Thursday, 31 July 2014
The Return of Mastermind
Yes, just before I go, a little note to announce the return of my favourite TV quiz, Mastermind. A week tomorrow, on Friday 8th August, the first heat of the new series will feature Yes Minister, the Battle of Lepanto, JM Barrie and St Paul's Cathedral.A little bird tells me that LAM reader, contributor and former MM semi finalist Gareth Kingston will be among the contenders in the first show. If that's right, then we wish you every success, and hope that you can beat the curse of the sofa.
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Ellar Coltrane
2. Emily Benn
3. Cynthia Robinson
4. Evan Davies
5. Alexander Borodai
6. Alistair McCreath
7. Mazher Mahmood
8. Adam Walker
9. Joko Widodo
10. Estimate
11. Karl Albrecht
12. Fred Evans
13. Nick Matthew
14. Beth French
15. Allen Margarethe Loj
16. The Whale
17. Angelo Adkins
18. Joseph Rudolf Wood
19. Ross Murdoch
20. Louise and Kimberley Renicks
In Other News
1. Which two players were joint second placed in the Open?
2. Who won the German GP?
3. What position did Tiger Woods finish in the Open?
4. Which Anglican Cathedral announced a need to raise £24 million for repairs?
5. Which US TV and film actor passed away aged 86?
6. Which origanisation is considering establishing an outpost in London’s Olympic Park?
7. Who claimed the Number 10 had on occasion said that he was ill to prevent him from appearing on TV?
8. Steven Gerrard has retired from international football having won how many caps?
9. A building in Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral has been dedicated to whom?
10. Nick Griffin was ousted from the leadership of which organization?
11. Which England player ruled himself out of the rest of the test series with India with injury?
12. Which world leading heptathlete was ruled out by injury on the eve of the Commonwealth Games?
13. A Hand injury forced whom out of his clash with Tyson Gay?
14. Us Flags were mysteriously replaced with white flags on which building by persons unknown?
15. In which country are the MH17 black boxes being examined?
16. What does Aldi actually stand for?
17. For which club has FIFA world cup 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez signed?
18. Who is the new football coach of Brazil?
19. What did the Peaches Geldof inquest determine as the cause of her death?
20. Which comedienne actress passed away aged 91?
21. Which two people won the coveted Rear of the Year title?
22. Which single went triple platinum this week, being one of only 5 to do so in 20 years?
23. Why did Mo Farah pull out of Glasgow 2014?
24. Who won England’s first gold medal?
25. Which well known actress was reported as joining the cast of the Archers?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Star/subject of the controversial film Boyhood
2. Granddaughter of Tony Benn, selected as Labour candidate for Croydon South
3. Widow awarded multi billion pounds in damages from R J Reynolds tobacco company in landmark US court ruling.
4. New Anchor of Newsnight
5. ‘leader’ of Donetsk People’s Republic
6. Judge who threw out the Tulisa Trial
7. So-called ‘Fake Sheikh’ whose evidence was ruled as unsafe
8. New leader of the BNP
9. He won the Indonesian Presidential election
10. Queen’s horse, winner of 2013 Ascot Gold Cup, found to have traces of morphine in system
11. Creator of Aldi – passed away
12. Welsh boxer refused Commonwealth Games accreditation
13. Squash world champ – England’s flag bearer for Commonwealth Games
14. 1st person to swim from Lands End to the Scilly Isles
15. UN Special Envoy to South Sudan
16. 1st ever crowdfunded book to be nominated for Mann Booker – by Paul Kingsnorth
17. Adele’s son, awarded damages over paparazzi photos
18. Botched execution in Arizona
19. Scottish swimmer who defeated the favourite, Michael Jamieson, to gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke in Glasgow
20. Sisters who both won gold for Scotland in Judo in Glasgow
In Other News
1. Sergio Garcia and Ricky Fowler
2. Nico Rosberg
3. 69th – his worst ever Open finish
4. Liverpool
5. James Garner
6. Smithsonian Institute
7. Ken Clarke
8. 114
9. Neil Armstrong
10. BNP
11. Matt Prior
12. Katerina Johnson-Thompson
13. Derek Chisora
14. Brooklyn Bridge
15. UK
16. Albrecht Discount
17. Real Madrid
18. Dunga
19. Heroin Overdose
20. Dora Bryan
21. Carol Vorderman ( 1st to win twice) and Olly Murs
22. “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
23. He had been set back in training too much by his illness a couple of weeks ago
24. Jodie Stimpson – Women’s Triathlon
25. Eleanor Bron
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Ellar Coltrane
2. Emily Benn
3. Cynthia Robinson
4. Evan Davies
5. Alexander Borodai
6. Alistair McCreath
7. Mazher Mahmood
8. Adam Walker
9. Joko Widodo
10. Estimate
11. Karl Albrecht
12. Fred Evans
13. Nick Matthew
14. Beth French
15. Allen Margarethe Loj
16. The Whale
17. Angelo Adkins
18. Joseph Rudolf Wood
19. Ross Murdoch
20. Louise and Kimberley Renicks
In Other News
1. Which two players were joint second placed in the Open?
2. Who won the German GP?
3. What position did Tiger Woods finish in the Open?
4. Which Anglican Cathedral announced a need to raise £24 million for repairs?
5. Which US TV and film actor passed away aged 86?
6. Which origanisation is considering establishing an outpost in London’s Olympic Park?
7. Who claimed the Number 10 had on occasion said that he was ill to prevent him from appearing on TV?
8. Steven Gerrard has retired from international football having won how many caps?
9. A building in Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral has been dedicated to whom?
10. Nick Griffin was ousted from the leadership of which organization?
11. Which England player ruled himself out of the rest of the test series with India with injury?
12. Which world leading heptathlete was ruled out by injury on the eve of the Commonwealth Games?
13. A Hand injury forced whom out of his clash with Tyson Gay?
14. Us Flags were mysteriously replaced with white flags on which building by persons unknown?
15. In which country are the MH17 black boxes being examined?
16. What does Aldi actually stand for?
17. For which club has FIFA world cup 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez signed?
18. Who is the new football coach of Brazil?
19. What did the Peaches Geldof inquest determine as the cause of her death?
20. Which comedienne actress passed away aged 91?
21. Which two people won the coveted Rear of the Year title?
22. Which single went triple platinum this week, being one of only 5 to do so in 20 years?
23. Why did Mo Farah pull out of Glasgow 2014?
24. Who won England’s first gold medal?
25. Which well known actress was reported as joining the cast of the Archers?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Star/subject of the controversial film Boyhood
2. Granddaughter of Tony Benn, selected as Labour candidate for Croydon South
3. Widow awarded multi billion pounds in damages from R J Reynolds tobacco company in landmark US court ruling.
4. New Anchor of Newsnight
5. ‘leader’ of Donetsk People’s Republic
6. Judge who threw out the Tulisa Trial
7. So-called ‘Fake Sheikh’ whose evidence was ruled as unsafe
8. New leader of the BNP
9. He won the Indonesian Presidential election
10. Queen’s horse, winner of 2013 Ascot Gold Cup, found to have traces of morphine in system
11. Creator of Aldi – passed away
12. Welsh boxer refused Commonwealth Games accreditation
13. Squash world champ – England’s flag bearer for Commonwealth Games
14. 1st person to swim from Lands End to the Scilly Isles
15. UN Special Envoy to South Sudan
16. 1st ever crowdfunded book to be nominated for Mann Booker – by Paul Kingsnorth
17. Adele’s son, awarded damages over paparazzi photos
18. Botched execution in Arizona
19. Scottish swimmer who defeated the favourite, Michael Jamieson, to gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke in Glasgow
20. Sisters who both won gold for Scotland in Judo in Glasgow
In Other News
1. Sergio Garcia and Ricky Fowler
2. Nico Rosberg
3. 69th – his worst ever Open finish
4. Liverpool
5. James Garner
6. Smithsonian Institute
7. Ken Clarke
8. 114
9. Neil Armstrong
10. BNP
11. Matt Prior
12. Katerina Johnson-Thompson
13. Derek Chisora
14. Brooklyn Bridge
15. UK
16. Albrecht Discount
17. Real Madrid
18. Dunga
19. Heroin Overdose
20. Dora Bryan
21. Carol Vorderman ( 1st to win twice) and Olly Murs
22. “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
23. He had been set back in training too much by his illness a couple of weeks ago
24. Jodie Stimpson – Women’s Triathlon
25. Eleanor Bron
Podcast 5
Yes, I did manage to squeeze in one more edition before I leave for the land of Sun, sangria, and slightly seedy tavernas. No, Madam, not Gwaen Cae Gurwen - Spain. IN this week's slightly early podcast there are : -
Questions on Spain
Talking points on University Challenge
You Know You're a Hopeless Quiz Obsessive when -
Old Quizzer's Story
Answers to Last Week's Questions
You're welcome to leave any comments or queries on this post, or alternatively you can email me at londinius@yahoo.co.uk
Questions on Spain
Talking points on University Challenge
You Know You're a Hopeless Quiz Obsessive when -
Old Quizzer's Story
Answers to Last Week's Questions
You're welcome to leave any comments or queries on this post, or alternatively you can email me at londinius@yahoo.co.uk
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Round Britain Quiz
Scotland v. South of England
Only a couple of shows of this highly enjoyable series left now. Scotland’s first question was this : -
Which is the odd one out among the works of Korszak Ziolkowski in South Dakota, of D. Erdenebileg on the Tuul River in Mongolia, and of Andy Scott at Falkirk?
My feeling was that this one was going to be hard work. Now, from a news question some time ago I knew that Andy Scott made two massive sculptures called The Kelpies in Falkirk last year. They are based on the kelpie – a Scottish water spirit often in the shape of a horse, and take the form of two giant horses’ heads – not totally unlike a knight from a traditional Staunton chess set. Which led me to consider that although I didn’t know the name of the sculptor, South Dakota really suggested that we were dealing with the Crazy Horse Memorial. Which meant that the thing on the Tuul river would either BE a horse – or someone on a horse. It turned out that this was actually an equestrian statue of Genghis Khan. So Kelpies, only being part of a horse or two was the odd one out. Roddy began by barking up the Mount Rushmore tree before getting to Crazy Horse. Val knew that it couldn’t be to deal with the Falkirk wheel, but she left it, and she knew about the sculpture of Genghis Khan, or guessed. Eventually Val had a lightbulb moment getting the Kelpies, and then the odd one out. I needed no help for two of the statues, while Scotland had to scrabble around a bit, so I gave myself 4 to their 2.
Onto the South of England’s first, which was -
What connects Reacher’s creator, an architect who designed a capital city a long way from home, and the warm ocean conditions in the Eastern Pacific?
Well, first thoughts were that if Reacher meant Jack of that ilk, then the creator was Lee Child. My guess on the ocean currents was El Nino – which literally means the child. Working on child, then, Washington DC, designed by Pierre L’Enfant sprang irresistibly to mind. Marcel sniffed around at the Humboldt, before Fred moved on to speculation about the architect, and they had a few goes at this one. I’m not being funny, but why didn’t they know that El Nino means the child? That’s not that hard, and they needed to be led by the nose to get there. Then Tom had to give them Washington DC. Then he had to tell them the architect was French. That didn’t even give it to them. A not brilliant performance on a gettable question to be honest. South were given 1 point for what they answered, and one point for sympathy I guess. I claimed 6.
Scotland’s next question was of course their music question. We heard Saint Saens’ Danse Macabre – which he wrote for the TV series Jonathan Creek – Jeff Beck’s Hi Ho Silver Lining – which meant we were dealing with bodies of water – Greg Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas then Billy Ocean’s Red Light Spells Danger. We were asked to
Please put them in order of size.
Ocean was obviously biggest, Lake next, then Crek then Beck or vice versa. Scotland only struggled on the Saint Saens, and never got as far as Jonathan Creek. They were given 5 and I claimed what for me was a rare 6 on music.
The South of England’s music question asked
Which of the other teams might most easily see the connection?
Barry White’s My First, My Last , My Everything kicked us off. Then we had Only Make Believe. Now working on Barry for the first, which is a town in Wales, then the likelihood was that Conway Twitty did the next. The third song I didn’t recognize I’m afraid. The fourth neither. It turned out that third was Mr. Flint from McGuinness Flint. Fourth was Marion Montgomery. Tom erroneously said that she shared her name with a Western movie star. Oh no. John Wayne was Marion MORRISON – close but no cigar there Tom. Conway Twitty was got by Fred, but it helped him not. Neither did Montgomery at first. Eventually they reached Wales. This led them to Barry White. South were given 2, I was better so claimed 3.
Back to the ‘straight’ questions, and Scotland were asked: -
Why might a cartoon tower block be a suitable home for at least one President of Ireland, the Scots explorer of the Niger, and the lead singer of Ultravox?
As usual, I started with the easiest bit. Midge Ure was the lead singer, and this really unlocked the question. I remembered from my childhood that Mary, Mungo and Midge – respectively girl, big sad voiced dog, and annoyingly chirpy mouse, all lived in a tower blog in a children’s animated TV series, and in every episode Midge would have to stand on Mungo’s nose to push the button to call the lift. Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have both been President of Ireland. Mungo Park explored the Niger. Scotland were on firm ground here, and Roddy and Val, working in tag formation, explained it just as I did. 6 points to them, and 6 to me.
South of England desperately needed a full house here. They were asked
You might expect the largest to have a specific gravity of 1; another may have been produced by aphids; still another sounds as though it might almost have written songs in the South of France. What are they?
This didn’t come all that quickly, but after a minute or so’s thought I came up with honeydew for the substance produced by Aphids, which meant, should you pardon the expression, we were looking for melons. Water has a specific gravity of 1. I didn’t get the Provencal songwriter – I’ll be honest that Galia was the only other type of melon that occurred. Fred went at it from a different angle, tackling the songs first. That didn’t actually lead that far. Tom pushed them to work on aphids, and again had to do a lot of the driving and still couldn’t get them to honeydew. Then Tom gave the name of the composer – Cantaloupe – ah!. I didn’t think of that. They finally got water for themselves, and guessed honeydew. Tom awarded them 2, and I awarded myself 4.
And so to the last question of the show for Scotland: -
What’s so tragic about the creator of the Jumblies, the first book in Faulkner’s Snopes trilogy, the bobby of Lochdubh and the game of Reversi?
Not many of the answers to this show sprang to me right off the page, but this one did. Tragic is an adjective applied to Tragedy, and Shakespeare wrote several great Tragedies. Edward Lear (King Lear) created the Jumblies. The Game of Reversi is also called Othello. Lochdubh was the location for the TV series – and original books of – Hamish Macbeth. Right – that was the three easiest ones done as far as I was concerned. I decided that of the remaining possibilities William Faulkner’s Snopes Trilogy was most likely to have something with Hamlet in the title, rather than Antony or Cleopatra. Thus it proved. Scotland were onto it at once, knowing Othello – Lear and Hamish Macbeth very quickly. Like me they didn’t know Faulkner for certain, and like me they guessed Hamlet. Our performance being pretty much identical, I thought we were both worth 5.
As Scotland’s last question had sprung out at me off the page, so did South of England’s. See what you think.
Why might James Gandolfini, an Army Game actor, the relationship between participants in a discourse and half a Californian city, all be welcome in a choir?
Right then – James Gandolfini was a star of the Sopranos – so a soprano is a singing voice – hence it being welcomed in the choir. Another, rather deeper singing voice is a Bass – and Alfie Bass was one of the stars of The Army Game. Palo Alto is a city in California, which gives us an alto. As for the relationship between participants in a discourse , tenor seemed to fit the bill. As indeed it did. It was a bit of a relief to hear Marcel and Fred onto this one quickly, and had Bass and Soprano very quickly. They didn’t get at the city very quickly, mind, but did get there. With a little pushing from Tom they had tenor. Which earned them their highest score of the show with 4, and 6 for me. Final score 18 – 10 to South. Scotland finish with 3 wins from 4, then, which unless I’m mistaken means that they are in with a chance of being overall series winners.
Only a couple of shows of this highly enjoyable series left now. Scotland’s first question was this : -
Which is the odd one out among the works of Korszak Ziolkowski in South Dakota, of D. Erdenebileg on the Tuul River in Mongolia, and of Andy Scott at Falkirk?
My feeling was that this one was going to be hard work. Now, from a news question some time ago I knew that Andy Scott made two massive sculptures called The Kelpies in Falkirk last year. They are based on the kelpie – a Scottish water spirit often in the shape of a horse, and take the form of two giant horses’ heads – not totally unlike a knight from a traditional Staunton chess set. Which led me to consider that although I didn’t know the name of the sculptor, South Dakota really suggested that we were dealing with the Crazy Horse Memorial. Which meant that the thing on the Tuul river would either BE a horse – or someone on a horse. It turned out that this was actually an equestrian statue of Genghis Khan. So Kelpies, only being part of a horse or two was the odd one out. Roddy began by barking up the Mount Rushmore tree before getting to Crazy Horse. Val knew that it couldn’t be to deal with the Falkirk wheel, but she left it, and she knew about the sculpture of Genghis Khan, or guessed. Eventually Val had a lightbulb moment getting the Kelpies, and then the odd one out. I needed no help for two of the statues, while Scotland had to scrabble around a bit, so I gave myself 4 to their 2.
Onto the South of England’s first, which was -
What connects Reacher’s creator, an architect who designed a capital city a long way from home, and the warm ocean conditions in the Eastern Pacific?
Well, first thoughts were that if Reacher meant Jack of that ilk, then the creator was Lee Child. My guess on the ocean currents was El Nino – which literally means the child. Working on child, then, Washington DC, designed by Pierre L’Enfant sprang irresistibly to mind. Marcel sniffed around at the Humboldt, before Fred moved on to speculation about the architect, and they had a few goes at this one. I’m not being funny, but why didn’t they know that El Nino means the child? That’s not that hard, and they needed to be led by the nose to get there. Then Tom had to give them Washington DC. Then he had to tell them the architect was French. That didn’t even give it to them. A not brilliant performance on a gettable question to be honest. South were given 1 point for what they answered, and one point for sympathy I guess. I claimed 6.
Scotland’s next question was of course their music question. We heard Saint Saens’ Danse Macabre – which he wrote for the TV series Jonathan Creek – Jeff Beck’s Hi Ho Silver Lining – which meant we were dealing with bodies of water – Greg Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas then Billy Ocean’s Red Light Spells Danger. We were asked to
Please put them in order of size.
Ocean was obviously biggest, Lake next, then Crek then Beck or vice versa. Scotland only struggled on the Saint Saens, and never got as far as Jonathan Creek. They were given 5 and I claimed what for me was a rare 6 on music.
The South of England’s music question asked
Which of the other teams might most easily see the connection?
Barry White’s My First, My Last , My Everything kicked us off. Then we had Only Make Believe. Now working on Barry for the first, which is a town in Wales, then the likelihood was that Conway Twitty did the next. The third song I didn’t recognize I’m afraid. The fourth neither. It turned out that third was Mr. Flint from McGuinness Flint. Fourth was Marion Montgomery. Tom erroneously said that she shared her name with a Western movie star. Oh no. John Wayne was Marion MORRISON – close but no cigar there Tom. Conway Twitty was got by Fred, but it helped him not. Neither did Montgomery at first. Eventually they reached Wales. This led them to Barry White. South were given 2, I was better so claimed 3.
Back to the ‘straight’ questions, and Scotland were asked: -
Why might a cartoon tower block be a suitable home for at least one President of Ireland, the Scots explorer of the Niger, and the lead singer of Ultravox?
As usual, I started with the easiest bit. Midge Ure was the lead singer, and this really unlocked the question. I remembered from my childhood that Mary, Mungo and Midge – respectively girl, big sad voiced dog, and annoyingly chirpy mouse, all lived in a tower blog in a children’s animated TV series, and in every episode Midge would have to stand on Mungo’s nose to push the button to call the lift. Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have both been President of Ireland. Mungo Park explored the Niger. Scotland were on firm ground here, and Roddy and Val, working in tag formation, explained it just as I did. 6 points to them, and 6 to me.
South of England desperately needed a full house here. They were asked
You might expect the largest to have a specific gravity of 1; another may have been produced by aphids; still another sounds as though it might almost have written songs in the South of France. What are they?
This didn’t come all that quickly, but after a minute or so’s thought I came up with honeydew for the substance produced by Aphids, which meant, should you pardon the expression, we were looking for melons. Water has a specific gravity of 1. I didn’t get the Provencal songwriter – I’ll be honest that Galia was the only other type of melon that occurred. Fred went at it from a different angle, tackling the songs first. That didn’t actually lead that far. Tom pushed them to work on aphids, and again had to do a lot of the driving and still couldn’t get them to honeydew. Then Tom gave the name of the composer – Cantaloupe – ah!. I didn’t think of that. They finally got water for themselves, and guessed honeydew. Tom awarded them 2, and I awarded myself 4.
And so to the last question of the show for Scotland: -
What’s so tragic about the creator of the Jumblies, the first book in Faulkner’s Snopes trilogy, the bobby of Lochdubh and the game of Reversi?
