Mastermind 2018: The Grand Final

Well, I’ve had a lovely day, dearly beloved. Last week I was teed off that we didn’t have Mastermind to watch, but anticipation only serves to heighten pleasure, I suppose. First day of the Easter Holidays, and I spent the morning out with daughters two and three, and my granddaughter. Lovely, and made all the better through having this grand final to look forward to.

And so to Mastermind. If you read my preview you’ll hopefully recall that I tipped Brian Chesney and Alfred Williams as the ones to watch, with Michael Taylor, going for a rare UC Mastermind double, looking like a good dark horse. Michael was first up. Now, if, like me, you are an avid follower of the annual filmed insert trip lottery, you’ll have noticed that Michael stayed in the UK, with a trip to the Royal and Ancient in St. Andrews. Theoretically they could have taken him to the Augusta National in the USA, but fair enough. Hey, my family originally came from Dundee, not so very far from St. Andrews, so you’ll hear no complaints from me about it. To be fair, he did get to handle the Claret Jug too. Answering on Major Championship golf from 1997 to now, Michael came close to perfection, dropping just the one answer on his way to 14. Game on.

Second up, Brian Chesney. Answering on the Revolt in the Netherlands 1568-1609, a visit to Amsterdam gave Brian a shout at the Most Picturesque Filmed Insert, although not the one needing the most air miles. Brian made no secret of the fact that he was runner up on passes in 2014 to our own Clive Dunning, and had every intention of going one better this time out. You know, I’ll be honest, I wish they wouldn’t ask contenders how well they think they’re going to do, or how much they want to win. I always thought it was tempting fate. When they asked me in my own filmed insert 10 years ago what I thought my chances were I made a point of saying 1 in 6 – it all depended on the questions – which is as true now as it was then. Not that the questions on Brian’s specialist gave him many problems. He scored 13, just missing out on a couple, but with 2 and a half minutes of general knowledge to come, he’ll have been quite content to be so close to the lead, I’m sure.

Kyle Nagendra got a serious shot at the most air miles for his filmed insert as he was flown out to Pittsburgh PA, where much of the location shooting for The Silence of the Lambs was carried out. Looking at the formbook based on first round and semi final performances I had the feeling that Kyle was something of an outsider for this final. Nobody seemed to have told him that, though, as he calmly and competently set about assembling a highly competitive 13 on the Hannibal Lecter novels. Did I see this as a platform for a potential win? Well, it would require a remarkable round on GK.

Ben Holmes was offering us possibly the most unusual of the specialist subjects in the shape of US Constitutional Amendments. In terms of the filmed insert lottery, that’s a rather good choice, pretty much guaranteeing a trip to the US as it does. Washington DC gave him very respectable air miles, and DC is somewhat more picturesque than Pittsburgh. Again, getting the contenders to nail their colours to the mast about their chances seems to have been high on the agenda, as Ben declared his intention to win. Well, fair point. You have to think you’re going to win, so that you prepare as if you think you’re going to win, to give you the best chance of actually doing it. This is just my opinion, and by all means feel free to disagree, but I do think that a rather left field subject does have a high risk-reward ratio. You do risk the fact that they will drag up some esoteric fact you just never encountered, and sadly this happened a couple of times to Ben. Don’t get me wrong, his 11 was a good round. But you don’t want to be 3 points behind the leader going into GK in a Mastermind final.

Hands down winner of the most air miles for the filmed insert lottery was Ken Morland, whose visit to Kolkata trumped Kyle’s visit to Pittsburgh by several hundred miles. I did speculate that Ken seemed very shocked when he won his semi final, and he was quick to bear this out. Ken it seemed followed my ‘1 in 6 chance’ line when asked about his chances. Answering on Indian Premier League Cricket, he too played as if he believed he could win, whacking in a highly competitive 13 of his own. It’s a credit to all of the finalists that their scores were so similar, proving how seriously each contender was taking it, and how carefully they had prepared.

Which brings us to Alfred Williams, our final contender. Alfred didn’t seem to even quite get into Scotland, travelling to Hadrian’s Wall, being as that was his subject. To be fair, he looked absolutely delighted to be there, and I must admit, it’s a matter of some shame to myself that I’ve never visited the wall myself. Yet. Now both of Alfred’s previous specialist rounds had been stand out rounds, so I expected some fireworks. Well, we didn’t quite get a perfect round, no , but even a couple of wrong uns didn’t stop Alfred taking the joint lead with 14.

