Mastermind: Round One - Heat 12

Mastermind can be a cruel mistress. If you’re still with me after that pretentious opening, then I’ll endeavour to explain. In order to save yourself an awkward walk back to the chair after a disappointing first round it really demands that you put a lot of time and effort into preparing for your specialist. Even if you do, there’s no guarantee that nerves or some other factor won’t scupper your chances, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if you haven’t prepared thoroughly then it will be cruelly exposed. Last week I felt that at least one and probably two contenders had not prepared well enough, and I’m afraid that I had a similar feeling with Marcia Bull’s round. If I’m being unfair I apologise, but I did feel that the way that she passed some of them so quickly made me think that there were things she probably should have prepared that she maybe didn’t. 7 is nothing to be ashamed of – well, let’s be honest, it’s only a game and so no score is anything to be ashamed of, but it is a modest SS score.

Keith Nickless is an old hand, having reached the semi finals in Ian’s 2011 series. Ironically in his 2011 first round he scored a massive total of 18, while this time out he posted exactly half that score with 9. It should be noted that as a rule the questions that are asked in SS now seem significantly longer than they did in 2011, and scores above 15 in specialist are very rare beasts indeed now. That having been said it really looked as if Keith was going to have his work cut out making a second semi.

Paul Armstrong offered us a subject about which I knew nothing, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Having seen scores of 7 and 9 so far I thought that Paul had an excellent chance of taking a good lead, yet he too put in a round which could have been a bit better. He seemed a little nervous compared with the previous two contenders, so maybe this just prevented him from reaching a double figure score.

So the stage was set for Adam Tumber to give himself a winning lead by the half way stage. Well, he didn’t manage that, but his 12 on Ayrton Senna was significantly better than anything else we’d seen in this contest so far. As regards taking an unassailable lead, well, I tend to think that a lead of 5 points will put you over the event horizon except in very exceptional circumstances.

Marcia bull returned to the chair first, and she actually looked a lot better on GK than she had looked on her Bath round. Now, I don’t blame Marcia, or any of the contenders in this series at all for this next point, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’ve already made the point several times about how gentle these first round GK rounds have been this series, but I have to say – is it just me or do these rounds seem to be getting even easier? Case in point – in which city would you find Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports? – I’m not being funny, but this is meant to be Mastermind, not Tipping Point. Well, Marcia scored a decent 12. This paled into insignificance when Keith took the chair. The only thing you can do with sets of easy GK questions like these are is knock them to the boundary with the contempt they deserve, and that’s precisely what Keith proceeded to do. Mind you, he needed to do so since he was 3 points off the lead, but his final total of 26 was just what was needed to put half time leader Adam into the Corridor of Doubt.

Before that, however, Paul returned to the chair. Without dwelling on it his GK round was not a conspicuously good one. Nerves, possibly, but whatever the reasons he only added 7 points to his total to finish off the pace with 16. This brought Adam to the chair, and a fascinating round followed. Adam was clearly not answering as well as Keith had done. However he wasn’t answering that much worse. The score was creeping up, but the clock was ticking away as well. In the end, he managed to take his score to 14 for 26 with the last question of the round. A good battling effort. . . but sadly not quite enough, for he had incurred 3 passes, while Keith had used the classic recidivist’s tactic of avoiding passing. Well played both.

The Details

Marcia Bull	The History of Bath	7	3	12	4	19	7
Keith Nickless	The Faces 1969-75	9	0	17	0	26	0
Paul Armstrong	Sophie Scholl and the White Rose	9	1	7	6	16	7
Adam Tumber	Ayrton Senna	12	0	14	3	26	3

Brain of Mensa Final 2016

I joined Mensa in the summer of 2013, so it was too late for me to enter the Brain of Mensa competition that year. I got to the final in 2014, and finished 3rd. I didn't participate in Brain of Mensa last year - it was not a great year for me for one reason and another. Still, I missed it last year, and so had another go. I won my first round heat, and came second in the semi, earning a place in the final. To be honest, I wouldn't have been too disappointed if I'd managed third again. I'm still in a bit of a state of shock that this happened: -

It would not be a lie to say that my main motivation in joining Mensa was to play in and try to win Brain of Mensa. I can't think of anything more to say about it other than clichés. But I am over the moon. 

University Challenge: Wolfson, Cambridge v. SOAS

Wolfson College Cambridge were represented by Justin Yang, Ben Chaudhri, Paul Cosgrove and Eric Monkman, their skipper. Their opponents, the London School of Oriental and African Studies, or SOAS were represented by David Bostock, Magda Biran-Taylor, Odette Chalaby, and captain Henry Edwards.

