It’s a shame, though, for she had a very good GK round to come.
John Jacob offered half of a good old Mastermind favourite in the shape of Sir Arthur Sullivan – although not W.S. Gilbert. A couple of the easier points came my way on this round. John did considerably better. In previous years a score of 12 on GK would represent a round which had almost, but not quite delivered its promise. Now it seems to be a score which will always give you a say in the final shake up.
So to Andrew. Andrew last appeared in Mastermind in Ian’s 2011 series. He was unlucky to play in a very high scoring first round match, where despite scoring 27 he was third. AS explained by the previous producer of the series, at the time the ruling was that you could only earn a repechage slot through a second place. Well, we know that this rule changed last year. Back in 2011 Andrew answered on The Lancashire Fusiliers. Last night in a change of pace he offered us King Henry I. Of all 4 of tonight’s this was my ‘banker’ subject for want of a better term. As it was I only managed 6 of them. Andrew hit 12 though, which didn’t give him the lead, but placed him only 1 point behind with GK still to come. Game on.
Remember what I said about Janet Parfitt’s GK round? She posted a fine 16 and 4 passes. That indicates a certain presence of mind, to be able to pick off everything you know, and pass those that you can’t guess in order to keep the round moving. Had she only managed a competitive GK round, then she’d have been in with a shout, at least of a repechage slot. Which begs the question – why wasn’t her GK round better? Well, I don’t want to rub it in, and the fact is that 22 is a respectable performance, and that was a good GK round.
It wasn’t as good as John Jacob’s round though. 18 in 2 and a half minutes is good going by anyone’s standards. He was calm and controlled throughout, and although I don’t personally know the gentleman I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he has a bit of a pedigree as a quizzer. Well, either that, or his set of questions particularly suited him. On the whole I think the former is more likely than the latter. A total of 30 pretty much guaranteed him a repechage slot, but also guaranteed that either Andrew or Howard was going to have to produce something truly outstanding to deprive him of the win.
Andrew’s previous tilt at the chair produced 14 on GK in two and a half minutes, so he was really going to have to go some to overhaul John. To be fair he gave it a good lash. He answered quickly, giving surnames to save time, just like a good, seasoned Mastermind hand, and passed when it was necessary to maintain momentum. Ok, his 15 was not enough for the win, but it was enough to take his score to 27, and that might, just might well see him into the semis. All depending on whether Howard managed a score which would push him further down the repechage table.
Howard had a go at it alright, no doubt about that. he didn’t panic, he kept answering and kept the round moving. But it never felt quite convincing. By a minute and a half it was clear that John was safe. As for Andrew, well that was a lot closer. Howard’s target of 15 was approaching, but so was the finishing line, and it was coming too quickly. In the end he finished with 13 to score 26 overall. He’s not out of it yet, but I have a feeling he may be a point or two short of the semis with that score. Sadly , with both Andrew and Howard making it to the table Barry Humphrey has been pushed out.
So well played John Jacob. A fine performance indeed. Well played too Andrew – I hope that you make it to the semis.
The Details
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 - 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 - 5
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
I have a bit of a problem with Bob Dylan. You see it’s like this. I’m perfectly able to concede that Dylan was/is a brilliant songwriter. I equally concede that his influence on popular music has been immense. But . . . (say it softly, Dave) . . . I never thought that much of him as a performer. Sorry, that’s just the way I feel. I don’t feel the same attachment to him as I feel to other artists who were contemporary with him. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t really there first time round with him, not having been born until 1964. I don’t know. Still, the upshot is that I really didn’t fancy my chances on Howard Davies’ round, so was very happy when a couple of sitters gave me two points. I did say at the outset that 13 is a very good specialist score at the moment, and that’s exactly what Howard produced. Consider the gauntlet to have been lain.
Janet Parfitt was answering on Sitting Bull. Right, there’s no gentle or soft way to say this, but even with questions of this length, 6 is not a great score. I’ve watched the round a couple of times, and I can’t say that I’m really sure exactly what went wrong for Janet. I don’t think it was nerves – her GK round was a bravura performance which didn’t show any sign of being affected by nerves. Likewise, granted that my knowledge of the subject is limited – Hunkpapa produced my only point in the round – it didn’t seem to me that the questions were especially obscure, or outside what might be taken as the parameters of the subject. So I don’t know. It’s a shame, though, for she had a very good GK round to come.
John Jacob offered half of a good old Mastermind favourite in the shape of Sir Arthur Sullivan – although not W.S. Gilbert. A couple of the easier points came my way on this round. John did considerably better. In previous years a score of 12 on GK would represent a round which had almost, but not quite delivered its promise. Now it seems to be a score which will always give you a say in the final shake up.
So to Andrew. Andrew last appeared in Mastermind in Ian’s 2011 series. He was unlucky to play in a very high scoring first round match, where despite scoring 27 he was third. AS explained by the previous producer of the series, at the time the ruling was that you could only earn a repechage slot through a second place. Well, we know that this rule changed last year. Back in 2011 Andrew answered on The Lancashire Fusiliers. Last night in a change of pace he offered us King Henry I. Of all 4 of tonight’s this was my ‘banker’ subject for want of a better term. As it was I only managed 6 of them. Andrew hit 12 though, which didn’t give him the lead, but placed him only 1 point behind with GK still to come. Game on.
Remember what I said about Janet Parfitt’s GK round? She posted a fine 16 and 4 passes. That indicates a certain presence of mind, to be able to pick off everything you know, and pass those that you can’t guess in order to keep the round moving. Had she only managed a competitive GK round, then she’d have been in with a shout, at least of a repechage slot. Which begs the question – why wasn’t her GK round better? Well, I don’t want to rub it in, and the fact is that 22 is a respectable performance, and that was a good GK round.