With the current format, come the Grand Final you get 2 minutes on specialist, and two and a half minutes on GK. Last year the final was settled by a great GK performance, and for any contender to head the field, the same was going to need to happen this year as well.

First back was Ben Holmes. Now, Ben’s GK aggregate from the series so far was as good as Brian’s, and only Alfred had a higher aggregate. I don’t know if he was affected by lying in 6^th place at the halfway stage – despite, as I said, having had a good round – but he did look concerned throughout the round, and it was a battling rather than free flowing performance he managed. 11 is a perfectly respectable score, but sadly, 22 is not a winning score in a Mastermind Grand Final.

So to Brian Chesney. Last time he came this way, Brian lost the final on passes. Then he was a very close runner up in Brain of Britain. Would third time be the charm? Well, 2 and a half minutes after the start of his GK round it certainly looked that way. He had been asked 20 questions, and answered 19 of them correctly. Yes, of course I was standing up, applauding the telly. Funnily enough, the only one he got wrong – Hemingway’s ‘Death in the Afternoon’ wasn’t necessarily the hardest question in the round, but I dare say that he won’t be too bothered about that! It was a terrific round, and more importantly, it looked like a winning round. Would it be, though?

Well, Kyle Nagendra couldn’t beat it. You may recall that I’ve praised Kyle’s calm and thoughtful technique in his previous appearances, and he applied the same approach this time. For once, it didn’t quite work out, as the questions just didn’t seem to fall Kyle’s way this time. It happens. Nobody knows them all, and if you get one of ‘those’ rounds you’ve just got to do the best you can with it, and add it to your collection of threads from life’s rich tapestry. Kyle scored 8 to take him to 21. Doesn’t matter. He is, and will always be, a Mastermind finalist.

Three contenders down, and three to go, and it was Ken Morland’s go to have a tilt at the towering edifice of Brian Chesney’s total. Ken seemed to have decided on the tactic of passing quickly on what he didn’t know – and that’s a valid tactic. He eventually accrued 11 correct answers and 3 passes. This gave him a perfectly good 24, and meant that the worst that could happen would be that he’d end up 4^th.

I did wonder what might have been going through Michael Taylor and the other contenders’ minds as Brian piled on his massive score. I was lucky in as much as I never had to follow a round quite like that. To be fair to Michael, though, he really gave it a lash. If you watch Michael’s round, maybe you’ll make the observation that I made, that the only thing Michael needs in order to be right up there challenging for the title, is maybe a decade on the quiz circuit. What I mean by that is that he obviously has a fantastic knowledge, but missed out on a number of those things you’d just know after 10 years or so at the quizface. If he wants to, he’ll be back. As it was, 13 for a total of 27 guaranteed him a place on the podium. It wasn’t going to be the top step, though.

Finally, then, Alfred Williams. Alfred had impressed me with both of his GK outings in the series so far. However, only having a one point advantage over Brian at half time meant that he was going to have to match Brian’s performance in order to win. Now, while it’s perfectly possible that you could have two GK rounds like that in the same show, it’s very unlikely. I’m sure it’s no consolation to Alfred, but I found his round a bit harder than I found Brian’s – but that’s all in the eye of the beholder and the ear of the behearer. They’re all easy if you know the answers. Alfred did not have many wrong, but he could hardly afford any, and with a minute to go he looked slightly off the pace. In the end he finished with 29 – a very fine score in its own right.

Commiserations to Alfred, Michael and the others, but many, many congratulations to Brian. Well done, Sir! Enjoy your status as a Mastermind Champion.

Thanks BBC, for another highly enjoyable series. I look forward to Mastermind 2019 beginning in the summer.

The Details

Michael Taylor	Major Championship Golf 1997 - Date	14	0	13	1	27	1
Brian Chesney	The Revolt in the Netherlands 1568 - 1609	13	0	19	0	32	0
Kyle Nagendra	The Hannibal Lecter Novels	13	2	8	3	21	5
Ben Holmes	US Constitutional Amendments	11	0	11	2	22	2
Ken Morland	Indian Premier League Cricket	13	0	11	5	24	5
Alfred Williams	Hadrian’s Wall	14	0	15	2	29	2

University Challenge - Elimination Match - Bristol v. Edinburgh

Bristol v. Edinburgh

To use the vernacular, dearly beloved, it was another bacchanal in the Last Chance Saloon. Who would get to stay for the lock in, and who would be ejected before last orders? Ollie Bowes, Kirsty Biggs, Dom Hewett and captain Sam Hosegood of Bristol were beaten by Newcastle last time out, while John Heaton-Armstrong, Stanley Wang, Philippa Stone and captain Innes Carson of Edinburgh lost out to the might of Merton. Most likely winners? The coin was very much in the air as far as I was concerned.

