Life After Mastermind

In the News Questions

2012-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

Same as always - answers next week - but email me if you need them before that

Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news ?

1. Laura Dekker
2. HMS Argyll
3. Michael Sata
4. Rosie the dog
5. Outside In
6. Theodora Dallas
7. Ekaterina Makerova
8. Sergei Polunin
9. Coryton
10. Andrew Miller
11. John Anslow
12. Michael Clair
13. Anthony Gardner
14. Andrew Farndon
15. Nicholas Shakespeare
16. Nigel Leat
17. Dr. John Magumba
18. Uggie
19. Stephen Hester
20. A Twinkling Star to A Passing Angel
21. Angelica Maria Cecora
22. Anthony Albanese
23. Steven Slevin
24. Jean Claude Mas
25. The Teodora
26. Liam Broady and Joshua Ward Hubbert
27. Rhys Thomas

In Other News

1. Who is the socialist candidate for the upcoming French presidential elections ?
2. What is the title of Jessie J’s number 1 single ?
3. Which writer made headlines by saying that he has no ‘twitter machine’ ?
4. Which newsreader revealed that her baby daughter has the name Clemency ?
5. Where is the UKs first marine energy park ?
6. In which state did Newt Gingrich defeat Mitt Romney in the Republican primary ?
7. Which US Congresswoman publically quit last week ?
8. Which former businessman’s long awaited trial began in the Old Bailey last week ?
9. Ofcom rejected complaints about Ricky Gervais’ use of which offensive word ?
10. Which venue is to show the film “Citizen Kane “ for the very first time ?
11. Which Man City player was heavily criticised for stamping on Scott Parker’s head in the game v. Tottenham ?
12. Who is the New Chancellor of Portsmouth University ?
13. Whose statue was unveiled in Barnsley ?
14. How many Oscar nominations doe the nomination for The Iron Lady make it for Meryl Streep now ?
15. Which museum unveiled plans to move into the building which was formerly home to the Commonwealth Institute
16. Which team won the Stanley Cup ?
17. Britain’s debt has broken which barrier for the first time ?
18. Which football club last week were served with a winding up tax bill ?
19. Who knocked world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki out of the Australian Open ?
20. Plans were revealed last week to sell which RAF airfield ?
21. Which former cabinet minister last week said that Ed Miliband was struggling ?
22. Who was attacked last week in an Aboriginal Rights protest ?
23. What did Newt Gingrich promise to build if he becomes President of the USA ?
24. Who said last week that he writes like a two year old ?
25. Who faced criticism for saying that the state has no right to legalise marriage between gay couples ?
26. What surfaced briefly on ebay following the afore mentioned scuffle in an aboriginal rights protest ?
27. Waterstones are set to open a bookstore catering for which language in their flagship shop in Piccadilly ?
28. Who pretends to be Richard Branson in the current adverts for Virgin ?
29. Who is the Hat Person of the Year ?
30. Which country has apologised for deporting jews during the Holocaust ?
31. Which footballer has received a death threat in the form of a bullet being sent to him ?

News Question Answers

2012-01-28T09:12:00.001-08:00

Here's last week's news questions and their answers : -

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Francesco Schettino
2. Jon Huntsman
3. Yousuf Gilani
4. Carole Kolar
5. John Burnside
6. Tom Harris
7. Mildred Pierce
8. Abu Qatada
9. Kerry-Jo Te Huia
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. Kim Jong Nam
12. Boris Island
13. Rande Gerber
14. Elly Nowell
15. Godshifteh Farahani
16. Rick Perry
17. Dominica Cemorton
18. Beck Laxton
19. Brian Shivers
20. Gary Streeter
21. Pseudomonas
22. PressTV

In Other News

1. The ferry Costa Concordia was wrecked just off which island ?
2. Which website underwent a voluntary blackout in protest against the anti piracy bill ?
3. On which day did Muhammad Ali turn 70 ?
4. Why has a new species of horsefly been named after Beyonce ?
5. Which car has been recalled due to fire hazard ?
6. Who won an apology from The Sun which wrongly claimed that he had groped a shop girl ?
7. How many of the 6 British singles players lost on the first day of the Australian Open ?
8. Which MP was wrongly accused of leaking Michael Gove’s letter concerning the possibility of a new royal yacht ?
9. Which of the Edinburgh pandas suffered from a bout of colic last week ?
10. Bruno Senna has joined which F1 team ?
11. A vaccine has been developed for the B strain of which disease ?
12. BBC have refused to apologise for Top Gear offending which country ?
13. Who was nominated as the BAFTA Best Actor for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ?
14. Which two coins are to be made slightly thicker ?
15. In new rules what have been banned form the Royal Enclosure at Ascot ?
16. Which National Park announced that it will be introducing parking charges ?
17. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s next talent searching TV series will be on ITV, and it will seek a star for which musical ?
18. Doubts were raised last week over the effectiveness of which drug ?
19. Which country last week saw it’s urban population exceed its rural population for the first time ever ?
20. Which are the three brands most highly rated by British consumers ?
21. It was revealed that last year London police spend £35,000 on what ?
22. Which respected broadcaster was told that she was ‘too posh’ for the BBC ?
23. Who is the only British player in the UEFA Team of 2011 ?
24. Which large US company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy ?
25. Which player has made a surprise return to the Welsh rugby squad for the 6 Nations ?
26. Which England player looks set to quit Northampton Saints RFC ?
27. How many hacking lawsuits were settled by News International last week ?
28. Who announced that he will be making an album about the Titanic ?
29. 2nd class stamps will be rising to which price ?
30. Who is Britain’s new unofficial trade envoy ?
31. Which TV series has been accused of damaging Ilkley Moor ?
32. Which singer died aged 73 ?

Answers
Who or what are the following ?
1. Captain of the Costa Concordia
2. Republican candidate who has dropped out in support of Mitt Romney
3. PM of Pakistan accused of contempt of court
4. Murdered in Handsworth Wood
5. Won the T.S.Eliot Prize
6. Labour MP who produced an online video comparing Alex Salmond to Hitler
7. Production for which Kate Winslet won the Golden Globe
8. Muslim cleric whose extradition has been blocked by the European Court of Human Rights
9. 1st woman to manage to shear 500 sheep in 8 hours
10. Pakistan bowler who took 7 wickets for 55 in the first innings of the first test v. England
11. Older half brother of Kim Jong Un who has been predicting an early end to his brother’s rule in North Korea
12. Nickname of the proposed new airport in the Thames Estuary
13. 10 year old daughter of Cindy Crawford tipped for her own modelling career
14. Student who sent a letter of rejection to Magdalen, Oxford, in the style of their own rejection letters
15. Iranian actress told never to come home after posing nude in a magazine.
16. Republican candidate who has dropped out, and is endorsing Gingrich
17. Singer who dined with captain of Costa Concordia on the day of the disaster
18. Mother who kept gender of her child Sacha a secret – now revealed he is a boy
19. Convicted of killing 2 British soldiers in Northern Ireland in 2009
20. Tory MP who called the town of Dudley ugly
21. Responsible for the deaths of three babies in Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital neonatal unit in Belfast
22. Iranian News Network banned by Ofcom

Other news

1. Giglio
2. Wikipedia
3. Tuesday 17th January
4. Because it has an impressive ‘bootay’, apparently.
5. Mini cooper
6. Paul Gascoigne
7. 5
8. Chris Huhne
9. Yang Guang
10. Williams
11. Meningitis
12. India
13. Gary Oldman
14. 5p and 10 p
15. Fascinators
16. Dartmoor
17. Jesus Christ Superstar
18. Tamiflu
19. China
20. – 1 Google – 2 Amazon – 3 – M & S
21. The Speaking Clock
22. Joan Bakewell
23. Gareth Bale
24. Kodak Eastman
25. Gavin Henson
26. Chris Ashton
27. 37
28. Robin Gibb
29. 55p
30. Prince Harry
31. Emmerdale
32. Etta James

Mastermind - Round One- Heat 10

2012-01-28T09:06:00.001-08:00

Well, there were plenty of talking points in last week’s show, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was paying particular attention to the specialist rounds in last night’s show, looking out for the gimmes. Geoffrey Snape was first into the chair, answering on the history of New York. On the surface this shouldn’t necessarily have been a subject to offer too much to me, I wouldn’t have thought. Still, if you’re going to ask things like the name of the last dutch governor – Peter Stuyvesant – then you are going to give me some chances. I took 7 of these, and could maybe on a good day have had eight – I didn’t get LaGuardia as the transport hub named after a former mayor, which was gettable. Geoffrey’s score was a perfectly respectable 11.

Sally Mabey came next. I believe that John said that she was from Cardiff, but our paths haven’t crossed as far as I know. Sally was answering on The Women’s Institute. Now – this is the sort of round which should see me draw a complete blank. And to be fair, I very nearly did. One of the questions supplied the answer I was ready to trot out , that the first in the UK was in Llanfair PG on Anglesey. However , there can’t be many people with anything like a decent general knowledge who don’t know that the W.I. sing Jerusalem, and it certainly brought me my only point. Sally broke into double figures, with a score of 10.

Now, third up was our very own Gareth Kingston – Gruff of this parish. Gareth was a semi finalist back in 2009 I believe. His subject was the life and works of Augustus Pugin. This was almost a perfect round. Gareth’s answer were clear, crisp, concise, and very quick. Now, it was almost a perfect round – I think one question went begging. Gareth scored 14, which meant that he was asked 15, or at most 16 questions. It was Gareth himself who raised the point of the inconsistencies of the potential maximum scores from show to show in his comment on last week’s post.. Last week we saw a perfect round of 18. I don’t think that even if any of last night’s contenders had answered all of their questions correctly as quickly as possible, that they would have got to 18. Now, if you win the show it doesn’t matter, but if you’re in line for a repechage slot, then those couple of points could be crucial. Food for thought, certainly. Gareth was putting himself in pole position for the win, though, with 14.

Last to go was Chris Wills. Now, I thought that I’d seen Chris before in a few places. He’s featured on LAM before, when he came 4th in a heat of BoB last year. However a quick google search reveals that he has won money on A Question of Genius, and the Weakest Link, as well as having been a champion of Countdown. So he was certainly not a contender to be easily dismissed. His subject was Wimbledon tennis singles since 1990 – alright, it’s 21 years, but let’s be honest, it isn’t a huge stretch to have to work on. I wouldn’t describe myself as an expert – my knowledge comes from watching, and from things I need to know for quizzes, but I picked off 9 of these without any preparation. I did actually have one that Chris didn’t – I knew that Amelie Mauresmo was one of the players whose match was the first to see the cover come over the Centre Court. Well, as we’ve said in the last couple of shows, you can’t blame the contender for the questions he is asked – all he can do is answer them , and he managed a good 13 and no passes.

As for the GK rounds, I thought that they were a little more difficult than the last few shows. I scored 16 on Sally’s, and 16 on Geoffrey’s, and it wasn’t just because neither of them were going all that quickly – although they weren’t. Sally showed more composure, and managed another 10 correct answers while limiting herself to another 5 passes, for a total of 20. Geoffrey couldn’t match this showing, and he fell into something of a pass spiral. It’s harder on a two and a half minute round to escape from a pass spiral, because the buzzer is that much further away from you. Geoffrey managed 8, which allowed Sally to leapfrog him into what looked likely to be third place.

Now to the two horse race at the top. Chris raced through his set, and there were well over 20 of these. This is all down to the individual, but I struggled more with his set than any of the others. I managed 16 again, but had a run of 4 incorrect answers in a row on my way there. So his 14, in the chair, under pressure in the studio I thought was a pretty good round. I still thought that Gareth would do it. Gareth, being the good guy that he is, did leave me a message this week, asking me to not worry about the fact that we’re friends, and be honest in my review. – Hello – I thought – does this mean something went wrong ? Well, I guessed from looking at Gareth’s face a couple of times during the round that he dropped questions he knew the answer to, and I’d certainly say that it looked like a nervous performance. However, even when things don’t go quite to plan, technique and sticking to the right game plan can bring you through. Gareth knows how to play this game – answer quickly – a wrong answer given quickly is miles better than a pass. I found his set only slightly easier than Chris’ – to the tune of one point, since I managed 17, but as I say, it’s all subjective. I thought from looking at Gareth’s face before John told him the score that he didn’t know that he’d done it. It was close. His 13 gave him 27, the same score as Chris. However Gareth hadn’t passed, and Chris had. He’d only done it once, in the GK round, but that was the small margin between entry to the semis by right, and an anxious wait on the repechage board. Still, it made for an exciting and enjoyable match, albeit I could forgive Gareth for thinking that it was a little close for comfort. Well played Gareth ! Good luck in the semis.

The Details

Geoffrey Snape	The History of New York	11 - 1	8 - 6	19 – 7
Sally Mabey	The Women’s Institute	10 - 3	10 - 5	20 - 8
Gareth Kingston	The Life and Works of Augustus Pugin	14 - 0	13 - 0	27 – 0
Chris Wills	Wimbledon Tennis Singles Finals since 1990	13 - 0	14 - 1	27 -1

University Challenge Quarter Final - Qualification match 1

2012-01-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

One of Monday night’s teams was going to earn automatic qualification for the semis. In the blue corner the team consistently rated the most entertaining of the series so far – University College , London. Inexplicably I failed to review their first quarter final match where they beat Manchester. The team of Hywel Carver, Patrick Cook, Tom Andrews and captain Jamie Karran have somehow charmed JP so much in their performances so far that he tends to chuckle his way through their matches.

In the red corner stood ( er , sat ) Worcester, Oxford. They beat Newcastle in their first quarter final match. Since losing a nailbiter to Clare College in their first round match they have gone from strength to strength – and we’ve seen teams go all the way after losing their first round match before. The team consists of Dave Knapp, Jack Bramhill, Jonathan Metzer and captain Rebecca Gillie

The People’s Choice – aka the highly watchable UCL skipper Jamie Karran was incorrect with his answer to the first starter, but Dave Knapp of Worcester made no mistake with Greenpeace. Of the 3 bonuses on monarchs who shared the same name and regnal numbers, they managed one. Jack Bramhill was a little twitchy on the buzzer for the second, and offered myrrh when frankincense was required. Patrick Cook took that one. UCL couldn’t manage any of a set of bonuses on Timon of Athens. Not surprised. Hywel Carver recognised that the medieval film with the swamp castle and other features was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. JP forgave him for saying “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. He really does have a soft spot for UCL. Alright – this will have been the producer’s decision via the earpiece – but JP still does have a soft spot for UCL. No bonuses followed on the latin names and calls of common garden birds. Neither team recognised a work by English revolutionary writer and philosopher Thomas Paine. Dave Knapp took his second starter for Worcester with a scientific formula, and again, JP allowed a little leeway when he didn’t originally couch his correct answer as a formula. 2 science bonuses were taken. So UCL were at the moment winning more starters, but Worcester were making up the difference with bonuses. A wonderful UC special followed as the picture starter. This showed a riddle written in French. JP helpfully informed the teams that they could answer in either English or French. Kaptain Karran immediately buzzed in with “Je ne comprends pas !”Well, it made me laugh. Neither team took it , but Patrick Cook earned the accompanying set of bonuses by knowing the original use of the Pantheon in Paris. The following riddles in different languages all had letters of the alphabet as the answers. They took a clean sweep of these. Which was enough to give UCL the lead at the 10 minute mark, with 45 to 30, which was probably fair at this stage of the game.

Patrick Cook knew about the Marquess of Salisbury, but UCL couldn’t do much with a set of bonuses on jumps in figure skating, getting a point only for the axel. Jonathan Metzer made a good and brave early buzz about Saturn to bring Worcester back into the competition. A nice full set followed on schools in the works of Charles Dickens. Neither team knew the term Thalweg. No, don’t be ridiculous, of course I didn’t. Hywel Carver knew that the term for flight used to describe works by Bach and Buxtehude amongst others is fugue. One bonus followed on artists. This music question was followed by a music starter, but neither team recognised Hamlet by Liszt. So the music bonuses rolled over to be earned by Jamie Karran, who came up with the term elan vital. One bonus was taken. Hywel Carver knew all about pilcrows , but the chemistry bonuses proved hard to get, and again they only managed to take one of the set. While they kept winning the buzzer race they looked OK, but they weren’t stretching the lead to any great distance at all. A lovely buzz from Jack Bramhill followed, when he knew that the abbreviation for the biggest city in California, the designer of St. Paul’s, and the largest church in the UK would give you the surname Lawrence. Worcester managed two bonuses on unusual transportations, which meant that for all of UCL’s efforts , by the 20 minute mark their lead was a mere 30 points – 105 to Worcester’s 75.

Neither knew that the Dey was the ruler of Algiers in deys gone by . Sorry about that. Nor did they know that the meson was predicted in the works of Yakawa. Dave Knapp did know that Roy Hattersley and other politicians and writers were all from Sheffield, though. Three bonuses followed on island capitals, and the teams were level. Neither team could take the picture starter – which revealed a picture of Prince Arthur, the older brother of King Henry VIII. However skipper Rebecca Gillie knew that Khalidasa was regarded as one of the foremost poets in Sanskrit. 2 bonuses on other eldest sons of monarchs who never made it to the throne were taken. Neither team knew about Derrida, but Jack Bramhill supplied the term molality for the next starter. For once Worcester failed to score on a set of bonuses on East Asian history – specifically Chinese imperial dynasties.The lead was looking ominous, and maybe this led to Patrick Cook buzzing in too early to offer Leipzig as the capital of East Prussia. 5 points were lost, and to add insult to injury Dave Knapp gave the correct answer of Konigsberg. Incidentally, that's Woody Allen’s original surname, I believe.Woody Kaliningrad ? I digress. 2 bonuses on chemistry edged Worcester closer to the semis. Hywel Carver took a UC special. If A is 1 and B is 2 – which poet had initials 23 – 2 – 25. I had it too, I’m pleased to say, and it was W.B.Yeats. Yet again, there were no gimmes for poor UCL in the set of bonuses they earned – a set of football questions from back in the days when Alf Common earned the world record transfer fee of half a crown, or something like that. They did well to get one. Jack Bramhill was happy to inform us all that Radium and some other elements were all discovered in the 1890s, and two bonuses followed on divisions of court. All that remained was for Patrick Cook to supply the last correct answer, regarding Jupiter, and that was it. Worcester won by 170 to 120. No question that Worcester deserved to win – they scored more points. But maybe the margin flattered them a little. UCL could reasonably claim to have been a little unlucky on the bonus sets that came up for them. But that’s the luck of the draw. Like many people I do find this UCL team very entertaining, and I still hope that they’ll qualify for the semis. No doubts about Worcester though – well played and good luck !

Jeremy Paxman Watch

When UCL are playing a smile is never very far from JP’s face. He got into the spirit of it fairly early in this show too. When incorrectly offered Ezra Pound as an English vorticist he toyed with them a little – “Ezra Pound ? Interesting choice . . . but wrong. “
Then after UCL had failed to answer either of the first two bonuses on birds’ latin names and their calls he sank a particularly delicious barb in – “ Finally for a possible 5 ( pause for effect ) although it’s unlikely, I’ll admit. “

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

A pilcrow is a symbol used in DTP to mark where a new paragraph should go.

Beaten in Bridgend

2012-01-24T07:02:00.001-08:00

Well, since I went on about my winning streak from mid January to March last year, it’s only fair that I mention it when things don’t go so well. As I said, at the moment Rob and the guys have the Indian sign over us at the club. Then last night, after 18 months and 32 games in the league and cup competitions in the Bridgend Quiz League, the wheels well and truly came off. It had to happen sooner or later, especially bearing in mind our close shave against the Nomads last week. Last night’s opposition were the Old Castle in Bridgend, 3rd place in the league last year, and no mugs at all.

The stupid thing was that the evening started so well. On the written questions we scored 29 out of 32 to their 21. We had a mare on the individual round, and they were only 2 points behind us after that. Then we kept on having a mare on the A and B team questions. The boys from the Old Castle played really well, we didn’t know a lot of the answers, and to cut a long story short they beat us by 50 points to 43. Very well played guys – it pains me to say it, but we can’t even put it down to a couple of lucky questions or anything like that. On the night they were simply just too good for us.

I have two nights to lick my metaphorical wounds, and then there’s quizzes on consecutive nights. At the moment my cumulative total for the year stands at 3 wins from 7 quizzes. Hopefully this won’t become 3 wins from 9 quizzes by the end of Friday evening. The way my own form is at the moment, though, I’m taking nothing for granted.

Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 11

2012-01-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

I don’t wish to say anything particularly mean or nasty, but having listened to today’s heat the phrase ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’ come irresistibly to mind. Is that mean ? Sorry if it is. Let’s get on with it , then. First to go was Paul Duke. He missed out on the first Pharoah of Egypt which gave a handy bonus to Toby O’Connor Morse. Alan Hay was second to go. He mercifully took his first, but didn’t get the Van Allen radiation belts. The fact that none of the other brains got them either led me to speculate that we were in for one of ‘those’ shows. Toby took his own first question, but didn’t know that Linus and Anacletus were the second and third popes. Again, nobody took the bonus. Finally William Thirsk – Gaskill missed out on his own first , that the New Party was formed by Oswald Moseley. Alan was happy to take a bonus for that. Paul took his first of the second round, but then missed out on a tricky one about saphrophytes – plants without chlorophyll that feed on decaying matter. Nobody knew Alan’s second, that Attila replaced his brother Bleda. ( Wasn’t that what Old Steptoe used to call Harold when he was annoyed ? I digress. ) Toby did not know that the actor from the film Two Way Stretch who has also been in Dr. Who within the last couple of years was Bernard Cribbens – Paul had that one. Finally William missed the extremely gettable Home Thoughts From Abroad by Robert Browning. Toby took that one. William had yet to score, the others were all on three.

To be fair to Paul he got a bit of a bouncer with his first question in Round Three. Nobody knew the term ‘jacquerie ‘ . Alan took one of his own, but alas I seem to have omitted the question which tripped him up. Toby took his first, then Alan took a good bonus on Ph values – I was nowhere near that one myself. William got himself off the mark with his first, but nobody knew that it was Sir William Chambers who designed amongst other things the pagoda in Kew Gardens. At one time there were quite a few other remarkable buildings there as well – all long gone now, sadly. Nobody took the bonus. Paul probably should have known that the Andeman Islands belong to India. Well, put it this way, to have a chance in BoB you need to know that sort of thing. Toby did. Surprisingly nobody recognised the chestnutty full name of Man Ray for Alan’s second. Toby took his first, then missed out on a tricky one involving the Arab name for the mount of Olives. Finally William didn’t see that the capitals of a number of US States were all named after presidents. I bet Alan couldn’t believe he got a chance at a bonus on a gentle lob like that one. At the Beat the Brains interval Alan led Toby by 7 points to 6.

The first Beat the Brains question concerned the taxonomic system from domains down to species – and asked what comes above a family but below a class ? How do we remember ? Altogether now – Kent Play Cricket On Fridays - Girls Spectate. I guess this was a new one on the brains , as they plumped for something other than order, the correct answer. To be fair to them they did know that a cyanometer is used to measure the blueness of the sky, which was the second question.

On with round 5. Paul again missed his first, being unable to define the phlegmatic personality. Alan was close enough with laid back. Alan was stopped by his own first. He was asked about which station on the DLR has the same name as a Commonwealth country. I won’t lie – I immediately thought of Canada Water, but this wasn’t accepted. Apparently there is a station just called Cyprus. I didn’t know that, so I’m glad that I tuned in now. Toby managed to miss the old chestnut about the meaning of the Sikh name Singh. William thus took his first bonus of the contest. He then went and blotted his copybook by not knowing that korfball takes its name from the dutch for basket. In a tit for tat exchange, Toby took that one. Paul at last managed to get another starter right, but his second, about transhumance , caught everyone else out as well. Alan didn’t know that James Alexander Gordon reads out the football results on Radio 5 Live – Toby took that, which took the edge a little off missing out his own first question, about Morse Code telegraphy. Nobody knew that one. William was asked which is the largest dwarf planet in the solar system, and I didn’t know it was Eris any more than the rest of the contenders did. With two rounds left Alan and Toby were tied, but anyone could still win if they pulled off a full set. That didn’t look likely, somehow.

