The Teams
Reading
Kissani Selvamaresh
Josh Finkelstein
Rhiannon Snook (Capt.)
Stuart Rock
Exeter
Ryker Moorcroft
Lucy Carr
Martin Newman (Capt.)
Elliott Mouelhi
I didn’t pick out that all the references in the first
starter were pointing to violence, but Elliott Mouelhi did and he claimed first
points for Exeter. A relatively gentle set on Scottish Geography brought two
bonuses. The next starter saw a long wait until the name Dolores O’Riordan
ignited a buzzer race, won by Elliott Moelhi to answer the Cranberries. South
African cricket grounds brought a full house. Again both teams waited with the
next starter, but with the name check for family favourite Viking Chief Rollo,
Elliott Mouelhi took his third consecutive starter with Normandy. Written
Japanese seemed right up Ryker Moorcroft’s street as he supplied the answers
for another full house. The picture starter that followed showed us a table
with national flags, and tonnage of countries producing the most of a
particular metal. I was nowhere near a correct answer, but Elliott Mouelhi took
his fourth in a row with copper. More tables with more metals brought another
full house. The Kjedahl Method gave Josh Finkelstein the opportunity to give
Reading a visit to the table. Variation in biological organisms promised me
little but meiosis delivered a lap of honour around the sofa. Only a slightly
misheard question prevented Reading from taking a full house. Emboldened by his
success on the previous starter, Josh Finkelstein came in early with the island
of South Georgia. Constitutional legislation in the UK brought Reading’s score
to 35, but at the ten minute mark Exeter led with 95.
Now as soon as the words ‘golden record’ were mentioned in
the next starter I thought Voyager. But then I’m the right age. Ryker Moorcroft
is considerably younger, but he still managed to supply the same answer. A
lovely UC set on name drops in the song “Late night double feature” from the
Rocky Horror Picture Show, saw a point of contention when Flash Gordon was
described as a superhero. Comic book hero yes, but what’s super about him? (At
this point anyone who brings Batman into the conversation is deliberately being
picky) Maybe that’s why Exeter failed to add to their total. Captain Rhiannon
Snook knew that Wes Anderson directed several Roald Dahl stories on Netflix to
get her team moving again. Steven Vincent Who Benet brought them just the one
bonus. So to the music starter. Eddy Grant is a musician very much to my taste
and very much of my vintage, and so I recognised his Electric Avenue slightly
more quickly than Stuart Rock – another more mature gentleman like myself. Other
British tracks that also made the US charts in 1983 were very much music to my
ears, and both Mr. Rock and I supplied a full house. The next Science starter
was so long winded we would have been in Baby Elephant Walk territory, were it
not for the fact that it took a really simple turn at the end, and I had it
right with condensation. Ryker Moorcroft was the quickest to work out that yes,
it really was that simple and he earned a set of bonuses on geometrical terms
as described by some old buffer who was translating Euclid. One was taken but
hey, the clock was running down and the gap was still growing. Ryker Moorcroft took
another starter knowing that Slovenian not only has singular and plural, but
also has dual. Does Old Norse have something similar? Maybe I’ve misremembered
that. Jules Hardouin- Mansart – Qui? brought two bonuses – but if they’d known
their 1919 treaties they’d have had a full house. Didn’t matter. Just coming up
to the 20 minute mark they led by 140 – 75.
For the next starter Amol accepted the Independence of India,
as opposed to the partition of India, but not to accept it would have been
churlish and Amol is not a churl. A really lovely UC special set on places
sharing their name with European names of colours took Reading to triple
figures, and being only forty behind it looked as if we could be in for a closer
contest than it had seemed. Nobody on either team could identify a still from
the film Paper Moon. We’re off to paper moon, we followed Mr. Spoon? No, that
was Button Moon. Stuart Rock came in too early for the next starter. I don’t
blame him – had he been correct and his team have taken all of the bonuses,
then the gap would have been much narrowed. But then, if my Auntie had
pollocks, she’d have been a fishmonger, as they say. The mention of the
Olympics, and the sculptor Myron gave Lucy Carr the discus, and a set of
bonuses on other Oscar winning film debuts. A full house fell to Exeter, and
with the benefit of hindsight that was the pivotal point of the match. Not that
Reading were giving up yet. Josh Finkelstein buzzed in early with bone marrow
for the next starter. The roman republic provided a single bonus on what was,
to be honest, a very gettable set. Eagles from Mythology gave Ryker Moorcroft
another starter, earning a set of bonuses on lead, which led to a full house.
Again, Josh Finkelstein threw caution to the winds – which I applaud – but knew
he had done so in vain while Roger Tilling was calling his name on the next
starter. Exeter skipper Martin Newman knew if Lord Salisbury was talking about
a conflict it was probably going to be the Boer War. Two bonuses on judgement
of the dead followed. Demolished churches designed by Christopher Wren gave Elliott
Mouelhi another starter and his team swiftly took two bonuses on Jonathan
Swift. See what I did there? Poor old
Josh Finkelstein came in too early again on the next starter, the answer of
which was the astronomical unit as given by Ryker Moorcroft. That was it. There
was no time left for bonuses. In the end Exeter had come out comfortable winners
with 240 – 100.
Reading managed a BCR of 61, which is pretty decent, but it’s
only effective when you’re getting your fair share of starters. Exeter had a
fine BCR of 73. Whether they’re amongst the fastest teams on the buzzer – well only
time will tell that. But it was a pretty good start.
Amol Watch
I’m not sure if 7 minutes and 38 seconds is the earliest
Amol has offered encouragement to a team, but it has to be up there. Mind you,
I don’t blame him for Reading were down by almost a hundred at this point. I
liked the way that he gee’d on the hesitant Reading team during the roman
republic bonuses, and he was right to do so as they still had an outside chance
of a repechage score.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
Amarillo, Texas is the largest city of the Texas panhandle AND
is named after the tawny colour of the soil. 2 facts for the price of one.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
Invented in 1883 by a Danish chemist, the eponymous Kjedahl
Method is used to measure the content of which chemical element in substances
such as food and fertilisers? It involves digesting a substance with sulphuric
acid and determining the amount of ammonia released.
Alright, not complete gibberish, I grant you. Don’t care.
Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.
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