In The News

In the news

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

Piledriver Ale

William Pooley

Shane Byrne

Mikko Ilonen

Derek Fidyka

Hannah Kentish

Joko Widodo

Lee Clark

Peyton Manning

No Limits

The Optimists

Fiona Woolf

Gough Whitlam

Shamil Tarpischev

Medi Alambaba

Nelson Bunker Hunt

Younis Khan

Michael Cheika

Philip Davies MP

Norah Lawley

Vido Lancar

Sir Richard Broadbent

Michael Zehaf – Bibeau

Harry Roberts

Maryville-Pilchuck School

Revolution

Gilbert the Gull

In Other News

At which power station was there a major fire?

Who warned David Cameron that a UK jobs cap breaks EU rules?

Prince Charles ordered a cull of which creatures on his estates?

Who was honored with a BFI fellowship?

How much is the charge for carrier bags introduced in Scotland?

What was the score between Sunderland and Southampton?

Name the footballer whose appeal for a review of his conviction for rape has been fast tracked?

Which movie vehicle sold for £850,000?

Who was the third out of Strictly?

Which historic attraction suffered from fire again?

Which much loved British actress passed away last week?

Who created the much pilloried song UKIP Calypso?

Which British city rated highest on the Lonely Planet list?

What was the score between Man Utd and West Ham?

Which two teams contest baseball’s world series?

Who is the new St. Helens head coach?

Where was a bronze statue to pay tribute to the women’s Land Army unveiled?

Which designer died last week?

IN which part of the UK has a ban on paying for sex been introduced?

What sentence was passed on Oscar Pistorius?

What was the Champions League score between Man City and CSKA Moscow?

And Chelsea and Maribor?

Which musician angered China by voicing support for Hong Kong Demonstrators

Who was endorsed as new President of the European Commission?

Microsoft will be dropping what as a brand name?

What was the score between Liverpool and Real Madrid?

– and Arsenal and Anderlecht?

Two episodes of which vintage ITV comedy series were found last week?

Kosovo was provisionally recognized by which organization last week?

Which former cricketer was in a dispute with the RSPB?

MPs rejected calls for the Palace of Westminster to get what?

Which 72 year old musician passed away last week?

What was the score between Spurs and Asteras Tripoli?

Which team has Freddie Flintoff joined for the Big Bash?

What was the score between Everton and Lille?

Which businessman impressed by speaking Mandarin in China?

Administrators have been called into which F1 team?

How much extra money has the EU demanded from the UK?

The first Ebola case has been reported in which US city?

Who issued her first tweet under her own name?

A notebook from Captain Scott’s expedition was found where?

Who said he intends to retire this summer from football?

Who will miss the ATP finals this year through injury?

LAM Podcast 16

In this week's podcast:-
Questions on Science Fiction
Talking points on what should be included in a quiz, University Challenge and Only Connect
Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember
Answers to Cryptic Questions

Only Connect - Match 8

Nørdiphiles v. Night Watchmen

The Nørdiphiles, Will Day, James Keeling and captain Joanna Murray are, I believe, brand new to Only Connect, and united by their love of all things Scandinavian. Skål! Their opposition, Jonathan Wilson, Robert Winder and skipper Daniel Norcross were the Nightwatchmen, brought together by a shared love of what Kipling called ‘flannelled fools at the wicket’. It was fascinating to hear captain Daniel say that he had taken part in the original pilots for the series, in which they even tried three teams of two.

Round One – What’s the Connection?

Put in first by the Nords, Daniel of the Nights blotted his copybook for me by failing to voice the second vowel of Horned when he opted for the viper. First off was Best Picture Oscar Nominees (2010). This didn’t help. UEFA Euro Championship teams (1996) didn’t either. Jonathan had a good idea at this point, suggesting that this was when the number of participants increased. When prompted for a little more, they offered this was when the number of participants doubled. Good shout. The Eye of Horus gave the Nords – Ruddigore – to start. Gilbert and Sullivan was far too obvious. It’s subtitled The Witches’ curse – so I guessed maybe we were going down this route. Straw Dogs seemed to put the kibosh on that idea. Jamaica Inn came third, and I still hadn’t come up with an answer, so plumped for the hopeful – all set in Cornwall. Doc Martin certainly fit the pattern. They tried – complaints about the sound quality, but the Nights took the bonus with set in Cornwall. You can’t afford to throw sets like that away – they probably should have had it from Jamaica Inn and Doc Martin. Two Reeds gave us Doctor Evil’s Number Two – Snake Plissken. That was enough to give me eyepatches – Snake Plissken being Kurt Russell’s character from Escape from New York and its sequel. Number Two is Robert Wagner’s character, and not mini me as I heard the Nights suggest. Rooster Cogburn came next, and this set Jonathan on eyepatch. That was enough for captain Daniel, and they didn’t need to see the fourth clue, Danger Mouse. Not Nelson, I’m glad to say. There’s no eye patch on the statue on Nelson’s Column, you know. The Nords picked Lion and the music. This allowed them to redeem themselves by seeing Streets after two clues. Good shout. Twisted Flax, then, gave the Nights Miedinger and Hoffman. I did actually know that these two were something to do with Helvetica font. When Hoefler and Frere-Jones came next one of them did actually mention fonts, but captain Daniel wasn’t convinced. John Baskerville looked to have sealed the deal as the third clue, which indeed it did. Fair play to the Nights, this is a show where discretion is more often the better part of valour. Left with water the Nords saw pictures of a mountain and Rosamund Pike. Taking the mountain as Scafell Pike, they buzzed in off 2 to take the points. So barring the Nord’s first, this had been a quality opening round, and the Nights led with 8 -6.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth?