Eric Monkman was in with the answer Discworld about the same time that I was for the starter – immediately after JP said the title “The Colour of Magic”. Scientists who were also proficient musicians provided a full house, but only two for me. My suggestion that Richard Feynman might have been a dab hand at the musical saw – well, Marlene Dietrich was – fell somewhat wide of the mark. The Wolfson skipper took his second consecutive starter, knowing all about how the rules for zero originally being written in verse – There was a young figure called zero? Eleventh century English history brought just the one bonus. When asked which European capital had artworks decorating more than 90 of its 100 stations I had a feeling we might be looking at the Stockholm T Bana. Skipper Henry Edwards from SOAS buzzed too early to offer Moscow. Given the names of several stations Wolfson should have done a little better with it, offering Amsterdam. That early buzz seemed to infect Wolfson for a while afterwards, since Justin Yang buzzed in too early on the next starter which asked for the greek-originated term sclerosis. Nobody had that. I’ll admit that like Justin Yang I came in too early with John Donne for the next starter – poet and cleric seemed to suggest that – but nobody had it was Robert Herrick. Magda Bira-Taylor waited until it became obvious that the edible nut of Jupiter was the walnut, and that tactic paid dividends. I thought that Alfred Nobel would be an answer to one of the questions about explosives, and that was the only one that we both had right. Still, at least SOAS were now in credit. Cuba, Hispaniola and others were highlighted on a map for the picture starter. ‘Greater Antilles’ I suggested, but neither side had that. The next starter Asked about the first person to reach his funding goal on Kickstarter. Henry Edwards took that one. In the picture starter SOAS gave an example of what can happen if you don’t listen closely to the question. Told that JP wanted the island name highlighted, and that it might not necessarily be the name of the nation, they offered Trinidad and Tobago rather than just Trinidad. It’s a shame, but at least the two bonuses they did answer meant that the two teams were all square on the cusp of the 10 minute mark.

Eric Monkman began the next section of the contest in the same way he had began the previous with a good early buzz to identify King Stephen as the father of Eustace of Boulogne. They took one bonus on the Battle of the Somme, and frankly might have done a bit better with them considering that this is the centenary of the battle. A great early buzz from the SOAS skipper identified Tennyson’s Ulysses and earned a full set of bonuses on rice cultivation to give SOAS the lead for the first time in the competition. Gibbs free energy sounds rather jolly. Never heard of it myself, but Paul Cosgrove knew it Both of us took the first two bonuses on Miranda Carter. Now, if you hear the words ‘loudest sound in recorded history’, just slam the buzzer down and answer Krakatoa. Both teams rather slept on their buzzers, until Eric Monkman made a despairing lunge with the fall of the Berlin Wall, allowing David Bostock to have a three frow with the right answer. Places named after saints is one of those categories which can be nice or nasty – on this occasion it proved relatively benign providing two  strictly speaking two and a half – correct answers. Ben Chaudhri was in extremely quickly to identify a wee snatch of Elgar. The bonuses were other pieces played by Jacqueline du Pree. Off the point completely, but it was at this point of the proceedings that it struck me that the way the Wolfson scarf was draped in front of the team resembled nothing quite so much as a giant Walkers’ Frazzle. Sorry. Eric Monkman couldn’t resist the lure of the early buzz on the next question, and lost 5 for his pains, but it fell to JP to tell us all that both Florida and Texas joined the USA in 1845. Eric Monkman again came in too early for the next starter, giving away another 5 hard earned, but Magda Biran-Taylor knew that Sun Yat Sen was highly influential in the removal of the Chinese Imperial Dynasty in 1911. Nobel prizes for economics provided two bonuses. I applaud Eric Monkman by not being deterred from another early buzz, and he was right to come in early with the dwarf planet Ceres. Scientific unit provided both of us with just the one answer. Once again, Eric Monkman timed his buzz correctly for the next starter, about the derivation of the term Art Deco, after David Bostock had buzzed too early. One suspects that SOAS might have fancied bonuses on languages of China more, but Wolfson managed enough to take them into triple figures. AT 20 minutes they led 105 – 90.