“This great island lay over against the pillars of Hercules . . . “ “Atlantis!” said I, and after a few more seconds, so did Ollie Bowes. Descriptions of deities from Virgil’s Aeneid were by no means easy, and Bristol failed to improve their score. I loved the next starter which gave several definitions of chestnut, as in old quiz chestnut, and Innes Carson won that particular buzzer race. Historical periodisation was a bit of a mouthful for the bonuses, and Edinburgh managed 1, although they had a close but no cigar answer for the year of the Great Reform Act. A fine buzz from John Heaton-Armstrong saw him identify the term Aryan from a long description – I was out with the washing with this one. Smaller and larger physical units – eg – how many millipascals to one bar – promised me but little and delivered one answer, just as it did for Edinburgh. Now, time was that the picture round would usually arrive around the ten minute mark. In recent shows it’s been a wee bit earlier. This time we saw a photo in which I recognised Einstein and what looked like Marie Curie. Innes Carson identified the conference where it was taken as being held in the 1920s, and the subject quantum physics. For the bonuses we were shown significant equations by specific participants. I answered Einstein for each and got my point for the last. Edinburgh managed their first full house of the contest. Stanley Wang came in too early for the next starter and lost 5. Bristol couldn’t capitalise either. I’ve never heard of the Kruskal trick myself. Right. You hear “Greek mythological figure” , “complex” and “Carl Jung” then you slam the buzzer through the desk and answer Electra. Innes Carson did just that. Bonuses on UNESCO World Heritage sites in China supplied one correct answer, but it still meant that Edinburgh had opened up a healthy lead of 65 – 10 by the 10 minute mark. It looked like they certainly had Bristol’s measure on the buzzer.

The next starter was an edible reddish brown seed of Castanea sativa. (A chestnut. Oh, do pay attention, Bond!) If you ask a majority of regular quizzers to link the words “test cricketer” “FA Cup finalist” “world long jump record” and “throne of Albania”, then I guarantee that a huge majority will say CB Fry, and say it very quickly, at that. Yet that particular piece of low hanging fruit went unpicked. Nobody knew the body louse for the next starter – me neither. A wonderful UC special for the next starter asked which Old Testament Prophet’s name is a reversal of the 4 letter recreational drug in Brave New World. Stanley Wang beat me to the correct answer of Amos. This earned a set of bonuses on winners of the Kate Greenaway medal. None of us had a Scooby about the first two, but I was a bit surprised that nobody else knew Raymond Briggs from the details given for the third. Right, if the Earth is a basketball and the moon a tennis ball, how many metres apart are they? Why I shouted out 7 I have no idea. But it was right! I set off on my lap of honour while JP announced the next starter, neither team having won a cigar on that one. It was over 10 minutes since Bristol had added to their score, so I was pleased when Ollie Bowes buzzed in to identify several figures as rulers of the Byzantine Empire. Now, as did Bristol, I answered Pasteurisation to more than one of the bonuses on heat sterilisation, and was very upset when it proved to be the answer to none of them. No bonuses for Bristol either. This brought up the music starter, and one of the easier opera starters. Philippa Stone won the buzzer race to identify an aria from Madame Butterfly. Other operas also centred around women who die provided two bonuses. Ollie Bowes got Bristol moving again knowing that Drake singed the King of Spain’s Beard in Cadiz. Hindu deities and the animals they use for transportation provided an interesting set of bonuses. We both managed two of these. Another good buzz from Philippa Stone saw her identify the marsh mallow plant. This took Edinburgh into triple figures, and a bonus on Henry VIII’s divorce of Katherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne Boleyn supplied a further 5 points. At 110- 40 at the 20 minute mark a Bristol win was not totally out of the question, but the odds against it were lengthening, and the bartender was measuring the shortest path from their table to the door.