The round that separates the men from the boys saw the Nights take water to start. Seine was the first clue. That gave too many possibilities. The second clue, setter – offered but little. Ottoman came third, but I’m afraid that I was out with the washing on this one. Both teams were sidelined by ottoman. Actually its to do with Italian numbers. Sei – sette – otto – so a word beginning with nove – eg novel – would follow. Hard set. Three cheers to the Nords for asking for Hornèd Viper for the next. We saw a picture showing the numeral 1 made out of 4 matchsticks. Next we saw 2 made out of 5 matchsticks. Surely 4 made out of 7 was too obvious? Yes, since the third was 6 made out of 6 matches. So the question was, which would you need to add another matchstick to make, and the answer looked like 8. I was right, so were the Nords, and that was a textbook example of why it is sometimes necessary to take all of the clues. Lion gave the Nights Johnson: The Vantage Point. Now, I read a biography of LBJ a few weeks ago, so I knew that Johnson was LBJ, and the book was about his years as president. So, from the comfort of my sofa I thought that there have been three democrat presidents since LBJ. Obama hasn’t written presidential memoirs yet, but he wrote Dreams from my father – and – The Audacity of Hope. So I went for Obama: Dreams From My Father. Given the other two clues, the Nights tried Obama : Dreams About My Father, which Victoria decided was close enough. Eye of Horus showed the Nords – 2004: Beckham and Vassell – and I had a strange flashback. The euro championships 1996, mentioned in the previous round, saw England lose a penalty shoot out. In 2004, England lost in a penalty shoot out, and both Beckham and Darius Vassell missed. Working backwards, I thought we might well end up with 1990, Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle. We had Ince and Batty in the 1998 world cup, then Gareth Southgate in the 1996 semi shoot out against Germany in between if I was right. The Nords could see football, but not what. Ince and Batty gave them missed penalties, and after almost arguing themselves out of it they went the right way. Great – if painful to an England supporter – set. For their last choice the Nights opted for Two Reeds. Haffaz suggested Sacha Baron Cohen characters – that was the name of The Dictator from that movie. In which case Ali G. would be a good bet. Brüno certainly seemed to confirm the prediction It was enough for the Nights, who supplied Ali G at this point. Twisted Flax remained for the Nords with 3 elves, which made the Nords think the same as me – Tolkein’s rings of power. 3 for the elven kings – 7 for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone – nine for the mortal men -  oh flip, that’s it. 7 dwarves came next, as it should do. But the sequence ends with the nine rings. Unless – I thought – it’s in the rhyme that it ends with one ring to rule them all etc. So I went for 1 Sauron. The answer the Nords gave was One ring to rule them all. Which was ignoring the form of the set. How many and who for, that was what was needed. The answer, which the Nights didn’t see either, was 1 Dark Lord. Hoepfully I might have been given it for Sauron. A good round with some nice sets , and the score was now 13 – 11 to the Nights.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

The Nords chose the Lion Wall. Italian musical instructions was the first set they saw, along with sporting implements. Actually though the first set they isolated – Presto – Bat – Bristo – Well – were all towns with a letter missing. Mallet – Cue – Club and Hurley, the sporting implements followed hard on their heels. They waited a while before completing the last two lines on their first go. Grave – adagio – vivace and lento were the musical terms. This left Largo – Big Pine – Sands and Plantation. Now, they knew Key Largo, having mentioned it more than once, but crucially did not offer Florida Keys as the answer. This limited them to 7 points.

The Nights were left with water. Figaro – Bild – Pais and Stampa fell early as European newspapers. Parts of a shoe looked to be there, but when they didn’t fall into place they went for a set of things you can hold – tongue – breath – horses – nerve. They knew that the connections were between the last two lines – synonyms for vamp, and parts of a shoe. The shoe parts were Heel – Welt – vamp and sole, which left as the flirtatious females – siren – circe – minx and coquette. 10 points earned, which gave them a 5 point lead of 23 – 18, and made them favourites to take the match.

Round Four – The Missing Vowels

The first set, famous last lines from films, went 2 – 1 to the Nords. Gap thus down to 4. Dragons wiped out that gap completely, 4 – 0 to the Nords. The next set, fictional boarding schools, went 2 – 1 to the Nights. So sad that nobody got Linbury Court Preparatory School – I LOVED Anthony Buckeridge’s Jennings books when I was a lad. Flight Instruments brought 3 crucial points to the Nords, and against the run of play in the first three rounds they had won a narrow victory by 28 – 26. The Nights will definitely bounce back after this performance though. I was impressed with both teams in this show. Well played both. 