Fair play to Justin Yang for getting the letters ZA from little more than Japanese dumplings. A full set of bonuses on Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” saw them start to pull away from SOAS. I loved Wolfson’s attitude of buzzing first even if they’re just guessing, but Justin Yang misidentified Martina Navaratilova as Steffi Graf for the second picture. Odette Chalaby supplied the correct answer. Three other players to have won career Grand Slams narrowed the gap a bit. Apparently something was derived from the cells of Henrietta Lacks. Henry Edwards knew all about it, and earned bonuses on books published in 1516 put SOAS back in the lead. Against expectations, this was turning out to be a good contest. Would Wolfson come to regret those incorrect interruptions? Ben Chaudri added another one, by misidentifying the founder of the Seleucids as a general of Ptolemy. No, the first Ptolemy too, like Seleucus, was a general of Alexander the Great. Henry Edwards had that. Amino acids both promised and delivered little. Both teams had, it seemed by the next starter, learned to wait until the question became obvious. Flightless birds was not enough, but Emperor and King gave Henry Edwards penguin. Fictional newspapers saw them only get one of three very gettable literature questions. Still, with a 40 point lead SOAS now had the upper hand. A rush of blood to the head saw Henry Edwards sacrifice 5 points of the lead by saying Presbyterian when the answer required was Episcopalian. The Wolfson skipper was never going to make a mistake on that one. Lead down to 25. Three correct answer on Sanskrit film titles and the lead was down to 10 – one starter. Again SOAS didn’t listen to the question. Magda Biran-Taylor correctly answered got, but didn’t add the rhyming stoat. Lead down to 5, and an easy tap in for Wolfson to take a 5 point lead. A full house on Christmas Day Coronations and Wolfson now had a 20 point lead. Fair play to Henry Edwards, he was in like a whippet to identify some Persian poet for the next starter. Right – I’ll be honest, I thought it was Castor and POLLUX in Roman Mythology, and Castor and POLYDEUCES in Greek – but if Pollux is also applicable in Greek, then I withdraw my objection. A second correct answer was enough to level the scores.

Bong.

A one question tie break saw Ben Chaudr correctly identify the radula as something you find in molluscs. A great game, and I look forward to seeing both teams again.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP was guilty of a pedantic and unnecessary correction. When offered the equally correct – in fact, technically more correct since it is the original Anglo-Saxon Harold HARfoot, he corrected it with – Yes, Harold HAREfoot – which is the modern rendition of it.

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

J. Rule from New York was the first person to reach his target for crowd funding on Kickstarter.

Make Me An Egghead

Congratulations to the two new Eggheads, Steve Cook and Beth Webster.

I was offered the chance to audition for the series by 12 Yard Productions, who still have my details on file after I reached the quarter final of series 2 of "Are You An Egghead". One of my criteria for having another go at a show is that I would only do it if I felt that I had a realistic chance of doing better than I did the previous time. That's why I did reapply to Mastermind after getting beaten in the first round in 2006, and why I haven't reapplied to Brain of Britain after being joint runner up in 2010. As for Are You/Make Me An Egghead, unless the standard of competitor was significantly lower than it had been in 2009, there was no way that I wold have done any better. For example, I cannot see any chance that I would have beaten winner Steve Cook in a month of Sundays had we met in any stage- I met Steve when he won the 2014 Brain of Mensa competition in impressive style.

Congratulations both.

Mastermind Round One: Heat 11

Hello again. Another week, another 4 contenders. Last night’s first was Janet Jackson, who offered us Formula One Grand Prix Circuits. Janet scored 6 on her round. Now, at the risk of being seen as unkind I must make the observation that, when a contender has a modest total like 6 in specialist there can be a number of reasons why this has happened. It could be nerves. It could be that they have a different understanding of the parameters of the subject from the question setters. Sometimes, it could be as a result of the contender just failing to prepare in the kind of depth in which you need to prepare in order to negotiate a Mastermind specialist round. This is just my impression, but I thought the latter was true in this case. I’m afraid Janet dropped points not only on things like the first circuit to host a night time GP which any serious F1 fan might know, but also on things specifically about designers of circuits. I’m sorry if this is harsh, but to me it looked as if she just didn't know here subject well enough. Sorry to be blunt.

I’m tempted to make a similar observation about Philip Dubois. Unless it’s a subject that I know extremely well – for example, one of my own former specialist subjects - I never expect to outscore a contender on theirs, and yet last night I outscored Janet on hers, and I outscored Philip on his. There were quite a few more general questions on Cromwell’s times as well as his life, and I picked up 7 altogether. Philip languished on 6. He did seem rather more nervous than Janet did, and this may have had a part in his rather modest score.

So it was something of a relief when Pamela Culley came in to answer on the Charles Paris Mysteries by Simon Brett. For one thing I have never read any of them, so there was no way I was going to outscore her. For another thing it was a relief to see a round where the contender had prepared thoroughly, and was not laid low by nerves. 11 is a good but not a great SS score. In the context of last night’s show it looked extremely good.

David Pickering followed on the renaissance artist and architect Brunelleschi. I picked up 4 on this to take my aggregate ( 8 – 7 – 0 – 4 ) to 19. Not my highest of the series so far, but a pretty decent effort. Not as decent as David’s on this round. He too picked up double figures, scoring 10 to leave him just behind Pamela and in with a great chance at the halfway stage.

John at least forbore from making the ‘redeem yourself’ comment that he made as Janet returned to the chair for her GK round. And I have to say that what she served up showed what a shame it was that she hadn’t managed to do better in her specialist. She scored a good 13, in some style I might add. She answered quickly too, which meant that I think she was asked 20 questions. As a measure of the relative gentleness of the GK rounds in this season, this was another round in which I managed to answer all of the GK questions correctly , a feat I had never done, I don’t think, in the regular series before this season, although it’s relatively easy to do in Sleb Mastermind.