It wasn’t as good as John Jacob’s round though. 18 in 2 and a half minutes is good going by anyone’s standards. He was calm and controlled throughout, and although I don’t personally know the gentleman I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he has a bit of a pedigree as a quizzer. Well, either that, or his set of questions particularly suited him. On the whole I think the former is more likely than the latter. A total of 30 pretty much guaranteed him a repechage slot, but also guaranteed that either Andrew or Howard was going to have to produce something truly outstanding to deprive him of the win.
Andrew’s previous tilt at the chair produced 14 on GK in two and a half minutes, so he was really going to have to go some to overhaul John. To be fair he gave it a good lash. He answered quickly, giving surnames to save time, just like a good, seasoned Mastermind hand, and passed when it was necessary to maintain momentum. Ok, his 15 was not enough for the win, but it was enough to take his score to 27, and that might, just might well see him into the semis. All depending on whether Howard managed a score which would push him further down the repechage table.
Howard had a go at it alright, no doubt about that. he didn’t panic, he kept answering and kept the round moving. But it never felt quite convincing. By a minute and a half it was clear that John was safe. As for Andrew, well that was a lot closer. Howard’s target of 15 was approaching, but so was the finishing line, and it was coming too quickly. In the end he finished with 13 to score 26 overall. He’s not out of it yet, but I have a feeling he may be a point or two short of the semis with that score. Sadly , with both Andrew and Howard making it to the table Barry Humphrey has been pushed out.
So well played John Jacob. A fine performance indeed. Well played too Andrew – I hope that you make it to the semis.
The Details
| Howard Davies | The Life and Music of Bob Dylan | 13 - 1 | 13 - 4 | 26 - 5 |
| Janet Parfitt | Sitting Bull | 6 – 3 | 16 - 4 | 22 - 7 |
| John Jacob | Life and work of Sir Arthur Sullivan | 12 - 1 | 18 - 1 | 30 - 2 |
| Andrew Teale | King Henry I | 12 - 1 | 15 - 4 | 27 - 5 |
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Andrew Teale – 27 - 5
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Howard Davies – 26 - 5
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
My Quizzing Week - CIU - Muriel Williams and the Rugby Club
Ok, then. Let me tell you about my quizzing week. Last Sunday was the final of the CIU Quiz in Derby. It was also Mary’s birthday. Oops. No, no, I hadn’t forgotten, but it was a little awkward. Opting to go to Derby anyway was what is technically known, in marital terms, as ‘pushing my luck’. The comedy of errors on our part that followed was, I suppose, a case of just desserts. Except that we didn’t get any dessert – or indeed any lunch at all. I’ll come to that in a moment or two.
You see, the basic problem was that in the last couple of years we’d set off from Neath at about half past seven. This meant that we arrived in Derby at about half eleven – some considerable time before the club opened. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice and friendly place, but not quite so nice from the outside. So this time we set off an hour later. It would probably have been alright too if I hadn’t missed the turn off for the right motorway off the M5. You see, it’s a journey I only make once a year, and a human sat nav I’m not. Ironically one of Mary’s presents was a sat nav for her car, but I digress. We turned round at Frankley Services, but not until we’d stopped for a coffee. We didn’t realize until we were just leaving the services that we’d missed the turning, you see, and by that time the damage was done. I don’t know if you’ve ever arrived late to such an event, keeping everybody waiting to start in the process, but it’s not a pleasant feeling, and not one I’d like to repeat any time soon.
We didn’t play at all badly throughout the whole quiz, and played particularly well in the first half. A couple of mistakes on TV, a mistake on Sport cost us chances of winning those rounds. Going into the last round we were in third behind eventual winners Maesglas A, and runners up, last year’s champions Ashford Road from Swindon. Dave, Daniel and the lads from Sunderland were a point behind us, and I think it was Gareth and the boys from Coventry who were also in with a shout of getting third as well. We dropped two points, and that was enough to ensure that we finished 5th, equal on points with the Coventry lads, but further out on the tiebreaker. The lads from Sunderland had a blinder in the last round, and took a deserved third.
Well, looking back on the experience I suppose it’s a case of what might have been. It would have been lovely to get back on the podium again after an absence of many years, especially with a team which has been hit by absences and withdrawals. Still, it was a pleasure to finally get to meet Daniel Fullard, of the excellent Quiz Addict blog face to face, even if our tardiness did mean that there wasn’t a lot of time for talking. Dave Cornish once again produced another excellent quiz, which was a pleasure to play in.
I know that it was our own fault – well, alright , my own fault as driver - that we were so late, but it was a bit of a bummer to find that nobody had left us anything at all out of the buffet other than a couple of cheese sandwiches, which were the worse for wear by the time we arrived. We probably have as long a journey as anybody else – longer than many, and when there is a long journey, then it’s not unreasonable to expect that some is going to be held up. I hadn’t brought anything to eat with me because I knew that we were going to be having a good buffet, if last year’s was anything to go by, and while I can usually go longer without eating without it affecting my diabetes too badly it’s not something I like to make a habit of. Oh well, these things happen, and it’s not like it affected my, or our performance, because it didn’t. We played as well as we could. Even so, unfortunately the lunch thing put a little bit of a dampener on an otherwise great occasion. I’m still looking forward to next year though.