Animal lairs are another of those recurring quiz staples, so I was surprised that it took a long time before John Heaton-Armstrong buzzed in with the answer form for the next starter, after being given hare’s den and other definitions. A nice UC special set invited Edinburgh to identify countries participating in the 6 Nations rugby tournament by comparing their area with another country of similar size. We both took a full house there. I’ll be honest, I didn’t identify the work of Goya for the second picture starter, but then neither did the two teams. Kirsty Biggs identified Occitanie from the next starter, and earned the picture bonuses, identifying one of series of characters from the Commedia del’Arte, but not the artist who painted him. Tough set that. Now, if a question mentions Walter Raleigh’s History of the World, it’s pounds to pennies that the question hinges on the fact that it was written while he was imprisoned. The next starter certainly did. John Heaton-Armstrong sounded uncertain when he suggested this, but he was right. The 2004 work “The Plot Against America” is unfamiliar to me, as apparently it was to Edinburgh, but we still both managed 2 bonuses. The lead was now more than 100, and the bartender was making gestures with his watch, and thumb cocked towards the door to Bristol. Innes Carson won the buzzer race for the next starter to identify the Scottish place name element – strath. 2 bonuses on volcanism added a little more gloss to the scoreline. Now, usually, if a question asks for a subatomic particle I’ll answer neutrino. I did for the next starter, and earned myself another lap of honour. Captain Carson took hat one. Again, more gilding to the score was applied. A great buzz from Sam Hosegood saw him work out that in a list of countries bordering Sudan, Chad was missing. American cities in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle looked set to boost their score, but sadly they were gonged after the first bonus. Edinburgh were clear winners by 195 – 60.

Put simply there was just too much buzzing in the Edinburgh team for Bristol to cope with tonight. Never mind, no shame in getting to the quarters. Well played Edinburgh.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Jez had a chuckle when it was suggested that Dennis Compton might once have been offered the throne of Albania. It wasn’t a daft suggestion though – he had some of the sporting credentials which were also part of the question.

He seemed genuinely impressed when Innes Carson dredged up Tristan and Isolde for the second music bonus – and well he should have been – hell of a shout, that one.

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

Yama, Hindu God of Death, is sometimes depicted as travelling on a buffalo

University Challenge - Elimination Match - Fitzwilliam, Cambridge v. Emmanuel, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam, Cambridge v. Emmanuel, Cambridge

Yes, dearly beloved, whatever happened in this match, Cambridge were going to lose one of their teams from this year’s series. First up we had Fitzwilliam, represented by Theo Tindall, Theo Howe, Jack Maloney and skipper Hugh Oxlade. Opponents Emmanuel were Ed Derby, Kitty Chevallier, James Fraser and captain Alex Mistlin.  

The first starter was one of those where you had to wait and wait, and then go for the buzzer like billy-o when it suddenly became obvious. Asked for the authors of the Sign of Four and The Picture of Dorian Gray, that race was won by Kitty Chevallier. Authors and the decades in which they won their Nobel prize brought them just the one bonus.Now, I don’t know anything about elastic collisions, but Ed Derby did. American presidents sharing part of their names with England footballers provided a nice UC special set which this time brought a full house. That old stager John of Gaunt made one of his regular appearances in the next starter, and Hugh Oxlade won the race to pluck that piece of low hanging fruit. Geneticists promised me little, and delivered nowt. More surprisingly they delivered nowt to Fitzwilliam too. So to the picture starter. We saw a map of Europe with several cities, all sharing the same last letter. I recognised Biarritz for Z – whether this gave it to Jack Maloney I couldn’t say, but he had it right. More cities linked by a last letter provided a full house, and reduced the gap to 5 points. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really get the next question, but Jack Maloney worked out that the answer would be the letters TUV. Respect for that. This led to a really lovely UC special set all about figures of speech from the Monty Python parrot sketch. I took a full house, but Fitzwilliam missed out on pushing up the daisies. Thus, on the cusp of the ten minute mark the contest was nicely poised, with Fitzwilliam just nosing ahed at 55 – 40. 

