University Challenge: Qualification Match: Durham v. UCL

The Teams

Durham

Harry Scully

Chloe Margaux

Alex Radcliff (Capt.)

Bea Bennett

UCL

Rachel Collier

Michael Fleetwood -Walker

James Salmon (capt.)

Louis Collier

You know, it all seemed a lot clearer and easier a few weeks ago, before the quarter finals started. I was pretty clear that Bristol, UCL and Durham would make up three of the semi-finalists, and then either Southampton or Jesus,Oxford as the other. Well, maybe Jesus had flattered to deceive in their first and second round matches, but they lost both and they’ve gone. In the two qualification matches so far, Bristol comfortably defeated UCL to go through, then in what I thought was an upset, Durham, still leading relatively comfortably at the 20 minute mark, lost out to a fine performance from Royal Holloway, whose chances I had dissed in my preview. Sorry again. So Royal Holloway took the first place in the semi-finals. Which put Durham on a collision course with UCL. Two of my chosen semi-finalists, yet only one of the teams would be going through. Not only that, but next week’s last quarter final pits Southampton against another team whose chances I dismissed in my preview, Newnham. Well, if Roma Ellis dominates the buzzer the way she did in their last match, Newnham have an excellent chance too. Whatever happens, three of this year’s semi finalists will have lost at least once during the competition.

Coming back to last night, then. The first starter asked us about a species of squirrel and Louis Collier was the first to realise we were talking about a groundhog. The first starter asked us about a species of squirrel and Louis Collier was the first to realise we were talking about a groundhog. (see what I did there? No? Well, please yourselves.) Unusual buildings in Wales yielded just the one bonus but at least UCL seemed to have found their buzzer range early doors. Durham found theirs almost immediately too, with Harry Scully very quickly recognising a Turner Prize winner. Historical conflicts in board games sounded intriguing. They weren’t that generous mind you, yielding only one correct answer. With the next starter the cluse seemed to be pointing towards flamingo especially when Alice in Wonderland was brought into the equation, at which point Louis Collier took his second starter. Bonuses on the wors of the Bronte sisters saw UCL pick up the two, including a harder one on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, yet miss out on the easier Wuthering Heights. This brought up the picture starter, with an area of what looked like Indonesia highlighted o a map. The area represented an area where a main language with no official status was spoken. Michael Fleetwood-Walker correctly identified it as an area where Javanese was the main language. Three more similar maps brought 2 correct answers, and that was two more than I managed. Look, I knew nothing about stoichiometry before the next starter, and I still know nothing about it but Harry Scully said it was the answer to the next starter and that was good enough for me. For JP too as it happened. Mammalian cell culture sounds like an 90s Indie band, but apparently it was some biology thing, which yielded one correct answer. This meant that at just past the 10-minute mark UCL led by 30 – 55.

James Salmon knew about capsids and viruses for the next starter. This gave UCL a full house on Physics. Both teams rather sat on their buzzers before James Salmon recognised a reference to Lemuel Gulliver. Bell Hooks, whose work I cannot claim any great familiarity with, however I did know Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’. So to the music starter, and the work of an Italian composer. Where the hell I dredged up Donizetti from I don’t know, but it was right. Neither team managed it. I don’t understand the question – what is the sum of the natural numbers from 1 to 100, but Alex Radcliffe worked out it was 5050 extremely quickly. The music bonuses were three operas that were based on literary works whose authors we had to identify. The only one we both managed was Dumas. The Durham skipper took his second starter in a row knowing that various Spanish words all started with the letters m-a-. Endurance races brought just one bonus again. Ubiquitin is a beautiful word to say – never bloody heard of it myself but that means nothing. James Salmon, so much back to form after his uncharacteristic misfiring against Bristol, took another starter with it. Flannery O’Conner yielded nowt, I’m afraid. Louis Collier knew that the Egyptian hieroglyph for Life is the ankh. Eponymous bodily features earned me a lap of honour for my dear old friend, the Golgi Apparatus! Yay! No little bit of knowledge acquired is ever totally wasted! UCL took a full house, which meant that they were leading by 130 – 60 at the 20-minute mark.

Right, remember how Durham were ahead a 20 against Royal Holloway? They were going to have to fight for their lives now to avoid going out. The picture starter comprised of Edouard Manet’s Olympia. Bea Bennett won the buzzer race for that one. More pictures from a 2019 exhibition featuring paintings of previously unnamed black models gave us just one bonus with an unmistakeable Henri Rousseau. James Salmon lost five for pi mesons (mmmmm, pi mesons) giving a free shot, allowing Harry Scully to score with kaons. (who I’m sure made their first appearance in Season 3 of Star Trek The Next Generation) UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Iran brought 1 bonus. Still, the gap was being eroded. A good buzz from Michael Fleetwod-Walker identified God as the other artist a Picasso quote concerned. Bonuses on the artist Leonora Carrington contributed nothing to the UCL fund. A wonderful UC special on literature and chemistry saw Bea Bennett identify Lolita as Sodium. Na – first letters of the author’s name, is the symbol for Sodium. OK only one bonus on currencies followed, but the gap had been halved in quick time. If Durham took the next starter then it was going to get very interesting. Harry Scully recognised that the valediction in various titles referenced was going to be Goodbye. Jacinta Arden didn’t help, but nonetheless a full house would put Durham into the lead. Poor Michael Fleetwood Walker ended up yielding five points when he zigged with towns that were on either sides of the USA Mexico border. Given the full question , told the answer was a river, Alex Radcliffe took the free throw and scored with Rio Grande. On such small margins did further participation in the series hang. A full house on marine creatures added to UCL’s woes. 10 points between the teams, neither need panic yet. Harry Scully knew Milliamps hour for the next starter. If they took one bonus, UCL would need a full house to tie. If they took two bonuses then one visit to the table wouldn’t be enough. They took the two they needed. Surely there wasn’t enough time left for UCL? James Salmon took the next starter with Budapest. There was only time for two bonuses on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Northern Ireland. So, in a grandstand finish, Durham claimed the semi final place by a score of 160 – 145.

Many congratulations to Durham. A brilliant fightback. Commiserations to UCL. You’ve been a fine team during the series, and at another time, on another day, who knows? This time it was not to be.

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

Pericles is also the name of a board game.