Not many of the answers to this show sprang to me right off the page, but this one did. Tragic is an adjective applied to Tragedy, and Shakespeare wrote several great Tragedies. Edward Lear (King Lear) created the Jumblies. The Game of Reversi is also called Othello. Lochdubh was the location for the TV series – and original books of – Hamish Macbeth. Right – that was the three easiest ones done as far as I was concerned. I decided that of the remaining possibilities William Faulkner’s Snopes Trilogy was most likely to have something with Hamlet in the title, rather than Antony or Cleopatra. Thus it proved. Scotland were onto it at once, knowing Othello – Lear and Hamish Macbeth very quickly. Like me they didn’t know Faulkner for certain, and like me they guessed Hamlet. Our performance being pretty much identical, I thought we were both worth 5.
As Scotland’s last question had sprung out at me off the page, so did South of England’s. See what you think.
Why might James Gandolfini, an Army Game actor, the relationship between participants in a discourse and half a Californian city, all be welcome in a choir?
Right then – James Gandolfini was a star of the Sopranos – so a soprano is a singing voice – hence it being welcomed in the choir. Another, rather deeper singing voice is a Bass – and Alfie Bass was one of the stars of The Army Game. Palo Alto is a city in California, which gives us an alto. As for the relationship between participants in a discourse , tenor seemed to fit the bill. As indeed it did. It was a bit of a relief to hear Marcel and Fred onto this one quickly, and had Bass and Soprano very quickly. They didn’t get at the city very quickly, mind, but did get there. With a little pushing from Tom they had tenor. Which earned them their highest score of the show with 4, and 6 for me. Final score 18 – 10 to South. Scotland finish with 3 wins from 4, then, which unless I’m mistaken means that they are in with a chance of being overall series winners.
University Challenge - Round One - Match Three
University of Bristol v. The Courtauld Institute of Art
I wonder if you were thinking what I was thinking? Before the start of this show I sincerely wished the Courtauld Institute every success and hope that they did well, having won their place through the selection process which we saw played out in two documentaries a few weeks ago. But you have to say that on paper at least the odds were against the. Let me try to explain. Let’s say that you don’t have an English specialist on your team. The chances are that you may still have someone who, although studying something light years removed from English literature, still reads avidly and has an excellent knowledge of literature. Likewise with History, and a number of other subjects. Now, if you’re studying in the Courtauld, you’re not likely to already have a degree in Physics, Chemistry or Biology, and so without a Science specialist chances are you’re going to be up against it. Now, this is not a complaint against the series, well, it’s not a complaint at all, but it is an observation that some institutions, by their very nature, are going to be up against it.
Trying to put the lie to all that I’ve just said for the Courtauld Institute were Annie Gregoire, Matthew McLean, Thomas Bodinetz and their captain, Anna Preston. The University of Bristol, unlike the Courtauld, has made quite a few appearances on the show, the last coming in 2013, when they were beaten by Imperial in the second round. Bristol ’s team consisted of Lewis Rendell, Benjamin Moon, Miles Coleman and their captain, Anastasia Reynolds. That’s enough of that then. Let’s go.
Now, for a certain type of quizzer, whenever you hear the words “Stettin in the Baltic”, even before you get to “Trieste in the Adriatic” you’re going to give the response “Iron Curtain”. A nice old chestnut to kick off with, and Matthew McLean showed some nifty buzzer work to take it and score the Courtauld’s first ever points in UC. Food or dishes linked with specific places gave them two bonuses, but they couldn’t quite get Mahon for mayonnaise. 20 points a decent haul for a first visit to the table. Lewis Rendell opened Bristol’s account knowing that the Coliseum in Rome is in fact an amphitheatre. A nice set on fictional masters and servants saw all of us miss out on Plautus. I had the other two, but Bristol couldn’t dredge up that Mosca comes from Volpone. For the third starter Benjamin Moon knew that CO2 falls as snow on Mars. Rodents provided them with another two bonuses. I didn’t know the degu either. The picture starter showed a table of Oscar winners from a particular year, and asked for the best picture. Well, if Eastwood directed and Swank actressed then it had to be Million Dollar Baby that pictured. Miles Coleman had that one. Three more of the same followed as bonuses. They had the first two, but missed out on the fact that the starter and first two were years in which the Best director also went to the director of the Best Picture – which might have led them to No Country for Old Men. Lewis Rendell took his second starter of the contest with the phrase Heirarchy of Needs. British place names with odd pronunciations such as Belvoir – Cholmondeley and Beaulieu – in fact those were the three – provided them with another 2 bonuses. All of which completed a good start for Bristol, who led by 72 – 20 at the ten minute mark.
Asked for a Venetian artist who died in 1576, the Courtauld team breathed a collective sigh of relief when Matthew McLean supplied the correct answer of Titian. He’s my stock ‘Venetian artist’ answer, as it happens. Courtauld managed to answer exactly the same number of chemistry bonuses as I did – that is, none. Miles Coleman knew that the country whose capital city was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have an underground railway system is Argentina. Good shout. I was delighted to pick up a full set on Mozart Symphonies, but Bristol only managed the last. Something Mathsy about a rigid boat in cold water followed next. Nobody had it. Miles Coleman identified the opening of “The Children of Men”. Given bonuses on politicians who were also writers Bristol couldn’t convert any into points. This brought up the music starter, and I amazed myself by recognising an aria from La Traviata. Neither team could, although both were on the right track with Verdi operas. Percy Spencer is another rof those names that would have a hardened quizzer slamming the buzzer through the desk. Thomas Bodinetz had it first with Microwave. This earned the bonuses for the Courtauld, and they were offered three arias from operas within the top 10 most listened to. They took Madame Butterfly, and Carmen, but missed out on the Barber of Seville. Lewis Rendell recognised a couple of definitions of the word Fess, and this gave Bristol bonuses on mathematics. Be honest with you, I didn’t understand any of them, but when they were all over Bristol had scored their first full set, earning them congratulations from JP. Neither team knew Perugia is the capital of Umbria. However Anastasia Reynolds knew that Noel Coward wrote “Present Indicative”. A lovely little UC set followed on books in the Bible containing phrases beginning with I am. It’s not always Leviticus – laughed JP on their second answer – but he was laughing with them rather than at them. What has happened to him? Is he subconsciously channelling Bamber Gascoigne now, or what? Well, whatever the answer to that one, the bonuses they did answer were enough to take them to 140, which gave them a 95 point lead over the Courtauld at the 20 minute mark. Now, that’s not an unbridgeable gap in the last few minutes, but based on the evidence of what we’d already seen it was all over bar the shouting. The question was, how many points could the Courtauld manage by the end of the show?
Neiher team recognised a selfie by the artist Joseph Durcreux – never heard of him, but he looked like – well, an interesting chap if his self portrait did him justice and was anything to go by. So the bonuses rolled over. Now, the next starter was my lap of honour around the living room answer. In the periodic table, which element appears above tungsten and below chromium. “Molybdenum!” I cried – thanks Sporcle. Neither team had it. Thomas Bodinetz did though know three films by Rudolf Valentino, and this brought up the portrait bonuses. 2 were taken. Neither team knew various names of the magpie. Miles Coleman knew that Menelik II was a ruler of Ethiopia. Capitals of Central Asia weren’t easy by any means, but Bristol managed one of them. Thomas Bodinetz knew what CAD/CAM stands for, and earned the Courtauld 10 more points and a set of bonuses on J.M. Barrie – who incidentally grew up in Kirriemuir very close to one pair of my great great great grandparents. Sadly they didn’t manage any of these quite. Lewis Rendell knew that Brest – as in the Treaty of Bret Litovsk – is in present day Belarus. A chemistry set followed of which Bristol managed the last. Nobody knew a question about hydrogen. Nor about the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle. Anastasia Reynolds, by a delicious irony, knew a question about the establishment of the Romanov dynasty. Answers about politicians in the House of Lords promised much, but only delivered the one correct answer. Benjamin Moon knew the term intergalacial to take the next starter. That was all we had time for before the gong, and meant that Bristol won by 190 to 75. Jp folded his arms, looked across to the Courtauld team and nodded saying, “I think we’re going to be saying goodbye to you, “ then he went on to say that they were a very, very nice team. Then, as if he had committed some kind of faux pas he turned to Bristol and paid them the same compliment. At that moment he seemed to snap out of the post hypnotic trance he had surely been in, and made the observation, “I must be getting soft.” Well, quite. Hard lines Courtauld, but no shame whatsoever – you got to the televised stages. Well played Bristol – good luck in round two.
Jeremy Paxman watch
After taking their second starter on Titian, JP allowed himself a half chuckle as he announced, “Your bonuses are on Chemistry, Courtauld.” He didn’t quite add – is it even worth me asking? – but he was maybe thinking it. We’re used to JP correcting teams with additional information on Literature questions, but he even did it with the Mozart bonus on the Prague Symphony, informing Bristol that “No, Paris is 31, I think.” Well, Jez, you think correctly! Impressive.
There was a very enjoyable moment when Anna Preston, who probably misheard the quotation, suggested that a novel which began “Early this morning, 1st January 2021 . . . “ was in fact George Orwell’s 1984. Jp first gave a straightforward “No” then was frozen into immobility for a moment. Actually I say immobility, but his eyebrows did in fact move southwards as the implications of the answer sank in. Fair play, though, our man is made of stern stuff, and resisted the opportunity to indulge in an outburst.
Following the music starter, JP announced “we’ll come to the music bonuses in a moment or two. First off somebody has to get a starter question right.” It earned him a cheap laugh, but please, Jez, not too many of those. You’re capable of better.
Miles Coleman buzzed in early when asked about an Italian city with Universities, and answered, “Oh no, it’s not Bologna, is it?” Time was when JP would have given him a frightful wigging for such blatan fishing. But in this case he just sat there, like a sly predator who knows his prey is cornered, and said nothing. “Bologna” then said Miles Coleman. “You’re quite right, “ our hero replied, “ it isn’t Bologna.” He’s definitely mellowing.
In fact he was really playing it for laughs. Annie Gregoire quite clearly offered Thallium for Molybdenum, to which he replied in tones of mock indignation “Valium??!!!” Another cheap laugh, Jeremy. I have to say I didn’t really like his comment, when the Courtauld failed to identify the Ernst Kircher self portrait, ”Maybe you haven’t quite got that far yet.”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Pie Bavarde – which means something like gossiping magpie – is actually the French for magpie – while in Italian it is the rather splendid gazza in Italian.
I wonder if you were thinking what I was thinking? Before the start of this show I sincerely wished the Courtauld Institute every success and hope that they did well, having won their place through the selection process which we saw played out in two documentaries a few weeks ago. But you have to say that on paper at least the odds were against the. Let me try to explain. Let’s say that you don’t have an English specialist on your team. The chances are that you may still have someone who, although studying something light years removed from English literature, still reads avidly and has an excellent knowledge of literature. Likewise with History, and a number of other subjects. Now, if you’re studying in the Courtauld, you’re not likely to already have a degree in Physics, Chemistry or Biology, and so without a Science specialist chances are you’re going to be up against it. Now, this is not a complaint against the series, well, it’s not a complaint at all, but it is an observation that some institutions, by their very nature, are going to be up against it.
Trying to put the lie to all that I’ve just said for the Courtauld Institute were Annie Gregoire, Matthew McLean, Thomas Bodinetz and their captain, Anna Preston. The University of Bristol, unlike the Courtauld, has made quite a few appearances on the show, the last coming in 2013, when they were beaten by Imperial in the second round. Bristol ’s team consisted of Lewis Rendell, Benjamin Moon, Miles Coleman and their captain, Anastasia Reynolds. That’s enough of that then. Let’s go.
Now, for a certain type of quizzer, whenever you hear the words “Stettin in the Baltic”, even before you get to “Trieste in the Adriatic” you’re going to give the response “Iron Curtain”. A nice old chestnut to kick off with, and Matthew McLean showed some nifty buzzer work to take it and score the Courtauld’s first ever points in UC. Food or dishes linked with specific places gave them two bonuses, but they couldn’t quite get Mahon for mayonnaise. 20 points a decent haul for a first visit to the table. Lewis Rendell opened Bristol’s account knowing that the Coliseum in Rome is in fact an amphitheatre. A nice set on fictional masters and servants saw all of us miss out on Plautus. I had the other two, but Bristol couldn’t dredge up that Mosca comes from Volpone. For the third starter Benjamin Moon knew that CO2 falls as snow on Mars. Rodents provided them with another two bonuses. I didn’t know the degu either. The picture starter showed a table of Oscar winners from a particular year, and asked for the best picture. Well, if Eastwood directed and Swank actressed then it had to be Million Dollar Baby that pictured. Miles Coleman had that one. Three more of the same followed as bonuses. They had the first two, but missed out on the fact that the starter and first two were years in which the Best director also went to the director of the Best Picture – which might have led them to No Country for Old Men. Lewis Rendell took his second starter of the contest with the phrase Heirarchy of Needs. British place names with odd pronunciations such as Belvoir – Cholmondeley and Beaulieu – in fact those were the three – provided them with another 2 bonuses. All of which completed a good start for Bristol, who led by 72 – 20 at the ten minute mark.
Asked for a Venetian artist who died in 1576, the Courtauld team breathed a collective sigh of relief when Matthew McLean supplied the correct answer of Titian. He’s my stock ‘Venetian artist’ answer, as it happens. Courtauld managed to answer exactly the same number of chemistry bonuses as I did – that is, none. Miles Coleman knew that the country whose capital city was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have an underground railway system is Argentina. Good shout. I was delighted to pick up a full set on Mozart Symphonies, but Bristol only managed the last. Something Mathsy about a rigid boat in cold water followed next. Nobody had it. Miles Coleman identified the opening of “The Children of Men”. Given bonuses on politicians who were also writers Bristol couldn’t convert any into points. This brought up the music starter, and I amazed myself by recognising an aria from La Traviata. Neither team could, although both were on the right track with Verdi operas. Percy Spencer is another rof those names that would have a hardened quizzer slamming the buzzer through the desk. Thomas Bodinetz had it first with Microwave. This earned the bonuses for the Courtauld, and they were offered three arias from operas within the top 10 most listened to. They took Madame Butterfly, and Carmen, but missed out on the Barber of Seville. Lewis Rendell recognised a couple of definitions of the word Fess, and this gave Bristol bonuses on mathematics. Be honest with you, I didn’t understand any of them, but when they were all over Bristol had scored their first full set, earning them congratulations from JP. Neither team knew Perugia is the capital of Umbria. However Anastasia Reynolds knew that Noel Coward wrote “Present Indicative”. A lovely little UC set followed on books in the Bible containing phrases beginning with I am. It’s not always Leviticus – laughed JP on their second answer – but he was laughing with them rather than at them. What has happened to him? Is he subconsciously channelling Bamber Gascoigne now, or what? Well, whatever the answer to that one, the bonuses they did answer were enough to take them to 140, which gave them a 95 point lead over the Courtauld at the 20 minute mark. Now, that’s not an unbridgeable gap in the last few minutes, but based on the evidence of what we’d already seen it was all over bar the shouting. The question was, how many points could the Courtauld manage by the end of the show?
Neiher team recognised a selfie by the artist Joseph Durcreux – never heard of him, but he looked like – well, an interesting chap if his self portrait did him justice and was anything to go by. So the bonuses rolled over. Now, the next starter was my lap of honour around the living room answer. In the periodic table, which element appears above tungsten and below chromium. “Molybdenum!” I cried – thanks Sporcle. Neither team had it. Thomas Bodinetz did though know three films by Rudolf Valentino, and this brought up the portrait bonuses. 2 were taken. Neither team knew various names of the magpie. Miles Coleman knew that Menelik II was a ruler of Ethiopia. Capitals of Central Asia weren’t easy by any means, but Bristol managed one of them. Thomas Bodinetz knew what CAD/CAM stands for, and earned the Courtauld 10 more points and a set of bonuses on J.M. Barrie – who incidentally grew up in Kirriemuir very close to one pair of my great great great grandparents. Sadly they didn’t manage any of these quite. Lewis Rendell knew that Brest – as in the Treaty of Bret Litovsk – is in present day Belarus. A chemistry set followed of which Bristol managed the last. Nobody knew a question about hydrogen. Nor about the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle. Anastasia Reynolds, by a delicious irony, knew a question about the establishment of the Romanov dynasty. Answers about politicians in the House of Lords promised much, but only delivered the one correct answer. Benjamin Moon knew the term intergalacial to take the next starter. That was all we had time for before the gong, and meant that Bristol won by 190 to 75. Jp folded his arms, looked across to the Courtauld team and nodded saying, “I think we’re going to be saying goodbye to you, “ then he went on to say that they were a very, very nice team. Then, as if he had committed some kind of faux pas he turned to Bristol and paid them the same compliment. At that moment he seemed to snap out of the post hypnotic trance he had surely been in, and made the observation, “I must be getting soft.” Well, quite. Hard lines Courtauld, but no shame whatsoever – you got to the televised stages. Well played Bristol – good luck in round two.
Jeremy Paxman watch
After taking their second starter on Titian, JP allowed himself a half chuckle as he announced, “Your bonuses are on Chemistry, Courtauld.” He didn’t quite add – is it even worth me asking? – but he was maybe thinking it. We’re used to JP correcting teams with additional information on Literature questions, but he even did it with the Mozart bonus on the Prague Symphony, informing Bristol that “No, Paris is 31, I think.” Well, Jez, you think correctly! Impressive.
There was a very enjoyable moment when Anna Preston, who probably misheard the quotation, suggested that a novel which began “Early this morning, 1st January 2021 . . . “ was in fact George Orwell’s 1984. Jp first gave a straightforward “No” then was frozen into immobility for a moment. Actually I say immobility, but his eyebrows did in fact move southwards as the implications of the answer sank in. Fair play, though, our man is made of stern stuff, and resisted the opportunity to indulge in an outburst.
Following the music starter, JP announced “we’ll come to the music bonuses in a moment or two. First off somebody has to get a starter question right.” It earned him a cheap laugh, but please, Jez, not too many of those. You’re capable of better.
Miles Coleman buzzed in early when asked about an Italian city with Universities, and answered, “Oh no, it’s not Bologna, is it?” Time was when JP would have given him a frightful wigging for such blatan fishing. But in this case he just sat there, like a sly predator who knows his prey is cornered, and said nothing. “Bologna” then said Miles Coleman. “You’re quite right, “ our hero replied, “ it isn’t Bologna.” He’s definitely mellowing.
In fact he was really playing it for laughs. Annie Gregoire quite clearly offered Thallium for Molybdenum, to which he replied in tones of mock indignation “Valium??!!!” Another cheap laugh, Jeremy. I have to say I didn’t really like his comment, when the Courtauld failed to identify the Ernst Kircher self portrait, ”Maybe you haven’t quite got that far yet.”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Pie Bavarde – which means something like gossiping magpie – is actually the French for magpie – while in Italian it is the rather splendid gazza in Italian.
It does pay to read the instructions . . .
Allow me to explain . . .
You might have noticed that Channel 4’s series “Child Genius”, about the final stages of the Mensa child genius competition returned a week ago yesterday. I was so intrigued and interested by the first series last year that not quite a year ago I sat the Mensa tests, and when my results came through I was invited to join. Having joined I think it was always a given that I was going to enter this year’s Brain of Mensa competition.
Basically, the Brain of Mensa is one of a series of competitions which all eventually feed into the Mensa Games weekend, to be played at the end of October and beginning of November in Birmingham. It is a general knowledge quiz competition. The gameplay is relatively simple. Basically, the players sit in order, and this order needs to be changed several times during the game. The first player is asked a question – if he/she gets it right then happy days, if not the second player gets a go, then the third, etc. The next question goes to the second player, and so on and so forth. Basically, he or she who answers most questions correctly wins.
I don’t actually know how many people take part in the competition every year, but the first round at least is organized on a regional basis as much as possible. You can understand this, and I’m guessing that if you live in somewhere like London where there are probably a large number of players, then it possibly means that you don’t have a lot of travelling to do. If you live in Port Talbot though, it doesn’t work so well. I was drawn against one player living in Bristol, and another living near Chard. What made it more difficult as well was the fact that although I’m new to the competition, it turned out that it was down to me to organize our heat. Well, I could have asked both of the other players to come to Port Talbot, but that wouldn’t really have been fair, and between the three of us we managed to stage our heat. I’ll be honest, the fact that one of the other two players was a former winner of the competition certainly gave me some food for thought, but then nothing ventured, nothing gained. I don’t know that any of us played especially brilliantly, but I was happy to come out on top by the end of the quiz.
I am getting to the point. If we fast forward to yesterday, I travelled to Stevenage for round 2. This was another level of competition. For one thing there were 5 of us, and all 5 players had won their way through to play in the round. In particular – and I didn’t actually google all the other 4 players, but had found this inadvertently when googling about the competition – I was playing in a round which included former winner and perennial finalist Les Hurst, an extremely fine quizzer.