The next starter, like the first, rewarded those who had the nerve to wait and then spring. Asked for the sole language of Andorra, Jack Maloney beat his own team mate Theo Howe to answer Catalan. Angevin Queens of England were gettable, and indeed Fitzwilliam contrived to get them. James Fraser buzzed to get his team back in the match, knowing the medical term ischaemia. Good shout. A great full house on Icarus followed. Now, I’ll be honest, if you ask me about a French composer of the 19^th century, and I don’t actually know the answer, I will tell you it’s Berlioz. This is a tactic which has borne a slow but steady stream of revenue in UC over the years, and it did so again for the next starter. James Fraser actually knew the answer and he buzzed in to take the points. Astrophysics only provided one bonus, which was one more than I got. So far I hadn’t had so much as a sniff of a lap of honour answer. Now, did you know Karl Marx Gave The Proletariat Eleven Zeppelins, Yo? New mnemonic on me, too. Karl Marx stands for Kilo and Mega apparently. None of us quite knew that Eleven Zeppelins is exa and zetta. Fair enough. Theo Tindall got his team moving forward again, recognising a brief summary of Dombey and Son. Literary bad feeling sounded intriguing, and the bonuses thereon provided a further ten points which was enough to take Fitzwilliam into treble figures. For the music starter we were give some relatively early U2 – which is probably why it took a while before Ed Derby chanced his arm with the correct answer. Other exponents of, and I quote, “white macho guitar music” provided just the one bonus – although they were doubtless of no difficulty to gents of a certain age like myself. For the next starter, a UC special, teams were asked if the 8 planets of the Solar System and elements of the periodic table were both listen in order of mass – which planet would be equivalent to lithium. I went for Venus – Mercury and Mars being smaller – but I think Jack Maloney just went in order from the Sun as he answered Earth. This left James Fraser to give the correct answer. Thinking I should get while the going was good, I set off on the lap of honour. When I sat back down again, Emmanuel had taken two bonuses on anthropologists, and the lead. Asked for the decade when Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan was published, Alex Mistlin came in slightly early, and a one decade out answer lost 5. This allowed Hugh Oxlade in to level the scores. A full house on elements named after scientists meant that the score at the 20 minute mark was 125 – 110. It looked as if this contest would go right down to the wire.  

Nerves seemed to play a part as Theo Tindall came in too early to provide the answer that the anvil chorus is from Il Trovatore. James Fraser was happy to snap up that particular unconsidered trifle. Extinct Indo-European languages gave us both the same two bonuses, and this then led to the second picture starter. It was Theo Howe who came in first to identify a still of the Film Unforgiven showing actor and director Clint Eastwood. More stills from films whose directors also starred in them. Fitzwilliam took a full house on a fairly gentle set. The lead, at this point, was yoyoing back and forth between the two teams. You sensed that if one of them could take two starters in a row they might just start to pull away. The order of adjectives in English allowed Kitty Chevallier to ensure that Fitzwilliam didn’t get a second successive starter. Asked to identify highest mountains on the sveen continents based on their geographical coordinates, they failed to retake the lead, but languished 5 points adrift. There really was enough in the next question to identify Thomas More, but neither team managed it. A great buzz from Theo Tindall saw him identify administrative regions, or oblasts, of Kyrgyzstan. Two correct answers meant that Emmanuel needed a full house just to pull level. The reliable Kitty Chevallier knew the first words of Twelfth Night – If music be the food of love – and pulled back 2/5^ths  of the deficit. None of the literature bonuses could be taken though. No one knew the island of Krk for the next starter. Now, if you’re asked for a country that was once part of French Indochina, you’ve really got a one in three chance. Those were the odds facing Alex Mistlin who won the buzzer race. If he zigged correctly, then a couple of answers would probably be enough. Actually he was some way away, going for Thailand, rather than Laos, Vietnam or Cambodia. Given an answer to nothing Theo Howe went for Vietnam, but Laos was required. I as very pleased with myself for rearranging the chemical formula for salt to make the word clan for the next starter just as Jack Maloney buzzed in with the same answer. One felt instantly that this was it for Emmanuel. So it proved, as the contest was gonged, leaving Fitzwilliam winners by 175 – 150.  

Very hard lines to Emmanuel – that was a contest which could easily have gone either way. Well played both.  

Jeremy Paxman Watch 

He was extremely well behaved until Emmanuel identified Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven as the work of Oasis. “Good heavens no!” he spluttered, “ . . . the IMMORTAL Stairway to Heaven”. Led Zep fan, Jez? Really?  

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

Karl Marx Gave The Proletariat Eleven Zeppelins, Yo – hands down, no contest.

