University Challenge 2023: Round Two - Bristol v. Queen's Belfast

The Teams

Bristol

Sam Kehler

Jacob McLaughlin

Tess Richardson (capt)

Alejandro Ortega

Queen’s Belfast

Michael Sharry

Oliver Donnelly

Courtney Campbell (capt)

Luke Duffy

Shall we cast a glance over the form book, dearly beloved? Bristol lost a high scoring shootout with Durham in the first round, by 10 measly points. However they went on to win a high quality repechage match with Oriel. Queen’s had a fairly comfortable win over Glasgow, although their score in their win was lower than Bristol’s score in their loss. Most likely winner? The Clark 50p was on Bristol as it happened.

I knew the starter from the Romeo and Juliet reference. I wouldn’t know exactly how many times I’ve taught the play but I doubt it’s much less than 20. Alejandro Ortega shook his head as he answered philosophy, but he was right. Bonuses on poems in the Love’s Beginning section of the Nation’s Favourite Love Poems brought two correct answers – to be fair the Herrick one that they missed was pretty difficult. I went for John Donne too. I guessed El Hierro is the 2^nd smallest of the Canary islands. Tess Richardson took that one. Bonuses on distances in space saw me spurn a lap of honour for knowing that the distance from the Earth to the Sun is one astronomical unit – thanks University Challenge of years gone by – but when I answered that there are about 60,000 astronomical units in a light year then I couldn’t resist. You see, last weel we were given a number in the rugby club quiz, and asked what it represented. We worked out it could be inches in a mile – and that was just over 60k. It was given as a clue in this bonus. I guessed that the last would be Headingley too – so I think I earned my lap of honour for a full house. Bristol took the first and third. Jacob McLaughlin, star buzzer in his last outing, took his first and Bristol’s 3^rd starter, with the amazing Brothers Tinbergen, Nobel Prize Winners to the Gentry. Swiss linguistic theorist, Saussure, provided a terrific full house. After the bonus profligacy of recent shows it was nice to see a team grabbing them by the scruff of the neck. So to the picture starter. We saw spines of three books, all written by the same president. Profiles in Courage gave me JFK, and allowed Luke Duffy to get Queen’s off the mark. More presidential works brought Queen’s a full house. Well done! Now, had I not already taken a lap of honour I would definitely have awarded myself one for knowing that a regular arrangement of atoms in chemistry was pointing to the word lattice. Alejandro Ortega took his second starter with that one. Vanessa ‘Ding Dong’ Bell provided another two bonuses. This meant that Bristol led by 85 – 25 approaching the 10 minute mark.

Jacob McLaughlin came in far too early for the next starter, losing five on the First Lady of American Cinema. Had he waited for “The Whales of August” he might have known that this was the last film of Lillian Gish. Queen’s didn’t, and so on to the next starter. When we got as far, in the next question, to mobile phone ringtones I guessed we were looking for polyphonic. We were, and Tess Richardson supplied it. Earlier in the show I’d already supplied my full quota of Science answers for January, so I didn’t worry too much about not even understanding the questions, but they must have been hard since Bristol themselves only managed the one. IAEA launched a buzzer race which was won by Michael Sharry, who knew it was all to do with Nuclear Power. Film and TV scores by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross brought two bonuses. It was nice to see Ken Burns getting a namecheck – I will watch anything by Ken Burns. The next starter was a great example of one where you have to wait, and wait, and wait and then slam the buzzer through the table when it suddenly becomes obvious. If it mentions William Morris – then it's usually Arts and Crafts. Jacob McLaughlin took his second with this.The Danelaw provided another full house for Bristol. Nobody recognised the psychedelic folk stylings of Joanna Newsom. I took a flyer on the next starter, shouting ZINC! Immediately after JP said Calamine Lotion – Jacob McLaughlin gave the same answer to take the lead in the individual starter stakes with 3. Earlier examples of music influenced by psychedelia and folk saw Bristol draw a rare bank. I knew the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane, but Linda Perhacs is a new one on me. I’d only jist started focussing on the next starter when Jacob McLaughlin had already answered it. Schopenhauer. Gesundheit (Come on, you knew that was coming, surely.) Bonuses on cuckoo provided a full house again. Michael Sharry came in too early on the next starter on a West African language and lost five. I don’t blame him. When you’re under the cosh you have to gamble and go early to break up the opposition’s rhythm and rob them of momentum. Bristol zigged with Yoruba when they should’ve zagged with Hausa. I loved Howard Jacobson’s response to being called the English Philip Roth that he’d prefer to be called the Jewish Jane Austen. Michael Sharry this time made no mistake. The comic book writer Gail ‘Who’ Simone brought Queen’s a full house. If they could only show a bit ore speed on the buzzer. . . Well, at just after the 20^th minute mark they languished behind as Bristol marched on – 155 – 65.

Oliver Donelly knew that avellana in Spanish and noisette in French are hazelnuts in English. Oooh! Cadbury’s take them etc. etc. Politicians with shared surnames brought just the one bonus. For the second picture starter the nice picture with the choo choo we saw rather shouted Pissarro to me. It didn’t shout it loud enough for either team to hear it though. Michael Sharry again tried to lift his team with an early buzz and was unlucky to come in just a little too early to hear the detail which made it clear the answer wanted was Venus and not Mars. Sam Kehler took that one, which meant every member of the Bristol team had contributed at least 1 starter. Three more paintings of rural and local rail brought us both 2 bonuses. Jacob McLaughlin took the next starter with Cloase. Answers linked by having the same sequence of vowels brought a couple of bonuses. To be honest, the contest was over and had been for some time – everything else now was just gilding. Alejandro Ortega came in too early and lost five for the next starter. Didn’t matter. I remembered for the next starter that the latin word for curve is sinus, so when it also mentioned trigonometry sine looked a pretty decent shout. It was too. Courtney Campbell zigged with cosine allowing Jacob McLaughlin to zag with sine. Archaeology bonuses didn’t add to their total, which was now in the 200s. Named hills on the Isle of Skye brought Luke Donnelly his second starter. One bonus on layman’s descriptions of legal terms brought an end to the contest. Bristol had won by 205-90.

Don’t be misled into thinking Queen’s were not a good team. They had a 66.6 percent bonus conversion rate. But they were well beaten on the buzzer. As for Bristol, they too were comfortably over 60 percent, and they have to be taken very seriously in the quarter finals. Well played!

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

The Cuckoo is supposed to arrive in Britain on April 14^th – St. Tiburtius’s Day.