If you go into any quiz actually expecting to lose, then you’re on a loser before you start. Even if you think, in your heart of hearts, that you’re very much the underdog, it can be helpful to play as if you think you’re going to win anyway, and for the first 3 rounds or so this stood me in good stead, as Les and I established a lead over the other players. Les though, was outstanding, and I couldn’t match him for the rest of the contest. That’s fine. If you’re beaten fair and square by someone who was better than you were, then you put your hands together, give them the credit that’s due, and mean it as well.
So we all sat and chatted for a while after the match, but the time was getting on, I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me, and needed to get a wiggle on if I was going to be back in time for the quiz at the “Twelve Knights”. Which revelation provoked the question from one of the other guys , “You’re not all quizzed out, then?” Well folks, obsession is not a fair weather thing, and I ruefully smiled , shook my head, and observed that I’m in it for life. Now, it was just as I was about to go when I once again congratulated Les, and told him that I honestly wished him every success in the final. To which he favoured me with a quizzical look and replied “Well, you’ll be there yourself, won’t you?” – What did he just say? – A couple of the others reinforced what he’d just said, and a perusal of the instructions sheet that had accompanied the questions confirmed it. Both first and second would make it through to the finals in the Games weekend in Birmingham at the end of October. Well, my flabber has been so gasted once or twice before, but not that often. But the great thing is that, when I entered in the first place I didn’t set myself any targets, and I didn’t have any expectations, other than meeting some nice people, and playing in at least one enjoyable quiz. But in my heart of hearts, I did think it would be wonderful to make it as far as the finals. So, Les, Andrew, Penny and Bill, if by any chance you happen to read this, thank you once again for a most enjoyable afternoon, and Les, see you in Birmingham!
You might have noticed that Channel 4’s series “Child Genius”, about the final stages of the Mensa child genius competition returned a week ago yesterday. I was so intrigued and interested by the first series last year that not quite a year ago I sat the Mensa tests, and when my results came through I was invited to join. Having joined I think it was always a given that I was going to enter this year’s Brain of Mensa competition.
Basically, the Brain of Mensa is one of a series of competitions which all eventually feed into the Mensa Games weekend, to be played at the end of October and beginning of November in Birmingham. It is a general knowledge quiz competition. The gameplay is relatively simple. Basically, the players sit in order, and this order needs to be changed several times during the game. The first player is asked a question – if he/she gets it right then happy days, if not the second player gets a go, then the third, etc. The next question goes to the second player, and so on and so forth. Basically, he or she who answers most questions correctly wins.
I don’t actually know how many people take part in the competition every year, but the first round at least is organized on a regional basis as much as possible. You can understand this, and I’m guessing that if you live in somewhere like London where there are probably a large number of players, then it possibly means that you don’t have a lot of travelling to do. If you live in Port Talbot though, it doesn’t work so well. I was drawn against one player living in Bristol, and another living near Chard. What made it more difficult as well was the fact that although I’m new to the competition, it turned out that it was down to me to organize our heat. Well, I could have asked both of the other players to come to Port Talbot, but that wouldn’t really have been fair, and between the three of us we managed to stage our heat. I’ll be honest, the fact that one of the other two players was a former winner of the competition certainly gave me some food for thought, but then nothing ventured, nothing gained. I don’t know that any of us played especially brilliantly, but I was happy to come out on top by the end of the quiz.
I am getting to the point. If we fast forward to yesterday, I travelled to Stevenage for round 2. This was another level of competition. For one thing there were 5 of us, and all 5 players had won their way through to play in the round. In particular – and I didn’t actually google all the other 4 players, but had found this inadvertently when googling about the competition – I was playing in a round which included former winner and perennial finalist Les Hurst, an extremely fine quizzer.
If you go into any quiz actually expecting to lose, then you’re on a loser before you start. Even if you think, in your heart of hearts, that you’re very much the underdog, it can be helpful to play as if you think you’re going to win anyway, and for the first 3 rounds or so this stood me in good stead, as Les and I established a lead over the other players. Les though, was outstanding, and I couldn’t match him for the rest of the contest. That’s fine. If you’re beaten fair and square by someone who was better than you were, then you put your hands together, give them the credit that’s due, and mean it as well.
So we all sat and chatted for a while after the match, but the time was getting on, I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me, and needed to get a wiggle on if I was going to be back in time for the quiz at the “Twelve Knights”. Which revelation provoked the question from one of the other guys , “You’re not all quizzed out, then?” Well folks, obsession is not a fair weather thing, and I ruefully smiled , shook my head, and observed that I’m in it for life. Now, it was just as I was about to go when I once again congratulated Les, and told him that I honestly wished him every success in the final. To which he favoured me with a quizzical look and replied “Well, you’ll be there yourself, won’t you?” – What did he just say? – A couple of the others reinforced what he’d just said, and a perusal of the instructions sheet that had accompanied the questions confirmed it. Both first and second would make it through to the finals in the Games weekend in Birmingham at the end of October. Well, my flabber has been so gasted once or twice before, but not that often. But the great thing is that, when I entered in the first place I didn’t set myself any targets, and I didn’t have any expectations, other than meeting some nice people, and playing in at least one enjoyable quiz. But in my heart of hearts, I did think it would be wonderful to make it as far as the finals. So, Les, Andrew, Penny and Bill, if by any chance you happen to read this, thank you once again for a most enjoyable afternoon, and Les, see you in Birmingham!
Saturday, 26 July 2014
In The News
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Ellar Coltrane
2. Emily Benn
3. Cynthia Robinson
4. Evan Davies
5. Alexander Borodai
6. Alistair McCreath
7. Mazher Mahmood
8. Adam Walker
9. Joko Widodo
10. Estimate
11. Karl Albrecht
12. Fred Evans
13. Nick Matthew
14. Beth French
15. Allen Margarethe Loj
16. The Whale
17. Angelo Adkins
18. Joseph Rudolf Wood
19. Ross Murdoch
20. Louise and Kimberley Renicks
In Other News
1. Which two players were joint second placed in the Open?
2. Who won the German GP?
3. What position did Tiger Woods finish in the Open?
4. Which Anglican Cathedral announced a need to raise £24 million for repairs?
5. Which US TV and film actor passed away aged 86?
6. Which origanisation is considering establishing an outpost in London’s Olympic Park?
7. Who claimed the Number 10 had on occasion said that he was ill to prevent him from appearing on TV?
8. Steven Gerrard has retired from international football having won how many caps?
9. A building in Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral has been dedicated to whom?
10. Nick Griffin was ousted from the leadership of which organization?
11. Which England player ruled himself out of the rest of the test series with India with injury?
12. Which world leading heptathlete was ruled out by injury on the eve of the Commonwealth Games?
13. A Hand injury forced whom out of his clash with Tyson Gay?
14. Us Flags were mysteriously replaced with white flags on which building by persons unknown?
15. In which country are the MH17 black boxes being examined?
16. What does Aldi actually stand for?
17. For which club has FIFA world cup 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez signed?
18. Who is the new football coach of Brazil?
19. What did the Peaches Geldof inquest determine as the cause of her death?
20. Which comedienne actress passed away aged 91?
21. Which two people won the coveted Rear of the Year title?
22. Which single went triple platinum this week, being one of only 5 to do so in 20 years?
23. Why did Mo Farah pull out of Glasgow 2014?
24. Who won England’s first gold medal?
25. Which well known actress was reported as joining the cast of the Archers?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Ellar Coltrane
2. Emily Benn
3. Cynthia Robinson
4. Evan Davies
5. Alexander Borodai
6. Alistair McCreath
7. Mazher Mahmood
8. Adam Walker
9. Joko Widodo
10. Estimate
11. Karl Albrecht
12. Fred Evans
13. Nick Matthew
14. Beth French
15. Allen Margarethe Loj
16. The Whale
17. Angelo Adkins
18. Joseph Rudolf Wood
19. Ross Murdoch
20. Louise and Kimberley Renicks
In Other News
1. Which two players were joint second placed in the Open?
2. Who won the German GP?
3. What position did Tiger Woods finish in the Open?
4. Which Anglican Cathedral announced a need to raise £24 million for repairs?
5. Which US TV and film actor passed away aged 86?
6. Which origanisation is considering establishing an outpost in London’s Olympic Park?
7. Who claimed the Number 10 had on occasion said that he was ill to prevent him from appearing on TV?
8. Steven Gerrard has retired from international football having won how many caps?
9. A building in Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral has been dedicated to whom?
10. Nick Griffin was ousted from the leadership of which organization?
11. Which England player ruled himself out of the rest of the test series with India with injury?
12. Which world leading heptathlete was ruled out by injury on the eve of the Commonwealth Games?
13. A Hand injury forced whom out of his clash with Tyson Gay?
14. Us Flags were mysteriously replaced with white flags on which building by persons unknown?
15. In which country are the MH17 black boxes being examined?
16. What does Aldi actually stand for?
17. For which club has FIFA world cup 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez signed?
18. Who is the new football coach of Brazil?
19. What did the Peaches Geldof inquest determine as the cause of her death?
20. Which comedienne actress passed away aged 91?
21. Which two people won the coveted Rear of the Year title?
22. Which single went triple platinum this week, being one of only 5 to do so in 20 years?
23. Why did Mo Farah pull out of Glasgow 2014?
24. Who won England’s first gold medal?
25. Which well known actress was reported as joining the cast of the Archers?
Friday, 25 July 2014
Round Britain Quiz
North of England v. Scotland
Monday saw the return match between Diane Collecot and Adele Geras of the North of England, and Val McDermid and Roddy Lumsden of Scotland. Well, being as it’s the school holidays, of course I had a look at the questions prior to the show.
The first question went to the North, and It went: -
In what way might a Dickensian cricket match have provided inspiration for Lindisfarne and J.K. Rowling?
Now, the words Dickensian Cricket match immediately made me thought of Dingley Dell v. All Muggleton in The Pickwick Papers – you know, the match that was on the back of a ten quid note for a while. Muggle and J.K. Rowling are a natural match off course, Muggles being ordinary non-magical humans like me in the Harry Potter saga. Dingly Dell I guessed would be a track or an album by the group Lindisfarne. North were onto the Pickwick papers, but started barking up the wrong tree almost immediately. They needed Tom to push them into considering the teams involved in the cricket match, but they couldn’t remember them. Push, push, push came from Tom and they got muggles, but that was about as far as they got. I gave myself 6, but poor old North were frankly lucky to get 1 sympathy point.
Val and Roddy opened Scotland’s account with this one: -
Can you place in the correct order: the blacktop that passes through St Louis, Amarillo and San Bernadino; the speed limit on parts of it; a treat combining flavours of chocolate and vanilla; a German defence against enemy aircraft; and Kookie Byrnes’ place on the Strip?
No marks for knowing that this was a numbers question. Unravelling what I could, the blacktop I guessed was Route 66 – the speed limit in parts 55mph, the ice cream possibly a 99, and Ed ‘Kookie’ Byrne’s place being 77 Sunset Strip. Before I turned on the show, I made a guess at 88 - perhaps 88mm - for the anti aircraft defence, which seemed to fit. Yes indeed. A second consecutive 6 pointer for me. As for Scotland, they had Route 66, 55mph, 99 very quickly, and for the wrong reason they got the right answer for 88. Of course they had 77 Sunset Strip, and were worth their full 6 points.
As usual I couldn’t prepare for either music set. The North of England’s asked: -
How and where they might be associated with arrival and departure?
The first sounded like Zorba the Greek’s syrtaki. The second was a voice that sounded like Richard Burton – going for a Burton, I wondered. The third was an opera lady singing heaven alone knows what. Then John Lennon’s imagine – and we definitely had an airport connection here, I thought – John Lennon airport in Liverpool. The North thought the same straightaway. The second was from “The Little Prince”. Now once they said that the opera lady was The Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute I guessed we had Mozart Airport in Salzburg. The Burton one was actually Saint Exupery Airport in Lyon – didn’t know it. As for the Greek – Kazantzakis airport I guessed would be in Crete. I think that I could not in all honesty claim more points than the North, but was happy to take 4 as they did.
Following on from that, Scotland were asked
These three performers might claim kinship with the heroine of a Jane Austen novel: which one?
We began with The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun – the keyboard solo suggesting Alan Price, which would lead to Fanny Price of Mansfield Park. Another opera lady didn’t help me a great deal, the third was definitely a Price – Vincent Price’s voiceover from Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Scotland mistook Vincent Price for Christopher Lee, and couldn’t remember their Fanny from Mansfield Park. They did eventually dredge up Leontine Price the opera singer. In the end Tom awarded them 5, and I was at least worth 4.
What a lovely question the North of England received next.
Where might half an orang-utan and Leontes’s daughter be spotted, along with 99 others?
Once again a little knowledge of Shakespeare helped me out of a difficult spot. Perdita is Leontes’ long lost daughter from “A Winter’s Tale”. Perdita is also the name of the female adult Dalmatian in the Dodie Smith book “101 Dalmatians” and the various film versions. Her hubby is called Pongo – and thanks to an old film I watched on a number of occasions with my kids, called “Dunstan Checks In”, I know that the Scientific name for an orangutan is pongo pygmaeus. Dalmatians, of course, are spotted all over, being covered in the little blighters. Likewise, the North began with Perdita, and had the Dalmatians connection at the start. They stumbled around the other dog, and didn’t have a Scooby about where the orangutan came in. In the end the Scots had to supply pongo. I had a deserved 6, while the North had a rather generous 4.
While Scotland’s next question didn’t quite reveal itself in a blaze of light in the same way, there was still much to enjoy about it. They were asked
To which family could Mrs Thatcher, the enemy of the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon, and the smallest public monument in Stockholm, all belong?
The Space Bat Angel Dragon is the enemy of Ted Hughes’ wonderful Iron Man. Margaret Thatcher was The Iron Lady. Now, as it happens I didn’t know that there is a small public monument called, or nicknamed, the Iron Boy in Stockholm, but I guessed it would be either boy or girl to complete the small family. Scotland didn’t know about the Space Bat Angel Dragon, nor the Iron Boy, although they did have the Iron Lady. Tom practically told them it was the Iron Man and the Iron Boy. I have no idea where Tom found 4 points to give Scotland, but if they had 4, then I’m claiming 5.
It was all over bar the shouting, but the North of England still had to answer this: -
What does the seagull not have that is provided by part of a knight’s equipment, a pair of Babylonian lovers and the description of a naked person?
No lightbulb moment for me with this one. I had a horrible feeling that it might refer to Chekov’s The Seagull, which I have neither read nor seen. It did. I might have been able to get Pyramus and Thisbe as the Babylonian lovers, but I didn’t. The Knight – said Tom – is in Throught The Looking Glass. Like the North I knew that it is the White Knight, but that didn’t help. From this he pushed us to Hamlet, and the North faffed around trying to remember that the Mousetrap is the play within the play in Hamlet. Still we lacked the naked person. It is apparently from Noises off, and called Nothing On. Blimey. The play within a play in the Seagull does not have a title. Too hard. Too much effort for too little reward. North received 2, and I was happy to take that for myself.
Scotland, already home and dry, I think, were asked
Which mythical literary phrase, never actually uttered, might lead to the mythical characters Atlas, Daedalus, Prometheus and Tantalus?
I had a little more clue about this one than about the previous, but not a huge amount. Possibly the most famous literary phrase never uttered – at least not in any of the works written by the original author – was ‘Elementary , my dear Watson.’ So if the four classical elements were important, then Prometheus gave Mankind fire, Tantalus was imprisoned by Tartarus and tortured by being forever thirsty,but forever denied water, although he was surrounded by it, Atlas is depicted in an Atlas with the earth on his shoulders – even though strictly speaking he carried the heavens, not the earth, and Daedalus invented wings which killed his son Icarus. Scotland got 6 – my answer was as good as theirs, so 6 for me. A comfortable win for Scotland
Monday saw the return match between Diane Collecot and Adele Geras of the North of England, and Val McDermid and Roddy Lumsden of Scotland. Well, being as it’s the school holidays, of course I had a look at the questions prior to the show.
The first question went to the North, and It went: -
In what way might a Dickensian cricket match have provided inspiration for Lindisfarne and J.K. Rowling?
Now, the words Dickensian Cricket match immediately made me thought of Dingley Dell v. All Muggleton in The Pickwick Papers – you know, the match that was on the back of a ten quid note for a while. Muggle and J.K. Rowling are a natural match off course, Muggles being ordinary non-magical humans like me in the Harry Potter saga. Dingly Dell I guessed would be a track or an album by the group Lindisfarne. North were onto the Pickwick papers, but started barking up the wrong tree almost immediately. They needed Tom to push them into considering the teams involved in the cricket match, but they couldn’t remember them. Push, push, push came from Tom and they got muggles, but that was about as far as they got. I gave myself 6, but poor old North were frankly lucky to get 1 sympathy point.
Val and Roddy opened Scotland’s account with this one: -
Can you place in the correct order: the blacktop that passes through St Louis, Amarillo and San Bernadino; the speed limit on parts of it; a treat combining flavours of chocolate and vanilla; a German defence against enemy aircraft; and Kookie Byrnes’ place on the Strip?
No marks for knowing that this was a numbers question. Unravelling what I could, the blacktop I guessed was Route 66 – the speed limit in parts 55mph, the ice cream possibly a 99, and Ed ‘Kookie’ Byrne’s place being 77 Sunset Strip. Before I turned on the show, I made a guess at 88 - perhaps 88mm - for the anti aircraft defence, which seemed to fit. Yes indeed. A second consecutive 6 pointer for me. As for Scotland, they had Route 66, 55mph, 99 very quickly, and for the wrong reason they got the right answer for 88. Of course they had 77 Sunset Strip, and were worth their full 6 points.
As usual I couldn’t prepare for either music set. The North of England’s asked: -
How and where they might be associated with arrival and departure?
The first sounded like Zorba the Greek’s syrtaki. The second was a voice that sounded like Richard Burton – going for a Burton, I wondered. The third was an opera lady singing heaven alone knows what. Then John Lennon’s imagine – and we definitely had an airport connection here, I thought – John Lennon airport in Liverpool. The North thought the same straightaway. The second was from “The Little Prince”. Now once they said that the opera lady was The Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute I guessed we had Mozart Airport in Salzburg. The Burton one was actually Saint Exupery Airport in Lyon – didn’t know it. As for the Greek – Kazantzakis airport I guessed would be in Crete. I think that I could not in all honesty claim more points than the North, but was happy to take 4 as they did.
Following on from that, Scotland were asked
These three performers might claim kinship with the heroine of a Jane Austen novel: which one?
We began with The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun – the keyboard solo suggesting Alan Price, which would lead to Fanny Price of Mansfield Park. Another opera lady didn’t help me a great deal, the third was definitely a Price – Vincent Price’s voiceover from Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Scotland mistook Vincent Price for Christopher Lee, and couldn’t remember their Fanny from Mansfield Park. They did eventually dredge up Leontine Price the opera singer. In the end Tom awarded them 5, and I was at least worth 4.
What a lovely question the North of England received next.
Where might half an orang-utan and Leontes’s daughter be spotted, along with 99 others?
Once again a little knowledge of Shakespeare helped me out of a difficult spot. Perdita is Leontes’ long lost daughter from “A Winter’s Tale”. Perdita is also the name of the female adult Dalmatian in the Dodie Smith book “101 Dalmatians” and the various film versions. Her hubby is called Pongo – and thanks to an old film I watched on a number of occasions with my kids, called “Dunstan Checks In”, I know that the Scientific name for an orangutan is pongo pygmaeus. Dalmatians, of course, are spotted all over, being covered in the little blighters. Likewise, the North began with Perdita, and had the Dalmatians connection at the start. They stumbled around the other dog, and didn’t have a Scooby about where the orangutan came in. In the end the Scots had to supply pongo. I had a deserved 6, while the North had a rather generous 4.
While Scotland’s next question didn’t quite reveal itself in a blaze of light in the same way, there was still much to enjoy about it. They were asked
To which family could Mrs Thatcher, the enemy of the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon, and the smallest public monument in Stockholm, all belong?
The Space Bat Angel Dragon is the enemy of Ted Hughes’ wonderful Iron Man. Margaret Thatcher was The Iron Lady. Now, as it happens I didn’t know that there is a small public monument called, or nicknamed, the Iron Boy in Stockholm, but I guessed it would be either boy or girl to complete the small family. Scotland didn’t know about the Space Bat Angel Dragon, nor the Iron Boy, although they did have the Iron Lady. Tom practically told them it was the Iron Man and the Iron Boy. I have no idea where Tom found 4 points to give Scotland, but if they had 4, then I’m claiming 5.
It was all over bar the shouting, but the North of England still had to answer this: -
What does the seagull not have that is provided by part of a knight’s equipment, a pair of Babylonian lovers and the description of a naked person?
No lightbulb moment for me with this one. I had a horrible feeling that it might refer to Chekov’s The Seagull, which I have neither read nor seen. It did. I might have been able to get Pyramus and Thisbe as the Babylonian lovers, but I didn’t. The Knight – said Tom – is in Throught The Looking Glass. Like the North I knew that it is the White Knight, but that didn’t help. From this he pushed us to Hamlet, and the North faffed around trying to remember that the Mousetrap is the play within the play in Hamlet. Still we lacked the naked person. It is apparently from Noises off, and called Nothing On. Blimey. The play within a play in the Seagull does not have a title. Too hard. Too much effort for too little reward. North received 2, and I was happy to take that for myself.