Paul didn’t know that the Order of Merit was instituted by Edward VII, which gave Alan a bonus. Alan took his own first, but didn’t know that Strawweight – or mini flyweight – is the lightest professional boxing weight. Bonus for Paul. Toby missed his own first on the Battle of the Spurs. William managed to add another point to his total, but nobody knew that the painter Richard Dadd ended his days in Broadmoor. This left Alan with a two point lead, and frankly in this show that looked like it would be quite enough. Paul missed his first which asked for the three countries which share a land border with Cambodia. William took that one. Alan didn’t know the meaning of the full name of the SS when translated into English. Toby did. Another point would put him level , but he didn’t get it from his own first question, about a term which is used for objects which point in all directions. William was asked a question about which country has a mythology about giant lemurs. Frankly you’d have thought that lemurs would have been enough to give him a decent shout at an answer, but he didn’t get it. Paul won the buzzer race to offer Madagascar, and that was enough to ensure a 1 point win for Alan. Alan probably deserved it, on the balance of the whole show he was maybe just a shade better than Toby. But you have to feel for the three of last week’s brains who didn’t win, any one of whom might have fancied their chances in this particular heat. That’s what you call the luck of the draw.

The Details

Paul Duke – 7
Alan Hay – 10
Toby O’Connor Morse – 9
William Thirsk – Gaskill - 5

A close shave

2012-01-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I’ve played in six quizzes this year so far, winning three and coming second in the other three, and I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that Rob and the guys from Lemurs have got the Indian sign over me. I’ve lost twice to them in the rugby club, and once in the Dyffryn Arms. Alright, every time we’ve been beaten they’ve had a bigger team than ours, but the fact is that a loss is a loss. The only time I’ve beaten them this year was in the Rugby Club when Rob himself was asking the questions. At least it’s not a very big losing streak yet. We were well beaten on Thursday night for the rather obvious reason that we didn’t know anything like as many of the answers as they did. Galling. I believe that Rob, who is none other than Robert Merrill, is recording his Brain of Britain semi final this week. I sincerely wish him the very best of luck. Fingers crossed.

I have to say that we were pretty lucky on Monday night. It was the first match of the second half of this season’s Bridgend Quiz League. Our opponents were the Tyrisha Nomads, and if that name sounds familiar, well, they were one of the LAMMY Award nominees for 2011. They were runners up to us in the League last season, and comfortably beat us in the Muriel Williams Trophy, the season curtain raiser. I’ve probably already told you this before, but anyway, the format of the league quiz is that the first 32 questions are read out for both teams to answer in writing. These questions are worth just one point for a correct answer. We had a 2 point lead after this set. These are followed then by 8 individual questions – 4 for each team. One person on each team may answer two of these. Captains pick numbers from 1 to 8, and each will correspond to a particular question – it’s pot luck which . The Nomads answered all of theirs, but our third question was the only individual question that no member of either team could answer. That wiped out our lead, as each question in the individual section is worth 2 points, or 1 if passed over for a bonus.

The last section of the quiz comprises of A and B team questions. For the first 5 one team takes the As, and for the last 5 they take the Bs. Correct answers to your own questions are worth 2 points, and bonuses 1. So, as I say, it was all square going into the As and Bs. We just couldn’t get a lead, and it never felt like we were going to be able to either. Whatever we could answer, they could answer. In fact, the Nomads took the lead when they correctly identified Kavanagh QC, and then Ally McBeal for a bonus. Then we pulled ourselves back in by knowing that Tchaikovsky wrote Winter Daydreams, and getting a bonus for Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. We both got the first three of the last 5. Neither of us got question 4. So we waited as the last category was announced – boxing. Ours was first – which boxer, who held world championships during his career, was defeated by Brit Kirkland Laing in 1982 ? Yes ! I knew that ! Roberto Duran ! We sat back, confident that the Nomads would get their answer correct as well, and so we had earned a draw. They were asked – which British and European Heavyweight champion lost his only world title fight in 1975 ? We immediately wrote down ‘Richard Dunn’. The Nomads gave their answer “Richard Dunn.” The QM replied – "Incorrect ."– and handed it across for a bonus. I was so dumbfounded that I blurted out Henry Cooper incorrectly, even knowing it was wrong. Of course, it was Joe Bugner. Talking with the Nomads afterwards, we both realized that we had made the same mistake – Bugner fought Ali twice, but the first time they fought, Ali wasn’t actually the champion. What can I say. The Nomads would have deserved the draw, and frankly, if the question had been the other way around they would maybe even have won. A great game – and very well played.

Mastermind - Heat 9

2012-01-21T05:24:00.001-08:00

For once BBC2 Wales deigned to allow us to see Mastermind at the same time as everybody else, so I got to watch the show on the big telly downstairs last night. I was interested to see that last night’s first contender, Kate Foley , hails from Mid Glamorgan. That’s well within my local quiz range, but I can’t say that I recognised her from any quiz I’ve been to. Not that it signifies anything. Kate’s specialist subject was The Archers – 1980 to the present day – a frankly massive undertaking , I would have thought. No, I don’t listen to the Archers, and so I scored precisely zero. Kate did a bit better than this, with 7, but I have to say that I think she was found out by the sheer scale of the undertaking she had set herself.

Now, Paul Radford gave us the Apollo space programme. This is a subject which I liked the look of. I was an impressionable 5 years old when I was woken in the middle of the night to get up and watch the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV, and so it’s been something I’ve always had a little bit of an interest in. I got 6 of these questions, and I don’t think you could claim that the average person might have got them through general knowledge in this case. These were pretty testing , I thought, and Paul did well to get his 12.

Mark Wyatt was answering on the Life and Music of Nick Drake. I can only apologise to his fans that I am afraid that I knew nothing about him. So at least the fact that I couldn’t get any of these questions right shows that it probably wasn’t a round padded out with GK questions masquerading as specialists. Mark’s 18 from 18 was as fine a perfect display as we’ve seen all series. Unless final contender Chris Forse could manage a high score, then the show as a contest was already over.

The Cold War – 1946 – 64 – was our final subject. I haven’t studied this period specially, and it’s over 30 years since I read about a lot of these things in O level history. I still managed 11. I know that this is going to add fuel to the fire about the debate which has gone on in some recent posts and comments about the use of GK questions in specialist rounds, but I have to say that I thought that this round was a lot more accessible to the home viewer with a decent GK than any of the others. For which I don’t blame Chris Forse at all. His 15 was a fine performance – he can only answer the questions that he’s asked, after all. The fact that he did manage 15, as well, meant that at least the show would not be decided until Mark’s GK round.

Kate returned to the chair. I can only judge by facial expression and tone of voice, but it did seem like a number of Kate’s correct answers were not certain, only guesses. What she did well was in most cases, to go for the obvious, or the only thing you can think of – so who sulked in his tent in the Iliad – well you know Achilles was a greek hero, so go for him. It’s a perfectly valid tactic, and together with the answers she did know for certain, she put on a good score of 12 points. Her total of 19 meant that she did lead the contest, even though this was only going to be for a couple more minutes.

Paul Radford started his round confidently enough, but the passes and wrong answers started to set in after the first half a minute. I can’t say that I thought his questions were particularly harder than the other rounds – my lowest score was 15 out of 19 on Kate’s set. On Paul’s I managed 18 from 20. Paul answered 9 correctly, which gave him a total of 21, Which at least meant that he , too , would be in the lead for at least another two minutes.

Chris got through more questions in his round, but unfortunately this was because nerves seemed to get the better of him, and he fell into a nasty pass spiral. I made it that he was asked 22 questions, of which I answered 18. He managed double figures by the end of the round, but the 8 passes told their own story, I’m afraid. He finished with 26, and took the lead himself. With only 9 needed for an outright win, it seemed highly likely that Mark would overtake him.

Mark started impressively. The thing about Mastermind is that you get into a rhythm. If you answer quickly, then John askes quickly, and you can really build up ahead of steam. Granted Mark didn’t maintain this cracking pace throughout the whole of the round, but he’d already won by the time he began to slow down. For the record I had my best performance on Mark’s round with 21 from 23 questions. Mark himself managed 14, a good score by anyone’s reckoning.

So well done ! A performance which suggests that , should he get an equally good run at the specialist round in his semi, Mark can certainly get to the final.

The Details

Kate Foley	The Archers 1980 – Present Day	7 - 4	12 - 2	19 – 6
Paul Radford	The Apollo Space Programme	12 - 4	9 - 5	21 – 9
Mark Wyatt	Life and Music of Nick Drake	18 - 0	13 - 3	31 – 3

Chris Forse	The Cold War 1946 - 64	15 - 0	11 - 8	26 – 8

University Challenge - Quarter Final Match 4

2012-01-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

The last two teams to kick off their quarter final campaigns were Clare and Homerton, both of Cambridge University. Clare, who narrowly defeated Worcester, Oxford in the first round, were represented by Kris Cao, Daniel Janes, Jonathan Foxwell, and captain Jonathan Burley.They hit absolutely top form in the second round against Leeds, breaking the 300 barrier. Stern opposition for Homerton, then. Their team consisted of Jack Euesden, Frances Connor, Thomas Grinyer and skipper David Murray. Homerton had a difficult route to the second round, having actually narrowly lost their first match. Still, they made no mistake in their play-off against the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Flexing their muscles they disposed of high scoring Durham in the second round.

Straightaway Jack Euesden took a flier at the first starter, and lost 5 . Neither team knew that the series of clues given were all pointing towards the word blue. Thomas Grinyer took the first of what would prove to be a very impressive haul of starters, when he knew that Fianna Fail were the party who were relegated to third in an election in the Republic of Ireland. A full set of bonuses followed on World War II. Daniel Janes lost five for Clare on the next starter, and it was Thomas Grinyer who identified the king being referred to in the question as Henry VII. 2 bonuses followed on words meaning very big. Daniel Janes made up for his earlier mistake by winning the buzzer race to explain that Einstein won his Nobel Prize for his work on the Photoelectric Effect. Only one bonus followed on contemporary reviews of performances by the actor Edmund Keane. Frances Conner took the next starter, identifying Rousseau as the swiss born author quoted. Another full set followed on scientific diagrams. A great UC special followed for the next starter, where anagrams of the titles of a set of books by a particular author were shown. Thomas Grinyer knew that Mame gives you Emma, and that’s Jane Austen. Lovely question. More of the same followed, and they managed one of them. So at the ten minute mark you could only think that Homerton had made a very impressive start. They were clearly winning the buzzer race, and taking a pretty good proportion of the bonuses too. They looked good value for their 80 – 10 lead over Clare, and if things continued like this, then a comfortable win looked on the cards.

Well, things didn’t continue quite like this. Skipper David Murray lost 5 with an early buzz on Home Thoughts from Abroad – the impressively quick Daniel Janes knew it was Robert Browning. Only one of a nice set of bonuses on countries names which may be permissible in scrabble if the spelling is changed – cypress for example. Jonathan Foxwell knew Lamarck, and for the first time Clare had taken two starters in a row. 1 bonus on orchestral conductors was taken. Thomas Grinyer, the most impressive of the Homerton buzzers , hit right back with a set of clues to the number 38 – a fine shout that. One bonus followe don scientific apparatus. My Moment Of The Week came when I identified a little bit of Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach, which neither team could manage. Jonathan Foxwell earned that set of bonuses by supplying the name of Vitruvius, and the team managed 2 bonuses on other works based on the Orpheus legend. Thomas Grinyer was unlucky with his next buzz. He offered what sounded like ‘Blunty’ instead of Blighty – but could just have been a slight mispronunciation. Well, JP was having none of it, and 5 points were lost. Neither team got one of those If A is 1 and B is 2 – then what comes next in the sequence ? questions. All I can tell you is that it worked out to be a Fibonacci sequence. David Murray steadied the Homerton ship with the answer of satire for the next starter bringing a couple of bonuses on 17th century generals with it. However Thomas Grinyer again buzzed too early on provinces of Poland, allowing Chris Cao in. A tricky set on artists proved elusive, but nonetheless it had been a good ten minutes for Clare , who had narrowed Homerton’s lead, with the score now at 100 – 70.

Chris Cao made it two starters in a row when he knew that the roman numerals for 501 are an anagram for id. 2 bonuses on Victorian Clergymen were accessible to the team. The second picture starter showed paintings of two historical figures, and the teams had to identify their eldest son. Clare chanced their arm incorrectly, but Thomas Grinyer, back firing on all cylinders, supplied Louis XIV to earn more of the same. They took one of these bonuses. Daniel Janes recognised Recife and Belo Horizonte amongst others as cities in Brazil. With a full set of bonuses on chromosomes the teams were now level. What a good match this was. Daniel Janes took the next starter as well, on a set of people whose initials were G.G. – Gunter Grass being one of them . 2 bonuses followe don Lancaster. Neither team knew that the USA have hosted the Winter Olympics on the most occasions. Thomas Grinyer, again won the race to supply the answer of CAMRA to the next starter. They wanted a full set of bonuses, but could only take one on Booker prize winning novels and locations mentioned in their first sentences. I loved the way that Daniel Janes was so determined to win the buzzer race for the next starter that he almost thumped it through the table to answer the next. It worked, for he recognised a quote on Washington DC. 2 bonuses on chemistry looked a useful return at this stage of the game. Yet again Thomas Grinyer seemed incredibly quick with his buzz to answer that there are 91 days in the first three months of a leap year. 2 bonuses followed on welsh food – they missed bara brith, which is absolutely delicious by the way . There was still nothing in it. Poor Jack Euesden leapt in too quickly for the next starter and lost five, but Clare didn’t know that plasmodium is transferred by the bite of the female anopheles mosquito. I did. I won’t exactly say I did a lap of honour around the sofa at this point, but I don’t know if I’ve ever got a science starter that neither team knew before. How long was left ? It couldn’t be much, but Chris Cao snatched the next starter on Sikhism, and this was enough. At the gong, Clare had shaded a great contest by 170 to 145.

On reflection, I think that Clare probably deserved the win , if for no other reason that their main buzzer – Daniel Janes, had good support from Jonathan Foxwell and Cao, who made good buzzes at significant points of the match. Although all of the Homerton team buzzed in at one point or another, for them it really was all about Thomas Grinyer in this match.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

I didn’t expect a lot . JP is a Cambridge man himself, and I expected him to be rather more benign than usual with both. He was firm but fair with the Papua New Guinea/ Guinea answer. There was just one classic JP moment, though. When pressing one of the teams –
“Can we have an answer now please ? “ his request was met by silence.
“You never listen to me !” he responded, in the tone of a neglected spouse. Great.

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

The angle at which snow is most prone to avalanche is 38 degrees.

Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 10

2012-01-21T04:08:00.000-08:00

Where else should I begin this week’s round up, than with Brain of Britain ? Monday saw the appearance of our own Brian Pendreigh. Brian was also a member of The Tramlines, who defeated the Eggheads on Monday evening. Yes, you wait months for another Brian Pendreigh show to come along, and then two come along at once. On a much more serious note, I would like to extend my condolences to the family and friends of Max Thomson, of The Tramlines, who passed away this week. I never met Max myself, but everyone who did has commented on his skill and enthusiasm as a quizzer, and made a point of saying what a nice person he was.

Moving back to BoB then, Brian was alphabetically third on the list for the show. Roman Dubowski kicked off. He whacked in his first two, and then missed out on the margay – a type of wildcat. Tricky one that, and nobody took a bonus. Brendan O’Connor took his first, but didn’t know that peg and baulk line are terms in croquet. Brian took his own first, but then got a nasty one on trees. I didn’t know that the genus franginus are ash trees, but Roman did. Bringing the round to a close Stever Terry took his first , but didn’t know that Fig Sunday was Palm Sunday. I guess that there was a buzzer race for the bonus, and it was won by Roman – who led with 4 from Brian’s 2. So from the first round we lear5ned that Brian had some serious opposition, and all four of the contestants had answered at least one good question – which is something we haven’t been able to say in every heat this year. Roman again whacked in two answers, but failed on the Sabin vaccine. Again, nobody could take a bonus on the one he dropped. Brendan took his own first, then Brian got caught out with one which he later told me he knew he should have had. Which is the only substance which has a different name for each of it’s forms – solid – liquid – gas. The answer is water, and it gave a bonus to Roman – who looked sharpest on the buzzer at this stage. Steve took a good couple, but missed out on finnock. Brian nearly had a bonus, identifying it as a fish, but not being able to supply sea trout he was denied. Round three saw Roman, who had been eating up the bonuses up to this point, miss out on his own first. He gave Brian a bonus, when Brian knew that Nude Descending a Staircase was by Marcel Duchamp. Brendan took his own first, but gave a music bonus to Roman. Brian took his first, but missed out on martyr John Fisher, and this one was a bonus for Brendan. Finally Steve Terry couldn’t get the Klein Bottle – another bonus to Roman. It was the end of Round Three, and already Roman looked good for the semis having made 10 points before the Beat The Brains interval.

Well, if Roman looked good for the win before round four, he looked a cast iron certainty after it. Five in a row , and a huge lead. Brendan didn’t know that the welsh rider who took a bronze medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics was David Broome – Steve Terry had that one. Brian missed out on Gulliver being the famous passenger on the Antelope- and this one was taken by Roman. Steve Terry didn’t know that Mary Queen of Scots was born in Linlithgow Palace, and this went to Brian. So at this point Brian led the other 2 by 5 to 4 each, but Roman was gone, with 17.

The questions for the Beat the Brains Interval were supplied by former champion Leslie Duncalf . The first – Planet Earth is sometime described as an oblate spheroid – what is the corresponding term for a reverse planet was ungettable for the brains, and also for me at home. It is a prolate spheroid. Whatever you say. For the second - In George Orwell’s 1984 three slogans are written on the Ministry of Truth – 2 were given – what was the third ? Ignorance is strength was the answer, and no, I didn’t know it either.

As for the contest, Roman missed on his own first question, which allowed Brendan in. Brendan took a couple of his own, but inevitably it was Roman who took a bonus on the Bruce clan. Brain missed out on a question on goitre, which gave Steve a bonus. Steve hadn’t had the benefit of seeing last week’s Crossworder’s v. Masterminders Only Connect when the show was recorded, otherwise he’d probably have known that the people of Snotta gave their name to Nottingham. As it was Brendan nipped in for the bonus. Which put him clearly into second with 8, and maybe just gave him the hint of a chance of a run for a repechage place. Roman, possibly in cruise control at this stage, didn’t know the singer Noel Harrison. Steve snapped that one up, thank you very much. Brendan took his first, but Roman nipped in for a bonus. Brian took his first, but his second was the only question I answered which none of the Brains could answer in the show – knowing that another name for a halo in art is a nimbus. Steve Terry missed out on Gorky, and the indefatigable Roman nipped in for it.

Only two rounds remained. Roman took his first, but didn’t know that Willie John McBride was actually christened William James McBride. Steve Terry had that bonus. Brendan took a good three, but I was a bit surprised that he missed out on the chestnutty zygomatic bone – the cheek bone. Roman made no mistake. Brian got an absolutely horrible question about the highest mountain on the border between Macedonia and Albania – unsurprisingly nobody had it. Steve missed out on his own first , and going into the last round, Roman had 24, Brendan had a chance at a repechage place with 12, Steve had 7, and Brian 6. It wasn’t a very high scoring round. Roman , his job well and truly done, took one, but missed out on Richard Rieti. Brendan didn’t know that the cuckoo pint is also called Lords and Ladies. Brian didn’t get that the vacuum cleaner was invented by Mr. Booth – he again knew the answer, but it just didn’t come on the day. Steve took that to cement third place. He missed his own, not knowing that Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor. Inevitably it was Roman who took the bonus.

So very well done, Roman Dubowski. He impressed me a s a competitor who certainly has a good chance of contesting the final. If nothing else his buzzer speed will always give him a good chance – Brian himself told me that he felt on several occasions that he must have buzzed more quickly than anyone else, only to find that Roman had beaten him to it.

As for Brian – well, Brian has nothing to prove to anyone. He is an Eggheads winner, a Postcode Challenge winner, and a Mastermind semi finalist who set a massive score in the first round last series. Sometimes on a quiz show things just run against you. It happens to most of us at one time or another. Don’t let it get you down.

The Details

Roman Dubowski – 24
Brendan O’Connor – 12
Brian Pendreigh – 6
Steve Terry - 8

In the News Questions

2012-01-21T03:15:00.000-08:00

Here we are – it’s back – the weekly trawl of the news. Answers in a week or so – email me if you can’t wait.

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1. Francesco Schettino
2. Jon Huntsman
3. Yousuf Gilani
4. Carole Kolar
5. John Burnside
6. Tom Harris
7. Mildred Pierce
8. Abu Qatada
9. Kerry-Jo Te Huia
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. Kim Jong Nam
12. Boris Island
13. Rande Gerber
14. Elly Nowell
15. Godshifteh Farahani
16. Rick Perry
17. Dominica Cemorton
18. Beck Laxton
19. Brian Shivers
20. Gary Streeter
21. Pseudomonas
22. PressTV

In Other News

1. The ferry Costa Concordia was wrecked just off which island ?
2. Which website underwent a voluntary blackout in protest against the anti piracy bill ?
3. On which day did Muhammad Ali turn 70 ?
4. Why has a new species of horsefly been named after Beyonce ?
5. Which car has been recalled due to fire hazard ?
6. Who won an apology from The Sun which wrongly claimed that he had groped a shop girl ?
7. How many of the 6 British singles players lost on the first day of the Australian Open ?
8. Which MP was wrongly accused of leaking Michael Gove’s letter concerning the possibility of a new royal yacht ?
9. Which of the Edinburgh pandas suffered from a bout of colic last week ?
10. Bruno Senna has joined which F1 team ?
11. A vaccine has been developed for the B strain of which disease ?
12. BBC have refused to apologise for Top Gear offending which country ?
13. Who was nominated as the BAFTA Best Actor for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ?
14. Which two coins are to be made slightly thicker ?
15. In new rules what have been banned form the Royal Enclosure at Ascot ?
16. Which National Park announced that it will be introducing parking charges ?
17. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s next talent searching TV series will be on ITV, and it will seek a star for which musical ?
18. Doubts were raised last week over the effectiveness of which drug ?
19. Which country last week saw it’s urban population exceed its rural population for the first time ever ?
20. Which are the three brands most highly rated by British consumers ?
21. It was revealed that last year London police spend £35,000 on what ?
22. Which respected broadcaster was told that she was ‘too posh’ for the BBC ?
23. Who is the only British player in the UEFA Team of 2011 ?
24. Which large US company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy ?
25. Which player has made a surprise return to the Welsh rugby squad for the 6 Nations ?
26. Which England player looks set to quit Northampton Saints RFC ?
27. How many hacking lawsuits were settled by News International last week ?
28. Who announced that he will be making an album about the Titanic ?
29. 2nd class stamps will be rising to which price ?
30. Who is Britain’s new unofficial trade envoy ?
31. Which TV series has been accused of damaging Ilkley Moor ?
32. Which singer died aged 73 ?

Only Connect Special - Crossworders v. Masterminders

2012-01-14T03:42:00.000-08:00

The Crossworders v. The Masterminders

I’ve been waiting for this one for some time. I was the stand-in for the Masterminders team, mainly because I live relatively close to the Cardiff studios, so had there been a phonecall due to unforeseen circumstances I could have made it to the studio in time. Being as I wasn’t there, though, I honestly didn’t know what happened in the show.

Fans of the show of course know all about the Crossworders. Ian Bayley, Mark Grant and captain David Stainer, they are the Champion of Champions of Champions. Nuff said. The Masterminders are all Mastermind champs – hence the name, and I’m delighted to say that all of them played in the brilliant Champ of Champs tournament last year. Gavin Fuller, youngest ever champ from 1993, contested that fantastic final, won by the great Pat Gibson. Stephen Allen was the 1991 champ, and Nancy Dickmann, my successor from 2009 was skipper. When talking to Victoria at the start of the show, Nancy did mention that she has beaten Ian before – he was runner up in Nancy’s Grand Final – “Oh no !” I said, from my vantage point on the Clark sofa “ Don’t get them angry , Nancy !” Not that Ian has anything to prove – since 2009 he’s added Brain of Britain 2010, Mastermind 2011, and Brain of Brains 2011 to his trophy cabinet. Enough of such digressions. Let’s get on with the show.