Philip sadly did not quite make it into double figures in his own GK round, and finished with 15. With 10 on specialist, David needed to get into double figures in order to overtake Janet, and it certainly looked as if this relatively modest ask had been enough to place him within the corridor of doubt. He got here, and put daylight between himself and Janet, but he had to work for it, and in the end added 12 to his total to set the bar at 22.

It goes without saying that at the very least you need a decent general knowledge to get a decent score on GK in Mastermind. There are two other abilities though that are pretty useful too. One is to recall the correct answer quickly when you know it. Another is to take an educated guess when you don’t. This last ability is especially useful in this series when the questions are that bit more straightforward. In a significant number, even if you don’t know, the obvious answer will be the right one. Just by keeping her cool, answering what she knew and guessing what she didn’t, Pamela produced a round which was head and shoulders above the other GK rounds in the same show. A win by 5 is a significant victory, and in both rounds Pamela was clearly the best of the contenders in this heat. Well played.

The Details

Janet Jackson	Formula One Grand Prix Circuits	6	1	13	4	19	5
Philip Dubois	Oliver Cromwell	6	1	9	3	15	4
Pamela Culley	Charles Paris mysteries by Simon Brett	11	2	16	3	27	5
David Pickering	Filipo Brunelleschi	10	0	12	0	22	0

University Challenge - Edinburgh v. Durham

Hoo- blooming-ray. At long last we have a non-English University. Edinburgh were represented by Luke Dale, Euan Smith, Emily Goddard, and their skipper Joe Boyle. Durham, that rarity, a collegiate University appearing as a single entity, were represented by Thomas Brophy, Owen Stenner-Matthews, Nat Guillou, and their captain Cressida O’Connor.

Cressida O’Connor was the first to answer that it was the Rubik’s Cube invented in 1974. In 1981 I once managed to complete one in 56 seconds. Mind you, the world record at the time was under half that. Bonuses on Norah Ephron. We both took two bonuses. Incidentally, Mrs. Londinius, making a rare viewing of UC with me, distinguished herself in this set by suggesting that Norah Ephron scripted a film called “Silkworm”. Bless. Cressida O’Connor lost five by buzzing in too early on ‘vandalism’, allowing Luke Dale to scoop the pot. Astronomy bonuses on the solar system brought both of us a full set. Normally a single correct Science answer is enough for a lap of honour for me. I suggested to Mrs. L. that she join me in a Mexican wave at this point. Her reply was spherical and in the plural. Now I’d say if you’re asked about a psychologist who wrote something in 1918, Freud is always going to be in the ballpark, and it certainly allowed Cressida O’Connor to take her second starter. Campaigning organisations looked promising, but were actually a lot harder than I expected, and I thought that Durham did well to get 1. The picture starter showed a map with an island highlighted. Nat Guillou took a punt with Gotland and was right to do so. This brought up three flags of UK islands. I’ll be honest, I didn’t get Anglesey either, but had the two that Durham had. Nobody knw that the new recommendation is that men drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week. I don’t get through 14 in a year – don’t like the stuff. Both teams sat on their buzzers a bit I thought for the next starter. Novel . . . unusual vocabulary . . . Paris. . . 1092 – if that doesn’t shout Ulysses, then you’re probably playing the wrong game. Owen Stenner-Matthews took it, and earned a set on British theatres. They failed to score, but even so led by 60 – 25 at the 10 minute mark, after by far the better buzzer work.

Emily Goddard began the fight back, recognising a series of definitions of words beginning with sph.  Bonuses on chemical elements saw me miss the first, but knowing that the others began with the same letters saw me get the last. “You dare!” warned Mrs. L. as I rose from the sofa. Euan Smith recognised a group of people with the surname Strauss. Writers born in Shropshire weren’t all easy, but they should have known Owen for Futility. The music starter saw Owen Stenner-Matthews recognise the strains of Gorillaz’ Clint Eastwood very quickly. The bonuses saw them given three other songs referencing film stars. They didn’t recognise Roxy Music which I did, neither of us had Bauhaus, and we both had REM. US artist – death – car accident. You hear these words, you go for the buzzer with Jackson Pollack. Durham had a shy at it with Rothko – wasn’t he Ron Moody’s character in “Into the Labyrinth? – and Edinburgh a speculative long ball with Lichtenstein. Well done to Ewan Smith for knowing the two towns of Flint, though. Singapore provided a very good full house of bonuses. Again, both teams sat on the buzzer a bit for the next starter. Travelled to England in 1849 after abdicating the French throne . . . can only be Louis Phillipe, but it was another second or two before the impressive Euan Smith, having a real purple patch of buzzing at this point, came in with the right answer. Bonuses on John Locke – didn’t he bowl for Surrey? – sorry, I’ll stop that now – didn’t provide much, but did take Edinburgh into double figures. Thanks to Sporcle I said Actinides for the next starter just before Cressida O’Connor buzzed in with the same correct answer. Mrs. L. was currently engaged in the manoeuvre we call makinacuppa, so this time I did get my lap of honour. I knew nothing about T cells, so failed to follow it up, though Durham took 2. Nat Guillou buzzed in at exactly the point where the next starter became obvious – partitioned three times in the 19^th century has to be Poland. Good buzz. Back in the lead, descriptions of warriors from the Iliad gave them another 5 points. So the score at the 20 minute mark was 110 – 100 in Durham’s favour. Good game.