Scotland, already home and dry, I think, were asked
Which mythical literary phrase, never actually uttered, might lead to the mythical characters Atlas, Daedalus, Prometheus and Tantalus?
I had a little more clue about this one than about the previous, but not a huge amount. Possibly the most famous literary phrase never uttered – at least not in any of the works written by the original author – was ‘Elementary , my dear Watson.’ So if the four classical elements were important, then Prometheus gave Mankind fire, Tantalus was imprisoned by Tartarus and tortured by being forever thirsty,but forever denied water, although he was surrounded by it, Atlas is depicted in an Atlas with the earth on his shoulders – even though strictly speaking he carried the heavens, not the earth, and Daedalus invented wings which killed his son Icarus. Scotland got 6 – my answer was as good as theirs, so 6 for me. A comfortable win for Scotland
Answers to News Questions
In the news
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Mario Gotze
2. Shaun the Sheep
3. Nicky Morgan
4. Liz Truss
5. Stephen Crabb
6. Sarah Vine
7. Lord Hill
8. Jose Antonio Vargas
9. Gareth Warbuton
10. MH17
11. Rammasun
12. Lord Blencathra
13. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
14. Travellers Club
15. David Ross
16. Elaine Stritch
17. Philipp Lahm
In Other News
1. IN the FIFA world cup who won the Golden Ball?
2. – and the Golden Boot?
3. – and the Golden Glove
4. Who visited Nigeria to try to help to free the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
5. The last member of the Ramones passed away last week – who?
6. Which ship was refloated last week?
7. Which former Olympian officially came out to Michael Parkinson last week?
8. How many moto GP races has Marc Marquez won consecutively this season?
9. What was the result of England’s first test v. India?
10. Which team were relegated from Rugby League’s Super League last week?
11. Who sang at the world cup closing ceremony?
12. What was the result of the World Cup 3rd place play off?
13. Which controversial vote was passed by the General Synod of the Church of England last week?
14. Who stood down from her appointment to head the Child Abuse Inquiry?
15. Which member of the Cabinet quit last week?
16. – and which retired after 22 years as a minister?
17. Which former Nobel Prize for Literature laureate passed away?
18. Which unusual method of publishing a short story did author David Mitchell announce that he would use?
19. Who broke his leg on stage 10 of the Tour de France?
20. Man Utd. signed a record deal of £750m with which kit supplier?
21. Who saw their drug ban reduced to 6 months?
22. Which Sri Lankan announced his retirement from test Cricket?
23. The ceasefire in Gaza lasted how long?
24. Who is the new Foreign Secretary?
25. Who became South Africa’s first full time non white Test cricket captain?
26. Which England cricketer was formally accused of pushing and abusing Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja?
27. The last of England’s 2003 World Cup winning side announced his retirement from top flight rugby last week – who?
28. The Tate Modern has seen a controversy over the authenticity of some of the works in an exhibition of whose work?
29. According to YouGov – what is the UK’s favourite brand?
30. Which museum reopened after a £40m refurbishment?
31. Which former Head of state is suing the makers of Call of Duty for using him as the villain in one of their games?
32. According to reports last week, Marvel are changing which superhero from male to female?
33. Tony McKoy equaled whose total of winners last week?
34. AN outbreak of which disease has occurred in the Commonwealth Village?
35. Which Marvel superhero is to mutate into the new Captain America?
36. What was Rory McIlroy’s score on the first day of the Open?
37. – and where is it being played?
38. What is England’s latest FIFA world ranking?
39. Rio Ferdinand has been transferred to which club?
40. What has Nico Rosberg been banned from using on his helmet?
41. Who was cleared of all charges by an Italian appeal court?
42. Which TV show may have to change its name in the UK following a ruling in the High Court?
43. What is the name of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s baby son?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. He scored Germany’s winning goal in the world cup final
2. He topped a poll to find out the nation’s favourite Children’s TV character
3. New Education Secretary
4. New Environment Secretary
5. New Welsh Secretary, and reportedly the first bearded Conservative Cabinet minister since 1905
6. Wife of Michael Gove – the day after David Cameron said how happy Michael Gove was with his move to Chief Whip, she said in her Daily Mirror column that Cameron was making a huge mistake
7. Cameron’s nominee for EU Commissioner post
8. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who announced that he had been an illegal immigrant in the USA for 21 years
9. Welsh 800m runner failed a drugs test
10. Malaysian Airlines airliner shot down over Donetsk region of Ukraine
11. Typhoon that struck the Philippines
12. Apologised to Parliament for his £12,000 a month contract to lobby for the Cayman Islands
13. Sacked by Team Sky
14. Club that banned women members leading to Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation from membership
15. Co-founder of Carphone Warehouse who did not make the shortlist of 3 for the head of Ofsted
16. Actress passed away 89
17. German world cup winning captain announced retirement from international football
In Other News
1. Lionel Messi
2. Jamie Rodriguez of Colombia
3. Manuel Neuer of Germany
4. Malala Yusafzai
5. Tommy Ramone
6. The Costa Concordia
7. Ian Thorpe
8. 9
9. A draw
10. London Broncos
11. Shakira
12. Netherlands 3 – Brazil - 0
13. To accept the ordination of women bishops
14. Dame Elizabeth Butler Shloss
15. William Hague
16. Ken Clarke
17. Nadine Gordimer
18. On Twitter
19. Alberto Contador
20. Adidas
21. Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson
22. Jayawardene
23. Gaza
24. Phillip Hammond
25. Hashim Amla
26. James Anderson
27. Mike Tindall
28. Kasimir Malevich
29. Aldi
30. Imperial War Museum
31. Manuel Noriega
32. Thor
33. Martin Pipe
34. Norovirus
35. The Falcon
36. 66
37. Hoylake
38. 20
39. Rio ferdinand
40. An image of the World Cup Trophy
41. Silvio Berlusconi
42. Glee
43. Reggie Ennis - Hill
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Mario Gotze
2. Shaun the Sheep
3. Nicky Morgan
4. Liz Truss
5. Stephen Crabb
6. Sarah Vine
7. Lord Hill
8. Jose Antonio Vargas
9. Gareth Warbuton
10. MH17
11. Rammasun
12. Lord Blencathra
13. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
14. Travellers Club
15. David Ross
16. Elaine Stritch
17. Philipp Lahm
In Other News
1. IN the FIFA world cup who won the Golden Ball?
2. – and the Golden Boot?
3. – and the Golden Glove
4. Who visited Nigeria to try to help to free the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
5. The last member of the Ramones passed away last week – who?
6. Which ship was refloated last week?
7. Which former Olympian officially came out to Michael Parkinson last week?
8. How many moto GP races has Marc Marquez won consecutively this season?
9. What was the result of England’s first test v. India?
10. Which team were relegated from Rugby League’s Super League last week?
11. Who sang at the world cup closing ceremony?
12. What was the result of the World Cup 3rd place play off?
13. Which controversial vote was passed by the General Synod of the Church of England last week?
14. Who stood down from her appointment to head the Child Abuse Inquiry?
15. Which member of the Cabinet quit last week?
16. – and which retired after 22 years as a minister?
17. Which former Nobel Prize for Literature laureate passed away?
18. Which unusual method of publishing a short story did author David Mitchell announce that he would use?
19. Who broke his leg on stage 10 of the Tour de France?
20. Man Utd. signed a record deal of £750m with which kit supplier?
21. Who saw their drug ban reduced to 6 months?
22. Which Sri Lankan announced his retirement from test Cricket?
23. The ceasefire in Gaza lasted how long?
24. Who is the new Foreign Secretary?
25. Who became South Africa’s first full time non white Test cricket captain?
26. Which England cricketer was formally accused of pushing and abusing Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja?
27. The last of England’s 2003 World Cup winning side announced his retirement from top flight rugby last week – who?
28. The Tate Modern has seen a controversy over the authenticity of some of the works in an exhibition of whose work?
29. According to YouGov – what is the UK’s favourite brand?
30. Which museum reopened after a £40m refurbishment?
31. Which former Head of state is suing the makers of Call of Duty for using him as the villain in one of their games?
32. According to reports last week, Marvel are changing which superhero from male to female?
33. Tony McKoy equaled whose total of winners last week?
34. AN outbreak of which disease has occurred in the Commonwealth Village?
35. Which Marvel superhero is to mutate into the new Captain America?
36. What was Rory McIlroy’s score on the first day of the Open?
37. – and where is it being played?
38. What is England’s latest FIFA world ranking?
39. Rio Ferdinand has been transferred to which club?
40. What has Nico Rosberg been banned from using on his helmet?
41. Who was cleared of all charges by an Italian appeal court?
42. Which TV show may have to change its name in the UK following a ruling in the High Court?
43. What is the name of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s baby son?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. He scored Germany’s winning goal in the world cup final
2. He topped a poll to find out the nation’s favourite Children’s TV character
3. New Education Secretary
4. New Environment Secretary
5. New Welsh Secretary, and reportedly the first bearded Conservative Cabinet minister since 1905
6. Wife of Michael Gove – the day after David Cameron said how happy Michael Gove was with his move to Chief Whip, she said in her Daily Mirror column that Cameron was making a huge mistake
7. Cameron’s nominee for EU Commissioner post
8. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who announced that he had been an illegal immigrant in the USA for 21 years
9. Welsh 800m runner failed a drugs test
10. Malaysian Airlines airliner shot down over Donetsk region of Ukraine
11. Typhoon that struck the Philippines
12. Apologised to Parliament for his £12,000 a month contract to lobby for the Cayman Islands
13. Sacked by Team Sky
14. Club that banned women members leading to Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation from membership
15. Co-founder of Carphone Warehouse who did not make the shortlist of 3 for the head of Ofsted
16. Actress passed away 89
17. German world cup winning captain announced retirement from international football
In Other News
1. Lionel Messi
2. Jamie Rodriguez of Colombia
3. Manuel Neuer of Germany
4. Malala Yusafzai
5. Tommy Ramone
6. The Costa Concordia
7. Ian Thorpe
8. 9
9. A draw
10. London Broncos
11. Shakira
12. Netherlands 3 – Brazil - 0
13. To accept the ordination of women bishops
14. Dame Elizabeth Butler Shloss
15. William Hague
16. Ken Clarke
17. Nadine Gordimer
18. On Twitter
19. Alberto Contador
20. Adidas
21. Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson
22. Jayawardene
23. Gaza
24. Phillip Hammond
25. Hashim Amla
26. James Anderson
27. Mike Tindall
28. Kasimir Malevich
29. Aldi
30. Imperial War Museum
31. Manuel Noriega
32. Thor
33. Martin Pipe
34. Norovirus
35. The Falcon
36. 66
37. Hoylake
38. 20
39. Rio ferdinand
40. An image of the World Cup Trophy
41. Silvio Berlusconi
42. Glee
43. Reggie Ennis - Hill
LAM podcast 4
In this week's podcast -
30 questions on July 2013
Talking points on University Challenge
- and -
Handout Questions
Old Quizzers' Tale
Answers to Commonwealth Games questions
Just click on the player below
30 questions on July 2013
Talking points on University Challenge
- and -
Handout Questions
Old Quizzers' Tale
Answers to Commonwealth Games questions
Just click on the player below
Thursday, 24 July 2014
University Challenge - Round One - Match Two
Oxford Brookes v. Jesus, Oxford
An all Oxford affair, this. Last time out, Oxford Brookes reached the quarter finals in 2011. In the same series Jesus Oxford were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition in the first round, the round in which they were beaten last year as well. Oxford Brookes’ team consisted of Simon Joyce, Paula Ayres, Stephen May, and skipper David Ballard. Jesus’ team consisted of Beth Roberts, Louisa Thompson, Jonathan Clingman, and captain Alex Browne.
For the first starter Jonathan Clingman worked out that the clues were leading us to sapphire and satire, which both end in – ire. The team managed 1 of a gettable set on Thomas Cromwell. A good old quiz chestnut listing some of the people who have been pictured on Bank of England banknotes came next, and Paula Ayres was the first one in for the points. When the set of bonuses were announced on a physical constant I came out with my stick answer – the speed of light – and picked up a point with the first bonus. I picked up another knowing that Foucault was the French pendulum guy, as did the team. Now, talking about stock answers – JP announced that for the next starter he wanted a particular liquid, and started giving various chemical properties of it. I thought, if in doubt, go water. It was right. Jonathan Clingman took his second starter with this one. Wikipedia editors confounded them, and I only had one because I knew that the red portcullis is the symbol of the House of Lords. Both Alex Browne and I recognized a description of Yokohama for the next starter. This earned Jesus a set of bonuses on The International Sociological Organisation’s list of books of the 20th century. I have to say, none of them exactly sounded like good holiday reading. Jesus took one, which was one more than I did. For the picture starter Paula Ayres recognized the Russian word for good as written in Cyrillic. The bonuses were three more Russian words on which Nadsat words in Anthony Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’ are based. Phew – got that everyone? Frankly I was impressed that Oxford Brookes even got one of them. Which was enough to ensure that the scores at the 10 minute mark were 40 – 25 to Jesus. First impressions were that Jesus seemed to have slightly the edge on the buzzer, but both teams were rather profligate with the bonuses. It also seemed that neither team was answering particularly quickly, and this could, just could be one of those low scoring contests where only the winner will go through.
The next starter was a very good example of what you can get on UC. I’ll be honest, I don’t know Nick Payne, or any two hander play that he’s written. However I do know that constellations is the pural for a word meaning a group of stars. Louisa Thompson won the buzzer race on that one once it became clear. The infectious disease bonuses they were given provided all of us with two correct answers. Simon Joyce won the buzzer race to answer that a Great Auk was killed on St. Kilda in 1840, and this provided Oxford Brookes with words coined in the 1990s. Like them I had dotcom and malware, but not digerati. Maybe bearing in mind JPs well deserved reputation for scorn when a Shakespeare question is incorrectly answered both teams held back from answering which play has a pageant in which characters dress as great figures from antiquity. It was Beth Roberts who provided the correct answer of Love’s Labours Lost. Unpublished novels provided Jesus with 2 bonuses, although they maybe might have picked up on the clue in the title that Titus Awakes was by Mervyn Peake. Beth Roberts took her second consecutive starter by very quickly recognizing as song from the soundtrack of ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ The bonuse set asked them to identify three more films featuring fictional bands. I surprised myself by getting a fullset on this. The one that foxed Jesus was Tom Hank’s film “That Thing You do” – a rather good film as I recall. Nonetheless the 2 bonuses they had put them up to 3 figures. Stephen Mayes buzzed in to take the next starter with various types of meteorites. Bonuses on lasers promised me nothing, which is what they delivered to all of us. Given three Jacks – Hobbs – Charlton and Nicklaus and asked for the christian names, David Ballard scored a bit of an own goal by buzzing in with the surname Charlton rather than the christian name Jack. Jesus though couldn’t add insult to injury, being unable to answer the question. The next starter on antiseptics asked what QACS stand for. No more than I did, nobody knew Quarternary Ammonium Compunds. Nobody knew that the Battle of Sheriffmuir took place in the 1710s. You could be forgiven for going for the 1740s, but this was the first Jacobite Rebellion, not the second. Not that either team did. Right on the cusp of 20 minutes, Jesus had extended the lead, with the score at 100 – 55, and were looking likely to get home with maybe a little to spare.
Now, if a starter says US thinker – and – 1849, then there really are only two likely possible answers. Thoreau is one – Emerson (Ralph Waldo rather than Fittipaldi) the other. Simon Joyce chanced his arm with Thoreau and was rewarded. Two bonuses on Tales from Shakespeare narrowed the gap to 25 – one full set. The second picture starter showed a photo of Mr. Chekov. Neither team had it. A UC special followed, asking - from which SI units could you use the letters to make French words for Mother and Father? Jonathan Clingman won the buzzer race with ‘ampere’. For his pains his team were rewarded with the picture bonuses. Chekov of course wrote the Cherry Orchard. These bonuses all showed writers at least one of whose works included the name of a piece of fruit. It shows how times have changed when they didn’t recognize Roald Dahl. It was a bit naughty expecting them to identify Jeannette Winterson and TWO works with fruit in the title all for a measly five point bonus. David Ballard was in impressively quickly to identify Mahatma Gandhi as Time Magazine’s first Asian and Non-American Man of the Year. An interesting set on years that contained only two digits – eg 1515 and 1666 – saw them add five more points. The gape still stood at 25 points, and time was ticking away. Beth Roberts came in early on the question asking what Argus had 100 of, and went for teeth, losing 5 points. Stephen Mayes had it with eyes, and the gap was down to 10. A UC special set followed, on shorter words that can be made with any of the letters from the word voluptuous. Almost inevitably 2 bonuses were taken, which meant that both teams were level. Paula Ayres put Oxford Brookes ahead, knowing that in mammals the osseous whatsaname is in the ear. Geological bonuses increased the lead to 20 points. A full set could still give Jesus the win – mind you we had yet to see a full set taken in this show. Beth Roberts fulfilled the first requirement, knowing that Merrylegs was a stablemate of Black Beauty. Bonuses on Francis Bacon ( who did NOT write the plays of Shakespeare) saw them answer 1 incorrectly, at which point the gong sounded. Bad luck that. Had they taken the next two starters we’d have been in a tiebreak situation.
Well done Oxford Brookes, good luck in Round Two. Bad luck Jesus. An interesting match, for very different reasons from those that made last week’s such a good match. For once JP’s final comments hit the nail on the head when he said that Jesus spent far too long conferring on bonuses. Although I would add that taking your time is fine when it enables you to take full sets. Maybe they would have been better to give quick guessed answers and move on.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Now, we expect JP to get sniffy when teams get Shakespeare questions wrong, but it’s coming to something when he starts doing it with physics as well. When Oxford Brookes offered ‘doppler’ effect for ‘stellar aberration’ he wrinkled his nose, and in a tone remarkably reminiscent of Edward Blackadder saying ‘Bob’, repeated ‘ Doppler?’
Having started relatively early, JP held his piece until the last few minutes of the show, when Oxford Brookes speculatively suggested that the Chekov phot might be Charles Dickens. “Dickens?!” he replied, in the tones of Mr. Bumble just after Oliver Twist has asked for more, “it doesn’t look the slightest bit like Dickens!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Digerati was a word coined in the 1990s for particularly IT literate people.
An all Oxford affair, this. Last time out, Oxford Brookes reached the quarter finals in 2011. In the same series Jesus Oxford were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition in the first round, the round in which they were beaten last year as well. Oxford Brookes’ team consisted of Simon Joyce, Paula Ayres, Stephen May, and skipper David Ballard. Jesus’ team consisted of Beth Roberts, Louisa Thompson, Jonathan Clingman, and captain Alex Browne.
For the first starter Jonathan Clingman worked out that the clues were leading us to sapphire and satire, which both end in – ire. The team managed 1 of a gettable set on Thomas Cromwell. A good old quiz chestnut listing some of the people who have been pictured on Bank of England banknotes came next, and Paula Ayres was the first one in for the points. When the set of bonuses were announced on a physical constant I came out with my stick answer – the speed of light – and picked up a point with the first bonus. I picked up another knowing that Foucault was the French pendulum guy, as did the team. Now, talking about stock answers – JP announced that for the next starter he wanted a particular liquid, and started giving various chemical properties of it. I thought, if in doubt, go water. It was right. Jonathan Clingman took his second starter with this one. Wikipedia editors confounded them, and I only had one because I knew that the red portcullis is the symbol of the House of Lords. Both Alex Browne and I recognized a description of Yokohama for the next starter. This earned Jesus a set of bonuses on The International Sociological Organisation’s list of books of the 20th century. I have to say, none of them exactly sounded like good holiday reading. Jesus took one, which was one more than I did. For the picture starter Paula Ayres recognized the Russian word for good as written in Cyrillic. The bonuses were three more Russian words on which Nadsat words in Anthony Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’ are based. Phew – got that everyone? Frankly I was impressed that Oxford Brookes even got one of them. Which was enough to ensure that the scores at the 10 minute mark were 40 – 25 to Jesus. First impressions were that Jesus seemed to have slightly the edge on the buzzer, but both teams were rather profligate with the bonuses. It also seemed that neither team was answering particularly quickly, and this could, just could be one of those low scoring contests where only the winner will go through.