Round One – What’s the Connection ?

Crossworders won the toss, but sent the Ms in. Nancy went for twisted flax, earning the music or sound question. I suspected Venice off the first two, and Gavin thought exactly the same thing. 3 points was duly taken – a great start for my guys. The CWs picked Lion. They played cautiously, taking all four, even though it did seem they had worked out the connection a little earlier. It’s a Boy – Bradman Will Be Batting Tomorrow – Over all of Spain the sky is clear – Climb Mount Niitaka – were all military code signals. So far I was feeling happy, having got both connections. Actually I had a great first round – but I stress that this was not to last. Viper gave the Ms Adder – Possum – Squire – Nottingham. Nancy was on the right lines while they were weighing up the options saying it was something about the words. The only thing I could come up with, which was a guess based on the 2nd and 3rd words, was actually the right answer, as supplied for a bonus by the CWs. They were all originally words which were longer – nadder – opossum – esquire – snottingham. Good bonus that. Water bought up Byrne v. Fischer 1956 – Lindbergh baby kidnap 1932 – Warne bols Gatting Old Trafford 1993 – and this was the one that gave it to me. It gave it to David as well – they all earned the epithet – of the Century. Great set. The Ms took eye of Horus and found Quentin Crisp, Mahmoud Ahmedinajad,Parents of Stephen Lawrence and Marge Simpson. I had no idea. The CWs couldn’t take a bonus either – all presented the alternative Christmas message on Channel 4 at one time or another. Finally Two Reeds gave the CWs a set of pictures, which I , like the CWs , got from the last two – Liberia and Nichelle Nicholls playing Lt. Uhura – both of which mean or derive from words for Freedom. The other two were Saoirse Roman and Slobodan Milosevic. That great shout on the music set was looking crucial for the Ms, as the scores at the end of the round were 3 to the Ms and 5 to the CWs.

Round Two – What’s the Connection ?

Well, after a great first round I’m afraid that my brain went bye byes, and I was just as stumped by ?! - !? - ! as the Ms were. The CWS these are used to denote increasingly brilliant moves in Chess, so the next would be !!. An answer which deserves at least ! . CWs picked Eye of Horus – Kairouan – Al Quds ( Jerusalem ) – and feeling the force was with them went on two with Mecca. They knew that these were the fourth and third holiest cities of Islam, with Medina and Mecca to follow. Great shout. They are not champions for nothing, these guys. Two Reeds brought up some numbers – 355/133 – 333/106 – 22/7 – and straight away Nancy was on to it, as approximations of pi. Nancy offered pi itself – 3.14159 – but the CWs knew that a less accurate approximation was needed – which would be 3/1 – or 3 – same thing. Hard lines on my guys – and no – my brain was in meltdown and I was nowhere with it. Water gave the CWs something I thought I could get – Peru 1982 suggested Javier Perez de Cuellar becoming Sec Gen of the United Nations. So I quickly ran through – Boutros Boutros Ghalli – yes – Kofi Annan – yes – So Ban Ki Moon – which would mean South Korea. But which year ? I plumped for 2007, and earned myself something from the round. Yes, of course the CWs had it off 2 ! Given The Hirsel I hadn’t a clue, but the Ms went off one. They offered Grantham. Ah – I thought – were we talking about titles successive PMs had taken ? But if we were, then they were wrong – as I knew that Maggie T. took Kesteven and not Grantham as hers. The CWs offered Grantham and Kesteven, but Victoria refused, as Grantham isn’t part of it. Twisted Flax remained for the CWs – and pictures. A Michaelmas Daisy – Hilary Swank – An Easter Egg – ( which ruled out my guess ) gave them Trinity – which are terms in the legal year. Good enough to give them a lead of 15 – 3.

Round Four – The Connecting Walls

The CWs kicked off with Lion. They untangled the whole thing – finding Wirral – Trafford – Barnsley Kirklees – a set of Metropolitan boroughs , then – Bolland – Dudley – King – Scardino , who are all chief execs of large companies. The third line was Star – Pennant – Diamond – Rosette – which are all used by the AA to grade restaurants. Finally we had types of flag – burgee – swallowtail – square and oriflamme. A superb performance by a team clearly on the top of their game.

The M’s had the water wall, and they kicked off with Masters of the King’s / Queen’s Musick – Bax – Williamson – Bliss – Maxwell Davies. Mizz – Sugar – Jackie and 19 were all teenage girl’s magazines. Time ran out before they untangled – Felix – Jaz – Ping and Elgar – who are all characters in the Radio 4 sitcom Ed Reardon’s week. Fair enough. Finally Kill – Whoami – Cat and Echo were all Unix commands – again – fair enough.
Going into the last round the Ms had 7 , and the CWs – 25.

Round Four – The Missing Vowels

Well, we saw how the CWs nearly came a cropper on the vowels last week, but they were too far ahead for any chance of this to happen now. The first set was types of glass. Fair play, I had to laugh when they started playing the original version of the late Neil Richardson’s “Approaching Menace “ Mastermind theme in the background. This set fell 2 – 0 to the CWs. The next set was occasions when the National Anthem is played. 3 -1 to the Ms this time , and a dropped point for the CWs. Famous signoffs saw two for the CWs and one for the Ms, with a dropped point for them as well, and then the Mastermind buzzer ended the round. So the M’s finished on 10, and the CWs on 29. As Victoria said, absolutely no shame in losing to the Crossworders. They may be defeated one day, but it’ll take a hell of a team to do it !

University Challenge - Quarter Final Match 3

2012-01-14T02:40:00.000-08:00

Worcester , Oxford v. Newcastle

Worcester have already played three matches in the series so far. They lost their first match to Clare, a real nailbiter, but defeated a good St. Andrews outfit in the repechage. Then they survived another nailbiter against Queen’s Oxford in the second round. The team consists of Dave Knapp, Jack Bramhill, Jonathan Metzer and captain Rebecca Gillie. Opponents Newcastle, who comfortably beat Queen’s University, Belfast in Round One had also beaten Birmingham comfortably in round two. Newcastle’s team consisted of Ben Dunbar, Ross Dent, Nicholas Pang and skipper Eleanor Turner. The form guide suggested Newcastle could be the stronger team, but Worcester were certainly battle hardened by this time, and had a habit of keeping their nerve in tight games.

The first starter was taken by Eleanor Turner who recognised various definitions of the word field. Newcastle went on to fail on a set of bonuses on 19th century politics. Ben Dunbar took the next on Elizabeth Taylor. A lovely set followed on deaths caused by a fit of laughter – they managed 2. Brueghel followed, and he was recognised by Eleanor Turner, for Newcastle’s third starter in a row. Three circumlocutions followed, but Newcastle only managed one of them. The next starter was a chemistry question, and this was taken by Jack Bramhill to get Worcester off the mark. Bonuses on Physics proved tricky, but they managed one of them. The picture starter showed a stave showing the playing range of a musical instrument. Jonathan Metzer knew it was the piano. Three more staves followed, but only one was recognised. Chicago by Kander and Ebb gave Jonathan Metzer a double, and this brought up bonuses on Russian novelists. This set brought them 2 bonuses, and a five point lead at the ten minute mark – 50 to 45.

Nicholas Pang took his first starter with the term user – friendly. It wouldn’t be his last. The bonuses which followed were on Trafalgar Square, and all seemed gettable, but they only managed the one. The S.I.Unit of dose equivalent radiation is the Sievert. No, I didn’t know it, but Ben Dunbar did. Three bonuses on artists followed, and they answered one of them correctly. Jack Bramhill knew that the barrel is a type of cactus. The bonuses they were given on punning titles of works of literature brought them another correct answer. This brought us to the music starter – a name the composer question. I couldn’t – neither could Newcastle, nor Worcester. It was Debussy. The next starter asked about the little Ice Age, and Jonathan Metzer won the buzzer race to earn the music bonuses on pieces of music associated with the sea. Worcester’s banker was that Vaughan Williams would be in there somewhere, but he wasn’t. Amazingly I knew two of them. I knew the piece from Scheherezade, and I like Vivaldi very much so I also recognised Tempesta di Mare. Bragging again – sorry. Dave Knapp – very effective on the buzzer in previous matches, but quiet so far, weighed in with his first starter, knowing that the modern name of the Indian sea port whose name is still used for a type of curry is Chennai – from Madras. A set of bonuses on glue followed – a very tricky set I thought. The first one, a science thing, provoked a great comment from one of the team - ‘well this has never come up in Classics !’ Almost worth five points on its own, that comment. One bonus was taken. Eleanor Turner took the next starter on brocade. Three bonuses on Dante followed, and Newcastle managed to answer one of them. This put the teams absolutely level on points. What a good match so far. Nicholas Pang won the buzzer race to answer about a quote from Hemingway on Paris. 1 bonus was taken on straits. Nicholas Pang took a timely double, identifying the University of Berkeley for the next. They managed 2 bonuses on the Chinese classics, which gave them a lead of 125 to 90 at the 20 minute mark.

The last section of the contest kicked off with a picture bonus, but nobody recognised that the figure missing from a painting was St. Peter. Jonathan Metzer recognised a set of words all beginning with neo – to earn the picture bonuses. They identified missing figures from 2 of the paintings and the gap was back down to 15. Nobody knew that the Hunterian Museum is in Glasgow. Jack Bramhill knew that a set of definitions were all linked by words with a double letter i. The set of bonuses that followed were on reworkings of works by Anton Chekov. None were taken – not surprised either. Jack Bramhill took the lead for his team knowing that the meteor shower being asked for were the Leonids. Only one bonus was taken. Dave Knapp leapt in to identify the series of paintings by Hogarth called the Rake’s Progress. This earned bonuses on acids – 2 were taken. You might have forgiven Newcastle, who’d never been put under this kind of pressure in either of their previous matches, for crumbling. Not a bit of it. Captain Eleanor Turner nipped straight in when given a series of dishes all containing aubergine. A1 roads brought them one bonus, but narrowed the gap to a single starter. Jack Bramhill knew that canopic is a word which comes before jar. Shakespeare quotes brought Worcester 2 bonuses. Jack Bramhill took a double, winning the buzzer race to explain the meaning of the acronym STOL. A nice set of bonuses on places that have given their names to bakery products followed. Not much time left, and Worcester had what looked like a winning lead of 50 points by now. The chestnutty – what is sternutation ? - passed both teams by. Nicholas Pang gave his team hope by getting the Tropic of Capricorn. But there was only time for one incorrect bonus before the gong. So, a win for Worcester by 190 to 150. A great match which I thoroughly enjoyed. Alright, both teams were a little profligate with the bonuses, but what the hell. Well played Worcester, but also well played Newcastle. They’re not out of it by a long way yet.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP described the labyrinthine rules of the quarter final paly offs as having been devised by “Wittgenstein’s granddaughter”. He was in splendidly curmudgeonly form in the opening, describing Newcastle’s previous two opponents as having handed them victory on a plate, saying that Queen’s Belfast were ‘somnambulists’, and Birmingham were ‘equally dozy’. Having vented his spleen early doors, as it were, he gave both teams a relatively smooth ride, only rather pointedly correcting Eleanor Turner’s pronunciation of Pieter Brueghel.

Interesting Fact I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

The splendidly named Wilfred the Hairy was once Count of Barcelona.

Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 9

2012-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

First to go on Monday was Geoffrey Birmingham. I don’t know if it was just nerves, but the fact that he didn’t know that Marco Polo and Vivaldi et al were citizens of Venice for his first question didn’t fill me with great hopes for his chances. Beverley Davies took that one, but fared no better on her own first question. The heaf test did for her, and it was Peter King who knew it. This brought up his own first question, He took one, but didn’t know that the great Sir Stephen Fry ( alright, he's not actually Sir yet, but surely it’s only a matter of time ) attended Uppingham School. Hated it as I recall. Richard Peterson took that one. He got off the mark, but didn’t know that Jimmy Wales was the founder of Wikipedia. I thought it would be nice if Geoffrey took this one to ensure that everyone was off the mark, and so he did. So with all contenders missing gettable questions it looked as if we might be in for a close contest.

There was no break for the Beat the Brains until after round four. Geoffrey didn’t score through rounds 2 and 3. In fact nobody got one of their own questions right in the whole of round two. Beverly knew that Diaghilev was the director of the itinerant Ballet Russe, and Peter knew that Dickens was describing Kent as a place of cherries and hops – and beautiful young women. In round three we saw Peter begin to make an early bid for the win. He took his own point, and a couple of bonuses, and was probabaly unlucky to get a bit of a snorter about the poet known as the Swan of Usk. Henry Vaughan, since you ask, and no, me neither. Richard too took one of his own, but Peter had daylight, and led with 6 to Richard’s 4. At the start of round four Geoffrey managed to drag himself up by his bootstraps, and took his first two. Beverly took another point from her own first question, but nobody knew her second, that the ball in a game of bar skittles is actually called the cheese. Nobody knew Peter’s first question, that the real life highwayman who was said to be the inspiration for Macheath in the Beggar’s Opera was Jack Shepherd. Who went on to play Wycliffe unless I’m much mistaken. This round saw Peter extend his score to 7, but Richard had closed up to 6. It looked unlikely at this stage that Geoffrey or Beverley would be able to bridge the widening gap.

Credit where it’s due, the brains unscrambled the listener’s questions expertly. The first was - which British politician brought good cheer to a remote part of Scotland in 1941 ? They knew almost at once that we were dealing with S.S.Politician – the wrecked ship that was the real life inspiration for the story and the great Ealing comedy Whiskey Galore. The second question was - which two well known writers supposedly died on the same die in 1616 – why did they not ? Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same date – but the difference was that between the Julian calendar in England and Gregorian calendar in Spain. Good questions, good answers.

Round 5, and Geoffrey now began to make his move. Two answers on the bounce followed, but again he showed his vulnerability by not knowing that The Moon and Sixpence was the Somerset Maugham book about the artist based on Gauguin. Actually this round was the high water mark for Geoffrey really. He took another two bonuses, which put him level with Richard, and actually ahead of Peter, joint leader of the competition now. On balance you just felt deep down that either Richard or Peter would have too much gas in the tank for him – still, a lucky set of five, and anything could happen.

The first thing that happened was that Peter hit back with two of his own, and a bonus to go ahead of Richard, who only managed one himself. Geoffrey had stalled again. Nobody knew that the Great Wen – used to describe London in days gone by – means a great wart. Again, I was a little surprised that nobody knew the Sunda Strait either. I place a mental bet with myself that we were in for 9 rounds rather than 8 , and I wasn’t to be disappointed. Round Seven was to bring the decisive moments of the contest. Peter picked up bonuses on Geoffrey’s first question , about Elvira Madigan, and Beverley’s first about Manitoba, and looked to be going great guns. Guns which were spiked by his own first, as he didn’t know that the 999 call was first used in the UK in the 30s. Then Richard weighed in with the only full set of the whole competition. They weren’t gimmes, but they were all gettable. Still, a number of gettable ones had been going begging throughout the show, so full marks for holding nerve, and seeing the set out. Suddenly a gap which had never been wider than 2 points was now up to 5, with Richard holding a winning 16 to Peter’s 11. With two rounds still to go, though, Peter could force himself onto the repechage board.

Without wishing to draw things out, Peter couldn’t manage to add to his score. Richard went on collecting the odd point here and there, to finish with a very healthy 19. Geoffrey managed a couple more during round 8, but even though he finished with the psychologically important double figures, it wasn’t quite enough for second. Well, I’ll be honest, I know we’ve still a couple of heats to go, but I certainly wouldn’t like to predict who is going to win this series.

The Details

Geoffrey Birmingham – 10
Beverley Davies – 5
Peter King – 11
Richard Peterson - 19

Sleb Mastermind - Final table

2012-01-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

OK - let's remember that all of the slebs taking part were not quizzers, and were doing it for the sake of their charities, and for the fun of doing it - and all deserve applause for that. So this is not intended to poke fun at anyone, but I thought it might be interesting just to see how the slebs in each show did relative to those in other shows.

Neil Dudgeon	29	1
Justin Moorhouse	28	0
Chris Packham	28	3
Miles Jupp	27	1
Jacqui Smith	26	3
Martin Lewis	26	3
Simon Calder	26	6
Dan Walker	25	0
Alex Winters	25	2
Rachel Riley	24	1
JayRayner	24	2
Gary O'Donoghue	24	2
Nathaniel Parker	24	4
Andi Osho	24	4
Jules Hudson	23	1
Simon Day	23	1
Andrew Collins	23	1
Richard Arnold	23	4
Steve Harley	22	3
Sophie Grigson	22	4
Neil Hannon	22	6
Wayne Hemingway	22	7
O.J. Borg	21	3
John Sopel	21	4
Simon Armitage	21	7
Nihal Arthanayake	19	0
Graeme Hawley	18	6
Michael Vaughan	18	8
Stuart Francis	17	4
Sarah Storey	16	3
Jenny Meadows	16	5
Sandie Shaw	16	6
Anthony Costa	16	6
Jason Manford	15	5
Erin Boag	15	9
Jessica Hynes	13	1
Matthew Hoggard	13	4
Ray Fearon	13	6
Michel Roux Jnr.	12	10
Stacey Solomon	10	2

Sleb Mastermind - Show 10

2012-01-09T07:58:00.001-08:00

The last sleb Mastermind of this series has been and gone. So let’s round up what happened, then cast a quick glance over the series as a whole.

First up was Martin Lew-s – the one who knows about money, not the one who used to present “Today’s The Day”. He was answering on the Superman Films. Obviously he meant the Ilya and Alexander Salkind films of the 70s and 80s – there weren’t any questions about the 1940s film serial starring Kirk Alyn, I noticed. It was a round split between questions you needed to have seen the films for, and questions which were just about the whole Superman mythos. I found that 7 of them were easy enough to answer, which was not as good as Martyn, who managed 12 from 13 questions. His charity was the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

DJ Nihal Arthanayake came next to the chair. I wasn’t all that amused by his ‘comic’ reluctance to take the chair, but I warmed to him when he announced that his specialist subject was Glen Hoddle. For those of us for whom the 1981 FA Cup winning team was ‘our’ team, this was guaranteed to get the blood pumpin . I was pleased with my 9 points, which was actually two points better than Nihal himself managed, although he did at least manage to avoid any passes. His two charities were SOS Children’s Villages International and Action for Children.

Champion Cyclist Sarah Storey was next to go. I have to say that I didn’t fancy my chances with her subject “Sex and The City – The Early Years”. So I was rather surprised that I did manage to get two of the questions right. Sarah outscored Nihal, although her 8 points left her some way behind Martin going into the GK round. She too represented a brace of charities – Boot out Breast Cancer, and The Childrens’ Adventure Farm Trust.

Lastly the man who wrote to Des Lynam telling him that he was after his job, and asking for advice how to get it. True to his nature, Des duly gave him good advice, and years later, he got it. Dan Walker offered us The Gunpowder Plot. History being one of my better subject areas I fancied I might get a few, and get a few I did – 5 to be precise. Dan improved upon Sarah’s score, making 9 with one pass. Decent effort, but at three points behind he’d left himself with some work to do on GK. His chosen good cause was Taste.

Nihal returned to the chair first of all, and he gave a good account of himself, earning 12 points for a total of 19 after a pretty shakey start. I had a good start too – a perfect round. Sarah returned after this. Once again, I had a perfect round with no incorrect answer or passes. Sarah never quite got the measure of the round, and her 8 left her anchored to the bottom. Dan followed, and served us up the best round of the night, and one of the best sleb GK rounds that we’ve seen. He ratrtled off 16 correct answers, which was only 1 point off being a perfect round. More importantly ( to me ) I had my third perfect in a row . Was it possible that I could achieve the personal milestone of getting all of the GK right in a sleb show ?

No.

I had two wrong in Martin’s round. Martin himself had quite a few more wrong. Was it me, or did John seem to have switched into top gear for this round, as he seemed to be rushing through the questions right from the word go. I made it that he got through about 20 questions altogether. Well, whatever the case, it was enough to allow Martin to score the 16 he needed to get his nose over the finishing line. So well done, and well done to all concerned, an enjoyable series as always.

The Details

Martin Lewis	Superman FIlms	12 - 0	14 - 3	26 – 3
Nihal Arthanayake	Glen Hoddle	7 - 0	12 - 0	19 – 0
Sarah Storey	Sex and the City – The Early Years	8 - 0	8 - 3	16 – 3
Dan Walker	The Gunpowder Plot	9 - 1	16 - 0	25 – 1

The Bank Job Final

2012-01-08T04:42:00.001-08:00

Well, I know that a number of us have been keeping an eye on this big budget Channel 4 quiz game. Last night the final was played out live. No, I didn’t watch it at the time, but the younger of my twins, Jess, who’s been turned on to this by her sister informed me this morning that I HAD to watch the final on On Demand. I know when to do as I’m told.

Basically the first three rounds of the final were played out according to the same rules as on the previous five shows – answer a question, pick a box, see how much money you’ve got, if you think you’ve got enough then leave the vault, if not then stay, but make sure that you leave the vault before the end of the round. If you’re the only one left in the vault at the end, then you’re out of the game. If there’s more than one of you in there, then it’s sudden death, and if all of you are out of the vault, then the one with the smallest amount of cash is out.

The difference came when we got down to the last two contestants. There were not more quiz questions, for this endgame was a slight variation on the Share or Shaft/Steal game – pioneered by Robert Kilroy Silk’s ill fated “Shafted” and exhumed to good effect in Jasper Carrott’s “Golden Balls”. The total of money won during the series was announced – something like half a million pounds in this case. Then the two contestants faced a choice. They both had two suitcases. One with cash, the other with trash. The choice was simple – they had to give one suitcase to the other player. If both gave cash, then the prize money was split in half, and both players would get one of these halves. If one of them gave trash, and the other cash, then the one giving away trash would take all of the money. If they both gave trash, then neither would get the money. As I said, the share or steal game. And here’s the variation on the theme – if they both gave trash, then the money would be automatically split three ways between the contestants who’d been knocked out in the earlier rounds of the show.

If you haven’t seen the show yet, and you don’t want to know what happened, then look away now. Of course, you can figure it out for yourself. It’s been known for a long time that the only tactic to use in such a situation is to steal. Basically you cannot be worse off by choosing to steal. If your opponent shares, then you get all of the money, and if your opponent decides to steal, then you were never going to get any money whatever you did, so it makes no difference. I tried to explain this to Jess, who bought into the whole morality tale aspect of it. She was delighted that they both got nothing because they were so greedy. Basically, I told her, the decisions really didn’t necessarily come down to greed at all. In reality each of the two men in the final were given a choice – and it had nothing to do with whether they wanted to get half of the money, or all of the money. Basically, both of the guys in the final were given the choice – do I want the other guy to get it all, or would I be more comfortable with it being shared between the other three people? You have to reckon that your opponent is going to steal. If he doesn’t – happy days, but you have to expect that he will. Mind you both of them looked a bit shocked at the end, but I’d like to think that they had worked out the odds, and decided to steal for the reasons I’ve outlined above, rather than any deluded idea that their opponent would probably share.

Well, as I say, my 17 year old twins loved it. I didn’t mind it either. I do think each show could easily have 15 minutes lopped off it without losing any of the game play – but that’s not going to happen though, is it. If it comes back again I won’t go out of my way to avoid it, but I certainly won’t be making any appointments to watch it either.

Sleb Mastermind - Show 9

2012-01-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

There’s just enough time to write up this penultimate sleb show before bedtime, so I’d best get on with it. Politicians don’t have the best track record on sleb MM, so you’d have got decent odds if you’d bet on Jacqui Smith before that start of the show. Jacqui was answering on the Archers radio series since 1980. I have to say she made rather a mockery of my odds as well, since she put in a perfect round – and we’ve seen a few of these this series, to be fair – but scored a massive 14 in the process. That’s good going off a 2 minute round, not a 90 second one. Jacqui’s chosen good cause was Eaves.

Nathaniel Parker, the actor who plays Inspector Linley in the eponymous TV series, was answering on Marx Brothers films. Ah, how nice to hear the name of Margaret Dumont once again. He was answering at a tremendous clip as well, and put on a very good 13 himself, getting the last one after the buzzer with what looked like a lucky guess. Don’t worry Nathaniel, they all count. His charity was Young Epilepsy.

