LAMMY Awards 2025

Yes, my friends, it’s time for the LAMMY Awards. You didn’t think you were getting off scot free this year, did you? So, with a quick fanfare, let the awards begin

LAMMY Award for the best new quiz game show of the Year

Yes, the eagle eyed among you will have spotted that we’ve widened the parameters of this category this year. I mean, I find that I spend more time watching new shows that are basically reality shows or game shows with just a hint of quiz than I do real quiz shows. I haven’t reviewed Amanda Holden’s The Inner Circle which is actually a quiz show, but I will be honest, I didn’t really want it winning by default. I do like Amanda Holden, but I’m afraid that I can’t get over the Share or Shaft final. We know from years of watching Golden Balls that you cannot be worse off by shafting. In the wider category Chess Masters was just odd and Genius Game did not for me manage to make the most of an interesting premise. The shows that I enjoyed most were Celebrity Traitors – which is ineligible for the award since it is essentially The Traitors – and Destination X. I think there are tweaks that can be made with the latter, but nonetheless I am pleased to announce that the LAMMY for best new Game Show goes to

Destination X

The Award for Best Performance in a Broadcast Quiz

The Nominees

John Robinson – Mastermind

Christ’s Cambridge

Anniko Firman

Brendan Bethlehem Oscar Despard

Linus Luu – University Challenge

Four Opinions

Jacob Epstein

Rafi Dover

Aron Carr – Only Connect

Any of our nominees is very worthy of a LAMMY. However, this year it has to go to the most recent Teacher to become a Mastermind Champion. The LAMMY goes to

John Robinson for Mastermind

The Award for Achievements in Quiz Mastership.

The field is always rather restricted because I don’t go to a wide range of quizzes any more. Now, I would love to nominate any of the setters of the rugby club quiz who aren’t actually members of my team.

But.

The simple fact is that I don’t believe any of them deserve it. That’s cruel, But, the simple fact is that none of them seems to stick to simple, basic principles, namely, check your answers. Read your questions several times in order to make sure that you are asking what you think you are asking. Try to provide something for everyone. Like I said, simple, but there are only 3 question masters in the quiz who regularly do this (alright, 4 if you include me). So the nominations once again are:-

Jessica Ayres

Adam Cook

Dan Ayres

This year I am awarding for all round excellence rather than one specific quiz. So the LAMMY this year goes to

Dan Ayres

University CHallenge 2026 - Lincoln v UCL

The Teams

Lincoln

Grace Bloomfield

Laura Bruce

Samuel Orman-Chan (Capt)

John Clayworth

University College, London

Zak Lakota-Baldwin

Alice Lee

Michael Doherty (Capt)

Manny Campion-Dye

Manny Campion-Dye opened the UCL account knowing that Mark Rothko once said ‘that man Turner, he learnt a lot from me.’ Bonuses on the Diablo series of video games provided them with a full house. John Clayworth heard ‘established by Edward III and came straight in with the order of the garter. Physics in 1925 provided one bonus, which was one more than I got. The clarinet gave Manny Campion-Dye a second starter. Public art at Liverpool Street Station brought two correct answers and it was nice to see a shout out for the Kindertransport statue, my favourite of all the works in the station. For the next starter a question whose length was beyond all proportion saw neither team get the word scavenger. Film director Francois Truffaut gave Manny Campion-Dye his and his team’s third starter. Knots from Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys (please insert your preferred joke here) were knot to UCL’s liking and they took just the one. So to the picture starter and Zak Lakota-Baldwin identified the flag of Togo. Other flags with unusual ratios brought the full house – in UC national flags are meat and drink to these guys. On ten minutes then UCL led 80 – 15.

John Clayworth put together the clues and came up with cavalier to take the next starter. Symbolism as a literary movement was not a fruitful bonus set fo Lincoln and they did not add any more points to their score. I’m a bit surprised that nobody got the word helicopter from the name Sikorsky from the next starter. Manny Campion-Dye took starter number 4 with The Castle of Otranto.Limestone brought them a single bonus. None of us knew tycopene for the next starter. Nobody knew pantheism for the next starter. Zak Lakota-Baldwin stopped the rot, recognising clues to the term cybernetics. A full house on African textiles brought us to the music round. None of us recognised the stylings of Young Fathers. Samuel Orman-Chan knew that if the question has Flemish in it then Belgium will always be a useful shout. The music bonuses consisted of three tracks from debut albums that won the Mercury Prize. They took one. I thought haversian canals were in Greater Manchester, but Michael Doherty kindly informed us they are in bones. Islamic pilgrimage destinations brought two bonuses. This meant that UCL led by 130 – 35, and Lincoln looked to have one and a half feet out of the door.

