LAM Podcast 21

In this week's show: -

Questions on English Literature
Being on TV
Pub quizzes
TV quizzes
Court of Public Opinion
Do you remember?
Answers to last week's questions

In The News

In the news

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

Craig Beevers

Goncheh Ghavani

Grey Power

Tony Bellew

Chuck Hagel

Marion Barry

Katie Taylor

Fairlife

Anthony Noto

Frodsham

Kim Sears

‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser

Isaac Andrews

Jean Eric Vergne

Harriet Green

Moeen Ali

Mr. Justice Mitling

Sean Abbott

Jamie Cooper-Hohn

Toby Rowland

James Watson

Susie Wolff

In Other News

Who is the world F1 driver’s champion?

The government officially abandoned their target on what?

To whom did Max Moseley offer £1 million?

Which film won children’s BAFTA for best film?

Which country won the Davis Cup final?

Where was the last Grand Prix of the season held?

How many races did Lewis Hamilton win this season?

What was the result of England v. Germany in women’s football?

– and Ireland v. Australia in rugby?

– and England v. Samoa?

– and Wales v. New Zealand?

– and Scotland v. Tonga?

And France v. Argentina?

Who was the latest out of Strictly?

A Christmas Wonderland attraction designed by Laurence Llewellyn Bowen fell foul of visitors, and was closed after one day last week. Where?

What was the score between Arsenal and Man Utd.?

Who won the Golf DP World Tour Championship?

Which museum, is taking on the task of reuniting the Munich Nazi art hoard with its rightful owners?

In which city was a baby found dumped in a storm drain?

Which organisation condemned the decision to present Tony Blair with a Global Legacy award?

Which controversial TV show, in the news in October, is to be screened on the BBC during the Christmas period?

Who admitted he takes his kids to A and E rather than to his GP?

Which article from the film Casablanca sold for £1.9 million at auction?

What was the Champions League score between Man City and Bayern Munich?

– and Chelsea and Schalke?

Who scored a record breaking 72^nd champions league goal?

Which multinational firm announced they will not be renewing sponsorship deals with FIFA?

Which rare book was discovered in a library in St. Omer?

Who are the two favourites on the short list for BBC Sports Personality Of The Year?

What was the Champions League score between Arsenal and Dotrmund?

– and Liverpool and Ludogerets?

Joan Collins announced what about her first husband Maxwell Reed?

Who received a lifetime achievement award from Equestrian sport’s governing body?

Which famous author passed away aged 94?

Which work will be broadcast in a 10 hour production on New Year’s day on Radio 4?

Counterfeiters from Italy were able to put what into circulation in Germany?

What was the Europa League score between Everton and Wolfsburg?

– and Spurs and Partizan Belgrade?

– and Celtic and Salzburg?

Who formally announced that he will stand for IAAF president when Lamine Diack steps down?

In a protest, what did French farmers release to wander around beneath the Eiffel Tower last week?

Who quit his job with Aston Villa?

Only Connect - Match 13

Elves v. Nightwatchmen

In their first round match the Q.I.Elves were quite comfortably beaten by the Bibliophiles, and I felt moved to comment on the collective performance of Anne Miller, Andrew Hunter-Murray and James Harkin that they had seemed just a little cautious, and could have posted a higher score with tactics a little less conspicuously safety first. The Nightwatchmen, by comparison, were only very narrowly defeated in a high scoring match by the Nørdiphiles. Jonathan Wilson, Robert Winder and skipper Daniel Norcross maybe started as slight favourites, but we’ve seen favourites fall too many times before to pay any attention to that sort of thing.

Round One – What’s the Connection?