People’s choice, comedian Jason Manford was next into chair. he made no bones about the fact that he felt daunted after the two specialist rounds he had just seen, and even passed on his own name for comic effect. His subject was the TV series Quantum Leap. Remember that one from the 90’s ? It was pretty popular in its time. I watched the first couple of series, but I couldn’t get more than three of these questions. Jason though managed 9, a score which would actually have given him at least a chance in a couple of other shows in this series. Not tonight, though. Jason’s charity was the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust.

Lastly Strictly Come Dancing’s Erin Boag. Erin had the only non-entertainment and rather highbrow subject tonight, the History of New Zealand from 1642 until 1872. Hell of a wide subject there – I thought to myself – full marks for taking something as ambitious as that in a sleb show. She gave it a good old go too, but I’m afraid that bravery only brought so much of a reward, as she managed 6 . Erine was representing Childline.

So a quick return to the chair was in order, and Erin managed to put on 9 by the buzzer, a fair performance. Jason, I’m afraid, looked pretty much out of his depth in his own round. Fair play he at least had a go at answering as many of the questions as he could, passing only on 2, but it really wasn’t his night, and he too ended on 15 points. Nathaniel never looked entirely comfortable, but he passed the psychologically important barrier into double figure, scoring 11 to finish on 24. I say psychologically important. There’s obviously only one point difference between 9 and 10, but ten always looks a hell of a lot more of an ask than 9. Still, 10 and less than 4 passes would do for Jacqui. Like Nathaniel, her round never quite flowed freely, but she was adding the points and that is what it is all about. She passed the finishing line before the buzzer sounded, and added enough to give her 12 points, 26 overall, and a win by 2.

The Details

Jacqui Smith	The Archers 1980 – present day	14 - 0	12 - 3	26 – 3
Nathaniel Parker	Marx Brothers Films	13 - 0	11 - 4	24 – 4
Jason Manford	Quantum Leap	9 - 3	6 - 2	15 – 5
Erin Boag	History of New Zealand 1642 - 1872	6 - 4	9 - 5	15 – 9

Mastermind Marathon - Heats 7 and 8

2012-01-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Heat 7

You wait the best part of a month for another Mastermind heat to come along, then two come at the same time. Just half an hour after the end of the 9th show of this series of sleb Mastermind shows as well. Rather too much than not enough, and on that note, let’s get on with the first of our two heats tonight.

In heat 7 the first thing that drew my attention was that John had his old hairstyle, which suggests that the sleb shows were done after these. Fair enough. Retired archdeacon Hughie Jones kicked off the show, and his specialist subject was the Cambridge Apostles. If like me all you knew about the Cambridge Apostles was the connection with the Philby, Burgess Maclean business, then you’ll also have been glad that this came up in one of the questions. Other than that I was struggling. Hughie scored 10, and my first reaction was – very good score . Then I remembered that we were back in real MM, not the Sleb shows. It’s still a decent score, but vulnerable for a SS round.

Sarah Waller, who followed Hughie into the chair, was answering on the subject of the life and work of Antonia Forest. Who, I have to admit, was a new one on me. Antonia Forest was a children’s author, a contemporary of Enid Blyton I guess. I’m sorry to say that I answered precisely none of these. Sarah however managed a good 14 – fantastic off 90 seconds, but still very good off 2 minutes. She was going to be in contention.

Guy Tozer answered on the French Revolution. I’m glad to say that here at last there were at least a few questions which would prove guessable for the generalist – i.e. me. This was another good round – anything in the teens is worth scoring in a 2 minute round. 13 put him one behind Sarah at the halfway stage, and so it really was everything to play for, providing that Jeremy Platt didn’t blow them all out of the water.

Jeremy , who finished off the SS rounds, was the only one of tonight’s first set of contenders whom I know to have previous form, although not in Mastermind. Jeremy was in Ray Eaton’s heat of last season’s Brain of Britain, so he’s not a stranger to the pressure of a top level broadcast quiz. His subject was the Life and Works of Gustav Mahler. he made a pretty decent fist of it too – 11 is certainly not to be sniffed at , even if it did leave him a bit of work to do in the GK rounds.

It’s relatively rare to see a contender suffer from quite the pass hell that poor old Hughie fell into in his round. he just couldn’t get started – and believe me, 2 and a half minutes is an awfully long time when that happens. I counted that he got through 19 questions, of which I managed 16. At the end of the round he had 15 altogether. Jeremy did a bit better. I liked his set a little more, and only missed on one of them. By the end of the round he had added another 8 to take his score to 19. In all honestly you had to fancy both Guy and Sarah to improve upon this total.

Guy went first. He never looked totally at ease, but of the two of them I felt he had a slightly nicer set of questions. He seemed to be answering a lot more quickly than anyone else tonight, as I made it that he got through 21 questions. He managed 11 of them, to set the score at 24. In all honesty I felt that he was probably 3 short of what he needed to go through. Sarah wasn’t answering as quickly , but then she needed just 11 to win outright, and so accuracy was probably more important than speed in her round. In the end she passed the target with a question or two to spare, and managed 12 for a total of 26, and a little daylight between herself and Guy.

The Details

Hughie Jones	The Cambridge Apostles	10 -2	5 - 11	15 – 13
Sarah Waller	The Life and Work of Antonia Forest	14 - 2	12 - 5	26 – 7
Guy Tozer	The French Revolution	13 - 2	11 - 5	24 – 7
Jeremy Platt	The Life and Works of Gustav Mahler	11 - 3	8 - 5	19 – 8

----------------------------------------

Heat 8

No time to draw breath, for the second heat of the night was already upon us. Eric Banks began with a rather wide subject , the major battles of World War II. Without reigniting our whole debate over the accessibility or otherwise of the specialist rounds, this was a round which I found really accessible – you didn’t have to be an expert to do rather well with these. I’m no expert on world war II, but I managed 11. So under these circumstances I’m glad that Eric managed to get into the teens with 13 points.

I quite fancied my chances with the second specialist subject as well. Nick Reed was answering on English League Football Grounds. It’s a good few years since I read Simon Inglis’ excellent book , but enough had stuck . Again, anyone with an interest in football who is over 30 had a decent chance with quite a few of these, and for the second time in the evening I managed double figures – this time scoring 10. Nick managed a fine 15 himself.

Now, our third contender tonight was , by any standards, a Mastermind veteran. Before tonight, Mel Kinsey had contested the first round of Mastermind three times before, in 1995, 2004 and 2009. He had twice contested semi-finals, in 1995 and 2009, and he had once contested the final , in 1995 – where he was runner up to none other than Mr. Kevin Ashman. I’ve said before that experience does count for a bit in mastermind, and so you wouldn’t have been blamed for putting your money on Mel before the start of the show. Offering us Watergate and the Fall of Richard Nixon , Mel managed 12. This gave him a 3 point deficit to make up, but with 2 and a half minutes for GK he was certainly not out of it.

The satirical works of Juvenal were our final specialist subject tonight, and they were what we were offered by Derek Walker. Being unfamiliar with the works – we studied Caesar and Ovid for my latin O Level, and that was enough – I was happy enough to have my one guess come off , and to take the point and run. Derek managed 10 points – nothing to be ashamed of, but not enough to really give him a shot at winning.

Derek returned to the chair to kick off the GK rounds. His eleven was a battling performance. By way of comparison I found these rounds about 2 points harder than the rounds in the previous show, but yes, I do know that it’s all in the eye of the beholder. They’re all easy if you know them , etc. etc. Mel followed, and what was needed was a real statement of intent. Unfortunately Mel struggled a bit with this - and I scored one point less on this than I did on the previous round – 15. Mel added 10 points to set the target at 22, but even being optimistic you had a strong feeling that this was not going to be enough.

There was hope given in Eric’s round. though. His progress towards the target, steady at first, became more tortuous as the round went on. He had his 9 for 22 with a question to go, but a pass on the last meant that he stayed on 22, with more passes than Mel had. Could he really win a place in his third semi? Well, no. Nick took a little time to pick up speed, but when he did he made no mistake. He powered through the target, and went on adding points until the end of the round, where he finished with 14, which gave him a combined total of 29. Well played !

The Details

Eric Banks	Major Battles of World War II	13 - 1	9 - 7	22 – 8
Nick Reed	English League Football Grounds	15 - 0	14 – 3	29 - 3
Mel Kinsey	Watergate and the Fall of Richard Nixon	12 - 2	10 - 4	22 – 6
Derek Walker	Satirical Works of Juvenal	10 - 1	11 - 3	21 – 4

Highest Scoring Runners Up

John Marshall – 31- 5
Simon Spiro – 27 - 5
Susan Holmes – 25 – 1
Jeff Grimshaw – 25 – 4
Peter Royle – 25 -5
Hannah Coates – Isabel Morgan – 24 – 5

R.I.P Bob Holness

2012-01-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

LAM would like to extend sympathy to the family and friends of Bob Holness, original host of "Blockbusters".

The host of a quizshow is a key ingredient of its success, and so Bob safely has his place in the pantheon of great TV questionmasters.

Bob himself never did play the saxophone on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street". I've seen and heard him in interviews where he seemed quite amused by the urban myth - of Stuart Maconie's creation apparently - but always categorically denied it. He knew that it was really Raphael Ravenscroft.

Bob did, however, play James Bond , on the radio, and was I believe proud of being the first person to do so.

Banking on the 18 - 30s

2012-01-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

It was during the quiz at the rugby club last night that George of my team asked me whether I have been watching the new quiz show. When I asked him which one, he replied that there was a new one on Channel 4, called Bank Job. I asked him for more information and he told me that it had been on a couple of evenings this week already at 9pm.
“It’s not presented by Davina McCall is it ? “ I asked . He replied in the negative, and so reassured of the absence of Shouty McGurney I decided to check it out some time today, and give it a fair trial.

You probably know what I’m going to say.

OK – let’s be fair. This is not aimed at people like me, so it doesn’t really matter whether I like it or not. This is aimed squarely at that 18 – 30something audience that Channel 4 love so much and go out of their way to woo. So bear in mind that I’m a good quarter of a century older than the target audience, and view all of my comments in this light.

The show is presented by George Lamb, and he didn’t get too much in the way, and didn’t irritate, which as I’ve said before is pretty much all I’m looking for from a presenter. As for the game, it’s a variation on the answer questions to look in the box game. Each box sits in a massive wall – in the high security vault of the ‘bank’ . It contains either an amount of cash , or nothing, or in the final, a chance to steal. This particular variation on the theme is an elimination game. Four players are whittled down to three, who are whittled down to two, who contest the final. There are slight differences in the game play of each of the rounds, but basically it works like this. The first two rounds are buzzer rounds. Contestants try to be the first to answer a question. Questions entitle you to try to find some money. When you answer the question, you can choose to bail out of the round at that point, and take the money. If all the other players find more cash than you do and get out of the vault themselves – you’re out. If time runs out and you’re still in the vault, then it’s a head to head, sudden death question to decide who goes through. Get it right and you’re through. Buzz in and get it wrong, you’re automatically out.

In the second round you get two cases, and can put one amount of money in each. If you think the amount of money you’ve won is too small, then you can throw it away, and keep playing. Same as before, you leave the game when you’ve filled your cases, and if the other two leave with more money than you do, that’s it, you’re out. In the final round, the last two get the same amount of time, and dispense with the buzzers. In turns they have to provide correct answers to get a choice. Incorrect answers mean that the clock keeps going, and they have to answer another question, and so on. This round, there are a number of ‘steals’ in boxes, which mean that you get to steal the largest amount your opponent has won. Same as before, after a correct answer you can leave the vault. If you’re still in there at the end, then you’re out. If you both get out, the one with most money wins, and goes on to the weekly final.

I’m not entirely clear on the whole money thing. I didn’t get whether the losing players leave with any money they’ve won or not – I think probably not, but I don’t know.

OK – initial impressions , then. Please remember that I’ve only watched the one show. All the contestants were in their twenties, and judging by the photos of the other two winners from earlier in the week, so were they. One of the criticisms many people had about Million Pound Drop was that when it started ( and ever since for all I know– I can’t stand Davina so I won’t watch it ) all the contestants came from this age group. I shouldn’t wonder whether this is going to be the case with this show. Not only that, but the vast majority of questions were entertainment from the last few years. It’s a perfectly valid category, but not to the detriment of all others. Alright – there were some other categories asked, but the ratio was vastly in favour of this one. But then, if you limit yourself to this cross section of contestants, to build the excitement you have to give them questions that they have at least a halfway decent chance of answering.

The contestants in the show I watched said that they had managed to get themselves on the show by playing along online. So I’ve been along to the channel 4 website. There are no more tournaments planned now, but you can still play against other people online, and I have to say – and I hate myself for saying this – it is rather addictive. I wanted to just play one to get the feel of it, but 5 games later I just managed to drag myself away from it. Still, when you register not only does it give you a box to tick, it also asks you to specify your age. Twice ! So I’m guessing that even if you did brilliantly in the online tournament, if you didn’t fit within the age profile, then tough. Alright, it’s their show so it’s their choice, but I can’t help wishing they’d come clean, and announce that this is a game for that age group only.

I didn’t mind the show that much actually. Alright, I like more questions in a show, but taking it as a game show, and not as a quiz I thought that it was actually quite enjoyable on that level. To be fair, I watched it with Jen, the older of my 17 year old twins, and she loved it. Which is just what Channel 4 were aiming for in the first place, I’m sure.

Rugby Club New Year Quiz

2012-01-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I know what you’re all dying to know, but have just been too polite to ask me – what happened in the New Year quiz in the rugby club last night ? Well . . .

Just in case you’re not au fait with this, let me give you a bit of background. I’ve been attending the Thursday night quiz in the Aberavon Rugby Club since 1995. In all that time Brian has always used the first quiz in January to do a quiz about the events of the previous year. A special feature of the New Year quiz is the 4 part gamble at the end of each round. It works like this. There are always 4 parts to the last question. You can attempt one, two or three parts to it, and you’ll get points for each part you answer correctly. If you attempt all 4, though, you have to get all 4 parts right. If you get any one part of it wrong, you get no points for the question at all. If you get all 4 parts right, then you get 8 points rather than 4.

In the past, my team mate Anne and I have both said that if we could only win one quiz in the club a year, this would be the one. To be fair we were extremely successful too – winning about 12 times in 13 years or so. Anne, unfortunately, has been unable to come to the quiz for quite a long time now. Last year, though, two teams ruined the quiz by using phones. They gambled successfully in each of the first three rounds, by which time they had made the quiz a two horse race. I know they cheated because I saw them do it, and Brian also confirmed that they were doing it when I had a chat with him at the end of the quiz. By the third time in succession that they both gambled I actually shouted out “Cheats!” when both their scores were announced, and they stopped gambling from then on, but the damage was done. I ended up breaking my carry over New Year’s resolution through this.

There was another little bit of follow up cheating in the weeks that followed. So much so that I actually stared out a member of another team who was doing it, and mouthed the word cheat at her until she put her phone away. I made a point of making an announcement to everyone next time I did a quiz that using phones is cheating, and if I see anyone using their phones in one of my quizzes then I will cancel all of their points for that round. Also a member of one of those teams who cheated in the New Year’s quiz was having a chat with Brian and me after another quiz, and he made the mistake of saying that all teams cheat on their phones from time to time. That comment – red rag. Me – bull. I went off on one about it, informing him that we never use our phones, neither do Lemurs, the other good team. I also pointed out that his team and the other cheats had made a mockery of last year’s New Year’s quiz.

Well, that’s the rather long winded background to last night’s quiz. I hoped that it would all be kosher – but I didn’t expect it to be. Without further ado . . . it was kosher ! I’d be prepared to put hand on heart and say that it was all fair and above board. So we won, did we ? Well, actually, no ! We were stuffed in the end. Rob and Terry and the Lemurs , who had a full team out, were superb, and beat us by 11 points on the questions and a couple more on the pictures. Although we finished comfortably in second they outscored us in almost every round. We were the first team to gamble successfully on round one, which kept us in the lead for a couple of rounds. Going into round 6 out of 7 we were two points behind, and they gambled successfully. It was a decisive moment. Even though we both gambled successfully on round 7, they finished the questions 11 points ahead. Which was just as well. There was a 4 parter on middle east/ North African leaders, and I put down three, wasn’t quite 100% certain enough to gamble, but would have put the right answer down it I had. There was a sport gamble as well where I could have done so correctly. But even if we had done so this would only have brought another 10 points. Thank heaven for that – I don’t like losing, but I’d rather lose because I didn’t know the answers, than lose because I haven’t had the bottle to trust my own answers. So well done Lemurs – fantastic performance. Well done Brian for a great quiz. And well done every other team in the quiz for avoiding the temptation to google – it did a lot to restore my faith in human nature. And I haven’t broken any of my quiz resolutions yet.

Old Show on Challenge

2012-01-06T01:39:00.001-08:00

I’ve not been very well over the last week or so. It’s only a chest infection – and being as this is still the school holidays for me it’s a waste of a good illness as far as I’m concerned. Still, I haven’t been getting out of the house a great deal over the last few days, and so I’ve been watching some stuff in the daytime that I wouldn’t normally watch. I was flicking through the channels yesterday lunchtime, and I came across a show on Challenge TV which I’ve never encountered before. I dont often watch Challenge - they put on my disastrous Millionaire show again recently , which was below the belt.

The show was called Dirty Money, and according to the oracle ( UKGameshows.com ) it went out on Sky One in 2002. It was a quiz for non pro MOPs ( members of the public ) and there was a relatively small amount of money on offer – 3,000 pounds. Now – don’t misunderstand me here – that’s 3 times more than I’ve ever won on telly, and I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it, but it’s not life changing. It worked like this. 6 contestants start. Each one has £500. Questions are asked, and contestants have to buzz in to give the answer. If they’re right, then they steal money from another contestant of their choice. At the end of the round – 90 seconds or something like that – then the contestant with the least money is out, and he or she has to nominate which contestant they want to give their remaining money to. That way the £3000 stays in play all the time. When we’re left with 1 contestant, then that person has 90 seconds to answer 6 questions correctly. If they do, happy days. The money is theirs. If they can’t , well, then they have to pick one of the other 5 to give the money to.

The host, Marcus Bentley ( the voice of Big Brother ) was never seen – something of a throwback to 100%, which was another show of that particular genre which I used to like. Little enough time was wasted on getting to know the contestants at all, and the show moved pretty quickly. I didn’t bother to count, but I’d guess that there were well over 50 questions asked in the course of a half hour show which isn’t bad going at all.
I have to say that I enjoyed it – so much that I sat through two shows back to back. Maybe it’s because my defences are low because I’ve been unwell, or maybe I’m just going soft in my old age.

Sleb Mastermind - Show 8

2012-01-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

Well, my sources inform me that this is actually a ten edition series – so much the better, so apologies for my comments yesterday. Neil Dudgeon, currently occupying the hotseat in England’s most dangerous village, Midsomer, was the first to brave the chair. He offered us a favourite poet of mine, Philip Larkin, and I’m happy to say that I did considerably better with this round than I managed with the Ted Hughes round that we saw a few days ago. Neil, though, well, Neil put in a perfect 12 from 12. great quizzing. His charity is The ITP Support Association

Stuart Francis is another of the comedians who get the chance to have another bite at the cherry – look, I’m not complaining about this, honestly I’m not. I needed two goes myself. Last time out, in the show that Andi Osho won in 2010 Stuart offered us the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last night it was the Toronto Blue Jays. He had 14 back in 2010, and 9 last night, which is probably just about the same – that’s not bad going at all. Stuart was playing for Right to Play UK.

Andrew Collins is a well known face, even if he is not quite so well known a name. A journalist, performer and writer, he co-wrote the series “Not Going Out”. Andrew was answering on 1970s disaster movies. A brave choice that. I was around in the 70s , and as I recall there were more of them than you could shake a stick at during the middle of the decade. So to be fair his 8, never a bad score off a 90 second round, was even better than it looked. Andrew’s chosen good cause is Thomas’s Fund.

Finally to Sandie Shaw. Sandie Shaw was a 1960’s icon, known for having a few hits, for being the first British act to win the Eurovision Song Contest, and for singing in bare feet. I guess that she was probabaly the sentimental favourite for many of the older members of the viewing audience. Her subject was Nichiren Buddhism. Now, I pricked up my ears about this one.Firstly because I thought John said Ned Sherrin Buddhism, which would certainly have been a new one on me. Then when I realized what he said, that rung a bell. Anywhere you go on the net which gives background information about MM will probably mention some of the subjects that have been rejected in their time – ( the use of bone cement in hip replacement surgery – diamonds are a girl’s best friend ( as everybody knows ) etc. ) . Then it might mention some of the more unusual subjects – and The Buddhist Sage Nichiren is always given as one of these. OK – digression over. Sandie managed 8, so certainly knew her stuff. Her charity is Centrepoint

Back to the chair came Andrew. He produced one of the better rounds of GK that we’ve seen in this series. As with the regular series it’s all down to luck against whom you get drawn , but suffice it to say that 15 gave him 23, which would have been a winning score in another show. Hard lines that. Then Sandie came back to the chair. John immediately picked on “Puppet on a string”, and Sandie expressed a wish – only half joking – that the song would go away. I have heard her on interviews expressing this same point of view as well. Well, to be fair, this would have sounded a lot more convincing had she not been dressed in a 60’s type miniskirt, and had her hair not been dyed and cut to look just like it did in the 60s. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no kind of clothing fascist, and I have no problem with people dressing how they want to on the show, whatever their age. But if you are trying to forget, or live down your past , then there are probably better ways to do it. She struggled a little, but put on another 8 for 16.

Last time on the show Stuart scored 9 on GK. His chosen technique then was giving celebrity names for answers when he didn’t have a Scooby. This time out he had refined his technique slightly, and was happy to offer us “Bamber Gascoigne” several times, which prompted John to suggest that he might be hearing from the great one’s lawyers. Not a bit of it – I have no doubt that he has a fine sense of humour. Well, Stuart managed to struggle to 8 answers this time, and I’m afraid after two tilts at Mastermind I would have to say to him – don’t give up your day job. Last but not least, Neil Dudgeon. With 12 needed for an outright win it wasn’t a doddle, but he made it look that way. He concentrated on providing answers to almost every question, and the vast majority of them were right. He cruised through the tape with questions to spare, and pushed his score to 29. That’s the highest score of the series so far, and I would guess a sleb record for 3 and a half minutes of questions. Well done.

The Details

Neil Dudgeon	Philip Larkin	12 - 0	17 - 1	29 - 1
Stuart Francis	Toronto Blue Jays	9 - 2	8 - 2	17 - 4
Andrew Collins	1970’s Disaster Movies	8 - 1	15 - 0	23 - 1
Sandie Shaw	Nichiren Buddhism	8 - 3	8 - 3	16 - 6

Only Connect Series 6 - Contestant Call

2012-01-06T00:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's already time to gather your team, put your very best thinking caps on, and apply for the next series of Only Connect. Rachel from Presentable sent me an email this morning, and here's the text from the flyer which has gone out : -

"Contestant call for BBC Four's quiz Only Connect - the quiz where general knowledge meets lateral thinking enters its sixth series.

Victoria Coren presents the 6th series of the popular BBC Four quiz show ONLY CONNECT where, as in life itself, knowledge will only take you so far: patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It’s all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.

We’re looking for teams of three players who share a common passion, ability or profession, to pool their combined wits to solve fiendish conundrums and vexing puzzles.

Only Connect is produced for the BBC by Presentable Ltd.

APPLICANT LIMITATIONS:

All applicants must be 18 years of age and over.

All applicants must be resident in the UK or Channel Islands.

Employees of Presentable, Zodiak Group of companies, the BBC or close relations are ineligible to apply.

INSTRUCTIONS:

To request an application form please email
onlyconnect@presentable.co.uk
including a contact telephone number.

Go on - I dare you !

