The Teams
Open University
Nicky Maving
Tom Barber
Karie Westermann (Capt.)
Hector Payne
UCL
Callum Jack
Josh Mandel
Olivia Holtermann Entwhistle (Capt.)
Sanjay Prabhakar
You know, dearly beloved, it’s always a source of surprise
to me that the Open University doesn’t win UC more often that it has. Oh yes,
it has twice won in 1984 and 1999. And following that 1999 win by what was
perceived – rightly or wrongly – as a team put together specifically with the
purpose of winning the series, the Open didn’t get to come back for a long
time. But somehow I think that what with the subject knowledge plus the life
knowledge of the OU participants, they’d be right up there. Well, it goes to
show the strength of other teams too. This series the Open kicked off with a
match against UCL, last year’s beaten finalists. Akin to drawing Man City or
Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup, I should think.
Maybe I should have known “Why I Write” by George Orwell,
but I didn’t. Josh Mandel did to take the first starter for UCL. Culinary
plants and animals with Japanese names gave us both two answers. None of us
knew the loquat. Nicky Maving opened the Open’s account knowing or guessing the
flag being described belonged to Interpol. They took only one of a pretty
gentle set on the Mount of Olives in the Bible. *LAP OF HONOUR ALERT* Yeah, I
took it early this week. The next starter looked like unfathomable chemistry
until the words ‘treatment of thyroid-“ “IODINE!” I yelled and set off around
the Clark sofa. Tom Barber took that one. Twins in literature yielded only one
point for both of us for Arundhati Roy’s “The God of Small Things”. So to the
picture round on which a major city in Austria was highlighted. Obviously not
Vienna or Salzburg I narrowed it down to Linz or Graz, and zigged with Linz.
Hector Payne zagged with Graz and took the points. Other cities whose mayor
once won the Mayor of the Year award (well, something like that) brought an
excellent full house. Josh Mandel, whom I would imagine is closer in vintage to
myself than the other team members of both sides buzzed early to identify the
1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock for the next starter. 2 correct answers on
moorland plants meant that this competitive opening saw Open leading by 55 – 40
as we approached the ten minute mark.
You had to wait and wait for the next Geography starter to
become clearer, then at the mention of the confluence of the Ottawa and St.
Lawrence rivers, and the French names of the islands involved, there were only
2 realistic answers for the major city involved. Josh Mandel zigged with Quebec
city allowing Hector Payne to zag in with Montreal. Bonuses on fashion and
feminism brought a full house for Open. I knew the Stella McCartney one. So did
everyone else. The next starter was another slow boiler, but as soon as the
name Suharto was mentioned a buzzer race began, won by Josh Mandel to give the
answer of Indonesia. UCL managed one of a quite gettable set on Roman law.
(which I always felt was ‘do as I say or you’ll get my gladius up yer jacksi’).
I know nothing about the programming language Python but Tom Barber had it very
quickly. Towns and cities whose names have similar meanings – Neuchatel and
Newcastle for example – brought Open just the one bonus. Sadly Dublin and
Blackpool was not included (I was in Dublin just a week ago.) Look, if it’s won
a Bram Stoker award then go for Stephen King, even if you’ve never heard of it.
That’s what Callum Jack and I both did correctly for the next starter. I earned
another lap of honour for knowing two of the three scientists born in 1773 for
the bonus set. UCL had a full house. So to the music round where both Nicky
Maving and I were quick to recognise the dulcet stylings of Run-DMC. That’s
just the way it is, I guess. More hip hop amazingly brought me two correct
answers, although Open managed a full house. The answer to the next starter,
cultural relativism doesn’t mean a lot to me, although I do have some very
cultural relatives. Sanjay Prabhakar took that one. 2 bonuses on writing
systems created by one person kept them from falling too far behind on the
scoreboard and took them into a triple figure score. The next UC special
starter saw Nicky Maving in very early after just one clue to a set of words
with two consecutive letters in them. Knowing a wapiti is an elk he knew it was
L and K. Good buzzer work that. The architectural style known as Brick Gothic
brought just the one point. However it was enough to see that the Open still
led, by 135 to 100 as we approached the 20 minute mark. They had their
collective nose in front, but with the madcap dash of the last few minutes yet
to come it could be anyone’s game.
Asked a chemistry starter requiring a Greek letter I nearly
gave up at the start, but the mention of drugs made me think beta blockers and
lo and behold – lap of honour opportunity number 3. UCL skipper Olivia
Holtermann Entwhistle had that one. Marriage Acts in the UK saw UCL come close
with each bonus without actually landing any of them. Back came the Open whose
skipper knew various teachers at the Bauhaus. The astronomer Pierre Gassendi –
or Pierre Who as I like to think of him – brought two bonuses and extended the
lead to forty five. The second picture starter saw Hector Payne first in to
identify a photo of Ferenc Puskas. More photos of footballers with FIFA Awards
named after them saw us both take a full house. With a lead of 70 the Open
looked good for the win. The estimable Josh Mandel had other ideas. He
recognised the work of the late and extremely talented Sinead O’Connor for the
next starter. UCL could have done with more than just the one bonus they
achieved on the Polar Music Prize. An excellent early buzz from Olivia
Holtermann Entwhistle gave the correct answer of the term cyborg for the next
starter. Letters in the novels of Jane Austen yielded nothing. They were
inching towards the Open, but not quickly enough. Gruoch was the wife, Lulach
the stepson, and Josh Mandel was in with Macbeth. Words that mean brazenness
offered the potential to fill UCL’s collective boots and they did with a full
house. In a potentially controversial moment Josh Mandel buzzed early for the
next starter, hesitated, Amol started telling him off and then he said the
correct answer – butterfly and Amol allowed it. Marginal call. 1 correct bonus
on a geometry set I couldn’t even begin to understand left the gap at five
points. There was hardly any time left so effectively we had a one question
shoot out. Asked about a national flag designed in the 90s it was Hector Payne
who came in and gave the correct answer of South Africa. That was it, there was
no time for any of the bonuses on rivers that cross deserts. The Open won by
190 to 175.
A great game. Amol suggested that the Open rather went to
sleep a bit at the end. Unfair that, bearing in mind the strength of UCL, but
he’s right in as much as UCL have a decent chance of a repechage slot now. It
came down to the bonuses. UCL had a BCR of fifty percent, while the Open
despite winning fewer starters had a BCR of 66 percent. On such margins are
matches won and lost. Also it’s better to have a team where everyone can buzz
in for starters, and the Open had buzzing throughout the team while UCL leaned
heavily on the well-tuned buzzer finger of Josh Mandel.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
Fred Brownell designed the national flag of South Africa.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
Also known as the tetracuspid what name is give to the
curve whose parametric equations are given by X = a cos cubed t, y = a sine
cubed t? Yeah, it’s short but deadly. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.
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