In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Roger Pratt
2. David Silvester
3. Nathusius Pipistrelle
4. Bert Williams
5. Sister Roxana Rodrigues
6. Quenelle
7. Twiggy Garcia
8. Vanessa Vanakorn
9. Rosdeep Kular
10. James Turner Street
11. Dominika Cibulkova
12. Bindon Bottom, West Lulworth
13. Andrew Scott
14. Tryfan
15. The Hateful Eight
16. Quayside in Whitby
17. John Horsley
18. Leah Totton
19. Sandro Rosell
20. Mia Grace
21. Katherine Rednall
In Other News
1. Which former athlete and broadcaster passed away aged 82?
2. Who said last week that everyone in the BBC knew that Jimmy Savile was a sleazebag?
3. Which former Conservative Party treasurer passed away?
4. Who said last week that his successor, Peter Robinson, had actually plotted to depose him?
5. Who knocked Serena out of the Australian Open?
6. What was the score between Chelsea and Man Utd.?
7. Who won the Masters Snooker?
8. Who were found in the Dominican Republic?
9. Which two teams reached the Superbowl final?
10. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the Aus Open?
11. Which sponsors dropped West Brom over the Anelka affair?
12. Where is the conference on the future of Syria being held?
13. What was named the world’s worst password last week?
14. It transpires that the smog in Los Angeles originates where?
15. What was the score in the Man City West Ham capital one cup semi ?
16. Who knocked Djokovic out of the Aus Open?
17. Who was sacked as manager of Blackpool?
18. There was a riot in which town after a half price sale in the 99p store was cancelled?
19. What was the top selling toy of 2013?
20. Which world landmark was struck by lightning?
21. Which two former world cup and English league footballers were involved in a car crash in the Falklands?
22. What was the score between Sunderland and Man Utd in the Capital One Cup semi?
23. How much did Man Utd pay to buy Juan Mata from Chelsea?
24. Who was arrested for driving offences in Miami?
25. Bavaria repealed a ban on what last week?
26. Who will play the half time show at the Super Bowl?
27. 2014 will be the Chinese Year of what?
28. Who reached the final of the Women’s singles at the Aus Open?
29. Leigh Halfpenny left Cardiff for which club?
30. Who was defeated by Wawrinka in the Aus Open semi?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Tragically killed by pirates in his yacht while trying to defend his wife off St. Lucia
2. UKIP councilor who said that the current floods were due to the government decision to legalise same sex marriage
3. 1st bat to have been proven to have crossed the English channel
4. Former England goalkeeper, passed away aged 93
5. Nun who have birth in Rieti, Italy
6. The racist gesture used by Nicolas Anelka
7. Barman who tried to carry out a Citizen’s Arrest on Tony Blair for crimes against peace.
8. Name under which Vanessa Mae will ski for Thailand in the Winter Olympics
9. Charged with the murder of her son Mikaeel
10. Real name of the road in Benefits Street
11. Finalist who knocked Maria Sharapova out of Aus Open
12. Best B and B in the world according to Trip Advisor
13. Charged with hitting Nigel Farage with a placard
14. Welsh mountain voted British hill walkers’ favourite.
15. Film dropped by Quentin Tarantino when the script was leaked online
16. UKs top Chippy
17. Actor who played Doc Morrissey in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin – passed away
18. Apprentice winner who opened her first clinic last week
19. President of Barcelona FC who resigned
20. Daughter of Mike and Zara Tindall
21. Winner of World Indoor Bowls
In Other News
1. Chris Chattaway
2. John Simpson
3. Lord McAlpine
4. Ian Paisley
5. Ana Ivanovic
6. 3 – 1 Chelsea
7. Ronnie O’Sullivan
8. Runaway schoolkids Indira Gainiyeira and Edward Bunyan
9. Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos
10. Roger Federer
11. Zoopla
12. Geneva
13. 123456
14. China
15. 3 – 0 Man City
16. Stanislaus Wawrinka
17. Paul Ince
18. Wrexham
19. Furby
20. Christ the Redeemer - Rio
21. Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa
22. 2 – 1 Man Utd. 3 – 3 on aggregate – Sunderland won on penalties
23. £40 million
24. Justin Beiber
25. Hitler’s Mein Kampf
26. U2
27. Yea of the Horse
28. Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova
29. Toulon
30. Thomas Berdych
Friday, 31 January 2014
Mastermind - Round One - Heat Twenty One
For the second week in a row we got to see a contest that went right down to the wire. Having taken part in a final that turned out that way, I’m all for it.
First up was Ben Holmes, offering us a specialist round on Wales’ finest, the Manic Street Preachers. I’ll be honest with you, the Manics are a little bit after my mid 80s heyday, and so I was pleased enough to get my gentleman’s 2 on this round. Taking me on another trip down Memory Lane, Ben did exactly what I did with my first question of my first round in 2007 – and passed on it. Mind you, to be fair I passed on one more in that round, and then never passed again for the whole series. However, I digress. After that first nervy pass Ben grew into his round, and by the expedient of plugging away and answering the vast majority of the questions as they came up he registered the distinctly useful score of 12. So he was going to be in the shakeup in the GK round.
Sir Edmund Hillary was the subject for Alister Jones. I’ll be honest, I never really got beyond the foothills of this round, again clocking up 2. Alister knew his subject though. In this series anything in the teens on specialist is the mark of a quality round. Crisp, concise and precise answers for a score of 13 marked the contender out as one to watch in the GK round.
The History of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, as offered by Richard Pyne, seemed to promise me even less than the previous two rounds. Yet strangely enough it enabled me to double my specialist round aggregate for the evening with 4 points. Oh no, I didn’t know any of the specialist stuff about individual gardeners, but I knew that Decimus Burton designed the palm house, and a few other bits and pieces like that. Anything in double figures has proven to be a good specialist score in this series, and yet following the previous two rounds Richard’s wasn’t enough to guarantee him anything better than third place as we turned round. And there was one contender yet to come.
Barrister Sarah Greenan was answering on a specialist subject which pops up about once every other series or so, a bit like the Mapp and Lucia Novels of E.F.Benson which we saw again a week or two ago. In Sarah’s case she was answering on the Ghost Stories of M.R.James . I idly mused whether 50 Shades of Whatsername was one of them, but of course that was by E.L. James, whose own ghost stories, should she decide to write any, would probably be a bit different from her namesake’s. To cut a long story slightly shorter, Sarah managed her own teen score, a very good 13. I still haven’t read any of the stories so failed to trouble the scorer.
It’s been a little while since we saw all four contenders post GK scores in double figures, and combined totals over 23, so kudos to all 4 contenders in this show. First of them to return was Richard. Now, this was a curious round indeed that he served us with. For the first half minute or so it seemed as if he had slipped beyond the event horizon of a pass spiral, and yet it actually turned out that he was well in control. His tactic was obviously, that if the answer didn’t occur at once, then he was going to pass. It’s a difficult strategy to implement well, and yet it worked for Richard. Suddenly, around the 30 second mark it started to click, and the answers started coming. Alright, the 14 that he scored isn’t amongst the highest we’ve seen all series, but considering the start the round got off to it was really rather good. He finished with 25.
One point ahead of Richard at halfway, although only a point off the joint lead, was Ben Holmes. Now this round was to my eyes, even a little better than Richard’s. At just one point I feared he was going to lose his concentration when he showed obvious annoyance with himself when unable to dredge up an answer he knew so that he had to pass, but he kept his head, and posted a good 14, which gave him the total of 26, and a one point lead. That might just be enough, I thought.
For two questions, though, Alister looked as if he had the goods to challenge and even overhaul it. However on the third question he hesitated for what seemed like ages, but was probably in reality no more than 2 or 3 seconds. However it robbed him of momentum at a crucial time in the round, and by the time he had re-established any kind of rhythm the finishing line was bearing down upon him at a fair old rate of knots. He finished with 24, a perfectly respectable score, and only a couple of points down on Ben, but he hadn’t really looked like getting there for over half of his round.
Only Sarah remained to go. To put it into perspective she needed 13 and no more than 3 passes to win the show. Well, that’s certainly enough to place most contenders within the corridor of uncertainty, although to be fair to Sarah she never looked uncertain or nervous as her round progressed. It was always looking close on the clock, but a couple of wrong answers in the last minute made the job look harder, and in the end she fell short by one question, finishing with 25. Well played all – a good show, and special congratulations to Ben, and best wishes for the semi-final. John said at the end of the show that there was still a chance for Sarah and Richard to make it to the semis in highest scoring runner up spots. Well, maybe there was when the show was recorded, but since then the best peas have gone to farrow on that one, I’m afraid. Congratulations to Ron Wood who, if my calculations are correct (never a given) is now guaranteed a semi-final spot. As for the remaining shows, well as regards a repechage slot, the banker only pays 27 and 1 pass or better.
The Details
Repechage Places
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
_____________________________________________
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
First up was Ben Holmes, offering us a specialist round on Wales’ finest, the Manic Street Preachers. I’ll be honest with you, the Manics are a little bit after my mid 80s heyday, and so I was pleased enough to get my gentleman’s 2 on this round. Taking me on another trip down Memory Lane, Ben did exactly what I did with my first question of my first round in 2007 – and passed on it. Mind you, to be fair I passed on one more in that round, and then never passed again for the whole series. However, I digress. After that first nervy pass Ben grew into his round, and by the expedient of plugging away and answering the vast majority of the questions as they came up he registered the distinctly useful score of 12. So he was going to be in the shakeup in the GK round.
Sir Edmund Hillary was the subject for Alister Jones. I’ll be honest, I never really got beyond the foothills of this round, again clocking up 2. Alister knew his subject though. In this series anything in the teens on specialist is the mark of a quality round. Crisp, concise and precise answers for a score of 13 marked the contender out as one to watch in the GK round.
The History of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, as offered by Richard Pyne, seemed to promise me even less than the previous two rounds. Yet strangely enough it enabled me to double my specialist round aggregate for the evening with 4 points. Oh no, I didn’t know any of the specialist stuff about individual gardeners, but I knew that Decimus Burton designed the palm house, and a few other bits and pieces like that. Anything in double figures has proven to be a good specialist score in this series, and yet following the previous two rounds Richard’s wasn’t enough to guarantee him anything better than third place as we turned round. And there was one contender yet to come.
Barrister Sarah Greenan was answering on a specialist subject which pops up about once every other series or so, a bit like the Mapp and Lucia Novels of E.F.Benson which we saw again a week or two ago. In Sarah’s case she was answering on the Ghost Stories of M.R.James . I idly mused whether 50 Shades of Whatsername was one of them, but of course that was by E.L. James, whose own ghost stories, should she decide to write any, would probably be a bit different from her namesake’s. To cut a long story slightly shorter, Sarah managed her own teen score, a very good 13. I still haven’t read any of the stories so failed to trouble the scorer.
It’s been a little while since we saw all four contenders post GK scores in double figures, and combined totals over 23, so kudos to all 4 contenders in this show. First of them to return was Richard. Now, this was a curious round indeed that he served us with. For the first half minute or so it seemed as if he had slipped beyond the event horizon of a pass spiral, and yet it actually turned out that he was well in control. His tactic was obviously, that if the answer didn’t occur at once, then he was going to pass. It’s a difficult strategy to implement well, and yet it worked for Richard. Suddenly, around the 30 second mark it started to click, and the answers started coming. Alright, the 14 that he scored isn’t amongst the highest we’ve seen all series, but considering the start the round got off to it was really rather good. He finished with 25.
One point ahead of Richard at halfway, although only a point off the joint lead, was Ben Holmes. Now this round was to my eyes, even a little better than Richard’s. At just one point I feared he was going to lose his concentration when he showed obvious annoyance with himself when unable to dredge up an answer he knew so that he had to pass, but he kept his head, and posted a good 14, which gave him the total of 26, and a one point lead. That might just be enough, I thought.
For two questions, though, Alister looked as if he had the goods to challenge and even overhaul it. However on the third question he hesitated for what seemed like ages, but was probably in reality no more than 2 or 3 seconds. However it robbed him of momentum at a crucial time in the round, and by the time he had re-established any kind of rhythm the finishing line was bearing down upon him at a fair old rate of knots. He finished with 24, a perfectly respectable score, and only a couple of points down on Ben, but he hadn’t really looked like getting there for over half of his round.
Only Sarah remained to go. To put it into perspective she needed 13 and no more than 3 passes to win the show. Well, that’s certainly enough to place most contenders within the corridor of uncertainty, although to be fair to Sarah she never looked uncertain or nervous as her round progressed. It was always looking close on the clock, but a couple of wrong answers in the last minute made the job look harder, and in the end she fell short by one question, finishing with 25. Well played all – a good show, and special congratulations to Ben, and best wishes for the semi-final. John said at the end of the show that there was still a chance for Sarah and Richard to make it to the semis in highest scoring runner up spots. Well, maybe there was when the show was recorded, but since then the best peas have gone to farrow on that one, I’m afraid. Congratulations to Ron Wood who, if my calculations are correct (never a given) is now guaranteed a semi-final spot. As for the remaining shows, well as regards a repechage slot, the banker only pays 27 and 1 pass or better.
The Details
| Ben Holmes | Manic Street Preachers | 12 - 2 | 14 - 2 | 26 - 4 |
| Alister Jones | Sir Edmund Hillary | 13 – 0 | 11 - 3 | 24 – 3 |
| Richard Pyne | The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew | 11 - 1 | 14 - 4 | 25 - 5 |
| Sarah Greenan | The Ghost Stories of M.R.James | 13 – 0 | 12 - 4 | 25 - 4 |
Repechage Places
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
_____________________________________________
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
Sunday, 26 January 2014
When is a weed not a plant?
Well, it was nice to get back to winning ways in the League this week. I mean, our win was nowhere near as clear cut as the score suggested, but hey, we’ll take what we can get. Even better was winning the Thursday night quiz at the rugby club, against a full strength Lemurs team. It was a Brian quiz, so we weren’t putting out quite a full team either. In a funny way it was like a reversal of what usually happens. Normally there isn’t a huge amount to choose between either of the teams, with both scoring heavily in each round, until we have a bad round and then that’s it – once you go behind they are so consistent that you won’t catch them up again. Well, this time they had one bad round when I’m guessing they didn’t get the connection, and maybe put down a wrong answer or two to make it fit. Amazingly our bad round never quite arrived – although the penultimate round came close and the connection was only solved right at the death. It went something like this : -
1. Which Spanish, or Spanish American dance can be defined as a lively couples dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping?
2. Who is a roguish clown character of the Italian commedia dell'arte who wears a black mask and, sometimes, glasses, and is known for his sly and cowardly ways?
3. Which Arabic phrase means – in the name of God, or Allah?
4. What is the connection between your last three answers
Now, I do accept that you’re probably sitting there saying – I saw it straightaway! Well done, But we didn’t. We were about to hand it in with 4 unanswered questions, when it suddenly struck me that the dance might be fandango – and we were away. I’m sure you’v e got it – but if you haven’t , it’s 1) Fandango – 2) Scaramouche – 3) Bismillah – 4) Lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Of course, the really stupid thing about this is that I’m sure I’ve asked a very similar connection myself in the club before now. OK, I substituted Figaro (as in the Marriage of) for Fandango and Gallileo (Shuttlecraft of the USS Enterprise) for Bismillah, and for Scaramouche I asked for the film with the longest swordfight in cinema history. Still, it’s not like it was a way out one.
I’m off to our other Sunday quiz in half an hour or so. John and I prefer the Twelve Knights in Margam, but since there’s a prize which is worth having, and since we win most – although not all – of the time, it’s probably better if we only go every other week. So we go to our less favourite tonight. I shan’t mention the name, because you never know who might be reading, and I don’t want to upset anyone. I like the fact that it’s always home grown, but it does make it a bit of a quality lottery. There’s one guy who is very, very good, and then there’s another who isn’t. Before Christmas he asked us to name all the countries that have a border with Italy. When he gave the answers he didn’t mention San Marino. When I queried this he would not accept it as an answer. Now, had he said, “No, sorry, I don’t count that as a proper country. . . “ or some such variation, then he would have been wrong, but he wouldn’t have shown off his ignorance. No, instead he said, and I quote,
”Oh no, I checked that one and it doesn’t actually have a border with Italy.”
I did consider telling him that, actually, no, it's border with Italy is the only one it's got. . . but I didn't.I suppose that you mellow as you get older. Time was I would have taken up cudgels on San Marino’s behalf, and argued the toss. But after such a stunning display of blatant wrong-headed – I’m – the – question-master-and-I’m-denying-you-every-point-I-can-whether-your-answer-is-right-or-not-ness even I realized that there was no point, and let it go. Last time we went it was his turn again, and once again, every time our answer deviated from his we were denied the points. John was seething after he asked this: -
Natural world – what is a horse’s tail?
We wrote down that it was a weed. Which it is. When he gave out the answer he said ,”It is a plant.” When the team marking our paper queried if we could have a point for weed, he looked over at us, then snapped,
“No, like I said, it’s a plant.”
Heaven alone knows if he believes that weeds are part of the Animal kingdom, then. Well, it is his quiz, but come on!
So we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s not actually our friend tonight. The stupid thing about it is that the prize is a bottle of wine for each round – and if (not when) we win either, we always give it away to one of the other teams anyway!
1. Which Spanish, or Spanish American dance can be defined as a lively couples dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping?
2. Who is a roguish clown character of the Italian commedia dell'arte who wears a black mask and, sometimes, glasses, and is known for his sly and cowardly ways?
3. Which Arabic phrase means – in the name of God, or Allah?
4. What is the connection between your last three answers
Now, I do accept that you’re probably sitting there saying – I saw it straightaway! Well done, But we didn’t. We were about to hand it in with 4 unanswered questions, when it suddenly struck me that the dance might be fandango – and we were away. I’m sure you’v e got it – but if you haven’t , it’s 1) Fandango – 2) Scaramouche – 3) Bismillah – 4) Lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Of course, the really stupid thing about this is that I’m sure I’ve asked a very similar connection myself in the club before now. OK, I substituted Figaro (as in the Marriage of) for Fandango and Gallileo (Shuttlecraft of the USS Enterprise) for Bismillah, and for Scaramouche I asked for the film with the longest swordfight in cinema history. Still, it’s not like it was a way out one.
I’m off to our other Sunday quiz in half an hour or so. John and I prefer the Twelve Knights in Margam, but since there’s a prize which is worth having, and since we win most – although not all – of the time, it’s probably better if we only go every other week. So we go to our less favourite tonight. I shan’t mention the name, because you never know who might be reading, and I don’t want to upset anyone. I like the fact that it’s always home grown, but it does make it a bit of a quality lottery. There’s one guy who is very, very good, and then there’s another who isn’t. Before Christmas he asked us to name all the countries that have a border with Italy. When he gave the answers he didn’t mention San Marino. When I queried this he would not accept it as an answer. Now, had he said, “No, sorry, I don’t count that as a proper country. . . “ or some such variation, then he would have been wrong, but he wouldn’t have shown off his ignorance. No, instead he said, and I quote,
”Oh no, I checked that one and it doesn’t actually have a border with Italy.”