John Clayworth correctly answered Jane Austen for the next starter. Eponymous facial hair styles brought two bonuses. Gawd knows what the next starter meant but Michael Doherty gave the correct answer of Omega – not the renegade Time Lord though. Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant by Shaw brought nothing to the UCL table. For the second picture starter Zak Lakota-Baldwin recognised a photo of Cormac McCarthy, and stills from films of his works brought two more correct answers. Fair play to John Clayworth for knowing FC Copenhagen have a lion on their badge. 2 bonuses on the constellation Centaurus were taken. Nobody could complete a list of Northern Irish cities for the next starter. Increment by one – no, me neither – gave Samuel Orman-Chan the next starter. First time winners of European Football Leagues brought a few points. For the next starter Zak Lakota Baldwin recognised he description of the constellation Cygnus.The pigment vermillion brought two correct answers, but it was purely academic and had been for a while. Manny Campion-Dye recognised Shakespeare’s Cymbeline for the next starter. That was it as far as the point scoring for the match went. UCL won by 190 – 85.

For the record Lincoln achieved a BCR of 38.8% while UCL’s was 58%.

Amol Watch

Little Ms Dynamite is another we can add to the list of Amol’s likes. Her album was the anthem of his first year at university. Telling Sam Orman-Chan that he looked as if he was wearing a Fu Manchu moustache was a little personal for my liking. What was interesting here was that Amol never once tried to offer – lets see if you can get going Lincoln – type encouragement. That’s unusual.

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

The first known use of the word helicopter was in a British patent of 1861.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

 In chemistry what 9 letter term denotes a reagent added to a system to remove or bind trace components, usually with the aim of preventing unwanted reactions from occurring, an example being the sachets of iron powder and salt commonly added to packaged food (incorrect buzz). . . to absorb oxygen? In zoology this word means an animal that principally feeds on decaying matter or carrion (Thank God the question didn’t carri on.) Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2026 Round 2 Trinity, Cambridge v. Edinburgh

The Teams

Trinity, Cambridge

Piers Marchant

Alessandro D’Attanasio

Yusuf Khand (Capt)

Lily Kearney

Edinburgh

Parthav Easwar

Johnny Richards

Alice Leonard (Capt)

Rayhana Amjad

Like Rayhana Amjad it was the mention of Superman’s polar home that gave me the answer of Solitude for the first starter.2 bonuses on plays about Oscar Wilde were taken.Swedish golfers fell to Piers Marchant and Trinity’s first bonus set on metals brought 1 correct answer and I took an early lap of honour for Niobium. So sue me. Yusuf Khand knew John Locke’s Treatises on Government for the next starter. Japanese folklore did not add to either of our totals. For the first picture starter Piers Marchant identified Montreal from a map. 3 more cities lending their name to international environmental agreements brought ten points. An interminable biological question lost Trinity five but brought nothing to Edinburgh. Various fatal ‘Vespers’ incidents fell to Johnny Richards. Incidentally, the first time I heard the phrase Sicilian Vespers I thought it was referring to a brand of motor scooters. The film director Joanna Hogg brought two bonuses. This meant that the score was 45-40 to Trinity on 10 minutes.

Piers Merchant knew New Caledonia for the next starter. Portuguese Goa yielded just 5 points. Yusuf Khand came in too early for the next starter and lost five and given the whole question Johnny Richards knew we wanted Montmartre. Artistic depictions of Alexander the Great only brought the one bonus but the scores were now tied. For the next starter Parthav Easwar jumped the gun allowing Piers Marchant in with Mombasa. Questions on nano technology provided a full house. For the music starter we heard a bit of classical harpsichord. The teams were Baching up the wrong tree with Handel and Teleman as it was JSB, the lad himself. Johnny Richards gave the answer of palaeogenomics for the next starter to earn the music bonuses. 3 more tracks played at the funeral of Mr. Sakamoto brought a full house. Good match. Johnny Richards recognised a quote about John Donne – didn’t mention his old show on radio 2 though. I’ll be honest, I am not really familiar with the work of RF Kuang but I managed two of the following set. Edinburgh took all three. Johnny Richards was on a role and he knew about the red stockings and blue stockings for the next starter. Bonuses on philosophy gave Edinburgh ten points and at the 20 minute mark they led by 120 – 75.

Rayhana Amjad recognised references to Ancient Armenia for the next starter. Songs whose titles are years brought a full house and things were looking ominous for Trinity. The second picture starter showed a still from a film with a pram rolling down steps. Piers Marchant won the buzzer race to identify Battleship Potemkin. Other works discussed in a book about Socialist Art – laugh a minute stuff, I imagine – did noy bring them any more points. Piers Marchant recognised references to the word cahiers – and got a French pronunciation lesson from Amol for his pains. Santa Croce in Florence brought a welcome full house. Nobody knew something I didn’t understand about computing. A UC special on instrument strings lost five for Edinburgh and brought Alessandro Attenasio his first starter with 5. Guage bosons brought 10 more points. That man Johnny Richards knew that Hanga Roa is the largest settlement on Easter Island. Natalie ‘Qui?’ Sarraute brought two bonuses that meant Trinity were going to need at least 2 visits to the table. Alessandro Attenasio earned one with a fast buzz for acid base in the next starter. Vegetables in Maya Angelou’s poem The Health Food Diner added no points. Alice Leonard took the next starter with Evelyn Waugh. A couple of bonuses on Iphigenia pretty much sealed the deal. Piers Marchant took the next starter on Tucuman. But that was the last question answered correctly before the gong. Edinburgh won by 180 to 150.

