University Challenge: Elimination match - King's, London v. Emmanuel, Cambridge

The Teams

King’s, London

Ananth Sathyanath

Rachael Bedwin

Atyab Rashid

Oliver Beard

Emmanuel, Cambridge

Nicole Pullinger

Nicholas Thatte

Cara Malcolm

James Wrathall

Well, hello, dearly beloved, and thanks for joining me in this very belated visit to the last chance saloon. Busy week. Right, a quick glance at the form book suggests that Emmanuel were just one fast buzz away from taking a place in the semis last time out, while Kings are one of the great battling teams of this series, sometimes down, but never out as yet.

The first starter asked for words starting with the same double letter. Dutch architect suggested aa, and a reference to Aachen confirmed it. It confirmed it for James Wrathall as well. This earned Emmanuel a set on prisons in Italy, which failed to bring any points. Oliver Beard knew China’s Xianjing Province for the next starter to level the score. A UC special set on words that were the same, but a second T had been added in the second provided two bonuses, but Kings missed out on oology and otology. Both Oliver Beard and I understood the reference to a garden folly for the next starter and answered pineapple. Bonuses on marsupials did not add any further points. Cara Malcolm knew that the answer to the next starter was pernicious anaemia. Good shout. Names of pre-Columbian civilisations from the Nahuatl language provided just one bonus. This brought us to a very tricky picture starter. Basically we saw a diagram inviting us to take one bar of a tricolour flag from three different flags – with the countries in question being highlighted, but the bars of the flags being left white. Then the teams were asked which countries, flag was being indicated by the diagram. I love flags but I didn’t work out that the answer was Armenia. Neither did the teams. Rachael Bedwin was the first to work out that the various clues to the next starter all pointed to the word Flint. This earned Kings’ the dubious honour of the flag bonuses, of which neither of us took any points. This meant that at the ten minute mark Kings’ led by 40 to 25, but it was almost all down to the buzzer sice both teams were struggling to answer bonuses.

Cara Malcolm buzzed too early for the next starter, and lost . I got it from the reference to the car race, the Mille Miglia, given Garibaldi and French pastry Rachael Bedwin worked it out for Kings’. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I know bugger all about semiconductors, more surprising is that Kings’ only managed one themselves. I recognised a description of the Brussels Atomium just as Cara Malcolm buzzed in early with the same answer. The British Black Arts Movement continued the question setter’s mission to show how little any of us know this week, when none of the bonuses were answered correctly. This brought us smartly to the music starter. I was pleased with myself for correctly guessing that the tuneless caterwauling that followed was Shostakovitch. (Look, I have a tin ear, whaddya expect?) Both teams recognised that the next question was asking for the scientist after whom the process of galvanisation was named, but Rachael Bedwin guessed Galvin, while Cara Malcolm guessed Galvini. Rather surprised that nobody could get Galvani for that one, if I’m totally honest – I didn’t even think I deserved a lap of honour around the sofa for it. A lovely starter followed which asked for the obtuse angle of the hands of the clock in Brooke’s Grantchester. Neither team worked out it was 1 – no, of course I didn’t either! Nicholas Thatte recognised references to the Ballad of Reading Gaol for the next starter. I’d forgotten about the music bonuses, which now came back for Emmanuel. Three other works that damaged their composers’ reputations brought nowt. TBH, the only one that I knew was the Chorus of the Slaves. Both teams sat on their buzzers for the next starter, asking in which conflict Lord Aberdeen had resigned the premiership. After what seemed like a long time, Ananth Sathyanath took a speculative punt with the Crimean War and watched he ball sail sweetly between the posts. Settlements in Scotland beginning with Inver- brought two bonuses, which was something like a feast after the famine rations that both teams had been living on for most of the match. It meant that Kings’ led by 7 – 0 just after the 20 minute mark.

None of us knew a colophon for the next starter, although Kings’ lost five for giving their wrong answer too early. For the next starter, both teams again sat on their buzzers when asked for the largest city of New Mexico. ‘ALBUQUERQUE!’ I screamed at the screen. Oliver Beard had a wrong guess, allowing Cara Malcolm to guess the right one. Something chemical which I don’t pretend to have understood gave Emmanuel our first full house of this match. After 22 and a half minutes the teams were separated by one bonus, and neither was close to the 100 point barrier yet. So to the picture starter, a still from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. I’d say that Emmanuel were closer with Look Back in Anger, but neither team had it. Something about integers and perfect squares failed to spark a buzzer race. Given a free shot, Ananth Sathyanath gave an answer that JP accepted, rather grudgingly, I thought. Still from three other kitchen sink drama films didn’t promise Kings’ a great deal. I predicted the three would be Look Back in Anger, A Taste of Honey and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and was right, but sadly this didn’t help Kings’. The mnemonic pale gas is used to recall the 7 Deadly Sins. Atyab Rashid zagged with the virtues, allowing Nicholas Thatte to zag with the 7 deadly sins. Bonuses on Pahlavi – which I thought was a slang used by those in the live entertainment profession but turned out to be an ancient language brought the 2 correct answers that Emmanuel needed to take the lead. – Next correct buzz wins- I announced to nobody in particular. Well, that shows how much I know, because the contest was gonged before the next starter was completed. Emmanuel had won it with the last answer.

Hard lines to King’s. They were, as I said, a good battling team, but in all honesty you have to better with the bonuses than they did if you want to go to the semis. Mind you, Emmanuel only did slightly better – I believe they only took one more than King’s. But they’re in the semis, and that’s what matters.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know

Olmec – as in the meso-American civilisation, means inhabitant of the rubber country. Boinnngggg!!!!!