I did consider telling him that, actually, no, it's border with Italy is the only one it's got. . . but I didn't.I suppose that you mellow as you get older. Time was I would have taken up cudgels on San Marino’s behalf, and argued the toss. But after such a stunning display of blatant wrong-headed – I’m – the – question-master-and-I’m-denying-you-every-point-I-can-whether-your-answer-is-right-or-not-ness even I realized that there was no point, and let it go. Last time we went it was his turn again, and once again, every time our answer deviated from his we were denied the points. John was seething after he asked this: -
Natural world – what is a horse’s tail?
We wrote down that it was a weed. Which it is. When he gave out the answer he said ,”It is a plant.” When the team marking our paper queried if we could have a point for weed, he looked over at us, then snapped,
“No, like I said, it’s a plant.”
Heaven alone knows if he believes that weeds are part of the Animal kingdom, then. Well, it is his quiz, but come on!
So we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s not actually our friend tonight. The stupid thing about it is that the prize is a bottle of wine for each round – and if (not when) we win either, we always give it away to one of the other teams anyway!
Saturday, 25 January 2014
News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Roger Pratt
2. David Silvester
3. Nathusius Pipistrelle
4. Bert Williams
5. Sister Roxana Rodrigues
6. Quenelle
7. Twiggy Garcia
8. Vanessa Vanakorn
9. Rosdeep Kular
10. James Turner Street
11. Dominika Cibulkova
12. Bindon Bottom, West Lulworth
13. Andrew Scott
14. Tryfan
15. The Hateful Eight
16. Quayside in Whitby
17. John Horsley
18. Leah Totton
19. Sandro Rosell
20. Mia Grace
21. Katherine Rednall
In Other News
1. Which former athlete and broadcaster passed away aged 82?
2. Who said last week that everyone in the BBC knew that Jimmy Savile was a sleazebag?
3. Which former Conservative Party treasurer passed away?
4. Who said last week that his successor, Peter Robinson, had actually plotted to depose him?
5. Who knocked Serena out of the Australian Open?
6. What was the score between Chelsea and Man Utd.?
7. Who won the Masters Snooker?
8. Who were found in the Dominican Republic?
9. Which two teams reached the Superbowl final?
10. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the Aus Open?
11. Which sponsors dropped West Brom over the Anelka affair?
12. Where is the conference on the future of Syria being held?
13. What was named the world’s worst password last week?
14. It transpires that the smog in Los Angeles originates where?
15. What was the score in the Man City West Ham capital one cup semi ?
16. Who knocked Djokovic out of the Aus Open?
17. Who was sacked as manager of Blackpool?
18. There was a riot in which town after a half price sale in the 99p store was cancelled?
19. What was the top selling toy of 2013?
20. Which world landmark was struck by lightning?
21. Which two former world cup and English league footballers were involved in a car crash in the Falklands?
22. What was the score between Sunderland and Man Utd in the Capital One Cup semi?
23. How much did Man Utd pay to buy Juan Mata from Chelsea?
24. Who was arrested for driving offences in Miami?
25. Bavaria repealed a ban on what last week?
26. Who will play the half time show at the Super Bowl?
27. 2014 will be the Chinese Year of what?
28. Who reached the final of the Women’s singles at the Aus Open?
29. Leigh Halfpenny left Cardiff for which club?
30. Who was defeated by Wawrinka in the Aus Open semi?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Roger Pratt
2. David Silvester
3. Nathusius Pipistrelle
4. Bert Williams
5. Sister Roxana Rodrigues
6. Quenelle
7. Twiggy Garcia
8. Vanessa Vanakorn
9. Rosdeep Kular
10. James Turner Street
11. Dominika Cibulkova
12. Bindon Bottom, West Lulworth
13. Andrew Scott
14. Tryfan
15. The Hateful Eight
16. Quayside in Whitby
17. John Horsley
18. Leah Totton
19. Sandro Rosell
20. Mia Grace
21. Katherine Rednall
In Other News
1. Which former athlete and broadcaster passed away aged 82?
2. Who said last week that everyone in the BBC knew that Jimmy Savile was a sleazebag?
3. Which former Conservative Party treasurer passed away?
4. Who said last week that his successor, Peter Robinson, had actually plotted to depose him?
5. Who knocked Serena out of the Australian Open?
6. What was the score between Chelsea and Man Utd.?
7. Who won the Masters Snooker?
8. Who were found in the Dominican Republic?
9. Which two teams reached the Superbowl final?
10. Who knocked Andy Murray out of the Aus Open?
11. Which sponsors dropped West Brom over the Anelka affair?
12. Where is the conference on the future of Syria being held?
13. What was named the world’s worst password last week?
14. It transpires that the smog in Los Angeles originates where?
15. What was the score in the Man City West Ham capital one cup semi ?
16. Who knocked Djokovic out of the Aus Open?
17. Who was sacked as manager of Blackpool?
18. There was a riot in which town after a half price sale in the 99p store was cancelled?
19. What was the top selling toy of 2013?
20. Which world landmark was struck by lightning?
21. Which two former world cup and English league footballers were involved in a car crash in the Falklands?
22. What was the score between Sunderland and Man Utd in the Capital One Cup semi?
23. How much did Man Utd pay to buy Juan Mata from Chelsea?
24. Who was arrested for driving offences in Miami?
25. Bavaria repealed a ban on what last week?
26. Who will play the half time show at the Super Bowl?
27. 2014 will be the Chinese Year of what?
28. Who reached the final of the Women’s singles at the Aus Open?
29. Leigh Halfpenny left Cardiff for which club?
30. Who was defeated by Wawrinka in the Aus Open semi?
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. John Hemming MP
2. Calatrava
3. Stephen Bunting
4. Aaron Finch
5. Boro Taxis
6. Mark Bridger
7. Sinead Morrissey
8. Pygmy Rwandan Water Lily
9. Jupp Heynckes
10. Amrit and Prem Karra
11. Britpop
12. St. Nicholas Abbey
13. King Senebkay
14. Charlie Webster
15. David Griffin
16. Indira Gainiyeva and Edward Bunyon
17. Darren Barker
18. Roberto Bautista-Agut
19. Dennis McGuire
20. Headen and Quarmby
21. Hiroo Onoda
In Other News
1. Which former world leader died aged 85?
2. Name the archbishop of Westminster who is to be made a cardinal
3. Valerie Trierweiler, the first lady of France, was admitted to hospital with what?
4. Which 69 year old made an embarrassing acceptance speech in the Golden Globes?
5. Which former TV actress, possibly best remembered for The Champions, passed away aged 67?
6. Who won the Ballon d’Or
7. Which director was given a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes?
8. Which 82 year old former Leeds Utd. And Scotland International Footballer passed away last week?
9. Which design of £2 coin is causing controversy?
10. 3 celebrity court cases began last week – whose?
11. Which Devon town was hit by a freak twister last week?
12. Paignton Zoo has banned its monkeys from eating what?
13. Who said that he had refused a request to do the voiceover for Benefits Street?
14. Who announced he was retiring from football to coach AC Milan
15. Which Lib Dem peer faces no action over claims of sexual harassment?
16. What was the score in the FA Cup match between Man City and Blackburn Rovers?
17. Which bowler became the third player to leave the England cricket tour of Australia?
18. Which well-loved actor passed away aged 69?
19. Mikaeel Kular disappeared from which Scottish town?
20. What per hour figure did George Osborne say he would like to raise the minimum wage to?
21. Two unpublished novels by which author were discovered last week?
22. What is the target for Team GB at the Sochi Winter Olympics?
23. Which former Formula One driver won the first two stages of the Monte Carlo rally?
24. Who was reappointed as Chief Executive of the Maclaren Formula One team?
25. 3 friendlies for the England football team before the world cup were announced against which countries?
26. Which boo-boo was perpetrated by the Berlin U-Bahn underground railway?
27. Which city council have banned apostrophes from their road signs?
28. Which 80s group from Birmingham are to re-form?
29. Who has been signed up to help Roy Keane write his second set of memoirs?
30. What was the sex of Zara and Mike Tindall’s baby?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. He said that many parents accused of child abuse do not get a fair trial
2. Controversial new bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice
3. New BDO world darts champion
4. He scored 121 v. England in the first ODI in Australia
5. Introduced a policy of not carrying people in wheelchairs, then backtracked after public outcry
6. April Jones’ killer, who dropped his appeal
7. She won the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry
8. World’s rarest lily stolen from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew
9. Bayern Munich coach awarded FIFA coach of the Year
10. Jailed for counterfeiting £1.2 million in banknotes
11. Mew range of drinks announced by Alex James of Blur
12. Ballydoyle’s highest ever earning horse, put down with colic
13. ‘New’ pharaoh whose remains were found in Abydos, Egypt
14. Sky Sports News presenter who said she was abused as a 15 year old athlete
15. Real name of Dave Lee Travis, under which name he is being tried in court
16. Teens who ran away from Stonyhurst College to the Dominican Republic
17. Former world middleweight champion who announced his retirement.
18. Knocked Juan Del Potro out of the Australian Open in the second round.
19. Killed in a prison in Ohio with a botched lethal injection – allegedly it took 25 minutes for him to die.
20. Undergarment factory featured in Mary Portas’ “Mary’s Bottom Line” which went bust
21. The Japanese soldier who continued fighting on the Philippines after World War II until his last orders were finally countermanded by his former commanding officer in 1974. He passed away.
In Other News
1. Ariel Sharon
2. Vincent Nicholls
3. Stress
4. Jacqueline Bisset
5. Alexandra Bastedo
6. Christiano Ronaldo
7. Woody Allen
8. Bobby Collins
9. One based on the Kitchener poster
10. William Roache – Dave Lee Travis – Rolf Harris
11. KIngsbridge
12. Bananas
13. Frank Skinner
14. Clarence Seedorf
15. Lord Rennard
16. 5 – 0 City
17. Steve Finn
18. Roger Lloyd-Pack
19. Kirkaldy
20. £7
21. Stella Gibbons
22. 3 to 7 medals
23. Robert Kubica
24. Ron Dennis
25. Peru – Ecuador and Honduras
26. They bought new trains which are too big for the tunnels, which now need to be widened.
27. Cambridge
28. UB40
29. Roddy Doyle
30. A girl
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. John Hemming MP
2. Calatrava
3. Stephen Bunting
4. Aaron Finch
5. Boro Taxis
6. Mark Bridger
7. Sinead Morrissey
8. Pygmy Rwandan Water Lily
9. Jupp Heynckes
10. Amrit and Prem Karra
11. Britpop
12. St. Nicholas Abbey
13. King Senebkay
14. Charlie Webster
15. David Griffin
16. Indira Gainiyeva and Edward Bunyon
17. Darren Barker
18. Roberto Bautista-Agut
19. Dennis McGuire
20. Headen and Quarmby
21. Hiroo Onoda
In Other News
1. Which former world leader died aged 85?
2. Name the archbishop of Westminster who is to be made a cardinal
3. Valerie Trierweiler, the first lady of France, was admitted to hospital with what?
4. Which 69 year old made an embarrassing acceptance speech in the Golden Globes?
5. Which former TV actress, possibly best remembered for The Champions, passed away aged 67?
6. Who won the Ballon d’Or
7. Which director was given a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes?
8. Which 82 year old former Leeds Utd. And Scotland International Footballer passed away last week?
9. Which design of £2 coin is causing controversy?
10. 3 celebrity court cases began last week – whose?
11. Which Devon town was hit by a freak twister last week?
12. Paignton Zoo has banned its monkeys from eating what?
13. Who said that he had refused a request to do the voiceover for Benefits Street?
14. Who announced he was retiring from football to coach AC Milan
15. Which Lib Dem peer faces no action over claims of sexual harassment?
16. What was the score in the FA Cup match between Man City and Blackburn Rovers?
17. Which bowler became the third player to leave the England cricket tour of Australia?
18. Which well-loved actor passed away aged 69?
19. Mikaeel Kular disappeared from which Scottish town?
20. What per hour figure did George Osborne say he would like to raise the minimum wage to?
21. Two unpublished novels by which author were discovered last week?
22. What is the target for Team GB at the Sochi Winter Olympics?
23. Which former Formula One driver won the first two stages of the Monte Carlo rally?
24. Who was reappointed as Chief Executive of the Maclaren Formula One team?
25. 3 friendlies for the England football team before the world cup were announced against which countries?
26. Which boo-boo was perpetrated by the Berlin U-Bahn underground railway?
27. Which city council have banned apostrophes from their road signs?
28. Which 80s group from Birmingham are to re-form?
29. Who has been signed up to help Roy Keane write his second set of memoirs?
30. What was the sex of Zara and Mike Tindall’s baby?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. He said that many parents accused of child abuse do not get a fair trial
2. Controversial new bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice
3. New BDO world darts champion
4. He scored 121 v. England in the first ODI in Australia
5. Introduced a policy of not carrying people in wheelchairs, then backtracked after public outcry
6. April Jones’ killer, who dropped his appeal
7. She won the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry
8. World’s rarest lily stolen from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew
9. Bayern Munich coach awarded FIFA coach of the Year
10. Jailed for counterfeiting £1.2 million in banknotes
11. Mew range of drinks announced by Alex James of Blur
12. Ballydoyle’s highest ever earning horse, put down with colic
13. ‘New’ pharaoh whose remains were found in Abydos, Egypt
14. Sky Sports News presenter who said she was abused as a 15 year old athlete
15. Real name of Dave Lee Travis, under which name he is being tried in court
16. Teens who ran away from Stonyhurst College to the Dominican Republic
17. Former world middleweight champion who announced his retirement.
18. Knocked Juan Del Potro out of the Australian Open in the second round.
19. Killed in a prison in Ohio with a botched lethal injection – allegedly it took 25 minutes for him to die.
20. Undergarment factory featured in Mary Portas’ “Mary’s Bottom Line” which went bust
21. The Japanese soldier who continued fighting on the Philippines after World War II until his last orders were finally countermanded by his former commanding officer in 1974. He passed away.
In Other News
1. Ariel Sharon
2. Vincent Nicholls
3. Stress
4. Jacqueline Bisset
5. Alexandra Bastedo
6. Christiano Ronaldo
7. Woody Allen
8. Bobby Collins
9. One based on the Kitchener poster
10. William Roache – Dave Lee Travis – Rolf Harris
11. KIngsbridge
12. Bananas
13. Frank Skinner
14. Clarence Seedorf
15. Lord Rennard
16. 5 – 0 City
17. Steve Finn
18. Roger Lloyd-Pack
19. Kirkaldy
20. £7
21. Stella Gibbons
22. 3 to 7 medals
23. Robert Kubica
24. Ron Dennis
25. Peru – Ecuador and Honduras
26. They bought new trains which are too big for the tunnels, which now need to be widened.
27. Cambridge
28. UB40
29. Roddy Doyle
30. A girl
Brain of Britain - Heat 7
You didn’t need to be an eagle eyed tipster to pick out the favourite in Monday’s heat of BoB. The contestants were: -
Angela Benham
Jacqueline Fitzgibbon,
Colin Foster
Dag Griffiths,
Dag Griffiths is a former Fifteen to One Grand Final champion, and a Brain of Britain finalist, unless I’m very much mistaken. He’s a very nice guy as well, and very much the favourite for the show. Still, nothing is ever certain, and upsets can happen. In round one, then, Angela missed out on Tex-Mex for her first. Dag had that sitter for a bonus. Jacqueline took her first, then her second, then her third – in fact she took all five for a bonus. It was a set without an out and out stopper question, but even so they all still needed answering, and they weren’t all gimmes. Well done. Colin responded by taking his first couple, but missed out on Franco’s title of el Caudillo. Dag had that. On his own set he made no mistake and took all 5. Which meant that we had just seen the highest scoring first round of the series so far, and indeed for quite some time, as Dag led with 8 to Jacqueline’s 6. On the second round Anhela broker duck with one, but didn’t know that Maradona’s hand of God happened in Mexico City. Dag knew that. Grrr! Me blood still boils just to think of it. Jacqueline missed her first on the Reverend David Railton,who came up with the idea for the Tomb of the Unknown warrior in Westminster Abbey. Nobody had it, and neither did I. Colin didn’t know that The Ruffian on the Star was the first work of Joe Orton. Again, me neither. Dag took his first, but didn’t know that – counting parts as separate plays – there are 7 Shakespeare Henry plays. VIII – V – 3 VIs and 2 IVs. Colin had that. We were once asked in a league quiz in Cardiff – which is the only Shakespeare history Play in 3 parts? We answered Henry The Sixth. No – came the reply. The opposition answered Henry IV. No – came the reply – it’s Henry Vi (pronounced to rhyme with pie). God bless. Dag’s lead had now increased, as he led with 10 to 6.
Angela didn’t know that Keane wrote and recorded “Somewhere only we know”. Colin had that. Jacqueline didn’t know that Deuterium is in Heavy Water – Dag had it. Colin didn’t know Trolls, and Jacqueline took it. As for Dag – this round he took five again to secure another bonus. Game over. For the record he led by 17 to 7, and was on course for what looked like a monster score.
We had arrived at the Beat the Brains interval, and the first question asked – for three weeks in January 1968 the Beatles song I am The Walrus was at both number one and number 2 in the charts. How come? They didn’t know that it was the B side of Hello Goodbye – the number one – as well as being on the Magical Mystery Tour EP at number 2. Fair question. The second question asked – at the 23rd Academy Awards at 1951 – Edith Head won a costume design award for Samson and Delilah, and another for costumes in All About Eve. How? In those days there were two awards – one for colour – one for black and white. She won both that year. None of us could answer either of those.
Back to Angela at the start of the next round, she maybe might have known Man Ray – but didn’t for her first. Jacqueline just couldn’t remember Vision On from 70s children’s TV. Colin had a bonus. For his own questions he didn’t know The Mighty Boosh. Dag took that one. For his own next set he took his first, but rather surprisingly didn’t know that the great ship originally called the Leviathan was The Great Eastern. Didn’t matter – he’d reached 20 and already won. Onto the next round, and Angela didn’t recognize the name of the first person to bring garden gnomes to Britain. Dag had it. Jacqueline didn’t know that Fianna Fail means soldiers of Destiny. Dag had it. Colin took one, but didn’t know a quote about Roy Rogers. Dag had it. As for his own set he tripped up on his first, asking for lugworm, and Angela took the bonus. We were veritably racing through, and had actually arrived at the last round. Angela had a very interesting but difficult starter about an American Prisoner of War who blinked the word torture in morse code when forced to make a broadcast. Very interesting question – but please – not the fairest one to ask for a starter. Jacqueline made a very good stab at her own round and took 4, but missed out on that old chestnut, the Haber Bosch process. There was no way that Dag would let that one go begging. Colin didn’t know that Walter Sickert was a member of the Camden Town group, and so Dag took it off his hands. Finishing the contest, for his own set Dag took 2, but missed out on Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. So that was it for the most comprehensive victory of the series so far. Jacqueline made a spirited fight back in the last round, but I fear her 11 may not be enough. Congratulations Dag – a serious contender for the title.