The next starter was a very good example of what you can get on UC. I’ll be honest, I don’t know Nick Payne, or any two hander play that he’s written. However I do know that constellations is the pural for a word meaning a group of stars. Louisa Thompson won the buzzer race on that one once it became clear. The infectious disease bonuses they were given provided all of us with two correct answers. Simon Joyce won the buzzer race to answer that a Great Auk was killed on St. Kilda in 1840, and this provided Oxford Brookes with words coined in the 1990s. Like them I had dotcom and malware, but not digerati. Maybe bearing in mind JPs well deserved reputation for scorn when a Shakespeare question is incorrectly answered both teams held back from answering which play has a pageant in which characters dress as great figures from antiquity. It was Beth Roberts who provided the correct answer of Love’s Labours Lost. Unpublished novels provided Jesus with 2 bonuses, although they maybe might have picked up on the clue in the title that Titus Awakes was by Mervyn Peake. Beth Roberts took her second consecutive starter by very quickly recognizing as song from the soundtrack of ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ The bonuse set asked them to identify three more films featuring fictional bands. I surprised myself by getting a fullset on this. The one that foxed Jesus was Tom Hank’s film “That Thing You do” – a rather good film as I recall. Nonetheless the 2 bonuses they had put them up to 3 figures. Stephen Mayes buzzed in to take the next starter with various types of meteorites. Bonuses on lasers promised me nothing, which is what they delivered to all of us. Given three Jacks – Hobbs – Charlton and Nicklaus and asked for the christian names, David Ballard scored a bit of an own goal by buzzing in with the surname Charlton rather than the christian name Jack. Jesus though couldn’t add insult to injury, being unable to answer the question. The next starter on antiseptics asked what QACS stand for. No more than I did, nobody knew Quarternary Ammonium Compunds. Nobody knew that the Battle of Sheriffmuir took place in the 1710s. You could be forgiven for going for the 1740s, but this was the first Jacobite Rebellion, not the second. Not that either team did. Right on the cusp of 20 minutes, Jesus had extended the lead, with the score at 100 – 55, and were looking likely to get home with maybe a little to spare.
Now, if a starter says US thinker – and – 1849, then there really are only two likely possible answers. Thoreau is one – Emerson (Ralph Waldo rather than Fittipaldi) the other. Simon Joyce chanced his arm with Thoreau and was rewarded. Two bonuses on Tales from Shakespeare narrowed the gap to 25 – one full set. The second picture starter showed a photo of Mr. Chekov. Neither team had it. A UC special followed, asking - from which SI units could you use the letters to make French words for Mother and Father? Jonathan Clingman won the buzzer race with ‘ampere’. For his pains his team were rewarded with the picture bonuses. Chekov of course wrote the Cherry Orchard. These bonuses all showed writers at least one of whose works included the name of a piece of fruit. It shows how times have changed when they didn’t recognize Roald Dahl. It was a bit naughty expecting them to identify Jeannette Winterson and TWO works with fruit in the title all for a measly five point bonus. David Ballard was in impressively quickly to identify Mahatma Gandhi as Time Magazine’s first Asian and Non-American Man of the Year. An interesting set on years that contained only two digits – eg 1515 and 1666 – saw them add five more points. The gape still stood at 25 points, and time was ticking away. Beth Roberts came in early on the question asking what Argus had 100 of, and went for teeth, losing 5 points. Stephen Mayes had it with eyes, and the gap was down to 10. A UC special set followed, on shorter words that can be made with any of the letters from the word voluptuous. Almost inevitably 2 bonuses were taken, which meant that both teams were level. Paula Ayres put Oxford Brookes ahead, knowing that in mammals the osseous whatsaname is in the ear. Geological bonuses increased the lead to 20 points. A full set could still give Jesus the win – mind you we had yet to see a full set taken in this show. Beth Roberts fulfilled the first requirement, knowing that Merrylegs was a stablemate of Black Beauty. Bonuses on Francis Bacon ( who did NOT write the plays of Shakespeare) saw them answer 1 incorrectly, at which point the gong sounded. Bad luck that. Had they taken the next two starters we’d have been in a tiebreak situation.
Well done Oxford Brookes, good luck in Round Two. Bad luck Jesus. An interesting match, for very different reasons from those that made last week’s such a good match. For once JP’s final comments hit the nail on the head when he said that Jesus spent far too long conferring on bonuses. Although I would add that taking your time is fine when it enables you to take full sets. Maybe they would have been better to give quick guessed answers and move on.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Now, we expect JP to get sniffy when teams get Shakespeare questions wrong, but it’s coming to something when he starts doing it with physics as well. When Oxford Brookes offered ‘doppler’ effect for ‘stellar aberration’ he wrinkled his nose, and in a tone remarkably reminiscent of Edward Blackadder saying ‘Bob’, repeated ‘ Doppler?’
Having started relatively early, JP held his piece until the last few minutes of the show, when Oxford Brookes speculatively suggested that the Chekov phot might be Charles Dickens. “Dickens?!” he replied, in the tones of Mr. Bumble just after Oliver Twist has asked for more, “it doesn’t look the slightest bit like Dickens!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Digerati was a word coined in the 1990s for particularly IT literate people.
Monday, 21 July 2014
On Being Virtuous, and Scottish Skin
I have tried to be virtuous today. Honestly. This is the first official day of the school holidays. Actually I should qualify that a little. When the dates for this school year came out, it transpired that we were actually supposed to be in school for today, and tomorrow was supposed to be the first day of the holidays. Now, rather than having to come in for just one day, which would have been in INSET day anyway, we worked several twilight sessions during the year after school. Not really worth mentioning, but there we are.
So as I said, I am trying to be virtuous this morning. I popped into the school because I didn’t finish reorganizing and tidying my stock room before the end of last week. However I couldn’t find anyone there, and the block was locked, so that has been put on hold until later in the week. I tried, at least.
Now, the basic problem is my legs. Let me explain that. I am very proud of my Scottish ancestry, but it does mean that one thing I seem to have inherited from my Scottish forbears ( you have forbears? That’s one more than Goldilocks – boom boom) one thing I seem to have inherited from them is my Scottish skin. My arms and face will eventually darken, given exposure to ultraviolet, but my legs? Never. They remain a flaccid bluey-white, obstinately refusing to tan even slightly. It looks pathetic. We’re off to Spain at the end of the month, and you have to wear shorts out there. I think they passed a law some time in the 70s. Alright, maybe it’s not compulsory, but trust me, in the summer, you need to wear shorts. So for the last three or four weeks I’ve been wearing them at every opportunity, exposing them to sunshine for all I’m worth. So far – nothing. Last week I even volunteered to accompany 70 odd kids to a theme park for the day to give me an opportunity to get my shorts on again. Result? It tipped down all day. The next day, last Thursday, I again volunteered for a 2 hour stint out on the field in what was ironically dubbed “Fun Day”. I endured two hours of blindingly hot sunshine, and at the end the only bit of my legs which looked even slightly red was where a wasp stung me.
Well, if at first and all that. So this morning, unable to tidy the stockroom I made the fateful decision to take a little exercise instead. A walk in Kenfig Pool Nature reserve would have the triple effect of letting me expose my legs for an hour or two, providing me with some exercise, and letting me see some of my favourite butterflies. I walked for about an hour and a quarter, and in that time I saw 9 species – meadow brown, gatekeeper, small blue, common blue, grayling, small white, speckled wood, peacock and red admiral. Thinking about it, you could probably write a whole article about butterfly names. One of my favourite ever connections went something like this: -
1) Who is Reina Sophia? (she isn’t any longer, but was then)
During the making of which film did Liz Taylor meet Richard Burton?
Which title, now born by the King of Spain, belonged to the ruler of an independent dukedom which was later absorbed into the French crown?
What is the connection between the last three answers?
The answers are : - The Queen of Spain – Cleopatra – The Duke of Burgundy – and the connection is that they have all had butterflies named after them. Now, granted that this is a very specialist connection set, and the guest setter who asked it didn’t receive the warmest round of applause at the end of the quiz, but it does illustrate my point.
Well, speaking of quizzes, which I really should be, you’ll be delighted to know that last night’s quiz, about which I wrote in my last post, went off rather well. I hadn’t realized it before Jess and I arrived, but the pub is one I’d played in through the Bridgend League a couple of times, and a very nice big pub it is too. It’s part of the Brains pub chain. I’m guessing that the chain originated with Brains’ Brewery in Cardiff, but according to their own publicity they now have over 250 pubs in Wales and the Midlands. Anyway, I mention this because the Twelve Knights,, our surviving ‘every-other-Sunday’ quiz pub, is also a Brains pub. So I expected a similar Redtooth quiz. In the Twelve Knights the format is that there is a picture round to start (only 10 pictures thank goodness – pictures and me do not get on, as I think I might have mentioned once or twice before) The next ten questions are all based on the news. For the next round, you are given two lists of five. It’s billed as a Family Fortunes round, but thankfully you’re not asked to predict what the five most popular answers were out of a 100 person survey to find the most popular names for dogs, and such like. For example, our most recent Twelve Knights quiz asked us – Name the last Five films to win the Best Picture Oscar which begin with the word ‘The’. Something that requires a bit of knowledge, I think you’ll agree. The next round gives you ten questions, each of which starts with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. The next round after that has 4 questions, and then asks for the connection. The last round of ten asks ten general knowledge questions. You can answer as many or as few as you like. If you answer all 10 correctly you get 15 points – a 5 point bonus being added to your 10. If you get any answer wrong, though, you get no points for the round at all. Good fun, actually.
So, as I said, I expected something similar last night. There was one difference I noticed straight away. The quiz in the Twelve Knights is always quite well attended, but last night this was of a whole different order. The place was packed. I’d estimate that there were between a dozen and fifteen large teams there. Now, the first round was just the same sort of Redtooth picture round as I expected, and then 10 questions on the news, but after that it was quite different. We had 30 mixed General Knowledge questions – a couple of which made you think, but most of which were perfectly straightforward. Then at the end we had one list of five – in this case a list of US TV shows, and were asked to write down the cities in which they are set.
So, going back to what I wrote yesterday, one of my concerns was that whenever you go to a new quiz, you’re always worried that it might be one of these places where a blind eye is turned to phone cheating. Well, Jess and I won last night with 51/55(two wrong answers were pictures, and the other two were news questions), and the runners up had 49/55. So on reflection I’d say that no, there probably wasn’t phone cheating going on.
Emboldened by our win, I had a little chat with the landlord who’d asked the quiz afterwards, about the quiz, and the format, and the fact that it’s similar in some ways to the Redtooth quiz in the Knights, but also different. What he told me was that the brewery send out the quizzes which they buy from Redtooth. When he gets the quiz, he uses the first two rounds, but then asks the rest as a straight GK quiz, and changes some of the questions, replacing some of them with his own, which he judges more suited to the regulars. You know, I’m all for that. He also won my approval when he gave the answer to this question: -
Who resigned from his post as Foreign Secretary last week? When he read out the answer he’d been given – Ken Clarke – there was a bit of an outcry, and he immediately responded with,
You’re right. Of course it’s William Hague. I don’t know why they’ve given Ken Clarke as the answer here.
Respect for that. So all in all I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed yesterday night’s quiz. OK – so the first prize was only 6 drinks tickets, as opposed to the £25 voucher from the Knights, but then it isn’t so much about the prizes anyway. So if you’re a regular in last night’s quiz, I can only apologise, but in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger – I’ll be back.
So as I said, I am trying to be virtuous this morning. I popped into the school because I didn’t finish reorganizing and tidying my stock room before the end of last week. However I couldn’t find anyone there, and the block was locked, so that has been put on hold until later in the week. I tried, at least.
Now, the basic problem is my legs. Let me explain that. I am very proud of my Scottish ancestry, but it does mean that one thing I seem to have inherited from my Scottish forbears ( you have forbears? That’s one more than Goldilocks – boom boom) one thing I seem to have inherited from them is my Scottish skin. My arms and face will eventually darken, given exposure to ultraviolet, but my legs? Never. They remain a flaccid bluey-white, obstinately refusing to tan even slightly. It looks pathetic. We’re off to Spain at the end of the month, and you have to wear shorts out there. I think they passed a law some time in the 70s. Alright, maybe it’s not compulsory, but trust me, in the summer, you need to wear shorts. So for the last three or four weeks I’ve been wearing them at every opportunity, exposing them to sunshine for all I’m worth. So far – nothing. Last week I even volunteered to accompany 70 odd kids to a theme park for the day to give me an opportunity to get my shorts on again. Result? It tipped down all day. The next day, last Thursday, I again volunteered for a 2 hour stint out on the field in what was ironically dubbed “Fun Day”. I endured two hours of blindingly hot sunshine, and at the end the only bit of my legs which looked even slightly red was where a wasp stung me.
Well, if at first and all that. So this morning, unable to tidy the stockroom I made the fateful decision to take a little exercise instead. A walk in Kenfig Pool Nature reserve would have the triple effect of letting me expose my legs for an hour or two, providing me with some exercise, and letting me see some of my favourite butterflies. I walked for about an hour and a quarter, and in that time I saw 9 species – meadow brown, gatekeeper, small blue, common blue, grayling, small white, speckled wood, peacock and red admiral. Thinking about it, you could probably write a whole article about butterfly names. One of my favourite ever connections went something like this: -
1) Who is Reina Sophia? (she isn’t any longer, but was then)
During the making of which film did Liz Taylor meet Richard Burton?
Which title, now born by the King of Spain, belonged to the ruler of an independent dukedom which was later absorbed into the French crown?
What is the connection between the last three answers?
The answers are : - The Queen of Spain – Cleopatra – The Duke of Burgundy – and the connection is that they have all had butterflies named after them. Now, granted that this is a very specialist connection set, and the guest setter who asked it didn’t receive the warmest round of applause at the end of the quiz, but it does illustrate my point.
Well, speaking of quizzes, which I really should be, you’ll be delighted to know that last night’s quiz, about which I wrote in my last post, went off rather well. I hadn’t realized it before Jess and I arrived, but the pub is one I’d played in through the Bridgend League a couple of times, and a very nice big pub it is too. It’s part of the Brains pub chain. I’m guessing that the chain originated with Brains’ Brewery in Cardiff, but according to their own publicity they now have over 250 pubs in Wales and the Midlands. Anyway, I mention this because the Twelve Knights,, our surviving ‘every-other-Sunday’ quiz pub, is also a Brains pub. So I expected a similar Redtooth quiz. In the Twelve Knights the format is that there is a picture round to start (only 10 pictures thank goodness – pictures and me do not get on, as I think I might have mentioned once or twice before) The next ten questions are all based on the news. For the next round, you are given two lists of five. It’s billed as a Family Fortunes round, but thankfully you’re not asked to predict what the five most popular answers were out of a 100 person survey to find the most popular names for dogs, and such like. For example, our most recent Twelve Knights quiz asked us – Name the last Five films to win the Best Picture Oscar which begin with the word ‘The’. Something that requires a bit of knowledge, I think you’ll agree. The next round gives you ten questions, each of which starts with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. The next round after that has 4 questions, and then asks for the connection. The last round of ten asks ten general knowledge questions. You can answer as many or as few as you like. If you answer all 10 correctly you get 15 points – a 5 point bonus being added to your 10. If you get any answer wrong, though, you get no points for the round at all. Good fun, actually.
So, as I said, I expected something similar last night. There was one difference I noticed straight away. The quiz in the Twelve Knights is always quite well attended, but last night this was of a whole different order. The place was packed. I’d estimate that there were between a dozen and fifteen large teams there. Now, the first round was just the same sort of Redtooth picture round as I expected, and then 10 questions on the news, but after that it was quite different. We had 30 mixed General Knowledge questions – a couple of which made you think, but most of which were perfectly straightforward. Then at the end we had one list of five – in this case a list of US TV shows, and were asked to write down the cities in which they are set.
So, going back to what I wrote yesterday, one of my concerns was that whenever you go to a new quiz, you’re always worried that it might be one of these places where a blind eye is turned to phone cheating. Well, Jess and I won last night with 51/55(two wrong answers were pictures, and the other two were news questions), and the runners up had 49/55. So on reflection I’d say that no, there probably wasn’t phone cheating going on.
Emboldened by our win, I had a little chat with the landlord who’d asked the quiz afterwards, about the quiz, and the format, and the fact that it’s similar in some ways to the Redtooth quiz in the Knights, but also different. What he told me was that the brewery send out the quizzes which they buy from Redtooth. When he gets the quiz, he uses the first two rounds, but then asks the rest as a straight GK quiz, and changes some of the questions, replacing some of them with his own, which he judges more suited to the regulars. You know, I’m all for that. He also won my approval when he gave the answer to this question: -
Who resigned from his post as Foreign Secretary last week? When he read out the answer he’d been given – Ken Clarke – there was a bit of an outcry, and he immediately responded with,
You’re right. Of course it’s William Hague. I don’t know why they’ve given Ken Clarke as the answer here.
Respect for that. So all in all I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed yesterday night’s quiz. OK – so the first prize was only 6 drinks tickets, as opposed to the £25 voucher from the Knights, but then it isn’t so much about the prizes anyway. So if you’re a regular in last night’s quiz, I can only apologise, but in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger – I’ll be back.
Sunday, 20 July 2014
New Sunday night quiz
As I sit here in the living room, waiting for the Monty Python live broadcast to start, I do so in a certain amount of anticipation. About the show? Not really. Like a lot of blokes of my age I can probably recite most of the sketches along with them. No, the fact is that I gave myself a couple of hours to find a new quiz to try tonight. I’m honestly not that fussy – basically anywhere between Swansea and Cardiff I’ll try. Using the net I came up with 8 or 9 possibilities. My first phone call revealed that the pub had stopped doing the quiz some time ago. Oh well, that’s part for the course, I’m afraid. The second call, though, was a lot more fruitful. Yes, sir, said the nice lady on the phone, and it starts at 8:45. Great.
Jessie’s going to come with me, riding shotgun, as it were. To be honest, I’m not asking for a great deal from a Sunday quiz these days. Time was that John and I would turn our noses up at anything that wasn’t home made, but now I’m just happy to find a place where they’ll chuck a few questions in my general direction, and not get too funny about it if I happen to get more of them right than the other teams. So much the better if : -
* It manages to ask a couple of interesting questions
* If there is a picture round, then pictures should be few, and obvious
* Entertainment questions are rationed sensibly and interspersed with a wide variety of other genres
*Cheating is non existent – or if there is cheating, then the QM takes action promptly and effectively
* The words ‘the next round is a family fortunes round’ never pass the QM’s lips
Alright, come to think of it – I do ask for a lot, then.
Jessie’s going to come with me, riding shotgun, as it were. To be honest, I’m not asking for a great deal from a Sunday quiz these days. Time was that John and I would turn our noses up at anything that wasn’t home made, but now I’m just happy to find a place where they’ll chuck a few questions in my general direction, and not get too funny about it if I happen to get more of them right than the other teams. So much the better if : -
* It manages to ask a couple of interesting questions
* If there is a picture round, then pictures should be few, and obvious
* Entertainment questions are rationed sensibly and interspersed with a wide variety of other genres
*Cheating is non existent – or if there is cheating, then the QM takes action promptly and effectively
* The words ‘the next round is a family fortunes round’ never pass the QM’s lips
Alright, come to think of it – I do ask for a lot, then.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Podcast 3
In this week's podcast: -
30 Questions on the Commonwealth Games
University Challenge first round
Quizzing in the Holidays
Another old quizzer's story
Answers to last week's questions
and a little bit more.
30 Questions on the Commonwealth Games
University Challenge first round
Quizzing in the Holidays
Another old quizzer's story
Answers to last week's questions
and a little bit more.
In The News
In the news
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Mario Gotze
2. Shaun the Sheep
3. Nicky Morgan
4. Liz Truss
5. Stephen Crabb
6. Sarah Vine
7. Lord Hill
8. Jose Antonio Vargas
9. Gareth Warbuton
10. MH17
11. Rammasun
12. Lord Blencathra
13. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
14. Travellers Club
15. David Ross
16. Elaine Stritch
17. Philipp Lahm
In Other News
1. IN the FIFA world cup who won the Golden Ball?
2. – and the Golden Boot?
3. – and the Golden Glove
4. Who visited Nigeria to try to help to free the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
5. The last member of the Ramones passed away last week – who?
6. Which ship was refloated last week?
7. Which former Olympian officially came out to Michael Parkinson last week?
8. How many moto GP races has Marc Marquez won consecutively this season?
9. What was the result of England’s first test v. India?
10. Which team were relegated from Rugby League’s Super League last week?
11. Who sang at the world cup closing ceremony?
12. What was the result of the World Cup 3rd place play off?
13. Which controversial vote was passed by the General Synod of the Church of England last week?
14. Who stood down from her appointment to head the Child Abuse Inquiry?
15. Which member of the Cabinet quit last week?
16. – and which retired after 22 years as a minister?
17. Which former Nobel Prize for Literature laureate passed away?
18. Which unusual method of publishing a short story did author David Mitchell announce that he would use?
19. Who broke his leg on stage 10 of the Tour de France?
20. Man Utd. signed a record deal of £750m with which kit supplier?
21. Who saw their drug ban reduced to 6 months?
22. Which Sri Lankan announced his retirement from test Cricket?
23. The ceasefire in Gaza lasted how long?
24. Who is the new Foreign Secretary?
25. Who became South Africa’s first full time non white Test cricket captain?
26. Which England cricketer was formally accused of pushing and abusing Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja?