The Nights kicked off with eye of Horus, and a music set. The first two I didn’t recognise, but the third being – Where do Broken Hearts go – and the last being – Too many Broken Hearts made it fairly clear – but not, sadly to the Nights. Captain Daniel splendidly waffled his way around the subject, but didn’t get close. The Elves offered hearts – and that was accepted. Two reeds gave them Joan Fontaine and what looked like an easy five pointer, but actually wasn’t. The thing about Joan Fontaine is even though she was great actress who won an Oscar, she was still probably not as famous as her sister, Olivia De Havilland, who was in the same line of work, and with whom she had a famous long running feud. OK, but which part of that was the connection? Jack Charlton as the second clue certainly confirmed both same job and feud. Lucien Freud, though, made it clear we were talking about the feud. Neither team quite saw it, I’m afraid. Daniel chanced his luck by going for a conventionally voiced Horned Viper. The first clue – Am I Not A Man And a Brother was a slogan for opponents to the slave trade – however, and I am going to claim a five pointer here – I also knew that the inscription appeared on a special £2 coin a few years ago. The other clues were Isambard Kingdom Brunel – Engineer  - 1806 – 1859, - In victory Magnanimity, in peace, goodwill – and the real clincher – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. That last one is a very old quiz chestnut, and there really isn’t an excuse for not getting it if you have designs on doing well on a show like this. Mind you, the Elves didn’t impress me much by not getting it either. Behind Lion the Elves found pictures of a rat – Ben the Bear from Gentle Ben – and that was enough for me. Ben, the Michael Jackson song is about a rat, so these were Bens. The mountain which followed suggested Ben Nevis, but they needed the Uncle Ben logo from the US food company. Speaking of food companies, the Nights picked Twisted Flax and their first clue was Australian Gold. My cousin once worked for a food company called Australian Gold – well, strictly speaking it was Australian Canned Gold. Too many possibilities for a five pointer on that clue. Antiguan and Barbudan silver followed, as did Portuguese Platinum. Suddenly it clicked. Au – from the domain name of Australia – is the symbol for gold – Ag from Antigua for Silver and so on. It looked like Jonathan who had that one for the Nights as well, but they took Cuban copper to be sure and they took a point on it. Water gave the Elves You. No chance of a five pointer there. A beatle intrigued me. Presumably that would be John Paul George or Ringo. I didn’t have it, and the next clue – A Dukla Prague Away kit didn’t help. James worked it out as being all things which had competed the title “All I want for Christmas is – “ I wagered with myself that the last clue would be two front teeth, in which case I would have had a one pointer. But fair play, that was well done, Elves. They led by 4 – 1.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth?

Two Reeds gave the Nights Trousers to begin with. I dare say that there’s little chance of a five pointer from that, but amazingly Jonathan was on it from the start, thinking in terms of Wallace and Grommit. The second clue – Shave – certainly seemed to suggest that. In which case – were rabbit should be third – and Loaf and death – or maybe just  - death – to finish. The only trouble for the Nights was – they didn’t know the last Wallace and Gromit adventure! How cruel is that? Given a gilt edged bonus chance the Elves squandered it by going with out – as in A Grand Day – which all fans know was the first , not the last. I cannot explain how skipper James worked out the next one, which was different shapes with mirror images below, but he did. Can’t really show you them – you’ll just have to watch the show for yourselves. Great answer off 2 clues, anyway. Water gave the Nights clergyman (7) – then Former Marriage Guidance Council (6). I bet most regular quizzers were screaming at the screen by this point. The seonc answer is Relate – so the first is prelate. My answer for number for would be recently deceased or tardy (4) Just keep taking those letters off, boys. The Nights were lucky to have Jonathan in their team again, as it suddenly clicked with him after the third clue – Fill with joy (5) Twisted Flax started with Spanish for the Elves.This was followed by Asian. Now, I had a feeling that we could be dealing with flu epidemics – which would maybe end with swine. The Elves were working on the same lines here and again gave the correct answer. Of course the third would have been Hong Kong – not bird which I idly considered as that has not – touchwood – been a human epidemic as yet. Daniel picked the Viper again, and again ignored the opportunity to confer blessings upon his house by voicing the second vowel. Broken Hearts was the first clue. Hmm – move on please. Sibling feuds – oh my goodness, it was the first sets of the contest! Could they remember that Bens had come 4^th? Yes! Only eye of Horus remained. Now, eye of Horus did actually give the Elves a chance of a five pointer. We saw Love’s Labour’s Lost with the apostrophes highlighted in red. Now, working forward, the last Shakespeare play with an apostrophe is The Winter’s Tale. Thank you very much – 5 points to Dave. Inspiration failed the Elves and the Nights took the bonus. Which meant that the score was now 10 – 6 to the Elves, and the gap remained the same.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

Taking the Lion wall, Barker, King, Court and Wade were all tennis players who won Grand Slam singles titles ( at least 1) during the 70s, and these they isolated fairly sharpish. A set of gloves – Oven – Boxing – Rubber and Kid followed hot on their heels. Given plenty of time to solve the last two lines I could see a set of terms from the game of Bridge , and a set of words for cooking equipment – Stove etc. For some reason the Elves now decided to make it harder than it was. All of the words left could only fit in one of the two sets, I think, but they hadn’t got the Bridge connection. I’m sorry, but again, a regular quizzer would have that just from Yarborough. Of course, the moment they decided to try with the kitchen appliances, bingo – it was solved . Stove – Range – Deep Fryer and Toaster did the trick. Speaking of which, this left Overtrick – Slam – Finesse and Yarborough. They didn’t have a Scooby about that set, thus ending with 7 for the round.