Trinity took a BCR of 46.4% while Edinburgh posted an excellent 74% and that, my friends, is essentially the story of the match.

Amol Watch

It seems that, along with Bertrand Russell Richard Feynman is an Amol hero too. ‘Great man.’

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

The only thing about doing these reviews in this way is that I don’t seem to be picking out the juicy little facts as I normally would.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Responsible for the cellular transport of various organelles, vesicles and other cargo and for the alignment and segregation of chromosomes during mitosis, which family of motor proteins are responsible for retrograde transport in the cytoskeleton? That is, they move along microtubules , , , (incorrect buzz) towards the minus-end as opposed to the plus-end directed kinesins. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University CHallenge 2026 - Manchester v. The London School of Economics

The Teams

Manchester

Ray Power

Kirsty Dixon

Kai Madgwick (capt)

Rob Faulkner

London School of Economics

Ryan Sharpe

Cormac Beirne

Andy Huff (capt)

Catherine Tan

A little bit of confusion came when both Cormac Beirne and Andy Huff seemed to answer about the architect I.M.Pei. Amol gave Cormac a wee bit of a telling off but accepted the answer. Theories of intelligence brought one bonus. One more than I got. Andy Huff came in too early for the next starter allowing Kai Madgwick to correctly answer Whitehead. (Or penguin in Cymraeg.) Zurab Tsereteli seemed like stony ground yet yielded Manchester a full house. Ryan Sharpe knew if it’s a Roman Emperor and Croatia, then it’s Diocletian.LSE took one bonus of a set on novels set in Vienna. For the first picture starter we were showed a chess opening, and alongside it a map showing the location from which it takes its name. Both Ryan Sharpe and I recognised Budapest. 3 more of the same brought 2 correct answers. Amol asked the next question through the medium of double dutch – well, that’s what it sounded like to me – but Andy Huff understood it and gave the answer of replication. Anime director Satoshi Kon is not well known in the Clark household, but he brought one bonus to the LSE. They’d had the better of the opening and led by 60 – 25 at just after 10 minutes.

For the next starter Kai Madgwick almost jumped out of his seat, but was still beaten by Cormac Beirne. Who lost 5. He’d zigged with Ibsen, allowing Kai M. to zag with Strindberg. Blood glucose – which has never actually been an ingredient of Mars Bars – provided two bonuses. Andy Huff knew that for John Locke, LT stood for Labour Theory. The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian brought a brace of bonuses. Kai Madgwick came in too early for the next starter allowing Ryan Sharpe to identify the Beagle Channel. The use of almonds in alcoholic beverages brought a full house and took LSE smartly into triple figures. For the music starter that followed Kai Magdwick identified the work of Scott Walker. More English versions of pop songs originally performed in French brought just the one bonus, and sadly did not include The Sex Pistol’s lively performance of Sacha Distel’s “Ce n’est pas ma Cheval, c’est ma Femme!” Manchester took 1. Kai Madgwick recognised clues to the word Caustic for the next starter. Operas featuring the card game faro brought two bonuses, and narrowed the gap between the teams to one full set. Kai Madgwick took the next starter recognising references to the Greek town of Philippi The Turkic family of languages brought them no joy. Never mind. Kai Madgwick was on a roll and recognised various people with the surname Fuchs – oh, please stop giggling at the back. Cassiopeia brought the two bonuses Manchester needed to take the lead, by 105 – 100 at the 20 minute point.

That man Madgwick was in for the next starter identifying a picture of the work of Marcel Duchamps. Just one bonus followed, but hey, it was a long time that LSE had been shut out now, and the longer you wait, the harder it gets to win a buzzer race. Credit to Andy Huff for getting back in with nori for the next starter. A full house on books about film meant that the contest was far from over yet. “Ballet . . . Katchaturian-“ said Amol and Cormac won the race to say “Spartacus”. Two word Latin terms from Roman Law – no, Cuttius Headoffus was not one – brought just one bonus. Cormac Beirne came in too early for the next starter but Manchester could not capitalise. Kai Madgwick recognised a reference to Henry V for the next starter. Cultural figures namechecked in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes gave them the one correct answer they needed to tie the scores. Squeaky bum time for both teams. Kai Madgwick lost five, but LSE couldn’t capitalise. The indefatigable Manchester skipper did it again with the next starter, but again damage was limited because LSE did not know the answer. Rob Faulkner took the next starter to level the scores with parasport tennis great Alfie Hewitt. There was very little time left  and a couple of bonuses on George Eliot were not enough to seal the deal yet. Kai Madgwick’s very physical buzz for the next starter did though. World Heritage sites in Ethiopia would be enough. Manchester took one bonus, and ended up winning by 160 – 135.