University Challenge - Round One - Match 14

Magdalen Oxford v. Pembroke Cambridge

Along with Manchester University, Magdalen are 4 times winners of UC. Aiming to add a record breaking fifth title were Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and their captain Hugh Binnie. Pembroke last competed a couple of years ago, when they reached the quarter finals. This year’s vintage were Tom McGhee, Theodore Hill, Mark Hammond and their skipper James Hutt. All present and correct, then, so let’s get started.

Both teams seemed to need to hear a lot of a relatively gentle opener, asklng for the first non royal to appear on a British coin in 1965, and in fact it was Cameron J. Quinn from Los Angeles who answered. Prime Ministers and reforms gave Magdalen their first set, and these weren’t easy. They took two of them. Now, a natural weather phenomenon mentioned in a play by Neil Simon suggested sunshine to me, as in the Sunshine Boys. Hugh Binnie heard more of the question and gave the correct answer. Bonuses on words derived from singing eg canto, canticle and cantor, brought them 2 more correct answers. A long winded definition of an orangutan allowed Chris Savory to contribute his first and his team’s third correct starter. As did Magdalen I only had one of a difficult set of bonuses on astronomy. Three sets in, and Magdalen had scored 50 unanswered points. I was a little surprised that neither team could dredge up the term palaeolithic for the next starter. After that “I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered” was obviously Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. But what did the question want, the name of the character, or the title of the book? Tom McGhee was the first to buzz after it became clear to take Pembroke’s first points. Phonetics and phonology looked a difficult ask, but Pembroke took a full house. The first picture starter showed a map with the university town of Aberystwyth marked on it. Theodore Hill was first in to identify it. For the bonuses we were given several places’ positions on a map, together with their definitions in “The Meaning of Liff” by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. (I shan’t explain how this utterly joyous book works here – just get it if you haven’t)  2 bonuses taken. They missed out on Dunstable – definition – a retired police officer. This fightback brought them to just 5 points behind Magdalen at the ten minute mark – with the score at 50 – 45.

Theodore Hill took his second and his team’s third starter, knowing that in 1991 the Federated States of Micronesia became part of the UN. Bonuses on notable test matches at Old Trafford really didn’t require any in depth knowledge of cricket – I had a full house – and Pembroke took two of them. A long winded starter, with a quote from Evelyn Waugh, eventually meandered into asking for a 17^th century style of European architecture. I guessed baroque, and Tom McGhee supplied the same answer, which was correct. Scientific terms with the prefix iso shied away from the obvious ones, and I had none of them, while Pembroke managed one. James Hutt, emboldened by his team’s purple patch, buzzed too early on the next question about a chemical element. When JP said it comes between yttrium and niobium I knew it was zirconium and when told it was the last one when listed alphabetically Hugh Binnie buzzed in with the right answer. Bonuses followed on British birds whose two latin names are the same – eg  Cygnus Cygnus, the whooper swan. I took all three and so did Magdalen. No well done from JP yet. Cameron Quinn needed to hear hardly any of the music starter before identifying the Smiths. Three bands or artists to whom John Peel also gave critical early exposure, like the Smiths, saw them add 10 more points to their total. Tom McGhee knew that Roberto Azevedo is from Brazil. When JP announced that the bonuses would be on bricklaying this was granted with laughter by the audience. They were actually all gettable and Pembroke managed two of them. Cameron Quinn took the next identifying a definition of cholesterol. The novels of Don Delillo promised me nothing, which was exactly how much they delivered. One of them fell to Magdalen. Tom McGhee knew Henry Van Dyke Carter did the original illustrations for Grey’s Anatomy. This pushed Pembroke through the three figure barrier. Caribbean islands brought them a further 10 points, and earned the JP well done. Hugh Binnie won the buzzer race to say that Apollo 11 took the first men to the moon. Bonuses on the Prime Meridian took Magdalen to 125 just after the 10 minute mark. This gave them a lead of 10 points. What a good contest this was turning out to be.

For the second picture starter nobody recognized a stylised picture of the artist Whistler. Now, a controversial moment here. In a recent Weaver’s Week, it was suggested that one of the teams was unfairly penalized for an early buzz. With the question – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego appear in which book of the Old Testament – Thedore Hill buzzed in with Job and lost 5. Now, I think that was harsh, since JP had completed the question before Roger Tilling announced – Pembroke Hill. Whatever the case, Chris Savory provided the correct answer to earn three more Leslie Ward pictures from Vanity Fair. Two were taken. Nothing deterred by his harsh treatment in the previous bonus Theodore Hill had a great early buzz to identify the area of Karelia for the next starter. Bonuses on the letter Omega produced no points. Theodore Hill’s buzz for the next question, about the so called Father of Australia was again very marginally early, although this was perhaps just a tiny bit more clear cut than the previous infringement. Neither team had it. Hugh Binnie knew that in the Mohs scale orthoclase is followed by quartz. Good shout, that. Medical terms gave them one bonus, but they were in the lead, a lead that was growing, and that was the point. A complicated question led to Hugh Binnie giving the answer of the half life. This brought Magdalen questions on violin concertos, of which they took a full set. Harry Gillow knew that Clint Eastwood once made a film on Iwo Jima. Island bonuses saw the both of us only take one on the Galapagos islands. Pembroke, now out of it, lost another five points on the next starter, when Glen Binnie knew that kinematics is the third branch of mechanics. Novels whose title is a four letter girl’s name only gave them time for two correct answers before the gong.

