University Challenge 2022: Quarter final - Reading v. Birmingham

The Teams

Reading

Alex Scopic

Margaret Ounsley

Michael Hutchinson (capt)

Sylvain Jesudoss

Reading beat Strathclyde by 175 – 110 in the first round, and Dundee by 240 to 50 in the second.

Birmingham

Mark McParlan

John Robinson

Michael Joel Bartelle (capt)

Jaimy Sajit

Birmingham thrashed Sussex by 245-10 in the first round, and St. Andrews by 225 to 50 in the second.

If we look at the form book, then, there wasn’t a great deal to choose between the two teams, with both comprehensively outbuzzing the opposition in the second round match at least. 

Michael Joel Bartelle jumped first on the first starter, however he offered ‘white’ as the word connecting Whistler’s Mother and a novel by Stendahl, while Margaret Ounsley gave us the correct answer of black. Academies of learning saw Reading struggling to untangle their Sassanids from their Abbasids for the first bonus, but they took the next two. As the next starter developed it seemed to be about a game playing artificial intelligence, and once we got as far as it beating a Korean player I guessed that the game in question would be Go. So did John Robinson, and we were both right. Bonuses followed on the US astronomer Carolyn Porco. With that name I bet her schooldays were a nightmare. Birmingham never sounded happy with any of their answers, yet they still managed to take a couple of correct answers. I was pleased with myself for working out that it was the White Ship that sank in the English Channel some 900 years ago for the next starter. Margaret Ounsley took that one. Shanghai in films and literature brought just the one bonus. Mark McParlan impressed with the speed with which he identified Dalmatia on a map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Three more crownlands from said empire brought two correct answers. Michael Joel Bartelle came in early to say that the word derived from a latin word for a tent, used for Mormon places of worship is tabernacle. Bonuses on Owain Glyndwr brought another full house, which was enough to give Birmingham a lead of 65 to 35 at the 10 minute mark, in what was turning out to be a quality competition.

I was surprised that nobody leapt in on the buzzer when the next starter asked for the country in which the Urnes Stave Church can be found – Stave churches are something I think of as being very Norwegian. Yet it took several other examples before Mark McParlan chanced his arm with the correct answer. Florine Stettheimer – yes, Florine Who? in LAM Towers – surprisingly yielded us all a couple of bonuses. The next starter saw Michael Hutchinson win the buzzer race to say that the element named after the location of the Oak Ridge laboratory is Pointless favourite Tennessine. It also earned me a lap of honour around the Clark sofa. I almost made it a double lap for knowing that baryons take their name from the Greek for heavy, but then when it comes to exercise I believe in moderation in all things. I have to say that when JP told us that the answer to the next was hadrons, which are made up of quarks, Michael Hutchinson’s ‘what you talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?’ expression was priceless. I knew Fermions as well, which means that I took three out of a set on Science. It’ll never happen again. The Reading skipper, the scent of blood in his nostrils, came in too early for the next starter, allowing his opposite number, Michael Joel Bartelle to give the economic term Division of Labour – (which resulted in the formation of the SDP in the early 80s, didn’t it?).Bonuses on violence in the novels of Thomas Hardy went begging. Nobody could recognise the work of David Byrne and Brian Eno for the music starter. I didn’t really understand the next question, but the Birmingham skipper gave the answer teleology, and he was right to do so. This brought his team the dubious benefit of the music bonuses – three tracks by groups or artists known for sampling. I knew Art of Noise, but that was as far as my knowledge went. Birmingham took their second consecutive duck on bonuses. Gawd alone knows what dipole movement is, but it brought Jaimy Sajit the next starter. Ancient Greek philosophical terms beginning with a yielded nowt again. That was 9 consecutive pointless bonuses – had they scored them, they would have had the kind of lead that would have been extremely difficult to pull back. Still, just short of the 20 minute mark Birmingham’s lead of 115 – 50 looked pretty healthy.

Michael Hutchinson was in extremely quickly to identify New Britain and New Ireland as parts of Papua New Guinea. Storms in classical music gave a name check to one of my all-time favourite pieces – Vivaldi’s flute concerto Tempesta di Mare. Reading had that and the other two bonuses to bite a chunk out of the lead. The Reading skipper struck again for the next starter – knowing, or guessing, the mineral kernowite, named after Cornwall. Creatures with the word – green – as part of their common names brought them another full house, meaning that they had scored 50 without reply in very short order. For the second picture starter nobody recognised the work of Miro. Miro, Miro on the wall? Need to be a big wall for that. Nobody knew that the Soyombo is the yellow device featured on the flag of Mongolia. Michael Hutchinson knew that in first aid the acronym RICE stands for – at least at the start – Rest – Ice. This earned the bonuses on 20^th century sculptures of birds. Reading took one of these, but it was enough to take them to level pegging with Birmingham. And they were the team with all the momentum right at this moment. The irrepressible Reading skipper took the next starter too, having heard the words 2018 Hugo Award he buzzed straight in with Jemisin. Knowing this brought his team into the lead, he pumped his fist. Fair play to him for not showing any emotion about being given bonuses on endorheic basins. No, me neither. 2 bonuses increased the lead to 20. Mark McParlan stopped the rot for Birmingham by identifying the jay as the most colourful British member of the crow family. Two bonuses were enough for them to tie the scores again. Michael Hutchinson gave the value of the golden ratio for the next starter. Bonuses on 3 of the 4 brave provinces of Ireland brought a full house. This meant that, with time running out, it was crucial for Birmingham to take the next starter. It was the Reading captain though who sealed the deal, buzzing in to identify the character from Dickens whose name became a colloquial synonym for an umbrella as Mrs. Gamp. This time both fists were clenched, but you couldn’t really blame him. In the last few minutes he had almost singlehandedly dragged his team up by their collective bootstraps, to the point where victory was looking inevitable. In fact there was only time for one bonus before this excellent contest was gonged.

Congratulations to both teams – that was a pleasure to watch. I’m glad we’ll see Birmingham back, and they’re by no means out of the competition yet. Their fate was sealed when 9 consecutive bonuses went begging while they were winning the buzzer races hands down. But it’s Reading who have one foot in the semis now, and deservedly so.

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

The yellow traditional device on the flag of Mongolia is called the Soyombo