It was a close run thing. LSE took a BCR of 55.5% while Manchester’s was 58.3% Bad luck to the LSE, but a fine match from both.

Amol Watch

Are we to assume that Amol is a fan of the Sugababes? He certainly approved when Manchester recognised them in the music round. Also he does have this habit of informing teams that one of the had the right answer which was ignored by the others.

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

I must be going soft, but again nothing stuck out for me.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In eukaryotic cells, origin licensing and origin firing are necessary precursors to which fundamental biological process the occurs in the S phase of the cell cycle. These steps involve the loading and activation of, respectively, of DNA helicases to allow access to DNA polymerases. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

Mastermind 2026 First Round Heat 22

Right, when I posted about low scores on Mastermind earlier this week I had no idea what was going to happen on last night’s Mastermind. Just one of Fate’s nasty little tricks I suppose.

First up with a subject very close to my heart was Helen Woolston. She was answering on British butterflies. How I became interested in the subject is a long and not very interesting story, but I did and knew enough to get 8 on the subject. Yes, Helen’s 7 is a decent score, but she got some of the harder ones and missed some easier ones which could have taken her close to double figures.

I scored nowt on Melissa Hewitt’s round on the Bridgerton books. Hardly surprising since I’ve never read any, but sometimes general knowledge will sneak you a point on a subject you don’t know. Not this time. It looked as if Melissa herself was struggling a bit too, and by the end of the round she had scored 5 points.

Next to come was David Slater. I agree with everyone who has commented that he was sporting a rather splendid waistcoat. David was answering on Jefferson Airplane. Again, I was not totally convinced by the round. Alright, I didn’t know any, but I felt that 6 was probably a little lower than he would have hoped.

Finally Carter Latif, who gave us just a little bit of quality in his round on the often baffling TV series Twin Peaks. Carter scored 8 for what was the best specialist round of the night, which gave him a one point lead going into the second round.

Right, let me be careful about what I say here. I am not meaning to criticize the contenders here. Each put themselves on the line, and I am sure that each gave of their best in the GK round. However this particular edition was crying out for one of them to put in a round that blasted away the cobwebs of the specialists and none of them really did that.

Melissa gave it a good old lash, but the questions wouldn’t fall for her and she scored 6 for 11.

David did better, He came closest of all of last night’s contenders to double figures, levelling out with a pretty decent 9 for fifteen. Normally this would not give a contender a realistic chance of a win, but there was something in the air.

Helen started her round brightly enough, but as we’ve seen many times before she lost momentum in mid round and could only add 6 to her total for 13.

This left only Carter, but again, the questions did not fall kindly for the contender and he , like Helen before him, finished with 13.

David, many congratulations. You can only do your best – and you did – and a win is a win is a win. I wish you the best of luck in the semi finals.

Right, let’s be positive. None of our contenders failed to hit a double figure score. This makes their scores a bit low but not disastrous. Just, I guess, a bit of a perfect storm all coming together in the same heat. But surely more fuel to the fire for the case for repechage places. I mean, when you have a contender who only came second in his heat yet scored 10 more than anyone in this one. . . well, do the Maths.

The Details

Helen Woolston	British Butterflies	7	0	6	0	13	0
Melissa Hewitt	Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton Books	5	1	6	1	11	2
David Slater	Jefferson Airplane	6	1	9	1	15	2
Carter Latif	Twin Peaks	8	1	5	2	13	3

University Challenge 2026 Round Two - Bristol v. Warwick

The Teams

Bristol

Lewis Jenkins

Lois Connolly

Hugo Goodwill (Capt)

Nathaniel Joyce

Warwick

Josh Howarth

Antoni Kluzowski

Chris Levesley (Capt)

Lucy Dennett

First starter – ceramic – pig, has to be porcelain.Hugo Goodwill swooped in early for the first starter. Trees in poems brought two correct answers. Fair play to Lewis Jenkins who worked out that the PM who died after a brief tenure in 1827 was George Canning. Works by Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates brought one bonus. The next starter certainly seemed to be pointing towards Ants and it was Lucy Dennett who plucked that piece of low hanging fruit. Video games where you play as a non-anthropomorphic animal yielded Warwick a full house in quick time. Lewis Jenkins struck first on the picture starter, very quickly recognizing the flag of Bermuda.More flags featuring ships or boats brought a really rather impressive full house in equally quick time. Neither team were that quick to recognize characters from Jude the Obscure, but Nathaniel Joyce gave the correct answer. 2 bonuses on Don Giovanni were not a bad return. Antoni Kluzowski knew that Ken Loach directed Kathy Come Home and this earned a set of bonuses on prime numbers. Brought a brace for Warwick and a lap of honour to me for knowing Euclid’s Elements. The score on ten minutes was 80-45 in Bristol’s favour