Sleb Mastermind Show 7

2012-01-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

We’re winding towards the end of another series of sleb Mastermind now, with only tomorrow night’s show to come if I’m right. First up tonight was Rachel Riley. Rachel as I’m sure you know took over arranging the letters and solving the Maths puzzles on Countdown. Her specialist subject, Manchester United, has been done at least once before on regular Mastermind. To be fair she was only answering on Man Utd. since 1990, but that period has been eventful enough certainly. I fancied I’d get a few, and I had 4. Rachel was very composed in the chair, though. Alright, she didn’t get all of them, but her 9 was a pretty decent return on her 90 seconds’ investment. Rachel had two charities – The Angus Lawson Memorial Trust, and the Celia Hammond Animal Trust

Wayne Hemingway is the well-known fashion designer, creator of the label Red or Dead. He is also the answer to a well-I-never quiz question – which fashion designer is the son of 60s wrestler Billy Two Rivers ? Still, that’s irrelevant to tonight’s show. Wayne’s subject was Disco music of the 1970s. A so-so subject for me, I predicted, , but I was rather pleased with my 7. Not as good as Wayne’s 11, mind you. Altogether now – anything in double figures is good going off a 90 second round. Wayen represented Oxfam tonight.

I’m afraid I have to admit that I was not previously familiar with Miles Jupp’s work. Since he’s an actor and comedian this needn’t cause him any anguish at all. His subject was the cricketer Michael Atherton. Now, when I saw this I though – oh oh, cricket. That’s a kryptonite subject. But as it was I needn’t have worried. I read Mike Atherton’s interesting autobiog a few years ago, and I guess that some of what I read stuck. I scored 8 , while Miles . . . well, Miles put up a perfect round of 13 from 13.A fine display which will have doubtless pleased the members of the Lords Taverners, which is his chosen cause.

Last to go was Gary O’Donoghue Gary was tonight’s broadcast journalist, currently working for the BBC. Gary’s specialist subject was Winston Churchill. Hmm, thought I. Could be an OK subject for me – you never know. Since I’d been scoring freely enough on specialists I went into the round optimistic – with good reason. I whacked in 8 , and was very happy with that. Gary did better, of course. He scored ten, a little way behind Miles, but enough to give him a chance going into the GKs. Gary’s chosen charity is the Clearvision project.

It had been a high scoring first half. I had my highest aggregate of the series with 25, for one thing. All of our contenders had the opportunity to break the 20 point barrier. Rachel Riley, who knows a thing or two about number herself returned to the chair, and I have to say that she looked most convincing in doing so. Her 15 , which gave her a final score of 24 and 1 pass was enough to have won her last night’s show. And there were still 3 contenders to go. Gary came next. He was not quite so impressive at the start of the round as Rachel had been, but you have to say that he did pick up an impressive turn of speed which saw him to a praiseworthy 14. 2 passes put him behind Rachel by the narrowest of margins.

Wayne was not as impressive as his two predecessors, I think it’s probably fair to say. Having said that he was still better than many we’ve seen this series. He passed on 5, but he did manage 11 correct answers, which put him on 22. At this stage it looked likely that he would end in 4th place, which he did. As an aside, the highest score any 4th placed contender had so far had in this series was Jenny Meadows’ 16 in show 2. So he deserves a certain amount of sympathy for that. No time for such sentiments at the moment though , for the time had come for Miles to make his run for the line. Once again, it wasn’t a perfect start, but all 4 of the contenders were admirably level headed tonight, and Miles kept on answering what he knew. He passed the 24 mark with a few questions to spare, and went on to a fine 27. For the record his 14, though good, wasn’t as good as Rachel’s 15. So well played all contenders tonight. Good show.

The Details

Rachel Riley	Manchester United FC since 1999	9 - 0	15 - 1	24 – 1
Wayne Hemingway	Disco Music of the 1970s	11 - 1	11 - 6	22 – 7
Miles Jupp	Life and Career of Mike Atherton	13 - 0	14 - 1	27 – 1
Gary O’Donoghue	Winston Churchill	10 - 0	14 - 2	24 – 2

A New Mastermind Quiz Book

2012-01-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

I was surfing through Amazon earlier, and it came to my attention that a new Mastermind quiz book is due to be published in Spetember of this year. That's good news. If you've ever visited my quiz pages you might know that I have a real soft spot for quiz books, and as far as I know I have a copy of all the Mastermind quiz books that have been published.

The first 3 books - Mastermind 1, 2 and 3 were all BBC paperbacks published in the 1970s. These three were all put together as one large hardback. There's still a lot of copies of this one about, and it's still not that unusual to find one for sale in a car boot sale.

There was also a Mastermind 4 paperback - which is a lot less common than the earlier books. This one was published fairly soon after the 1982 Champion of Champions tournament, from which it takes some of its questions.

There was also a Mastermind Winners Quiz book which was published in 1984. It only conatins the questions which the champions up to that time had been asked , and as some of these were already in the hardback collection it wasn't necessarily the best value out there.

Back to the new book. The front cover on Amazon boasts an introduction by John Humphrys. It also informs us that all of the questions are taken froom the Mastermind Archives. Sounds fine, but I'd be interested to know whether in practice this means just from the Humphrys era, or whether the questions include sets from the Magnus era as well. Oh well, I suppose we only have to wait until Spetember to find out.

If you're interested in old TV Tie in quiz books, here's a quick link to my web page : -
TV Tie-in quiz books

Sleb Mastermind Show 6

2012-01-03T15:25:00.001-08:00

Sleb Mastermind continues, even if the BBC are making it just that little bit harder to find by putting it on at different times each day. Jessica Hynes ( Shaun of the Dead, Spaced, The Royle Family etc. ) took the first turn in the chair tonight. Her subject, well, her specialist subject was the people’s poet, Pam Ayres. As Jessica said in the inter round chat Pam Ayres’ poems have a level of humour and wit which is not always given the credit it deserves. Jessica gave it a lash in the chair, but judging from the look on her face as she returned to her chair she didn’t feel that her score of 6 was very adequate recompense for the amount of time and effort she’d put into preparing for her round. Them’s the breaks. It was twice as good as my 3. Jessica’s charity was Action for Children.

John Sopel followed Jessica into the chair. John is a well known broadcast journalist – and as such was well favoured on the Clark sofa to do well. They often do in sleb MM. His subject was Tony Blair, and it proved to be my best subject of the night. After all, there were enough old chestnuts in there – what was his constituency – which band was he in at University etc. for me to get 6. Not as good as John though. He managed 10 , and what do we say ? Anything in double figures is a good score off a 90 second round. Save the Children was John’s nominated cause.

Neil Hannon, of the Divine Comedy, is the man who wrote the song National Express, which was enough for him to receive the full burden of support from the Clark sofa tonight. Neil’s subject was the TV series Frasier. Now, the last time we saw this as a specialist subject was in Gavin’s heat in Champ of Champs, where Shaun Wallace put on a fine display to score 17. Neil’s 8 wasn’t as good as Shaun’s performance – although it was a hell of a lot better than my 2. Still, it meant that he was only 2 points behind John, and the chances were that the outcome of the show would be decided by the GK. Neil’s nominated charity was the Alzheimers Society.

Before the GK though we had the specialist round of Michel Roux Jr. Now, way back in the day when I had my first ever audition for MM I asked to offer a couple of writers – especially William Makepeace Thackeray ( of whom I want to write a biography if I ever win the lottery ). I was told no, I couldn’t do it because I’m an English teacher by profession. Then later on when I read “I’ve Started So I’ll Finish” I found that it was a matter of policy in the original shows to dissuade people from taking subjects closely related to their careers to avoid any potential embarrassment due to low scores. Michel Roux might well have benefitted from such cautionary advice himself. His subject was Escoffier’s Guide . It wasn’t a great round, and he ended with 4. I had one, mind you. His chosen cause was VICTA.

Needless to say, Michel returned to the chair in fairly short order. He had a nasty visit to pass Hell at the start of the round, but managed to pull himself out of the soup, and finish with a respectable 8. I managed all of his questions. I also managed all of Jessica Hynes’. I’m sorry to carp and pick holes, but I’m afraid I really don’t like it when the slebs start to get bolshie and answer back during their GK rounds. You might remember David Threlfall did this in the last series, and it got up my nose then. I’m a bit of a purist when you get right down to it – I’d rather they just got on with answering the questions. Jessica managed 7, which at least meant that she finished 1 point higher than Michel. I can’t help thinking that if she’d just got on with it she might well have had a couple more.

It was down to Neil to set a challenging target for John, and he put in a good run of answers to finish with 14. I thought that I had all of Neil’s as well, but alas, the John Peel lectures did for me. Neil finished with 22. To put that into perspective, the lowest winning score so far this series has been Simon Day’s 23, so John Sopel was still the favourite to win. To be fair John didn’t have a bad round, but he never looked totally at ease, and never seemed quite as convincing as Neil did. He was slow starting, and although he picked up a little speed as the round went one the target was still too far away when the buzzer sounded. 11 points put him on 21, and in second place.

The Details

Jessica Hynes	The Life and Poems of Pam Ayres	6 - 1	7 - 0	13 – 1
John Sopel	Tony Blair	10 -1	11 - 3	21 – 4
Neil Hannon	Frasier	8 - 3	14 - 3	22 – 6
Michel Roux Jnr.	Escoffier	4 - 3	8 -7	12 -10

A Question of Taste - certainly is

2012-01-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was only the second day of the year, yet already we’ve had a new quiz show enter the lists as a contender for the 2012 LAMMY for best new quiz show of the year. Is it a serious contender though ? Well . . .

A Question of Taste, new on BBC2 yesterday, fits snugly within the same sort of niche as BBC2’s own Antiques Master. In the same way that Antiques Master is a specialist quiz show about the world of antiques, AQOT is a specialist quiz about the world of food and drink. Like Antiques Master it’s potentially quite an elitist show, which goes some way to try and make itself of interest to members of its audience who have no specialist knowledge of the subject. The upshot of it is that like Antiques Master it’s a show that’s not entirely comfortable in its own skin. Well, that’s my reading of it anyway.

Basically 2 teams of three people compete against each other in several rounds. As in “A Question of Sport” there’s a variety of different rounds. First of all we had the more ‘pure’ quiz of the buzzer round. Then a video round, whereby teams were shown part of a TV food programme of years gone by, and then they had to deduce which word had been blanked out. In another round both teams were given a list of items, and asked to pick out five. For example, we were given 12 vegetables, and asked to say which 5 had originated in South America. We finished off with buzzer questions again.

As a quiz on one of my weaker subjects I found it entertaining enough. Kirsty Wark doesn’t irritate – which is pretty much what you want from a presenter. There’s a point as well. Last time we saw Kirsty presenting a quiz show it was “A Question of Genius”. That show lasted for a couple of series, but never quite gained enough critical mass to earn a loyal audience base. Personally I thought that a fussy format and gimmicky rounds were responsible for that, but that’s just my opinion. Kirsty wark, with her Newsnight background, gives a show a feeling of being a little more serious. She's got a ready enough smile, but she doesn't do frivolous that well.I noticed too that the show has it's own expert, William Sitwell, sat behind a computer screen a la Richard Osman on Pointless. I found his interjections rather irritating if I'm honest, and they did tend to hold up the show. If there's a second series I'd venture to suggest that he may well be surplus to requirements.

I can understand the programme makers saying – cookery is still very big business. Just witness the popularity of Jamie, Delia, Masterchef and the Great British Bake off. If we make a quiz based on food and drink, then there’s a good chance it might catch on. Maybe it will. But, I don’t know. I can’t help wondering whether it’s too quizzy for people who like cookery, and not quizzy enough for people who like quizzes. As I’ve said before, things which fall between two stools often end up falling. Still, let’s be scrupulously fair. This has more of the real quiz about it than our comparison piece, Antiques Master. It has no annoying voiceover woman. It has more straight questions. All of which means that it’s an amiable enough quiz, and might be worth looking in on if you’ve nothing much better to do.

Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 8

2012-01-03T04:20:00.001-08:00

BoB returned to Salford Quays for yesterday’s show. Not that it makes any difference at all, but I like old Broadcasting House, and was glad to play all of my matches in 2009/10 in there.

First to go was Nada Vekri . He missed out on novels by Arthur Ransome, which second to go Rob Milnes was happy to supply. Mr. Milnes continued a highly impressive start when he took his own first three on the bounce. They weren’t gimmes either. He didn’t know that fustian was made from cotton, but Nada did for a bonus. Stephen Porter took his own first, but missed out on Andre Gide. Another bonus for Nada. Cindy Stevens got a nasty bouncer for her own first question – nobody knew that a conestoga, invented in the USA , is a covered wagon. So the evidence of the first round was that Rob Milnes was certainly a quizzer to be taken very seriously, and that Nada Vekri seemed a bit handy as well.

Nada took his first, but didn’t know the native American Ghost Dance religion of the late 19th century. Rob did. He went on to go one better than his first round run, taking 4 on the bounce this time. He didn’t recognise a bicthy comment made by Lord Byron about John Keats – Stephen took the bonus on that one. He missed his own first , on the Britches Bible, allowing Rob to ramp up his own lead even higher. Cindy had a distinctly gettable starter, but didn’t know that Lloyds started life in a London coffee house. Rob knew that.With a score of 11 at the end of round two, one more would certainly put him onto the semi finals board. Sitting pretty is a phrase which comes to mind. Nada missed his first again – mind you, who actually does know the latin name of the koala ? Well if Cindy didn’t , she guessed correctly anyway. Rob didn’t know the term musique concrete – Cindy took her second bonus in a row from this one. Stephen didn’t know that Lammas Day is August 1st – a bonus for Nada there. Cindy got another tricky starter, being given George Borrow’s romany name for Scotland. Rob guessed correctly on that one.

So to the Beat the Brains interval. Yesterday’s questions were sent in by listener Jane Anne Liston. Well, Jane Anne Liston is a BoB semi finalist herself. How do I know ? Because she was sitting next to me at the time – it was my own semi final in late 2009, which represented the high water mark of my time in BoB . Jane Anne’s first question foxed all of the Brains. She asked what the University towns of Buckingham, Lampeter and her own home , St. Andres lack. It’s a railway station. Her second asked what distinguishes the three kings, the stable , the ox and the ass in the story of the Nativity . I had this one, as did the brains, that they are none of them actually mentioned in the gospels.

Back to the contest. Nada took his first, but got no further, not knowing John Keble. Nobody had it. Rob missed his own first . I was a little surprised that none of the Brains knew Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. How soon we forget. I was also surprised that nobody knew Steven’s question, that the mother of Aeneas was Aphrodite ( or Venus in the Aeneid ) . To complete the round, nobody fancied Cindy’s first question either. Apparently Guyana is the South American country whose name means Land of Many Waters. New one on me. In round 6, everybody took their own first question. Nobody knew Nada’s second, referring to the noun atavism. Nada took a bonus on Rob’s second, naming whorls and loops as two terms from forensic fingerprinting. Nobody knew Gotland is the largest of Sweden’s islands. Rob knew that Worcester Country Club, home of the very first Ryder Cup match in the USA, is in Massachussetts. Rob was now on 14, 7 points ahead of Nada in second, and if his rate of scoring had slowed down, he looked as comfortable for the win as possible. Nada missed the chestnutty Dewar jar at the start of the 6th, and Rob was happy to snap that one up. He knew his first, but nobody knew that Prince Harry is the Commodore of small ships for the second. Stephen got a nasty one where he was asked to identify the recording of part of an opera. Nobody recognised Siegfried. Cindy didn’t know that it was Oliver Cromwell who was the first ruler of England to allow Jews to settle again after Edward Ist had expelled them. Nada did, and at this stage it just looked possible that he could force his way onto the repechage board.
The penultimate round saw Nada fail to score. Rob took a bonus on Sgt. Bilko’s serial number , but nobody knew that the beating of the bounds every three years at the Tower of London happens on Ascension Day. If you say so. Nobody knew that a Dzo is a cross between a yak and a cow, though Nada was rather unfortunate not to be given the bonus for a yak and an ox. Cindy didn’t know Dalton’s Law, but Rob did. All that remained was the last round. Nada needed a really good round to get onto the repechage board, and he had his best round of the show. He took his first two, then missed out on the moon Nereid. Rob knew that it belonged to Neptune. Rob didn’t know The Swale, and neither did anyone else. Stephen made a spirited late burst, taking three on the bounce before Calamine did for him. Nada knew that it is an old name for Zinc. This gave him 11, and puts him together with our own Colin Kidd and two others on the lowest rung of the repechage ladder. Finally Cindy’s first, and it was a little surprising that none of the brains knew that the world’s largest species of eagle is the Harpy eagle.

Well done to Rob Milnes. His run rate slowed considerably after the Beat the Brains interval, but even so his knowledge was comfortably wider than the other contestants, and he has to have a pretty decent chance in the semis I would say.

Daisy Goodwin - Sunday Times

2012-01-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

I am indebted to LAM regular Joe, who emailed me Daisy Goodwin's article from New Year's Day's Sunday Times, all about her appearence in the Christmas series of University Challenge. I'm fighting a bit shy of posting the whole article here, since the Sunday Times make you pay to join their site, and it's only by joining their site that you can access the article. I have emailed them to ask if it's OK if I put the article on the website, but as yet I have had no reply. But if you can spare a couple of quid to join, then you can enjoy the article anyway if you go over to the Sunday Times website.

Thanks Joe ! All contributions gratefully received.

University Challenge - Quarter final match 2

2012-01-03T03:04:00.000-08:00

Balliol, OXford v. Pembroke , Cambridge

I can only apologise to all LAM regulars who noticed that I never reviewed the first of our quarter final match ups. A combination of circumstances too tedious to relate here prevented me, and I’m sorry. I will do my best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
Last night both Balliol of Oxford, and Pembroke of Cambridge had their first opportunity to get the win which would put one of each their collective feet in the semis. Balliol, who were Liam Shaw, Andrew Whitby, James Kirby and captain Simon Wood won their all Oxford second round clash when they squeaked past Merton.
Pembroke , represented by Ed Bankes, Ben Pugh, Bibek Mukherjee and Imogen Gold , have had little trouble disposing of their opposition in both of their previous matches. In their last match they scored 285 against Nottingham. Pembroke looked the favourites, then.

The show kicked off with a relative rarity – a first starter missed by both teams. They pinpointed that a set of actresses including Frances de la Tour and Sarah Bernhardt had all played a specific role in Hamlet, but not that the role was Hamlet himself. Bibek Mukherjee answered correctly on the French Revolution. This brought up one bonus on the Master(s) of the King’s Musick. Neither team could answer a tricky one on the amount of time since the Big Bang if expressed in specific units. The impressive Ben Pugh took his first of the night on Herman Goering. It’s fair to say that Mr. Pugh has been one of the most impressive individual buzzers in the series so far, and impression which was only enhanced by his performance last night. He followed it up with the next starter as well. He knew that Victor Sylvester’s SSQQS actually stood for Slow Slow Quick Quick Slow.
( I have a story to tell you about this. It was back during my childhood in the 1970s. I was off school for one of the usual childhood illnesses. My father was off work, probably the worst for drink the night before – I say worse, although if truth be told he was never much better when he was sober either. - He couldn’t abide the TV not being on, so he had it on in the morning, and was watching the Schools programmes – remember those ? A sex-education programme came on, and I distinctly remember idly listening as I was playing with my lego bricks. This is what I heard
“ Another, less reliable method of contraception is the rhythm method ( pause ) Slow, slow , quick , quick slow ! Keep it up now ! “
I looked up, to see that my father , deeply embarrassed, had turned the channel over, and we were now watching a programme on ballroom dancing. Come to think of it, maybe this explains why I have 5 children. I apologise for this pointless digression, and let’s get back to the review.)
One bonus followed on post war British Prime Minister. The picture starter showed one of the planets of the solar system in cross section. Ben Pugh made it a hattrick, identifying Venus. More of the same followed, and Pembroke, warming to their task, took the lot. Bibek Mukherjee, Pembroke’s other big hitter, took the next , knowing the daughter of Agamemnon offered up for sacrifice was Iphigenia ( which incidentally was the Christian name of Robin Williams’ character Mrs. Doubtfire ) . Bonuses took Pembroke to 90, and poor old Balliol, outbuzzed in this first part of the contest had yet to score. They remedied this when James Kirby knew the city of Augsburg , which brought up 3 bonuses on wind. That was enough to bring Balliol to 25 points by the ten minute mark.

Ben Pugh knew that if it’s an opera with a hunchback court jester then it’s Rigoletto. A full set followed on Literature. James Kirby took his own and his team’s second starter on Philosophers. 2 good bonuses followed on functional human anatomy. Bibek Mukherjee knew that Monaco gave its name to a declaration by a large gathering of the world’s top scientists in a particular field. One bonus followed on Ancient Greece. Neither team recognised the Hans Zimmer theme music of The Dark Knight. Those bonuses were held over twice because neither team knew the word Homomorphism. You don’t say. Ben Pugh knew the Russian acronym required for the next starter was Gulag. Damn good shout that, and it gave them one of the Hans Zimmer theme music bonuses. The Pembroke skipper took the next starter, knowing that the Roman province of Numidia was partly in modern day Tunisia. Liam Shaw grabbed some more points for Balliol on a quantum physics starter. They couldn’t take any of the bonuses on Geography. Imogen Gold got in on the act for Pembroke, knowing the various anagrams for the name of the poet Keats. Skate – Stake etc. So the second ten minutes had been almost a copy of the first. Pembroke had 190, and Balliol 55. The game , as a contest was over.

That having ben said, Balliol now took the last period to show us that they need not despair of reaching the semis. Simon Wood took a very good starter on words made up from combinations of the symbols of SI Units. 2 bonuses were taken on marsupials. The second picture starter showed a stamp bearing the picture of Ernest Rutherford. Ben Pugh knew it, and this brought up 2 bonuses on more scientists from the same set of stamps. James Kirby knew that the royal residence being described for the next starter was Clarence House. 2 bonuses were taken on chess terminology. Ben Pugh took his last starter on the river Garonne, which brought up a pair on films of the great Billy Wilder. Liam Shaw knew Stephen Jay Gould , and earned a full set of bonuses on a great UC set about people whose names begin with a greek letter – an example would have been Cecil RHOdes. Simon Wood knew a zygote, and a great full set on exponents of 10 in quantities followed. Nope, me neither. Neither team knew about what sounded like sexy primes. Andrew Whitby knew the Altiplano, and the team took a bonus on the history of Afghanistan. After this Balliol onslaught, Bibek Mukherjee though took the last starter, on South Seas geography.

At the gong, Pembroke had 240, a comfortable win, but at least Balliol had battled to a respectable 160. They aren’t finished yet by any means, but you have to say that Pembroke do look a pretty good bet for the semis.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

I think JP has used up a lot of his best lines on the Christmas series, since the only thing worthy of mention last night was his observation that the rules “remain as constant as the North star. “ You don’t get poetry like that on All Star Family Fortunes.

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

The Russian word Gulag – a forced labour camp – is actually an acronym.

Only Connect - Champion of Champions of Champions

2012-01-03T02:13:00.000-08:00

The Epicureans v. The Crossworders

We’ve been waiting for this one for quite a long time. We’ve seen 5 teams become champions. We’ve seen two of these teams become champion of champions. Now, at last, the match to decide the champion of champion of champions. The Epicureans, our conquerors in the final of series five had won their super championship by beating the Gamblers, winners of series 3. Their opponents ? Who other than the mighty Crossworders, who beat the Lapsed Psychologists in the final of series one, then my friends the Rugby Boys, winners of series 2 , to win their super championship. By the way, I wonder will the Analysts – winners of series 5, have to wait to play the winners of series 6 to contest their own super championship ? Time will tell. Enough of such things. As a point of interest, opposing captains David Stainer of the Crossworders and Katie Bramall Stainer of the Epicureans are husband and wife.
Having met all members of both teams – indeed having played with or against most of them at one time or another, I can vouch for the fact that they are all top quizzers. The Epicureans, then are Katie, David Brewis, and LAM regular Aaron Bell. The Crossworders are David, Mark Grant, and Ian Bayley. Let’s get on with the show.

Round One – What’s the Connection ?