Now, the final score – 220 to 110 showed that Magdalen had doubled Pembroke’s score. Yet this gives the impression of an easy win for Magdalen, which it wasn’t. Only in the last few minutes did they establish their superiority, and they did it well, too, and deserved to win. Hard lines to Pembroke though. I dare say that if they’d drawn quite a number of the other teams the least they’d have come up with was a repechage slot – but then, them’s the breaks. It was nice to see JP paying them their dues at the end.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Now, what do we know that JP doesn’t like? Getting an English Lit question wrong, especially an easy one. Tom McGhee courted disaster by offering “MRS. Havisham”. “It’s MISS Havisham!” snorted our hero in exasperation, “That’s the whole point!” He let him have the points anyway, “but I’ll accept you got the right person.”

When Magdalen offered Lord Salisbury for the politician from Vanity Fair he interjected,

“It’s nothing like Salisbury! It’s Parnell” Oh, be fair, JP. Both of them had beards you could hide a badger in.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego originally have other names in the book of Daniel 

Answers to News Questions

In the News

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

John Doyle and Stephanie Withall

Brooks Newman

Sumane Biles

Colin Turkington

Greg Hancock

Angus Sinclair

Samra Kesinovic

Here Lies Love

Andy King

Evo Morales

Daniela Poggiali

Martina Purdey

Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Amal Clooney

Lord Freud

Nicola Sturgeon

Oasis of the Seas

Ellie Close

William Gallas

Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red

Maya Makri

David Willis

In Other News

What did Helmut Kohl say about the late Margaret Thatcher last week?

Whose memory is to be recognized by a Lottery project?

Which politician said that he liked the Queen last week?

What was the score between England and Estonia?

Who is Bolton Wanderers’ new manager?

Which club won the Women’s football super league

Lewis Hamilton won the Russian GP to go level on GP wins with Nigel Mansell. How many?

Which team have now won the F1 constructors’ championship?

Who retained his world Motogp title?

Name the Wigan player sent off in the Grand Final and banned for 6 months for punching Lance Hohaia?

What do the Labour Party want teachers to have to take?

Who was the second celebrity to leave Strictly?

Which South American country qualified for the Rugby world cup by beating Russia?

Which culinary delights had their own national week last week?

MPs voted to recognize the statehood of who or what?

What was the score between Wales and Cyprus?

– and Iceland and Netherlands?

Who is the new manager of Scunthorpe?

Who was criticized for saying that the girl raped by footballer Ched Evans ‘suffered no bodily harm’?

David Cameron was criticized for posing for a photograph with whom?

Which government are to be invited to place a wreath at the Cenotaph in November?

Which character’s makeover upset fans last week?

Who walked off stage in Darlington when a mobile phone kept going off in the front row?

The ceremonial route for whose funeral was announced last week?

Who reportedly is launching his own fashion label in India?

David Peace donated the stage rights to The Damned United to which theatre company in Leeds?

What was the score between Poland and Scotland?

And Germany and the Republic of Ireland?

A new welsh language branch of which chain had to apologise for putting up welsh signs which were complete gobbledygook in Aberystwyth?

Who has been charged by the FA with making an offensive tweet?

Who apologized for blocking up people’s music library on itunes, and put it down to a little bit of megalomania?

Who recorded a video dancing with a turnip?

What was Henry Winkler awarded last week?

Why did Howden le Wear Primary School block a visit from a Ghanaian teacher last week?

Which country did Northern Ireland beat last week in football?

What happened in the Serbia v Albania match last week?

Chelsea reached a new loan agreement with which club?

Which famous school has been unwittingly used for money laundering?

Which building won the RIBA Stirling Prize?

What number Duke of Blenheim is former bad boy the Marquess of Blandford?

Who has been threatened with claims of plagiarism over her own autobiography?

Who is the new manager of Tranmere?

What was the result of the Women’s Continental Cup?

Who apologized after saying that some child porn sentences are unfair?

It was reported that the Pope has rented out the Sistine Chapel to whom for a function?

3 cyclists from which team failed drugs tests?

London’s Albemarle Street unveiled a blue plaque to which irish patriot?

Who became the UKs first Comics Laureate?

What is the name of the Hurricane, the remnants of which are due to hit the UK next week?

The West Indies cricket team have called off a visit to which country?

Answers

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

World conkers champions

Former Conservative minister who is seeking help after being caught sending nude pictures of himself again

American winner of 4 golds in women’s world gymnastics championships

Won British Touring Car Championship

44 year old world speedway champion

On trial for the 1977 Worlds end murders

17 year old who went to Syria for Jihad, is now married and pregnant and wants to come home.