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By contrast, the next day, Monday, was the annual quiz for the Muriel Williams trophy in Bridgend. This is the traditional curtain raiser for the Bridgend Quiz League. It’s a night when teams get a chance to register for the League, the trophies for the previous season are presented, and everyone gets to play in a good quiz. Last year was the 40th anniversary of the League, and so we had Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbet as a special guest of honour. Well, there was nothing quite like that this year – 41st birthday – nope, it doesn’t have the same ring as 40th, however you say it. Nonetheless it was a well attended evening, hosted by the Tondu Rugby Club as well and as warmly as ever.
We’ve had a bit of a chequered history in the Muriel Quiz in the past few years. The first time I played, three years ago, we won with just the three of us in the team, Andrew, Neil and me. The year later we played a very strong team in the quiz, but still came second, and not a close second at that. Last year we were even further behind, in 4th or 5th if I remember correctly. This year it was different. We took a lead in the first round, and never relinquished it. It’s funny like that. You can have some evenings when the questions just fall for you, and others when no matter how hard you try you just keep falling further behind.
One great thing about the evening was hearing that the League has secured two sponsors for this season. Long before I ever started playing regularly in the league I put on record my admiration for the fact that the league has kept going while many, if not most, of those on the M4 corridor have shut up shop. Hopefully this sponsorship will help the league continue to flourish.
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I’ve made the observation before that there’s no accounting for the reception a quiz receives in the club. You can use every ounce of your craft and skill, selecting only the very finest questions you can find, that you know will be well received in the club, then writing and rewriting the questions over and over again to ensure maximum clarity, and the whole thing can still go down like alead balloon. On the other hand you can literally throw the thing together in a couple of hours from start to finish, and it can go down an absolute storm. Go figure. Well, such a quiz was the one I put together for Thursday night. I was so pushed for time that not only did I use a general news question in every round ( all of which have appeared in this very blog), I also used news questions for each round’s sport question. I have never before downloaded a free picture quiz from the internet. You know me well enough by now, I’m a straightforward questions and answers guy, so I don’t like picture quizzes, but it’s expected down the rugby club, and my attitude is that if you’re going to do it at all, then do it with a good heart and put some time and effort into it. Well, I was prepared for the effort, but literally didn’t have the time, so stuff it, I downloaded one off a free quiz site.
You know what’s coming. It went down well. Too well actually. Yes, I know that I’m never satisfied, but maybe it would have been nice if someone had said words to the effect of – sorry, but that wasn’t up to your usual standard. The fact that it so obviously was probably says a lot about the kind of quizzes I put together when I’m really devoting time and energy to it.
Well, by way of a comparison point I have to do the quiz in the Dyffryn Arms tomorrow evening, and I do have a little bit more time for this one. So we’ll see how it goes. Hmm. . . I think I can feel a lead balloon coming on.
You see, the basic problem was that in the last couple of years we’d set off from Neath at about half past seven. This meant that we arrived in Derby at about half eleven – some considerable time before the club opened. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice and friendly place, but not quite so nice from the outside. So this time we set off an hour later. It would probably have been alright too if I hadn’t missed the turn off for the right motorway off the M5. You see, it’s a journey I only make once a year, and a human sat nav I’m not. Ironically one of Mary’s presents was a sat nav for her car, but I digress. We turned round at Frankley Services, but not until we’d stopped for a coffee. We didn’t realize until we were just leaving the services that we’d missed the turning, you see, and by that time the damage was done. I don’t know if you’ve ever arrived late to such an event, keeping everybody waiting to start in the process, but it’s not a pleasant feeling, and not one I’d like to repeat any time soon.
We didn’t play at all badly throughout the whole quiz, and played particularly well in the first half. A couple of mistakes on TV, a mistake on Sport cost us chances of winning those rounds. Going into the last round we were in third behind eventual winners Maesglas A, and runners up, last year’s champions Ashford Road from Swindon. Dave, Daniel and the lads from Sunderland were a point behind us, and I think it was Gareth and the boys from Coventry who were also in with a shout of getting third as well. We dropped two points, and that was enough to ensure that we finished 5th, equal on points with the Coventry lads, but further out on the tiebreaker. The lads from Sunderland had a blinder in the last round, and took a deserved third.
Well, looking back on the experience I suppose it’s a case of what might have been. It would have been lovely to get back on the podium again after an absence of many years, especially with a team which has been hit by absences and withdrawals. Still, it was a pleasure to finally get to meet Daniel Fullard, of the excellent Quiz Addict blog face to face, even if our tardiness did mean that there wasn’t a lot of time for talking. Dave Cornish once again produced another excellent quiz, which was a pleasure to play in.
I know that it was our own fault – well, alright , my own fault as driver - that we were so late, but it was a bit of a bummer to find that nobody had left us anything at all out of the buffet other than a couple of cheese sandwiches, which were the worse for wear by the time we arrived. We probably have as long a journey as anybody else – longer than many, and when there is a long journey, then it’s not unreasonable to expect that some is going to be held up. I hadn’t brought anything to eat with me because I knew that we were going to be having a good buffet, if last year’s was anything to go by, and while I can usually go longer without eating without it affecting my diabetes too badly it’s not something I like to make a habit of. Oh well, these things happen, and it’s not like it affected my, or our performance, because it didn’t. We played as well as we could. Even so, unfortunately the lunch thing put a little bit of a dampener on an otherwise great occasion. I’m still looking forward to next year though.