27. The last of England’s 2003 World Cup winning side announced his retirement from top flight rugby last week – who?
28. The Tate Modern has seen a controversy over the authenticity of some of the works in an exhibition of whose work?
29. According to YouGov – what is the UK’s favourite brand?
30. Which museum reopened after a £40m refurbishment?
31. Which former Head of state is suing the makers of Call of Duty for using him as the villain in one of their games?
32. According to reports last week, Marvel are changing which superhero from male to female?
33. Tony McKoy equaled whose total of winners last week?
34. AN outbreak of which disease has occurred in the Commonwealth Village?
35. Which Marvel superhero is to mutate into the new Captain America?
36. What was Rory McIlroy’s score on the first day of the Open?
37. – and where is it being played?
38. What is England’s latest FIFA world ranking?
39. Rio Ferdinand has been transferred to which club?
40. What has Nico Rosberg been banned from using on his helmet?
41. Who was cleared of all charges by an Italian appeal court?
42. Which TV show may have to change its name in the UK following a ruling in the High Court?
43. What is the name of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s baby son?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Mario Gotze
2. Shaun the Sheep
3. Nicky Morgan
4. Liz Truss
5. Stephen Crabb
6. Sarah Vine
7. Lord Hill
8. Jose Antonio Vargas
9. Gareth Warbuton
10. MH17
11. Rammasun
12. Lord Blencathra
13. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
14. Travellers Club
15. David Ross
16. Elaine Stritch
17. Philipp Lahm
In Other News
1. IN the FIFA world cup who won the Golden Ball?
2. – and the Golden Boot?
3. – and the Golden Glove
4. Who visited Nigeria to try to help to free the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
5. The last member of the Ramones passed away last week – who?
6. Which ship was refloated last week?
7. Which former Olympian officially came out to Michael Parkinson last week?
8. How many moto GP races has Marc Marquez won consecutively this season?
9. What was the result of England’s first test v. India?
10. Which team were relegated from Rugby League’s Super League last week?
11. Who sang at the world cup closing ceremony?
12. What was the result of the World Cup 3rd place play off?
13. Which controversial vote was passed by the General Synod of the Church of England last week?
14. Who stood down from her appointment to head the Child Abuse Inquiry?
15. Which member of the Cabinet quit last week?
16. – and which retired after 22 years as a minister?
17. Which former Nobel Prize for Literature laureate passed away?
18. Which unusual method of publishing a short story did author David Mitchell announce that he would use?
19. Who broke his leg on stage 10 of the Tour de France?
20. Man Utd. signed a record deal of £750m with which kit supplier?
21. Who saw their drug ban reduced to 6 months?
22. Which Sri Lankan announced his retirement from test Cricket?
23. The ceasefire in Gaza lasted how long?
24. Who is the new Foreign Secretary?
25. Who became South Africa’s first full time non white Test cricket captain?
26. Which England cricketer was formally accused of pushing and abusing Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja?
27. The last of England’s 2003 World Cup winning side announced his retirement from top flight rugby last week – who?
28. The Tate Modern has seen a controversy over the authenticity of some of the works in an exhibition of whose work?
29. According to YouGov – what is the UK’s favourite brand?
30. Which museum reopened after a £40m refurbishment?
31. Which former Head of state is suing the makers of Call of Duty for using him as the villain in one of their games?
32. According to reports last week, Marvel are changing which superhero from male to female?
33. Tony McKoy equaled whose total of winners last week?
34. AN outbreak of which disease has occurred in the Commonwealth Village?
35. Which Marvel superhero is to mutate into the new Captain America?
36. What was Rory McIlroy’s score on the first day of the Open?
37. – and where is it being played?
38. What is England’s latest FIFA world ranking?
39. Rio Ferdinand has been transferred to which club?
40. What has Nico Rosberg been banned from using on his helmet?
41. Who was cleared of all charges by an Italian appeal court?
42. Which TV show may have to change its name in the UK following a ruling in the High Court?
43. What is the name of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s baby son?
Friday, 18 July 2014
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who Or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Popsisil and Sock
2. Errani and Vinci
3. Zimonic and Stosur
4. Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
5. Tariq Khdeir
6. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
7. Fosse Court
8. UKube-1
9. Horatio Chapple
10. Francesco Beccheti
11. Sir Christopher Hohn and Jamie Cooper-Hohn
12. Buff
13. Baroness Butler-Sloss
14. Ray Whelan
15. Malcolm Ashton
16. F-35
In Other News
1. Who won the men’s final at Wimbledon?
2. – and the British GP?
3. – and the first stage of the Tour de France?
4. Who made his return to first class cricket last week?
5. Who crashed out of the Tour de France in the first stage?
6. What was the score in the World Cup Argentina v. Belgium ¼ final 7. – and Germany v. France?
8. Which former cabinet minister last week faced questions from the police over a historic rape allegation?
9. Where was a hoard of Roman and British coins found?
10. Which legendary footballer passed away after suffering a heart attack?
11. Who was unknowingly recorded using the C word about Kevin Pietersen?
12. Which African country qualified for the Rugby World Cup last week?
13. Which US state announced that it will also be legalizing marijuana last week?
14. Which sportsman, who was arrested on suspicion of assault, saw all charges against him dropped last week?
15. 5 scripts for the new series of which show were leaked online last week?
16. Which former Soviet politician, then leader of his own country passed away last week?
17. Who won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France which finished in the Mall?
18. Where were passengers evacuated from last week?
19. Which memorial was defaced last week?
20. Mark Cavendish requires surgery that means he is out of the Commonwealth Games. Which team would he have represented?
21. Ashley Cole signed for which team last week?
22. Who are Man Utd.’s new main shirt sponsor?
23. Which former Grand National winning jockey passed away last week?
24. A christian bakery in Northern Ireland last week faced a storm of criticism when they refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding featuring which two characters?
25. Which claim did Harriet Harman make last week about her career in politics?
26. Which country announced plans to build a rival to the Panama Canal?
27. Who rode through the Channel Tunnel before crashing out on stage 5 of the Tour de France?
28. Whose wearing of a Brazil shirt has been blamed for their 7 – 1 semi final defeat by Germany?
29. What was the result of the Argentina v. Netherlands world cup semi final?
30. Who was charged last week with pelting his neighbour’s house with rotten eggs?
31. Which hotel was hit by smash and grab raiders for the second time in 4 weeks?
32. Who lost his appeal to FIFA?
33. The world of competitive ballroom dancing announced it’s intention to impose which rule?
34. What were the odds offered by Paddy Power against a 7-1 win for Germany in the world cup semi final?
35. Where in the UK did a 4.2 earthquake strike?
36. Which former Archbishop of Canterbury backed assisted dying?
37. Who refused an apology from the Daily Mail?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Winners of Wimbledon Men’s Doubles
2. – and Women’s doubles
3. – and mixed doubles
4. First UK number 1 calculated on figures including online streaming
5. US-Palestinian boy beaten up in Israel by what appear to be members of Israeli police
6. Head of ISIS
7. Leicester Nursing Home from which several staff were arrested
8. First satellite made in Scotland
9. Schoolboy tragically killed by polar bear whose inquest was held last week
10. He bought 90% of Leyton Orient from Barry Hearn
11. Couple taking part in what has been touted as Britain’s first ever £1 billion divorce
12. Word Prince Charles didn’t understand when it was pointed out that he had been quite buff in his youth
13. Sister of former Attorney General Sir Michael Havers whose appointment to head the Child Sex Enquiry has caused disquiet in some quarters
14. Head of Match Hospitality facing allegations of ‘illegal’ ticket sales during Brazil World Cup
15. Dropped as statistician from Test Match Special
16. New RAF fighter jet unveiled last week
In Other News
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Marcel Kittel
4. Andrew Fintoff
5. Mark Cavendish
6. 1 – 0 Argentina
7. 1 – 0 Germany
8. Leon Brittan
9. Dovedale
10. Alfredo di Stefano
11. Andrew Strauss
12. Namibia
13. New York State
14. Amir Khan
15. Doctor Who
16. Edvard Shevardnadze
17. Marcel Kittel
18. Channel Tunnel
19. 7 – 7 Memorial
20. Isle of Man
21. Roma
22. Chevrolet
23. Michael Scudamore
24. Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street
25. Gordon Brown had ‘sidelined’ her for being a woman
26. Nicaragua
27. Chris Froome
28. Sir Mick Jagger – every team whose top he has worn have lost that match – he is the complete opposite of Paul the Psychic octopus from the last world cup
29. Argentina won 4 – 2 on a penalty shoot out
30. Justin Beiber
31. Dorchester Hotel
32. Luis Suarez
33. Same sex dancing will be banned
34. 500 - 1
35. Channel Islands
36. George Carey
37. George Clooney
Who Or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Popsisil and Sock
2. Errani and Vinci
3. Zimonic and Stosur
4. Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
5. Tariq Khdeir
6. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
7. Fosse Court
8. UKube-1
9. Horatio Chapple
10. Francesco Beccheti
11. Sir Christopher Hohn and Jamie Cooper-Hohn
12. Buff
13. Baroness Butler-Sloss
14. Ray Whelan
15. Malcolm Ashton
16. F-35
In Other News
1. Who won the men’s final at Wimbledon?
2. – and the British GP?
3. – and the first stage of the Tour de France?
4. Who made his return to first class cricket last week?
5. Who crashed out of the Tour de France in the first stage?
6. What was the score in the World Cup Argentina v. Belgium ¼ final 7. – and Germany v. France?
8. Which former cabinet minister last week faced questions from the police over a historic rape allegation?
9. Where was a hoard of Roman and British coins found?
10. Which legendary footballer passed away after suffering a heart attack?
11. Who was unknowingly recorded using the C word about Kevin Pietersen?
12. Which African country qualified for the Rugby World Cup last week?
13. Which US state announced that it will also be legalizing marijuana last week?
14. Which sportsman, who was arrested on suspicion of assault, saw all charges against him dropped last week?
15. 5 scripts for the new series of which show were leaked online last week?
16. Which former Soviet politician, then leader of his own country passed away last week?
17. Who won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France which finished in the Mall?
18. Where were passengers evacuated from last week?
19. Which memorial was defaced last week?
20. Mark Cavendish requires surgery that means he is out of the Commonwealth Games. Which team would he have represented?
21. Ashley Cole signed for which team last week?
22. Who are Man Utd.’s new main shirt sponsor?
23. Which former Grand National winning jockey passed away last week?
24. A christian bakery in Northern Ireland last week faced a storm of criticism when they refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding featuring which two characters?
25. Which claim did Harriet Harman make last week about her career in politics?
26. Which country announced plans to build a rival to the Panama Canal?
27. Who rode through the Channel Tunnel before crashing out on stage 5 of the Tour de France?
28. Whose wearing of a Brazil shirt has been blamed for their 7 – 1 semi final defeat by Germany?
29. What was the result of the Argentina v. Netherlands world cup semi final?
30. Who was charged last week with pelting his neighbour’s house with rotten eggs?
31. Which hotel was hit by smash and grab raiders for the second time in 4 weeks?
32. Who lost his appeal to FIFA?
33. The world of competitive ballroom dancing announced it’s intention to impose which rule?
34. What were the odds offered by Paddy Power against a 7-1 win for Germany in the world cup semi final?
35. Where in the UK did a 4.2 earthquake strike?
36. Which former Archbishop of Canterbury backed assisted dying?
37. Who refused an apology from the Daily Mail?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Winners of Wimbledon Men’s Doubles
2. – and Women’s doubles
3. – and mixed doubles
4. First UK number 1 calculated on figures including online streaming
5. US-Palestinian boy beaten up in Israel by what appear to be members of Israeli police
6. Head of ISIS
7. Leicester Nursing Home from which several staff were arrested
8. First satellite made in Scotland
9. Schoolboy tragically killed by polar bear whose inquest was held last week
10. He bought 90% of Leyton Orient from Barry Hearn
11. Couple taking part in what has been touted as Britain’s first ever £1 billion divorce
12. Word Prince Charles didn’t understand when it was pointed out that he had been quite buff in his youth
13. Sister of former Attorney General Sir Michael Havers whose appointment to head the Child Sex Enquiry has caused disquiet in some quarters
14. Head of Match Hospitality facing allegations of ‘illegal’ ticket sales during Brazil World Cup
15. Dropped as statistician from Test Match Special
16. New RAF fighter jet unveiled last week
In Other News
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Marcel Kittel
4. Andrew Fintoff
5. Mark Cavendish
6. 1 – 0 Argentina
7. 1 – 0 Germany
8. Leon Brittan
9. Dovedale
10. Alfredo di Stefano
11. Andrew Strauss
12. Namibia
13. New York State
14. Amir Khan
15. Doctor Who
16. Edvard Shevardnadze
17. Marcel Kittel
18. Channel Tunnel
19. 7 – 7 Memorial
20. Isle of Man
21. Roma
22. Chevrolet
23. Michael Scudamore
24. Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street
25. Gordon Brown had ‘sidelined’ her for being a woman
26. Nicaragua
27. Chris Froome
28. Sir Mick Jagger – every team whose top he has worn have lost that match – he is the complete opposite of Paul the Psychic octopus from the last world cup
29. Argentina won 4 – 2 on a penalty shoot out
30. Justin Beiber
31. Dorchester Hotel
32. Luis Suarez
33. Same sex dancing will be banned
34. 500 - 1
35. Channel Islands
36. George Carey
37. George Clooney
Announcing a Quiz in the North
I received an email from John Wilson, asking if I could pass on details of a quiz - here they are: -
Announcing Quiz In The North, to take place on Saturday 9th August at Rochdale Town Hall.
Schedule for the day:
10:00 Town Hall will be open for tea, coffee, bacon butties etc
11:15 Registration - £5 per head, which will cover as many quizzes as you wish to play
11:30 A shortish written individual quiz (c. 100-120 questions)
12:40 Marking
13:00 Lunch.
14:00 A quiz using handsets organised and run by Dave Bill which can be played as individuals, in pairs or in teams
15:45 Team table quiz organised and run by Dave Tilley
17:00 Close
The entry fee will be £5, which will entitle you to play as many of the events as you wish to play, just to cover the costs of venue hire and printing. Any surplus money will be given to charity.
The venue is handy for both Rail and Metrolink stations, and has free parking for over 200 cars. The venue is about four miles from the M62, so is easily accessible both by public transport and by car.
If you have any queries, please contact John WIlson on 07969 858632 or via email at johnandirenewilson@btinternet.com Please feel free to pass this message on to any of your family and friends.
Announcing Quiz In The North, to take place on Saturday 9th August at Rochdale Town Hall.
Schedule for the day:
10:00 Town Hall will be open for tea, coffee, bacon butties etc
11:15 Registration - £5 per head, which will cover as many quizzes as you wish to play
11:30 A shortish written individual quiz (c. 100-120 questions)
12:40 Marking
13:00 Lunch.
14:00 A quiz using handsets organised and run by Dave Bill which can be played as individuals, in pairs or in teams
15:45 Team table quiz organised and run by Dave Tilley
17:00 Close
The entry fee will be £5, which will entitle you to play as many of the events as you wish to play, just to cover the costs of venue hire and printing. Any surplus money will be given to charity.
The venue is handy for both Rail and Metrolink stations, and has free parking for over 200 cars. The venue is about four miles from the M62, so is easily accessible both by public transport and by car.
If you have any queries, please contact John WIlson on 07969 858632 or via email at johnandirenewilson@btinternet.com Please feel free to pass this message on to any of your family and friends.
University Challenge - Round One - Match One
Manchester v. Selwyn College, Cambridge
In a funny way it almost feels as if the series actually started last week, having had those two documentaries about the selection process. Both of Monday’s teams featured in the shows, and the Manchester team quite prominently. Now, the problem with giving us tasters like this is that you start second guessing the producers, wondering if the amount of air time devoted to the teams is proportionate to how well they do/have done in the series. Well, leaving all such pointless speculation behind, the indications were that we were going to kick off the series with a high quality match.
Just in case you hadn’t watched the two documentaries, JP made sure to remind us that Manchester have won the series 4 times – a distinction only shared with Magdalene College Oxford, and all of Manchester’s wins have been during his time as QM as well. So it can be argued that Manchester’s team of Edmund Chapman, Matthew Stallard, Charlie Rowlands and captain John Ratcliffe were under a lot of pressure to perform. Mind you we saw how rigorous the selection process is for Manchester, and how thorough their preparation is, so these guys were not going to be mugs by any stretch of the imagination. Selwyn’s team consisted of Afham Raoof, Hannah Warwicker, Charles Cooper and their skipper, Joshua Pugh Ginn. It’s a tough ask to be drawn against Manchester in the first round, but then on the other hand you know that you have absolutely nothing to lose. And if you win . . .
I was in early for the first starter, asking about a year in a Philip Larkin poem. I’ve taught it several times – MCMXIV – or – 1914. First blood was drawn by Matthew Stallard for Manchester. This earned bonuses on Spain, and specifically succession to the throne of Spain. We each had a full set, and moved on to the 2nd starter. Matthew Stallard buzzed in early for a term derived from latin which we both gave as fossil, and he was rewarded for his efforts with a set of bonuses on islands. Manchester dropped their first points, plumping for lake Geneva rather than lake Constance, but took the next two. Neither team knew that Time magazine once asked if Roy Liechtenstein was the worst artist in the USA. Now, I don’t know where the term paradigm shift came from, but I had it just before Joshua Pugh Ginn buzzed in early to open Selwyn’s account. This earned his team a set of bonuses on Astronomy. They took the first two, but missed out on either Enceladus or Mimas, moons of Saturn. The first picture starter presented us with a map showing what looked like the Trans Siberian railway, and when asked to identify the two terminal cities it was Matthew Stallard who won the buzzer race to name Moscow and Vladivostock. The bonuses asked for more terminal cities of others of the world’s longest rail journeys. The second was the first bonus I missed in this show, and Manchester were a lot closer to it than I was, but just missed out on Guangzhou and Lhasa. They had Vancouver and Toronto as well, though, which I didn’t. Now, when asked – in 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman – Afham Raoof was immediately in with Reddit. It’s an interweb thingummybob (stop me if I get too technical). Now, the set of bonuses they earned were on Shakespeare. That’s always a double edged sword, for JP absolutely HATES it when anyone gets Shakespeare wrong. As it was they merely earned the sniffy rebuke “There’s no Adam in King Lear.” and took the other two bonuses. All of which meant that despite Manchester seemingly having the better of the opening exchanges, they only led by 65 to 40 at the 10 minute mark.
Joshua Pugh Ginn pulled back ten of those points immediately, correctly identifying a quote from Byron as relating to the Parthenon. A good full set of bonuses on Leonardo da Vinci completely wiped out the rest of the lead, and the sides were square. I guessed that Anser and Branta would refer to geese, hence anserine. I don’t know if Joshua Pugh Ginn was thinking on the same lines, but whatever the case he took the next starter to give Selwyn the lead for the first time in the competition. Selwyn took two bonuses on social commentary, which was two more than I managed. Now, the next question asked something about a particular type of fundamental particles. Now, I tend to have a rule on this one. Anything like this, my answer is quarks. Afham Raoof gave neutrinos a try, but John Ratcliff gave rise to the first lap of honour around the living room by confirming that my stock answer had once again paid out. What’s more, I took a full set of bonuses on chemical elements – thanks Sporcle. Manchester took 2, but missed out on Bismuth. Edmund Chapman buzzed in commendably early for his first starter, knowing that the instrument mentioned in the title of the polemical work by John Knox was a trumpet. A lovely bonus set followed on people who have played themselves in films. They took two, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t get the German director Fassbinder either. On the Music starter the two teams were served with a gentle lob in the shape of Beethoven’s 6th – “Pastorale” Symphony. Charlie Rowlands came in too early, and the answer never quite passed the tip of his tongue, much to Edmund Chapman’s chagrin. Selwyn didn’t recognize it, so we had another starter, and Joshua Pugh Ginn identified the word – barre -. This earned the music bonuses. Now the pieces they were given were taken from tapes of what councils play you while you are on hold. Considering that they missef the Beethoven sitter I was impressed that they knew The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, and Eine Kleine Nachtmusick, while missing Boccherini’s Minuet. More importantly this brought the scores level again. What a good match this was turning out to be. In a UC special starter Matthew Stallard was the first to realize that the question related to the very similar words – complaint and compliant. This earned them a set on viaducts, and sadly this proved to be what I think was the first unanswered set of the night. Afham Raoof knew that sieve tubes in plants are also called phloem – good shout. Two bonuses on electronics meant that at the 20 minute mark Selwyn led by 125 to 115. This was turning out to be a very good match between two good outfits.