Lewis Jenkins took the next starter, knowing that Guttland is in Luxembourg. Very gutt. Bonuses on noodles used in Japanese cuisine brought two correct answers. For the next starter both teams were in the right ball park for an indigenous people but neither got the Maori quite. Chris Levesley knew the climatology geezer Koppen for the next starter. 2 bonuses on Black Mountain College followed. For the music starter nobody recognized the work of Grieg. Josh Howarth knew Englebert DOlfuss was the assassinated chancellor of Austria. The music bonuses brought one correct answer on pieces by Russian composers inspired by the music of the East. Still, at least Warwick seemed to have shaken off their torpor and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes. Antoni Kluzowski picked up references to a cradle for the next starter. 1 bonus on the crown of thorns and the lead had shrunk to 5 points. You didn’t have to know anything about pre Columbian Americas to know Las Vegas means the Meadows, you just had to wait until the next starter actually asked it. So Warwick who jumped first lost 5 and Lewis Jenkins gave the right answer.Elements used in control rods in nuclear reactors yielded two. Ironically Lewis Jenkins came in too early for the next starter and lost five, while it soon became obvious that the answer would be Versailles, as supplied by Lucy Dennett.1 correct answer on the Australian NRL meant that Bristol led 110 – 100 at the 20 minute mark. Good match.

None of our teams recognized a still from The Graduate for the second picture starter. A lengthy question about , well, I’m not really sure led Chris Levesley to level the scores with St. Petersburg. 1 bonus on stills from other films released in 1967 gave Warwick a slender lead. Nobody knew John Wesley for the next rather soporific starter. Chris Levesley took the next starter identifying potassium. A ballet on the life of Virginia Woolf – bet that was a barrel of laughs – brought two bonuses. Bristol weren’t finished yet and Lois Connolly came in early with the term wattle and daub – change the t’s to f’s and you have my teaching style in a nutshell. A full set on novels whose titles contain numbers narrowed the gap to 5 again. Antoni Kluzowski recognized the ending of Troilus and Cressida for the next starter. Two bonuses meant that Bristol would need a full house to draw level. They didn’t get it. Chris Levesley knew that the Makassar Strait separates Sulawesi and Borneo. Monarchs and universities brought a vital bonus. Lewis Jenkins recognized two Belarussians for the next starter. A bonus meant that they could not take the lead with a full house. It didn’t matter anyway, for Chris Levesley took the next starter on the moon Titania. Chalk hill figures brought them nowt, but it was too late for Bristol now. The gong sounded and Warwick had won by 180 – 145.

Bristol achieved a BCR of 66.5% while Warwick’s was 51.5%. The sheer weight of their buzzing brought the win.

Amol Watch

I do sometimes wish Amol wouldn’t be quite so indignant when a team misses out on something he knows. Yeah, alright, it DID sound like anley-Hopkins, Amol, but he isn’t top of everyone’s pops.

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

Plenty I didn’t know, but nothing particularly blew my socks off.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

American theologian Albert Outler developed a so-called quadrilateral named for which British Religious figure? Its four divisions of scripture,tradition, reason and experience are said to reflect the principles of this man’s thought as expressed in hissermons, which heavily influenced early Methodist preachers. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum. Amen.

University CHallenge 2026 - Round 2 - Southampton v. Imperial

The Teams

Southampton

Cormac Stephenson

Zain Mahmood

Florence Williams (capt)

Ben Hermanns-Kermode

Imperial

Rahim Dina

Eugenia Tong

Oscar O’Flanagan (capt)

Justin Keung

Oscar O’Flanagan signaled his intent with a viciously fast buzz for the first starter which hinged on knowing Tristan De Cunha’s capital as the Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. Audra McDonald – she of the 6 Tonys – brought Imperial a full house.You had to wait and wait with the next one, but when it mentioned a shade of blue patented by the person in question Florence Williams won the buzzer race to answer with Yves Klein. Terms related to video game graphics unsurprisingly provided me with nowt but Southampton took a full house. Oscar O’Flanagan correctly worked out that Fezzan would be in the modern day Libya. Parks and Gardens brought just the one bonus. Fair play to Rahim Dina. He was in extremely early with the acronym Crispr for the next starter. Three questions on sulphide minerals did not exactly have me quivering with anticipation. Actually I earned a lap of honour for knowing pentlandite as a major ore of nickel – like Imperial I had the other two as well. Cormac Stephenson was very excited with the picture starter when he identified the work we saw a page of as being by Satie. Three of Satie’s unusual performance directions brought just one bonus. Nobody knew the two Kingston Upons for the next starter. This meant that as we approached 10 minutes Imperial led by 65 – 35.

Long before Amol could finish the question Florence Williams had correctly answered cystic fibrosis for the next starter. Plays attributed to Aeschylus brought just the one although they were a little unlucky not to quite get 7 Against Thebes – somehow this brought to mind Five go mad in Dorset, but that’s my problem. Oscar O’Flanagan was in very early again for the next starter with Dunes. The cinematographer Mukdeeprom delivered Imperial a full house. Oscar O’Flanagan’s energetic buzzing brought the next starter with various references to Tours, but archaeological bonuses were not productive for Imperial at all. Cormac Stephenson identified the work of Philip Glass, whom I believe is known as ‘heart of’ to his mates. Pieces specially written for a new medium yielded just the one bonus.Rahim Dina identified Tibet as the country where the epic of Gesar Khan (You know him, Gesar the Geezer) originated. Love in Philosophy yielded just one correct answer. Didn’t matter. Imperial took the next starter with the Metre Convention – (whose 1969 song “Oi, you minger, that ain’t my finger “ failed to make the US hot 100. ) Eponymous limits in astrophysics brought a full house and Imperial were approaching the event horizon beyond which victory became a certainty. Ben Hermanns-Kermode narrowed the gap by knowing that yellow and red are the two colours of the flag of the Walloon region of Belgium. Typhus in literature brought a full house. Nobody knew the Giant magnetoresistance effect (who did reach the US Top 11 in 1969 with ‘You’re my Dairy Queen and I’m your Jelly, Baby’) Ben Herrmans-Kermode was first to work out that potassium nitrate in the next question pointed towards Gunpowder. Two bonuses meant that Imperial still led but with the scores at 110 to 140 on 20 it was still either team’s game.

Cormac Stephenson took the second picture starter recognizing a Manet painting of his parents (that’s Manet’s parents, not Cormac’s) More artists’ paintings of their own parents brought just one correct answer. But the momentum seemed to be with Southampton. Even more so when Florence Williams took the next starter with Julian of Norwich. Culinary terms introduced to English by William Dampier brought two bonuses needed to give Southampton the smallest lead. Imperial weren’t finished though as Justin Keung knew that XI are the two letters in romanised pinyin that represent the word – west – in place names. South East England place names mentioned in Ian Dury songs brought just one bonus. Still Justin Keung took the next starter knowing the prison diary of Wole Soyinka. People whose surnames began with Del brought 1 bonus. Imperial weren’t quite out of the woods yet. They looked safer when Eugenia Tong gave the surname Lewis for the next starter. Two bonuses on computer commands meant that they were almost there. Florence Williams recognized winners of Economics prizes. Surely there just wasn’t enough time left for Southampton.One bonus on Shakespeare would not be enough as they were still 30 points behind. Florence Williams took the starter on Holland in Lincolnshire. Two bonuses on the Thirty Years war and the gap was just 10. But the time was gone. Imperial won by 190 to 180.

Southampton’s BCR was 56.6% while Imperial’s was 60% and that small margin sealed the deal for them.

Amol Watch

Amol, mate, we know that philosophy is your bag. You don’t have to remind us everytime you get a set of questions to ask about it. Nor rub it in when the teams give an implausible answer either.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know of the Week

The first piece of Music commissioned for the radio by the BBC was composed by Gustav Holst.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

The computer science set was short but soporific but that’s down to my ignorance and nothing was really worth a dumdum in this show.

How does it feel?

I said in my last Mastermind review that single figure totals are rare, and the stats seem to bear me out. We’ve seen 84 contenders thus far this series and only 2 have ended with single figure totals.

Ten years ago and more I was not always the caring and laid back person that I am today, I’ve even said some harsh things in this very blog when contenders have had single figure scores. I don’t think I was ever trying to be mean to the contenders themselves, but the me of the time used to believe that the production teams of the day were not doing enough to protect some contenders from themselves. I’m sure that you’ve seen the kind of things which got said on social media – and for that matter still get said when a contender posts a low score. Back in the day my point was that surely a production team should be able to tell when a contender does not possess a good enough GK to potentially rescue themselves after a specialist disaster.

Well, I’ve modified my views a little bit since then. Let me tell you where I am today.

Let’s start from a baseline position. The only concrete thing we can be certain of when a contender posts a low total is this – they did not answer many of the questions correctly. That’s it. We can’t say anything about their intelligence and we can’t say anything about their knowledge of a specialist subject – not with any degree of certainty. Of course people do make such comments – even those who should know better.

As a viewer, I still do feel very uncomfortable when I see a contender finishing with single figures for the whole show. Maybe this is because I am fortunate – I never had that experience myself on the show and indeed the 2007 SOBM was one of the great experiences of my life. But I can’t help imagining how a contender feels when, for whatever reason, things go wrong for them. I know some people do enjoy the schadenfreude they derive from the spectacle. To my mind this puts them close to a par with the tricoteuses – the old girls who’d sit in the font row at the Place de la Concorde, knitting while another aristo’s freshly slice loaf hit the basket. But that’s not me. I hate the metaphorical sight of metaphorical blood.

But then, do contenders themselves view a disaster on the show as such? I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone who had the experience and if I had I certainly wouldn’t have asked them about the experience unless they volunteered the information. But look just how many heat winners say how surprised they are to have won. Yes, some of them are just being modest probably, but even so, you enter the show knowing that you have a decent chance of being beaten. Getting on the show is the thing. Appearing on the show, sitting in the chair and having a go, that’s the thing. So if it doesn’t go your way, well so what? You’ve still had the experience. Now, I don’t know if this is how people feel. But I can’t say for certain that it isn’t.

When you get right down to it, I’d be intrigued to know how it feels, and how you handle the aftermath and some of the reactions that you get. But it’s not the sort of thing I’d ever be comfortable asking about. (Unless of course you’ve ever been in that position and you’d LIKE to tell me about it . . . )

University Challenge 2026 Round 2 Sheffield v. Strathclyde

Okay, so now that we’re up to date with MM we begin the harder task of catching up on UC. Harder task? Well, yes. I find that whereas a Mastermind review rarely takes longer to compile than 30 minutes, a UC review takes considerably longer. In which case, we need to get cracking.

The Teams

Sheffield

Rhys Lewis

Abdelrahman Elsisi

Jacob Price (captain)

Isabel Dobbie

Strathclyde

Matthew Johnston

Kate Lochrie

Jack Stirling (capt)

Tom McHugh

Nice to see a namecheck for Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective in the first question. Isabel Dobbie was the first to pick up the detective connection. Two bonuses on art followed. Sheffield’s fine start continued when Abdelrahman Elsisi buzzed early to correctly identify the use of the Bonaparte family name. The intriguing subject of prunes in literature brought another two well earned bonuses. This was built on when Abdelrahman identified photographer Diane Arbus for the next starter. Incongruous titles of bonus sets continued with ‘real world metal alloys that play a role in the magic system of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Fantasy series.’ Takes all sorts I suppose. The questi0ons themselves were easier than the set sounded and we both took a full house. If you lose the first three starters in a row the danger is that you will fall into an underdog mindset and start to subconsciously accept that the opposition’s reactions will be faster than yours, so it was vital for Strathclyde to win the next starter. They didn’t. For the picture starter Jacob Price did remarkably well to identify the passport of Singapore. Other ‘powerful’ passports brought the Sheffield skipper a full house, in a remarkable display of passport identification. Sheffield were 90 to the good with Strathclyde yet to start. Jacob Price took the next starter with Coulomb to earn a set on Aussie Rules Football. I’ve always been a Hawthorn supporter myself – seriously, I’ve loved Aussie Footie since seeing it in the 80s on Eurosport. A full house took Sheffield into triple figures and earned Strathclyde the indignity of a gee up from Amol before the 10 minute mark. It didn’t work at this point since Isabel Dobbie identified a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. The prize for the most esoteric bonus set was stolen by “works that feature chicken hypnotism”. Two bonuses ensured that Sheffield led 135 – 0 at just after 10 minutes.

Isabel Dobbie recognized references to various Collins(es) but the Sheffield juggernaut slowed slightly as just one bonus was taken on tourism. Abdelrahman Elsisi knew various codices giving us information about the belief systems of the Mayans. Bonuses on science fiction followed. Whenever you’re asked – which genre of science fiction – the answer is often cyberpunk and so it proved this time. That was the only bonus that Sheffield took on this set. The music starter was next but nobody recognized the work of Chopin. Nobody managed the sebaceous glands for the next starter either. At last on 14 minutes Strathclyde skipper Jack Stirling stopped the rot and took a starter recognizing a description of the Niger. This earned the music bonuses on other works in allegro con fuoco – nope, me neither – and they brought one correct answer. Jacob Price buzzed in correctly to identify references to Romania in the first world war. TV Dramas set in West Yorkshire brought two bonuses and meant that Sheffield could possibly take their double century on their next visit to the table. They didn’t get that visit with the next starter for Jack Stirling was first to recognize allusions to Thomas ‘Another Fine Mess’ Hardy. Italian unification brought just the one bonus. An unnecessarily long question saw me earn a lap of honour with asteroid.Jacob Price took that one. Conurbations that cross international borders ( hope they all have Singapore passports! Oh , well, please yourselves.) brought a full house to take Sheffield past the double century mark. Isabel Dobie knew that if it’s a musical instrument and it’s built for a church then it must be an organ. Works edited by Toni Morrison did not provide any bonuses. Didn’t matter. At the 20 minute mark Sheffield led by 215 – 25 and were already home and dry.