The Details
Angela Benham – 2
Jacqueline Fitzgibbon – 11
Colin Foster – 7
Dag Griffiths - 28
Angela Benham
Jacqueline Fitzgibbon,
Colin Foster
Dag Griffiths,
Dag Griffiths is a former Fifteen to One Grand Final champion, and a Brain of Britain finalist, unless I’m very much mistaken. He’s a very nice guy as well, and very much the favourite for the show. Still, nothing is ever certain, and upsets can happen. In round one, then, Angela missed out on Tex-Mex for her first. Dag had that sitter for a bonus. Jacqueline took her first, then her second, then her third – in fact she took all five for a bonus. It was a set without an out and out stopper question, but even so they all still needed answering, and they weren’t all gimmes. Well done. Colin responded by taking his first couple, but missed out on Franco’s title of el Caudillo. Dag had that. On his own set he made no mistake and took all 5. Which meant that we had just seen the highest scoring first round of the series so far, and indeed for quite some time, as Dag led with 8 to Jacqueline’s 6. On the second round Anhela broker duck with one, but didn’t know that Maradona’s hand of God happened in Mexico City. Dag knew that. Grrr! Me blood still boils just to think of it. Jacqueline missed her first on the Reverend David Railton,who came up with the idea for the Tomb of the Unknown warrior in Westminster Abbey. Nobody had it, and neither did I. Colin didn’t know that The Ruffian on the Star was the first work of Joe Orton. Again, me neither. Dag took his first, but didn’t know that – counting parts as separate plays – there are 7 Shakespeare Henry plays. VIII – V – 3 VIs and 2 IVs. Colin had that. We were once asked in a league quiz in Cardiff – which is the only Shakespeare history Play in 3 parts? We answered Henry The Sixth. No – came the reply. The opposition answered Henry IV. No – came the reply – it’s Henry Vi (pronounced to rhyme with pie). God bless. Dag’s lead had now increased, as he led with 10 to 6.
Angela didn’t know that Keane wrote and recorded “Somewhere only we know”. Colin had that. Jacqueline didn’t know that Deuterium is in Heavy Water – Dag had it. Colin didn’t know Trolls, and Jacqueline took it. As for Dag – this round he took five again to secure another bonus. Game over. For the record he led by 17 to 7, and was on course for what looked like a monster score.
We had arrived at the Beat the Brains interval, and the first question asked – for three weeks in January 1968 the Beatles song I am The Walrus was at both number one and number 2 in the charts. How come? They didn’t know that it was the B side of Hello Goodbye – the number one – as well as being on the Magical Mystery Tour EP at number 2. Fair question. The second question asked – at the 23rd Academy Awards at 1951 – Edith Head won a costume design award for Samson and Delilah, and another for costumes in All About Eve. How? In those days there were two awards – one for colour – one for black and white. She won both that year. None of us could answer either of those.
Back to Angela at the start of the next round, she maybe might have known Man Ray – but didn’t for her first. Jacqueline just couldn’t remember Vision On from 70s children’s TV. Colin had a bonus. For his own questions he didn’t know The Mighty Boosh. Dag took that one. For his own next set he took his first, but rather surprisingly didn’t know that the great ship originally called the Leviathan was The Great Eastern. Didn’t matter – he’d reached 20 and already won. Onto the next round, and Angela didn’t recognize the name of the first person to bring garden gnomes to Britain. Dag had it. Jacqueline didn’t know that Fianna Fail means soldiers of Destiny. Dag had it. Colin took one, but didn’t know a quote about Roy Rogers. Dag had it. As for his own set he tripped up on his first, asking for lugworm, and Angela took the bonus. We were veritably racing through, and had actually arrived at the last round. Angela had a very interesting but difficult starter about an American Prisoner of War who blinked the word torture in morse code when forced to make a broadcast. Very interesting question – but please – not the fairest one to ask for a starter. Jacqueline made a very good stab at her own round and took 4, but missed out on that old chestnut, the Haber Bosch process. There was no way that Dag would let that one go begging. Colin didn’t know that Walter Sickert was a member of the Camden Town group, and so Dag took it off his hands. Finishing the contest, for his own set Dag took 2, but missed out on Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. So that was it for the most comprehensive victory of the series so far. Jacqueline made a spirited fight back in the last round, but I fear her 11 may not be enough. Congratulations Dag – a serious contender for the title.
The Details
Angela Benham – 2
Jacqueline Fitzgibbon – 11
Colin Foster – 7
Dag Griffiths - 28
University Challenge - Quarter Final Match 2
Cardiff v. SOAS
Monday brought us another two teams hoping to win their first quarter final. Cardiff, in the shape of Eleri Evans, Sara Caputo, Tom Parry-Jones and captain Roderick Lawford, had to battle to win a low scoring match against Exeter by 145 to 95 in the first round. In the second though they showed their class by convincingly beating a useful Liverpool outfit by 230 to 145. SOAS – the London University School of Oriental and African Studies – represented by Maeve Weber, Luke Vivian-Neal, James Figueroa and their captain Peter McKean, sent Southampton packing in their own first round, winning by 230 to 155. Southampton, I ought to remind you, went on to win a repechage match, then score the highest total of the series so far in round two! A couple of weeks ago we watched as SOAS gave Reading a bit of a hiding in the second round. As for this contest – well, I’m an alumnus of London University, but then I do live in South wales. So leaving any partisanship aside, the form guide suggested SOAS by a short head.
A nice UC starter kicked us off, and Maeve Weber was first to recognise a set of rephrased titles from Evelyn Waugh novels. Quotations on the subject of power brought out two correct answers.Neither team recognized quotations from a website dedicated to rehabilitating the reputation of an English King. Sara Caputo dived in too soon with King John and lost 5. SOAS guessed Richard the III, but it was his successor, Henry VII. Maeve Weber was in first with the next starting, knowing the term Imprinting as applied to animal behaviour. German film artists didn’t promise a great deal, but SOAS managed to take a full set. Maeve Weber, very impressive at this stage for SOAS, recognized various varieties of cactus for the next starter. Cosmology brought one bonus, which was one more than I managed. Peter McKean won the buzzer race for SOAS on the next starter, identifying the letters on the inscription on the Cross as INRI. Bonuses on Roman officials brought two, and thankfully my O Level Latin course had spent a bit of time telling us about this sort of thing, so I had my first full set of the evening. Thanks Mr. Rose. Now, for an old stager like myself the picture starter was a piece of cake, seeing as it highlighted Czechoslovakia on a map of Europe. If you were born in the 90s, maybe it was harder. Peter McKean took that one. 3 cities were marked on a map of former Czechoslovakia, and the team were asked to identify them for the bonuses. One bonus took their score to 95, but this was, in real terms, a triple figure lead, since Cardiff were still on a minus, just as we approached the 10 minute mark.
Neither team knew that founder members of the football league never to have won the top division in English football. JP offered Accrington and Notts County, but nobody knew the other two were Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers. Bloomin’ good question, that one. For the next one it really paid to wait. Peter McKean came too early, and I didn’t have a clue. However when the end of the question revealed that the city in question is home to the IOC, then I knew it was Lausanne. Cardiff could not capitalize. Something about fractions of light followed. The answer was zero, and none of us knew that. Fair enough. Peter McKean knew that Polish born revolutionary – she – and Spartacists – is more than enough to give you Rosa Luxembourg, and he won the buzzer race. The bonuses on The Anatomy of Melancholy brought me two, but SOAS didn’t score. Now at last Cardiff broke their hoodoo, as Sara Caputo identified W.H.Auden from a series of clues. Elecrtomagnetic Radiation brought me one for Roentgen, and did the same for Cardiff. Luke Vivian-Neal took his first starter of the show recognizing a description of the fabled Curate’s Egg. US presidents, a perennial UC favourite, brought me a full set, but SOAS struggled and again failed to convert any. For the music starter we were given a piece of music from a popular beat combo and asked for the band, and the album it was taken from. Eleri Evans knew it was the Arctic Monkeys, but gave is the title of the track rather than the album it came from. James Figueroa missed out for SOAS. Sara Caputo, trying admirably to get her team moving again, buzzed in too early on the name of the Cardinal who died on the same day as Mary I. and paid the price for her offer of Cromwell. This gave Peter McKean a free run at Reginald Pole. The music bonuses followed, with three other pieces of popular music inspired by works of literature. The works and the writers were required. Not easy, but one was taken. Tom Parry-Jones knew that in pharmacy OTC means Over the Counter. This brought Cardiff bonuses on Dutch Art. Cardiff took the chestnut on the birthplace of Vermeer. Now to prarphrase, Peter McKean knew that Reuben was the first of the children of Israel, and thus the impressive SOAS skipper won a set of bonuses on one letter film titles. Two were answered correctly. So on the cusp of the 20 minute mark things really hadn’t greatly improved for Cardiff, even if SOAS’ run rate had slowed up a little. They led by 145 to 20.
Roderick Lawford took the next starter, identifying Felix Mendelssohn as the composer of Elijah. Chemical elements saw me get my answer of the night knowing that molybdenum comes between niobium and technetium. So I had two and Cardiff has one of those. For the picture starter I was surprise it took a while for either team to buzz in with the names of Daedalus and Icarus. Luke Vivian-Neal had that one. More paintings of ancient Greek pairings brought another ten points. Sara Caputo had a very good early buzz on the next to identify generals of Alexander the Great. The Man Booker Prize yielded one bonus. Tom Parry-Jones knew that if it’s a regular figure with 6 faces it’s probably a cube. Bonuses on Minor Prophets of the Old Testament brought them another correct answer. Peter McKean knew that Operation Jubilee was the codename for the raid on Dieppe. Exponantation in Maths passed me by completely, but SOAS managed 2 of them. Tom Parry-Jones threw caution to the wind with an early buzz on the Korean martial art – the way of hand and fist – with Taekwondo, and was rewarded for doing so. Pacific Island nations were gettable, but not easy, but they failed to trouble the scorer. Tom Parry-Jones took a double, knowing that the Himalayas mark the overlap between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Bonuses on major cities only yielded one correct answer. James Figueroa knew that octopus, squid et all are all cephalopods. Bonuses on the verb to be in European languages. Only time remained for two of these, one of which SOAS answered correctly. This meant that the final score was 200 – 90. We know that Cardiff are a good team, but it just wasn’t their night. They couldn’t impose themselves on the buzzer for the first half of the contest, and by the time they could it was too late. Well done to SOAS, though – looking good for a semi final place, guys.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
This week began with some eyebrow work when Eleri Evans suggested J.G.Ballard wrote “This Side of Paradise”. He seemed to have something against Miss Evans, since he virtually bellowed at Cardiff “Come ON!” to get them to offer a suggestion for one of the founder teams of the Football League never to have won the top division, and then when she offered Grimsby his eyebrows shot once more towards the ceiling, and hooted “Grimsby!!??”””” in derision. Shame on you, Jeremy.
He did, to be fair, seem to share Cardiff’s joy at managing to get into the game on the 12 minute mark. “What a relief!” he enthused, but to be fair he was smiling at the time.
JP listened to James Figueroa’s offer of “Eponymous by the Arctic Monkeys” and replied “No. .. but that’s smart!” Well, one dares to say the correct answer would have been smarter, still, you pays yer money.
On the late bonus set ont eh verb to be, he castigated SOAS for not knowing “mae” as in Cymraeg and also Mae West – “Anyone in Cardiff could have told you!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a distant relative of Francis Scott Key who wrote the lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner
Monday brought us another two teams hoping to win their first quarter final. Cardiff, in the shape of Eleri Evans, Sara Caputo, Tom Parry-Jones and captain Roderick Lawford, had to battle to win a low scoring match against Exeter by 145 to 95 in the first round. In the second though they showed their class by convincingly beating a useful Liverpool outfit by 230 to 145. SOAS – the London University School of Oriental and African Studies – represented by Maeve Weber, Luke Vivian-Neal, James Figueroa and their captain Peter McKean, sent Southampton packing in their own first round, winning by 230 to 155. Southampton, I ought to remind you, went on to win a repechage match, then score the highest total of the series so far in round two! A couple of weeks ago we watched as SOAS gave Reading a bit of a hiding in the second round. As for this contest – well, I’m an alumnus of London University, but then I do live in South wales. So leaving any partisanship aside, the form guide suggested SOAS by a short head.
A nice UC starter kicked us off, and Maeve Weber was first to recognise a set of rephrased titles from Evelyn Waugh novels. Quotations on the subject of power brought out two correct answers.Neither team recognized quotations from a website dedicated to rehabilitating the reputation of an English King. Sara Caputo dived in too soon with King John and lost 5. SOAS guessed Richard the III, but it was his successor, Henry VII. Maeve Weber was in first with the next starting, knowing the term Imprinting as applied to animal behaviour. German film artists didn’t promise a great deal, but SOAS managed to take a full set. Maeve Weber, very impressive at this stage for SOAS, recognized various varieties of cactus for the next starter. Cosmology brought one bonus, which was one more than I managed. Peter McKean won the buzzer race for SOAS on the next starter, identifying the letters on the inscription on the Cross as INRI. Bonuses on Roman officials brought two, and thankfully my O Level Latin course had spent a bit of time telling us about this sort of thing, so I had my first full set of the evening. Thanks Mr. Rose. Now, for an old stager like myself the picture starter was a piece of cake, seeing as it highlighted Czechoslovakia on a map of Europe. If you were born in the 90s, maybe it was harder. Peter McKean took that one. 3 cities were marked on a map of former Czechoslovakia, and the team were asked to identify them for the bonuses. One bonus took their score to 95, but this was, in real terms, a triple figure lead, since Cardiff were still on a minus, just as we approached the 10 minute mark.
Neither team knew that founder members of the football league never to have won the top division in English football. JP offered Accrington and Notts County, but nobody knew the other two were Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers. Bloomin’ good question, that one. For the next one it really paid to wait. Peter McKean came too early, and I didn’t have a clue. However when the end of the question revealed that the city in question is home to the IOC, then I knew it was Lausanne. Cardiff could not capitalize. Something about fractions of light followed. The answer was zero, and none of us knew that. Fair enough. Peter McKean knew that Polish born revolutionary – she – and Spartacists – is more than enough to give you Rosa Luxembourg, and he won the buzzer race. The bonuses on The Anatomy of Melancholy brought me two, but SOAS didn’t score. Now at last Cardiff broke their hoodoo, as Sara Caputo identified W.H.Auden from a series of clues. Elecrtomagnetic Radiation brought me one for Roentgen, and did the same for Cardiff. Luke Vivian-Neal took his first starter of the show recognizing a description of the fabled Curate’s Egg. US presidents, a perennial UC favourite, brought me a full set, but SOAS struggled and again failed to convert any. For the music starter we were given a piece of music from a popular beat combo and asked for the band, and the album it was taken from. Eleri Evans knew it was the Arctic Monkeys, but gave is the title of the track rather than the album it came from. James Figueroa missed out for SOAS. Sara Caputo, trying admirably to get her team moving again, buzzed in too early on the name of the Cardinal who died on the same day as Mary I. and paid the price for her offer of Cromwell. This gave Peter McKean a free run at Reginald Pole. The music bonuses followed, with three other pieces of popular music inspired by works of literature. The works and the writers were required. Not easy, but one was taken. Tom Parry-Jones knew that in pharmacy OTC means Over the Counter. This brought Cardiff bonuses on Dutch Art. Cardiff took the chestnut on the birthplace of Vermeer. Now to prarphrase, Peter McKean knew that Reuben was the first of the children of Israel, and thus the impressive SOAS skipper won a set of bonuses on one letter film titles. Two were answered correctly. So on the cusp of the 20 minute mark things really hadn’t greatly improved for Cardiff, even if SOAS’ run rate had slowed up a little. They led by 145 to 20.
Roderick Lawford took the next starter, identifying Felix Mendelssohn as the composer of Elijah. Chemical elements saw me get my answer of the night knowing that molybdenum comes between niobium and technetium. So I had two and Cardiff has one of those. For the picture starter I was surprise it took a while for either team to buzz in with the names of Daedalus and Icarus. Luke Vivian-Neal had that one. More paintings of ancient Greek pairings brought another ten points. Sara Caputo had a very good early buzz on the next to identify generals of Alexander the Great. The Man Booker Prize yielded one bonus. Tom Parry-Jones knew that if it’s a regular figure with 6 faces it’s probably a cube. Bonuses on Minor Prophets of the Old Testament brought them another correct answer. Peter McKean knew that Operation Jubilee was the codename for the raid on Dieppe. Exponantation in Maths passed me by completely, but SOAS managed 2 of them. Tom Parry-Jones threw caution to the wind with an early buzz on the Korean martial art – the way of hand and fist – with Taekwondo, and was rewarded for doing so. Pacific Island nations were gettable, but not easy, but they failed to trouble the scorer. Tom Parry-Jones took a double, knowing that the Himalayas mark the overlap between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Bonuses on major cities only yielded one correct answer. James Figueroa knew that octopus, squid et all are all cephalopods. Bonuses on the verb to be in European languages. Only time remained for two of these, one of which SOAS answered correctly. This meant that the final score was 200 – 90. We know that Cardiff are a good team, but it just wasn’t their night. They couldn’t impose themselves on the buzzer for the first half of the contest, and by the time they could it was too late. Well done to SOAS, though – looking good for a semi final place, guys.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
This week began with some eyebrow work when Eleri Evans suggested J.G.Ballard wrote “This Side of Paradise”. He seemed to have something against Miss Evans, since he virtually bellowed at Cardiff “Come ON!” to get them to offer a suggestion for one of the founder teams of the Football League never to have won the top division, and then when she offered Grimsby his eyebrows shot once more towards the ceiling, and hooted “Grimsby!!??”””” in derision. Shame on you, Jeremy.
He did, to be fair, seem to share Cardiff’s joy at managing to get into the game on the 12 minute mark. “What a relief!” he enthused, but to be fair he was smiling at the time.
JP listened to James Figueroa’s offer of “Eponymous by the Arctic Monkeys” and replied “No. .. but that’s smart!” Well, one dares to say the correct answer would have been smarter, still, you pays yer money.
On the late bonus set ont eh verb to be, he castigated SOAS for not knowing “mae” as in Cymraeg and also Mae West – “Anyone in Cardiff could have told you!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a distant relative of Francis Scott Key who wrote the lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner
Mastermind - Round One - Heat Twenty
We’re gradually winding towards the end of this tranche of first round matches. Yesterday’s wasn’t, in all honesty, the finest I’ve seen all series, but nonetheless it was not without interest to the discerning viewer.
First into the chair was Ailsa Prosser. Glasgow School of Art! – I shouted, trotting out a readily available fact about the great man, and that was enough to get me a point on one of the questions. Actually I had a couple more, since I’ve been admire of Rennie Macintosh for a few years now. Ailsa’s round was an interesting one. She obviously knew her stuff, but for a couple of questions she just didn’t get hold of the question nat all, answering with something that had already been mentioned in the question. Was it nerves, I wonder. It’s certainly possible. That having been said, her score of 8 was a perfectly serviceable one in the context of the current series.
Roderick Cromar was answering on Sam Phillips and the Sun Record Label. Now, I would have lain odds that this round had nothing in it for me, and I was nearly right. However there was just one question about the Million dollar quartet, and thankfully I knew that Carl Perkins, old blue suede shoes himself, was the missing name from the list. That was it for me. Roderick did better, and 9 and two passes put him temporarily into the lead. Still, it was more of a ‘keeping yourself in contention’ round, than a ‘blowing the opposition away’ round, if you see what I mean.
James Knight’s round, on the other hand, was very much of this ilk. James was answering on The Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell. He was asked 14 questions, and he gave 14 correct answers. Speaking as someone who never had a perfect round in five attempts at specialist, I have to tell you that this achievement is very difficult to achieve. I worked my socks off on all of my specialists, and I still got found out by at least one question in each of those 5 rounds. With 14, James had a lead of 5, and looked to be in a very good position indeed.