Euan Smith hit back immediately, recognising a reference to Alexander the Great. Tectonic plates did nothing for me, but provided Edinburgh with 10 points. In the second picture starter we saw an engraving by Durer. It was that man Smith who recognised it. Three more personifications of death brought 10 points. Nobody knew Kraits for the next starter. Owen Stenner-Matthews, having a good night on the buzzer, recognised a work by Steven Pinker – also known as Steven Who? in LAM Towers. Various people called Lamb followed – sadly Larry of that ilk’s work in Gavin and Stacey remained unreferenced. At last we got a Maths starter – and I GOT IT RIGHT AND I WASN’T GUESSING! I worked out that the sum of the 5^th prime number – 11 and the 5^th digit of p is 20. Nobody had it. The next starter was an old quiz chestnut about Australia. South Australia touches more states than any other. Neither team knew it. Back to the Science starter about hormones. Asked about a gland which had something to do with endocrines I had a strong feeling that it would be pituitary – the so called conductor of the endocrine orchestra. Cressida O’Connor thought the same thing, and JP confirmed we were both right. Malay words in English saw us both get kapok and gecko but miss out on rambutan. All square. Emily Goddard knew that you hear ‘patterns’ and ‘19^th century designer’ you say William Morris. Royal memorials gave a timely full house. Nobody fancied a go at OAS, and a despairing Nat Guillou offered “Organisation of American States “ in a tone which said, surely this can’t be right? It was. US History offered three gettable bonuses. They only managed 2, and if they were going to lose, then it was this slight profligacy with bonuses which would be the main reason. Sadly Owen Stenner-Matthews just buzzed in too early to identify the Washington Monument for the next starter. This allowed Euan Smith in, and Swiss food and drink allowed them to bag another full house. After a titanic contest Edinburgh now had daylight – not a lot, but one suspected enough at this late stage. Indeed it ws. The gong announced that they had won by 190 to 155. JP was sure that Durham would be back, and so am I. Well played both – a great match, which I thoroughly enjoyed. As for Mrs. L’s verdict? Is it over? (dramatic pause) Good.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP does like the opportunity to show off his superior knowledge, and give him a sniff of one he’ll be on it like a Jack Russell after a rat in a hay barn. When Euan Smith suggested Mamba for the snake bonus he sniffed,

“No, they’re in sub-Saharan Africa.”

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

The word vandalism was originally coined during the French Revolution by Henri Gregoire.

Mastermind: Round One: Heat 10

Mastermind Heat 10

Morning all. To be honest I found last night’s heat a bit of a bread and butter episode. Nothing drastically wrong with it, but never the most exciting thing on the menu.

Well, our first slice was provided by Rob Mansfield. He was answering on the life and music of Nick Drake. Nick Drake has been a specialist subject a couple of times before in the last few years, so obviously inspires devotion in his fans, but I know little or nothing about him. I certainly knew nothing about any of the questions that Rob was asked, so I can’t comment on whether, given the questions, Rob’s 9 was merely decent, or a little better than that.

Emil Zatopek, on the other hand, I do know a bit about, having recently read a good biography. I love track and field, and of all the greatest Olympians, I would have loved to have met Zatopek, who wasn’t just a great runner, but also, I feel, a great man. So I do know enough about the subject to say that Dave could conceivably have scored a few more – he missed points on what were some pretty important life events for Zatopek. One feels he maybe concentrated on preparing to answer questions mostly on the athletic career.

Like Nick Drake, the TV series “Band of Brothers” has also been a subject on Mastermind within the last few years. Right, what do we say about Adam Wilson’s round? The bare fact of the matter is that he only scored 4, and whatever spin or gloss we put on it, that is not a good score. It looked like he was a bit shellshocked by an early wrong answer, and couldn’t recover, but only Adam could really say what happened to him. We’ll come to John Humphrys’ take on the round a little bit later.

Kate McAllister finished off the first half by answering on a more traditional SS, Hernan Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico. Of all the 4 contenders in last night’s show she seemed most at ease with her subject, and produced the only genuinely good specialist round of the show. 12 points gave her the Eldorado of a 4 point lead over her nearest rival at the halfway stage. One thing was certain already – only the winner of this one would be going through to the semis.