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By contrast, the next day, Monday, was the annual quiz for the Muriel Williams trophy in Bridgend. This is the traditional curtain raiser for the Bridgend Quiz League. It’s a night when teams get a chance to register for the League, the trophies for the previous season are presented, and everyone gets to play in a good quiz. Last year was the 40th anniversary of the League, and so we had Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbet as a special guest of honour. Well, there was nothing quite like that this year – 41st birthday – nope, it doesn’t have the same ring as 40th, however you say it. Nonetheless it was a well attended evening, hosted by the Tondu Rugby Club as well and as warmly as ever.
We’ve had a bit of a chequered history in the Muriel Quiz in the past few years. The first time I played, three years ago, we won with just the three of us in the team, Andrew, Neil and me. The year later we played a very strong team in the quiz, but still came second, and not a close second at that. Last year we were even further behind, in 4th or 5th if I remember correctly. This year it was different. We took a lead in the first round, and never relinquished it. It’s funny like that. You can have some evenings when the questions just fall for you, and others when no matter how hard you try you just keep falling further behind.
One great thing about the evening was hearing that the League has secured two sponsors for this season. Long before I ever started playing regularly in the league I put on record my admiration for the fact that the league has kept going while many, if not most, of those on the M4 corridor have shut up shop. Hopefully this sponsorship will help the league continue to flourish.
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I’ve made the observation before that there’s no accounting for the reception a quiz receives in the club. You can use every ounce of your craft and skill, selecting only the very finest questions you can find, that you know will be well received in the club, then writing and rewriting the questions over and over again to ensure maximum clarity, and the whole thing can still go down like alead balloon. On the other hand you can literally throw the thing together in a couple of hours from start to finish, and it can go down an absolute storm. Go figure. Well, such a quiz was the one I put together for Thursday night. I was so pushed for time that not only did I use a general news question in every round ( all of which have appeared in this very blog), I also used news questions for each round’s sport question. I have never before downloaded a free picture quiz from the internet. You know me well enough by now, I’m a straightforward questions and answers guy, so I don’t like picture quizzes, but it’s expected down the rugby club, and my attitude is that if you’re going to do it at all, then do it with a good heart and put some time and effort into it. Well, I was prepared for the effort, but literally didn’t have the time, so stuff it, I downloaded one off a free quiz site.
You know what’s coming. It went down well. Too well actually. Yes, I know that I’m never satisfied, but maybe it would have been nice if someone had said words to the effect of – sorry, but that wasn’t up to your usual standard. The fact that it so obviously was probably says a lot about the kind of quizzes I put together when I’m really devoting time and energy to it.
Well, by way of a comparison point I have to do the quiz in the Dyffryn Arms tomorrow evening, and I do have a little bit more time for this one. So we’ll see how it goes. Hmm. . . I think I can feel a lead balloon coming on.
In The News
In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Howard Jacobson
2. Sarah Teather
3. Tony Abbott
4. Gordon Cutting
5. Victor Miller
6. Louis Tomlinson
7. Sunset at Montmajour
8. Raul Gomez Cincunegui
9. Thomas Bach
10. Ian Katz
11. Nigel Evans MP
12. Crackanory
13. Mark Sutton
14. Maria Miller
15. Jonathan Trappe
16. Goncalo Amaral
17. The Four Streets
18. Victoria Newton
In Other News
1. Which competition’s final round has caused protests in Bali?
2. Who admitted having had a secret crush on Cherie Blair
3. Which supermarket chain last week banned the sale of Lads Mags
4. Who appealed to the European Court of human Rights over his tax fraud conviction?
5. Which city will host the 2020 Summer Olympics?
6. Who contested the Men’s US Open final?
7. Who won the Italian GP?
8. Which became the second union to cut funding to the Labour Party?
9. Which golf competition was won lst week by the USA?
10. Which sport has been reinstated to the Olympic programme?
11. Which unusual property will the National Trust be opening to the public?
12. The return of which musical to the West end saw the biggest single day’s ticket sales ever?
13. Ricky Burns fought the last three rounds of his world title fight with which handicap?
14. Who beat whom in the US Open women’s singles final?
15. Who is to make an attempt on the bicycle land speed record?
16. Bulgaria announced that it has closed its investigation into what?
17. Who played his first competitive match for England v. Ukraine?
18. The Yorkshire Bank 40 final will contested by which two teams?
19. What was the score in a rugby match between Llanidloes and Holyhead last week?
20. – and England v. Ukraine?
21. – and Scotland v. Macedonia?
22. – and Wales v. Serbia?
23. Who many singles grand slam titles has Rafael Nadal won?
24. English and French rugby clubs announced their intention to do what next season?
25. Who confirmed that he will be leaving Ferrari, and who will be taking his place?
26. Who was acquitted of all sex charges in court?
27. Why was Brian May criticized by jewish leaders last week?
28. Who is to host a new blues show on Radio 2?
29. What was the score in Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg?
30. – and the Rep. of Ireland v. Austria?
31. Frank Lampard became the latest player to reach 100 caps for England. How many players had previously reached this milestone?
