The Teams
Hertford,
Oxford
Ollie
Sourbut
Omer Keskin
Daniel
Whittle (capt.)
Rupavardhini
Balakrishnan Raju
UCL
James Hall
Ali
Izzatdust
Tayana Sawh
(capt.)
Jacob Finlay
Amol kicked
this off with a tribute to Omer Keskin’s 8 starters in the first round. Careful
there, Amol. That sort of thing can affect a team’s performance. Then moving
onto UCL he praised their BCR (Bonus Conversion Rate) of 70%. It’s the first
time I can recall a host ever mentioning this. Maybe Amol is a secret LAM
reader? Sir, if so, I’m honoured.
The first
question was fun. It was clear we were looking for an ancient Greek poet.
Nobody moved as the question progressed, then, as soon as Amol said the pronoun
‘her’ both Daniel Whittle and Ali Izzatdust reached for their shooting irons.
The Hertford skipper won that shoot out to answer Sappho. France and Wales in
the Middle Ages brought me a full house and two correct answers to Hertford. The
next starter asked for a Manchu capital. Jacob Finlay gambled early and lost
five. Omer Keskin, living up to Amol’s pre match praise gave the correct answer
of Mukden. Which come to think of it is a good description of my student room
in the mid-80s. I was delighted to see that the next set of bonuses was on the
architect Charles Holden – most of my favourite London Underground stations
were designed by this great man. I took my second full house, and Hertford
again took two. Ali Izzatdust won the buzzer race on the next starter to
identify various places linked by the name Marlborough. Chess notation did for
me – I only got the one, while UCL claimed a full house. Omer Keskin struck
back for Hertford with Paracelsus ( or as I once heard him called, Parcels r’
Us). I considered taking a lap of honour for getting two astronomy bonuses
right on the set that followed, but decided to roll the dice and let it ride.
Hertford took a full house on these. For the picture starter Ali Izzatdust
identified that the treaty ending the 1812 war was signed in the city shown on
the map. Fair play. 3 more cities that gave their names to peace treaties
brought a correct answer and the first time that UCL notably threw away a
correct answer which was on the table. Now, for the next starter I don’t know
much about cricket’s golden age, but decades ago I read an excellent book about
the golden age of US comics, so I knew that these two words would be the
answer. So did Ali Izzatdust, who was really earning his corn on the buzzer in
this match. Bernhard Tauchnitz – yes, gesundheit – and his collection of
authors brought us both a full house. This meant that the teams were very close
at the 10 minute mark – with Hertford leading by 65 – 60.
The next
starter on psychology and neuroscience provided the opportunity for my internal
orchestra to strike up with the strains of the Baby Elephant Walk (see below) .
Me? Not a scooby, and neither team could get the term executive dysfunction. Ali
Izzatdust recognised the subjects of poems by Pablo Neruda. UCL quite rightly
took a full house on a very gentle set on Greek mythology. James Hall buzzed in
for the next starter with the answer Bose-Einstein Condensate – which was named
after a 1970s Prog Rock group, I believe. 2 bonuses on Somaliland stretched the
UCL lead. Omer Keskin tried to stop the rot with an early buzz for the next starter,
but made a rare error, allowing James Hall to zag with Slovenia while he had
zigged with Slovakia. The set of bonuses on optics that followed had nothing to
do with pub measurements, but UCL got them all the same. From being five points
behind, UCL now had more than double Hertford’s score. So to the music set.
Eventually Ollie Sourbut recognised the work of Richard Wagner. Three more
preludes for solo instruments brought two correct answers for both of us. With
the next starter Daniel Whittle beat Ali Izzatdust’s dramatic lunge for the
buzzer. This earned them a set on people with the surname Luria. One bonus
reduced the gap to one full set. I’d guess that all last night’s players were
too young to know much about Calypso music, but Trinidad and Tobago was the big
clue on that starter. James Hall came in
too early and lost five of the precious lead. With the next starter my decision
to let the lap of honour ride was vindicated when I beat Ali Izzatdust to
identify Boole as the polymath who outlined a form of Algebra. The US Historian
Mike Davis brought two bonuses – could have been a full house as Amol pointed
out. Omer Keskin came in early with the Winter Queen or the next starter. Recent
novels brought ten points, which meant that as we hit the twenty minute mark the
gap was wider than it had been ten minutes previously, though not by much since
UCL led by 140 – 120.
Ali
Izzatdust – who else? – made the connection between New York state and Sicily
with Syracuse. Questions on the Scientist Krebs – wasn’t he Jock Ewing’s
illegitimate son in Dallas? – brought just the one bonus. For the second
picture starter we saw a giant stone head. ‘Olmec!’ shouted I. James Hall
sounded a little less sure when he buzzed in with the same but we were both
right. Other historical artifacts yielded nowt. Jacob Finlay knew that good old
quiz chestnut about Emma Lazarus who wrote the New Colossus, inscribed on the base
of the Statue of Liberty. Ethics as presented on the website Existential Comics
– no, me neither – brought just the one bonus. But UCL were winning the buzzer
races now. Especially with Ali Izzadust on such imperious form. He took another
starter with -micro – earning a set on the British-Bangladeshi choreographer
Akram Khan. They didn’t get any of them but they were still pulling away from
Hertford again. Omer Keskin knew that painter Louis Wain was the cat man. The
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (which I can promise you is far more interesting and
popular than The English Lessons of Mr. Clark) brought two bonuses, but the
clock was running down. Especially when Jacob Finlay identified Sana Marin as a
Finnish politician. It was finnish as far as Hertford were concerned. Porridge
provided UCL with 2 bonuses, but they were already beyond the event horizon.
Skipper Tayana Sawl hammered this home knowing the abbreviation M.E.T. There
was time for them to pick up one bonus on the US Bone Wars, before the gong
ended the contest with the scores at 225 – 140 to UCL.
In the end,
UCL outbuzzed Hertford, not the least of which being the 7 starters contributed
by the excellent Ali Izzatdust. Hertford can take consolation from an excellent
BCR of 71, while UCL managed 56. Buzzing like that, though will always give you
a chance, whatever your bonus conversion rate. A good match between two very
useful teams.
How is
Amol Doing?
There was a
one strange comment Amol made. When both teams made wrong suggestions to the
Calypso question he replied, “What are you guys listening to for a living?!” I
do not pretend to understand what he meant. For a living? Who listens to things
for a living, and why accuse the teams of doing so ?
I’m half
thinking that when Amol issued encouragement to Hertford, saying ‘three and a
half minutes to go, Hertford, plenty of time’ he was being deliberately ironic.
Interesting
Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The word cosmopolitan ultimately derives from the Greek for citizen of the world.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
In
psychology and neuroscience what two word term is used to denote disruption of
those cognitive processes that manage and control other cognitive processes
leading to deficiencies in planning, abstract thinking and behavioural control.
It is closely associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and may
also be caused by stroke, brain injury or dementia. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum
dum dumdum.