Matthew Stallard did what you must do, and backed his judgement to go early on the next starter. This time it didn’t work, as the question swerved to become a good UC special, which asked for the SI unti from the name of which you can make the name of the world’s longest river – the canal linking North Sea and Baltic – etc. Given a free run at the question Selwyn’s Charles Cooper knew that it had to be Kelvin. On such small margins do tight matches hinge. They managed two bonuses on Richard II, and as for the other, well, I’ll put my hand up and say that I didn’t know the Merciless Parliament either. With the lead at 35, you sensed that if Selwyn could take the 2nd picture starter then they would be favourites to take the win. Neither team recognized an ancient picture postcard from Brighton – I went that way because it looked like the old West Pier to me. I guessed, as did Charlie Rowlands, that Engel’s law states that the lower a family’s income, the greater proportion of it is spent on food. Seems a bit like common sense to me, but there you go. I loved Charlie’s comment after as well – I got one right! – Sorry, but I’m a sucker for enthusiasm, and for people obviously enjoying themselves on these shows. Old postcards of Scarborough, Weymouth and Eastbourne did for them, I’m afraid. John Ratcliff continued the Manchester fightback, knowing that the three letter word linking , amongst other places, New York and New Orleans is Big. Three bonuses on equality followed, and a timely full set meant equality between the teams at 145 each. At this rate, it was looking pretty likely to become one of those matches where both teams would qualify. Now, when you hear the name John Bellingham, if you go for your buzzer and answer “Spencer Perceval” then you’ll be right a hell of a lot more often than you’ll be wrong. Matthew Stallard did that, and put his team’s collective nose back in front. Two bonuses on infections took them to 165, but occult infections did for all of us. A real rush of blood to the head saw john Ratcliff buzz in early with the answer ‘udder’ for the organ of a cow containing abomasum etc. This allowed Afham Raoof in with stomach, to put Selwyn within ten points. A full set would give them the lead. They only managed 1. Time was nearly gone, and so I predicted to no one in particular – next correct answer wins the show. A great pressure buzz from Joshua Pugh Ginn identified the river texts with Heraclitus. A five point lead was now Selwyn’s, with three bonuses to come. A great UC set on US presidents and dystopian fiction saw them take their score to 180. Still no gong, and so maybe time for one last hurrah from Manchester. Edmund Chapman buzzed in early and supplied an incorrect answer. The poor fellow’s despair was palpable, and Selwyn answered correctly just before the gong. The final score was 190 to 160. Well played Selwyn, but well played Manchester as well. JP seemed a little non committal about their chances of making the repechage, saying – 160 may be enough to come back as a high scoring loser – who knows? Well it’s certainly been good enough for the last few years. Still, I won’t curse the team by suggesting that they are as good as there. We’ll have to see.
What a great show to begin the series with. Well done to all concerned.
Jeremy Paxman watch
JP showed early promise with his comment that the rules hadn’t changed since they were first devised by Sir Isaac Newton.
He doesn’t like ti when teams rattle off bonuses, does our Jez, and so after Manchester took a full set after the first starter, he favoured them with the acidic “we’ll try not to make them so easy” when they earned a second set. It worked, because Manchester dropped the first.
he gave a marvelous old fashioned look to Charlie Rowlands who suggested that Time magazine might have asked if Jasper Johns was the worst artist in the USA. “No!,” he replied, “he’d be very insulted – or at least his descendants would.” Well, Jez, I doubt if Roy Liechtenstein’s were exactly over the moon about it either.
There was a ‘-or I’ll smash yer face in moment “ when John Ratcliff buzzed, and then gave a long pause before offering quarks, to which you could almost feel JP counting to 10 before threatening him not to pause again when buzzing in. Let it out, Jez, let it all out.
When Selwyn didn’t answer the Beethoven starter straighaway I predicted fireworks, and JP didn’t disappoint. “This is LAMENTABLE!” he opined, and when he was served with the guess of The Rite of Spring he reacted as if something deeply unpleasant had just been shoved under his nose.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Sfumato is a term used in painting to mean without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke
In a funny way it almost feels as if the series actually started last week, having had those two documentaries about the selection process. Both of Monday’s teams featured in the shows, and the Manchester team quite prominently. Now, the problem with giving us tasters like this is that you start second guessing the producers, wondering if the amount of air time devoted to the teams is proportionate to how well they do/have done in the series. Well, leaving all such pointless speculation behind, the indications were that we were going to kick off the series with a high quality match.
Just in case you hadn’t watched the two documentaries, JP made sure to remind us that Manchester have won the series 4 times – a distinction only shared with Magdalene College Oxford, and all of Manchester’s wins have been during his time as QM as well. So it can be argued that Manchester’s team of Edmund Chapman, Matthew Stallard, Charlie Rowlands and captain John Ratcliffe were under a lot of pressure to perform. Mind you we saw how rigorous the selection process is for Manchester, and how thorough their preparation is, so these guys were not going to be mugs by any stretch of the imagination. Selwyn’s team consisted of Afham Raoof, Hannah Warwicker, Charles Cooper and their skipper, Joshua Pugh Ginn. It’s a tough ask to be drawn against Manchester in the first round, but then on the other hand you know that you have absolutely nothing to lose. And if you win . . .
I was in early for the first starter, asking about a year in a Philip Larkin poem. I’ve taught it several times – MCMXIV – or – 1914. First blood was drawn by Matthew Stallard for Manchester. This earned bonuses on Spain, and specifically succession to the throne of Spain. We each had a full set, and moved on to the 2nd starter. Matthew Stallard buzzed in early for a term derived from latin which we both gave as fossil, and he was rewarded for his efforts with a set of bonuses on islands. Manchester dropped their first points, plumping for lake Geneva rather than lake Constance, but took the next two. Neither team knew that Time magazine once asked if Roy Liechtenstein was the worst artist in the USA. Now, I don’t know where the term paradigm shift came from, but I had it just before Joshua Pugh Ginn buzzed in early to open Selwyn’s account. This earned his team a set of bonuses on Astronomy. They took the first two, but missed out on either Enceladus or Mimas, moons of Saturn. The first picture starter presented us with a map showing what looked like the Trans Siberian railway, and when asked to identify the two terminal cities it was Matthew Stallard who won the buzzer race to name Moscow and Vladivostock. The bonuses asked for more terminal cities of others of the world’s longest rail journeys. The second was the first bonus I missed in this show, and Manchester were a lot closer to it than I was, but just missed out on Guangzhou and Lhasa. They had Vancouver and Toronto as well, though, which I didn’t. Now, when asked – in 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman – Afham Raoof was immediately in with Reddit. It’s an interweb thingummybob (stop me if I get too technical). Now, the set of bonuses they earned were on Shakespeare. That’s always a double edged sword, for JP absolutely HATES it when anyone gets Shakespeare wrong. As it was they merely earned the sniffy rebuke “There’s no Adam in King Lear.” and took the other two bonuses. All of which meant that despite Manchester seemingly having the better of the opening exchanges, they only led by 65 to 40 at the 10 minute mark.
Joshua Pugh Ginn pulled back ten of those points immediately, correctly identifying a quote from Byron as relating to the Parthenon. A good full set of bonuses on Leonardo da Vinci completely wiped out the rest of the lead, and the sides were square. I guessed that Anser and Branta would refer to geese, hence anserine. I don’t know if Joshua Pugh Ginn was thinking on the same lines, but whatever the case he took the next starter to give Selwyn the lead for the first time in the competition. Selwyn took two bonuses on social commentary, which was two more than I managed. Now, the next question asked something about a particular type of fundamental particles. Now, I tend to have a rule on this one. Anything like this, my answer is quarks. Afham Raoof gave neutrinos a try, but John Ratcliff gave rise to the first lap of honour around the living room by confirming that my stock answer had once again paid out. What’s more, I took a full set of bonuses on chemical elements – thanks Sporcle. Manchester took 2, but missed out on Bismuth. Edmund Chapman buzzed in commendably early for his first starter, knowing that the instrument mentioned in the title of the polemical work by John Knox was a trumpet. A lovely bonus set followed on people who have played themselves in films. They took two, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t get the German director Fassbinder either. On the Music starter the two teams were served with a gentle lob in the shape of Beethoven’s 6th – “Pastorale” Symphony. Charlie Rowlands came in too early, and the answer never quite passed the tip of his tongue, much to Edmund Chapman’s chagrin. Selwyn didn’t recognize it, so we had another starter, and Joshua Pugh Ginn identified the word – barre -. This earned the music bonuses. Now the pieces they were given were taken from tapes of what councils play you while you are on hold. Considering that they missef the Beethoven sitter I was impressed that they knew The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, and Eine Kleine Nachtmusick, while missing Boccherini’s Minuet. More importantly this brought the scores level again. What a good match this was turning out to be. In a UC special starter Matthew Stallard was the first to realize that the question related to the very similar words – complaint and compliant. This earned them a set on viaducts, and sadly this proved to be what I think was the first unanswered set of the night. Afham Raoof knew that sieve tubes in plants are also called phloem – good shout. Two bonuses on electronics meant that at the 20 minute mark Selwyn led by 125 to 115. This was turning out to be a very good match between two good outfits.
Matthew Stallard did what you must do, and backed his judgement to go early on the next starter. This time it didn’t work, as the question swerved to become a good UC special, which asked for the SI unti from the name of which you can make the name of the world’s longest river – the canal linking North Sea and Baltic – etc. Given a free run at the question Selwyn’s Charles Cooper knew that it had to be Kelvin. On such small margins do tight matches hinge. They managed two bonuses on Richard II, and as for the other, well, I’ll put my hand up and say that I didn’t know the Merciless Parliament either. With the lead at 35, you sensed that if Selwyn could take the 2nd picture starter then they would be favourites to take the win. Neither team recognized an ancient picture postcard from Brighton – I went that way because it looked like the old West Pier to me. I guessed, as did Charlie Rowlands, that Engel’s law states that the lower a family’s income, the greater proportion of it is spent on food. Seems a bit like common sense to me, but there you go. I loved Charlie’s comment after as well – I got one right! – Sorry, but I’m a sucker for enthusiasm, and for people obviously enjoying themselves on these shows. Old postcards of Scarborough, Weymouth and Eastbourne did for them, I’m afraid. John Ratcliff continued the Manchester fightback, knowing that the three letter word linking , amongst other places, New York and New Orleans is Big. Three bonuses on equality followed, and a timely full set meant equality between the teams at 145 each. At this rate, it was looking pretty likely to become one of those matches where both teams would qualify. Now, when you hear the name John Bellingham, if you go for your buzzer and answer “Spencer Perceval” then you’ll be right a hell of a lot more often than you’ll be wrong. Matthew Stallard did that, and put his team’s collective nose back in front. Two bonuses on infections took them to 165, but occult infections did for all of us. A real rush of blood to the head saw john Ratcliff buzz in early with the answer ‘udder’ for the organ of a cow containing abomasum etc. This allowed Afham Raoof in with stomach, to put Selwyn within ten points. A full set would give them the lead. They only managed 1. Time was nearly gone, and so I predicted to no one in particular – next correct answer wins the show. A great pressure buzz from Joshua Pugh Ginn identified the river texts with Heraclitus. A five point lead was now Selwyn’s, with three bonuses to come. A great UC set on US presidents and dystopian fiction saw them take their score to 180. Still no gong, and so maybe time for one last hurrah from Manchester. Edmund Chapman buzzed in early and supplied an incorrect answer. The poor fellow’s despair was palpable, and Selwyn answered correctly just before the gong. The final score was 190 to 160. Well played Selwyn, but well played Manchester as well. JP seemed a little non committal about their chances of making the repechage, saying – 160 may be enough to come back as a high scoring loser – who knows? Well it’s certainly been good enough for the last few years. Still, I won’t curse the team by suggesting that they are as good as there. We’ll have to see.
What a great show to begin the series with. Well done to all concerned.
Jeremy Paxman watch
JP showed early promise with his comment that the rules hadn’t changed since they were first devised by Sir Isaac Newton.
He doesn’t like ti when teams rattle off bonuses, does our Jez, and so after Manchester took a full set after the first starter, he favoured them with the acidic “we’ll try not to make them so easy” when they earned a second set. It worked, because Manchester dropped the first.
he gave a marvelous old fashioned look to Charlie Rowlands who suggested that Time magazine might have asked if Jasper Johns was the worst artist in the USA. “No!,” he replied, “he’d be very insulted – or at least his descendants would.” Well, Jez, I doubt if Roy Liechtenstein’s were exactly over the moon about it either.
There was a ‘-or I’ll smash yer face in moment “ when John Ratcliff buzzed, and then gave a long pause before offering quarks, to which you could almost feel JP counting to 10 before threatening him not to pause again when buzzing in. Let it out, Jez, let it all out.
When Selwyn didn’t answer the Beethoven starter straighaway I predicted fireworks, and JP didn’t disappoint. “This is LAMENTABLE!” he opined, and when he was served with the guess of The Rite of Spring he reacted as if something deeply unpleasant had just been shoved under his nose.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Sfumato is a term used in painting to mean without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke
Round Britain Quiz
Midlands v. Wales
An interesting match up this one, pitting the reigning champions, Wales, against the team unbeaten in the first round of matches, the Midlands.
The Midlands kicked off with
Why do the following seem all confused? The one whom Roy’s drowning girl refuses to call for help; an Elizabethan woman of easy virtue; and a suit of armour for a horse.
Right, well following on from University Challenge, it seemed as if Monday was Roy Lichtenstein Day, since Drowning Girl was one of his. Unless my memory was wrong, she refused to call for Brad. Immediately the Rocky Horror show came to mind, and just as quickly left via the back door. I guessed that maybe we were in the land of the anagram, as I was sure that in Elizabethan times you could apply the insult ‘drab’ to that kind of lady. Which meant that either darb or bard looked most likely for the horse armour. On reflection I plumped for bard. Correctly, as it turned out. Rosalind entertained us with a list of Elizabethan terms for these women, without hitting on drab. They did leap onto the fact that we were dealing with anagrams, but needed Tom to tell them it was just 4 letters. Given the Macbeth clue they had drab, then Brad and Lichtenstein, and bard for the armour. I awarded myself 6, but Midlands were given a rather miserly 2.harsh but fair.
David and Myfanwy’s first for Wales was
“You say you can play the Chicago Piano, Mr Atkins? What complete nonsense!” What might Pete Townshend make of these words?
I had rather more of an idea with this one. Pete Townsend of the Who made me think irresistibly of Tommy, mainly because that went nicely with Atkins, Tommy Atkins being a nickname for the ordinary British soldier after it was the example name printed in the Army paybook. This led to Tommyrot as the nonsense, and Chicgo being the home of gangsters such as Al Capone I had more than half a mind that the Chicago piano would be the Tommy Gun, supposedly beloved of them. Myfanwy was onto Tommy very quickly, through Atkins. In fact they dealt with this set like champions, and were well worth the 6 we both earned.
The Midlands’ music question was this: -
Why might both of these performers share the same small patch of SW1 with the Golden Hind (and her captain), the star of Drive, and a recently retired off-spinner?
Well needless to say I didn’t recognise the operatic song or singer. The Golden Hind was originally called The Pelican. The captain of the Golden Hind suggested Francis Drake, and Ryan Gosling starred in Drive. Graeme Swann then surely was the off spinner being referenced. SW1 made me think of Buckingham Palace, but since St. James’ Park is very close by and has lots of water birds and fowl that seemed likely. Midlands needed a little help to arrive at the Pelican, having had all the rest. They seemed to be struggling as much with the performers as I was. Apparently it was Alice Coote and Julius Drake. Fair enough. I couldn’t give myself more than 3 for that since the Midlands only had 4.
For their own music question, Wales were served with
Tell me why this combination would require you to keep a very straight face.
I recognised Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’, and Queen’s “The Game” followed by the Rolling Stones’ Jumping Jack Flash, then Ravel’s Bolero. The first I didn’t get. Playing cards seemed an obvious link, having King, Queen and Jack . It was looking like a Flush, which would mean you keeping a straight, or indeed, poker face. But Ravel’s Bolero? David, smart cookie that he is, knew we wanted an ace and a ten. Lightbulb moment. Ravel’s Bolero was linked with the film that made Bo Derek a star (very briefly) – 10. Which meant that the first had to be something to do with an ace. Apparently the first was used as theme to Reilly Ace of Spies. I think that Wales were worth a point more than me, so I awarded myself 4 to their 5.
I liked the Midlands’ next question a great deal.
One owned by an English sleuth, which started out as straight, became curved when it crossed the pond, and has remained so ever since. In 2009, one belonging to a French actor was infamously replaced by a windmill, but was reinstated two years later. That of a Belgian artist, meanwhile, has always denied its own existence. How so?
I thought that the last part was the clue. I’m not saying that Rene Magritte would be the only Belgian artist you’d think of when you hear those words, but he’s certainly one you’d consider. This was obviously a reference to his- this is not a pipe. The sleuth then would be Sherlock Holmes, whose straight pipe was replaced by the curving one in Hollywood movies. As for the Actor, well no, I had to google that to find out it was Jacques Tati. His pipe was replaced on a poster for a retrospective by a yellow toy windmill, due to stringent French rules about being seen to promote smoking. Midlands themselves were straight onto Sherlock Holmes and his pipe, and Magritte and his non-pipe, and they without googling knew about the Jacques Tati poster, but not that it was Tati. Given a big clue they had it. There are no points for googling round here, I’m afraid, so I awarded myself 4 one less than Midlands,
Actually, I said that I really liked the previous set, but I did even better with this little cracker: -
If you add information technology to check the books; an explanation to create an exemplary war hero and cowboy; and Jupiter's first moon to create sound – which Commonwealth currency did you start with?
Now, the name Audie Murphy sprang to mind for the war hero and cowboy, being the most decorated GI of World war II. Which gave us Aud and i.e. for the explanation. Aud and IT gives you check the books. Aud and Io – one of Jupiter’s moons gives you sound. And of course, AUD is short for Australian Dollar. As Alexander Orlov would say – simples. Wales were onto IT and Audit at the start, and the Australian Dollar. David quickly polished off the other bits and we both took a full 6.
I shan’t lie to you, I really struggled with the last question for the Midlands. It was :-
One went on a pilgrimage, two brought about the downfall of a Shakespearean rogue, and three could have been four, but for an outbreak of scarlet fever. Who are they and how are they connected to a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell?
I needed Rosalind to point me in the direction of The Merry Wives of Windsor. when she did I paused the playback to see if it would help me sort them for myself. Page and Ford would be the two Mistresses who brought about Falstaff’s downfall. Well and good. Bearing in mind this seemed to be a very literary set, the pilgrim who came to mind now was the Wife of Bath from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Didn’t Beth March die from Scarlet Fever in “Little Women”, I mused. The only Mrs. Gaskell work remotely connected with this all that I could come up with was “Wives and Daughters” – “Good Wives being the sequel. I wouldn’t have had anything if I hadn’t been given Merry Wives of Windsor, so when Midlands were awarded 6 I couldn’t in all conscience take more than 3.
And so to Wales’ last question.
One preached, revolted and was executed; another gave birth to America’s first; and a third entertained with her Cuban husband. Why would they add up to a fit of weeping at the Antiques Roadshow?
Right – I’ll tell you the way my mind was working on this one. Entertain and Cuban husband really suggested Lucille BALL. which made me think that the revolting preacher might be John BALL. George Washington was USA’s first president, and George Washington’s mother whom I knew had the first name Mary, was presumably born Mary BALL. But Antiques Roadshow? All I could come up with was the three balls of the pawnbrokers sign, so you might be weeping if you pawned something worth a fortune. But it seemed all a little tenuous. Wales only needed a point, I think, for a win. Well, they did quite a bit better than that. They were right onto it from the start, but didn’t know Washington’s mum was a Mary. They went down the pawnbroker’s route too, which was the wrong direction. Apparently it was Ed Balls, who recently confessed to occasionally weeping at the Antiques Roadshow. Good enough – didn’t know that. Still, Wales had 4, and I awarded myself 5.
And so the Midlands, so good in the first set of matches, finished with 2 wins and 2 defeats, which Tom noted left them unlikely to win the series. 3 matches still to go.
An interesting match up this one, pitting the reigning champions, Wales, against the team unbeaten in the first round of matches, the Midlands.
The Midlands kicked off with
Why do the following seem all confused? The one whom Roy’s drowning girl refuses to call for help; an Elizabethan woman of easy virtue; and a suit of armour for a horse.
Right, well following on from University Challenge, it seemed as if Monday was Roy Lichtenstein Day, since Drowning Girl was one of his. Unless my memory was wrong, she refused to call for Brad. Immediately the Rocky Horror show came to mind, and just as quickly left via the back door. I guessed that maybe we were in the land of the anagram, as I was sure that in Elizabethan times you could apply the insult ‘drab’ to that kind of lady. Which meant that either darb or bard looked most likely for the horse armour. On reflection I plumped for bard. Correctly, as it turned out. Rosalind entertained us with a list of Elizabethan terms for these women, without hitting on drab. They did leap onto the fact that we were dealing with anagrams, but needed Tom to tell them it was just 4 letters. Given the Macbeth clue they had drab, then Brad and Lichtenstein, and bard for the armour. I awarded myself 6, but Midlands were given a rather miserly 2.harsh but fair.
David and Myfanwy’s first for Wales was
“You say you can play the Chicago Piano, Mr Atkins? What complete nonsense!” What might Pete Townshend make of these words?
I had rather more of an idea with this one. Pete Townsend of the Who made me think irresistibly of Tommy, mainly because that went nicely with Atkins, Tommy Atkins being a nickname for the ordinary British soldier after it was the example name printed in the Army paybook. This led to Tommyrot as the nonsense, and Chicgo being the home of gangsters such as Al Capone I had more than half a mind that the Chicago piano would be the Tommy Gun, supposedly beloved of them. Myfanwy was onto Tommy very quickly, through Atkins. In fact they dealt with this set like champions, and were well worth the 6 we both earned.
The Midlands’ music question was this: -
Why might both of these performers share the same small patch of SW1 with the Golden Hind (and her captain), the star of Drive, and a recently retired off-spinner?
Well needless to say I didn’t recognise the operatic song or singer. The Golden Hind was originally called The Pelican. The captain of the Golden Hind suggested Francis Drake, and Ryan Gosling starred in Drive. Graeme Swann then surely was the off spinner being referenced. SW1 made me think of Buckingham Palace, but since St. James’ Park is very close by and has lots of water birds and fowl that seemed likely. Midlands needed a little help to arrive at the Pelican, having had all the rest. They seemed to be struggling as much with the performers as I was. Apparently it was Alice Coote and Julius Drake. Fair enough. I couldn’t give myself more than 3 for that since the Midlands only had 4.
For their own music question, Wales were served with
Tell me why this combination would require you to keep a very straight face.
I recognised Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’, and Queen’s “The Game” followed by the Rolling Stones’ Jumping Jack Flash, then Ravel’s Bolero. The first I didn’t get. Playing cards seemed an obvious link, having King, Queen and Jack . It was looking like a Flush, which would mean you keeping a straight, or indeed, poker face. But Ravel’s Bolero? David, smart cookie that he is, knew we wanted an ace and a ten. Lightbulb moment. Ravel’s Bolero was linked with the film that made Bo Derek a star (very briefly) – 10. Which meant that the first had to be something to do with an ace. Apparently the first was used as theme to Reilly Ace of Spies. I think that Wales were worth a point more than me, so I awarded myself 4 to their 5.
I liked the Midlands’ next question a great deal.
One owned by an English sleuth, which started out as straight, became curved when it crossed the pond, and has remained so ever since. In 2009, one belonging to a French actor was infamously replaced by a windmill, but was reinstated two years later. That of a Belgian artist, meanwhile, has always denied its own existence. How so?
I thought that the last part was the clue. I’m not saying that Rene Magritte would be the only Belgian artist you’d think of when you hear those words, but he’s certainly one you’d consider. This was obviously a reference to his- this is not a pipe. The sleuth then would be Sherlock Holmes, whose straight pipe was replaced by the curving one in Hollywood movies. As for the Actor, well no, I had to google that to find out it was Jacques Tati. His pipe was replaced on a poster for a retrospective by a yellow toy windmill, due to stringent French rules about being seen to promote smoking. Midlands themselves were straight onto Sherlock Holmes and his pipe, and Magritte and his non-pipe, and they without googling knew about the Jacques Tati poster, but not that it was Tati. Given a big clue they had it. There are no points for googling round here, I’m afraid, so I awarded myself 4 one less than Midlands,
Actually, I said that I really liked the previous set, but I did even better with this little cracker: -
If you add information technology to check the books; an explanation to create an exemplary war hero and cowboy; and Jupiter's first moon to create sound – which Commonwealth currency did you start with?
Now, the name Audie Murphy sprang to mind for the war hero and cowboy, being the most decorated GI of World war II. Which gave us Aud and i.e. for the explanation. Aud and IT gives you check the books. Aud and Io – one of Jupiter’s moons gives you sound. And of course, AUD is short for Australian Dollar. As Alexander Orlov would say – simples. Wales were onto IT and Audit at the start, and the Australian Dollar. David quickly polished off the other bits and we both took a full 6.
I shan’t lie to you, I really struggled with the last question for the Midlands. It was :-
One went on a pilgrimage, two brought about the downfall of a Shakespearean rogue, and three could have been four, but for an outbreak of scarlet fever. Who are they and how are they connected to a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell?
I needed Rosalind to point me in the direction of The Merry Wives of Windsor. when she did I paused the playback to see if it would help me sort them for myself. Page and Ford would be the two Mistresses who brought about Falstaff’s downfall. Well and good. Bearing in mind this seemed to be a very literary set, the pilgrim who came to mind now was the Wife of Bath from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Didn’t Beth March die from Scarlet Fever in “Little Women”, I mused. The only Mrs. Gaskell work remotely connected with this all that I could come up with was “Wives and Daughters” – “Good Wives being the sequel. I wouldn’t have had anything if I hadn’t been given Merry Wives of Windsor, so when Midlands were awarded 6 I couldn’t in all conscience take more than 3.
And so to Wales’ last question.
One preached, revolted and was executed; another gave birth to America’s first; and a third entertained with her Cuban husband. Why would they add up to a fit of weeping at the Antiques Roadshow?
Right – I’ll tell you the way my mind was working on this one. Entertain and Cuban husband really suggested Lucille BALL. which made me think that the revolting preacher might be John BALL. George Washington was USA’s first president, and George Washington’s mother whom I knew had the first name Mary, was presumably born Mary BALL. But Antiques Roadshow? All I could come up with was the three balls of the pawnbrokers sign, so you might be weeping if you pawned something worth a fortune. But it seemed all a little tenuous. Wales only needed a point, I think, for a win. Well, they did quite a bit better than that. They were right onto it from the start, but didn’t know Washington’s mum was a Mary. They went down the pawnbroker’s route too, which was the wrong direction. Apparently it was Ed Balls, who recently confessed to occasionally weeping at the Antiques Roadshow. Good enough – didn’t know that. Still, Wales had 4, and I awarded myself 5.
And so the Midlands, so good in the first set of matches, finished with 2 wins and 2 defeats, which Tom noted left them unlikely to win the series. 3 matches still to go.
Saturday, 12 July 2014
Podcast 2
In this week's podcast: -
Three rounds of quiz questions
Only Connect Grand Final
Sunday Night Quizzes
Old Quizzers' Story
Answers to Last Week's Questions
- and a little more
Just click on the bar below to play
Three rounds of quiz questions
Only Connect Grand Final
Sunday Night Quizzes
Old Quizzers' Story
Answers to Last Week's Questions
- and a little more
Just click on the bar below to play
In The News
In the News
Who Or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Popsisil and Sock
2. Errani and Vinci
3. Zimonic and Stosur
4. Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
5. Tariq Khdeir
6. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
7. Fosse Court
8. UKube-1
9. Horatio Chapple
10. Francesco Beccheti
11. Sir Christopher Hohn and Jamie Cooper-Hohn
12. Buff
13. Baroness Butler-Sloss
14. Ray Whelan
15. Malcolm Ashton
16. F-35
In Other News
1. Who won the men’s final at Wimbledon?
2. – and the British GP?
3. – and the first stage of the Tour de France?
4. Who made his return to first class cricket last week?
5. Who crashed out of the Tour de France in the first stage?
6. What was the score in the World Cup Argentina v. Belgium ¼ final 7. – and Germany v. France?
8. Which former cabinet minister last week faced questions from the police over a historic rape allegation?
9. Where was a hoard of Roman and British coins found?
10. Which legendary footballer passed away after suffering a heart attack?
11. Who was unknowingly recorded using the C word about Kevin Pietersen?
12. Which African country qualified for the Rugby World Cup last week?
13. Which US state announced that it will also be legalizing marijuana last week?
14. Which sportsman, who was arrested on suspicion of assault, saw all charges against him dropped last week?
15. 5 scripts for the new series of which show were leaked online last week?
16. Which former Soviet politician, then leader of his own country passed away last week?
17. Who won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France which finished in the Mall?
18. Where were passengers evacuated from last week?
19. Which memorial was defaced last week?
20. Mark Cavendish requires surgery that means he is out of the Commonwealth Games. Which team would he have represented?
21. Ashley Cole signed for which team last week?
22. Who are Man Utd.’s new main shirt sponsor?
23. Which former Grand National winning jockey passed away last week?
24. A christian bakery in Northern Ireland last week faced a storm of criticism when they refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding featuring which two characters?
25. Which claim did Harriet Harman make last week about her career in politics?
26. Which country announced plans to build a rival to the Panama Canal?
27. Who rode through the Channel Tunnel before crashing out on stage 5 of the Tour de France?
28. Whose wearing of a Brazil shirt has been blamed for their 7 – 1 semi final defeat by Germany?
29. What was the result of the Argentina v. Netherlands world cup semi final?
30. Who was charged last week with pelting his neighbour’s house with rotten eggs?
31. Which hotel was hit by smash and grab raiders for the second time in 4 weeks?
32. Who lost his appeal to FIFA?
33. The world of competitive ballroom dancing announced it’s intention to impose which rule?
34. What were the odds offered by Paddy Power against a 7-1 win for Germany in the world cup semi final?
35. Where in the UK did a 4.2 earthquake strike?
36. Which former Archbishop of Canterbury backed assisted dying?
37. Who refused an apology from the Daily Mail?
Who Or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Popsisil and Sock
2. Errani and Vinci
3. Zimonic and Stosur
4. Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
5. Tariq Khdeir
6. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
7. Fosse Court
8. UKube-1
9. Horatio Chapple
10. Francesco Beccheti
11. Sir Christopher Hohn and Jamie Cooper-Hohn
12. Buff
13. Baroness Butler-Sloss
14. Ray Whelan
15. Malcolm Ashton
16. F-35
In Other News
1. Who won the men’s final at Wimbledon?
2. – and the British GP?
3. – and the first stage of the Tour de France?
4. Who made his return to first class cricket last week?
5. Who crashed out of the Tour de France in the first stage?
6. What was the score in the World Cup Argentina v. Belgium ¼ final 7. – and Germany v. France?
8. Which former cabinet minister last week faced questions from the police over a historic rape allegation?
9. Where was a hoard of Roman and British coins found?
10. Which legendary footballer passed away after suffering a heart attack?
11. Who was unknowingly recorded using the C word about Kevin Pietersen?
12. Which African country qualified for the Rugby World Cup last week?
13. Which US state announced that it will also be legalizing marijuana last week?
14. Which sportsman, who was arrested on suspicion of assault, saw all charges against him dropped last week?
15. 5 scripts for the new series of which show were leaked online last week?
16. Which former Soviet politician, then leader of his own country passed away last week?
17. Who won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France which finished in the Mall?
18. Where were passengers evacuated from last week?
19. Which memorial was defaced last week?
20. Mark Cavendish requires surgery that means he is out of the Commonwealth Games. Which team would he have represented?
21. Ashley Cole signed for which team last week?
22. Who are Man Utd.’s new main shirt sponsor?
23. Which former Grand National winning jockey passed away last week?
24. A christian bakery in Northern Ireland last week faced a storm of criticism when they refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding featuring which two characters?
25. Which claim did Harriet Harman make last week about her career in politics?
26. Which country announced plans to build a rival to the Panama Canal?
27. Who rode through the Channel Tunnel before crashing out on stage 5 of the Tour de France?
28. Whose wearing of a Brazil shirt has been blamed for their 7 – 1 semi final defeat by Germany?
29. What was the result of the Argentina v. Netherlands world cup semi final?
30. Who was charged last week with pelting his neighbour’s house with rotten eggs?
31. Which hotel was hit by smash and grab raiders for the second time in 4 weeks?
32. Who lost his appeal to FIFA?
33. The world of competitive ballroom dancing announced it’s intention to impose which rule?
34. What were the odds offered by Paddy Power against a 7-1 win for Germany in the world cup semi final?
35. Where in the UK did a 4.2 earthquake strike?
36. Which former Archbishop of Canterbury backed assisted dying?
37. Who refused an apology from the Daily Mail?
Thursday, 10 July 2014
Only Connect Series 9 - The Hardest Yet?
A really scholarly and well researched post on series 8 champion Michael Wallace's "The Ones That Got Away" blog looks in great detail at the stats from all 9 series of Only Connect to consider whether Series 9 really has been the hardest series yet, as many commentators seem to think it has been. You can find the post if you follow this link: -
The Ones That Got Away
Well worth a read - serious food for thought.
The Ones That Got Away
Well worth a read - serious food for thought.
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. HMS Queen Elizabeth
2. Laura Trott
3. International GCSEs
4. Gymkhana
5. Stephanie Kwolek
6. Nick Kyrgios
7. Angelique Kerber
8. Lou Vincent
9. Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty
10. Grigor Dmitrov
11. Steve Frazer
12. Fabien Cousteau
13. Billy Boston
14. Susi Wolff
15. David Knight and Edward Huzzey
16. Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Snowdonia
17. Tony Fernandes
18. Lacey Jonas
19. X
20. Blencathra
In Other News
1. Which area of England was revealed as the UK’s most expensive per square mile outside of London?
2. Which trial resumed on the last day of June?
3. Who were the first company to promise the Living Wage to staff?
4. Who was the unlikely headline success at Glastonbury?
5. Which event of the Muslim calendar began last week?
6. What was the result of the Brazil v. Chile last 16 match?
7. – and Netherlands v. Mexico?
8. – and Colombia v. Uruguay?
9. Who won the men’s 100m at the British championships last week?
10. Of how many counts was Rolf Harris found guilty last week?
11. What was declared by ISIS last week?
12. Which show was cleared of breaching broadcasting rules by OFCOM?
13. Who headed the Forbes Magazine list of the most powerful celebrities?
14. For what are Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman to be retried?
15. Who was ruled to be not mentally ill?
16. Which group announced a final tour?
17. Which British rider was excluded from the Tour de France by his team Garmin?
18. Who called the Pythons ‘wrinkly old men’?
19. Which French politician was arrested for questioning on corruption charges?
20. Which famous, if not infamous, work of art sold for £2.2 million?
21. Which popular children’s animated figure is to make a comeback?
22. How many saves did US goalkeeper Tim Howard make against Belgium?
23. Whose helicopter was hit by rockets – he wasn’t in it.
24. Who wouldn’t answer a Maths question posed by a 7 year old?
25. Which radio programme was rebuked for giving undue prominence to climate change?
26. Which Brazilian footballer was ruled out of taking any further part in the world cup?
27. Which two players will contest the Wimbledon ladies’ singles?
28. What was the final score in the Brazil v. Colombia ¼ final?
29. – and the Germany v. France ¼ final?
30. What was the length of sentence given to Rolf Harris, which was immediately criticized as too lenient?
31. What sentence was given to Andy Coulson for phone hacking?
32. Which company have been ordered to pay back £1 million for miss -selling?
33. Who defeated Grigor Dmitrov in their semi-final in Wimbledon?
Answers
Who or what are the following
1. New aircraft carrier which is the Royal Navy’s biggest ever ship
2. New British road race champion
3. Qualifications being cut from League Tables
4. Mayfair restaurant, first Indian restaurant to be Restaurant of the Year
5. Inventor of Kevlar, passed away
6. Australian player who knocked Nadal out of Wimbledon
7. Knocked Sharapova out of Wimbledon
8. New Zealand cricketer banned for life for match fixing
9. Leaving Radio 5live and being replaced by men
10. Defeated Andy Murray in Wimbledon ¼ final
11. Man who two timed two women, who dumped him via a banner on the A1 near the Angel of the North
12. Made a record breaking 31 day stay underwater
13. Plans for a statue of this rugby league great were unveiled in Wigan
14. First woman to take part in a Formula 1 GP weekend as a driver for over 20 years
15. Divers fined for plundering shipwrecks
16. Host to the world’s biggest underground trampoline
17. Sold the formula 1 Caterham team
18. Character in Grand Theft Auto V video game – actress Lyndsey Lohan claims it is based on her likeness and has announced plans to sue makers of the game
19. Ed Sheeran album which topped the US Billboard charts
20. Peak in the Lake District that is up for sale.
In Other News
1. Altrincham
2. Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial
3. Nestlé
4. Dolly Parton
5. Ramadan
6. Brazil won a penalty shoot out
7. Netherlands 2 – Mexico 1
8. Colombia 2 – Uruguay 0
9. Dwayne Chambers
10. 12 – all of them
11. A new caliphate
12. Benefits Street
13. Beyoncé
14. Conspiracy
15. Oscar Pistoruus
16. The Who
17. David Millar
18. Wrinkly old Sir Mick Jagger
19. Nicolas Sarkozy
20. Tracey Emin’s bed
21. Morph
22. 16
23. Hamid Karzai
24. George Osborne
25. Radio 4 Today programme
26. Neymar
27. Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard
28. 2 – 1 Brazil
29. 1 – 0 Germany
30. 5 years and 9 months
31. 18 months
32. British Gas
33. Novak Djokovic
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. HMS Queen Elizabeth
2. Laura Trott
3. International GCSEs
4. Gymkhana
5. Stephanie Kwolek
6. Nick Kyrgios
7. Angelique Kerber
8. Lou Vincent
9. Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty
10. Grigor Dmitrov
11. Steve Frazer
12. Fabien Cousteau
13. Billy Boston
14. Susi Wolff
15. David Knight and Edward Huzzey
16. Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Snowdonia
17. Tony Fernandes
18. Lacey Jonas
19. X
20. Blencathra
In Other News
1. Which area of England was revealed as the UK’s most expensive per square mile outside of London?
2. Which trial resumed on the last day of June?
3. Who were the first company to promise the Living Wage to staff?
4. Who was the unlikely headline success at Glastonbury?
5. Which event of the Muslim calendar began last week?
6. What was the result of the Brazil v. Chile last 16 match?
7. – and Netherlands v. Mexico?
8. – and Colombia v. Uruguay?
9. Who won the men’s 100m at the British championships last week?
10. Of how many counts was Rolf Harris found guilty last week?
11. What was declared by ISIS last week?
12. Which show was cleared of breaching broadcasting rules by OFCOM?
13. Who headed the Forbes Magazine list of the most powerful celebrities?
14. For what are Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman to be retried?
15. Who was ruled to be not mentally ill?
16. Which group announced a final tour?
17. Which British rider was excluded from the Tour de France by his team Garmin?
18. Who called the Pythons ‘wrinkly old men’?
19. Which French politician was arrested for questioning on corruption charges?
20. Which famous, if not infamous, work of art sold for £2.2 million?
21. Which popular children’s animated figure is to make a comeback?
22. How many saves did US goalkeeper Tim Howard make against Belgium?
23. Whose helicopter was hit by rockets – he wasn’t in it.
24. Who wouldn’t answer a Maths question posed by a 7 year old?
25. Which radio programme was rebuked for giving undue prominence to climate change?
26. Which Brazilian footballer was ruled out of taking any further part in the world cup?
27. Which two players will contest the Wimbledon ladies’ singles?
28. What was the final score in the Brazil v. Colombia ¼ final?
29. – and the Germany v. France ¼ final?
30. What was the length of sentence given to Rolf Harris, which was immediately criticized as too lenient?
31. What sentence was given to Andy Coulson for phone hacking?
32. Which company have been ordered to pay back £1 million for miss -selling?
33. Who defeated Grigor Dmitrov in their semi-final in Wimbledon?
Answers
Who or what are the following
1. New aircraft carrier which is the Royal Navy’s biggest ever ship
2. New British road race champion
3. Qualifications being cut from League Tables
4. Mayfair restaurant, first Indian restaurant to be Restaurant of the Year
5. Inventor of Kevlar, passed away
6. Australian player who knocked Nadal out of Wimbledon
7. Knocked Sharapova out of Wimbledon
8. New Zealand cricketer banned for life for match fixing
9. Leaving Radio 5live and being replaced by men
10. Defeated Andy Murray in Wimbledon ¼ final
11. Man who two timed two women, who dumped him via a banner on the A1 near the Angel of the North
12. Made a record breaking 31 day stay underwater
13. Plans for a statue of this rugby league great were unveiled in Wigan
14. First woman to take part in a Formula 1 GP weekend as a driver for over 20 years
15. Divers fined for plundering shipwrecks
16. Host to the world’s biggest underground trampoline
17. Sold the formula 1 Caterham team
18. Character in Grand Theft Auto V video game – actress Lyndsey Lohan claims it is based on her likeness and has announced plans to sue makers of the game
19. Ed Sheeran album which topped the US Billboard charts
20. Peak in the Lake District that is up for sale.
In Other News
1. Altrincham
2. Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial
3. Nestlé
4. Dolly Parton
5. Ramadan
6. Brazil won a penalty shoot out
7. Netherlands 2 – Mexico 1
8. Colombia 2 – Uruguay 0
9. Dwayne Chambers
10. 12 – all of them
11. A new caliphate
12. Benefits Street
13. Beyoncé
14. Conspiracy
15. Oscar Pistoruus
16. The Who
17. David Millar
18. Wrinkly old Sir Mick Jagger
19. Nicolas Sarkozy
20. Tracey Emin’s bed
21. Morph
22. 16
23. Hamid Karzai
24. George Osborne
25. Radio 4 Today programme
26. Neymar
27. Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard
28. 2 – 1 Brazil
29. 1 – 0 Germany
30. 5 years and 9 months
31. 18 months
32. British Gas
33. Novak Djokovic
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