32. Which 70s classic? had its 50th birthday last week?
33. Who is the newest judge on BBC’s The Voice?
34. Which 36 year old former England Ashes hero is retiring from cricket?
35. Who was sacked as Ireland manager last week?
36. Which project was turned down by the Heritage Lottery fund last week, but rescued by B and Q?
37. Who claimed she was frozen out of an interview she had arranged with The Duke of Edinburgh by the BBC?
38. A public enquiry into what was rejected last week?
39. Which food outlet are opening up to 150 UK stores?
40. Name the two teams contesting the America’s Cup?
41. Who said that he had returned his 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medal?
42. NASA confirmed that what has left the solar system?
43. Brian Sollitt passed away last week. He was the inventor of which food stuff?
44. GB have been playing against which country in their Davis Cup play off?
45. Who is to voice Paddington Bear in a new film?
46. Which audio pioneer passed away aged 80?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Howard Jacobson
2. Sarah Teather
3. Tony Abbott
4. Gordon Cutting
5. Victor Miller
6. Louis Tomlinson
7. Sunset at Montmajour
8. Raul Gomez Cincunegui
9. Thomas Bach
10. Ian Katz
11. Nigel Evans MP
12. Crackanory
13. Mark Sutton
14. Maria Miller
15. Jonathan Trappe
16. Goncalo Amaral
17. The Four Streets
18. Victoria Newton
In Other News
1. Which competition’s final round has caused protests in Bali?
2. Who admitted having had a secret crush on Cherie Blair
3. Which supermarket chain last week banned the sale of Lads Mags
4. Who appealed to the European Court of human Rights over his tax fraud conviction?
5. Which city will host the 2020 Summer Olympics?
6. Who contested the Men’s US Open final?
7. Who won the Italian GP?
8. Which became the second union to cut funding to the Labour Party?
9. Which golf competition was won lst week by the USA?
10. Which sport has been reinstated to the Olympic programme?
11. Which unusual property will the National Trust be opening to the public?
12. The return of which musical to the West end saw the biggest single day’s ticket sales ever?
13. Ricky Burns fought the last three rounds of his world title fight with which handicap?
14. Who beat whom in the US Open women’s singles final?
15. Who is to make an attempt on the bicycle land speed record?
16. Bulgaria announced that it has closed its investigation into what?
17. Who played his first competitive match for England v. Ukraine?
18. The Yorkshire Bank 40 final will contested by which two teams?
19. What was the score in a rugby match between Llanidloes and Holyhead last week?
20. – and England v. Ukraine?
21. – and Scotland v. Macedonia?
22. – and Wales v. Serbia?
23. Who many singles grand slam titles has Rafael Nadal won?
24. English and French rugby clubs announced their intention to do what next season?
25. Who confirmed that he will be leaving Ferrari, and who will be taking his place?
26. Who was acquitted of all sex charges in court?
27. Why was Brian May criticized by jewish leaders last week?
28. Who is to host a new blues show on Radio 2?
29. What was the score in Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg?
30. – and the Rep. of Ireland v. Austria?
31. Frank Lampard became the latest player to reach 100 caps for England. How many players had previously reached this milestone?
32. Which 70s classic? had its 50th birthday last week?
33. Who is the newest judge on BBC’s The Voice?
34. Which 36 year old former England Ashes hero is retiring from cricket?
35. Who was sacked as Ireland manager last week?
36. Which project was turned down by the Heritage Lottery fund last week, but rescued by B and Q?
37. Who claimed she was frozen out of an interview she had arranged with The Duke of Edinburgh by the BBC?
38. A public enquiry into what was rejected last week?
39. Which food outlet are opening up to 150 UK stores?
40. Name the two teams contesting the America’s Cup?
41. Who said that he had returned his 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medal?
42. NASA confirmed that what has left the solar system?
43. Brian Sollitt passed away last week. He was the inventor of which food stuff?
44. GB have been playing against which country in their Davis Cup play off?
45. Who is to voice Paddington Bear in a new film?
46. Which audio pioneer passed away aged 80?
Apologies - and answers to news questions
I've probably already mentioned this, and I'm sorry if so, but I've just taken up a new position at work. I'm loving it, but it is taking me a bit of time to get my head around it, and so spare time has been at something of a premium this week. That's why I'm so behind with my posts at the moment. Don't worry - I haven't lost any interest, and I am going to do my best to catch up now. So - without further ado : -
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Malala Yousufzai
2. Rochus Misch
3. Diana Nyad
4. David Warner
5. Man on the Run
6. The Walkie Talkie
7. Verizon
8. Rush
9. Civil Service FC v. Polytechnic FC
10. Daniel Ricciardo
11. Anna Soubrey
12. Sophie Hannah
13. The Last and Best of Peter Pans
14. Marouanne Fellaini
15. Richard Whitehead
16. KitKat
17. L’Enclame
18. Rafael Vinoly
19. Sir Frank Chapman
20. Ariel Castro
21. Shahidul Ahmed
22. Menen
23. Mark Carne
24. Ken Wallis
25. Lingholm
26. Roman Dauriac
27. Kirobo
In Other News
1. The writers of DC Comics Batwoman have quit. Why?
2. The Serbian village of Lunjevica is hosting which cookery world championships? 3. Who scored two goals, and was booked in England’s 4 – 0 win over Moldova in world cup Qualifying?
4. What was the score between Republic of Ireland and Sweden ?
5. – and between Northern Ireland and Portugal?
6. – and between Wales and FYR Macedonia?
7. Michael Gove has announced that all pupils who fail to gain a GCSE in which subjects will be made to resit them in college?
8. Which former world leader was released from hospital last week?
9. Which infamous European location is to be restored?
10. A 50p coin is being struck to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of whom?
11. Who returned to the small screen full time following recovery from a stroke?
12. Which 74 year old broadcaster passed away?
13. What was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool
14. – and Spurs and Arsenal?
15. Which car was voted British motorists’ favourite vehicle of the last 25 years?
16. To the nearest £million , what was Gareth Bale’s transfer fee to Real Madrid?
17. Which team won Rugby League’s Super League?
18. Swansea City achieved their first league win of the season against which team?
19. Which 87 year old broadcaster passed away?
20. Who joined Arsenal for £42.5m ?
21. How many US men reached the last 16 of the US Open?
22. Who bought the Euskatel Euskadi cycle team?
23. Which Cambridge College has decided to charge townspeople a pound for access to its grounds – previously it had always been free?