Pub Quizzes and me

I don’t write much about the pub quizzes I play in any more, do I? Well, that’s partly because I don’t play much in pub quizzes any more. For a long time I was playing the Bridgend League on a Monday night, the rugby club on a Thursday night, and a range of different pub quizzes on a Sunday night. Go back a few years further, and I would often play on a Tuesday and/or Wednesday.

One of the main reasons I don’t keep up this schedule any more is that I can’t. If I’m not in bed by 10:30 at the latest, then I really struggle in work the next day – sad but true. John and I stopped going out on a Sunday a couple of years ago. Basically, you find a new pub quiz. You go along, and the first time, people are lovely and welcoming. You win and everyone seems happy for you. Win 4 times in a row and it’s a different story. I just got to the  point when I didn’t want the bad feeling any more.

As for the league in Bridgend, I really enjoyed playing in it for 7 years or so. However, I didn’t really enjoy playing last year all that much – I wasn’t even going to play in the season, but our friend and teammate Brian passed away, so I stepped in. I didn’t want to carry on playing begrudging the time, and so I quit at the end of last season. 

Which just leaves the rugby club. I’ve been going since the summer of 1995, playing or setting quizzes, and there’s always been a good reason why I haven’t been able to go – being out of the country – work – whatever. In the last 12 months or so I’ve missed a couple of quizzes simply because I couldn’t be bothered. I don’t tend to post about the rugby club quiz now because, well, I don’t know if anyone in the quiz ever reads the blog, but if anyone does, I wouldn’t want to upset them with my unreasonable gripes and moans. Besides, normally I’ve got over my whinging by the weekend.  

However, I do want to get this moan out of my system. It’s one thing when the question master gets something wrong, and you don’t get a point which you should have had. It’s another thing totally when you dredge your memory, come up with an answer you’re really pleased with, and THEN the question master gives a wrong answer. 

Our question master last Thursday is one who’s quiz I would try hard to avoid missing, and I really like. He usually does an old fashioned type of quiz, where almost everything he asks is within the range of what I think is reasonable to expect a quiz team to be able to at least have a pop at answering. Thursday’s was a bit more way out in some of the questions, but still fun. He asked this question : -

Who did Princess Diana call Squidgy in an intercepted phone call? – well, that was very much the gist of it. Now, you may well, as did I, have noticed the problem with the question. For Diana did not call ANYONE Squidgy in that phone call. She was the one being called Squidgy. Now, the obvious answer would be James Hewitt, since he was the ‘cad’ who had the much publicised affair with Diana to which she admitted in the famous Panorama interview. And to be fair, I wrote his name down at once. Then I had an instant feeling that this was wrong. I dredged my memory, and came up with the name James Gilbey, who I was sure was the James in the phonecall, and it was Gilbey who called Diana Squidgy. 

So I changed my answer to Gilbey. Later checking when I got home revealed that I was correct. Of course, the answer that the question master gave was James Hewitt. 

AS I said, I really like the question master, so I said nowt to him about it – an act of remarkable self control on my part given my past track record. But I’m annoyed – 1) because I didn’t get the point for what I felt was a good feat of memory – 2) I was pretty sure that he was going to give the answer Hewitt, and I didn’t play the man and not the ball.  

Actually, I was remarkably restrained all evening, considering that I was looking over to a nearby team who were matching us point for point, and watching one of their number holding his phone in his lap, looking up answers. All I did was look at their skipper, shake my head and say 'It's not on you know.' I'd like to think that I wouldn't have had a hissy fit if we hadn't won. But we did, so thankfully that wasn't put to the test.

Who is the only . . . questions

In his comment on my most recent UC review, Jack pointed out that it is no longer true that George Bernard Shaw is the only person to receive both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize. This st me thinking about other – who is the only – quiz chestnuts. In no particular order, here’s 10 I’ve been asked in the past, and their current status: -

·       Who is the only person to become president of the USA without ever being elected either vice president or president?

This is still Gerald Ford as far as I know.

·       Which is the only national flag in the world to feature a map/outline of the country?

When I began quizzing in the 80s this was easy – it was Cyprus and only Cyprus. However, nowadays we have to consider Kosovo. Kosovo features a gold image of the country. It all depends on whether you are in a country that recognises Kosovo as an independent country – as over 100 UN member states currently do.

·       Who  is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, all three divisions of the English Football League, the League Cup, the FA Cup, and for his country in an international match.

As far as I know, this is still Robert Earnshaw of Wales

·       Who is the only person to have won an Olympic medal and a Nobel Prize?