The Crossworders took the first set, with water. I was expecting the clues to be even harder than normal, and I think it’s fair to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Volleyball – Basketball – Toastmasters International – Fathers’ Day – stymied both teams. They knew that they were all created in the USA , but not that they were all created in YMCAs. Behind Two Reeds the Epicureans found music by bands and artistes including the Smiths, Muddy Waters and Queen. They didn’t get the connection, but the Crossworders leapt in for a bonus. Radio Gaga begat Lady Gaga. Papa was a Rolling Stone begat The Rolling Stones. You see ? I didn’t until it was pointed out to me – good shout. The Crossworders’ own set behind Eye of Horus was one of those – can’t see the wood for the trees sets. Q is to B – U is to N – P is to D – Z is to Z. Neither team – nor me at home, could see that if you turn these letters into lower case, then the second letter is what the first letter becomes if you turn it upside down. The Eps chose Twisted Flax, and at last I had a set right. Ingvar Carlsson 1986 and John Vorster 1966 didn’t give it to me, but Lord Liverpool 1812 did, and Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 confirmed it. They all took power following their predecessor’s assassination, and the Eps well knew. I did have the Crossworders’ set as well, but only on a lucky guess based upon the last clue. Transcending Existence – Syntactic Independence – Magnitude of a real number – all three meant nothing to me. Protagonists in the Rivals gave me the name Absolute – and apparently that was enough. Well, I think you know me well enough by now to know that I’m not the sort of chap to look a gift horse in the mouth. The Crossworders were clever enough to get all of the clues. Finally the Eps gave me another point by seeing a picture set including The Cenotaph – The London Eye, and The Eiffel Tower. They knew that all of these were originally intended to be merely temporary constructions.
Tough round, and the teams were level with 2 apiece.

Round Two– What Comes Fourth ?

I’ve often said in the past that I think this one is the hardest round. The Crossworders picked eye of Horus, and after 1792 and 1848 they had the logic of the sequence. Both teams had worked it out that this was the sequence of years of the founding of the first and second republics of France. But which year was the 4th ? The CWs went for 1945 . Wrong. I think that the Eps actually offered the date of the 5th Republic. But it was 1946 rather than 1945. Hard lines with that one. For their pains, the Eps found a mathematical thing to do with sines. They didn’t get it, but Ian did. What’s more, he even explained the answer after wards – and it is no reflection on his ability at all that I wasn’t really any much the wiser afterwards. A good bonus. The CWs chose water, and at last a round two set that I could get. After Qattara and Turfan I shouted “Dead Sea”, going for lowest /deepest depressions on the Earth’s surface. The CWs had worked this out as well, but took Lake Assal as well just to be on the safe side. The Eps found pictures behind two reeds. This was a set of philosophers. Neither team got it. I didn’t either – although if the name “Emmanuel Kant” had been written in words, chances are I would have sung “ was a real etc. etc. “ as the sequence was fro, Monty Python’s Philosopher’s song. Nice set that. The Cws flexed their muscles with their next set. Lion gave them O’Connor and Ginsburg, and they gave back Kagan . These being the list of female justices of the Supreme Court of the USA , and a correct answer off 2. Viper remained for the Eps, giving up Row 1 = blue – Row 2 = Green – Row 3 = Purple. Neither team knew that Row 4 = Turquoise, this being the sequence of colours in the rows of a solved Only Connect Wall. Wonderfully sneaky. Going into the walls, the Eps remained on 2, but the CWs had pulled significantly ahead with 8.

Round Three

The Eps knew that their lightning speed on the last round would give them a good chance if they could at least make sure that the gap didn’t widen, and so it was vital to grab as many points as possible in the wall. They untangled Blue – A1 – 911 – East 17 , the boy band set, very quickly. They also untangled Love Bug – Code Red – Melissa – Anna Kournikova – which are all computer viruses. I’ve heard of Melissa, of course, but I’d have been out with the washing with the rest of them. When the wall was resolved they could see that NC – Channel 16 – Orange Smoke and 112 are all means of sending a distress signal. But Suicide – Flare – 1990 and Windmill they didn’t know. Me neither. They are all Acrobatic Dance Moves. 5 points scored.

This gave the CWs the chance to establish a winning lead , although they wouldn’t have known this at the time. They unraveled the whole wall in the time. Group – Field – Ring and Monoid they knew as terms in structural algebra. Red face time. I remember the Monoids as creatures in a William Hartnell Doctor Who series called the Ark, and went barking right up the wrong tree with that. Johnson – Webster – Grove and Partridge they knew as lexicographers. Lime – Wormold – Pulling and Fowler they recognized as characters from the novels of Graham Greene. Ideal – Funland – Massive and Bodies they didn’t get. Apparently they are all series on BBC3. Still, 7 points increased the lead, to 15 – 7.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

Captain David admitted that the CWs were concerned over the renowned buzzing ability of their opponents, and the fact that they were right to be concerned was aptly demonstrated by what happened next.
The first set was words which begin with 3 vowels. As it happened, the first clue was the only one that the CWs managed for the whole round. The Eps took two and one went begging. Score – 16 – 9. A wonderful OC speciality set followed. Two film titles combined into one – for example There’s Something About Mary Poppins. David buzzed in too early and the answer wouldn’t come, thus losing a point. This let the Eps in for a shutout, and full four points. Score – 15 – 13. There wasn’t a lot of time left, and the next set was Major Football Venues. Ah yes, but not necessarily Association Football Venues. The Eps had time to get The Gabba, but that was it. The gap had been decimated, reduced from 8 to 1, but one point is enough, and it was a win for the Crossworders.

Well done – a match which only does credit to both teams.

Sleb Mastermind Show 5

2012-01-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

I was a little surprised to see Andi Osho among tonight’s contenders. As John pointed out at the end of the show, Andi had already appeared in the 2010 Children in Need Special – which she won. Mind you , it’s not a totally unique case. Dave Spikey appeared in regular Sleb Mastermind in 2006 and won his show, then appeared in 2009 Children in Need Mastermind, and didn’t win. So a definite chance for Andi to get one up on her fellow comedian there.
Well, her chance would come later on anyway. First up was TV presenter Richard Arnold. He’s no stranger to TV quiz shows, having presented Take It Or Leave it on Challenge TV for a couple of series. Richard’s subject was the TV show Dallas, 1978 – 1991, and he scored a mightily impressive 13 points. It would have been a perfect round if he hadn’t faltered at just the last question too. Mind you, a lot of the questions weren’t extremely difficult either. I haven’t spared that TV series a thought for at least a couple of decades, but I still managed 8 myself. Richard was representing ASAP – African Solutions to African Problems.

Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan was second to go. As befits a distinguished sportsman, Michael opted for the English FA Premier League in the 21st century. This was by no means an easy set for the casually interested armchair viewer – me – and I struggled my way to 5. Michael did quite a bit better, but he just couldn’t drag out the name of Delia Smith – famous in football circles for her ‘Let’s Be Having You’ rallying cry to the faithful at Carrow Road, even though John gave him about half an hour to dredge it up. Michael’s chosen charity was Sheffield Children’s Hospital Trust.

Poet Simon Armitage had his pads on and strode out to the wicket next . His specialist subject was fellow poet, the late Ted Hughes. Well, there will always be a debate about the relative difficulty of different specialist rounds, and I know for a fact that the team make every effort to make the rounds as fair as they possibly can. Well, I thought that I knew a bit about Ted Hughes and his work, but I struggled my way to make only a couple. It seemed to me that there was a huge bias towards The Birthday Letters, for example. Well, Ted Hughes wrote a lot more than that. Quibble over. Simon’s chosen charity was the National Autistic Society.

At last Andi, and her chance to return to the chair. Respect to her for her choice of subject too, none other than John Humphrys ! I guarantee that the production team would only ever allow that subject for a sleb or children in need special. I didn’t think I’d get any of these, but actually managed 4. Andi had clearly done her homework, though, and she managed a fine 10. It put her 3 points behind Richard, but certainly didn’t put her out of the running completely. Andi’s charity was Trekstock.

A two horse race, then ? Yes, really it was, but that didn’t stop Simon putting on a very good display in his return to the chair. Alright, these are sleb GK rounds, and not as difficult as normal ones, but nonetheless 14 is a good performance. With the shortened specialist rounds any sleb score of 20 or over is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, so that really puts Simon’s 21 into perspective. I’m afraid it also puts Michael Vaughan’s GK round into perspective as well. He had a dreadful first minute, spraying passes and wrong answers around with abandon. After this early collapse though, after the minute mark the tail end of the innings began to wag a little, and he did manage to rally to make 9, to take his score to 18.

Last time out Andi was the last to go in her GK round. Then she needed 10 and managed 11. Tonight she had to chase a target rather than set one. 11 again would put her level with Simon, so she needed to do better than that at the very least. She did. Her round pretty much matched Simon’s, and the 14 she scored put her at the top of the leaderboard with Richard still to go. The highest sleb GK score so far this series is Justin Moorhouse’s 17, so it’s some way behind that, but nonetheless a very good performance.

Richard needed 11 to go to countback, and 12 for an outright win. He looked pretty good value for this as he reeled off the first three or four answers. But this round was like cycling up a hill whose gradient steadily gets steeper. From the halfway point it looked more and more in doubt that he’d get there, and in the end he fell short. Richard scored 10 to take his score to 23. It was close, but a miss is as good as a mile they say. So well done Andi Osho. It’s some kind of record, I’m sure, and makes her the first Sleb to win 2 Mastermind trophies. Nancy Wilkinson won Mastermind 1972, and the first Supermind Competition in 1975. Sir David Hunt won Mastermind 1977, and the first Champion of Champions tournament in 1982. Pat Gibson won Mastermind 2005, and the second Champion of Champions tournament in 2010. That’s a pretty impressive list of two time winners to join. Very well done indeed !

The Details

Richard Arnold	Dallas – 1978 - 1991	13 - 0	10- 4	13 – 4
Michael Vaughan	The Premier League in the 21st century	9 - 3	9 - 5	18 – 8
Simon Armitage	The Life and Work of Ted Hughes	7 - 5	14 - 2	21 – 7
Andi Osho	John Humphrys	10 -2	14 - 2	24 – 4

New Year's Quiz Resolutions

2011-12-31T01:27:00.000-08:00

Is it really time to make my New Year Quiz Resolutions all over again ? Well, yes, I’m afraid it is, and I’ve had to really think about whether I should yet again carry over the same resolution which I have been totally unable to keep– namely to stop saying that any team who have beaten us in a quiz must have been cheating, even if they have actually been using their phones in front of us. I am honest enough to admit that the evil of phone cheating is just far too annoying to me for me to be able to hold my tongue when I see it happening. Therefore a more realistic resolution would be : -

*I resolve to stop automatically saying that any team who beat us in a straight pub quiz must automatically be cheating on their phones, and to hold my tongue unless I, or a reliable witness, has actually seen them doing it.

Being realistic I think I have a chance of keeping this one at least until the end of January, although next week’s New Year quiz at the club will be a huge test. Watch this space on that one.

• I resolve to not close the door to appearing on some other broadcast quiz, but only to apply to something because it might be fun.

Yes, it’s the same as last year, and why not ?

• I resolve to keep working on my weak areas

Again, another carry over. It brought me good results this year, and I hope it will continue to do so next year.

• I resolve to try harder to try to attend at least one or two grand prix events this year.

That’s pretty self-explanatory. If I’m honest I didn’t really try very hard last year at all, and was too easily put off for a number of reasons. I’ll at least TRY to try harder to attend this year.

• I resolve to try to listen to my team mates more carefully, and more sympathetically – even if I’m pretty sure that the answer they have suggested is very wrong.

That’s a new one. I have hated it in the past when teammates have brushed off my suggestions for answers , and yet I’m guilty of doing it myself now – a lot. I’ll work on this.

• I resolve above all else to enjoy my quizzing throughout the next year as much as I have enjoyed it this year.

Yes, another carry over, but then this one is what it’s all about. I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Sleb Mastermind Show 4

2011-12-31T01:06:00.001-08:00

A family gathering meant that I didn’t get to see last night’s show until the wee small hours on the iplayer. Up first it was nice to see Matthew Hoggart. As I have said before in the blog, cricket is very much a bogey subject for me, but I remember Mr. Hoggart’s heroics in the 2005 Ashes series very well, and so I wanted him to do well. His subject, Friends Series 1 and 2 was one of those in which I fancied my chances too. My daughter Jessie got 6, and I got 8. Poor old Matthew knew more than he could dredge past the tip of his tongue, but he ended the round with 5. His chosen charity is the Harley Staples Cancer Trust.

I will confess to not recognizing Jules Hudson. I guessed he was probably a TV presenter, and was right. He presents a show which I have heard of called Escape to the Country. Jules was answering on what looked to be a pretty good traditional Mastermind subject – Operation Market Garden. If you’re not familiar with the name, Operation Market Garden was the allied airborne landings in Arnhem, a bold plan which, had it worked, might well have shortened the war. Jules certainly knew his stuff, and earned a very impressive 12 points. He was representing The Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Justin Moorhouse is a comedian. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t aware of his work before last night’s show. However this only bodes well for the man. I had never heard of either John Bishop or Micky Flanagan before their respective appearances in past series, and now look at them. They’re all over the place. Justin’s specialist subject was the life and career of Les Dawson. I have a huge soft spot for Les Dawson. Often viewed as the last of the British old fashioned stand ups, I think Les was a hell of a lot more than that. Justin obviously thought so too, and he put on a terrific display, answering 11 correctly on behalf of the Wood Street Mission.

Finishing the first round off then was the actor Ray Fearon. He’s been in many stage and TV productions, but probably reached one of his biggest audiences when he was a contestant in Strictly a few years ago. Ray, who was answering on Shakespeare’s Othello, used the inter-round chat to pay tribute to the universality of Shakespeare, a good point which we need to remind ourselves of each new generation. Ray too managed that hallmark of quality, a double figure score, although his very good 10 was only enough to put him third place at the halfway stage. Ray’s chosen charity is the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.

Returning to the chair you could have forgiven Matthew for being daunted by the size of the task ahead of him. He needed to score 6 to go ahead of Ray, and as we’ve seen once or twice before this is by no means a given. He gritted out the round, blocked what he couldn’t hit on his pads, and sent a few into the boundary. By the end of the round he’d managed a battling eight to take his score to 13. John told him that he wouldn’t win. The question was, would he stay in 4th ? It certainly looked like it. Right, you can call it nerves, or brain freeze, or whatever you like, but sometimes, on occasion, something happens when contenders sit in the chair, and they fail to do themselves anything like justice. I have no doubt that Ray knew a lot of answers which he just couldn’t get out, for whatever reason. But the fact was that he only managed to add 3 to his score, putting him level with Matthew on 13. He can take at least a crumb of comfort from the fact that this is not actually the lowest score in a sleb round that we have ever seen. If you want to know who was – well, google it.

Realistically then a three horse race at half time had become a two horse race. And it was Justin Moorhouse who was coming up quickest on the rails as we entered the final few furlongs. His GK round was the best from a sleb that we’ve seen so far this series. It was quick, it was accurate, and there were no passes. A score of 17 was a fine return, and set the target at 28, a score which equaled Chris Packham’s series best 28. Actually if anything it was slightly better, as Justin never passed on a single question. That’s good quizzing. Jules put on a decent show, but before the minute had gone it was obvious that he was behind Justin and not going to catch him. In the end he managed a pretty decent 11, not a bad score for Sleb MM at all. This gave him 23, and will ensure that he’s well within the top half of scorers for the whole series. But it was Justin’s game, and well done to him ! Fine performance.

The Details

Matthew Hoggard	Friends Series 1 and 2	5 - 2	8 - 2	13 - 4
Jules Hudson	Operation Market Garden	12 - 1	11 - 0	23 - 1
Justin Moorhouse	Les Dawson	11 - 0	17 - 0	28 – 0
Ray Fearon	Othello	10 - 1	3 - 5	13 – 6

Cryptic Handout

2011-12-30T03:43:00.000-08:00

No Cryptic Question this week - sorry - but I'll share with you the cryptic handout I used in the club in last night's quiz. All the clues below lead to the names of famous people - just identify whom -

Example - 2 overcoats in a cemetery = Max Bygraves

Pint-juggling ceramicist
3 planks on the cranium
Steal a handout
Grandmother consumed reconstructed male
Invoice Entrances
Invoice attracts male
A novel for the lavatory
Diminish on brewer’s cart
Valley for workout
Cat cooker
Calmer Scottish mountain
Mark on daffodils
Boastful goat
4 body parts
Partly scarlet truss

Answers in a few days - email if you can't wait.

Sleb Mastermind - Show 3

2011-12-30T03:41:00.001-08:00

The first to go in last night’s show was actor Graeme Hawley. Apparently he plays quite a nasty piece of work in Coronation Street. Last night his specialist subject was Blackadder. This gave rise to my first moment of the week, as I went through the card, scoring a perfect round of 12 correct answers from 12 questions. Graeme didn’t do badly either, but missed 3 and ended up with 9 and 1 pass. Graeme was answering on behalf of leukaemia and lymphoma research.

Britain’s top 800m runner, Jenny Meadows came next. Again, I quite fancied the look of her specialist subject, the Golden Age of Wigan RLFC. I may be a southerner, but I know a great game when I watch it, and it so happened that I discovered rugby league in the late 80s, just at the beginning of the very period Jenny was answering about. Jenny managed 9, which was a good return considering I felt her questions were probably a little more difficult than Graeme’s. I didn’t do so well myself, managing 6. Jenny was representing Wigan and Leigh Hospice.

Alex Winters, the third contender, is a presenter on BBC’s CBeebies channel, and according to his inter-round chat, very proud to be so. In the words of Arnold Brown – and why not ? His subject was the band The Manic Street Preachers. I like the Manics, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge fan, a fact amply proven by the way that I only managed to answer two questions correctly. Alex put on a bravura performance. We’ve already seen that any double figure score off a 90 second round is a very good one. Well his 12 was a very significant return – good round indeed. Alex’s chosen charity was Scope.

Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham brought the first round to a conclusion. I thought he’d be taking a Natural History subject, but no, nothing of the sort. Chris opted for the Battle of Rourke’s Drift. Immediately I began to search my memory for any stray facts I knew about the battle, while trying to forget that I ever saw the Michael Caine film (Oy ! Don’t chuck those bloody spears at me ! - for God’s sake , Ivor, sing something they like - etc. etc. ) The two I came up with were 1879, and Gonville Bromhead ( Michael Caine’s character ). Thankfully that was enough to get me two points. Chris though . . . well, Chris put on that rarity, a perfect round. 13 asked, and 13 answered correctly. You can’t do better than that. The Hawk Conservancy Trust is Chris’ chosen charity.

So being realistic it was the proverbial two horse race. The contenders would all return to the chair in the same order as the first round as well, which doesn’t happen all that often. Graeme came first. He wasn’t the fastest answering, which meant that he only had 17 questions asked. I managed 16 of them, so there was nothing too testing in there. He managed a decent 9, to finish with a perfectly respectable 18. Jenny , alas, was even slower answering, and she struggled and gritted her way to 7 , for a final score of 16. I had 15 of hers.
Alex returned to the chair looking as if he meant business, which indeed he did. He didn’t seem to be going that slowly to me, but at the end of the round he’d only been given 17 questions. The good thing was that he answered 13 of these correctly. A very good performance for a non-quizzer. I had my second perfect round of the night. Chris then returned to the chair knowing that he needed to equal this score to guarantee an outright win. His tactic was to go like the clappers, and it worked. Alright, he passed on three, but he answered 15. So quickly did John feed him the questions, and so quickly did he answer that he got through a massive 20 questions, answering 15 of them correctly. I had my last perfect round of the show. Chris’ winning score of 28 is the highest of the series so far, I reckon the equivalent of 33 or 34 in old money, and will take a lot of beating. Good show.

The Details

Graeme Hawley	Blackadder	9 - 1	9 - 5	18 – 6
Jenny Meadows	The Golden Age of Wigan RLFC	9 - 1	7 - 4	16 – 5
Alex Winters	The Manic Street Preachers	12 - 0	13 - 2	25 – 2
Chris Packham	The Battle of Rourke’s Drift	13 - 0	15 - 3	28 – 3

Sleb Mastermind - Show 2

2011-12-29T00:31:00.000-08:00

Last night’s show , as did the previous one, featured a sleb I have actually met. Stacey Solomon was one of the special guests at the GetConnected Charity Quiz in 2010. We didn’t really talk at all, so I can’t offer any real opinion, other than the fact that she was giving her services for the evening for a good cause, which means that she is alright by me. In the inter round chat Stacey made it clear that she was just along for the experience, and being honest that is as good a reason for having a go in the chair as any. So let’s be kind about her performance, and suffice it to say that quizzes probably aren’t really her forte. Stacey’s specialist subject was the TV series The Inbetweeners, which is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. She scored 6. Stacey was playing on behalf of the Great Oaks Dean Hospice.

Next up was Sophie Grigson. Sophie is a TV chef and also food writer. Her subject was Highgate Cemetery. I take my hat off to her for picking a subject inspired by her choice of charity – she was actually representing the Friends of Highgate Cemetery. This is an unusual subject, although I do recall that Leslie Grout won the 1981 series taking the Burial Grounds of London as his semi final subject – which he also took in our heat of Champ of Champs. Sophie knew her subject very well. Double figures in a 90 second round is the mark of a quality performance, and her 11 was very impressive. For the record I scored 5 on both her subject, and Stacey’s.

Simon Day is one of those actors whom everyone recognizes, but only a few people can put a name to his face. I always usually default to calling him Tommy Cockles, one of his Fast Show characters. That or Dave Angel, anyway. Simon’s subject was Season 1 and 2 of the Sopranos. This presented me with a problem since I have never watched an episode of the show, and know nothing about it. A fact which I proved by failing to answer any of Simon’s questions. Simon though put on 8 answers for his chosen charity , Kids Company.

The last of our contenders was Steve Harley . Steve Harley ? Oh come on – come up and see me ( make me smile ) – The Phantom of the Opera ? Oh, THAT Steve Harley. I must confess a little surprise that he chose T.S.Eliot – the 4 Quartets , which just goes to show that you shouldn’t stereotype people. Steve made a good fist of this round, and answered 9 correctly. I suppose it says a lot about me that I answered 5 questions on the Inbetweeners correctly, but only 3 on T.S.Eliot. Steve was splitting the proceeds of the show between the Cancer and Polio Research Fund, and The Mines Advisory Group.

Poor old Stacey. She had what I think could fairly be called a very ‘Stacey –friendly’ set of GK, but struggled to 4. Still smiling mind, and she looked like she was still enjoying the experience. You can’t knock that. Simon returned to the chair, and whacked in a very good round of 15. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think he was likely to win at the half way stage, but this forced me to reassess his chances. Steve was only one point better than Simon at the halfway stage, and he was going to have to go like the clappers to give himself the best chance of overhauling Simon. He gave it a fair old lash, mind, but ran out of time before he quite managed to reach Simon’s score. He added 13 to his total, to finish on 22. Only Sophie remained, then, and she was very much the favourite on the Clark sofa. Still, a couple of questions caused her to waste time - she knew that she knew the answers – but just couldn’t dredge them past the tip of her tongue. As John helpfully pointed out at the end of the round, had she answered these, then she would have done it. As it was her score of 11 put her on 22, equal with Steve, but still a point behind Simon. So well played, or as your Fast Show colleague John Thompson would put it – Great.

The Details

Stacey Solomon	The Inbetweeners	6 - 0	4 - 2	10 – 2
Sophie Grigson	Highgate Cemetery	11 - 1	11 - 3	22 – 4
Simon Day	The Sopranos Season 1 and 2	8 - 1	15 – 0	23 – 1
Steve Harley	T.S.Eliot – The 4 Quartets	9 - 1	13 - 2	22 - 3

In the News Questions

2011-12-28T03:27:00.001-08:00

Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news ?