24. Who are undergoing ‘not a crisis, just a temporary separation’?
25. Who last week said that he had helped in the hunt for Raoul Moat?
26. With whom have UK Athletics signed a new sponsorship deal?
27. Which company is buying Nokia’s handset division?
28. Who defeated Roger Federer in the 4th round of the US Open?
29. Who announced that this season will be his last in first class rugby?
30. Which union announced a cut of 90% in their contributions to the Labour Party?
31. Which chain of stores announced plans to end gender references on store signs?
32. Which 94 year old US sci fi writer passed away?
33. Who announced he will retire after the Rio 2016 Olympics?
34. Who announced he is quitting Match of the Day?
35. – and it was reported that who is quitting movies?
36. Who announced his 100th album?
37. Which Premier League manager has received a two match touchline ban
38. Who is to play Sherlock Holmes in a new film “A Slight Trick of the Mind”?
39. What city was the location of the G20 Summit
40. Where was there a 130 car pile-up last week?
41. How many races have been suggested for the 2014 formula 1 season?
42. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the US Open?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. She has won the Children’s Peace Prize
2. Hitler’s former bodyguard, who was with him in the last days in the bunker, died aged 96
3. She succeeded on her fifth attempt to swim from the Florida Keys to Cuba
4. Australian cricketer dropped from the ODI squad
5. Title of the new biography of Paul McCartney
6. The controversial new tower block in London which seems to generate enough heat reflected from its windows to melt parts of cars in the street below
7. US rival in which Vodafone sold its stake, allegedly without paying any tax on it
8. New film about the 1976 rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda
9. The first official football match ever to be played in the grounds of Buckingham Palace
10. Hired to drive for Red Bull next season
11. Health Minister who said that she was ‘turned on’ to smoking at a young age by the ‘gorgeous packs’
12. Writer given permission by the Agatha Christie estate to write a new Poirot novel
13. Previously unpublished J.D.Salinger story featuring Holden Caulfield
14. Everton footballer who sacrificed a £4million bonus to join Man Utd.
15. Paralympic double amputee sprint champion running from Land’s End to John O’Groats
16. Name of the next version of the Android operating system
17. Simon Rogan’s restaurant which has been named the best in Britain
18. The architect of the Walkie Talkie Tower
19. Named as Britain’s richest pensioner
20. The Ohio kidnapper who committed suicide in prison
21. Convicted of the murder of Rachel Manning
22. Belgian town in which the Mayor has banned the speaking of French
23. New Boss of Network Rail
24. Autogyro pilot extraordinaire, doubled for James Bon in You Only Live Twice, passed away last week
25. Beatrix Potter home which was grade II listed
26. He has just become engaged to Scarlett Johansson
27. A Japanese android which has become the first to go into space
In Other News
1. They are angry at being ordered to produce a number of storylines including Batwoman’s lesbian wedding
2. Testicle cooking
3. Danny Welbeck
4. 2 – 1 to Sweden
5. 4 – 2 to Portugal
6. 2 – 1 to Macedonia
7. English and Maths
8. Nelson Mandela
9. Nuremberg Parade Ground
10. Benjamin Britten
11. Andrew Marr
12. Sir David Frost
13. 1 – 0 to Liverpool
14. 1 – 0 to Arsenal
15. Ford Focus
16. £86 million
17. Huddersfield Giants
18. West Bromwich Albion
19. David Jacobs
20. Meerut Ozil
21. None, for the first time ever
22. Fernando Alonso
23. Trinity College
24. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones
25. Ray Mears
26. Nike
27. Microsoft
28. Tommy Robredo
29. Brian O’Driscoll
30. GMB
31. Toys R Us
32. Frederik Pohl
33. Usain Bolt
34. Alan Hansen
35. Jack Nicholson
36. Cliff Richard
37. Ian Holloway
38. Sir Ian McKellern
39. St. Petersburg
40. On the bridge between the mainland and the Isle of Sheppey
41. 21
42. Stanislaus Wawrinka
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Malala Yousufzai
2. Rochus Misch
3. Diana Nyad
4. David Warner
5. Man on the Run
6. The Walkie Talkie
7. Verizon
8. Rush
9. Civil Service FC v. Polytechnic FC
10. Daniel Ricciardo
11. Anna Soubrey
12. Sophie Hannah
13. The Last and Best of Peter Pans
14. Marouanne Fellaini
15. Richard Whitehead
16. KitKat
17. L’Enclame
18. Rafael Vinoly
19. Sir Frank Chapman
20. Ariel Castro
21. Shahidul Ahmed
22. Menen
23. Mark Carne
24. Ken Wallis
25. Lingholm
26. Roman Dauriac
27. Kirobo
In Other News
1. The writers of DC Comics Batwoman have quit. Why?
2. The Serbian village of Lunjevica is hosting which cookery world championships? 3. Who scored two goals, and was booked in England’s 4 – 0 win over Moldova in world cup Qualifying?
4. What was the score between Republic of Ireland and Sweden ?
5. – and between Northern Ireland and Portugal?
6. – and between Wales and FYR Macedonia?
7. Michael Gove has announced that all pupils who fail to gain a GCSE in which subjects will be made to resit them in college?