Philip Noel Baker who won an Olympic silver medal in 1920 wont he 1959 Peace Prize. AFIK he’s still the only person to do this.

·       Who is the only person to be the sole recipient of Nobel Prizes in two separate categories?

Marie Curie was the first to win 2 Nobel Prizes, and first to win in 2 different categories, but Linus Pauling did not have to share his two awards in Chemistry and Peace with anyone else.

·       Who is the only person to have UK number 1 hits as a solo artist, a duet, with a four person group, and a five person group?

Melanie Chisolm – Mel C of the Spice Girls is I believe still the only holder of this distinction

·       Which is the only song to reach number 1 in 4 separate recordings in the UK?

Time was when this was easy – Unchained Melody being the answer. However, since Band Aid 30’ 2014 version of Do They Know It’s Christmas, this song too shares the distinction.

·       Who is the only person to have walked on the moon and flown the Space Shuttle?

As asked, the question is correct, since only John Young of the 12 moonwalkers would fly the shuttle, on its first mission. However command module pilot Ken Mattingly, who flew to the moon but had to stay in the command module orbiting the moon, went on to fly the shuttle as well.

·       Who is the only person to win Oscars for acting and for screenwriting?

Still just Emma Thompson AFIK

·       Who are the only band to have number 1 albums on the US Billboard chart in 4 decades – 80s 90s – 2000s – 2010s?

AFIK it’s still true that U2 are the only band to have achieved this.

Heat Runners Up and Mastermind Finals

I have done a little bit of research on this. When I was putting together my preview of this year’s coming Grand Final I noticed that none of the 6 repechage semi finalists had made it through, for the second year in a row. I began to wonder whether any repechage semi finalists have reached the final in the Humphrys era.

Which just goes to show what a short memory I’ve got. Just 3 years ago, Marianne Fairthorne won the Grand Final, having reached the semis through a highest scoring runner up spot. Mind you, that was only justice since she only lost her heat on passes, with a high score which would have won a lot of the other heats.

When the Humphrys era began in 2003, in Andy’s series, there were only places in the semi finals for the heat winners. This continued until Jesse’s 2010 series. I remember having a conversation with then producer Jon Kelly in 2007, in which he said that highest scoring runner up slots was something which they were considering for the future. In order to accommodate them they scrapped the inter-round chats – still a part of Sleb Mastermind – and I’ll be honest, I always found them a bit painful while I was waiting to get on with my GK round.

The first ever heat runner up to reach a Humphrys era final was my mate Les Morrell, which reached the 2010 final. I may be wrong, but I believe that only one contender, Diane Hallagan, has reached two finals having been a heat runner up both times. My records for 2016 are incomplete, so I can’t be sure, but I believe that 6 heat runners up have reached the finals in the 9 years since repechage places were reintroduced, counting Diane in both 2011 and 2015. 2015 is an interesting year since no fewer than three of the finalists had been heat runners up.

Things were at least slightly different in the classic era. If I recall correctly, the repechage runners up all contested the same semi final, which meant that one of them would definitely get to the final. Several times repechage semi winners went on to take the title, namely –

Patricia Owen – 1973

Sir David Hunt - 1977

Rosemary James  -1978

Margaret Harris – 1984

David Edwards -1990

Stephen Follows - 2000

That’s 5 wins out of 25, an average of once every 5 years, compared with 1 win in the 9 seasons of the revived series where high scoring runners up have had places in the semis.  

Stephen Follows informs me "The format of the Radio 4 series (or my 2000 series, at least) was a bit different from the current TV format. Only thirteen weekly slots were made available, so the top two from each of the eight heats went through to the semi-finals.

I was one of those who came second in their heat, and I too met the winner of my heat (whose name temporarily escapes me) for a second time in the final - so you can add me to your list of runners-up who became champions."

Thanks for that Stephen. I don't know if either of the other Radio 4 Mastermind champs took the same route to the final, or what the arrangements were in Discovery Mastermind. If anyone knows for certain whether it was possible in either version to progress to the final having lost a heat, could you please leave a comment?

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Mastermind 2018: Grand Final Preview

Shall we have a look at the statistics, dearly beloved? Why not?