New musical about Imelda Marcos

Sent off in Wales match v. Cyprus

Re elected president of Bolivia

Italian nurse arrested in connection with several hospital deaths

BBC journalist who has quit to become a nun

Won the Mann Booker Prize

The novel he wrote

New wife of George who is in Britain arguing the case for return of the Elgin Marbles (don’t want to upset anyone, but I would also love to see them returned as a special case)

Minister who apologized for saying that some disabled people were not worth the minimum wage.

New SNP leader

World’s largest cruise ship which paid first visit to the UK

4 year old who qualified for a gundog handling championship

Footballer announced his retirement

Ceramic poppy installation visited by HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh at the Tower of London

She was kicked out of Swiss Cottage Tescos for using her guide dog in the store

He was locked into Waterstones in Trafalgar Square after closing time

In Other News

She would doze off in meetings

Edith Cavell (a distant relative of mine by marriage)

Martin McGuinness

1 – 0 England

Neil Lennon

Liverpool FC

31 GP wins

Mercedes

Marc Marquez

Ben Flower

A ‘Hippocratic’ oath

Jennifer Gibney

Uruguay

National Curry Week

Palestine

2 – 1 Wales

2 – 0 Iceland

Mark Robbins

Judy Finnegan ( this resulted in threats made by nutters against her daughter Chloe Madeley)

Morris dancers in blackface

The republic of Ireland

Bob the Builder

Michael McIntyre

Richard III’s

Julian Assange

Red Ladder Theatre Co. Leeds

2 – 2

1 – 1

Starbucks

Rio Ferdinand

Bono

Michelle Obama

A gold Blue Peter badge

To prevent ebola ( even though there are no cases in Ghana)

Greece

Match was abandoned due to a mass brawl, after drones controlled by fans

Besiktas

Millfield School

Liverpool Everyman Theatre

12^th

Vivienne Westwood

Micky Adams

Man City 1 – Arsenal 0

John Grisham

Porsche

Astana

Daniel O’Connell

Dave Gibbons

Hurricane Gonzalo

India

Have you seen -

This week's Weaver's Week on the UK Ganmeshows.com site? It's always good, but there's a terrific piece this week all about which quiz/gameshows have had the most competitors participating worldwide during their history.

You can read it by clicking on the UK Gameshows link in my links section on the left, and then click on Weaver's Week on the home page.

LAM Podcast 15

In this week's podcast : -

Cryptic Questions
League Quizzes
Mastermind
Only Connect
University Challenge
Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember?
Answers to Last Week's questions

News Questions

In the News

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

John Doyle and Stephanie Withall

Brooks Newman

Sumane Biles

Colin Turkington

Greg Hancock

Angus Sinclair

Samra Kesinovic

Here Lies Love

Andy King

Evo Morales

Daniela Poggiali

Martina Purdey

Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Amal Clooney

Lord Freud

Nicola Sturgeon

Oasis of the Seas

Ellie Close

William Gallas

Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red

Maya Makri

David Willis

In Other News

What did Helmut Kohl say about the late Margaret Thatcher last week?

Whose memory is to be recognized by a Lottery project?

Which politician said that he liked the Queen last week?

What was the score between England and Estonia?

Who is Bolton Wanderers’ new manager?

Which club won the Women’s football super league

Lewis Hamilton won the Russian GP to go level on GP wins with Nigel Mansell. How many?

Which team have now won the F1 constructors’ championship?

Who retained his world Motogp title?

Name the Wigan player sent off in the Grand Final and banned for 6 months for punching Lance Hohaia?

What do the Labour Party want teachers to have to take?

Who was the second celebrity to leave Strictly?

Which South American country qualified for the Rugby world cup by beating Russia?

Which culinary delights had their own national week last week?

MPs voted to recognize the statehood of who or what?

What was the score between Wales and Cyprus?

– and Iceland and Netherlands?

Who is the new manager of Scunthorpe?

Who was criticized for saying that the girl raped by footballer Ched Evans ‘suffered no bodily harm’?

David Cameron was criticized for posing for a photograph with whom?

Which government are to be invited to place a wreath at the Cenotaph in November?

Which character’s makeover upset fans last week?

Who walked off stage in Darlington when a mobile phone kept going off in the front row?

The ceremonial route for whose funeral was announced last week?

Who reportedly is launching his own fashion label in India?

David Peace donated the stage rights to The Damned United to which theatre company in Leeds?

What was the score between Poland and Scotland?

And Germany and the Republic of Ireland?

A new welsh language branch of which chain had to apologise for putting up welsh signs which were complete gobbledygook in Aberystwyth?

Who has been charged by the FA with making an offensive tweet?

Who apologized for blocking up people’s music library on itunes, and put it down to a little bit of megalomania?

Who recorded a video dancing with a turnip?

What was Henry Winkler awarded last week?

Why did Howden le Wear Primary School block a visit from a Ghanaian teacher last week?

Which country did Northern Ireland beat last week in football?

What happened in the Serbia v Albania match last week?