8. Which former world leader was released from hospital last week?
9. Which infamous European location is to be restored?
10. A 50p coin is being struck to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of whom?
11. Who returned to the small screen full time following recovery from a stroke?
12. Which 74 year old broadcaster passed away?
13. What was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool
14. – and Spurs and Arsenal?
15. Which car was voted British motorists’ favourite vehicle of the last 25 years?
16. To the nearest £million , what was Gareth Bale’s transfer fee to Real Madrid?
17. Which team won Rugby League’s Super League?
18. Swansea City achieved their first league win of the season against which team?
19. Which 87 year old broadcaster passed away?
20. Who joined Arsenal for £42.5m ?
21. How many US men reached the last 16 of the US Open?
22. Who bought the Euskatel Euskadi cycle team?
23. Which Cambridge College has decided to charge townspeople a pound for access to its grounds – previously it had always been free?
24. Who are undergoing ‘not a crisis, just a temporary separation’?
25. Who last week said that he had helped in the hunt for Raoul Moat?
26. With whom have UK Athletics signed a new sponsorship deal?
27. Which company is buying Nokia’s handset division?
28. Who defeated Roger Federer in the 4th round of the US Open?
29. Who announced that this season will be his last in first class rugby?
30. Which union announced a cut of 90% in their contributions to the Labour Party?
31. Which chain of stores announced plans to end gender references on store signs?
32. Which 94 year old US sci fi writer passed away?
33. Who announced he will retire after the Rio 2016 Olympics?
34. Who announced he is quitting Match of the Day?
35. – and it was reported that who is quitting movies?
36. Who announced his 100th album?
37. Which Premier League manager has received a two match touchline ban
38. Who is to play Sherlock Holmes in a new film “A Slight Trick of the Mind”?
39. What city was the location of the G20 Summit
40. Where was there a 130 car pile-up last week?
41. How many races have been suggested for the 2014 formula 1 season?
42. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the US Open?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. She has won the Children’s Peace Prize
2. Hitler’s former bodyguard, who was with him in the last days in the bunker, died aged 96
3. She succeeded on her fifth attempt to swim from the Florida Keys to Cuba
4. Australian cricketer dropped from the ODI squad
5. Title of the new biography of Paul McCartney
6. The controversial new tower block in London which seems to generate enough heat reflected from its windows to melt parts of cars in the street below
7. US rival in which Vodafone sold its stake, allegedly without paying any tax on it
8. New film about the 1976 rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda
9. The first official football match ever to be played in the grounds of Buckingham Palace
10. Hired to drive for Red Bull next season
11. Health Minister who said that she was ‘turned on’ to smoking at a young age by the ‘gorgeous packs’
12. Writer given permission by the Agatha Christie estate to write a new Poirot novel
13. Previously unpublished J.D.Salinger story featuring Holden Caulfield
14. Everton footballer who sacrificed a £4million bonus to join Man Utd.
15. Paralympic double amputee sprint champion running from Land’s End to John O’Groats
16. Name of the next version of the Android operating system
17. Simon Rogan’s restaurant which has been named the best in Britain
18. The architect of the Walkie Talkie Tower
19. Named as Britain’s richest pensioner
20. The Ohio kidnapper who committed suicide in prison
21. Convicted of the murder of Rachel Manning
22. Belgian town in which the Mayor has banned the speaking of French
23. New Boss of Network Rail
24. Autogyro pilot extraordinaire, doubled for James Bon in You Only Live Twice, passed away last week
25. Beatrix Potter home which was grade II listed
26. He has just become engaged to Scarlett Johansson
27. A Japanese android which has become the first to go into space
In Other News
1. They are angry at being ordered to produce a number of storylines including Batwoman’s lesbian wedding
2. Testicle cooking
3. Danny Welbeck
4. 2 – 1 to Sweden
5. 4 – 2 to Portugal
6. 2 – 1 to Macedonia
7. English and Maths
8. Nelson Mandela
9. Nuremberg Parade Ground
10. Benjamin Britten
11. Andrew Marr
12. Sir David Frost
13. 1 – 0 to Liverpool
14. 1 – 0 to Arsenal
15. Ford Focus
16. £86 million
17. Huddersfield Giants
18. West Bromwich Albion
19. David Jacobs
20. Meerut Ozil
21. None, for the first time ever
22. Fernando Alonso
23. Trinity College
24. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones
25. Ray Mears
26. Nike
27. Microsoft
28. Tommy Robredo
29. Brian O’Driscoll
30. GMB
31. Toys R Us
32. Frederik Pohl
33. Usain Bolt
34. Alan Hansen
35. Jack Nicholson
36. Cliff Richard
37. Ian Holloway
38. Sir Ian McKellern
39. St. Petersburg
40. On the bridge between the mainland and the Isle of Sheppey
41. 21
42. Stanislaus Wawrinka
Saturday, 7 September 2013
In the News
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Malala Yousufzai
2. Rochus Misch
3. Diana Nyad
4. David Warner
5. Man on the Run
6. The Walkie Talkie
7. Verizon
8. Rush
9. Civil Service FC v. Polytechnic FC
10. Daniel Ricciardo
11. Anna Soubrey
12. Sophie Hannah
13. The Last and Best of Peter Pans
14. Marouanne Fellaini
15. Richard Whitehead
16. KitKat
17. L’Enclame
18. Rafael Vinoly
19. Sir Frank Chapman
20. Ariel Castro
21. Shahidul Ahmed
22. Menen
23. Mark Carne
24. Ken Wallis
25. Lingholm
26. Roman Dauriac
27. Kirobo
In Other News
1. The writers of DC Comics Batwoman have quit. Why?
2. The Serbian village of Lunjevica is hosting which cookery world championships? 3. Who scored two goals, and was booked in England’s 4 – 0 win over Moldova in world cup Qualifying?
4. What was the score between Republic of Ireland and Sweden ?
5. – and between Northern Ireland and Portugal?
6. – and between Wales and FYR Macedonia?
7. Michael Gove has announced that all pupils who fail to gain a GCSE in which subjects will be made to resit them in college?
8. Which former world leader was released from hospital last week?
9. Which infamous European location is to be restored?
10. A 50p coin is being struck to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of whom?
11. Who returned to the small screen full time following recovery from a stroke?
12. Which 74 year old broadcaster passed away?
13. What was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool
14. – and Spurs and Arsenal?
15. Which car was voted British motorists’ favourite vehicle of the last 25 years?
16. To the nearest £million , what was Gareth Bale’s transfer fee to Real Madrid?
17. Which team won Rugby League’s Super League?
18. Swansea City achieved their first league win of the season against which team?
19. Which 87 year old broadcaster passed away?
20. Who joined Arsenal for £42.5m ?
21. How many US men reached the last 16 of the US Open?
22. Who bought the Euskatel Euskadi cycle team?
23. Which Cambridge College has decided to charge townspeople a pound for access to its grounds – previously it had always been free?
24. Who are undergoing ‘not a crisis, just a temporary separation’?
25. Who last week said that he had helped in the hunt for Raoul Moat?
26. With whom have UK Athletics signed a new sponsorship deal?
27. Which company is buying Nokia’s handset division?
28. Who defeated Roger Federer in the 4th round of the US Open?
29. Who announced that this season will be his last in first class rugby?
30. Which union announced a cut of 90% in their contributions to the Labour Party?
31. Which chain of stores announced plans to end gender references on store signs?
32. Which 94 year old US sci fi writer passed away?
33. Who announced he will retire after the Rio 2016 Olympics?
34. Who announced he is quitting Match of the Day?
35. – and it was reported that who is quitting movies?
36. Who announced his 100th album?
37. Which Premier League manager has received a two match touchline ban
38. Who is to play Sherlock Holmes in a new film “A Slight Trick of the Mind”?
39. What city was the location of the G20 Summit
40. Where was there a 130 car pile-up last week?
41. How many races have been suggested for the 2014 formula 1 season?
42. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the US Open?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Malala Yousufzai
2. Rochus Misch
3. Diana Nyad
4. David Warner
5. Man on the Run
6. The Walkie Talkie
7. Verizon
8. Rush
9. Civil Service FC v. Polytechnic FC
10. Daniel Ricciardo
11. Anna Soubrey
12. Sophie Hannah
13. The Last and Best of Peter Pans
14. Marouanne Fellaini
15. Richard Whitehead
16. KitKat
17. L’Enclame
18. Rafael Vinoly
19. Sir Frank Chapman
20. Ariel Castro
21. Shahidul Ahmed
22. Menen
23. Mark Carne
24. Ken Wallis
25. Lingholm
26. Roman Dauriac
27. Kirobo
In Other News
1. The writers of DC Comics Batwoman have quit. Why?
2. The Serbian village of Lunjevica is hosting which cookery world championships? 3. Who scored two goals, and was booked in England’s 4 – 0 win over Moldova in world cup Qualifying?
4. What was the score between Republic of Ireland and Sweden ?
5. – and between Northern Ireland and Portugal?
6. – and between Wales and FYR Macedonia?
7. Michael Gove has announced that all pupils who fail to gain a GCSE in which subjects will be made to resit them in college?
8. Which former world leader was released from hospital last week?
9. Which infamous European location is to be restored?
10. A 50p coin is being struck to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of whom?
11. Who returned to the small screen full time following recovery from a stroke?
12. Which 74 year old broadcaster passed away?
13. What was the score between Man Utd. and Liverpool
14. – and Spurs and Arsenal?
15. Which car was voted British motorists’ favourite vehicle of the last 25 years?
16. To the nearest £million , what was Gareth Bale’s transfer fee to Real Madrid?
17. Which team won Rugby League’s Super League?
18. Swansea City achieved their first league win of the season against which team?
19. Which 87 year old broadcaster passed away?
20. Who joined Arsenal for £42.5m ?
21. How many US men reached the last 16 of the US Open?
22. Who bought the Euskatel Euskadi cycle team?
23. Which Cambridge College has decided to charge townspeople a pound for access to its grounds – previously it had always been free?
24. Who are undergoing ‘not a crisis, just a temporary separation’?
25. Who last week said that he had helped in the hunt for Raoul Moat?
26. With whom have UK Athletics signed a new sponsorship deal?
27. Which company is buying Nokia’s handset division?
28. Who defeated Roger Federer in the 4th round of the US Open?
29. Who announced that this season will be his last in first class rugby?
30. Which union announced a cut of 90% in their contributions to the Labour Party?
31. Which chain of stores announced plans to end gender references on store signs?
32. Which 94 year old US sci fi writer passed away?
33. Who announced he will retire after the Rio 2016 Olympics?
34. Who announced he is quitting Match of the Day?
35. – and it was reported that who is quitting movies?
36. Who announced his 100th album?
37. Which Premier League manager has received a two match touchline ban
38. Who is to play Sherlock Holmes in a new film “A Slight Trick of the Mind”?
39. What city was the location of the G20 Summit
40. Where was there a 130 car pile-up last week?
41. How many races have been suggested for the 2014 formula 1 season?
42. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the US Open?
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