Kyle Nagendra	The X-Men Films	9	2	11	2	20	4
	The Films of James Cameron	14	0	12	4	26	4
Aggregate		23	2	23	6	46	8
Brian Chesney	The Giordano Bruno Novels of SJ Parris	11	0	12	1	23	1
	Harold Wilson	15	0	15	1	30	1
Aggregate		26	0	27	2	53	2
Ken Morland	The Works of HP Lovecraft	9	1	11	0	20	1
	Red Dwarf	14	0	14	3	28	3
Aggregate		23	1	25	3	48	4
Michael Taylor	The films of Paul Thomas Anderson	11	0	12	0	23	0
	U2	14	1	14	4	28	5
Aggregate		25	1	26	4	51	5
Alfred Williams	The Life and Music of Eric Satie	10	0	15	1	25	1
	The Life and Times of Alfred the Great	15	0	16	3	31	3
Aggregate		25	0	31	4	56	4
Ben Holmes	The Graphic Novels of Daniel Clowes	10	2	13	0	23	0
	Dr. Who 2005 - date	15	0	14	1	29	1
Aggregate		25	2	27	1	52	1

Now, let’s state for the record that statistics only tell you so much. Any of the 6 people who reach a Mastermind Grand Final CAN win it. All the statistics tell us is who is most likely to do it based on performance in the series so far. So what do these statistics tell us?

Both Kyle Nagendra and Ken Morland look less likely to win than the other finalists, according to the statistics. Kyle had a fine GK round in the semis, but he was a couple of points behind the leaders as the half time oranges were brought out. He certainly can’t afford that in the final, and even then his GK score last night, good as it was, was still the joint lowest of our 6 finalists. Can he win? Of course he can, but the formbook points to a lower finish than that.

Ken Morland looked shocked when it was announced that he had won his semi and was through to the final. His semi final performance was similar to Kyle’s and again, he’ll need to do a little better on his specialist if he’s not going to be behind going into the GK. His semi final GK again was joint lowest in the semis. Can Ken win? Sure he can, but again, my gut feeling is that he’ll be amongst the chasing pack.

Next contender of this all male group whose chances we should look at is Michael Taylor. If you look at the aggregate scores of Michael, Ben and Brian, there is virtually nothing to choose between them. Looking at Michael’s scores, what they reveal is that this is a contender who performs at a consistently high level. The evidence suggests that he’ll prepare well for his specialist, which means it will all come down to GK. His chances must be taken seriously. I think the most likely outcome for him is a podium spot, but he can win it, make no doubt.

I’d say the same for Ben Holmes too. His GK aggregate is slightly higher than Michael’s, but there’s really nothing in it. Again, I want to stress this, Ben’s stats suggest that he is perfectly capable of becoming a Mastermind champion, and a worthy one he would be. The fact that I’m not tipping him to win has a great deal more to do with the quality of our last two contenders than any deficiency in Ben.

Twist my arm behind my back and force me down off the fence, and I’d tell you that I think two of the contenders are more likely winners than the other 4. The first of this dynamic duo is Brian Chesney. Brian is a former runner up – last time out in 2014 he lost out on passes to our own Clive Dunning. Now there is a precedent to this. In 2003, the first series of the Humphrys Ers, the great Geoff Thomas was runner up to Andy Page. 3 years later he came back and carried all before him in the series that saw my own Mastermind debut. Consider also the fact that Brian is a Brain of Britain runner up, and you can see how foolish it would be to dismiss Brian’s chances. I have never seen him put in an under par performance in his 5 Mastermind appearances so far. I can’t see that he won’t be in the reckoning. However, to win he’ll have to beat a very serious contender indeed.

Alfred Williams looks like a winner to me. There – sorry Alfred, I’ve maybe jinxed your chances there. But every single round he’s put in so far has been quality. In particular that 15 on GK in the semis was truly outstanding – and that after a 16 on GK in the heats. There’s an air of assurance about Alfred when he’s in the chair – he looks as if he never expects to get one wrong, and he doesn’t let it bother him in the slightest on the few occasions when he does. So yes, I think the most likely winners are Brian and Alfred, and of the two, I just think that Alfred has looked more likely during this series.

But hey, what do I know? There may only be 5 GK questions in the whole show that you don’t know, but if they all come out in the middle of your own round, what can you do? Anyone is capable of having a bad night – although the better quizzer that you are the fewer and further between these should be. I wish all 6 contenders the very best of retrospective luck, and hope that you all enjoyed the experience.

The final itself will be shown on Good Friday, so no Mastermind next week. Shame.