OK, as Adam returned to the chair, I had a feeling that John would make a comment. Thankfully he didn’t give us any of the ‘redeem yourself’ codswallop that he has treated us to in the past. Instead he observed, “You probably underestimated the amount you needed to know. . . “. Ouch. Mind you, I reckon that’s probably true, and Adam admitted as much, with his, “I knew quite a lot about it, just not the right things.”. That’s the point though. If you’re learning a specialist subject, you could be asked anything about it, and you have to try to prepare for that eventuality. At least he scored double figures in GK.

Dave Ryan had a spirited crack at putting the other two contenders yet to go within the corridor of doubt. The only thing is, the GK rounds in this series so far have been pretty gentle, almost in the Sleb Mastermind category of GK rounds. Just my opinion, but one based on years of watching the show and writing about it. With rounds like these if you just keep your head, and above all else guess when you don’t actually know the answer, you can rack up a score in the teens. I rather fancied that this would not be enough.

Rob Mansfield couldn’t get there though. He fell one short, and although he managed 12 his round was never really convincing. This left Emma, who needed 11 to win. Now, as I said, a couple of seasons ago, if a contender needed anything in double figures on GK then this was by no means a given that they could do it, and was certainly enough to give pause for thought. Now, though, 11 is the kind of score that the majority of contenders, by keeping a cool head and answering and guessing, should be able to get. Emma did it comfortably. Her final question, though, for me, is an example of what has happened with a proportion of questions this year. I’ll paraphrase, but basically it started – in which part of the face is the masseter -Now that is enough. In years gone by that would have been seen as a perfectly fair question, as indeed it is. Now, though, the question went on – which takes its name from a Greek word meaning to chew.- Now, with that bit added on, instead of having to think or guess to get it right, it would take a real effort to get it wrong. Rant over.

Well played Emma, clearly the best in this show. Good luck in the semis

The details

Rob Mansfield	The Life and Music of Nick Drake	9	0	12	1	21	1
Dave Ryan	Emil Zatopek	8	1	14	1	22	2
Adam Wilson	Band of Brothers	4	5	10	6	14	11
Emma McAllister	Hernan Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico	12	1	13	2	25	3

Mastermind Round One - Heat Nine

Hello everyone. I’ve been away all weekend since Friday afternoon – Mary and I have been in Devon, attending her first cousin’s wedding, but also celebrating our own Pearl Wedding. So it’s only now that I’ve managed to catch up with Friday night’s Mastermind.

First up was Steve Lacey. Steve was offering us the films of Peter Sellers. Don’t mind admitting that I’m a bit partial myself, and so I was quite happy to take 7 on this round. Nice to see that it mentioned one of my favourite of his films, “The Wrong Arm Of The Law”. Steve didn’t have a perfect round, but it was still a pretty good one, and as we’ve seen, scoring 12 n the first round should give you a realistic chance of a win.

I can’t really explain what happened at the start of Nigel Jones’ round. Whether it was nerves, whether it was not getting the first question in the round which put him off for his first few questions I just don’t know. Still, he was floundering at the start. 4 or 5 questions in everything suddenly clicked into place, and he showed that he does know his subject. Sadly, though, by the time that this happened he was fighting a bit of a rearguard action, and in the end he finished with 8. I scored 7 myself, and that aggregate of 14 was what I ended the whole of the SS round with.

First of the 2 subjects on which I scored narry a point was Graeme Ross’ round on Arthur Lee and Love. When I was reading up the blurb on this show I thought it said Arthur Lowe and Love, which might have been interesting but bizarre. Graeme posted the best SS score so far, and so he was going to be in the shake up when we got to GK.

As indeed was Lynne Edwards. Now, many moons ago I did read the first Forsyte Trilogy, but baulked at the second. Made no difference to this round. For all I know there might have been some easy questions in the round, but none of them were easy enough for me to answer. Lynne though made short work of everything which was put in front of her, and finished with a tremendous score of 15.

Nigel was back to the chair then. It must be galling having to return after a round which has not gone as well as you might have hoped that it would have done. Still, Nigel seemed in good humour and posted a perfectly decent 13. Tonight that was never going to be close to being enough, but perfectly respectable, nevertheless.

Steve Lacey set about his business as if he knew well what his task was, and thought it perfectly achievable. It was going to take a good score to put the remaining two contenders into the corridor of doubt, and by crikey that’s exactly what he provided. 16 put him on to a total of 28. That could well have been a winning score – it would have been on several of the heats we’ve seen thus far – but importantly it also looked like a score which could be worth a repechage slot.