The Nights saw a set of musicals were there right from the start. I could also see shrubs, homophones for countries, and Eggheads. Louse – Grease – Cypress and Chilli fell first. Chicago, Evita, Godspell and Follies fell as the musicals almost a second or two later. CJ, Barry, Kevin and Judith were the Eggheds, which left Jasmine , Daphne, Laurel and Buddleia as the shrubs. The trouble was that the Nights just didn’t know the Eggheads. Never mind – they knew the shrubs, and untangled them, which automatically untangled the Eggheads as well. They just didn’t know the Eggheads, and so ended with 7 points. So going into the final round the Elves led 17 – 13.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

Well, 4 isn’t a huge lead, but it’s better to have than not. Things seen at children’s parties fell 2 apiece. A 4 – 0 shutout on words which suggest slickness gave the Elves what looked like a winning lead of 8. Former countries of Europe went 2 -1 to the Nights, but it looked as if it could well be too little too late. There was just time for the Nights to pick up one more point on first names of detective duos, and that was it. The final score 24 – 18 to the Elves. Bad luck Nights – a case of not your night really. Well played Elves. It wasn’t, if I’m honest, the highest quality match we’ve seen all series, but it was enjoyable in its own right.  

University Challenge - Round Two - Match Three

Magdalen, Oxford v. Open University

In the first round, the scoreline suggests that Magdalen’s team of Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and their captain Hugh Binnie had a relatively easy match against Pembroke. The fact was that it was only in the last few minutes that they had managed to pull away and apply the coup de grace. Their opponents, the Open University Team of Danielle Gibney, Stuart Taylor, Kate Law, and their captain Lynne Jones, had a rather more difficult passage, losing in the first round to Leicester. Leicester, fancied after this performance to do well, were knocked out a couple of weeks ago by Trinity. Could the OU, who had knocked out the LSE in the repechage, do better? I said in my comments on the previous second round match that I thought that the OU were in danger of being buzzed out of it. Time would tell whether I would be right, or whether Gypsy Rose Clark would be on his usual form.

I haven’t read Morrissey’s autobiography yet, but I guessed this was the answer to the first question, and Kate Law was first in for that. A relatively benign set of bonuses on poetry of the first world war saw them take a full house. The next starter asked for the 1872 novel described by many people as The Greatest English Novel. Cameron Quinn was first in with Middlemarch. I remember the late Richard Hoggart talking to us about the novel’s reputation in a seminar early on a Wednesday morning during my first year at Goldies. Marco Polo’s Il Milione was a rather more difficult set of bonuses, and Magdalen managed 2 of them. One of those horrible arithmetic problems followed, but when it swerved to ask for the name of an Italian mathematician I went for my stock answer of Fibonacci. Hugh Binnie gave the same answer, but to be fair he looked like he actually knew that it was the correct answer. Bonuses on the operas of Wagner. This time they took a full set. On the next question you could well see why I thought that the OU were in danger of being buzzed out of the show. The next long winded starter began by mentioning an English philosopher born in 1561 – both the teams waited – whose work “Novum Organum – “ bang! As soon as that clue was given Cameron Quinn buzzed straight in with Francis Bacon, as well he should, for it was right. Bonuses on the Galileo spacecraft brought another 10 points. For the picture starter we saw the opening lines of a book, and both teams dwelt on the buzzer a little before Kate Law chanced her arm with Dracula, which was correct. As is the way with picture sets, more of the same followed, with extracts from other epistolary literary works. They were unlucky to zig with Clarissa, when the same author’s Pamela would have brought them 5 points. We all recognised The Colour Purple. Just short of the ten minute mark the scores stood at 65 – 40 to Magdalen. We had a contest, but the indications were that Magdalen would continue to pull ahead, and when it came to a buzzer race, they would win more than they’d lose.