1) Ron Paul
2) John Caudwell
3) Jayne Bargent
4) Jack O’Shea
5) Carol Warne
6) Kateri Tekakwitha
7) Carlton Williams, Lee Stagg, Michael Riddle
8) Teddy Tamgho
9) Ian Mytton
10) Dave the Drift
11) Barry Herridge
12) Seydou Diarrasouba
13) Barry Colenso
14) Reiss
15) Andre Ward
16) Nivin El Gamal
17) Cannonball
18) Johan Lamont
19) Paul Kelly
20) Jamie Waylett
21) Karl Smith – Jeffrey Burton
22) Charles Byrne
23) Matthew Banks
24) Margaret McKever
25) Jennifer Cox
26) Georgina Ray

In Other News

1) Lord Prescott demanded an apology from Eric Pickles and Grant Shapps – for what ?
2) Who has just recovered from an emergency tracheotomy for pneumonia ?
3) Why were the Waterstones store in Huddersfield in the news ?
4) Which is apparently the happiest place in Britain ?
5) Which company has pledged to retain its credit card surcharge ?
6) Which politician said that Vladimir Putin is an embarrassment ?
7) What is the cause of the diplomatic row between France and Turkey ?
8) Who won Christmas Strictly Come Dancing ?
9) Which man assembled the Military Wives Choir who topped the Christmas charts ?
10) Which secret archive is going on public display ?
11) Which were the first team against whom Man City failed to score this season ?
12) Which was the most watched show on TV on Christmas Day ?
13) Who lost a libel case with the Daily Mail after it called her a ‘man eater’ ?
14) South American countries have banned ships from showing what ?
15) Which boxer was given a 90 day prison sentence for domestic violence ?
16) Which TV presenter was in court over claims he had been harassing an ex girlfriend ?
17) In an interview Downton Abbey actresses revealed that they are not allowed what ?
18) Whose song was cut from the broadcast of Jonathon Ross’ Christmas show ?
19) What does P.I.P. stand for ?
20) Who were first, second and third in Sports Personality of the Year ?
21) Into which hospital was the Duke of Edinburgh rushed with a blocked artery ?
22) Which comet was seen in the southern hemisphere ?
23) Which company failed to deliver some of their Christmas hampers due to IT problems ?
24) Whose Oscar sold for over £1/2 ?
25) The first major railway line has been opened in which country ?
26) Kim Jong Il officially died where ?
27) Which dance did the Duke of Cambridge do at the Centrepoint homeless shelter ?
28) Which notorious serial killer died in prison ?
29) John Terry faces a court case over his alleged racist abuse of whom ?
30) Which scot has announced his retirement from International Rugby Union ?
31) What was stolen from Dulwich Park ?
32) What was number 1 in the Christmas book charts ?
33) What is the name of the first earth ‘twin’ planet discovered by astronomers – just weeks after the discovery of Kepler 22b ?
34) Who won the series of Strictly Come Dancing ?
35) Who is Kim Jong Il’s successor ?
36) Which former European leader died aged 75 ?
37) Who won the club world cup ?
38) In a digitalspy survey, which emerged as the UK’s favourite Christmas film ?
39) Which island was hit by floods in the Philippines ?
40) Which republican candidate has threatened to arrest radical judges ?
41) Syria allowed observers from which organization to enter the country ?
42) Which TV show has been panned for being irresponsible in portraying lunchtime drinking ?
43) Who called the House of Lords an ‘affront to democracy ‘ ?
44) Which English city has cancelled its New Year fireworks display because it can’t afford to waste the money ?
45) Which seaside resort is hosting a JMW Turner exhibition ?
46) Which has become the youngest building to get a Grade 1 listing ?

Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 7

2011-12-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

Last week it was the turn of my friend Rob Merrill to make his bid for a place in the semi finals. On Monday it was regular LAM reader Colin Kidd. Colin is a good, experienced quizzer. All well and good, but would even this be enough to beat the curse of support from the Clark sofa?

First up was Lizzie Brighton. In Russell’s introduction he said that Lizzie is from the Vale of Glamorgan, which is not a million miles from where I live, and certainly well within the radius within which I’m prepared to travel for quizzes of an evening. So while I have no recollection of meeting her it’s quite possible that we might have played in some of the same events. Not that it naturally follows that she takes part in quizzes. I discussed this with Rob. He told me about having a conversation with one of his vanquished opponents. Trying to find some common ground as a topic of conversation, Rob picked on quizzes, only to be told by the other person that they never listen to or watch quizzes, and never play in quizzes. Apparently this person had been put up to applying by a family member. Explains a lot. Still, back to this show. Lizzie failed to identify Medusa and her sisters as Gorgons, which gave Colin a bonus. Peter Brown failed on his first as well. In fact he would only manage to take one of his own starter questions, and not until round 5. During all this time he didn’t manage a bonus either. Angus Douglas took the first as a bonus on Parkinson’s disease. He then took his first, but could only remember one of the warring racial groups in Rwanda. Colin had the pair. He went on to take his own first two, but nobody knew a succession of places which all shared the name Ramsay. So my boy had an early lead. Well and good.

Lizzie started round 2 like an express train. She took three on the bounce – well done for that. However the Icelandic prose and poetic eddas tripped her up – none of the brains could take that one. Angus knew Peter’s first, that the BBC announced earlier this year that it was bringing an end to the annual Blue Peter books. He didn’t know his own first, that Dead Cert was the title of the first novel by Dick Francis. Lizzie took that one to complete a good round for her. Colin didn’t get a definition of email, and when Angus took the bonus this meant that he, Lizzie and Colin all tied for first place. Interesting. Lizzie was not to get another of her own questions right, and nobody knew the psychiatric term fugue for her first. Peter’s first, asking which creatures on TV were designed by Raymond Cusick, gave Colin a bonus. He knew it was the daleks. Angus failed on his own first, not knowing that MIB stands for Men In Black. Lizzie had that one. Nobody knew Colin’s first, that Barnsley stands on the river Dearne. So Colin and Lizzie now led, and the fact that we went straight onto round 4 suggested that 8 rounds at least were on the cards. Colin took a bonus on Lizzie’s first, knowing that Jim Callaghan held all 4 main offices of government. Nobody knew Peter’s, that Gerstmann Syndrome affects the brain. Colin took another bonus, knowing the Scottish settlement of Fort Augustus for Angus’ question. His own first, a piece of music composed by Michael Nyman foxed everyone. Still, being the only person to score all round meant that he had carved out a 2 point lead going into the Beat the Brains interval.

The two questions were both about alternative titles to pieces of music. Nobody – including me – knew that the Maypole Dance was another name for Barwick Green – aka The Archers theme music. Everyone knew that the Marching Song of the Army of the Rhine is the Marseillaise. So book token earned anyway.

Round five brought Peter into the competition. He took a good three on the bounce, but failed on the chestnutty scaly anteater. Angus had a bonus for the pangolin there. He’d already taken one on Lizzie’s first, recognizing the last words that Tony Blair spoke to parliament. He took his own first, but nobody could complete a quote from Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead. Colin stalled, not knowing that – ness literally means headland. Angus did, making a full set of three bonuses, which enabled him to leapfrog one point ahead of Colin. Nip and tuck. Peter’s points total was completed when he took Lizzie’s first, knowing that the BRIC group of countries is Brazil, Russia, India, China. Nobody knew that cubism came after fauvism for Peter’s first. Angus surprisingly didn’t know that codeine is obtained from the poppy family. Lizzie did, and this bonus also completed her points total for the competition. Colin took his first, but then didn’t know that Malcolm Morley was the first winner of the Turner Prize. Angus accepted the bonus to maintain his one point lead.

Colin knew Lizzie’s first, that pedology is the study of soil. Angus knew Peter’s first, that Benjamin Briggs was the captain of the Mary (not Marie) Celeste. Colin knew Angus’ first, that the nine of diamonds is the curse of Scotland. He also knew his own first. He didn’t know that Saturninus is a fictional roman emperor in Titus Andronicus. Still, neither did the others, and it was enough to give him back the lead, with 11 to 10. Round 8 began, and Russell still hadn’t announced that this was the last round. Lizzie couldn’t recognize Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, and Angus was the first to buzz in. All square. Surprisingly nobody knew the chestnutty word which means circle of animals – zodiac. Nobody knew Angus’ question, that Robert Watson – Watt was involved in the development of radar, and nobody knew Colin’s first either – that Christ crossed the Valley of Kidron going to the last supper. Now Russell announced the last round. Realistically it would be either Colin or Angus, but they could both qualify if they put a spurt on. Nobody knew either Lizzie or Peter’s questions. Angus took his first. Nobody knew Ixion’s punishment for his second. So Colin needed to answer his first to force a tie break, and his first two to win. HE so nearly did it. He was asked for the difference between rampant and salient animals in heraldry. He had the difference alright, but agonizingly had the two the wrong way round. A very, very rough way indeed to lose a show. Well done Angus, but very hard lines, Colin. At the moment there are 2 runners up with higher scores – but unfortunately also 2 others with the same. How they will work it out if no other runner up scores over 11, I do not know. I have to say, though, with several heats left I’m afraid it’s likely that someone will manage it. I hope I’m wrong.

The Details

Lizzie Brighton – 6
Peter Brown – 4
Angus Douglas – 12
Colin Kidd – 11

Repechage Board -

Austin McQuade – 14
Michael Frankel – 12
Christopher Anton - Alan Boden – Colin Kidd - 11

Sleb Mastermind - Show 1

2011-12-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

Well, this show has answered one question for me. We are not going to see anyone beat last year’s record sleb score , since the specialist rounds have been cut down to 90 seconds. Have Jon and the team been reading the recent debate on LAM over the specialist rounds, I wonder ? It’s probably just a coincidence, as I’m sure they film the shows some time in advance.

First up was Jay Rayner. Most people probably know him from semi regular appearences on The One Show. He’s a journalist and food critic – and one thing I didn’t know before checking out his brief biog on Wikipedia is that he is also the son of the late Claire Rayner. Jay’s specialist subject was Steven Sondheim. Like him I couldn’t remember Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd , but I did manage another five answers. Jay did a lot better than that. His 9 and 2 passes might be an ordinary score in a 2 minute round, but it’s competitive in a 90 second one. His chosen charity was Sense.

O.J.Borg proved just how easy it is to look completely different from Princess Leia while still being dressed in a long white robe, wearing a wig with her famous ‘danish pastry on either side of the head’ hairstyle. He has presented a number of shows on radio and television. Back in 2009 Darren Bennett from Strictly Come Dancing chanced his arm with the Star Wars movies. Here O.J. limited himself just to the original trilogy – wise move – and did proportionately better. Darren’s 10 from 2 minutes was inferior to O.J.’s 10 from 90 seconds. Manchester Dogs’ Home was his nominated charity.

Before the start of the show I had Jay Rayner, and the third contender, Simon Calder, down as joint favourites. Simon Calder is the only one of tonight’s contenders I have actually met in person. Well, I say met. It was on the day that I recorded my first round heat of “Are You An Egghead ?” in 2009. I was walking into the foyer of TV Centre in White City as he was walking out, and I did that thing where you see someone you’ve seen on the telly, and you know you know them from somewhere, but not where, so you mistake them for someone you know personally. So I said “Hello, how are you ? “ and he replied very well, thank you, like the polite gent that he is, and walked on. It came to me who he was about 5 minutes later. Anyway, it can’t have done him any lasting damage, since he produced the pick of tonight’s SS rounds. Answering on the history of Concorde, he scored a very impressive 12 and 2 passes. It was my second best round with 7. He nominated Farm – Africa as his charity.

Anthony Costa, of the once popular beat combo Blue, offered us Only Fools and Horses. I think he was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience of being in the chair, and he missed a couple of little sitters. As it happened I had the rare experience of outscoring a contender on their own specialist subject – albeit only by the fact that he said Grandad was sent out to get a budgie rather than a canary. I scored 8, he scored 7 and 2 passes, for Sara’s Hope Foundation. Which meant that he had a quick return to the chair. In their chat interval John went straight for the jugular by bringing up the Eurovision Song Contest. At least he didn’t remind Anthony that Blue finished 3 places below Jedward. 2 minutes later he had added another 8 points to his total to take it to 15 , which gave him the lead for a brief period.

Jay put on a bravura performance in his own GK round – in fact it was the pick of all the rounds tonight. I was amused to see the sleb friendly question about the black cat in the Savoy restaurant, but you’re entitled to one or two of those. 15 points is a good return on any 2 minute round, and this put Jay into the lead with 24. I thought he had an even money chance of winning with that score. O.J. gave it a lash, and his score of 11 is praiseworthy, but didn’t put him very close to Jay, despite John’s words of consolation. Simon didn’t seem as secure under the highball as Jay. However he was answering quickly, and John was throwing the questions at him as fast as he could. In the end he breasted the tape with a couple of questions left over, and was the winner with 26 points.

The Details

Jay Rayner	Steven Sondheim	9 - 2	15 - 0	24 – 2
O.J.Borg	The original Star Wars Trilogy	10 - 1	11 - 2	21 - 3
Simon Calder	The History of Concorde	12 - 2	14 - 4	26 - 6
Anthony Costa	Only Fools and Horses	7 -2	8 - 4	15 – 6

In the Christmas Stocking

2011-12-27T11:45:00.001-08:00

After 25 years I would be the first to admit that my wife Mary still has the capacity to surprise me. Those of you who are married or in long term relationships might well have your own subtle, or not so subtle ways of letting your partner know what you desire for your Christmas present. Normally Mary will kindly drop heavy handed hints to one of my daughters. Alright, I have to do all the leg work of finding out which one she has confided in – I have four daughters, you see – but then that’s only fair. It means I have had to work for it, which makes the gift special for her. Well, that’s how I choose to look at it, anyway. My method is normally a little less subtle. On rare occasions I have said words to the effect of “I want this .” More often than not, though, Mary will point something out and say “Do you want this for Christmas ?“ and I will say yes.

This year , though, by October I realized, somewhat to my surprise, that I would rather like a Kindle. But I didn’t tell her. I didn’t tell any of the kids. More than that, if we go back 12 months ago I distinctly remember saying words to the effect of ‘I don't like the idea of a kindle, I like books, I like the printed word blah blah blah.’ So unless I talk in my sleep – and she has never actually told me that I do this – unless I talk in my sleep , then I can see no way in which she would have known that a kindle is what I really wanted. At this stage of the story I’m tempted to go for the completely bathetic ending of saying that I was still really disappointed when she didn’t get me one. But this would be a lie. She did ! I have no idea whence she got the idea I wanted one, but I’m very glad that she did. So understand me when I say that the more directly quiz related stuff I found in my metaphorical stocking , while very welcome, was not the best present this Christmas.

Still, let’s have a look at the quiz related stuff I did get. Last year there was the Schott’s Almanac, and the 5th Edition of the A to Z of Almost Everything. I think that last year’s was the last of the Schott’s Almanacs, but never mind, at least there’s the Quintessential Miscellany. haven’t really got to grips with this one yet, but you know what it was like with the original Schott’s. Within a few months of it coming out, questions directly related to what was in it were appearing in quizzes left, right, and centre. Besides. I really like this kind of thing anyway, as you’ll know if you’ve ever visited the pages devoted to quiz books on my website.

There was another specifically quiz thing as well. My eldest daughter brought me a new version of the game Buzz for the PS3. I’ve played Buzz before, but only when she’s brought it over to the house. This one was actually really good. I’ve found the others to be very entertainment-centered, but this one is more of a proper general knowledge thing. With the result that I won the first three games, and then only sulked for half a day after my son beat me on the third. It'll probably be next Christmas before anyone is willing to play against me again.

Here’s hoping that you got everything you wished for.

Answers to News Questions

2011-12-27T11:21:00.001-08:00

Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news ?

1. Alan Pollack
2. Glenn Mangham
3. Jesse Jackson
4. Sam Main
5. Bob Flowerdew
6. Max Findlay
7. Wukan
8. Nardine Amrani
9. Cenarth Primary, Newcastle Emlyn
10. Dennis Leighton
11. James Whitmarsh
12. Jason Flemming
13. Melinda Star Guido
14. Francis Bridgeman
15. Joan Dufosse
16. Aidan Burley MP
17. Academi
18. Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3
19. Richard Smith
20. Sarah Montague
21. Martin Boyce
22. Eva Michalak
23. Bradley Manning
24. Jim Wick
25. Alan Keen
26. Seema Malhotra
27. Francois Fillon
28. Ayesha Hazarika
29. Bryan Johnson
30. The Artist
31. Angela and Natasha Martin
32. The young Man’s Magazine Number 2
33. Richard Moore
34. Clare Carter and the Hartnoll Hotel, nr. Tiverton
35. Lamont Peterson
36. Mikhail Repin
37. Judge Jules
38. Christopher Logue

In Other News

1) A draw to which team put Fulham out of the Europa League ?
2) What common substance can be obtained duty free in Norwegian Airports ?
3) Who has been appointed Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy of Art ?
4) What strange rainfall fell on Coventry last week ?
5) Which organization have donated £550,000 towards the restoration of the huts at Bletchley Park ?
6) Who is the new president of the Poetry Society ?
7) A huge Viking hoard has been found where ?
8) Which is the fastest rising search term of the year on Google ?
9) Which Man Utd. player has been ruled out indefinitely with colitis ?
10) Which country are withdrawing from the Kyoto Treaty ?
11) Who have announced plans for a commercial space ship – the Stratolaunch ?
12) Who delivered her report on the High Street ?
13) Who were the first team to defeat Man City in the Premier League this season ?
14) Johnny Wilkinson , who announced retirement from International Rugby, won how many caps for England ?
15) Which Republican candidate offered a main rival a $10,000 bet this week ?
16) Who has been sent home from France to face jail ?
17) The 4 main republican candidates have all agreed to abolish what ?
18) Ryan Giggs has admitted that which former lover did not try to blackmail him ?
19) Why were there complaints about a live video stream of Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 breakfast show ?
20) Why have there been complaints about Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s Panto ?
21) OFCOM have ruled that whose adverts during Downton Abbey broke their guidelines ?
22) Which tournament gave Tiger Woods his first win in 2 years ?
23) Where in Britain was there an earthquake last week ?
24) Members of which organization infiltrated a French nuclear power plant at Nogent sur Seine ?
25) Which sportsperson was confirmed as suffering from Dengue last week ?
26) Where is the venue for the UN climate change summit ?
27) Footage of polar bears for the TV show Frozen Planet was actually filmed in a zoo in which city ?
28) Which Downton Abbey actor has joined the judging panel for the Booker Prize ?
29) Which US politician was blasted by Vladimir Putin last week ?
30) Which government watchdog rejected calls for a single examining board ?
31) Which former politician was found guilty on two counts of embezzlement ?
32) Who won the X – Factor ?
33) Whose album is top of the album charts ?
34) Which word did Clegg use to describe what the UK will become if we leave the EU ?
35) Which 3 celebs are in the final of Strictly Come Dancing ?
36) Which BBC show is leaving BBC1 for CBBC ?
37) Which group announced that they are going to reunite for their 50th anniversary next year ?
38) At precisely what time on Christmas Day does research suggest that most people are at their happiest ?
39) What was given to Virgin staff who were made redundant ?
40) What was announced by the PM of Japan last week ?

Answers

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1) The vigilante who put a student accused of fare dodging off a scot rail train
2) In court he admitted to hacking into Facebook
3) He has claimed that Tony Blair should be on trial for war crimes
4) He was the student thrown off the train for alleged fare dodging
5) Gardening expert criticized for using peat compost
6) The owner of Fenton the dog
7) Chinese village in open revolt against communist authorities
8) The man who carried out fatal attacks on shoppers in Liege in Belgium
9) The headteacher of the school has banned kids from giving out Christmas Cards
10) Pensioner who was lost on the M25 for 2 days
11) Man cleared of sexual assault after eating contaminated oysters
12) Former burglar whose ‘checklist’ has been released by police to assist homeowners in safeguarding their homes.
13) Smallest premature baby to survive
14) City lawyer who tried to avoid a drink driving charge by claiming that he had been kidnapped
15) Senior citizen who slipped on a plastic icicle in Selfridge’s in 2009 – court has finally ruled that Selfridges were at fault.
16) He apologized for attending a friend’s Nazi themed stag party
17) New name of security firm Blackwater
18) The game has become the fastest selling entertainment product of all time
19) Suspected of killing his family before committing suicide
20) Radio 4 Today presenter apologized to listeners for claiming that Father Christmas does not exist
21) Won the Turner Prize
22) Consultant won £4.5 million compensation after being hounded out of job in West Yorks hospital
23) On trial in USA over giving material to wikileaks
24) Pet shop owner in Wolverhampton found abandoned crocodile in cardboard box left outside his shop
25) MP whose death resulted in the Feltham and Heston By election
26) Winner of the Feltham and Heston By Election
27) French PM who criticized UKs credit rating
28) Target of a blackmail plot
29) Ed Milliband speech writer who has quit to go and work for Harriet Harman
30) He proposed to his girlfriend in Buckingham Palace after receiving medal from the Queen
31) Silent black and white film nominated for 6 Golden Globes
32) Jailed for claiming that they could provide underage girls for an orgy at the Dorchester
33) Written by 14 year old Charlotte Bronte – sold for over £600,000
34) Police Community Support officer banned from hop Poles pub in Hull for demanding that the bar maid should be strip searched
35) Forced to take down a stag’s head which may have been the Emperor of Exmoor
36) Russian Embassy Official expelled from UK for spying
37) Private Eye True Stories editor, who has passed away
38) Radio 1 DJ who is giving up in order to become a lawyer

In Other News

1) Odense
2) Butter
3) Tracey Emin
4) Apples
5) Google
6) Roger McGough
7) Silverdale, Lancs
8) Top was the Royal Wedding – second was the iphone 5
9) Darren Fletcher
10) Canada
11) Paul Allen ( co founder of Microsoft )
12) Mary Portas
13) Chelsea
14) 91
15) Mitt Romney
16) Manuel Noriega
17) Abortion
18) Imogen Thomas
19) The Wombles, were performing, and Mike Batt took his head off to talk to Simon Mayo, horrifying watching small children
20) They used children rather than short actors to play the 7 dwarves, since the children were a lot cheaper
21) Aviva
22) The Chevron tournament
23) Bodmin , Cornwall
24) Greenpeace
25) Rory Mcilroy
26) Durban
27) Dublin
28) Dan Stevens
29) John McCain
30) OFQUAL
31) Jacques Chirac
32) Little Mix
33) Amy Winehouse
34) Pygmy
35) Jasonn Donovan – Harry Judd – Chelsee Healey
36) Blue Peter
37) The Beach Boys
38) 1.55 pm
39) A Copy of Branson’s new book
40) The Fukushima nuclear station is now stable

Christmas UC FInal

2011-12-27T11:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I’ve just watched the final of Christmas University Challenge. I have to admit that after watching the two semi finals on the iplayer this morning I thought that Warwick would blow Trinity out of the water. Which just goes to show how much I know. Mind you, it did illustrate an interesting point for me. I made Warwick the hot favourites because in their first round and second round matches Daisy Christodoulou looked comfortably the fastest buzzer, and the best quizzer in the whole competition. It’s not surprising when you consider that she won the proper series in 2007. The only thing about having one obvious ‘star’ on your team is it does leave a huge question mark over exactly what happens when your star has an off night. I only base this on her performances in the first two matches, but based on that I would say that Daisy Christodoulou was some way below par tonight, and unfortunately for Warwick the rest of the team just couldn’t take up the slack between them.

This is to take nothing away from Trinity, who put on an admirable display tonight. If we’re talking about stars, then Trinity had their own University Challenge series winner with Robin Bhattacharya, who has been a big hitter for them consistently, and also with Daisy Goodwin, who had comfortably her best performance tonight, and was rightly applauded by skipper John Lloyd at the end of the show.

For the record, the final score was Trinity – 235 - Warwick - 60

Brain of Britain - Round One - Match 6

2011-12-23T12:42:00.001-08:00

I’ve mentioned the Thursday night quiz in the Aberavon rugby club many times before in this very blog. If you’re a regular reader you may recall the times when I have mentioned the serious opposition that we face from a team headed by my friend Rob. Well, Rob in the rugby club is none other than Robert Merrill, who contested last Monday’s heat of Brain of Britain. So even if none of his opponents knew it, I certainly knew that they were facing a very serious opponent indeed.

For the record, the full line up was Linda Bond, Louis Houghton, Thomas Leeming, and Rob. Rob of course labored under the burden of support from the Clark sofa. Linda kicked off. She answered her first question, but didn’t know what a laverock was. Rob did – the answer being skylark. I’m sure that he knew it anyway, but it’s rather ironic that this is one of the questions I asked in a quiz in the club about 6 months ago. Louis too managed his first, before failing on a French Royal house. He tried Bourbon , but my boy knew it was the Valois. Text book start so far. Thomas Leeming leapt off to a good start taking his first two, but a tricky question on the scientist who coined the term Homo Sapiens saw him off. It was Louis who knew that this was Linnaeus. Rob faltered on his first . Asked for the writer of Dad’s Army et al who passed away , he zigged with Jimmy Perry. Thomas zagged correctly with David Croft.