I don’t know if he was daunted by the target, or whether the questions just didn’t fall his way, but after his first 30 seconds or so Graeme Ross was behind the schedule needed to match Steve, and by 1 minute it was clear that he was going to fall a little way short. In the end he finished with 23. This left Lynn. Now, there were a number of times throughout the round when Lynn looked as if she was very much in the corridor of doubt, judging by her expression. Well, if she was guessing on these occasions, then she was guessing correctly for the most part. No, she couldn’t quite match Steve’s 16, but she didn’t have to. Leading him by 3 points at half time, her 15 was more than enough to give her a fine total of 30, with just a little daylight between her and Steve,

Well played both. Lynn, good luck in the semi final, and Steve, fingers crossed that you make it.

The Details

Steve Lacey	The Films of Peter Sellers	12	0	16	1	28	1
Nigel Jones	Astronomy	8	0	13	2	21	2
Graeme Ross	The Life and Music of Arthur Lee and Love	13	0	10	2	23	2
Lynn Edwards	The Forsyte Novels by John Galsworthy	15	0	15	0	30	0

University Challenge - Round One - Heat Nine - Open University v. Salford

Open University v. Salford

Open University were represented by Rob Mitchell, Dale Crawford, Mags Adamson and captain Sarah Banks. Their opponents, Salford, were Robert White, Mark Sanders, Peter Smith and their skipper Bradley Wakefield.

I felt we might be in for a good match when I saw the way that both teams waited on their buzzers to identify a 1944 novel until JP starter saying the name George Orwell, at which Mark Sanders won the buzzer race to give the answer 1984. Types of apple only brought the one bonus. Rob Mitchell of Open, who was to have a very good night, opened their account, knowing who coined the term ‘scientist’. They too managed one bonus,  this time on the dramatist Thomas Dekker. Open took their second starter as Dale Crawford, who was also to have a very good night, identified the film “Kinky Boots”. This time they took a full house on atom stuff. This brought up the picture starter, on a map of a model village. Robert White had that. Three more model villages – I predicted Bourneville, Port Sunlight, and New Lanark would be coming up, and I wasn’t disappointed. Neither were Salford who took a full house. Rob Mitchell knew that Glucinium was the former name of beryllium. This earned bonuses on Lord Chancellors of England. The fact that they only took 1 out of three gettable questions suggested that maybe they were a little light on the historical side within the team. Never mind – at the 10 minute mark both teams had shown good form, but Open led by 55 to 40.

In 1861 the only writer likely to start a book with a section titled The Mistress was Mrs. Beeton, and Peter Smith was the first to the buzzer on this starter. They were unlucky to get a tricky set on Germanic tribes, of which the only one any of us got was the last. Mark Sanders knew several definitions of the word impact for the next starter. Joan Didion, who apparently has no connection to Ken Dodd, earned us both a full house. Peter Smith knew that Dave Brailsford introduced the concept of marginal gains, and presidents of the Royal Society who won the Nobel prize gave me an unexpected bonus, while Salford, who had made a blitz start to this second phase of the competition, scored a different correct answer. So to the music starter. I t was so obviously Louis Armstrong that a buzzer race ensued in seconds, won by Dale Crawford. 3 other musicians sent to propagate jazz  overseas during the Cold War brought no rewards. Both teams sat on their buzzer a bit for a starter on Tasmania before Dale Crawford buzzed in. Acts of parliament and the decades in which they were passed provided a single bonus. A third starter in a row fell to Dale Crawfod who knew Patrick Leigh Fermor. Italian operas and their Italian titles provided them with a full house, a triple figure score, and the lead. Mags Adamson knew that if you hear the words ‘early form of writing’  and ‘Sumerian’ – or indeed anything Mesopotamian, then you go for the buzzer and answer cuneiform. Two bonuses on Nishapur followed. Thus, by the 20 minute mark Open had wrested back the lead from Salford, with the score standing at 125 – 95.

Rob Mitchell was the first in to identify a quotation from Pygmalion. Archaea – no, me neither – provided Open with 2 bonuses, and me with an opportunity for a lap of honour around the Clark sofa for knowing that Halo – refers to salt. For the second picture starter we saw a Gustav Doré engraving of Jacob fighting with an angel. Neither team had both engraver and subject. Rob Mitchell took the next starter, some Maths thing, and earned the picture bonuses. Which brought none of us any points, so lets move on from that. Rob Mitchell knew the Government’s Chief Scientific Officer, and earned bonuses on the films of Carol Reisz. I didn’t know the name, but I did know the films. We both had a full house, and poor Old Salford had been shut out completely for the last five minutes or more. That can seem like a lifetime in UC. Their main chance at this stage seemed to be a repechage score. Peter Smith put them ten points closer with the word trousseau. A tricky set on religious terminology didn’t help much. Dale Crawford knew of Gestalt psychology, and three bonuses on Asian G20 countries brought 10 more points. Now Open skipper Sarah Banks muscled in on the Starter act , recognising some examples of beta blockers. Bonuses on novels with the word fear in their titles frankly should have been a full set even if you’ve never read the books, but only brought a single bonus. Mind you, any more points for Open at this stage would have just been gilding. Mark Sanders knew that Viti Levu is an island of Fiji, and that was that. The final score was 220 to 115. Hard lines to Salford. They didn’t play at all badly, but just were not as fast on the buzzer as Open, and when that happens there’s precious little you can do about it. Well played Open – a team worth watching I’ll be bound.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Nothing to see here, citizens. Get on with your lives.