As was proven by the next starter, which Hugh Binnie buzzed in for as soon as it became clear that the figure from US political history being described was John Quincy Adams. A UC special set followed – did you know that Meg Ryan is an anagram of Germany? Magdalen did, and the other two as well. I didn’t know the Kerr Effect, and neither did the teams, so let’s gloss over that and move on to the next starter. Again, superior buzzing brought Magdalen the points, Asked for a comedian born in New York in the 1890s, as soon as JP mentioned his greasepaint moustache Cameron Quinn was in for it. Other people born in the same decade provided a full set, and took them through the three figure barrier. Asked for the subject of a painting, when JP told us it represented the death of an Austrian Archduke named Emperor of Mexico, essentially all the teams had to do was to answer – who was the Austrian Archduke made Emperor of Mexico and executed shortly after. Chris Savory was in for his first starter on that one. Magdalen just don’t know their ancient Egyptian cities, and didn’t get a sausage on that set. Emboldened by his previous success Chris Savory buzzed in for the next starter, but did so too early, and lost 5. Given the full question it became clear to Danielle Gibney that the answer was manometer. Thermodynamics did nothing for me, but at least the OU managed one of the bonuses. The music set began a question asking for the name of the piece’s composer, a British one primarily active in the 20^th century. “Vaughan Williams!” I shouted before the piece played. It usually is, although I concede that Benjamin Britten would be another possibility in most cases. Chris Savory confirmed that my prediction was correct after a couple of bars. Three more fantasias followed of which they managed one. Cameron Quinn, so adept at snapping up the obvious ones before they became totally obvious, buzzed in to identify the word cataract as the waterfall/eye condition. Bonuses on rivers provided ten more points to a total that was already looking like a winning one, although they missed the various rivers Stour. Lynne Jones did not look at all confident when asked for the name of the a specific Chinese dynasty, but the Tang brought her the points, and a set of bonuses on bird anatomy. A full set was timely and necessary, for right on the 20 minute mark Magdalen still led by 155 to the OU’s 80.

Double digit primes is not something you’d mention in everyday conversation, and whatever the question was about, nobody had it. Cameron Quinn recognised a definition of the word canapé for the next question. Australian cities were no more to their liking than Egyptian ones, and no more points were accrued from that set of bonuses. Chris Savory recognised a still from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. A really terrific set of bonuses on stills from classics of German Expressionist cinema gave me a full house, and Magdalen as well, putting them just a starter away from 200. Danielle Gibney, originally from the Netherlands, knew that the capital of Limburg province is Maastricht. That’s the way that the cookie crumbles sometimes. It was unlikely to make a material difference to the outcome of the show. Bonuses linked by the colour black were again a rather benign set and provided a full house. Now, when you hear the name Howard Staunton you buzz on and say ‘chess’. That’s what Hugh Binnie did. Mathematic bonuses took me out of the equation for the bonus set, should you pardon the pun, but Magdaken managed one of them. Stuart Taylor knew that 500 million years ago we were in the Cambrian Era. Bonuses on Wales promised a few pronunciation problems. Swansea’s welsh name does indeed mean – at the mouth of the river Tawe – but it’s pronounced like TOWIE rather than taw. 1 bonus. Danielle Gibney won the buzzer race to link Trollope and Hope as Anthonys. European History did nothing for them – thought I was pleased with myself for drgging the name of John Sobieski from the dark recesses. Nobody knew the bond angle in a water molecule. You don’t say. Harry Gillow at this late stage managed a lovely early buzz to answer that it was Augustus who claimed that he found Rome in brick etc etc. 2 bonuses on God Save the Queen were enough to bring the contest to a conclusion. Magdalen were comfortable winners on 225 to Open’s 130.

Well, what can I say? OU were buzzed out of it as I had predicted. Don’t worry – it’s surely just a fluke, and doubtless my batting average will return to utter garbage as the series progresses. Very well played Magdalen – a team who could go quite a bit further, it seems to me. 

Jeremy Paxman Watch

We’re used to JP getting shirty about English literature. In this one, when asked for a particular French Mathematician Magdalen offered, “Lebesgue” – pronounced as it is spelled, only to be sniffily informed,

“Yes, that’s how it’s spelt, it’s normally pronounced Lebeg.” Give them the points and leave it there, Jez. Don’t pretend that you’d know if it wasn’t written on the card.

A flash of the old JP came out when Magdalen made a bit of a pig’s ear of the Australian bonuses. “Your knowledge of Australian Geography is terrible!” he rather unkindly pointed out. Mind you, he was chuckling as he did so, as were Magdalen.

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

Groucho Marx once wrote a book called Memoirs of a Mangy Lover. Mangy Lover? Wasn’t that a number one for Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey?

Mastermind - Round One - Heat 15

Recidivist watch? Oh yes, and I was delighted to see none other than our own LAM regular, Gillian Taylor. Gillian was a semi finalist in both Nancy’s and Ian’s series, so she knows exactly what it takes to win a first round match. She was drawn second to go, after Steve Wilson. Steve kicked off with Marc Bolan. I’ll be honest, I was never a fan really. I was very young at the time he was around. Still, I did manage to pick up a couple of the easiest points on offer n the round. Steve made a good start to his round, I thought, and by the minute mark he looked set for double figures. The points did start to rather dry up in the second minute, as maybe one of the wrong answers began to play on his mind. In the end Steve levelled out at 8, and bearing in mind Gillian’s previous first round matches I had no doubt that she would set the specialist bar considerably higher than that.