In round 2 Linda again took her first – incidentally and unfortunately the last of her own questions she would answer correctly in the contest. Her second – alphabetically speaking, which is the last book of the Old Testament – foxed all the brains. It is Zephaniah. Louis couldn’t take his first, not knowing that the Scottish football club Morton are now Greenock Morton. Thomas had that one. Thomas didn’t know the rather chestnutty other name for a plantar wart, which let Louis in for a bonus with verruca. Robert knew his first, but then none of the team remembered that Enoch Powell’s only cabinet post had been in Health. Thomas, then , still retained his lead, but with Rob only a point behind there was no real need to worry. In round three Linda didn’t know that the US Virgin Islands originally belonged to Denmark. Neither did the other brains. I don’t know where I’ve heard that one before, but I was pleased with myself for getting that. Louis again missed his first – and again none of the other brains could pick up the baton. Kicking Horse pass is on the Canadian Pacific railway. Thomas took his first two, but then rather surprisingly was unable to name the Norns from Norse Mythology. Louis, showing good speed with his buzzer finger ( or thumb, to be precise ) took that one. Rob took three , but failed on the flag of Dominica – again, a bonus for Louis. I have told Rob he should get on Sporcle and play the flag game. Still he shared the lead with 6 now, as we headed for the Beat the Brains interval.

My boy again showed his class by being the prime mover behind the correct answer to the first, somewhat trickier question. When asked – in which direction does the Panama Canal go from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean, the answer given was South East. Sounds crazy , but look at the map. It’s true. The second – which is the only London Underground Tube station ( still in use ) with a name which contains 6 consecutive consonants – was dispatched to the boundary in fairly short order – the answer being Knightsbridge.

Back to the contest. Linda was tripped up on the British empire Medal – I thought that was gettable, but none of the brains could dredge it up. Louis got rather a tricky one I thought – where would you hear a nautophone ? Nobody knew – and neither did I – that it’s a fog warning, maybe carried by a ship or a lighthouse. Nobody knew Thomas’ question either. This one was the sort of thing which Whitakers Almanac is so good for . Coronets of Dukes ( and some other ranks ) are decorated with leaves of which plant . The answer is strawberry. So , a low scoring round, and the door was wide open for Rob to make a move into the lead. Which he did with 2 correct answers. He tripped up on the relationship between Edward the Confessor and his successor Harold Godwinsson. Linda knew they were brothers – in – law, and this brought up her final point of the competition. Moving onto the next round, Linda didn’t recognize the scientific name of dry rot. I didn’t know it, but guessed from Russell’s description. Thomas took a timely bonus. Louis again got a tricky starter – nobody actually knew that the civilization after which one of the Earth’s tectonic plates is named is the Nazca. Thomas missed a gettable point, when he didn’t guess that the Women’s Land Army first came into being during World War I. Rob had that one. Now he ripped in with a set of four before being asked where you’d find Upper and Nether Something Or Other. Never mind, Rob’s lead was now a useful 6 points. While the others had come up with some good answers, none of them looked likely to whack in a 6 pointer in the last two rounds, so Rob looked well on course for the win.

Linda didn’t know that a scotch argus was a butterfly. Rob did. Louis took his first, but missed out on the Jewish festival of Passover – as did the other brains. I don’t know if there’s much consolation in this , but three times so far Louis had been asked a starting question which none of the brains could answer. I think we can assume that he is better than his score. Thomas couldn’t identify where the Oakridge Research facility is. Rob knew it was Tennessee. He took his own first, but then he was given a piece of music, from one of the films directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Well, which do you go for. Hamlet ? Henry V ? Both offered, but the answer was actually Richard III. His lead had waxed to a mighty 9 points now, and with one round to go, he had to be home and dry. Linda had a nasty one on palindromic diseases nobody had it. Louis didn’t know that the Eclipse Stakes are run at Sandown , which gave Thomas a bonus to ensure his runner up slot. Nobody knew their Greek mythology well enough to identify Laertes as the father of Odysseus. Maybe not a gimme, no, but certainly gettable I would have said. Finally Rob took a further three, but fell into a little trap when asked who first referred to Swiss bankers as ‘gnomes IN Zurich ‘ . Rob went for George Brown, who famously used the phrase ‘The Gnomes OF Zurich’ but as Thomas knew old ‘tired and emotional’ George was picking up on something originally said by Harold Wilson.

I have had a chat with Rob at some length about the show. He told me that before the start, his main ambition was not to come last. Well, he certainly achieved that. Well done Rob ! A fine performance, which will come as no surprise to your friends, teammates, and regular opponents, even if you surprised yourself !

The Details

Linda Bond – 3
Louis Houghton – 6
Thomas Leeming – 9
Robert Merrill - 19

Dear Santa

2011-12-22T04:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, here we are, last day of the school term, and time for my annual plea to Santa, in the form of a review of how well I have managed to stick to my New Year quiz resolutions. Let’s get this first one out of the way : -

• I resolve to stop saying that any team who beat us in a straight pub quiz must have cheated, even when they have actually been using their phones in front of us.

Famous last words. Being realistic I said that I would be happy if I could keep this one until June. I didn’t even make it out of January. I don’t wish to sour the festive season with another diatribe about phone cheating, and so I will just do as I always do, and promise to at least try to try harder to keep it this year.

Verdict - Naughty

• I resolve to not close the door to appearing on some other broadcast quiz, but only to apply to something because it might be fun.

It’s the first year for some time that I haven’t at least recorded a show for broadcast. Between ourselves I came fairly close to being on one of the last Weakest Links, but it didn’t happen. Shame. So I haven’t closed the door, and who knows what the future might hold ?

Verdict - Nice

• I resolve to keep working on my weak areas as I have been since joining the quiz league this Autumn.

Yes, I have done this. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, really good quizzers won’t be quaking in their boots, believe you me, but I have kept it up – and enjoyed it, too.

Verdict - Nice

• I resolve to try harder to attend at least one or two grand prix events this year.

I’m sorry about this one. I can’t really go on making excuses, and I will , yes definitely will, try to attend at least one in 2012.

Verdict - Naughty

• I resolve to try even harder not to criticise a quiz unfairly , even when the questions are not especially to my liking.

I think I’ve done pretty well on this score. Reading back through previous posts I think I rate pretty low on the slag-off-o-meter for once. So I go for : -

Verdict - Nice

• I resolve above all else to enjoy my quizzing throughout the next year as much as I have enjoyed it this year.

This is easy. Even the fact that I have been so angry about the phone cheating on occasions just shows how important my quizzing is, and how much I have enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who has made it such a pleasure.

Verdict – Nice

So five nices to two naughties. Hopefully that will do for Santa. Here’s hoping that all of you get everything you could wish for. Merry Christmas.

Christmas University Challenge

2011-12-22T03:52:00.001-08:00

Christmas UC

Three days down, and three matches played. I’ll put my cards on the table, I love UC, so anything like this is always going to be an extra treat, and always to be encouraged in my view. I haven’t compiled my usual notes on the shows. Although the contests have been carried out under proper UC rules, and I’m sure that the teams on each show have wanted to win, and put up the best showing that they can, it’s still been a lighthearted joust really. I always find it a little bit difficult to know exactly how to pitch a review of celebrity ( for you can say what you like, but this is essentially what Christmas UC is ) versions of shows. After all if you put yourself up to take part in a serious quiz show, then you are open to be criticised – fairly I hope – on your performance. Presumably the UC team actually approached the graduates of the various universities and university colleges participating. So how fair is it to criticise ? I do bear in mind the fact that these people are not setting themselves up as quizzers. So I guess that it’s no surprise to sit and watch these shows, and find myself murmuring from time to time words to the effect of – I’m surprised they didn’t know that. Still , you have to echo JP’s comments at the end of the first show, where he thanked the teams for putting their heads above the parapet. Quite right.

One thing this welcome little series of shows has done is to highlight just how good many of the student teams we see in each series really are. This is just my opinion , and by all means feel free to disagree, but it has seemed to me that the questions in Christmas UC have been a degree or two easier than those in the regular show. I found last night’s a little harder, but nonetheless I’ve found with this series that even with the things you don’t know you can go a long way just by giving the percentage answer, or the most obvious one.

The scores in the first three shows would all have been unlikely to win a regular first round show. I’m not sure whether this is down to the strengths of the teams compared with the student teams, or whether more time is being allowed for answers, or fewer questions are being asked.

Oh , and if the production team is reading – should you ever invite Goldsmiths’ graduates ( imagine a team made of , say for the sake of argument – Damon Albarn – Julian Clary – Mary Quant – Damien Hurst etc. ) to make up a team, then I’m available.

The 2011 LAMMY Awards

2011-12-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it’s the last weekend before the Christmas break, and I haven’t forgotten the LAMMYs. So let’s get down to business

1) The Award for the Best New Quiz Show of 2011

You may remember that there was such a dearth of new shows in 2010, that I didn’t feel that any were good enough to win the award. I am delighted to say that we did at least have some worthy nominees, albeit that none are of the quality of previous winners Only Connect, and The Chase – or runner up Pointless. The nominees are : -

Perfection

This show did make an appearance after a few difficulties. It wasn’t bad either. A decent, honest new tea time quiz, I did wonder if the Beeb were grooming it to take over the tea time slot soon to be vacated by the departing Weakest Link. The show ran in the early spring, and hasn’t been back since, so I do wonder if that’s that. Nonetheless, it was a simple and relatively enjoyable thing, albeit that we could have had a lot more questions per show.

The Third Degree

A Radio 4 show this one. Hosted by Steve Punt, the basic idea behind it was that University students played against their lecturers to find out who was more knowledgeable. In most cases it was the lecturers. Not the most serious offering we’ve ever heard, but it wasn’t bad, albeit that I was never sure whether it really wanted to be a serious show or not.

Quiz Trippers

Every year brings its guilty pleasures, and this one was mine. The Coach Trip goes quizzing. The show was an interesting idea, but the execution left a lot to be desired. We got relatively little in terms of quiz in each show, and I know that at least one of the quizzers on board was not happy at what had been done in the editing of the show. There is the germ of an idea there which could actually make a good show. This wasn’t it, though. Despite this, though, as I say it was very much a guilty pleasure of mine.

High Stakes

A lady who works in the 360 Granada Studios in Manchester where they record the Jeremy Kyle Show once confided to me that in her opinion Jeremy Kyle is the most disliked man in British television. I have no idea whether this is accurate or fair. Still, he is not the first person you would automatically think of as the genial host of an evening big money quiz show. I found it hard to get over this mental hurdle when I watched High Stakes. It’s not really my cup of tea anyway. It’s a game show, really, a guessing game show, which is great if you like that sort of thing. Personally I thought it lacked the wow factor, and I don’t know what the audiences were like, but I doubt it made the kind of splash that ITV were hoping it would.

SO – the winner is : -

Perfection

It may well have been and gone, and it may not be as good as The Chase or Pointless, and certainly nowhere near as good as Only Connect , but Perfection gets the vote. Of all the new shows it had the best quiz play for the viewer at home, and was the only one I could see myself watching on anything like a regular basis.

2) The Award for Quiz Performance of the Year

Nominees

Right – here I have to correct a wrong. Last year the LAMMYs were announced before the final of Only Connect Series 4 was broadcast. So I could not include the Epicureans in the nominees. So let me rectify that : -

Series 4 Only Connect Winners – The Epicureans

The Eps posted some mighty scores during series 4, and with all due respect to ourselves, they always looked like the champions in waiting for the whole series.

Series 5 Only Connect Winners – The Analysts

I marked out the Analysts as probably the team to beat from early doors within this season’s tournament. Having said that they didn’t have it all their own way, facing strong challenges from the Trade Unionists, and especially the Technologists. They triumphed in the final , though, with a magnificent shut out on the missing vowels round.

Mastermind 2011 – Ian Bayley

Having cursed Ian’s chances in 2009 by tipping him to win the Grand Final I refrained from doing so this year. Unburdened by the Clark tip he romped home to win comfortably with a magnificent 37, becoming the 5th to do the Mastermind and Brain of Britain double.

University Challenge 2011 - Magdalen , Oxford

Magdalen proved themselves up to every challenge that came their way throughout the series, and outclassed a good team from the University of York to win the Final.

Brain of Britain 2011 – Iwan Thomas

Iwan Thomas won a splendidly competitive final , beating some great quizzers to the title.

A vintage year again, and it’s very hard to choose between them all. Still, on reflection I have plumped for a performance of domination in the Grand Final – The Winners are – step forward

James McComish,
Kyle Haddad- Fonda,
Will Cudmore
and Captain Matthew Chan of the victorious Magdalen College Oxford University Challenge 2011 Winners.

3) The Award for best performance in a Non Broadcast Quiz

There are a couple of nominees in this category , but first I’d like to start with a team I’m not nominating. If I wasn’t part of the team, then I would certainly be nominating the Llangewydd Arms quiz team. In 2011 we completed the double of league and cup, and won every game into the process – becoming the first team in the history of the league in Bridgend to complete a 100% season. But I am in the team, and the rules of the LAMMYs state that members of the judging panel may not be nominated in any category. ( I should know – I made them up. ) So the real nominees are : -

The Royal Oak Nomads ( since renamed the Tyrisha Nomads )

The Nomads are our most formidable opposition in the Bridgend league. We were the only team to beat them in the whole of last season. That’s not why they are nominated. In the curtain raiser to this season’s league, the Muriel Williams Cup, they beat us, and what’s more as round by round went on we never felt that we were going to get on terms with them, and we didn’t. A fine performance.

Utopia Ltd.

You may have read my post about this year’s Birmingham Mega Quiz. We were beaten into second place by a team who are always right up there on the scoreboard, Utopia Ltd. They overhauled us in the last round, and clinched the prize. Well done !

Gosforth Empire

In this year’s CIU Finals Gosforth empire and Radford Road Social Club were a street ahead of all the other teams, and believe me there was a lot of serious quiz talent in many of these as well. In the end only a tie break could separate them.

Without further ado – the winners are : -

Gosforth Empire.

It always seems that this award is won by the CIU winners, but I have to say that I thought that this year’s quiz was the hardest for a long time, and I thought the boys’ performance ( and also that of Radford Road ) was out of this world. Very well done !

4) The Award for the Most Enjoyable Event in Non Broadcast Quizzing

I would have plumped for the GetConnected Charity Quiz in Floridita in Wardour Street, but this won the category last year. As a one off evening it was unbeatable. However, for sustained, week in week out enjoyment I have no hesitation I awarding the prize to : -

The Bridgend and District Quiz League 2011

Many congratulations to the league committee, and especially to Dai Rees, who compiles all the questions for the league.

5) The Award for New Quiz based fan website/blog

Two in particular have stood out this year. I have enjoyed QuizQuizQuiz very much – and thanks for the plug for LAM, guys. Much appreciated. However the award for 2011 goes to Daniel Fullard’s

The Quiz Addict

Daniel is a young quizzer, living in the North East of England. He has huge enthusiasm for the whole quiz scene. The posts have begun to flow very freely again after a little hiatus in the early Autumn. Not only that, but Daniel has just recently has shown huge initiative in approaching publishers, and gaining free quiz books to give away as competition prizes.

6) The Host – With – The – Most Award

I toyed with calling this the Robert Robinson Memorial award, since the late great one was always my very favourite chairman. Without the permission of his family this might be a little disrespectful, though.

I’ve fought a little shy of going down this route in past years since it is all very much in the eye of the beholder, I know. Besides, how can you judge between the Jeremy Paxman at his best , Russell Davies aka The Best Voice On The Radio – Ever, Victoria Coren - the list goes on. All of the above are worth a prize just for being who and what they are. However the difficulty of singling out a winner is not an excuse not to present the award. So without further ado, the winning host is –

Alexander Armstrong – Pointless

It’s a personal choice – feel free to disagree. If we take UC and BoB , both Russell Davies and JP are brilliant at what they do. But their shows could be and have been handled well by people with a completely different style. Victoria Coren is so far the only presenter of OC – and be honest, could you see anyone else ever presenting it ? The fact that she does not, this time, win the award takes nothing away from her. But I awarded the prize to Alexander Armstrong, because, while I like Pointless, in other less deft hands I feel it could have become quite a tedious show. That’s my decision, and I’m sticking to it.

--------------------

There we are, then. I have no doubt regulars will be sitting at home, wondering how on earth I could leave out so and so – and probably with every justification as well. Roll on next year.

R.I.P. John Hart

2011-12-18T05:46:00.000-08:00

I have just read on Weaver's Week the news that John Hart has passed away. John Hart was the first man to win Mastermind, back in 1975. Mr. Hart, Classics master at Malvern College, answered questions on Athens 500 - 400 BC , and Rome 100 - 1 BC. I extend my condolences to his family and friends.

Only Connect Special

2011-12-18T00:39:00.000-08:00

Wall Night

An interesting little pre-christmas treat this. 8 former teams, who represented each of the 5 series, were invited back to contest a winner takes all, knockout wall tournament. The format was easy to follow. The teams were paired up in the first round. each would get one wall to unravel – usual scoring rules applied. If the two teams achieved the same score, then the team who solved their first set more quickly would go through.

I won’t give details of each of the walls – I’m sure you can find them and play them on the official site. The teams involved were : -
The Courtiers – a team unlucky enough to meet the Epicureans on top form in round 1 of series 4.
The Knitters – from series 1. I believe they were knocked out by finalists The Lapsed Psychologists (although my records for series one are sketchy – apologies for that. )
The Choirboys – they contested round 1 in series 3.
The Editors – they met future semi-finalists the Trade Unionists in round one of season 5.
The Archers Admirers – semi-finalists in the 3rd series, and featuring none other than our own Andrew B.!
The Technologists – who lost that extremely tight quarter final to series 5 winners the Analysts
The Hitchhikers – semi-finalists in series 3
The Travel Writers – now, I’m guessing that they must have been in series 1, because I have no record of them. I can only apologise.
Here’s the results : -
Round One

Courtiers – 4
Knitters – 7

Choirboys- 4
Editors - 5

Archers Admirers – 4
Technologists - 5

Hitchhikers – 4
Travel Writers 2

Semi Finals
Editors – 5
Knitters – 5 (won on faster first set )

Technologists – 7
Hitchhikers – 3

Final
Knitters – 5
Technologists – 6

So our first Wall Night champions are Bruce and the boys from the Technologists. Well done gentlemen ! Fine performance.

University Challenge - Round Two - Match 8

2011-12-18T00:25:00.000-08:00

Pembroke, Cambridge v. Nottingham

The last of the second round matches pitted Pembroke, Cambridge against Nottingham University. Both teams were in the bottom half of my unofficial table of first round results. Pembroke and their team of Edward Bankes, Ben Pugh, Imogen Gold, and Captain Bibek Mukherjee comfortably beat St. Anne’s Oxford by 205 to 140. Nottingham, in the shape of Harry Dalton, Matthew Byrne, Ewan Pickard and their captain Lee Cooper, beat the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine by 215 to 155. Nothing much to choose between their first round performances, and this suggested that maybe we were in for another close match. Maybe.

Keep calm and carry on said Harry Dalton. Correct, said JP, this being the slogan required as the answer to the first starter. Nottingham took a full set of bonuses on the human condition. Ben Pugh, who I believe was the leading buzzer on the night, took his first starter with a quote from Dwight Eisenhower. One bonus followed on search engines. Neither team knew that Coriolanus was originally banned in Nazi Germany, before becoming a set text when comparisons between the eponymous hero and Hitler began to be drawn. Harry Dalton lost 5 on that one by an early incorrect buzz. Captain Bibek Mukherjee of Pembroke, who weighed in with some good buzzes himself, knew the biologist Linnaeus. Again, only one bonus followed on beds. Ben Pugh knew that a set of definitions related to the term Cavalier. This brought up Pembroke’s first full set on pioneering female scientists. The picture starter asked the teams to identify the type of lens a photograph was taken with. Lee Cooper had a decent shout with fish eye, but Bibek Mukherjee had it right with wide angle. Three different types of lenses followed, and Pembroke managed to get two of them. The Pembroke skipper completed a very good first ten minutes for his team by identifying Big Island – or Hawaii – as the largest island of Hawaii. The team was unable to take any bonuses on sociological terms. By this time Pembroke had 85 to Nottingham’s 20.

I’m afraid that the mid-section of the contest was rather one sided as well. Neither team could quite remember the name Steven Pinker, but Lee Cooper dropped 5 from buzzing too early. I don’t blame him for this. When you are being outbuzzed you have a choice. You can either retreat into your shell, or go down fighting, and I always like to see a team giving it a lash. You might as well be hung for a sheep . . . Edward Bankes was very quick to work out the product of the two smallest 2 digit primes. 2 bonuses on Seattle followed. Neither team knew a Lemma. Edward Bankes, who weighed in with his own fair share of starters during the contest, knew the timeless classic “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monster”. My notes seem to say that the bonuses, of which Pembroke took one, were on beers, but I’m fairly sure that it was bears. Ben Pugh knew that J is the only letter of the alphabet that does not appear in a symbol of any element of the periodic table. Bonuses followed on The Picture of Dorian Grey. The music starter followed, and ben Pugh identified Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. The team managed a full set of bonuses on other works which had been panned on their premieres. Now the Nottingham skipper managed to muscle his way back into the contest, buzzing in very early on the term lebensraum. 2 bonuses followed on skin. Poor Nottingham just weren’t at the races on the buzzer – which was a shame because when they did get through they weren’t doing at all badly with the bonuses. Edward Bankes knew the difference between the EU and Council of Europe, and the team managed a bonus on plays at the Donmar Warehouse. A UC special followed. Let’s say that 1 is A and 2 B etc. What does 2015 spell? Ben Pugh knew it was TO. A very dominant second period, then for Pembroke, and they led by 185 to 35.

The game was over as a competition. Yet two points of interest remained. One was Nottingham’s attempts to reach a respectable score, and the other, Pembroke’s attempt to break through the 300 barrier. Harry Dalton made his bid first by identifying a painting by Roy Liechtenstein. Unfortunately the three pop art bonuses all went begging. Edward Bankes recognized a quote from “Twelfth Night”, and his team managed 2 bonuses on Physics. 200 barrier now passed by Pembroke. Imogen Gold took her starter by identifying Madame Butterfly, and the team took 2 bonuses on 1961. Nottingham took the next starter, knowing that alphabetically the number two comes second in French – well, something like that anyway. Haven’t we had a similar question recently – or am I imagining it? A full set of bonuses followed on words which are only differentiated by an acute accent. Lee Cooper knew that FIDE is the world governing body for chess. Again, another full set followed on a peace treaty. The skipper undid a little of the good work by buzzing too early on the next starter, which required identification of the anagrams – EBOR – EBRO – BORE. Ben Pugh took that one. No bonuses followed on Geography. Ben Pugh took a fairly swift hat trick here. He knew that the S in SIM card stands for subscriber. 2 bonuses followed on noble gases. Then he rounded it off by identifying antimony as the element in stibnite. 3 bonuses on religious clothing took Pembroke to 285. Ewan Pickard took a starter on anchovies, and a full set of bonuses on celestial bodies took them through the 100 barrier to respectability. Lee Cooper knew that heparin and warfarin are anti-coagulants, and then that was that. Pembroke won very convincingly, with 285 to 125.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Really nothing of note this week. JP was on his best behavior, and even managed a few words of genuine consolation to Nottingham – “You had a jolly bad start, but you showed us what you could do towards the end there. “ I couldn’t put it better myself.

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

Baidu is the most popular search engine in China.

News Questions

2011-12-17T07:13:00.001-08:00

Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news ?

1. Alan Pollack
2. Glenn Mangham
3. Jesse Jackson
4. Sam Main
5. Bob Flowerdew
6. Max Findlay
7. Wukan
8. Nardine Amrani
9. Cenarth Primary, Newcastle Emlyn
10. Dennis Leighton
11. James Whitmarsh
12. Jason Flemming
13. Melinda Star Guido
14. Francis Bridgeman
15. Joan Dufosse
16. Aidan Burley MP
17. Academi
18. Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3
19. Richard Smith
20. Sarah Montague
21. Martin Boyce
22. Eva Michalak
23. Bradley Manning
24. Jim Wick
25. