University Challenge 2025 - Quarter Final Sudden Death - Queen's, Belfast v. Bristol

The Teams

Queen’s University, Belfast

Sarah Carlisle

Jason McKillen

Daniel Rankin (Capt)

Sam Thompson

Bristol

Ted Warner

Bridie Rogers

Kevin Flanagan (Capt)

Olivia Watts

Here we are then, the last gasp of this year’s quarter finals. We’ve take up semi-permanent residence in the last chance saloon; since last week every match left is sudden death.

Both of the teams had one buzzer they could rely on for a steady stream of starters – Daniel Rankin of Queen’s and Ted Warner of Bristol. So it would pretty much come down to which team could supplement their star buzzer best and which could do most with the bonuses they earned. Daniel Rankin struck the first blow for his team, knowing that the Hebrew term shophet is used for a Judge in the Bible. Scottish architect Thomas ‘Housing’ S. Tait (see what I did there?) brought just the one bonus. Ted Warner struck back immediately for Bristol with the writer Joan ‘Who?’ Didion. Former Dutch colonies in the Americas brought two bonuses. Ted Warner recognised a series of events that all occurred during the reign of the longest reigning Plantagenet king, Henry III. Long term scientific experiments promised me nowt but I did know that the biggest killer yutta yutta is cardiovascular diseases, so took one to Bristol’s 2 and wheezed my way around the sofa on my lap of honour. For the picture starter we had the final stage direction of a modern play. None of us knew “Our Country’s Good.” Well, on a good day, anyway. I’ll admit I could see where Daniel Rankin was coming from when he buzzed in early with Hubble for the next starter, but was incorrect. So this told me to go for the other Big Bang man with Lemaitre. It had to be that or Doctor Sheldon Cooper. Kevin Flanagan shook his head as he buzzed in with Lemaitre, but it was right. The stage directions picture bonuses escaped Bristol, but I did correctly guess Noises Off. Max Ernst’s paining of Saint Anthony brought Bristol the next starter. Fine art in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky brought us both two correct answers. Bristol led by 70 – 10, and looked decent value for their lead too.

Daniel Rankin narrowed the gap with the next starter on the word belt. Hmm – word belt– that sounds like a type of puzzle in a newspaper. You heard it here first, folks. Queen’s were not rubbing their collective hands together when they got a set on the Japanese Takarazuka theatre company and none of us troubled the scorer on that set. Still, Daniel Rankin does tend to devour film starters and he knew film editor Thelma Schoonmaker (wasn’t she Fred Flintstone’s mother-in-law?) for the next. Bonuses on me old cock linnet brought a smile to the face and one correct answer to Queen’s. The fact that two consecutive starter and bonus sets had yielded just twenty five points highlights how difficult Queen’s were finding it to make headway. For the music starter Sam Thompson suggested Raye, and to be fair it did sound like Corinne Bailey Raye. Well more than it sounded like Ted Ray (Ask your grandparents) Bristol’s suggestion of Amy Winehouse earned Amol’s scorn. Nobody knew the term International Gothic for the next starter. Olivia Watts knew Lewis, the photon man and earned the music bonuses on Neo Soul practitioners. Neo Soul – tough on music, tough on the causes of music. Only one was taken. The island of Bioko is in Equatorial Guinea. Ted Warner knew that. Me? Never even heard of it. Topologicians ( if the word doesn’t exist you can credit me with coining it) brought little to any of us, just the one for Bristol. Daniel Rankin identified the first known person of African descent to vote in a British election as Sancho. Philosopher Queens brought a couple of bonuses keeping Queen’s within contention. Opera Verismo escaped all of us. So as we zeroed in on the 20 minute mark Bristol led by 90 – 50.

Ted Warner stretched the gap by knowing the answer modern synthesis for the next starter. East Asian cities brought two bonuses and Bristol rolled on closer to victory. Nobody identified the statue of Scott of the Antarctic by his wife – it seemed like insult to injury when one of the teams identified him as Amundsen. Olivia Watts knew the term tempering chocolate and this won the picture bonuses. Mrs of the Antarctic was a fine sculptor and we saw three more of her works. Bristol took two of them. By this stage Ted Warner was snapping up anything that Queen’s were uncertain of and he knew the Robbers Cave Experiment for the next starter. Ancient regions of Asia Minor brought one bonus but that was enough to give Bristol a 100 point lead. Algorithms to find the shortest path to something brought Kevin Flanagan the next starter. Robert Burns Woodward brought a full house and extinguished the faintest flicker of Queen’s hopes. Kevin Flanagan took a double with the next starter and Gerlach Peak, the highest mountain in the Carpathians. Health economics didn’t bring much to the Bristol total, but what did it matter at this stage. Daniel Rankin knew that the Zand dynasty ruled the Iranian Empire to earn three bonuses on Shakin Shakespeare brought just one bonus. Ted Warner knew Baltimore for the answer to the next starter, about the American city that took its name from the performer of unforgettable 80s hit “Tarzan Boy”. Notable students of Arnold Sommerfeld were the last set of bonuses and the gong sounded while the third was being read out. Bristol comfortably won by 200 – 65.

Sometimes it’s not your night and you get the feeling that this is as far as your campaign goes. Queen’s were comfortably outbuzzed and also they had one of their lowest BCRs of the whole series with 33. When it ain’t your night that’s the way the questions fall for you. Bristol finished with 51 and earned their place in the last four.

Amol Watch

After the first picture starter went unanswered Amol announced “We’ll take your picture bonuses when we get started, right. I think those picture bonuses might take some time.” When I first watched I thought he was criticising the teams but now I think it may well have been the question setters. Bit uncalled for, whatever the case.

Also a bit uncalled for was his reaction to the teams’ failure to recognise Erykah Badu. I mean, she might be a household name chez Rajan, but she ain’t in LAM Towers either.

I have to pay tribute to Amol’s genuine warmth when commiserating with the teams – his words about Daniel Rankin’s last gasp sudden death buzzing in a previous match was a very nice touch.

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

My Old Man/ Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way is actually about a couple doing a moonlight flit. Gawd alone knows how I’ve managed 6 decades on this Earth without figuring that out before.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Which Polish mathematician gives his name to a theorem which states that every contraction mapping on a complex metric space has a unique fixed space. Short but deadly. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.