Paul Gregan faced the daunting task of trying to emulate James’ round, and he was answering on Wainwright’s Guides. I don’t say for one moment that he actually was daunted by the task, but I’m afraid the round didn’t go as well as he would probably have hoped. Before halfway it became fairly clear that he was struggling to get on top of the round, and in the end he finished with a total of 7.
So, to recap, going into the GK round the on-course bookies had stopped accepting bets on James Knight. With a 5 point lead he had a very significant cushion. Now, I was once told by a sage old veteran of the show that while you can lose the show on Specialist, you can win it on General. The rounds to follow would either validate or disprove this dictum.
Paul returned to the chair, and made a decent stab at his GK round. Basically, in a GK round you want to get into double figures, and Paul certainly managed this. His 11 gave him a total of 18. It wouldn’t give him a chance of a win since James was only 4 points behind, but it brought a mark of respectability to the performance, and if you can say that, then the whole experience certainly isn’t a waste of time. Ailsa Prosser’s general knowledge round which followed was really interesting. Ailsa was not answering any of her questions particularly quickly, but certainly for the first minute or so of her round she was answering very accurately. At one stage I thought she could be on for a very significant score. Well, the round lost its way a little bit in the last minute, but even so, 13 is not a score to be sniffed at, and it took Ailsa up to 21. Not quite enough to put James into the corridor of uncertainty, but even so, a useful performance, and maybe just a hint, a foreshadowing if you will, that there was still quite a lot of play in this match.
Roderick began his round 5 points behind James. He needed to go for it, and he did. He missed a couple of rather chestnutty questions, but even so, to notch up 15 was a very good performance indeed. He never lost his composure, kept answering what he did know and guessing what he didn’t. Now, 15 meant that James needed 10 to win outright, and that seemed like just enough to put him into the corridor of uncertainty. The next two minutes would tell.
For the first minute, I thought that he would do it. He was certainly not answering as well as Roderick, and wouldn’t get close to 15. However he did have the five point cushion, and the score was moving. By the 90 second mark, though, it wasn’t moving quickly enough, and the passes were piling up. The last minute was spent with James trying desperately to extricate himself from a pass spiral, and just not quite managing it. For the record, he finished with 7 on the round, for a total of 22. I’m sure there’s little I can say by way of consolation, but I hope that he takes away the memory of a fantastic specialist round, which he certainly produced in the show.
Well done Roderick, and good luck in the semis. Well done as well to Steven Broomfield and Beth Webster who are, if my calculations are correct, now guaranteed places in the semis.
The Details
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
First into the chair was Ailsa Prosser. Glasgow School of Art! – I shouted, trotting out a readily available fact about the great man, and that was enough to get me a point on one of the questions. Actually I had a couple more, since I’ve been admire of Rennie Macintosh for a few years now. Ailsa’s round was an interesting one. She obviously knew her stuff, but for a couple of questions she just didn’t get hold of the question nat all, answering with something that had already been mentioned in the question. Was it nerves, I wonder. It’s certainly possible. That having been said, her score of 8 was a perfectly serviceable one in the context of the current series.
Roderick Cromar was answering on Sam Phillips and the Sun Record Label. Now, I would have lain odds that this round had nothing in it for me, and I was nearly right. However there was just one question about the Million dollar quartet, and thankfully I knew that Carl Perkins, old blue suede shoes himself, was the missing name from the list. That was it for me. Roderick did better, and 9 and two passes put him temporarily into the lead. Still, it was more of a ‘keeping yourself in contention’ round, than a ‘blowing the opposition away’ round, if you see what I mean.
James Knight’s round, on the other hand, was very much of this ilk. James was answering on The Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell. He was asked 14 questions, and he gave 14 correct answers. Speaking as someone who never had a perfect round in five attempts at specialist, I have to tell you that this achievement is very difficult to achieve. I worked my socks off on all of my specialists, and I still got found out by at least one question in each of those 5 rounds. With 14, James had a lead of 5, and looked to be in a very good position indeed.
Paul Gregan faced the daunting task of trying to emulate James’ round, and he was answering on Wainwright’s Guides. I don’t say for one moment that he actually was daunted by the task, but I’m afraid the round didn’t go as well as he would probably have hoped. Before halfway it became fairly clear that he was struggling to get on top of the round, and in the end he finished with a total of 7.
So, to recap, going into the GK round the on-course bookies had stopped accepting bets on James Knight. With a 5 point lead he had a very significant cushion. Now, I was once told by a sage old veteran of the show that while you can lose the show on Specialist, you can win it on General. The rounds to follow would either validate or disprove this dictum.
Paul returned to the chair, and made a decent stab at his GK round. Basically, in a GK round you want to get into double figures, and Paul certainly managed this. His 11 gave him a total of 18. It wouldn’t give him a chance of a win since James was only 4 points behind, but it brought a mark of respectability to the performance, and if you can say that, then the whole experience certainly isn’t a waste of time. Ailsa Prosser’s general knowledge round which followed was really interesting. Ailsa was not answering any of her questions particularly quickly, but certainly for the first minute or so of her round she was answering very accurately. At one stage I thought she could be on for a very significant score. Well, the round lost its way a little bit in the last minute, but even so, 13 is not a score to be sniffed at, and it took Ailsa up to 21. Not quite enough to put James into the corridor of uncertainty, but even so, a useful performance, and maybe just a hint, a foreshadowing if you will, that there was still quite a lot of play in this match.
Roderick began his round 5 points behind James. He needed to go for it, and he did. He missed a couple of rather chestnutty questions, but even so, to notch up 15 was a very good performance indeed. He never lost his composure, kept answering what he did know and guessing what he didn’t. Now, 15 meant that James needed 10 to win outright, and that seemed like just enough to put him into the corridor of uncertainty. The next two minutes would tell.
For the first minute, I thought that he would do it. He was certainly not answering as well as Roderick, and wouldn’t get close to 15. However he did have the five point cushion, and the score was moving. By the 90 second mark, though, it wasn’t moving quickly enough, and the passes were piling up. The last minute was spent with James trying desperately to extricate himself from a pass spiral, and just not quite managing it. For the record, he finished with 7 on the round, for a total of 22. I’m sure there’s little I can say by way of consolation, but I hope that he takes away the memory of a fantastic specialist round, which he certainly produced in the show.
Well done Roderick, and good luck in the semis. Well done as well to Steven Broomfield and Beth Webster who are, if my calculations are correct, now guaranteed places in the semis.
The Details
| Alisa Prosser | Charles Rennie Macintosh | 8 - 1 | 13 - 3 | 21 - 4 |
| Roderick Cromar | Sam Phillips and the Sun Recording Label 1950 - 1960 | 9 - 2 | 15 - 1 | 24 - 3 |
| James Knight | The Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell | 14 - 0 | 8 - 7 | 22 - 7 |
| Paul Gregan | Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells | 7 - 3 | 11 - 4 | 18 - 7 |
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
Saturday, 18 January 2014
More on Quiz Show starters
This is sad and anal – there, I’ve saved you the trouble of saying it. I’d best explain.
Back in December, in the last week of term, I was trying to find something to do as a fun lesson with a cover class. Like a lot of teachers, I’m a huge fan of the TES website (Times Educational Supplement). If you join – which is free – you have access to thousands of free resources for lessons which have been produced by other teachers. What I found when I searched was a Pointless Christmas quiz – and I have to say it was absolutely brilliant. It looked professional, it had a working countdown – the lot. I was bowled over that you could do something like that on Powerpoint. So, come the first couple of days of the holiday I spent hours playing around with Powerpoint, and found out how to do everything to make my own Pointless. In fact,, I even posted about it.
Since then I’ve made starters based on several game shows – Pointless – Blockbusters – The Chase – Wipeout – Wheel of Fortune – A Question of Sport - Countdown and Only Connect. Briefly, a starter is exactly what it says. It’s a short activity – meant to last no more than a few minutes at a time, which gets pupils thinking and actively engaged in the lesson, and hopefully focuses their minds on at least one aspect of the lesson to come. Well, that’s what you aim for, anyway. I’ve uploaded all of the game/quiz show starters I’ve made onto the TES online site and being the kind of person I am, it’s made me start to ask myself some questions. Now this is where sad and anal comes into it.
I’ve been keeping a sort of mental daily straw poll into the most popular of the ones I’ve uploaded. Every day this week I’ve been checking to see how many times each game has been downloaded by other teachers. The current totals are: -
Wipeout – 402
Wheel of Fortune – 361
Pointless ( 4 presentations) 305
The Chase – 140
Countdown (2 presentations) – 86
A Question of Sport – 61
Blockbusters -34
Only Connect – 13
Of course, these figures aren’t really that much of an indication how good the games are. For instance – the A Question of Sport game is actually just based on one specific book I use with my Year 8 class – second year in old money. Whereas Wipeout and Wheel of Fortune are about perennial favourites nouns-verbs – adjectives, and connectives – and are therefore of appeal not just to colleagues in the secondary sector, but also to colleagues in primary as well. Also, I only downloaded the game based On Only Connect yesterday.
As regards the punters themselves, that is the children, well I’ve used some of them this week. Yesterday the game based on Only Connect went down an absolute storm. The other one proving popular is Pointless. Allow me to give you an example. I have never before had a bottom set year 10 class ask me,
”Can we do Romeo and Juliet revision again today please Sir?”
When I replied “Of course you may, you eager young ragamuffin!” and started handing out copies of the play, this was greeted by howls of,
”Not that rubbish! We meant can we play Romeo and Juliet Revision Pointless again?!”
Bless them.
Back in December, in the last week of term, I was trying to find something to do as a fun lesson with a cover class. Like a lot of teachers, I’m a huge fan of the TES website (Times Educational Supplement). If you join – which is free – you have access to thousands of free resources for lessons which have been produced by other teachers. What I found when I searched was a Pointless Christmas quiz – and I have to say it was absolutely brilliant. It looked professional, it had a working countdown – the lot. I was bowled over that you could do something like that on Powerpoint. So, come the first couple of days of the holiday I spent hours playing around with Powerpoint, and found out how to do everything to make my own Pointless. In fact,, I even posted about it.
Since then I’ve made starters based on several game shows – Pointless – Blockbusters – The Chase – Wipeout – Wheel of Fortune – A Question of Sport - Countdown and Only Connect. Briefly, a starter is exactly what it says. It’s a short activity – meant to last no more than a few minutes at a time, which gets pupils thinking and actively engaged in the lesson, and hopefully focuses their minds on at least one aspect of the lesson to come. Well, that’s what you aim for, anyway. I’ve uploaded all of the game/quiz show starters I’ve made onto the TES online site and being the kind of person I am, it’s made me start to ask myself some questions. Now this is where sad and anal comes into it.
I’ve been keeping a sort of mental daily straw poll into the most popular of the ones I’ve uploaded. Every day this week I’ve been checking to see how many times each game has been downloaded by other teachers. The current totals are: -
Wipeout – 402
Wheel of Fortune – 361
Pointless ( 4 presentations) 305
The Chase – 140
Countdown (2 presentations) – 86
A Question of Sport – 61
Blockbusters -34
Only Connect – 13
Of course, these figures aren’t really that much of an indication how good the games are. For instance – the A Question of Sport game is actually just based on one specific book I use with my Year 8 class – second year in old money. Whereas Wipeout and Wheel of Fortune are about perennial favourites nouns-verbs – adjectives, and connectives – and are therefore of appeal not just to colleagues in the secondary sector, but also to colleagues in primary as well. Also, I only downloaded the game based On Only Connect yesterday.
As regards the punters themselves, that is the children, well I’ve used some of them this week. Yesterday the game based on Only Connect went down an absolute storm. The other one proving popular is Pointless. Allow me to give you an example. I have never before had a bottom set year 10 class ask me,
”Can we do Romeo and Juliet revision again today please Sir?”
When I replied “Of course you may, you eager young ragamuffin!” and started handing out copies of the play, this was greeted by howls of,
”Not that rubbish! We meant can we play Romeo and Juliet Revision Pointless again?!”
Bless them.
In the News
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. John Hemming MP
2. Calatrava
3. Stephen Bunting
4. Aaron Finch
5. Boro Taxis
6. Mark Bridger
7. Sinead Morrissey
8. Pygmy Rwandan Water Lily
9. Jupp Heynckes
10. Amrit and Prem Karra
11. Britpop
12. St. Nicholas Abbey
13. King Senebkay
14. Charlie Webster
15. David Griffin
16. Indira Gainiyeva and Edward Bunyon
17. Darren Barker
18. Roberto Bautista-Agut
19. Dennis McGuire
20. Headen and Quarmby
21. Hiroo Onoda
In Other News
1. Which former world leader died aged 85?
2. Name the archbishop of Westminster who is to be made a cardinal
3. Valerie Trierweiler, the first lady of France, was admitted to hospital with what?
4. Which 69 year old made an embarrassing acceptance speech in the Golden Globes?
5. Which former TV actress, possibly best remembered for The Champions, passed away aged 67?
6. Who won the Ballon d’Or
7. Which director was given a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes?
8. Which 82 year old former Leeds Utd. And Scotland International Footballer passed away last week?
9. Which design of £2 coin is causing controversy?
10. 3 celebrity court cases began last week – whose?
11. Which Devon town was hit by a freak twister last week?
12. Paignton Zoo has banned its monkeys from eating what?
13. Who said that he had refused a request to do the voiceover for Benefits Street?
14. Who announced he was retiring from football to coach AC Milan
15. Which Lib Dem peer faces no action over claims of sexual harassment?
16. What was the score in the FA Cup match between Man City and Blackburn Rovers?
17. Which bowler became the third player to leave the England cricket tour of Australia?
18. Which well-loved actor passed away aged 69?
19. Mikaeel Kular disappeared from which Scottish town?
20. What per hour figure did George Osborne say he would like to raise the minimum wage to?
21. Two unpublished novels by which author were discovered last week?
22. What is the target for Team GB at the Sochi Winter Olympics?
23. Which former Formula One driver won the first two stages of the Monte Carlo rally?
24. Who was reappointed as Chief Executive of the Maclaren Formula One team?
25. 3 friendlies for the England football team before the world cup were announced against which countries?
26. Which boo-boo was perpetrated by the Berlin U-Bahn underground railway?
27. Which city council have banned apostrophes from their road signs?
28. Which 80s group from Birmingham are to re-form?
29. Who has been signed up to help Roy Keane write his second set of memoirs?
30. What was the sex of Zara and Mike Tindall’s baby?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. John Hemming MP
2. Calatrava
3. Stephen Bunting
4. Aaron Finch
5. Boro Taxis
6. Mark Bridger
7. Sinead Morrissey
8. Pygmy Rwandan Water Lily
9. Jupp Heynckes
10. Amrit and Prem Karra
11. Britpop
12. St. Nicholas Abbey
13. King Senebkay
14. Charlie Webster
15. David Griffin
16. Indira Gainiyeva and Edward Bunyon
17. Darren Barker
18. Roberto Bautista-Agut
19. Dennis McGuire
20. Headen and Quarmby
21. Hiroo Onoda
In Other News
1. Which former world leader died aged 85?
2. Name the archbishop of Westminster who is to be made a cardinal
3. Valerie Trierweiler, the first lady of France, was admitted to hospital with what?
4. Which 69 year old made an embarrassing acceptance speech in the Golden Globes?
5. Which former TV actress, possibly best remembered for The Champions, passed away aged 67?
6. Who won the Ballon d’Or
7. Which director was given a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes?
8. Which 82 year old former Leeds Utd. And Scotland International Footballer passed away last week?
9. Which design of £2 coin is causing controversy?
10. 3 celebrity court cases began last week – whose?
11. Which Devon town was hit by a freak twister last week?
12. Paignton Zoo has banned its monkeys from eating what?
13. Who said that he had refused a request to do the voiceover for Benefits Street?
14. Who announced he was retiring from football to coach AC Milan
15. Which Lib Dem peer faces no action over claims of sexual harassment?
16. What was the score in the FA Cup match between Man City and Blackburn Rovers?
17. Which bowler became the third player to leave the England cricket tour of Australia?
18. Which well-loved actor passed away aged 69?
19. Mikaeel Kular disappeared from which Scottish town?
20. What per hour figure did George Osborne say he would like to raise the minimum wage to?
21. Two unpublished novels by which author were discovered last week?
22. What is the target for Team GB at the Sochi Winter Olympics?
23. Which former Formula One driver won the first two stages of the Monte Carlo rally?
24. Who was reappointed as Chief Executive of the Maclaren Formula One team?
25. 3 friendlies for the England football team before the world cup were announced against which countries?
26. Which boo-boo was perpetrated by the Berlin U-Bahn underground railway?
27. Which city council have banned apostrophes from their road signs?
28. Which 80s group from Birmingham are to re-form?
29. Who has been signed up to help Roy Keane write his second set of memoirs?
30. What was the sex of Zara and Mike Tindall’s baby?
Brain of Britain - heat 6
Well we’re coming towards the end of our weekly round up now. Only Brain of Britain to go. Monday’s contestants were : -
Diane Clements
Brian Daugherty
Robert Hart
Andrew Maywood
Only Brian’s name meant anything to me at first – he’s been a Mastermind semifinalist, and only missed the Grand Final by one point and a couple of passes. So he was the favourite on paper. Let’s get on with the show.
Diane fell into the trap of answering Big Bang Theory when asked about a theory of the origins of the Universe. Brian knew that if it’s Fred Hoyle, its steady state. He somewhat blotted his copybook not remembering that Hilary Clinton’s maiden name was Rodham. Diane took that one. Robert didn’t know that Hessian is named after a German state, which Brian was happy to take. Andrew took one, but missed a relatively easy one on stick insects, which nobody had. Brian led with 2.In the second round Diane took her first two, but missed the chestnutty mazurka dance from Poland. Robert Hart took that. Brian took two but didn’t know sterling silver, neither did anyone else. Robert Hart took two, but the term Brewster sessions escaped all of us. Andrew answered his first two, but didn’t know D.H.Lawrence’s native village of Eastwood. Brian took it and now led with 5.
Diane didn’t know that Song Sung Blue was inspired by a Mozart Piano Concerto. Neither did I nor the other contenders. Brian was stumped by his first about Reiner Werner Fassbender. Me too. Robert stopped the rot in the round, and answered his first two, but missed out on the Sicilian Vespers. Andrew took that, but didn’t know the Siemens SI Unit. Brian snapped up the chestnut again, to maintain a one point lead. Diane didn’t know about the elastic rebound theory and neither did any of the rest of us. Brian didn’t know Edouardo Paolozzi sculpted the figure of Isaac Newton outside the British Library – so Diane gladly snapped that one up. Robert Hart didn’t know that Napoleon III is buried in a mausoleum in Farnborough – you either know it or you don’t. Andrew didn’t know that Joan of Arc is in Shakespeare’s Henry VI part One. Brian had it – he chanced his arm without giving the part first, but got it right when he did, which extended his lead to two. He wasn’t guaranteed anything yet, though, and this was proving to be a well fought contest.
For the Beat the Brains interval the brains were asked which composer wrote operas on Elizabeth I’s mother, cousin and last favourite. Donizetti was correctly answered. The second question was from which English place did Donizetti’s Emilia hail? They had it with Liverpool. Great answers from the brains.