Chelsea reached a new loan agreement with which club?

Which famous school has been unwittingly used for money laundering?

Which building won the RIBA Stirling Prize?

What number Duke of Blenheim is former bad boy the Marquess of Blandford?

Who has been threatened with claims of plagiarism over her own autobiography?

Who is the new manager of Tranmere?

What was the result of the Women’s Continental Cup?

Who apologized after saying that some child porn sentences are unfair?

It was reported that the Pope has rented out the Sistine Chapel to whom for a function?

3 cyclists from which team failed drugs tests?

London’s Albemarle Street unveiled a blue plaque to which irish patriot?

Who became the UKs first Comics Laureate?

What is the name of the Hurricane, the remnants of which are due to hit the UK next week?

The West Indies cricket team have called off a visit to which country?

Only Connect - Match 7

Orienteers v. Romantics

Now, the Orienteers were Paul Beecher, Simon Spiro and Sean Blanchflower. I must apologized to Paul Beecher, since I am unable to provide any other quiz credits for him. Simon Spiro was very unlucky to score 27 in his 2012 Mastermind heat, and just miss out on a repechage slot. As for captain Sean, well, he is none other than a University Challenge series winner, with Trinity Cambridge, and the creator and proprietor of the finest website all about the series – which is one of my permanent links you can see opposite. Their opposition, the Romantics, I knew less about, but that doesn’t mean anything. Owen Rees, Phil Nelson and skipper Daniel Tuite took their name from their shared love of Romantic Composers. Let’s get on with the show.

Round One – What’s the Connection?

Right, the Tics kicked off with Two Reeds. – Tests Precious Metals- suggested a couple of things to me. Acid test? No that was something else. Touchstone? Maybe. Disney Distribution Label confirmed the Touchstone theory. Not for the Romantics, though, they quite understandably were thinking more of Buena Vista with the Disney one. The third was As You Like It’s wise fool. That was enough and they took the points. The Teers took twisted flax, which provided an early outing for the music set. I think all of us recognized Sinatra, but not the song he was singing for the first. Brass in Pocket by the Pretenders came next. Without the first that could either be metals or pockets. Alannis Morisette’s One Hand in my pocket confirmed it was the latter. The Teers had it at this point. Now, captain Daniel of the Tics courted disaster by not voicing the second vowel of Horned as he opted for the viper, but hey, it’s a free country. I liked this set very much. I didn’t get it from Peace (war) but I had it from Love (law and Order) These were Ministries from George Orwell’s 1984. The third was Plenty (Economic Affairs) and the fourth was the real clincher – Truth (news, entertainment and education). It looked like captain Daniel was fishing a bit when he tried 1984, but it worked. The Eye of Horus hid a picture set. The Teers didn’t recognize Lionel Blue for the first, but knew Jack Black for the second. Now, hang on a minute, I said to myself, colours has to be too easy for this one. Jack Straw was third, so that put the kibosh on colours. What could it be though? A rush of blood to the head saw the Teers try Jacks without taking the last clue. This gave the Tics Gaby Logan. Right, I thought, working on Gaby Logan, it’s more likely to be Logan than Gaby. So logan – Mount Logan? Loganberry? Hello, yes, berries. The Tics didn’t have it. This was one of those which really isn’t that obvious, until it’s pointed out, at which point you have an urge to slap your forehead and shout d’oh! Lion gave the Tics Messiah – too many possibilities with that one, methought. The Tics thought so too, going almost immediately for the second clue, Apocalypse. Hmm – I was struggling at this point. The Heist made me think of films as it did the Tics, but I would have taken another clue. The Tics didn’t, opting for Mel Gibson films. Nope. The Teers were shown the last clue – Russian Roulette, and they offered films about Vietnam. No. Apparently they were all Derren Brown TV specials. A good fair set, and come to think of it I did hear of the Russian Roulette one. No cigar for me though. Now, Water gave the Teers a really interesting set. The Brittas Empire offered too many trees to bark at. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland gave me just an inkling that we might just be dealing with – it was all a dream -  here. Which was confirmed by Vanilla Sky in third. That was enough for the Teers, and Simon explained it for the points. That was enough for the Teers to lead by 4 – 3 at the end of the round.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth?