In the 2009 first round Gillian took the Romney Marsh novels of Monica Edwards, and in the 2011 first round she took the Life and Career of Josephine Baker. In both of those rounds she scored 18. Well, we’ve seen that this sort of score just isn’t going to happen in this series, but Gillian displayed all of her skill in taking this round, firing back the answers as quickly as possible, to raise the target to 14. Already you could say that Steve was out of the running.

David Good was answering on The Sasanid Empire. No, I can’t say I had a great store of knowledge to draw upon for this round either. My hopes for David were a little dashed by the fact that he had to pass on his first question. The round improved from then, but it was one of those rounds when the contender’s answers lead you to believe that either their conception of the parameters of the subject are at variance with the letters, or somehow their preparation lacked a little thoroughness. IN the end David levelled out at 8, but I’m afraid that you just have to score more than that on your specialist to give yourself a chance. At best it looked as if it was going to be a two horse race by the time we turned around for the second half.

Now, here’s a funny thing. I was having a chat with Craig, my grandson’s dad, the other day, and he said that if he ever went on Mastermind, then his specialist subject would be the sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo. Imagine my joy when I saw that this was exactly the same subject as was offered by Philip Isaac, the last of tonight’s contenders. I’ll tell you one thing about the round as well. Craig wouldn’t have done any better with it than Philip did. He couldn’t. It was a perfect round of 13 correct answers to 13 question, which meant that he was still behind Gillian, but there was next to nothing in it.

So, essentially what we were left with was a two horse race, but the nature of the contest is that when it is a two horse race on Mastermind, you still have to watch the other two horses running the course first. Steve was first, and he still seemed to be recovering from his specialist round. He struggled manfully on, picking up points where he could, but in the end he looked a little relieved when it was over, and he had levelled out at 16, having added another 8 to his total. David Good’s round, well, now, that round was a completely different kettle of fish. I don’t think that I know David, but I would venture to say that he is a quizzer. He seemed considerably more confident and assured in this round than he ever did on specialist, and he just kept on finding the answers. An excellent 15 pushed his score up to 23, and he would be forgiven for asking himself if he couldn’t have just managed to squeeze a few more points out of that specialist round.

Philip Isaac, then, needed 11 correct answers in order to take the outright lead, and as many as possible on top of that to put Gillian into the corridor of doubt. Philip too came up with the sort of answers which lead me to suspect that he too is a quizzer. As with the specialist round his answers weren’t quite as quick as the best round of the evening, but they were pretty good and kept coming throughout the round. A score of 13 wiped out David’s lead, and set the target for Gillian at 26.

So Gillian needed a round of 12 correct answers to give her a chance of winning the show. This is something she has achieved before. Nonetheless it is by no means a comfortable total to have to chase, and despite a good start Gillian fell behind the clock at about the 90 second mark. She did rally, but the finish line was always coming a little too quickly, and she finished on 24. Very bad luck Gillian, but congratulations to Philip, a good performance, that. Best of luck in the semi finals.

The Details

Steve Wilson	Marc Bolan	8 - 1	8 - 5	16 - 6
Gillian Taylor	The Empress of Ireland	14 – 0	10 - 0	24 - 0
David Good	The Sasanian Empire	8 -2	15 - 2	23 - 4
Philip Isaac	’Allo ‘Allo	13 - 0	13 - 2	26 - 2

Answers to News Questions

In the News

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

Glen A. Larson

Wake Me Up

Abdul Rahman Kassig

Sebastian Ogier

Fara Williams

Jack Cottle

Tam O’Brann

Isa Guha

Tania Clarence

The Prince’s Drawing School

Jared and Serena Gambling

Julien Blanc

Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat School

Gemma Collins

Broadway Hotel, Blackpool

Tom Kristensen

The Duchess of Alba

Nicola Sturgeon

Emily Thornberry

Dave Prowse

Ineos

Dave Whelan

Will Stevens

Melinda Gates

George Kemp

Andy Coulson

Jim Webb

Jason Knauf

In Other News

Who was the 6^th person out of Strictly Come Dancing?

What was the score in the Euro qualifier between Wales and Belgium?

– and England and Slovenia?

What was the result of the ATP world finals?

What was the score in the RU test between Scotland and the All Blacks?

 – and Wales and Fiji?

– and England and South Africa?

– and France and Australia?

The General Synod passed which significant piece of legislation last week?

Who severely injured his arm and cheek while cycling in Central Park last week?

Where did Argentina and Portugal play a friendly match last week?

Which former GB rugby player joined St Helens as Assistant Coach?

Which anniversary did Lotto celebrate last week?

What controversial rating was the Paddington Bear movie given last week?

Which long term prisoner announced he was getting married last week?

What was the score in the friendly football international between England and Scotland?

Which city has been awarded the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championship?

What was the score between Portugal and Argentina?