Diane was away with one correct answer, but didn’t know the term ormolu means ‘ground gold’. Robert had that one. Brian took his first two, but didn’t know the writer Peter Morgan. Robert Hart didn’t know that Billy Paul had the original 1972 hit with Me and Mrs. Jones, and neither did any of the other Brains. Andrew scored with his first answer, but didn’t know that the Mayor of High Wycombe is weighed outside the Town Hall each year. Diane kicked off the next round but didn’t know that the Cape of Good Hope is the supposed haunt of the Flying Dutchman. Brian Daugherty didn’t know that the very last Mary Poppins story was published in the 1980s. I guessed it, but nobody else had it. Robert didn’t know that Epimetheus is a satellite of Saturn. Brian had it. Andrew didn’t know that the song “The Lady is a Tramp” most famously featured in Pal Joey, originally came from a show called babes in Arms. Not surprised nobody had that. This gave us the situation whereby Brian had a commanding lead of 4 with 10.
Diane missed the chestnut that the Pentland Firth separates the Orkneys from the mainland of Scotland. Brian had it, and then for his own questions he didn’t know that Hu Yaobang was the general secretary of the Chinese communist party whose death sparked the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. No bonus for anyone there. Robert didn’t know Encke’s comet, but Brian did. Andrew, asked how many acres in a square mile, missed it, and gave Robert a free run with 640. One round to go, and Brian had a five point lead, and was home, if not exactly dry yet. Diane didn’t know that Eric the Eel was from Equatorial Guinea. Neither, surprisingly, did anyone else. Brian took his first, but didn’t know that the 1841 census was the first with names and pack drill, as it were. Robert Hart didn’t know his first about the term pipe down. Andrew had a bonus on that. For his first though he didn’t know that the first mammals appeared at the end of the Triassic period. A comfortable win for the form horse, in the end. Well played Brian – good luck in the semis.
The Details
Diane Clement – 5
Brian Daugherty - 13
Robert Hart – 7
Andrew Maywood – 8
Diane Clements
Brian Daugherty
Robert Hart
Andrew Maywood
Only Brian’s name meant anything to me at first – he’s been a Mastermind semifinalist, and only missed the Grand Final by one point and a couple of passes. So he was the favourite on paper. Let’s get on with the show.
Diane fell into the trap of answering Big Bang Theory when asked about a theory of the origins of the Universe. Brian knew that if it’s Fred Hoyle, its steady state. He somewhat blotted his copybook not remembering that Hilary Clinton’s maiden name was Rodham. Diane took that one. Robert didn’t know that Hessian is named after a German state, which Brian was happy to take. Andrew took one, but missed a relatively easy one on stick insects, which nobody had. Brian led with 2.In the second round Diane took her first two, but missed the chestnutty mazurka dance from Poland. Robert Hart took that. Brian took two but didn’t know sterling silver, neither did anyone else. Robert Hart took two, but the term Brewster sessions escaped all of us. Andrew answered his first two, but didn’t know D.H.Lawrence’s native village of Eastwood. Brian took it and now led with 5.
Diane didn’t know that Song Sung Blue was inspired by a Mozart Piano Concerto. Neither did I nor the other contenders. Brian was stumped by his first about Reiner Werner Fassbender. Me too. Robert stopped the rot in the round, and answered his first two, but missed out on the Sicilian Vespers. Andrew took that, but didn’t know the Siemens SI Unit. Brian snapped up the chestnut again, to maintain a one point lead. Diane didn’t know about the elastic rebound theory and neither did any of the rest of us. Brian didn’t know Edouardo Paolozzi sculpted the figure of Isaac Newton outside the British Library – so Diane gladly snapped that one up. Robert Hart didn’t know that Napoleon III is buried in a mausoleum in Farnborough – you either know it or you don’t. Andrew didn’t know that Joan of Arc is in Shakespeare’s Henry VI part One. Brian had it – he chanced his arm without giving the part first, but got it right when he did, which extended his lead to two. He wasn’t guaranteed anything yet, though, and this was proving to be a well fought contest.
For the Beat the Brains interval the brains were asked which composer wrote operas on Elizabeth I’s mother, cousin and last favourite. Donizetti was correctly answered. The second question was from which English place did Donizetti’s Emilia hail? They had it with Liverpool. Great answers from the brains.
Diane was away with one correct answer, but didn’t know the term ormolu means ‘ground gold’. Robert had that one. Brian took his first two, but didn’t know the writer Peter Morgan. Robert Hart didn’t know that Billy Paul had the original 1972 hit with Me and Mrs. Jones, and neither did any of the other Brains. Andrew scored with his first answer, but didn’t know that the Mayor of High Wycombe is weighed outside the Town Hall each year. Diane kicked off the next round but didn’t know that the Cape of Good Hope is the supposed haunt of the Flying Dutchman. Brian Daugherty didn’t know that the very last Mary Poppins story was published in the 1980s. I guessed it, but nobody else had it. Robert didn’t know that Epimetheus is a satellite of Saturn. Brian had it. Andrew didn’t know that the song “The Lady is a Tramp” most famously featured in Pal Joey, originally came from a show called babes in Arms. Not surprised nobody had that. This gave us the situation whereby Brian had a commanding lead of 4 with 10.
Diane missed the chestnut that the Pentland Firth separates the Orkneys from the mainland of Scotland. Brian had it, and then for his own questions he didn’t know that Hu Yaobang was the general secretary of the Chinese communist party whose death sparked the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. No bonus for anyone there. Robert didn’t know Encke’s comet, but Brian did. Andrew, asked how many acres in a square mile, missed it, and gave Robert a free run with 640. One round to go, and Brian had a five point lead, and was home, if not exactly dry yet. Diane didn’t know that Eric the Eel was from Equatorial Guinea. Neither, surprisingly, did anyone else. Brian took his first, but didn’t know that the 1841 census was the first with names and pack drill, as it were. Robert Hart didn’t know his first about the term pipe down. Andrew had a bonus on that. For his first though he didn’t know that the first mammals appeared at the end of the Triassic period. A comfortable win for the form horse, in the end. Well played Brian – good luck in the semis.
The Details
Diane Clement – 5
Brian Daugherty - 13
Robert Hart – 7
Andrew Maywood – 8
Sleb Mastermind Show 10
I won’t be saying much about this show. This is the reason. These celebrity contenders are not quizzers, and are giving up their time and effort for no more than a bit of a laugh, and for the good of their chosen charity. If I go into detail about their rounds, then I may inadvertently say something which comes across as sniffy, or snide, or critical, and I really wouldn’t mean to. When a sleb takes to the black chair, then they run the risk that it will all go pear shaped – which we should all know can happen in the black chair. It didn’t really work out for any of the contenders in this show – but guys – thanks for giving it a lash anyway. For the record, Quentin Letts won with 14, which is the lowest winning score ever in Sleb Mastermind – but then slebs now only get 3 and a half minutes of questions as opposed to the 4 minutes of years gone by. Don’t let it get you down guys. The contenders were: -
actress and singer Clare Grogan – ex of Altered Images, Gregory’s Girl and the original Kochanski in Red Dwarf
Singer Newton Faulkner
Paralympic Champion Richard Whitehead MBE
Parliamentary sketch writer Quentin Letts.
The Details
actress and singer Clare Grogan – ex of Altered Images, Gregory’s Girl and the original Kochanski in Red Dwarf
Singer Newton Faulkner
Paralympic Champion Richard Whitehead MBE
Parliamentary sketch writer Quentin Letts.
The Details
| Clare Grogan | British Association for Adopting and Fostering | Doris Day | 9 – 0 | 4 - 1 | 13 - 1 |
| Newton Faulkner | Teenage Cancer Trust | Life and Works of Harry Nilsson | 8 - 3 | 4 - 4 | 12 - 7 |
| Richard Whitehead MBE | Sarcoma UK | Tottenham Hotspur FC 2000 - 2013 | 5 - 1 | 3 - 9 | 8 - 10 |
| Quentin Letts | Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust | Hereford Cathedral | 8 - 1 | 6 - 2 | 14 - 3 |
Sleb Mastermind Show 9
We’re winding towards the end of this series of sleb shows, and it’s probably no bad thing. I like the sleb shows, but I prefer the real thing, and I don’t think the two should overlap. That’s just my opinion, and as always, feel free to disagree.
Tony Livesey, from the One Show, so I’m told was first up. He was answering on The Jam. We’ve been this way before, you and I , since the Jame has been a specialist subject on more than one occasion, and so you’ll maybe remember that I preferred the Style Council to the Jam at the time. Well, I was young, and I’ve gained a lot more appreciation of the Jam since. They were brilliant. I’m sure Tony Livesey thought so as well, but his round was more Beat Surrender than That’s Entertainment. He finished with 5, which effectively ruled him out of competition for the trophy. Next up was comedienne Ava Vidal. Now, you know what a good record comedians have in Sleb Mastermind, so she looked like a contender. I have never been a devotee of Buffy the Vampire Slayer . . . but one of my daughters was. Which was enough to bring me a couple of points. Ava knew her stuff on this subject, and her 8 was a respectable total in the context of this series.
Third was Monty Halls- apparently he’s a TV presenter/explorer/marine biologist. Well done! That would at least explain his specialist subject of Jacques Cousteau. I did used to watch “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” – or as my grandmother once memorably called it “ that Undersea world of Hattie Jacques thing”, but it didn’t help ,and other than aqualung that was about it for me for this round. Monty too levelled out at 8. This left radio presenter, Church of England clergyman and Communard Richard Coles. Now, he has been on Only Connect, I’m sure, which made him instant favourite for this show. You don’t get mugs on OC – even in the sleb versions. Richard was answering on the Mapp and Lucia novels of EF Benson. They’ve been round the block a few times on Mastermind, but I’ve still never read any, and so I didn’t trouble the scorer. Richard performed up to expectations, and scored 10.
Tony Livesey managed a decent 11 in his GK round, and 16 represents a respectable score in the context of this series of sleb shows. Incidentally the show gave us the relative rarity of all contenders returning for GK in exactly the same order as their specialist rounds. Which meant that Ava was next into the chair. She gave it a lash too, but this wasn’t going to be enough to quite give her the lead, and she finished with 15. Monty , who had been filmed at the top of the show saying that it’s everyone’s ambition to go on Mastermind – lovely sentiments – looked as if he was taking it seriously, and he whacked in a round of 11. This didn’t quite take him to 20, but at least guaranteed second place. I say it guaranteed second place, since I was fairly certain that Richard would reach the target with a little bit left in the tank. I was right too. It wasn’t one of the very best rounds we’ve seen this series, but it wasn’t bad, and it took him to 24. Well played.
The Details
Tony Livesey, from the One Show, so I’m told was first up. He was answering on The Jam. We’ve been this way before, you and I , since the Jame has been a specialist subject on more than one occasion, and so you’ll maybe remember that I preferred the Style Council to the Jam at the time. Well, I was young, and I’ve gained a lot more appreciation of the Jam since. They were brilliant. I’m sure Tony Livesey thought so as well, but his round was more Beat Surrender than That’s Entertainment. He finished with 5, which effectively ruled him out of competition for the trophy. Next up was comedienne Ava Vidal. Now, you know what a good record comedians have in Sleb Mastermind, so she looked like a contender. I have never been a devotee of Buffy the Vampire Slayer . . . but one of my daughters was. Which was enough to bring me a couple of points. Ava knew her stuff on this subject, and her 8 was a respectable total in the context of this series.
Third was Monty Halls- apparently he’s a TV presenter/explorer/marine biologist. Well done! That would at least explain his specialist subject of Jacques Cousteau. I did used to watch “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” – or as my grandmother once memorably called it “ that Undersea world of Hattie Jacques thing”, but it didn’t help ,and other than aqualung that was about it for me for this round. Monty too levelled out at 8. This left radio presenter, Church of England clergyman and Communard Richard Coles. Now, he has been on Only Connect, I’m sure, which made him instant favourite for this show. You don’t get mugs on OC – even in the sleb versions. Richard was answering on the Mapp and Lucia novels of EF Benson. They’ve been round the block a few times on Mastermind, but I’ve still never read any, and so I didn’t trouble the scorer. Richard performed up to expectations, and scored 10.
Tony Livesey managed a decent 11 in his GK round, and 16 represents a respectable score in the context of this series of sleb shows. Incidentally the show gave us the relative rarity of all contenders returning for GK in exactly the same order as their specialist rounds. Which meant that Ava was next into the chair. She gave it a lash too, but this wasn’t going to be enough to quite give her the lead, and she finished with 15. Monty , who had been filmed at the top of the show saying that it’s everyone’s ambition to go on Mastermind – lovely sentiments – looked as if he was taking it seriously, and he whacked in a round of 11. This didn’t quite take him to 20, but at least guaranteed second place. I say it guaranteed second place, since I was fairly certain that Richard would reach the target with a little bit left in the tank. I was right too. It wasn’t one of the very best rounds we’ve seen this series, but it wasn’t bad, and it took him to 24. Well played.
The Details
| Tony Livesey | CLIC Sargent | The Jam | 5 - 2 | 11 - 2 | 16 - 4 |
| Ava Vidal | 100 Black Men of London | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seasons 1 and 2 | 8 - 2 | 7 - 4 | 15 - 6 |
| Monty Halls | Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund | Life and Times of Jacques Cousteau | 8 - 1 | 11 - 1 | 19 - 2 |
| Richard Coles | Beat Bullying | The Mapp and Lucia Novels of E.F.Benson | 10 - 0 | 14 - 0 | 24 - 0 |
University Challenge - Quarter Final Round - Match One
Trinity, Cambridge v. Manchester
What an interesting match up. The Trinity team of Matthew Ridley, Filip Drnovšek Zorko, Richard Freeland and Ralph Morley were awesome in their first round demolition of a very good Christ Church, Oxford team – a team good enough to get through the repechage round into the second round in their own right. In the second round it wasn’t until the final phase of the match that they managed to get away from Peterhouse, Cambridge to win by 240 – 110. Their opponents from Manchester, Ed Woudhuysen, Joe Day, Jonathan Collings and their captain Elizabeth Mitchell, knocked out Brasenose in the first round, then comfortably defeated Queens, Cambridge in the second, breaking the 300 point barrier to do so. So our first match of the quarters looked to be a real clash of the titans, two teams of triple centurians going at it hammer and tongs.
Ed Woudhusyen scored first blood by recognizing the Queen of Sheba for the first starter. A full set on Time Magazine Persons of the Year was a statement of intent from Manchester. I considered doing a lap of honour around the living room when I knew about Boolean algebra for the second starter, but knew it would leave me out of breath at the moment if I did so. Joe Day didn’t do a lap of hour either, and he had it as well. The bonus set which followed on works about decision making by economists yielded nothing to any of us. Now, last time out Trinity made it hard for themselves by making a slow start. Determined not to let lightning strike twice in the same place, Richard Freeland buzzed in with the answer that Karl Zener designed cards which were used to test for ESP. I took a full set on opera, which was a bit of a surprise for me, and Trinity took two. Ralph Morley knew a group of people all awarded the title of Kentucky Colonel. It was his first starter, but it wouldn’t be his last. One bonus on astrophysics brought them level with Manchester. I had a couple – Heaven alone knows where I dredged up neutron star from. The picture starter, showing the original member states of the European Community, was a real buzzer race, and it was won by Joe Day. For the bonuses the team had to identify the years that other groups of states joined the Community. They managed the 1973 group including the UK, but the trickier others eluded all of us. LAM reader Filip Drnovšek Zorko struck for the first time in the contest knowing that the Defenestration of Prague began the Thirty Years War. Bonuses on Popes gave Trinity three very good bonuses which meant that they led by 60 to 50 right on the cusp of the ten minute mark.
Jonathan Collings, who had had a quiet evening up to this point, knew that the London 2012 Olympics Aquatic centre was deisgned by Zaha Hadid – incidentally one of my absolute favourite contemporary architects. Bonuses on mining followed, and one correct answer gave Manchester back the lead. Richard Freeland knew various connections to the name Wolfram, which earned Trinity a set of bonuses on clerihews. My favourite clerihew is : -
Cecil B. DeMille
Much against his will
Was persuaded to keep Moses
Out of the Wars of the Roses
No? Well, please yourselves. This wasn’t one of the ones on offer to Trinity,but they took all of those that were. Ralph Morley knew the term ‘lame duck’ politician, which brought bonuses on the reign of Henry III. Two of these were taken. Filip knew that the ratio of consonants to vowels in audacious is 1:2. Suddenly the gap was widening, as Trinity had taken three starters in a row. Bonuses on art brought another ten points. Matthew Ridley was in extremely quickly to identify Zadok the Priest for the music starter. Three more pieces followed, each taking their title from a figure from ancient history, myth or legend. Trinity had all of them, but what I want to know is why Ralph Morley immediately associated Katchaturian’s Spartacus with The Onedin Line?! He’s far too young to make that connection! In the space of just about 5 minutes the gap had widened to 85 points, and Manchester were going to have to throw caution to the wind on the buzzer. Richard Freeland knew that Cain was exiled to the Land of Nod, though, beating Manchester to the buzzer. Biology bonuses promised me nothing and delivered exactly what they promised. They were enough to take Trinity’s lead into three figures. Joe Day went for a flier on the next, and was rewarded when he correctly identified NASA’s Viking missions to Mars. Football bonuses on Sir Stanley Matthews provided a full house, and pegged back the lead a little. Emboldened by his previous success, Joe Day took a double, knowing that the Philippines are named after Philip of Spain. Bonuses on the verb – to be – in Romance languages sounded harder than they actually were, but they still needed to be answered, and they had the lot. The gap was down to 55. Joe Day was having a purple patch and took his third early buzz in a row. He knew that the words ‘Isti Mirant’ appear on the Bayeux Tapestry – Isti Mirant Stellam – Here they wonder at the star. Why yes, I did have my highest ever Mastermind score of 17 on the Bayeux Tapestry, thanks very much for reminding me. Bonuses on poisons brought the gap down to 35. What a good fightback. Ralph Morley took a flier himself, answering ‘Margaret Thatcher” to the question “Which British Prime Minister of the 20th century held the position for the –“. More on that later. Bonuses on French land borders brought another ten points. The 20 minute mark had just been reached, and Trinity were still leading, by 190 to 135.
The second picture starter offered us a portrait of Evelyn Waugh, and Ed Woudhuysen was in with the answer. Portraits of three more bright young things of the 20s and 30s. 2 were taken. For the next starter Richard Freeland won the buzzer race to say that Exodus comes before Leviticus. Probability Theory promised little but brought both of us a full house. Joe Day was doing a sterling job for his team, and he was in early to identify a Dutch physicist who did something or other. Stop me if I get too technical. Bonuses on the Commonwealth provided antoher ten points, and kept the gap at less than two full sets. Given the quotation “Age cannot wither her. . . “ Elizabeth Mitchell miscued. Given a free run at this one Filip gave the correct answer of Cleopatra. World leaders gave them a full house, and the gap was beginning to stretch ominously again. Who else to step to the rescue but Joe Day? He knew that, listed alphabetically, Arabic is the first of the 6 official languages of the UN. Bonuses on word definitions promised much and delivered 2 correct answers. For once Joe Day couldn’t supply the correct answer to his early buzz for the next starter about stars, and Richard Freeland knew that the stars in question are all variable. Fair enough. Coniferous trees brought another full set to Trinity. Ralph Morley knew that the tune Cranham was composed by Gustav Holst. No bonuses on stock exchanges were taken. It’s a measure of the quality of the contest that I think that it wasn’t until these bonuses that JP issued his first hurry up to either team. Jonathan Collings knew that Richard D’Oyly Carte founded the Savoy theatre and Hotel. Bonuses on prisons took them through the 200 point barrier. Montis Insignia Calpe appears on the arms of Gibraltar. I didn’t know it, but Ralph Morley did, but there was no time for any of the bonuses on herbs and spices to be asked. Trinity had run out deserved winners with 285 to 205. What a contest! 490 points scored between the two teams. JP paid his own tribute, saying that he’d just about run out of questions. Fantastic show – well played both teams.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP started off in end of the pier comedian form, suggesting that the honorary title Kentucky Colonel “makes them sound like joints of chicken, doesn’t it?2 Hmm. Don’t give up the day job.
Sometimes in a show JP and a specific team seem to get on the same wavelength. Asked what genre of Japanese block prints influenced Whistler Ralph Morley apologetically offered “Lithograph”. Our hero chuckled and gently chided with, “No and you know that’s wrong, don’t you!”
Well into the second phase of the contest JP was still chucking in the odd one liner – when it was revealed that Stanley Matthews played his last League game at the age of 50, the 63 year old replied, “Yes – it’s not very old though.”Quite ( my 50th is in June). JP was most impressed with Ralph Morley’s early buzz on the Thatcher question. Not that he voiced his admiration in the most complimentary of terms: -
“How on Earth did you know I was going to ask for the longest period of time?” Shades of Alex Guttenplan in Ralph’s answer,
“Well, what else is it going to be?!” You tell him, Ralph! – I shouted in approval. JP took this retort with all the grace he could muster,
“Alright, let’s see how you do on this set of bonuses. They’re on French land borders, you smartarses!” Put the handbag down, Jez, there’s a good chap. Needless to say he couldn’t refrain from rubbing it in when they had one of them wrong
”See – not all so easy, are they?!” Well, they are when you’re holding the answers in your hand, Jez. They do say that the bigger the occasion the more the tuly great performers rise to the occasion. When Elizabeth Mitchell miscued, offering “King Lear” for “Cleopatra” JP had no intention of letting that one pass.
”Are you mad?!” he asked, by way of consolation. It’s been a while since he’s brought that one out.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Nord is the most populous French Department
What an interesting match up. The Trinity team of Matthew Ridley, Filip Drnovšek Zorko, Richard Freeland and Ralph Morley were awesome in their first round demolition of a very good Christ Church, Oxford team – a team good enough to get through the repechage round into the second round in their own right. In the second round it wasn’t until the final phase of the match that they managed to get away from Peterhouse, Cambridge to win by 240 – 110. Their opponents from Manchester, Ed Woudhuysen, Joe Day, Jonathan Collings and their captain Elizabeth Mitchell, knocked out Brasenose in the first round, then comfortably defeated Queens, Cambridge in the second, breaking the 300 point barrier to do so. So our first match of the quarters looked to be a real clash of the titans, two teams of triple centurians going at it hammer and tongs.
Ed Woudhusyen scored first blood by recognizing the Queen of Sheba for the first starter. A full set on Time Magazine Persons of the Year was a statement of intent from Manchester. I considered doing a lap of honour around the living room when I knew about Boolean algebra for the second starter, but knew it would leave me out of breath at the moment if I did so. Joe Day didn’t do a lap of hour either, and he had it as well. The bonus set which followed on works about decision making by economists yielded nothing to any of us. Now, last time out Trinity made it hard for themselves by making a slow start. Determined not to let lightning strike twice in the same place, Richard Freeland buzzed in with the answer that Karl Zener designed cards which were used to test for ESP. I took a full set on opera, which was a bit of a surprise for me, and Trinity took two. Ralph Morley knew a group of people all awarded the title of Kentucky Colonel. It was his first starter, but it wouldn’t be his last. One bonus on astrophysics brought them level with Manchester. I had a couple – Heaven alone knows where I dredged up neutron star from. The picture starter, showing the original member states of the European Community, was a real buzzer race, and it was won by Joe Day. For the bonuses the team had to identify the years that other groups of states joined the Community. They managed the 1973 group including the UK, but the trickier others eluded all of us. LAM reader Filip Drnovšek Zorko struck for the first time in the contest knowing that the Defenestration of Prague began the Thirty Years War. Bonuses on Popes gave Trinity three very good bonuses which meant that they led by 60 to 50 right on the cusp of the ten minute mark.
Jonathan Collings, who had had a quiet evening up to this point, knew that the London 2012 Olympics Aquatic centre was deisgned by Zaha Hadid – incidentally one of my absolute favourite contemporary architects. Bonuses on mining followed, and one correct answer gave Manchester back the lead. Richard Freeland knew various connections to the name Wolfram, which earned Trinity a set of bonuses on clerihews. My favourite clerihew is : -
Cecil B. DeMille
Much against his will
Was persuaded to keep Moses
Out of the Wars of the Roses
No? Well, please yourselves. This wasn’t one of the ones on offer to Trinity,but they took all of those that were. Ralph Morley knew the term ‘lame duck’ politician, which brought bonuses on the reign of Henry III. Two of these were taken. Filip knew that the ratio of consonants to vowels in audacious is 1:2. Suddenly the gap was widening, as Trinity had taken three starters in a row. Bonuses on art brought another ten points. Matthew Ridley was in extremely quickly to identify Zadok the Priest for the music starter. Three more pieces followed, each taking their title from a figure from ancient history, myth or legend. Trinity had all of them, but what I want to know is why Ralph Morley immediately associated Katchaturian’s Spartacus with The Onedin Line?! He’s far too young to make that connection! In the space of just about 5 minutes the gap had widened to 85 points, and Manchester were going to have to throw caution to the wind on the buzzer. Richard Freeland knew that Cain was exiled to the Land of Nod, though, beating Manchester to the buzzer. Biology bonuses promised me nothing and delivered exactly what they promised. They were enough to take Trinity’s lead into three figures. Joe Day went for a flier on the next, and was rewarded when he correctly identified NASA’s Viking missions to Mars. Football bonuses on Sir Stanley Matthews provided a full house, and pegged back the lead a little. Emboldened by his previous success, Joe Day took a double, knowing that the Philippines are named after Philip of Spain. Bonuses on the verb – to be – in Romance languages sounded harder than they actually were, but they still needed to be answered, and they had the lot. The gap was down to 55. Joe Day was having a purple patch and took his third early buzz in a row. He knew that the words ‘Isti Mirant’ appear on the Bayeux Tapestry – Isti Mirant Stellam – Here they wonder at the star. Why yes, I did have my highest ever Mastermind score of 17 on the Bayeux Tapestry, thanks very much for reminding me. Bonuses on poisons brought the gap down to 35. What a good fightback. Ralph Morley took a flier himself, answering ‘Margaret Thatcher” to the question “Which British Prime Minister of the 20th century held the position for the –“. More on that later. Bonuses on French land borders brought another ten points. The 20 minute mark had just been reached, and Trinity were still leading, by 190 to 135.
The second picture starter offered us a portrait of Evelyn Waugh, and Ed Woudhuysen was in with the answer. Portraits of three more bright young things of the 20s and 30s. 2 were taken. For the next starter Richard Freeland won the buzzer race to say that Exodus comes before Leviticus. Probability Theory promised little but brought both of us a full house. Joe Day was doing a sterling job for his team, and he was in early to identify a Dutch physicist who did something or other. Stop me if I get too technical. Bonuses on the Commonwealth provided antoher ten points, and kept the gap at less than two full sets. Given the quotation “Age cannot wither her. . . “ Elizabeth Mitchell miscued. Given a free run at this one Filip gave the correct answer of Cleopatra. World leaders gave them a full house, and the gap was beginning to stretch ominously again. Who else to step to the rescue but Joe Day? He knew that, listed alphabetically, Arabic is the first of the 6 official languages of the UN. Bonuses on word definitions promised much and delivered 2 correct answers. For once Joe Day couldn’t supply the correct answer to his early buzz for the next starter about stars, and Richard Freeland knew that the stars in question are all variable. Fair enough. Coniferous trees brought another full set to Trinity. Ralph Morley knew that the tune Cranham was composed by Gustav Holst. No bonuses on stock exchanges were taken. It’s a measure of the quality of the contest that I think that it wasn’t until these bonuses that JP issued his first hurry up to either team. Jonathan Collings knew that Richard D’Oyly Carte founded the Savoy theatre and Hotel. Bonuses on prisons took them through the 200 point barrier. Montis Insignia Calpe appears on the arms of Gibraltar. I didn’t know it, but Ralph Morley did, but there was no time for any of the bonuses on herbs and spices to be asked. Trinity had run out deserved winners with 285 to 205. What a contest! 490 points scored between the two teams. JP paid his own tribute, saying that he’d just about run out of questions. Fantastic show – well played both teams.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP started off in end of the pier comedian form, suggesting that the honorary title Kentucky Colonel “makes them sound like joints of chicken, doesn’t it?2 Hmm. Don’t give up the day job.
Sometimes in a show JP and a specific team seem to get on the same wavelength. Asked what genre of Japanese block prints influenced Whistler Ralph Morley apologetically offered “Lithograph”. Our hero chuckled and gently chided with, “No and you know that’s wrong, don’t you!”
Well into the second phase of the contest JP was still chucking in the odd one liner – when it was revealed that Stanley Matthews played his last League game at the age of 50, the 63 year old replied, “Yes – it’s not very old though.”Quite ( my 50th is in June). JP was most impressed with Ralph Morley’s early buzz on the Thatcher question. Not that he voiced his admiration in the most complimentary of terms: -
“How on Earth did you know I was going to ask for the longest period of time?” Shades of Alex Guttenplan in Ralph’s answer,
“Well, what else is it going to be?!” You tell him, Ralph! – I shouted in approval. JP took this retort with all the grace he could muster,
“Alright, let’s see how you do on this set of bonuses. They’re on French land borders, you smartarses!” Put the handbag down, Jez, there’s a good chap. Needless to say he couldn’t refrain from rubbing it in when they had one of them wrong
”See – not all so easy, are they?!” Well, they are when you’re holding the answers in your hand, Jez. They do say that the bigger the occasion the more the tuly great performers rise to the occasion. When Elizabeth Mitchell miscued, offering “King Lear” for “Cleopatra” JP had no intention of letting that one pass.
”Are you mad?!” he asked, by way of consolation. It’s been a while since he’s brought that one out.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Nord is the most populous French Department
Mastermind - Heat Nineteen
As Ronnie Barker’s Arkwright used to say, it’s been a funny old week. I haven’t shuffled off this mortal coil, but then on the other hand I haven’t shuffled off a chest infection that came riding in on the back of my winter cold, which I mentioned last week. I stress that this played no part in us losing our 100% record in the Bridgend Quiz League on Monday night. We lost, and what is more we were well beaten by former champions the Nomads. No excuses, on the night they were better than we were. Still, at the moment there’s always Mastermind on a Friday night to look forward to.
Katie Johnston‘s subject Blur promised me maybe a couple of points. Back in the heady days of Britpop I was always more of an Oasis man myself, but I liked Pulp, and Jarvis Cocker became something of a hero of mine when he got himself banged up for a night for interrupting Michael Jackson’s performance at the Brits. thought that 4 was probably more than I really deserved. Katie set the bar for the first round at 12 and no passes.
More of a happy hunting ground for me was Allan Macpherson’s round on FC Barcelona. Now, I stress that I am not a fan, nor of Spanish football in general, but I knew 4 of them for certain and was able to guess another 2. Allan took 8, but never looked quite at ease with his round. It’s not impossible that his understanding of the parameters of the subject was a little more limited than the setters’.
Now, as it happens I have fairly recently read Robert K. Massie’s biography of Catherine the Great, so Brian Chesney’s round looked as if it might yield a few points. It duly did, another 7. Brian was looking fair set for a great score, but a couple of later passes limited him to what was still a good score, with 11, only 1 point behind the lead with one contender still to play on specialist.
Tony Richardson was answering on The Novels of David Peace. I have only ever read “The Damned United”, which I read to find out what all the fuss was about. Having read both of Brian Clough’s autobiographies I had mixed feelings about it. This meant I only had a couple of points – I didn’t manage even every question about the one book I’d read. Tony looked to me to have the best answering technique, virtually snapping the answers out the instant that John had finished asking them, but he too dropped a couple to finish on 11. So at the halfway stage it was a nicely poised contest, with three contenders all separated by a single point. The aim was the win, for it would take a hell of a good round for anyone to earn an outright place on the repechage board.
First though was Allan Macpherson’s GK round. You have to say it wasn’t bad, and in fact it started very well. However the correct answers dried up after about a minute, and once you’ve lost momentum in a GK round it’s very difficult to get it back. By the end Allan was rather treading water, but he’d reached double figures for the round and finished with 19.
Now, Brian Chesney’s round was a completely different kettle of fish. This never lost momentum at all, and you have to say that Brian did look as if he was enjoying himself. If you can maintain that attitude in the chair it can only do you good. I may be wrong, but I would say that Brian isn’t necessarily a very serious quizzer, judging by a couple of the chestnuts he missed, but he is someone with a very good general knowledge. This propelled him to a round of 16. Now, his 27 and 4 passes would not quite get him a place on the repechage board. Still, it would take a hell of a good round from either Tony or Katie to dislodge him from the winner’s enclosure.
Tony came next. Once again he looked and he answered as if he meant business. Sadly, he just didn’t quite know enough of the answers to overhaul Brian. His round of 14 was a good one, but it wasn’t enough, and he knew it too the moment that the buzzer went, judging by the expression on his face. This left only Katie to try to dislodge Brian. It was clear from fairly early on that she wasn’t going to make it. Sadly for Katie her round was the weakest of the show, and she finished with 7 for 19. That’s the way it goes. Sometimes it just really isn’t your night.
So well played Brian – good luck in the semi finals.
The Details
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
Katie Johnston‘s subject Blur promised me maybe a couple of points. Back in the heady days of Britpop I was always more of an Oasis man myself, but I liked Pulp, and Jarvis Cocker became something of a hero of mine when he got himself banged up for a night for interrupting Michael Jackson’s performance at the Brits. thought that 4 was probably more than I really deserved. Katie set the bar for the first round at 12 and no passes.
More of a happy hunting ground for me was Allan Macpherson’s round on FC Barcelona. Now, I stress that I am not a fan, nor of Spanish football in general, but I knew 4 of them for certain and was able to guess another 2. Allan took 8, but never looked quite at ease with his round. It’s not impossible that his understanding of the parameters of the subject was a little more limited than the setters’.
Now, as it happens I have fairly recently read Robert K. Massie’s biography of Catherine the Great, so Brian Chesney’s round looked as if it might yield a few points. It duly did, another 7. Brian was looking fair set for a great score, but a couple of later passes limited him to what was still a good score, with 11, only 1 point behind the lead with one contender still to play on specialist.
Tony Richardson was answering on The Novels of David Peace. I have only ever read “The Damned United”, which I read to find out what all the fuss was about. Having read both of Brian Clough’s autobiographies I had mixed feelings about it. This meant I only had a couple of points – I didn’t manage even every question about the one book I’d read. Tony looked to me to have the best answering technique, virtually snapping the answers out the instant that John had finished asking them, but he too dropped a couple to finish on 11. So at the halfway stage it was a nicely poised contest, with three contenders all separated by a single point. The aim was the win, for it would take a hell of a good round for anyone to earn an outright place on the repechage board.
First though was Allan Macpherson’s GK round. You have to say it wasn’t bad, and in fact it started very well. However the correct answers dried up after about a minute, and once you’ve lost momentum in a GK round it’s very difficult to get it back. By the end Allan was rather treading water, but he’d reached double figures for the round and finished with 19.
Now, Brian Chesney’s round was a completely different kettle of fish. This never lost momentum at all, and you have to say that Brian did look as if he was enjoying himself. If you can maintain that attitude in the chair it can only do you good. I may be wrong, but I would say that Brian isn’t necessarily a very serious quizzer, judging by a couple of the chestnuts he missed, but he is someone with a very good general knowledge. This propelled him to a round of 16. Now, his 27 and 4 passes would not quite get him a place on the repechage board. Still, it would take a hell of a good round from either Tony or Katie to dislodge him from the winner’s enclosure.
Tony came next. Once again he looked and he answered as if he meant business. Sadly, he just didn’t quite know enough of the answers to overhaul Brian. His round of 14 was a good one, but it wasn’t enough, and he knew it too the moment that the buzzer went, judging by the expression on his face. This left only Katie to try to dislodge Brian. It was clear from fairly early on that she wasn’t going to make it. Sadly for Katie her round was the weakest of the show, and she finished with 7 for 19. That’s the way it goes. Sometimes it just really isn’t your night.
So well played Brian – good luck in the semi finals.
The Details
| Katie Johnston | Pulp | 12 – 0 | 7 - 5 | 19 - 5 |
| Allan Macpherson | FC Barcelona | 8 - 1 | 11 – 0 | 19 – 0 |
| Brian Chesney | Catherine the Great | 11 - 2 | 16 - 2 | 27 - 4 |
| Tony Richardson | Novels of David Peace | 11 - 2 | 14 – 0 | 25 - 2 |
Steven Broomfield 30 – 1
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Ron Wood 28 – 3
=Carol O’Byrne 27 – 2
=Peter Russell 27 – 2
=Chloe Stone 27 – 2
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Waste of a good illness
I’m feeling a little sorry for myself today. I’m sitting here with a streaming nose, sneezing my proboscis off, wallowing in my winter cold. As many in my profession would tell you, having a cold over the weekend is a waste of a bloody good illness. Don’t you worry, it’ll be OK by Monday morning. It always is. Still, at least I can reflect on a good week, quizzing-wise.
Last Sunday Mary, three of the girls and I had lunch at the Twelve Knights, and we used the last quiz voucher which Jessie and I won last time I played down there before Christmas. It didn’t completely cover the cost of the lunch, but it went a long way towards it.
”That was nice, “ Mary enthused on the way out, “So when are we going to be able to afford another Sunday lunch here then, eh?” Which, roughly translated means, - go back tonight and win us another voucher, will you? I know when to take a hint. Only, it’s not as simple as you just have to turn up to win. For one thing there is a picture round, so John and I are probably behind most of the other teams after the first round anyway. Then there was the fact that we didn’t play brilliantly for the rest of the quiz. Our last two scores prior to last Sunday in this same quiz were 51 out of 60, and 49 out of 60. On Sunday we had 39, but amazingly won by a point. Just out of interest, rather surprisingly considering that this was a quiz by a well-known quiz company, there was a blatant wrong ‘un in one of the questions. It asked “In which event did Carl Lewis win three of his 9 Olympic Gold medals? “ or something like that. It definitely asked for the event in which he won three. Now thing is, he won 2 in the 100m ( eventually, after the disqualification of Ben Johnson in 1988) 1 in the 200 m, 2 in the 4x100m relay – BUT – I was adamant that he won 4 in the Long Jump. Al Oerter was the first to win 4 consecutive Olympic golds in the same track and field event – discus, and Carl Lewis second – Long Jump. We put down Long Jump which was the answer given, but I had to check that I was right as soon as I got home. Sad, isn’t it?
