University Challenge 2024 Quarter Final Sudden Death match

The Teams

Birkbeck

Danny McMillan

Olivia Mariner

Samir Chadha (Capt.)

Margherita Huntley

Trinity, Cambridge

Sarah Henderson

Agnijo Banerjee

Ryan Joonsuk Kang (Capt.)

Jeremi Jaksina

So, away we go, dearly beloved, with the last of this year’s quarter final matches. Would we see Birkbeck become the third team from London through, or would Trinity be the last college standing from Oxbridge? Well, not if Danny McMillan had much to do with it as he came in early to take the first starter on Matisse. Birkbeck took one on Jason and the Argonauts. Nobody knew that Trowulun is on Java for the next starter. Danny McMillan knew petit maman for the next starter. I’ll be honest, I knew no more about Les Nabis than Birkbeck did as we both failed to score on them. Agnijo Banerjee, so good at the Science and Maths questions proved he’s no slouch at Shakespeare too by knowing the character Hero from Much Ado. Geographical terms taken from Spanish brought them two correct answers. For the next starter both Agnijo Banerjee and I knew that Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics. I took a gamble by letting the lap of honour ride for this one. Trinity took one bonus on microbiology but were at least now in the lead. The picture starter showed us verses from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Danny McMillan recognised it. To my delight openings from three more medieval texts provided us both with a full house. Well, look, I was always far more interested in the older stuff during my Literature degree. We were almost at 11 minutes when Birkbeck completed that set to give themselves a lead of 50 – 35.

Danny McMillan knew the Kronos Quartet for the next starter. Eurasian nomads of antiquity and early Middle Ages brought Birkbeck one correct answer which was one more than I had. Neither team knew the name Abigail from either a wife of King David or from the colloquial term for a Victorian serving girl. Danny McMillan won the buzzer race to identify Strasbourg from a set of clues. Their misfortune with the bonuses reared its ugly head again as they were presented with a set on Edna St. Vincent Who Millay. They managed one. Don’t ask me about Virial theorem, but it brought Agnijo Banerjee the next starter. Metallic elements and their ores are good old quiz chestnuts. We both took a full house on this set of bonuses and I decided this would be a good opportunity for my lap of honour. So to the music round, and classical this week. Nobody recognised the work of Haydn. Sarah Henderson knew that John Donne wrote the Holy Sonnets – surprised he had the time while presenting his show on Radio 2 (ask your grandparents). Sarah Henderson also excelled on the music bonuses bringing her team a full house. Samir Chadha pulled his team back to the table by buzzing early with the term nucleation. Classical music and literature showed yet again that the bonus gods were not smiling on Birkbeck. We both managed just the one. Jeremi Jaksina got his first starter of the contest by knowing that Francisco Solano Lopez had been president of Paraguay. One bonus on food stabilisers meant that both teams were level on 95 at just after 20 minutes. Who wanted it more?

Kriging, anyone? It was the answer – which none of us had – to the next starter. You have to feel for Olivia Mariner with the following starter. So often a question about a woodwind instrument used in Peter and the Wolf has the answer the oboe, but this time this answer was not the one sought. Given the full question it became obvious that what was wanted was the bassoon. Sarah Henderson tapped that one into the open goal. You can imagine how delighted I was when Amol announced that the set of bonuses to follow were on vector calculus. Trinity made hay while the sun shone and took a full house. The second picture starter showed the London memorial to my distant relative Edith Cavell. Danny McMillan took it. How Birkbeck would have wanted a kinder set of bonuses at this point. They took one, but got their Garbo’s mixed up with their Dietrichs. To be fair Garbo did look rather like Marlene in the photograph shown. Nobody knew novels set in Zambia for the next starter. Ryan Joonsuk Kang knew that beryllium is found in certain gemstones. The director Youssef Chahine only took the lead to 30 ponits, but that’s crucial because it meant that whatever happened, even if they took a full house on the next set then Birkbeck would need two visits to the table to catch them. Danny McMillan tried but came in too early for the next starter, allowing Ryan Joonsuk Kang in with the Prague school of linguists. Cities that have hosted the World University Games brought no further points but served at least to run the clock down. The Trinity skipper, the bit firmly between his teeth took the next starter on oxytocin, which pretty much guaranteed his team the win. Trinity failed to score on key figures in the struggle for Irish Independence. There was just time for Sarah Henderson to give the correct answer of ice cream to the next starter and then the contest was gonged, with Trinity winning by 165  - 100.

Birkbeck finished the match with a BCR of 38 while Trinity score 51.  While Danny McMillan was comfortably the best buzzer of the night, all of the Trinity team managed at least one starter, and three of them took three each, which shows I guess that  there’s only so much one star buzzer can do, while it’s better to have buzzing throughout your whole team. 

Amol Watch

Amol’s patience was tested by Birkbeck as early as the first set of bonuses where he found himself quite rightly having to issue them with the kind of ‘come on’ which is usually reserved for the last 10 minutes or so. It was nice to see him hail Sarah Henderson’s full house on the music set as impressive too. He had a wee dig at Ryan Joonsuk Kang for not knowing the Daegu question – ‘ If only you had a South Korea captain!’ but let’s be honest, we saw JP say far more biting things in his time.

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

Kronos was the youngest of the Titans. (Did that make him a teen titan?)

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In Physics, what theorem provides a mechanical description of a system of multiple discrete objects which is in equilibrium in particular the relationship between the total potential and kinetic energies of the system? The turn in question – (at this point Agnijo Banerjee buzzed in to put us out of our misery)

Let’s be honest, a question like this might as well be asked in Old High Gallifreyan as far as I’m concerned. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.