Who savaged Ed Milliband on ITV’s “The Agenda”?

Who was appointed manager of Wigan FC?

Which venue hosted the first ever full rugby union test match on an artificial pitch?

Which Motown singer passed away aged 78?

Which conference side knocked Portsmouth out of the FA Cup?

Which Oscar winning director passed away aged 83?

What did Sheffield United retract last week?

What song has been released as a celebrity single for UNICEF to celebrate 25 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Who was clocked speeding on his push bike in Hyde Park?

What type of luggage has been banned in Venice?

Who were signed and released by Ferrari last week?

Who won the Rochester Strood bye election?

What did Ladybird Books promise?

The Occupy Movement set up camp where in London?

Whose watercolour of Munich Town Hall is to be auctioned for an estimated £40,000?

Which former Premiership footballer was one of the first ten players elected to the Asian Football Hall of Fame?

Answers

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

US TV producer of shows such as Battlestar Galactica – passed away

Children in Need Charity Single went to No 1

US Aid worker beheaded by ISIL

Won the Wales GB rally

England Ladies’ most capped footballer

Jailed for driving his girlfriend’s car onto the Brands Hatch racetrack during a race as a dare

Tea grower in Scotland whose tea is to be stocked by Fortnum and Mason

1^st woman to be appointed a regular summariser on test Match Special

Mother who killed her 3 children when suffering from severe depression given hospital order rather than jail sentence

Has now been awarded the title of The Royal Drawing School

Twins who have both earned every single Scout badge

Self Styled US dating guru ‘Pickup Artist’ barred from UK

Successful Tower Hamlets school put on special measures due to unregulated Islamic society in 6^th form.

TOWIE star quit I’m A Celebrity

Charged a couple £100 for writing a bad review – then refunded the money later

Former Le Mans winner announced retirement

The world’s most titled aristocrat – passed away

Sworn in as Scotland’s first minister

Labour frontbencher sacked for tweeting photograph from Rochester of house with white van and two St George’s flags

Made a comeback as the Green Cross Code man aged 79

Company applied for license for hundreds of wells for shale gas in Scotland

Wigan owner accused of racist and anti semitic comments

Driver making F1 debut in Caterham team

Won the Chatham House prize for humanitarian work

Won the title of the World’s Biggest Liar in Cumbria

Freed from prison

1^st declared candidate for Presidential nomination for the Democratic party

New Communication secretary for the Cambridges and Prince Harry

In Other News

Judy Murray

0 – 0

3 – 1 England

Roger Federer pulled out before the start

24 – 16 NZ

17 – 13 Wales

31 – 28 S. Africa

29 – 26 France

To allow the ordination of women bishops

Bono

Old Trafford

Sean Long

20^th anniversary

PG

Charles Manson

3 – 1 England

Doha

1 – 0 Portugal

Myleene Klass

Malky Mackay

Rugby Park, Kilmarnock

Jimmy Ruffin

Aldershot

Mike Nicholls

Training offer to Ched Evans

Imagine

Jeremy Vine

Wheelie bags

Alonso is out, and Vettel is in

Mark Reckless of UKIP

It will stop any labelling of ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ books on covers

Parliament Square

Adolf Hitler

Harry Kewell

Before you ask - yes I did see Gogglebox

Well - that wasn't exactly part of the plan, to be honest with you.

Hey, look, if you paint a target on your back, you're going to catch a few bullets.
(Jealous  *&$$£!!!s)

Mary is still wetting herself laughing.

Antiques Roadshow

If you haven't seen my appearance on the Antiques Roadshow, and you'd like to, it's currently on the iplayer, about 9 or 10 minutes into the show.

Antiques Roadshow iplayer

It'll be there until next Sunday, I think.

This is me with glass expert Andy McConnell, wishing he'd hold my bowl a little more tightly.

LAM Podcast 20

In this week's show: -

General Knowledge questions
Birmingham Mega Quiz
Mastermind - University Challenge - Only Connect
The Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember
Answers to last week's questions

In The News

In the News

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

Glen A. Larson

Wake Me Up

Abdul Rahman Kassig

Sebastian Ogier

Fara Williams

Jack Cottle

Tam O’Brann

Isa Guha

Tania Clarence

The Prince’s Drawing School

Jared and Serena Gambling

Julien Blanc

Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat School

Gemma Collins

Broadway Hotel, Blackpool

Tom Kristensen

The Duchess of Alba

Nicola Sturgeon

Emily Thornberry

Dave Prowse

Ineos

Dave Whelan

Will Stevens

Melinda Gates

George Kemp

Andy Coulson

Jim Webb

Jason Knauf

In Other News

Who was the 6^th person out of Strictly Come Dancing?