Well, that was winning when we didn’t play particularly well. On Monday we had our first match of the second half of the league season. Alright, we haven’t lost this season yet, but then in the last two years we didn’t lose before Christmas, but lost afterwards, so nothing could be taken for granted. It’s always nice to get that first one under the belt, and back into the swing of things. I was pleased with myself for dredging up the phrase synoptic gospels from somewhere. Little things please and all that.
Thursday night was actually the second rugby club quiz of the year. On the second Brian did his annual quiz of the year. It’s been a few years since we won this one, and I wasn’t expecting to challenge this year. A grim old slog saw us hang on to second place. Another week, another quiz, and this Thursday saw us play pretty well on the night to get a rare win over a full Lemurs team. That’s always enough to make me a happy bunny, but if it’s done through dredging up a few answers from heaven alone knows where, then so much the better.
As for the week ahead, John and I will be leaving the Twelve Knights alone this week, and trying a place in Porthcawl. Monday sees us away to the Swan in Aberkenfig, where Barry, Steve and the boys will pose a serious challenge. Then it’s my turn to be quizmaster for the rugby club. Speaking of which I’d best go make a start compiling it. Have a good week yourselves.
Last Sunday Mary, three of the girls and I had lunch at the Twelve Knights, and we used the last quiz voucher which Jessie and I won last time I played down there before Christmas. It didn’t completely cover the cost of the lunch, but it went a long way towards it.
”That was nice, “ Mary enthused on the way out, “So when are we going to be able to afford another Sunday lunch here then, eh?” Which, roughly translated means, - go back tonight and win us another voucher, will you? I know when to take a hint. Only, it’s not as simple as you just have to turn up to win. For one thing there is a picture round, so John and I are probably behind most of the other teams after the first round anyway. Then there was the fact that we didn’t play brilliantly for the rest of the quiz. Our last two scores prior to last Sunday in this same quiz were 51 out of 60, and 49 out of 60. On Sunday we had 39, but amazingly won by a point. Just out of interest, rather surprisingly considering that this was a quiz by a well-known quiz company, there was a blatant wrong ‘un in one of the questions. It asked “In which event did Carl Lewis win three of his 9 Olympic Gold medals? “ or something like that. It definitely asked for the event in which he won three. Now thing is, he won 2 in the 100m ( eventually, after the disqualification of Ben Johnson in 1988) 1 in the 200 m, 2 in the 4x100m relay – BUT – I was adamant that he won 4 in the Long Jump. Al Oerter was the first to win 4 consecutive Olympic golds in the same track and field event – discus, and Carl Lewis second – Long Jump. We put down Long Jump which was the answer given, but I had to check that I was right as soon as I got home. Sad, isn’t it?
Well, that was winning when we didn’t play particularly well. On Monday we had our first match of the second half of the league season. Alright, we haven’t lost this season yet, but then in the last two years we didn’t lose before Christmas, but lost afterwards, so nothing could be taken for granted. It’s always nice to get that first one under the belt, and back into the swing of things. I was pleased with myself for dredging up the phrase synoptic gospels from somewhere. Little things please and all that.
Thursday night was actually the second rugby club quiz of the year. On the second Brian did his annual quiz of the year. It’s been a few years since we won this one, and I wasn’t expecting to challenge this year. A grim old slog saw us hang on to second place. Another week, another quiz, and this Thursday saw us play pretty well on the night to get a rare win over a full Lemurs team. That’s always enough to make me a happy bunny, but if it’s done through dredging up a few answers from heaven alone knows where, then so much the better.
As for the week ahead, John and I will be leaving the Twelve Knights alone this week, and trying a place in Porthcawl. Monday sees us away to the Swan in Aberkenfig, where Barry, Steve and the boys will pose a serious challenge. Then it’s my turn to be quizmaster for the rugby club. Speaking of which I’d best go make a start compiling it. Have a good week yourselves.
In the News
In the News
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Steven Seagal
2. Terry Biddlecombe
3. Colleen La Rose
4. Richard Newton
5. Emily Johnson Dickerson
6. Hercules
7. Princess Cristina
8. Lyndsey Vonn
9. Penny Mordaunt
10. Paul Goggins MP
11. Thomas Hitzlsperger
12. Benefits Street
13. Roger Phillips
14. Victor Spirescu
15. Pepe Mel
16. Chris Smalling
17. Chris Christie
18. Steve McQueen
19. Theodor Heuss Platz
20. PC Keith Wallis
21. Julie Gayet
In Other News
1. What was the score between Man Utd and Swansea in the FA Cup?
2. Which were the first energy company to cut prices last week?
3. Which all time great footballer passed away aged 71?
4. Nigel Farage said which controversial MP of days gone by was right?
5. Which singer passed away aged 74?
6. What was the score between West Ham and Nottingham Forest?
7. Which Premier League manager received the dreaded Vote of Confidence last week?
8. An inquest into the death of which victim of Raoul Moat took place last week?
9. How did Angela Merkel hurt herself last week?
10. Lawyers carried out a strike over what last week?
11. Which broadcaster and journalist passed away aged 67 last week?
12. Which England player was ruled out of the World Cup last week?
13. Who is the new manager of Cardiff City?
14. What was the score in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi between Man Utd and Sunderland?
15. Which director was appointed head of the Cannes Film Festival Jury?
16. Which British Olympian came out of retirement last week?
17. Who was fined for his online attack on Blackpool’s training regime and schedule?
18. Who denied that he had delivered an ultimatum – Pietersen goes or I do – to the ECB?
19. Whose killing was ruled lawful
20. To whom did Dennis Rodman sing Happy Birthday?
21. Who0 became the most nominated BAFTA actress of all time?
22. What was the Capital One Cup score between Man City and W. Ham?
23. Which pair of England cricketers reportedly talked a man out of throwing himself off a bridge?
24. Which car won the What Car? Car of the Year award?
25. Who said that he will willingly testify to a commission on doping?
26. What is Andy Murray’s seeding for the Australian Open?
27. Who is to stand trial for allegedly selling drugs?
28. Who refused to return to Italy for a re-trial?
29. Which former formula One driver received a 6 month sentence for a brawl in Italy?
30. Which premier League manager was fined for criticizing the referee?
31. Who is Roger Federer’s new coach?
32. It was announced that tenders are being sought to break which ship?
33. Why did Jessica Ennis-Hill announce that she will miss the Glasgow Commonwealth Games?
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Steven Seagal
2. Terry Biddlecombe
3. Colleen La Rose
4. Richard Newton
5. Emily Johnson Dickerson
6. Hercules
7. Princess Cristina
8. Lyndsey Vonn
9. Penny Mordaunt
10. Paul Goggins MP
11. Thomas Hitzlsperger
12. Benefits Street
13. Roger Phillips
14. Victor Spirescu
15. Pepe Mel
16. Chris Smalling
17. Chris Christie
18. Steve McQueen
19. Theodor Heuss Platz
20. PC Keith Wallis
21. Julie Gayet
In Other News
1. What was the score between Man Utd and Swansea in the FA Cup?
2. Which were the first energy company to cut prices last week?
3. Which all time great footballer passed away aged 71?
4. Nigel Farage said which controversial MP of days gone by was right?
5. Which singer passed away aged 74?
6. What was the score between West Ham and Nottingham Forest?
7. Which Premier League manager received the dreaded Vote of Confidence last week?
8. An inquest into the death of which victim of Raoul Moat took place last week?
9. How did Angela Merkel hurt herself last week?
10. Lawyers carried out a strike over what last week?
11. Which broadcaster and journalist passed away aged 67 last week?
12. Which England player was ruled out of the World Cup last week?
13. Who is the new manager of Cardiff City?
14. What was the score in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi between Man Utd and Sunderland?
15. Which director was appointed head of the Cannes Film Festival Jury?
16. Which British Olympian came out of retirement last week?
17. Who was fined for his online attack on Blackpool’s training regime and schedule?
18. Who denied that he had delivered an ultimatum – Pietersen goes or I do – to the ECB?
19. Whose killing was ruled lawful
20. To whom did Dennis Rodman sing Happy Birthday?
21. Who0 became the most nominated BAFTA actress of all time?
22. What was the Capital One Cup score between Man City and W. Ham?
23. Which pair of England cricketers reportedly talked a man out of throwing himself off a bridge?
24. Which car won the What Car? Car of the Year award?
25. Who said that he will willingly testify to a commission on doping?
26. What is Andy Murray’s seeding for the Australian Open?
27. Who is to stand trial for allegedly selling drugs?
28. Who refused to return to Italy for a re-trial?
29. Which former formula One driver received a 6 month sentence for a brawl in Italy?
30. Which premier League manager was fined for criticizing the referee?
31. Who is Roger Federer’s new coach?
32. It was announced that tenders are being sought to break which ship?
33. Why did Jessica Ennis-Hill announce that she will miss the Glasgow Commonwealth Games?
Brain of Britain - first round - heat 5
No time to take a breather, good people, for there’s an episode of BoB to catch up on. Last Monday’s four hopefuls were : -
Rod Chamberlain
Robert Charlesworth
Elizabeth Gore
Chris Jones
My thanks to the BBC for printing the names on the BoB website this time. Makes life easier. Rod Chamberlain missed his first. He was asked who was the father of Icarus, and rather inexplicably mused – oh, I know his horse. I do wonder who he was thinking of – Bellerophon, perhaps. It fell to Robert Charlesworth to supply the correct answer of Daedalus. Robert took three more answers on the bounce, but a little surprisingly didn’t know the old chestnut that Harold Wilson (and some other Prime Ministers) was actually christened James. That one went to Liz Gore. She didn’t know that Emmanuel Kant ( was a real pissant?) wrote “A Critique of Pure Reason”, which went to Robert. Chris Jones didn’t know about the mnemonic – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and Robert did. So Rod, Liz and Chris had each missed out on their first questions, all of which were what I would have called rather standard GK questions. OK, the one Robert missed fell into this category as well, but he had answered three of his own before that, and all of the others’ questions. All of which suggested this was going to be a happy hunting ground for Robert, and a long old evening for the rest.
Rod didn’t know that there’s a Tripoli in Lebanon as well as Libya. Robert did. He had a nasty starter about Meissner’s Corpuscles (didn’t they have a 1989 number one with Baby, I want Your Love Thing?) which gave a bonus to Liz. She missed out on Harrison’s H4 marine chronometer, and Robert stumbled his way to the answer with timepiece. Chris Jones was asked about a bestselling book where the author was told – each equation you include will halve the readership. Good quote that. He got close with A History of Everything, but the answer was A Brief History of Time which got Rod off the mark at least.
Poor old Rod Chamberlain got a hell of a nasty starter for his next round. It started so well, too. We were played “Golden Slumbers” from “Abbey Road”. Although Revolveer is my favourite Beatles’ Album as a whole, side 2 of Abbey Road is my favourite single side of a Beatles Album. Then we were asked which Elizabethan dramatist and poet wrote the words of Golden Slumbers. Nasty. The answer which nobody, me included got, was Thomas Dekker. I preferred his “The Israelites”. Robert again took three on the bounce, but didn’t know the largest big cat in the new world. He zigged with puma, Liz zagged with jaguar and took the point. Her first question got Chris Jones on his way when he recognized a description of The Harrying of the North. For his own starter he got a nasty one about James Athenian Stewart. Nope, me neither. Robert led by 11 to Liz’s 3, and to be honest, if it had been a boxing match the referee would have been thinking about stopping the contest at this point. Rod didn’t know that the graves of Pound, and Diaghilev are in Venice. Liz did, and that was a good shout. Robert took his first two, but didn’t know the men who confirmed the link between smoking and lung cancer. Me neither. Liz Gore took her first two, but nobody knew the chestnutty Joint Photographic Experts Group – or JPEG. Chris took two, but didn’t know about greyhound racing in Wimbledon, which gave Rod a bonus. The scores were slightly more respectable now. Rod had 2, and Chris 3, while Liz had gone up to 6. Robert, though, was over the event horizon with 13.
The Beat the Brains interval tripped up the Brains with the first question – whose autobiography was entitled “A Cellarful of Noise” . They worked out the Beatles connection, but went with Ringo rather than Brian Epstein. With Epstein in their minds, though, they worked out that Jacob Epstein sculpted Oscar Wilde’s tomb. On with the show.
Rod didn’t know that HG Wells’ dad was a cricketer, neither did anyone else. Robert knew his first, but didn’t know the Lincoln Highway in the USA. Liz took her first, but nobody knew that vitamin K is involved in blood clotting. Not easy, but gettable. Nobody knew Chris’ starter, the Nobel Prize for Literature winner Tagore. In the next round Rod got a nasty one to start, but Robert knew that a spat is a young oyster for a bonus. For his own set he had five which, while none of them were exceptionally difficult weren’t at all easy, and he took the lot. A fine set, to put the lid on a very good performance. Liz Gore took one, but missed out on major prophets of the Bible. Chris Jones didn’t know that Eddie Van Halen performed the famous guitar solo in Michael Jackson’s Beat it. Nobody knew that.
So Robert was already at 22 as we went into the final round. Rod had one, but didn’t know that glossitis affects the tongue. Robert had two relatively gentle lobs to start, but didn’t know that Robert Southey was Victoria’s first poet laureate. Liz knew that, and went on to take her own first. Nobody knew that Bowling Green University is in Ohio. Not surprised. Chris didn’t know the first person to attempt to measure the speed of sound in air, and neither did anyone else. So Robert finished with a resounding 24, and he, I think it’s fair to say, is a contender. Liz actually did rather well in the face of this onslaught to reach 11, but chances are that she won’t be back with that. Hard lines.
Rod Chamberlain –3
Robert Charlesworth – 24
Liz Gore – 11
Chris Jones - 3
Rod Chamberlain
Robert Charlesworth
Elizabeth Gore
Chris Jones
My thanks to the BBC for printing the names on the BoB website this time. Makes life easier. Rod Chamberlain missed his first. He was asked who was the father of Icarus, and rather inexplicably mused – oh, I know his horse. I do wonder who he was thinking of – Bellerophon, perhaps. It fell to Robert Charlesworth to supply the correct answer of Daedalus. Robert took three more answers on the bounce, but a little surprisingly didn’t know the old chestnut that Harold Wilson (and some other Prime Ministers) was actually christened James. That one went to Liz Gore. She didn’t know that Emmanuel Kant ( was a real pissant?) wrote “A Critique of Pure Reason”, which went to Robert. Chris Jones didn’t know about the mnemonic – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and Robert did. So Rod, Liz and Chris had each missed out on their first questions, all of which were what I would have called rather standard GK questions. OK, the one Robert missed fell into this category as well, but he had answered three of his own before that, and all of the others’ questions. All of which suggested this was going to be a happy hunting ground for Robert, and a long old evening for the rest.
Rod didn’t know that there’s a Tripoli in Lebanon as well as Libya. Robert did. He had a nasty starter about Meissner’s Corpuscles (didn’t they have a 1989 number one with Baby, I want Your Love Thing?) which gave a bonus to Liz. She missed out on Harrison’s H4 marine chronometer, and Robert stumbled his way to the answer with timepiece. Chris Jones was asked about a bestselling book where the author was told – each equation you include will halve the readership. Good quote that. He got close with A History of Everything, but the answer was A Brief History of Time which got Rod off the mark at least.
Poor old Rod Chamberlain got a hell of a nasty starter for his next round. It started so well, too. We were played “Golden Slumbers” from “Abbey Road”. Although Revolveer is my favourite Beatles’ Album as a whole, side 2 of Abbey Road is my favourite single side of a Beatles Album. Then we were asked which Elizabethan dramatist and poet wrote the words of Golden Slumbers. Nasty. The answer which nobody, me included got, was Thomas Dekker. I preferred his “The Israelites”. Robert again took three on the bounce, but didn’t know the largest big cat in the new world. He zigged with puma, Liz zagged with jaguar and took the point. Her first question got Chris Jones on his way when he recognized a description of The Harrying of the North. For his own starter he got a nasty one about James Athenian Stewart. Nope, me neither. Robert led by 11 to Liz’s 3, and to be honest, if it had been a boxing match the referee would have been thinking about stopping the contest at this point. Rod didn’t know that the graves of Pound, and Diaghilev are in Venice. Liz did, and that was a good shout. Robert took his first two, but didn’t know the men who confirmed the link between smoking and lung cancer. Me neither. Liz Gore took her first two, but nobody knew the chestnutty Joint Photographic Experts Group – or JPEG. Chris took two, but didn’t know about greyhound racing in Wimbledon, which gave Rod a bonus. The scores were slightly more respectable now. Rod had 2, and Chris 3, while Liz had gone up to 6. Robert, though, was over the event horizon with 13.
The Beat the Brains interval tripped up the Brains with the first question – whose autobiography was entitled “A Cellarful of Noise” . They worked out the Beatles connection, but went with Ringo rather than Brian Epstein. With Epstein in their minds, though, they worked out that Jacob Epstein sculpted Oscar Wilde’s tomb. On with the show.
Rod didn’t know that HG Wells’ dad was a cricketer, neither did anyone else. Robert knew his first, but didn’t know the Lincoln Highway in the USA. Liz took her first, but nobody knew that vitamin K is involved in blood clotting. Not easy, but gettable. Nobody knew Chris’ starter, the Nobel Prize for Literature winner Tagore. In the next round Rod got a nasty one to start, but Robert knew that a spat is a young oyster for a bonus. For his own set he had five which, while none of them were exceptionally difficult weren’t at all easy, and he took the lot. A fine set, to put the lid on a very good performance. Liz Gore took one, but missed out on major prophets of the Bible. Chris Jones didn’t know that Eddie Van Halen performed the famous guitar solo in Michael Jackson’s Beat it. Nobody knew that.
So Robert was already at 22 as we went into the final round. Rod had one, but didn’t know that glossitis affects the tongue. Robert had two relatively gentle lobs to start, but didn’t know that Robert Southey was Victoria’s first poet laureate. Liz knew that, and went on to take her own first. Nobody knew that Bowling Green University is in Ohio. Not surprised. Chris didn’t know the first person to attempt to measure the speed of sound in air, and neither did anyone else. So Robert finished with a resounding 24, and he, I think it’s fair to say, is a contender. Liz actually did rather well in the face of this onslaught to reach 11, but chances are that she won’t be back with that. Hard lines.
Rod Chamberlain –3
Robert Charlesworth – 24
Liz Gore – 11
Chris Jones - 3
University Challenge - Second Round Match 8
Reading v. London School of Oriental and African Studies
Well, we’ve waited a long time for the conclusion to this second round of UC matches. Now, it has been noted that Cambridge did well in the first round with a significant number of teams making it through. Reading, though, with their team of Michael Dunleavy, Christopher White, Luke Tudge, and skipper Peter Burgess, knocked out St. John’s Cambridge in the first round. The London School of Oriental and African Studies – SOAS for short – beat A Southampton team good enough to get to the repechage, win a place in round two, and then defeat Bangor with the highest score of the series so far. So the team of Maeve Weber, Luke Vivian-Neal, James Figueroa and their captain Peter McKean looked to be a pretty good one. Enough of such chaff, and let’s get cracking.
