The Teams
Glasgow
Sam McDermott
Grace Sedgwick
Harry Braid (Capt)
Taylor Reece
Southampton
James Carrick-Lawson
Zosia Mikolajczuk
J.B.Cassidy (Capt)
Michael Wu
As soon as Peter and Alison Smithson were mentioned I
guessed that the answer to the first starter was going to be Brutalism – a style
of architecture that – as practiced in the UK - I largely detest. Museums in
the Netherlands brought them 2 bonuses. JB Cassidy took his double , knowing
references to Lotus. Folkloric figures said to be sleeping until the day they
rise to save their people brought a full house. I’ve never read “I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings” but I know bits about lots of books that I’ve never read and
the quotation in the next starter certainly sounded like it could belong to the
work. Harry Braid also felt so and was right. Jet engines provided a brace of
bonuses. Element 106 gave James Carrick-Lawson Seaborg and three bonuses on
Adam Curtis documentaries. This brought another full house. Now, I rarely earn
a lap of honour for a picture starter but I bloomin’ well took one for knowing
that the missing element from the diagram showing the make up of Earth’s
atmosphere was argon. James Carrick-Lawson gave the same answer while I was
puffing my way around the sofa, much to my grandson’s derision. Similar
diagrams for other planets did not bring any points to Southampton. I took 2 –
although my bottom stayed firmly on the Clark sofa this time. Sam McDermott
buzzed in with Svalbard for the next starter. Philosophy of John Rawls (I
preferred Lou) brought 2 bonuses which meant that Southampton led by 80-40 as
we approached 10 minutes.
JB Cassidy was the first in with the video game Grow A
Garden, to which my grandson, being 13 and therefore an expert on the genre,
responded “that’s a load of crap, that game.”
Where does he get it from? Bonuses on bio chemistry did nothing for me,
although Disulfide Bridge was the name of my mate’s synth band in the 6th
form in 1981, if I recall correctly. Southampton took just the one bonus. I had
the Golden Gate Bridge for the answer to the next starter from early doors,
Taylor Reece took that one. Two bonuses on Ancient Egypt were taken. For the
next starter Harry Braid recognised references to the Corn Laws. My Nan’s
maiden name was Cobden, and I didn’t half upset members of her family when I proved
that we’re nowhere near as closely related to Richard Cobden of repeal of the
corn laws fame as they believed we were, however, I digress. Works by Agatha
Crusty whose titles were inspired by Shakespeare brought nowt, I’m afraid but
did at least take us to the music round. Mozart was not right for Southampton,
but being as it sounded that sort of thing I said Haydn. Glasgow didn’t and so
the bonuses rolled over. ‘Commonly mistaken for a jellyfish’ seemed that it had
to be Portuguese Man of War. James Carrick-Lawson thought so too and earned the
music bonuses for saying so. Other pieces of music imitating ticking clocks did
not, sadly, include the Boomtown Rat’s single, Like Clockwork. No points for Glasgow.
Still, their inspirational captain Harry Braid knew the location of the UK
Supreme Court. Doctoral Students of J. Willard Gibbs (yet another member of the
Who? Family) also failed to provide any points, sadly. Michael Wu knew that the
opposing term to ductile is brittle. Aren’t we all, from time to time. Figures
from Roman Mythology beginning with V brought two bonuses.Taylor Reece was unlucky
with the next starter. He was on the right lines with gas turbine, but the
answer required and supplied by JB Cassidy was wind turbine. The Venezuelan Conductor
(orchestral or bus, I wondered) Gustavo Dudamel brought two bonuses. On the
cusp of 20 minutes Southampton led 145 – 80. Glasgow weren’t out of it but it
would require a real grandstand finish if they were to close the gap.
Well, James Carrick-Lawson provided 10 points knowing about
Legalism. Fleming’s Left Hand Rule – nope, me neither – provided a full house. For
the second picture starter JB Cassidy identified the work of Franz Marc. Other
works with a marked resemblance to paintings seen in BoJack Horseman – alright,
no, me neither again – brought another full house. Impressive. Taylor Reece
recognised a description of menthol for the next starter. Flags featuring 10 or
more stars brought Glasgow their own full house – and it wasn’t easy, either. The
Steelyard in London I knew to be the London HQ of the Hanseatic League,(Somewhere
between the Southern League and the Isthmian League? -) - and given more of the question it was Sam
McDermott who took the points for it. Team GB at the 2026 Winter Olympics only
yielded 1 bonus. Sam McDermott took his double with the highest mountain in
Myanmar. Tall churches seemed to be to Glasgow’s liking and they took a full
set of bonuses. Grace Sedgwick recognised characters from The Old Curiosity Shop
to take a third consecutive Glasgow starter. Fictional castles – hullo Gormenghast,
thought I – didn’t bring any points. Still, the Glasgow revival continued with
Taylor Reece recognising rare sites of marble in the UK. Biological molecules
beginning with ox (oxo was not one of them) brought another nul points. Which
was a shame for Glasgow since the gap had been reduced to 30 and it kind of
robbed them of momentum. Nobody knew that the only NATO countries with which
the old Soviet Union shared land borders were Norway and Turkey. Michael Wu
very quickly recognised piano sonatas by Beethoven. British castles – real this
time – continued the castle jinx and yielded nothing. It really didn’t matter,
since the gong sounded, leaving Southampton winners by 205 – 165. A good
contest.
In terms of starters Southampton only answered one more
than Glasgow did, but Glasgow only converted 43% of their bonuses into points
while Southampton had a BCR of 57.5% which gave them the margin of victory.
Amol Watch
Fine job, sir – no silly or bumptious comments. Keep it up.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
This year the Sagrada Familia became the tallest church in
the world.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
Antibodies can be combined with cytotoxic molecules to form
ADCs that specifically target cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells
largely unharmed. The A in the initialism stands for antibody. What to do the D
and C stand for?
No idea about the C, but the D has to be dum de dumdum dum
dum dum dum dumdum.
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