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

Kanzi apples take their name from a Swahili word meaning hidden treasure.

Mastermind: Heat 8

It was last week’s show which saw a particularly favourable set of specialists let me hit an aggregate of 30 in the first round. A quick glance at tonight’s clutch of categories promised no such largesse. Of the 4 I could only really say that I knew anything about ocean liners – and not much about them for that matter.

Michael Ward kicked us off with the films of the Cohen Brothers. Thankfully there were 4 of what I would call easy ones – they must have been since I was able to answer them correctly. You know John H. seemed positively downcast when Michael just missed out on a full house to the tune of having an answer about a stamp miss out by 1 cent. Well, let’s not concentrate on that, but on the 14 correct answers which lay down a particularly hefty gauntlet before the other 3 contenders.

The next of these was Alison Rawlinson. Alison answered on Flanders and Swann. I bet myself that the first question would be about the Hippopotamus, and I was right, and one point to the good. I managed another 3 to double my aggregate so far. Alison produced a good secure round of 11, but 3 points behind at the halfway stage is a difficult position, even when there is a 2 and a half minute GK round to come.

It's not impossible that I’m reading more into this than I should, but to my eyes Lyndon Easterbrook lost everything on his first question. I’ll try to explain that. He was answering on Tom Wait. He got his first question, about a club in which Tom Wait performed, wrong. I dare say he might even have misunderstood the question since the answer he gave was actually the answer to a later question in the same round. I think he couldn’t believe it was wrong, and was so shaken by it that he just couldn’t regain his composure, and this dragged him into a terrible spiral. John H. put it down to the effect of the black chair, and while I’m not sure that it was the piece of furniture itself that was responsible I’m pretty sure that the pressure of the situation was. Lyndon finished his round with 4.

I was on 8, and thankfully Lynne Francis’ round on Transatlantic ocean liners 1899 – 1950 I pushed on to a respectable aggregate of 14. Nowhere near last week’s, but beggars can’t be choosers. Lynne knew her stuff on a subject that I know enough about to be able to say that these were quite a testing set, and a score of 12 was a good return. Even so, this did mean that there was daylight between Michael and the peloton at the halfway mark.

I was glad to see that John restrained himself from making any unfair ‘redeem yourself’ comments this time round. If a contender has an unfortunate score in their first round, I personally feel that it’s better not to draw attention to it when they sit down for their GK. If you must mention it, sympathising over the effect of the black chair, as did John this time, is probably the best thing to say. Michael added 11 to his score to achieve what John hailed as respectability. Fair comment, I think – although at one stage he was looking as if he might score high teens – the first 2 minutes of his round were actually pretty good, although he did run out of steam somewhat.

Alison Rawlinson did exactly what you should do with this kind of GK round. She didn’t hesitate when she knew the answer, and she didn’t second guess and start doubting herself along the lines of – surely they’re not asking me something as easy as this? Her round of 16 was very good all round – there wasn’t much at all which caught her out. When you’re 3 points behind that’s exactly the kind of round you want to throw in to give the opposition pause for thought, and more importantly, it would give her a realistic chance of a repechage slot whatever happened.

Lynne Francis had a rueful look on her face as she sat down for her own GK round. She was only a point ahead of Alison at half time, and within about half a minute it was looking unlikely that she could approach her score. In all honesty she looked as if the round was a bit of a trial to her, but she did manage to get up to 20, and there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed about a score in the 20s.

All of which only left Michael Ward. He looked a little daunted when John reminded him of the size of the task ahead of him. Basically, he needed 13 points just to equal Alison’s round. Yeah, that may sound reasonable, especially in a 2 and a half minute round, but think on. If you think that doesn’t sound too hard, all I can say is, just you try it yourself. Maintaining your concentration, especially if you have a couple wrong, is hard, especially in the last part of the round. So full credit to Michael for being able to keep ploughing on. With one question left he was level on correct answers. If he got it right, then the job was done. He didn’t. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t kept track of the passes to this point, but it transpired that Michael, with 3 passes to Alison’s 5, had done enough. Very well played both.

The Details

Michael Ward	The films of the Cohen Brothers	14	0	13	3	27	3
Alison Rawlinson	Flanders and Swann	11	4	16	1	27	5
Lyndon Easterbrook	The Life and Work of Tom Wait	4	1	11	0	15	1
Lynne Francis	Trans Atlantic Liners 1899 - 1950	12	0	8	4	20	4