University Challenge 2025 - St. Catharine's , Cambridge v. Wadham, Oxford

The Teams

St. Catharine’s, Cambridge

Jay Sardesai

Malhaar Moharir

Nina Jarvis (Capt.)

Larabella Myers

Wadham, Oxford

Aarav Billore

Arthur Bellamy

Johnny Worden (Capt.)

Anjali Cheung

Being an alumnus of a collegiate university myself I don’t have a problem with Oxford and Cambridge having multiple entrants to UC each year, and if it means that we get more matches pitting the two against each other then so much the better. They’re usually value for money.

Johnny Worden won the buzzer race to give the term motte and bailey castle for the first starter. Bonuses on Stephen Sondheim musicals passed them by, although some would argue that they were unlucky with one of them. More about that later. For the next starter Aarav Billore took his first starter of the night linking up clues with the word final. Nobel Prize winning physicists featured in the film Oppenheimer saw Wadham using a tried and tested quiz tactic – that is they didn’t seem to know the film well, but gave the same plausible answer – Richard Feynman, to each question until it was right. Now, sometimes you’ll get a question where you have the correct answer, but no idea how. Asked about the French naturalist who coined the term invertebrate I answered Lamarck. I have NO idea where on earth that answer came from. Aarav Billore took his double with the same answer. Historical regions of France brought two correct bonuses. The picture starter showed Wales and the parts of England bordering Wales with the location of a town highlighted. I went for Shrewsbury – relatively close but no cigar, it was Ludlow. Nobody had it. Various authors whose initials were AB allowed Arthur Bellamy whose initials are also AB - to take Wadham’s fourth starter. The picture bonuses followed, more locations of towns that have won the Great Towns award. 2 of a relatively gentle set were taken. Finally Jay Sardesai broke St. Catharine’s duck, recognising several things each symbolised by the letter E. 2 bonuses on medical terms meant that Wadham led by 65 – 20 at just after the 10 minute mark. To be honest, give their dominance on the buzzer I couldn’t help thinking that they ought to have been further ahead.

For the next starter the country required remained obscure until the name Manuel Quezon set off a buzzer race won by Malhaar Moharir. The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, who may or may not have had a shiny nose, brought just one bonus. The musical Marsalis brothers saw both teams sitting on their buzzers before Malhaar Moharir took his second consecutive starter. I remember Branford Marsalis from as long ago as 1985 when he accompanied Sting for one of his songs in Live Aid. Early figures in the development of photography (if he’s English it’s Fox Talbot and if he’s French it’s Daguerre) brought 2 bonuses that took St. Catharine’s to within a starter of Wadham’s score. Neither team recognised the work of Boccherini. Me neither. Various drinks with the appellation Americano fell to Aarav Billore. More 18^th Century minuet movements yielded an unlikely full house. The next starter saw me earn a lap of honour on a baby elephant walk moment question, for knowing phosphorescence. Neither team quite managed it. Aarav Billore, who had come closest with the previous starter, knew the term soft power for the next. Model organisms used for research was not, as a set of bonuses, full of eastern promise for me and it did nowt for Wadham either. Jay Sardesai knew that Seoul is the capital city at one end of the world’s busiest air route. A really lovely set of bonuses on names of discontinued colours in the Crayola range yielded two when it might well have yielded a full house. Neither team recognised a description of millet for the next starter, which meant that as we approached the 20 minute mark St,  Catharine’s led by 95 to 65. It was becoming clear that this was a contest in which the winners would go through and the runners up would go home. Neither team looked that good for a repechage score at this point.

This was even more so when Aarav Billore came in too early for the next starter, losing five and allowing Malhaar Moharir to identify Lake Ladoga correctly. Works by the director Jonathan Glazer brought them one bonus and put them just 10 behind. So to the second picture round, and a little bit of Michelangelo. Johnny Worden took that one. Three more artworks featuring a bright sun brought two correct answers that meant St. Catharine’s would need at least two visits to the table. Nina Jarvis earned the first visit for her team knowing that Gwendolen Harleth features in “Daniel Deronda”. They took two bonuses on exchange rates. The next question seemed one of those horrible maths things until it ended by saying that the mathematician in question shared his surname with the director of Battleship Potemkin. Arthur Bellamy won the buzzer race. Brain Science (as opposed to brainy science) brought Wadham a timely full house, and at this point it began to look as if St. C’s would be the ones needing to use their bus fare home. Given the full question and the clues therein I was surprised that either team worked out that the term meaning painting onto dry plaster is secco. Aarav Billore knew that Sumatra is the largest island that is totally in Indonesia. Bonuses on Medusa brought another full house and suddenly St. Cat’s didn’t just need unanswered visits to the table, they needed snookers as well. With the next starter, it all hinged on the words ‘theft of a loaf of bread’ and it was Malhaar Moharir who won the ensuing buzzer race to answer Jean Valjean. Names of taxonomic ranks which are also used as terms in Maths brought a full house, and just the possibility of getting a repechage score if they could take a full house with the next set. Well, Aarav Billore, the night’s top marksman with the buzzer put paid to that notion. He knew something about isotopes and gubbins inside carbon 14. Bonuses on the Belgian city of Tournai only served to reveal that History is not one of Wadham’s stronger subjects. Arthur Bellamy knew that various French words all begin with the letters TA. There was no time left for bouses on Nobel Prize winning dramatists. In the end Wadham had asserted their authority in the last few minutes to stretch to a comfortable win by 180 – 120.

St. Cat’s had the better BCR as it happened with 51 to Wadham’s 47, but they were outbuzzed at the end of the day. A close match until the last few minutes. Hard lines to St. Cat’s, well done to Wadham.

Amol Watch

For the last Stephen Sondheim musical bonus Arthur Bellamy offered ‘A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Forum.” An apologetic Amol rightly explained that he couldn’t accept it because there is no ‘to me’ in the title. It seems harsh but it really isn’t. After all, if you meant carbon dioxide but answered carbon monoxide there would be no question of accepting it as close enough. However this caused controversy later when St. Catharine’s offered Arcimboldi instead of Arcimboldo and it was accepted. I don’t know – is Arcimboldi an acceptable alternative? Tricky one.

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

The world’s busiest air route is between Seoul and the island of Seju

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Sometimes lasting for several seconds due to a forbidden energy transition from a triplet state to a singlet state, what type of photoluminescence sees a substance emit light for much longer than fluorescence? This process shares a Greek word root with a chemical element isolated from urine by Henning Brand in 1669.

This question was so long that I switched off, then switched on again after St. Catharine’s interrupted incorrectly, and I had it right! I tell you, if it concerns Greek word roots and weewee, I’m your man.