What was the score in the Euro qualifier between Wales and Belgium?

– and England and Slovenia?

What was the result of the ATP world finals?

What was the score in the RU test between Scotland and the All Blacks?

 – and Wales and Fiji?

– and England and South Africa?

– and France and Australia?

The General Synod passed which significant piece of legislation last week?

Who severely injured his arm and cheek while cycling in Central Park last week?

Where did Argentina and Portugal play a friendly match last week?

Which former GB rugby player joined St Helens as Assistant Coach?

Which anniversary did Lotto celebrate last week?

What controversial rating was the Paddington Bear movie given last week?

Which long term prisoner announced he was getting married last week?

What was the score in the friendly football international between England and Scotland?

Which city has been awarded the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championship?

What was the score between Portugal and Argentina?

Who savaged Ed Milliband on ITV’s “The Agenda”?

Who was appointed manager of Wigan FC?

Which venue hosted the first ever full rugby union test match on an artificial pitch?

Which Motown singer passed away aged 78?

Which conference side knocked Portsmouth out of the FA Cup?

Which Oscar winning director passed away aged 83?

What did Sheffield United retract last week?

What song has been released as a celebrity single for UNICEF to celebrate 25 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Who was clocked speeding on his push bike in Hyde Park?

What type of luggage has been banned in Venice?

Who were signed and released by Ferrari last week?

Who won the Rochester Strood bye election?

What did Ladybird Books promise?

The Occupy Movement set up camp where in London?

Whose watercolour of Munich Town Hall is to be auctioned for an estimated £40,000?

Which former Premiership footballer was one of the first ten players elected to the Asian Football Hall of Fame?

Only Connect - Match 12

Coders v. Romantics

Richard Bradley, Zoe Cunningham and skipper David Simons of the Coders were rather up against it in their first match against the Gamesmasters, and were fairly comfortably beaten. Monday’s opponents were Owen Rees, Phil Nelson and skipper Daniel Tuite of the Romantics. They were unlucky to be blitzed out of their first round match against the Orienteers on the missing vowels, the rest of the show having been nip and tuck. The form guide favoured the Romantics slightly, but there really didn’t look to be that much in it.

Round One – What’s the connection?

The Roms kicked off with Horned Viper, disappointingly voiced without stress on the second vowel. So that was their chance gone. I didn’t know AG , but I did have a clue about SA. I see that written on the back of so many lorries from the continent that I had half a mind it might be words which mean limited company or some such. I didn’t know SpA, but plc confirmed it. The Roms had it off the last clue. Water gave the Cods Ageusia – Anaesthesia – Anosmia – and at this point I felt sure we were dealing with loss of senses -  Anosmia being loss of smell. The last clue confirmed it with Deafness.The Cods had it off the last clue. Honours even so far. Two Reeds gave the Roms Geraldine Estelle. I didn’t get it at all from that. Victoria Caroline though – suddenly I started thinking Spice Girls. If the next was an Emma something or a Melanie something – well, it was a Melanie Jayne. Spice Girls then. The Roms didn’t have it yet. The last – Melanie Janine wasn’t enough to give the Roms a chance, and so it passed across to the Cods. They took a bonus and then plumped for the Eye of Horus. The first clue was Pollyanna – the second Papparazzo. Now – Papparazzo, the singular of paparazzi is a character in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita – so I did wonder whether they were all fictional characters that leant their names to particular types of person. Svengali was the third, and seemed to confirm my hypothesis. I think Richard of the Cods had the idea that they can all describe occupations and personality traits, but he said that they were all loan words from foreign languages – which was not acceptable. Man Friday was the last. The Roms beat around the bush a bit, but never came up with the words ‘fictional characters’ which was one essential part of the answer. Twisted Flax brought the music set to the Roms.Now, for the first clue it was a pleasure to hear a little bit of the theme from The Littlest Hobo. Which suggested either tramps or dogs. Old Shep came next, and both I and the Roms went for it off the two clues. Dogs it was. The Cods were left with Lion, and a picture set. First was what looked like a diamond engagement ring. Next two guys sitting in a bar with two pints in the foreground. Huh? I liked Captain David’s thinking that they are all symbols on fruit machines. He went for it – but the answer was not accepted. We saw a fridge and a horseshoe, and I didn’t get it any more than the Roms did, but of course you can put the word magnet after ring – bar – fridge and horseshoe. This meant that the Roms, by good fortune of having picked out the music rather than the picture set, led by 4 – 2.

Round Two – What comes fourth?