For the second picture starter Abderahman Elsisi recognized a painting of a jackfruit. More fuity paintings brought, well nothing. Didn’t matter. Pity Strathclyde. They were trying, but the buzzing from Sheffield was too sharp as Abdelrahman came in early to identify a queen of kingdoms within Angola. Two bonuses on shipwrecked animals followed. The original names of football clubs that each went on to become something City fell to Jacob Price. Emma ‘Half a Pound of Tuppenny’ Rice brought two bonuses. Thankfully Jack Stirling recognized the words of Foucault to take the next starter. Chinese words linked by the character for fire brought two bonuses and got Strathclyde moving. Tom McHugh took the Baffin Mountains for the next starter, brought one bonus, but Strathclyde were now over 60. Jacob Price knew – well – he knew something where the answer was caesium. Prime ministers from their chief cabinet ministers brought one bonus. If they could get another visit to the table Sheffield just could break 300. Isabel Dobbie took the starter recognizing authors with the middle initial S. Birth counties of literary figures didn’t quite allow them enough time and the gong sounded leaving them winners by 290 to 60.

For the record Strathclyde’s BCR was 41.6% while Sheffield managed 54.1%. Well, Strathclyde to be fair were working off famine rations. One of those nights, I’m afraid.

Amol Watch

Fair play, the man knows the difference between a specific soursop and a general custard apple.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know

The passport of Singapore is rated as the world’s most powerful, allowing visa free access to 195 countries.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

A single word answer is enough here. In astrophysics Atila, Aten, Apollo and Amor are names given to orbital classes of what type of astronomical object? All four of these classifications refer specifically to groups of objects that pass relatively close . . . (incorrect buzz) to Earth. Hmm – seems a while since I’ve said this – dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

Mastermind First Round Heat 21

We’re nearly up to date with Mastermind now, peeps. Well, heat 21 was certainly memorable.

For one thing, our first contender, Alan Hotchikiss was answering on one of my favourite subjects, Muhammad Ali. I managed 8 of these and was disappointed. That’s not that the questions were easy, either, but that I’d hoped for double figures. Alan took a good 9 on a round where I can vouch for the fact that you needed to know your stuff to do well.

Every now and again a specialist round comes along where you just want to shout at the telly – stop making this contender go through thi!s- Ffion Rowlands was answering on Homer’s Iliad. It was a real display of stoicism as she kept smiling despite the mounting evidence that it really wasn’t going to be her night. I’ll maybe make a post soon about why specialist rounds go wrong. Whatever the case, Ffion scored 3.

I will be honest, I googled to find out how many world heritage sites there are in Britain and Ireland. I believe there’s almost 40. So superficially at least William Tams’ specialist looked quite tough. Maybe not so much after the first couple of questions where William looked pretty secure. However the round slipped away from hm as it went on, restricting him to five points.

Emma Reeves brought the round to a close on the songs of Dory Previn. If I was to tell you that I knew anything about these prior to the round then mmy nose would surely grow. That didn’t matter though because Emma clearly did know a great deal about the songs and she went on to provide us with the best specialist performance of the evening. 11 points gave her a lead of two at half time.

Right, let’s get Ffion’s GK round out of the way. Contrary to what the twitterati think, a low specialist score might have a number of causes. A low GK score, well. I watched Ffion’s round back twice, and I don’t honestly think it was a rogue round. I do think that it was a round of questions the majority of which could have been asked 10 or even 20 years ago which worked against a younger contender like Ffion. Sometimes you watch a round where the contender gives plausible answers which just aren’t right. In Ffion’s case, she just didn’t know them. Sadly, she finished with a total of 7.

You could forgive William for having been disappointed with his specialist round, but he took it in his stride to deliver a good general knowledge round of 11 to set the bar at 16. If he’d managed a couple more in his specialist then it looks likely that he coulda been a contender.

Definitely a contender was Alan Hotchkiss. He was two points in arrears at the turnaround, but could at least put pressure on Emma who was yet to come. And you don’t have to be a seasoned quiz genius to do this. It requires discipline not to panic, but if you have a decent general knowledge then going for the percentage answers on the questions you don’t know can help keep your score ticking over, and that’s what Alan seemed to do. This earned him a double figure round and meant he was able to open the corridor of doubt for Emma as he raised the target to 19.

So to Emma the maths was simple. She needed 9. 8 and no passes would only earn a tie break. Sadly she never looked convincing in her round and by the last few questions she was too far behind. She finished with 7 for a respectable 18. Close but no cigar.

It’s a testament to the care that the production team take over casting that single figure totals are rare on the show, and I do hope that Ffion was able to put it behind her. At the end of the day it is only a game – it doesn’t mean anything other than you had a low score on that set of questions. And well done Alan! Best of luck in the semis.

The Details

Alan Hotchkiss	Muhammad Ali	9	0	10	0	19	0
Ffion Rowlands	Homer’s Iliad	3	2	4	3	7	5
William Tams	British and Irish World Heritage Sites	5	0	11	0	16	0
Emma Reeves	The Songs of Dory Previn	11	0	7	1	18	1