So to the round which usually separates the really good from the nearly good. Now, I know this is bragging, but I took a five pointer here with the Tics’ first choice. 2011: Dusseldorf, Azerbaijan was enough to give me 2014, Copenhagen, Austria. It’s all to do with the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2011 it was held in Dusseldoorf, and won by Ell and Nikki of Azerbaijan. This year it was held in Copenhagen, and won by Conchita Wurst. The Tics, to be fair to them, knew it was Eurovision from the off, but needed 2012: Baku, Sweden before supplying the correct answer. That’s not bad technique mind you, make sure of the points. Sean too gave us Horned rather than Hornèd Viper. Again, this was a chance at a five pointer. 1^st: Sighting made me think of close encounters. Now, the film only dealt with 3 kinds, but the 4^th I thought might be abduction, or some interchangeable term. The Teers were there from the start as well. They had the guts enough to gamble, and reaped their due reward for doing it. Very good shout. Water gave the Tics Flag of Mauritius. Now, this flag has 4 horizontal stripe. So presumably we were looking for something with one stripe, like a lance corporal. Adidas shoes for the second clue confirmed my hypothesis. Ironically corporal was the third clue. The Tics were wrong with their numbers, thinking of something with five rather than 1. This gave the Tics the bonus, and they like me went with lance corporal. Eye of Horus gave the Teers Gras – hmm, didn’t have a Scooby myself – Butter – and here I had an inkling. I knew that Grasmere and Buttermere are in the Lake District, which maybe suggested Winder for the answer. If Thirl was the third, it would definitely be that. It was, and sadly it did nothing to help the Teers. It helped the Tics though, who took the bonus. Twisted Flax gave the Tics – Poisoned. Too many possibilities here, but - stabbed by Prince Ludwig - clinched it. These were the fates of the various Edmund Blackadders. In Blackadder Goes Forth he goes over the top – and may have been killed, although it’s not totally clear. The Tics needed – Become Prince Regent  - to get the connection, and provide the correct answer. To finish off then the Teers had the Lion set and the pictures. We began with a green triangle, which meant but little to me. Then a red circle, and when you looked on the screen it immediately looked like the controls on a sony playstation. I knew square came 4^th, and my daughters screamed pink square. Neither team knew the colour of the square. This meant that the score at the end of the round going into the walls was 10 – 9 to the Teers, and we were in the throes of a good close contest.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

The Teers chose Lion, and I could see both a set of football grounds with Road in their name, and places in Bedfordshire. Come to think of it there were also vans and Harry Potter characters too. The Teers began by trying to take out the Bedfordshire towns. This didn’t work at first, so then they showed admirably tenacity in juggling all the road options before finding the right combination of London, Bloomfield, Vicarage and Loftus. The Bedfordshire towns fell into place with Ampthill, Sandy, Dunstable and Flitwick. A little discussion ensued to make sure that they got the last two lines right on their first go, and that’s exactly what they did. The vans were transit – Luton – Sherpa and sprinter, leaving professors Sprout – Pomfrey - Snape, and Carrow (not a professor, but still member of the Hogwarts staff). Textbook. 10 points.

Water stayed with the Harry Potter theme, since I could see a set of owls from the books. There was also a set of aircraft carriers. Michael Jackson album titles sprang out, which left anagram of fish. I didn’t see that until captain Daniel pointed it out. The Tics kicked off by trying to take out the Michael Jackson albums. That didn’t work. Then the aircraft carriers, and that too didn’t work. The fish anagrams broke the log jam though, with Lose – Aunt – Bad and Tutor. Eliminating Bad enabled them to get Off The Wall – Thriller – Dangerous and Invincible. This left them to get Pigwidgeon – Hermes – Errol and Hedwig as the owls. The Aircraft carriers were Bulwark – Ark Royal – Indefatigable and Illustrious. Another excellent wall performance, and a well deserved ten points. It was anybody’s game going into the missing vowels, since the Teers led by 20 to 19.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

It was all down to this round, and the first set, popular game apps, fell 4 – 0 to the Teers. Female leaders and their countries increased the Teers’ lead, falling to them 3 – 1. Kurt Vonnegut novels provided a second four nil shut out for the Teers, and it was all over bar the shouting. Non Olympic Sports went 2 – 1 to the Teers. So at the end the score was 33 – 21. An emphatic scoreline considering how close that match was until the last round, and how well the Romantics played. Hard line, but they’ll be back. Well played Orienteers, especially that vowels round. Good show.

University Challenge - Round One Match 13

Corpus Christi, Cambridge v. York

After quite a long winded preamble, which saw JP taking particular care over the pronunciation of the alliterative Corpus Christi Cambridge team, he introduced Ram Sarujan Rajkumar , Jessica Stewart, Caroline Purvis and the captain Sam Sharma. Apparently York University predates me by a year, although the idea of York University is several centuries older. Their team were Jack Alexander, Adam Koper, Joe Crowther and skipper Alistair Middleton. That’s enough of the niceties, let’s get on with the show.

We began with a whole long list of things which were – the second . . .  – and Alistair Middleton was the first to spot it, opening York’s account. Various Arnolds provided a set of bonuses, and York were happy to take two. A good early buzz from Adam Koper saw him identify the Netherlands as the country whose King took over after the abdication of his mother in 2013. A lovely UC set of bonuses came early in this show. Pop music was the linking theme, and the questions gave three definitions of genres of pop music, asking for their name – so you had a very scientific description of the hip, followed by the latin name of the hop plant. Well, I thought it was clever. Two more bonuses for York. Now, I don’t know what a Feigenbaum diagram is when it’s at home, but Mr. Rajkumar of Corpus Christi knew that it all related to chaos. For their bonuses they were given three questions on Measure for Measure. Got to admit, never taught it, seen it nor read it. I did get the second two bonuses – that it’s set in Vienna is a bit chestnutty. Corpus Christi managed 1 bonus. We were already at the picture starter, and saw a map of Italy with some red dots. When asked for the sporting significance of the red dots, Ram Sarujan Rajkumar took his second consecutive starter by identifying them as the locations of football teams in serie A. Now, for the bonuses, three of the cities marked played host to two teams. The team had to identify which teams were playing in which city. This time they took 2 bonuses. This was enough to narrow the gap to 35 – 40 at the 10 minute mark.

