University Challenge Quarter Final - Reading v. Imperial

The Teams

Reading

Sylvain Jesudoss

Margaret Ounsley

Michael Hutchinson (capt.)

Kira Bishop

Imperial

Max Zeng

Fatima Sheriff

Michael Mays (capt.)

Gilbert Jackson

Well, here we are again, dearly beloved. I’m so sorry that it has taken me so long to post this. It was a busy week, and then I’ve been preparing for a trip to Warsaw next week – my first European sketching trip for 2 years. No excuse really. Still, shall we have a look at the form book? In heir first quarter Reading won a tough match against Birmingham 170 – 13, while Imperial thrashed Kings in their first quarter. I know many who fancy Imperial as favourites to take the title. Well, I’m not so mean that I’m going to scupper anyone’s chances by tipping them to win.

It didn’t appear as if Reading had heard that Imperial were favourites as Margaret Ounsley recognised several uses of the word gross for the first starter. Etymologically unrelated words beginning with the same first three letters were a UC special set of the sort where you should expect to get a full house, and Reading were happy to oblige on this score. I didn’t know that the Dunlap Broadsides were printed copies of the American Declaration of Independence but Michael Hutchinson did, and what’s more, he did so early. Reading took two bonuses on my favourite 19^th century novel, Vanity Fair. -Right- thought Imperial – that’s enough of that – and Gilbert Jackson buzzed in to identify the description of the moon Europa. I thought Platonic solids are what you feed babes if you want them to grow up to be philosophers, but no, it’s something to do with Geometry apparently. I didn’t get any of the bonuses on them, but then neither did Imperial, so fair’s fair. When the picture round showed us the coat of arms of a European country’s navy I though – here comes Geographer extraordinaire Max Zeng. He did too, and correctly identified Italy. Surprisingly Imperial only took two bonuses on quarters of the shield and the maritime republics they symbolised. Margaret Ounsley knew that the cap or helmet of Hades confers invisibility upon the wearer for the next starter. Bonuses on opera yielded us both a single bonus. Nobody worked out that the three letters which stand for numerical values which appear consecutively on a qwerty keyboard (X – C – V ) spell out the number 95. We were right on the cusp of the 10 minute mark, and Reading had a lead of 60 – 30.

The lead increased as Michael Hutchinson was first to buzz in to recognise Madagascar as a producer of vanilla and other specified commodities. Diane Fossey – who was apparently not the choreographer of Cabaret – brought us both a full house of bonuses. At this point the Imperial skipper found his buzzer range and won the race to identify some of the illegitimate kids of Charles II. The Maths and Physics bonuses that followed did no good for any of us. The Italian artistic term ciaroscura suggested to me that Sciagraphy is the study of the projection of shadows. Neither team got that.The Whiteboy Shuffle and the Sellout are works by Paul Beatty (I’m afraid Paul Who? in LAM Towers), which Fatima Sheriff well knew to take the next starter. So called coloured cities of Rajasthan followed and we both took two correct answers for Jaipur and Jodhpur. Gawd knows what meiosis is all about, but Max Zeng correctly supplied it as the answer to the next starter. So all four of the Imperial team had correctly answered starters now, and you sensed that the Imperial Juggernaut was really starting to work up a head of steam. (I love a mixed metaphor. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.) This impression seemed to be confirmed when Imperial took a full house on bonuses of shared papal names which gave them the lead for the first time. Gilbert Jackson was in early to identify the work of Saint-Saens. Works by other composers parodied in said Carnival  brought another full house. 5 minutes earlier you’d have put good money on Reading being the first of the two teams to break through the 100 barrier, yet Imperial had done it, while Reading still languished on 80.Which European country – began JP and I thought – Max Zeng’s in here. Mind you so was I , knowing that Poland was partitioned more than once in the 19^th century. Going there on Tuesday. Faked correspondence brought two more correct answers. Incidentally this meant that Imperial had achieved the relatively rare feat of scoring 100 points during the course of which their opponents scored 0. Mind you, they lost  of them when Michael Mays came in too soon for the next starter. I bet that Reading understood the question better than I did, but neither of us came up with the answer – linear momentum. Undeterred by the previous starter Michael Mays was in very quickly to identify the word patina. Wasn’t she Troy Tempest’s girlfriend – aqua Patina? Two word terms of which the first word is new brought another two correct answers. All of which meant that Imperial led by 145 – 80, and it seemed as if the semi final beckoned for them.

It seemed even more so when Max Zeng identified a treaty between Russian and Chinese empires. Anagrams of transuranic elements looked to be an easy set, and I told myself I could only have a lap of honour if I had a full house. I did too, and so did Imperial, although to be fair they didn’t get up and run around their chairs like I did, so I think that’s a moral victory for me. At last Michael Hutchinson managed to buzz his way back by identifying a photograph of Nina Simone for the second picture starter. Other performers featured in the 2021 Documentary Summer of Soul brought two bonuses – one of whom I once met in Athens airport – BB King (long story, ask me if you ever meet me). Fatima Sheriff won the buzzer race to identify that the two composers referenced in the question were both Bernsteins. 20^th century poets as described by Seamus Heaney brought just the one bonus. Gilbert Jackson knew various species of Macaque for the next starter. Fortresses brought two bonuses, which saw Imperial again through the 200 points barrier. Max Zeng knew Boron for the next starter on the periodic table. Now, be honest, when JP announced that the next bonus set was on apples in art, did you instantly think Rene Magritte? I did. He was the last bonus, and Imperial also took the first on Cezanne. Sez who? You had to stick with the next question, but the mention of the worship of Artemis at the end gave both Margaret Ounsley and me the answer of Ephesus. Bonuses on McLarens brought two correct answers. That was it, the contest was gonged, with Imperial winning 225- 110.

Well done to both teams. Congratulations to Imperial, first through to the semis. You’ll probably be tagged favourites by most now, but I have faither in you that you can cope. Not panicking after Reading’s lightning start was impressive. Bad luck Reading, but you can still make it.

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

The three letters which stand for numerical values which appear consecutively on a qwerty keyboard (X – C – V ) spell out the number 95. Great question I was too slow to work out.