Mastermind First Round: Heat 23

For the last two weeks, dearly beloved, the scores have been modest. So last night, as we’re winding towards the end of the first round, I couldn’t help hoping that we’d see something in the way of pyrotechnics this week. Did it happen? Well, let’s come to that afterwards.

Meanwhile, let’s begin with Judith Edwards’ round on the Hornblower Novels. That’s a good old, traditional MM specialist subject, that wouldn’t have looked out of place during the Magnus era, isn’t it. Personally, I have never read any of the novels – not making any point about this, just saying that I haven’t. General knowledge gave me two points here. Considering the famine rations that my specialist round scores have been on for the last few weeks, I was going to take all that I could get. Judith got into double figures, which is the mark of a good round these days. 10 points means that you’re never going to be too far behind at the half time whistle.

Ten points was also the total that Lizzie Mackarel scored on her own round on Joni Mitchell. Two gimmes gave me my two points on this round, and I was not too proud to say thank you very much for them either. Judith in the previous round had prepared her subject well, despite missing a couple, and it’s fair to say the same thing about Lizzie. 2 contenders down, and two still in it.

If I had a banker subject last night, it was The Wives of Henry VIII. This was offered to us by Mark Spencer Turner. Did it work out for me? Well, I took 4 of these, and was very happy to do so. It wasn’t an easy set at all, and Mark scored a rather modest 6. The look on his face suggested that some of those that he missed were areas he hadn’t considered during his preparation for the round. It’s a fact that if you leave gaps, the question setters will often find them.

Last but not by any means least in the first round was Helen garner. Helen was answering on the Films of Tom Cruise, and this round conformed to what we’ve seen this series, that is, a set of questions almost all of which concentrated on the details of the events in the films, rather than production details. Helen did extremely well – not a perfect round as she did have one pass, but any specialist subject round that scores in the teens now is out of the top drawer.

Let’s call a spade a spade, Mark was 7 points off the lead when he returned to the chair and there was no way he was going to be able to win. Under those circumstances I thought that he struggled manfully with his questions. I don’t think he found it easy, but he struggled grimly on to accrue a respectable 8 points for a total of 1. Which did actually mean that he was in the lead briefly.

It can be enlightening to watch the different tactics that different contenders use in their respective rounds. In 2007, after accruing 2 passes in my first round specialist subject, I made up my mind never to pass another question, and I didn’t for the rest of the series. However it can also be a valid tactic to go for speed by passing anything where the answer doesn’t come immediately. I’d say that Judith had decided on this tactic, since although she got into double figures again with another ten, she also took 6 passes.

By contrast, I’d say that Lizzie Mackarel was trying as hard as she could not to pass, although she did pass twice in the end. Lizzie was another contender who couldn’t quite disguise her frustration when answers turned out to be wrong, and while I’d never advocate a McEnroe-esque outburst, I can get on board with contenders who show that I matters to them. Lizzie scored 10 too, but her lower pass rate meant that she was now in the lead.

You sensed this would not be for long, though, and it really wasn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed Helen Garner’s round, for the range of knowledge that she showed, the speed at which she answered most of the questions, and the way that she seemingly dredged a couple of answers up from her boots – like the Cernow/Cornwall one, for example. She passed the target and kept going, ending with 27, and the admiration of Clive Myrie. I understand Clive’s excitement at the size of Helen’s winning margin, but I somehow dount if it made the other contenders feel much better.

Well done Helen! This was the best performance on the show for several weeks. At the end Helen said her aim is to go all the way. On this showing, that certainly looks like a possibility. Best of luck in the semi-final.

The Details

Judith Edwards	The Hornblower novels of C.S. Forester	10	1	10	6	20	7
Lizzie Mackarel	Joni Mitchell	10	0	10	2	20	2
Mark Spencer Turner	The Wives of Henry VIII	6	2	8	4	14	6
Helen Garner	The Films of Tom Cruise	13	1	14	1	27	1