A quote from Walter Bagehot brought the correct answer of Oliver Cromwell from Alistair Middleton, and York were rolling again. Geology proved difficult, and both of us only took the last one. Sam Koper earned a wigging from JP and a pointy finger for buzzing in too early on the next, which was a quote from Bertrand Russell about Mathematics. Corpus Christi were unable to take advantage. Now, Shakespeare had a thing about the name Balthasar. In the next starter, JP gave us four examples of characters with the name from different plays, and Jessica Stewart was the first to throw the name Balthasar into the ring. Canadian Provinces were by no means gimmes, but the team took a full set, to take the lead for the first time in the competition. Asked for the name of one of the three men to be Chancellor, Foreign Secretary and PM, Joe Crowther supplied John Major. Bonuses on astronomy brought another 5 points, which took us up to the music set. It took a little while, but it was Jessica Stewart who first recognized Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder. Three more songs associated with the civil rights movement followed. They got the first and last, but missed out on Marvin Gaye in the middle. Now, the next starter, on a famous Philip Larkin poem, seemed to be leading towards a request for the line – They *&!% you up your mum and dad – This may be why Jessica Stewart buzzed, then felt better of it and apologized. Thankfully the question swerved, and asked instead for the advice that the poem gives the reader in its final line. The answer being ‘and don’t have any kids yourself’ – advice which, to be fair, the old curmudgeon followed. Sam Crowther heard ‘Ecclesisastical History . . . ‘ and when this was eventually followed by the word ‘Northumbrian’ he slammed the buzzer, and gave the correct answer of The Venerable Bede. Bonuses on people born in Riga brought ten points, and more importantly the lead. A great interruption from Alistair Middleton saw him identify the phylum of creatures with a spine or stiffening rod (behave yourselves) as chordata. Bonuses on the river Rhine added a further ten points to their score, taking them into three figures. I was pleased with myself for getting the next starter, knowing that five of the world’s largest 12 islands are either wholly or partly part of Indonesia. Alistair Middleton took that one for York, which gave them a set of bonuses on the King James Bible. They didn’t get any of them, all of which meant that by just after the 20 minute mark York were leading by 115 to 75, a lead which had all been carved out in the last couple of minutes, so they were certainly the team with the momentum.

For the second picture starter that man Middleton identified an equestrian statue of Genghis Khan. Three more equestrian statues followed. They knew Richard I and Louis XIV, but missed out on Charlemagne. Not surprised, I was nowhere near either. Sam Sharma knew that CTS is Carpal tunnel syndrome, and this gave Corpus Christi a set of bonuses on the works of Thomas Hardy. This was a very gettable set, but they only managed 5 points. A hell of a good buzz from Mr. Rajkumar for the next one. I don’t know what the unit of distance measuring 150 billion metres is, but he knew that its abbreviation is also the chemical symbol for gold. That brought Corpus Christi into 3 figures. Words beginning with Gn followed – and that earned not only a full set, but a ‘well done’ from Jez. Only 20 points behind now. Neither team knew Calabria is the Italian region on the Straits of Messina, although Sam Sharma was closest with Calibria. York lost five for an early buzz. Brontolo, Grincheux and Severus are the Italian, French and Latin for Grumpy of the Seven Dwarves. Alistair Middleton worked this one out and earned a really nice UC special set on fauna whose names are reduplicative, eg, the dodo. I’ve never heard of cucus, any more than York had, although we both had the other two. Sam Crowther knew that the hotel rent value of Mayfair is precisely 8 times that of Old Kent Road in Monopoly. This earned a set on African countries. York answered in double quick time, only missing out on Bechuanaland, the former name of Botswana. Caroline Purvis knew that a set of operas were all based on the works of Schiller. Physical constants named after Scientists saw them raise their score to 35. A repechage slot was tantalizingly close, but so little time remained. In fact the gong went before any more points were scored.

The final result was 170 – 135 to York. Corpus Christi didn’t get the consolation of JP saying what a nice team they were, which he’s been doing a lot this series. Don’t know why, they seemed perfectly nice to me. As for York, that was a good performance against a useful team, so you never know. Good luck in round two.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Nowt of any note at all for long periods of the show. When offered Martha Reeves and the Vandellas our hero pontificated, “Well, she was just called Martha and the Vandellas at that point I think.” JP a Motown fan? Top man if that’s the case.

Finally a little needle emerged when Corpus Christi only managed to get one bonus on the Thomas Hardy set. JP hates people getting English Literature questions wrong! Knowing that Angel Clare appears in tess of the D’Urbervilles, he muttered,

“Indeed . . . so you’ve done that at school.”

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

Brontolo, Grincheux and Severus are name for Grumpy in Italian, French and Latin.