University Challenge - Quarter Final Edinburgh v. Emmanuel

The Teams

Edinburgh

Ben Russell Jones

Lewis Thomas

Rishi Sundar (Capt)

Al Karunaratne

Emmanuel, Cambridge

Nicole Pullinger

Nicholas Thatte

Cara Malcolm (Capt)

James Wrathall

I will try to be a little more prompt next week. For one thing, I’m running out of excuses.  A glance at the form book shows that following a narrow defeat in the first round, Emmanuel have been ging well, beating St. John’s in their first quarter final. By contrast Edinburgh were undefeated going into this contest, having defeated Trinity in their first quarter final. So who would march on into the semis, and who would be consigned to quaffing in the last chance saloon?

A superfast buzz from captain Rishi Sundar identifying clues pointing towards bow and arrow launched Edinburgh. Opening lines of early 20^th century novels yielded two correct answers. Ben Russell Jones came in too early for the next starter, losing 5, allowing Nicholas Thatte to give the correct answer of the letter s. I expect that something also beginning with the letter s might have crossed Ben Russell Jones’ mind at this moment, but I digress. Plants from the ever popular “Poisoning for Beginners” brought one bonus. Nobody knew that General order 100, which led to the Lieber Code of conduct in war which was heavily influential on the Hague convention was issued in the American Civil War. I thought that the next starter was a quote that sounded like Darwin. Close but no cigar – as Lewis Thomas pointed out it was from Alfred Russell Wallace. Pairs of words in which you obtain the second by adding an extra R to the first brought two correct answers. Ben Russell Jones from Bridgend quite rightly knew that the Red Lady of Paviland was discovered on the Gower – a little more than half an hour west of his hometown. Ida B. Wells brought a timely full house. For the picture starter we saw a sentence, in French, offering the definition of an English word used in French as a loan word. My schoolboy French supplied he answer of un sandwich, while James Wrathall accepted the challenge from JP and pronounced it in a French accent. We both scored two out of three bonuses on this. It was a timely score for Emmanuel, since Edinburgh had seemed to be getting up a head of steam. As it was, at just after the 10 minute mark Edinburgh led by 60 - 35.

Al Karunaratne was just a little too quick on the buzzer for the next starter, and had the mortifying experience of hearing the answer he was going to give become part of the question. I didn’t understand the question, but Nicholas Thatte, somewhat disbelievingly, gave the correct answer of the electric motor. Terms containing three consecutive examples of the same letter brought Emmanuel a full house, and the lead. For the next starter it was Edinburgh skipper Rishi Sunar who lost 5 by coming in too early. Emmanuel were unlucky not to capitalise, having said “Mary Queen of Scots”. Right person, but not the right title of the play in question, that being “Mary Stuart”. Nicholas Thatte knew that if it’s an annelid used in medical therapy, it has to be leeches. British Overseas Territories yielded just the one bonus. For the next starter, Ben Russell Jones timed his buzz to perfection, waiting until the last detail in the question made it obvious the answer was Claude Lorrain. Bonuses on the novel “Hyperion” brought a single bonus. The music starter saw none of us recognise the work of Bellini. Cara Malcolm knew that Killarney National Park is situated in County Kerry. This earned the music bonuses, each of which had a connection to the moon. These did none of us any good. Nobody knew that Elizabeth Acevedo was the first writer of colour to win the Carnegie Medal. Nicholas Thatte was first in to recognise a mathematical formula of an ellipse. Architecture, and the temporary galleries of the Serpentine Gallery, brought two bonuses. This all meant that, right on the cusp of the 20 minute mark, Emmanuel had now crossed the psychologically important triple figure threshold and led by 110 – 65.

 This lead stretched further as James Wrathall identified that two given cities preceded Bangkok. Partnerships between film editors and directors brought just the one bonus, but with the lead stretching it was starting to look like crunch time for Edinburgh. Rishi Sundar won the buzzer race to identify Puck as the source of the quote ‘Lord, what fools these mortals be’. A full house would have been useful, but they only managed one bonus on locations of towns in Roman Britain. For the second picture starter we saw a painting I’ve always loved by Joseph Wright of Derby – the Astronomy Lecture. Ben Russell Jones had that one. More paintings of astronomers at work yielded two bonuses, and took Edinburgh to a triple figure score. Lewis Thomas buzzed in first to give the correct answer of poultice to the next starter. Matrices, the subject of the bonus set, did nowt for me, but Edinburgh took two, and were now a mere 5 behind. Lewis Thomas took his second consecutive starter, and the lead, knowing the Franz Joseph archipelago. A full house on flags stretched the lead to 20 points, ad little time remained. Ben Russell Jones probably knew the correct answer to the next question – the Torah – but it came out Talmud, and he lost 5. Nicholas Thatte, a superb snapper up of such unconsidered trifles, supplied the correct answer. Bonuses on geometrical wedges brought the two bonuses needed for Emmanuel to take back the lead. It looked as if the next correct answer would win. And that answer was supplied by Ben Russell Jones, who must have worried that he had blown his team’s chance with the previous misfire. After JP confirmed that his answer of mathematician Peano was correct, his joy was unconfined, and rightly so since the contest was gonged before the first starter was finished. Edinburgh had just squeaked the win by 150 to 145.

Great match, all of you, and many congratulations to Edinburgh. As for Emmanuel, they know how to battle it out, and they’re still in the contest.

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

Hirudotherapy is a term used for the use of leeches in medical treatment.