James Figueroa knew about the US Federal Reserve to take SOAS’s first starter. It wouldn’t be their last. A rather gentle set of bonuses gave both of us a full house. Now, I guessed that Sails of the South would be on the entrance to Portsmouth, and once JP mentioned the Spinnaker Tower I knew I was right. So did Peter McKean. My run of six correct answers came to an end with one of the bonuses on fictional students, as did SOAS. Nonetheless 45 unanswered points in the first minute or two suggested that they meant business. Michael Dunleavy buzzed in too early on the next starter, and Peter McKean supplied the correct answer with Paradox. A Maths set followed, but thankfully the last of the set was a question about the play Proof, otherwise it would have been a pointless set for all of us. Maeve Weber knew that Sir Walter Scott wrote Waverly. The bonuses on clouds were instructive. They were one of those sets where you give a wrong answer to the first, then give a different one to the next two, where as if you’d kept your first answer you’d have had at least one right. So they answered cumulus to the first, which was wrong, and didn’t answer it to the second which would have been right. Never mind, we all had cirrus for the last. The picture starter was a good one. This showed us the starting lineups of two teams, and we had to identify that it was the football teams of Man Utd and Bayern Munich for the European Champions League final of 1999. James Figueroa gave everything required except the year, and that was enough to allow Reading skipper Peter Burgess in to wipe out the negative score and put them on the road to recovery. Three more pairs of teams, which were not all gimmes, gave them a full set, and meant that by the ten minute mark they trailed with 20 to SOAS’ 75.
Luke Vivian-Neal took a very good starter with the sumptuary laws. OED buzzwords of 2012 brought another ten points. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know any of the things in a list all linked by the word Primavera, but I knew the word, and so did Peter McKean. One of those starters where you just have to hang on and refrain from buzzing until it becomes as clear as it’s going to. The set which followed on marriage in England made me pleased with myself for knowing that Register Offices were first brought into being in the 1830s- a magic decade for anyone who has researched their family history in England. Mind you, Scotland didn’t do it until the 1850s, but, in my humble opinion, when they did they did it much better and more thoroughly. However, I digress. By the end of the set SOAS’ lead had increased to triple figures. A rare occurrence happened next when I guessed the right answer about lengths of electrical wire and resistance. Nobody had that. The next starter saw Luke Vivian-Neal dredge up the name of Baron Munchausen, to earn bonuses on Bights. They only took a bight out of this set with one. Now, for the next one, the music starter, we heard a snatch of Elton John’s Tony Danza – sorry, that should read Tiny Dancer – but it wasn’t him singing it, and the singer was what was being asked for. Christopher White tried his hand with Elton John, and SOAS didn’t fancy a stab at it, so it fell to JP to tell us we had been listening to Jamie Cullum. Fair play to Peter Burgess. When we were given a long quotation from a painter, as soon as JP said the words ‘Latvian born’ he leapt in with Mark Rothko. That’s how you play this game, wait, wait, and as soon as you get the key to the answer, slam that buzzer. The music bonuses followed, which was a set of songs chosen by other musicians as one of their Desert Island Discs choices. They took the full set, recognizing Wham, Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield. I don’t know about the secant, and neither did anyone else, so the next starter went begging. Peter McKean knew that Walsingham was – and now again is – a pilgrimage site in Norfolk. One correct answer on justice followed. Now, the Clark side of my family come from Dundee originally, and there are several jute weavers in my family tree that I know of. So I was in very quickly for the next starter which required jute for the answer. Nobody had that, and so, on the cusp as we were of the 20 minute mark, SOAS led by 145 to 45.
Now, it is possible to score 100 or more unanswered points in the last part of the contest. JP consciously speeds up, and you get through a lot of questions. However Reading hadn’t shown the kind of speed on the buzzer that they would need to have in order to stage that kind of fightback. Especially when the impressive Peter McKean buzzed in to identify The Thirty Nine Steps as the novel preceding Greenmantle. A good old UC special set followed, on shorter words that can be made with any of the letters of the word ragtime. This is the sort of set you really ought to be taking a full set on, and SOAS made no mistake with them. The second picture starter showed us the Venus of Willendorf, and Luke Tudge was quickly in for that. Three more Venuses followed of which they managed two. Now, you know me and bridges, so as soon as JP said potentially misleading – and – River Seine – I was in with the Pont Neuf. Lovely bridge, in a city that is particularly well served with good bridges (although none as good as Tower Bridge IMHO). That man McKean was in for that starter. A set of bonuses on prominent Irish figures in Science and literature took them to within a starter and a bonus of 200. Now, I may have been happy to take my scraped grade C O level in Maths and run back in 19 hundred and frozen to death, but I could still remember that 22 over 7 is an approximation of pi. Peter Burgess had that for Reading, and earned Biochemistry for his pains. They managed one, which is one more than I did. The SOAS skipper won the buzzer race for the next starter, knowing that the only decade of the 20th century with just one UK general election was the 1940s. We all had a full set of bonuses on cricket – specifically on those immortals who make 100 centuries in first class cricket. Neither team managed to spell isosceles correctly for the next starter. Maeve Weber recognized T.S.Eliot’s Four Quartets, and bonuses on Asia promised much, bearing in mind the institution that the team represent. They managed two. Luke Tudge gave us swim bladder for the next starter but couldn’t manage any bonuses on invasions of Britain. Luke Vivian-Neal knew that Geneva is an anagram of avenge, even if there was a little slip of the tongue as he gave the answer. It didn’t matter as the set of bonuses on unfinished operas appropriately remained unfinished because the gong brought an end to the contest, with SOAS winning comfortably with 240 to 90. Welcome back UC – it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’ve missed you.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
I think that maybe JP has been champing at the bit to get his teeth into some students, having been fed a diet of soft slebs for the last couple of weeks, because he was very early into his stride in this show. When James Figueroa suggested that the significance of the Hardy-Ramunajan number 1729 was that it has no particular interest he snapped back like a coiled cobra,
“It may not to you, matey!” and then managed to explain it in a way that sucked any interest whatsoever out of it.
Later on we had some geometry thing, to which Maeve Weber wrongly answered Cosine. A couple of seconds later Luke Tudge buzzed in and offered cosine. There was a great double take. Firstly he said “No, it’s the – “ and then he realized what had happened You’d have thought someone had just dissed his momma from his reaction,
“SHE JUST SAID THAT! IT’s WRONG! “
For the last of the Asia bonuses, he hustled SOAS along with “Let’s have an answer chaps.” Then, showing a rare concern possibly for letters which might have followed, backtracked with “I’m using ‘chaps’ in a non-gender specific way, don’t worry.” JP – PC? What is the world coming to?
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The 2012 buzzword ‘swishing’ means the act of swapping clothes with other people.
Well, we’ve waited a long time for the conclusion to this second round of UC matches. Now, it has been noted that Cambridge did well in the first round with a significant number of teams making it through. Reading, though, with their team of Michael Dunleavy, Christopher White, Luke Tudge, and skipper Peter Burgess, knocked out St. John’s Cambridge in the first round. The London School of Oriental and African Studies – SOAS for short – beat A Southampton team good enough to get to the repechage, win a place in round two, and then defeat Bangor with the highest score of the series so far. So the team of Maeve Weber, Luke Vivian-Neal, James Figueroa and their captain Peter McKean looked to be a pretty good one. Enough of such chaff, and let’s get cracking.
James Figueroa knew about the US Federal Reserve to take SOAS’s first starter. It wouldn’t be their last. A rather gentle set of bonuses gave both of us a full house. Now, I guessed that Sails of the South would be on the entrance to Portsmouth, and once JP mentioned the Spinnaker Tower I knew I was right. So did Peter McKean. My run of six correct answers came to an end with one of the bonuses on fictional students, as did SOAS. Nonetheless 45 unanswered points in the first minute or two suggested that they meant business. Michael Dunleavy buzzed in too early on the next starter, and Peter McKean supplied the correct answer with Paradox. A Maths set followed, but thankfully the last of the set was a question about the play Proof, otherwise it would have been a pointless set for all of us. Maeve Weber knew that Sir Walter Scott wrote Waverly. The bonuses on clouds were instructive. They were one of those sets where you give a wrong answer to the first, then give a different one to the next two, where as if you’d kept your first answer you’d have had at least one right. So they answered cumulus to the first, which was wrong, and didn’t answer it to the second which would have been right. Never mind, we all had cirrus for the last. The picture starter was a good one. This showed us the starting lineups of two teams, and we had to identify that it was the football teams of Man Utd and Bayern Munich for the European Champions League final of 1999. James Figueroa gave everything required except the year, and that was enough to allow Reading skipper Peter Burgess in to wipe out the negative score and put them on the road to recovery. Three more pairs of teams, which were not all gimmes, gave them a full set, and meant that by the ten minute mark they trailed with 20 to SOAS’ 75.
Luke Vivian-Neal took a very good starter with the sumptuary laws. OED buzzwords of 2012 brought another ten points. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know any of the things in a list all linked by the word Primavera, but I knew the word, and so did Peter McKean. One of those starters where you just have to hang on and refrain from buzzing until it becomes as clear as it’s going to. The set which followed on marriage in England made me pleased with myself for knowing that Register Offices were first brought into being in the 1830s- a magic decade for anyone who has researched their family history in England. Mind you, Scotland didn’t do it until the 1850s, but, in my humble opinion, when they did they did it much better and more thoroughly. However, I digress. By the end of the set SOAS’ lead had increased to triple figures. A rare occurrence happened next when I guessed the right answer about lengths of electrical wire and resistance. Nobody had that. The next starter saw Luke Vivian-Neal dredge up the name of Baron Munchausen, to earn bonuses on Bights. They only took a bight out of this set with one. Now, for the next one, the music starter, we heard a snatch of Elton John’s Tony Danza – sorry, that should read Tiny Dancer – but it wasn’t him singing it, and the singer was what was being asked for. Christopher White tried his hand with Elton John, and SOAS didn’t fancy a stab at it, so it fell to JP to tell us we had been listening to Jamie Cullum. Fair play to Peter Burgess. When we were given a long quotation from a painter, as soon as JP said the words ‘Latvian born’ he leapt in with Mark Rothko. That’s how you play this game, wait, wait, and as soon as you get the key to the answer, slam that buzzer. The music bonuses followed, which was a set of songs chosen by other musicians as one of their Desert Island Discs choices. They took the full set, recognizing Wham, Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield. I don’t know about the secant, and neither did anyone else, so the next starter went begging. Peter McKean knew that Walsingham was – and now again is – a pilgrimage site in Norfolk. One correct answer on justice followed. Now, the Clark side of my family come from Dundee originally, and there are several jute weavers in my family tree that I know of. So I was in very quickly for the next starter which required jute for the answer. Nobody had that, and so, on the cusp as we were of the 20 minute mark, SOAS led by 145 to 45.
Now, it is possible to score 100 or more unanswered points in the last part of the contest. JP consciously speeds up, and you get through a lot of questions. However Reading hadn’t shown the kind of speed on the buzzer that they would need to have in order to stage that kind of fightback. Especially when the impressive Peter McKean buzzed in to identify The Thirty Nine Steps as the novel preceding Greenmantle. A good old UC special set followed, on shorter words that can be made with any of the letters of the word ragtime. This is the sort of set you really ought to be taking a full set on, and SOAS made no mistake with them. The second picture starter showed us the Venus of Willendorf, and Luke Tudge was quickly in for that. Three more Venuses followed of which they managed two. Now, you know me and bridges, so as soon as JP said potentially misleading – and – River Seine – I was in with the Pont Neuf. Lovely bridge, in a city that is particularly well served with good bridges (although none as good as Tower Bridge IMHO). That man McKean was in for that starter. A set of bonuses on prominent Irish figures in Science and literature took them to within a starter and a bonus of 200. Now, I may have been happy to take my scraped grade C O level in Maths and run back in 19 hundred and frozen to death, but I could still remember that 22 over 7 is an approximation of pi. Peter Burgess had that for Reading, and earned Biochemistry for his pains. They managed one, which is one more than I did. The SOAS skipper won the buzzer race for the next starter, knowing that the only decade of the 20th century with just one UK general election was the 1940s. We all had a full set of bonuses on cricket – specifically on those immortals who make 100 centuries in first class cricket. Neither team managed to spell isosceles correctly for the next starter. Maeve Weber recognized T.S.Eliot’s Four Quartets, and bonuses on Asia promised much, bearing in mind the institution that the team represent. They managed two. Luke Tudge gave us swim bladder for the next starter but couldn’t manage any bonuses on invasions of Britain. Luke Vivian-Neal knew that Geneva is an anagram of avenge, even if there was a little slip of the tongue as he gave the answer. It didn’t matter as the set of bonuses on unfinished operas appropriately remained unfinished because the gong brought an end to the contest, with SOAS winning comfortably with 240 to 90. Welcome back UC – it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’ve missed you.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
I think that maybe JP has been champing at the bit to get his teeth into some students, having been fed a diet of soft slebs for the last couple of weeks, because he was very early into his stride in this show. When James Figueroa suggested that the significance of the Hardy-Ramunajan number 1729 was that it has no particular interest he snapped back like a coiled cobra,
“It may not to you, matey!” and then managed to explain it in a way that sucked any interest whatsoever out of it.
Later on we had some geometry thing, to which Maeve Weber wrongly answered Cosine. A couple of seconds later Luke Tudge buzzed in and offered cosine. There was a great double take. Firstly he said “No, it’s the – “ and then he realized what had happened You’d have thought someone had just dissed his momma from his reaction,
“SHE JUST SAID THAT! IT’s WRONG! “
For the last of the Asia bonuses, he hustled SOAS along with “Let’s have an answer chaps.” Then, showing a rare concern possibly for letters which might have followed, backtracked with “I’m using ‘chaps’ in a non-gender specific way, don’t worry.” JP – PC? What is the world coming to?
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The 2012 buzzword ‘swishing’ means the act of swapping clothes with other people.
Sleb Mastermind - Show 8
I think that this one was on last Sunday while I was out scraping a win at the Twelve Knights. First up was a two time sleb contender, Fred Macaulay. Fred last passed this way during the Children in Need Special of November 2010. Back then he lost by a point , scoring 29 to double winner Andi Osho’s 30. His specialist subject in that show was “Fawlty Towers”. In this show he went for another iconic 1970’s sitcom, “Porridge”. Fred certainly knew his subject, and then so did I, as we both scored 11. I was a big fan of the show back in the day, you see.
Mark Billingham is a crime novelist, but even if you’re not familiar with his novels you may well have seen some of his television work, not the least of which was the rather wonderful Maid Marion and her Merry Men – that one is out of the too good for kids file. He was answering on Elvis Costello. Now, that is very much my era, well, I say that, but only some of the questions were from before the 90s, which probably explained why I only had 5. Mark, on the other hand, scored a fantastic 12, only 1 point away from a perfect round. It was slightly disappointing that they didn’t ask about him backing his Dad Ross on the classic “Secret Lemonade Drinker”, but you can’t have everything.
Have you ever watched “Waterloo Road”? To be brutally frank this show ‘jumped the shark’ as it were several years ago, and those of us in the profession who can still be bothered to watch it know it informally as the Gross Professional Misconduct Show. Still, if you are persisting with it, then you might well have recognized Georgia Henshaw who played one of the kids a series or two back. She was answering on the popular TV series Sherlock. My youngest girls keep on to me about how much I’d enjoy it if I watched it, and I’m sure they’re right, but I’ve never quite got round to it yet. Under those circumstances three points wasn’t a bad return – I knew Mark Gatiss and Una Stubbs, and guessed that the painting would be a Turner. Georgia’s 10 was a good return for 90 seconds.
Charles Collingwood I mostly remember for being the toff from Noel Edmonds’ Telly Addicts, but he’s also been in The Archers since Methuselah was a lad apparently. He was answering on Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1988 – 2013. Well, you know about me and cricket, so when I tell you that I had 5 you might be a bit surprised. I was. There were a couple of gimmes, mind, but having only recently read David Gower’s autobiography helped.
Right, that was the entrée, now it was time for the main course. Charles made a swift return to the chair, and managed a knock of 8 before trudging back to the pavilion. Not the best GK round we’ve seen, but not the worst either. Georgia Henshaw earned my respect by never losing her enthusiasm, and despite only managing to take her score to 15 seemed to be enjoying the experience tremendously. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.
Now, being the show’s comedian Fred looked to be in with a decent shout of setting a competitive score. I don’t know, he managed to get into double figures, but his 10 never seemed quite convincing. Bearing in mind how sharply and crisply Mark had answered his specialist questions I couldn’t help thinking that he would probably get home with something in reserve. Well, again, he never quite convinced with his round. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, 11 in a sleb round of 2 minutes is nothing to be sniffed at, and it was quite enough in this show.
So that was that, and we’ve only one show to go before that wraps it up for another year.
The Details
Mark Billingham is a crime novelist, but even if you’re not familiar with his novels you may well have seen some of his television work, not the least of which was the rather wonderful Maid Marion and her Merry Men – that one is out of the too good for kids file. He was answering on Elvis Costello. Now, that is very much my era, well, I say that, but only some of the questions were from before the 90s, which probably explained why I only had 5. Mark, on the other hand, scored a fantastic 12, only 1 point away from a perfect round. It was slightly disappointing that they didn’t ask about him backing his Dad Ross on the classic “Secret Lemonade Drinker”, but you can’t have everything.
Have you ever watched “Waterloo Road”? To be brutally frank this show ‘jumped the shark’ as it were several years ago, and those of us in the profession who can still be bothered to watch it know it informally as the Gross Professional Misconduct Show. Still, if you are persisting with it, then you might well have recognized Georgia Henshaw who played one of the kids a series or two back. She was answering on the popular TV series Sherlock. My youngest girls keep on to me about how much I’d enjoy it if I watched it, and I’m sure they’re right, but I’ve never quite got round to it yet. Under those circumstances three points wasn’t a bad return – I knew Mark Gatiss and Una Stubbs, and guessed that the painting would be a Turner. Georgia’s 10 was a good return for 90 seconds.
Charles Collingwood I mostly remember for being the toff from Noel Edmonds’ Telly Addicts, but he’s also been in The Archers since Methuselah was a lad apparently. He was answering on Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1988 – 2013. Well, you know about me and cricket, so when I tell you that I had 5 you might be a bit surprised. I was. There were a couple of gimmes, mind, but having only recently read David Gower’s autobiography helped.
Right, that was the entrée, now it was time for the main course. Charles made a swift return to the chair, and managed a knock of 8 before trudging back to the pavilion. Not the best GK round we’ve seen, but not the worst either. Georgia Henshaw earned my respect by never losing her enthusiasm, and despite only managing to take her score to 15 seemed to be enjoying the experience tremendously. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.
Now, being the show’s comedian Fred looked to be in with a decent shout of setting a competitive score. I don’t know, he managed to get into double figures, but his 10 never seemed quite convincing. Bearing in mind how sharply and crisply Mark had answered his specialist questions I couldn’t help thinking that he would probably get home with something in reserve. Well, again, he never quite convinced with his round. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, 11 in a sleb round of 2 minutes is nothing to be sniffed at, and it was quite enough in this show.
So that was that, and we’ve only one show to go before that wraps it up for another year.
The Details
| Fred MacAulay | Diabetes UK Scotland | Porridge | 11 - 0 | 10 - 3 | 21 - 3 |
| Mark Billingham | The Connection at St. Martins | Elvis Costello | 12 - 0 | 11 - 4 | 23 - 4 |
| Georgia Henshaw | Circus Eruption | Sherlock | 10 - 2 | 5 - 1 | 15 - 3 |
| Charles Collingwood | Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation | Hampshire County Cricket Club 1988 - 2013 | 8 - 1 | 8 - 3 | 16 – 4 |
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