This time the Roms kicked off with water, and the first picture we saw was HM The Queen (Gawd Bless ‘Er) Second was Florence Nightingale. I idly wondered about £10 notes, which would mean Charles Darwin 4^th. But no. In fact, the next was Elizabeth Fry. So I reckoned it worked like this. First woman on a British banknote was the Queen. Next Flo. Lizzie Fry after that, and so the latest is Jane Austen. Thank you very much, and a point for Dave. I don’t think the Roms had a Scooby. The Cods knew it. Captain David pressed home his advantage by asking specifically for the Hornèd Viper, and really pushing that second vowel. Bravo sir. First clue showed an upper case C above an upper case U. Then CC above US. 3^rd was CCC above USS. I just didn’t know, but the Cods were talking about copyright. Then suddenly one of them suggested that it was only one step to get CCCP above USSR. Brilliant shout. OK – slight quibble time. The chances of getting a five pointer on that are way slim – which is fine if they’re all like that, but not so good if let’s say the very next clue gives the opposition a good shout at a 5 pointer. Twisted Flax gave the Roms Slieve Donard, which is the highest peak of Northern Ireland. Did this perhaps mean that we’d have Scafell Pike, then Snowdon, then Ben Nevis – highest peaks of England, Wales and Scotland in order of height? The Roms had it, but took Scafell Pike to be sure. Of course they had the right answer on Ben Nevis. A good set – but in order of early getability a good couple of levels easier than the previous. Two Reeds then gave the Cods 1p – 3p – Captain David worked it out. If you add the 2p caoin to the 1p you get 3p. If you add the next coin, the 5p, you get 8p. Trouble is that you need to take all three clues to work out and confirm that hypothesis. You cannot work out that hypothesis just from 1p, in the way that you can work out a hypothesis just from Slieve Donard. The answer as he said, was 18p. Lion gave the Roms 1:one. 2:three. 3: eleven.All I could come up with was the number of letter e’s in the word, and went for 4: seventeen. The Roms didn’t get there, but the Cods agreed with me and got the bonus. The last sequence for the Cods began with at rest. I idly wondered whether these were heraldic terms – dormant or couchant perhaps. Which would mean something like rearing up would be last, for rampant. Not even close. The second, though – is rich really suggest John Updike’s ‘Rabbit Angstrom’ novels. In which case the first was Rabbit Run. The third clue – Redux confirmed it. The Cods knew it was books, but not which ones. They didn’t get it. Neither did the Roms. This meant that the score at the end of the round was 8 – 7 to the Cods, who had certainly had the better of the round.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

The Cods got to choose and opted for Lion. A set of Mary’s – Bloody – Virgin – Hail and Typhoid were unravelled in double quick time. Almost as quickly a set of ways to do steak followed – blue – rare – well done – medium. However they didn’t have much of a handle on the last two lines now. I could see a group of things made of ice – and eventually the Cods did as well – Granita – Cresta Run – Graupel and Saturn’s rings. Which meant that they had touched the keypad just three times, and each time cleared a line. Remarkable performance. The last set were – Chocks Away – Ascend – Hitchhike and Jump Ball. He only thing I could do with these was thumbs up – that’s what the Cods suggested, and that was good enough. Thumb gestures rather than necessarily thumbs up. A maximum of 10 which guaranteed them a lead going into the vowels.

The Cods kicked off trying to sort out a set of things used for preserving life in the sea. A group of words which can preceded the word press they could also see, but not resolve. Finally a line fell when they realised that cross – sunlight – garlic and holy water are all supposedly effective against a vampire. This enabled them to find the presses – tabloid – linen – bench and trouser. They could now see that the other lines were the equipment, and soap. So Lifebuoy was obviously the one which could be part of both lines. Putting it in the soap line with Ivory – Pears and Dove did the trick. For some reason they decided to change their connection for the Mae West set of Mae West – Noodle – Armband and kickboard to skateboarding manoeuvres. 3 points dropped in a close game could be crucial, as the Cods now led 18 – 14.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

O, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. The first set were all fictional sailing ships. Poor David, skipper of the Cods gave us THE Jolly Roger instead of Jolly Roger, and lost a point. Then the Roms took that and the other three clues, and the lead. Old name and new name fell 2 – 1 to the Rooms, whose 20 – 18 lead was looking ominous for the Cods. Islands named after the day of discovery came next, and the Cods fought back with the first two. They followed up with Ascension Island and Easter Island for a 4 – 0 shut out and a two point lead. Flat Horse races went 3 – 1 to the Roms and all was square again. Days before English bank holidays went 1 apiece. We had a tie break situation! One clue – only skippers can answer. A wrong answer and it’s all over – a right answer and you’re through. David saw it first – Winner Stays On. Indeed he does, and so does his team – for another game at least. As for the Roms we have to say farewell, but thanks for such a good game.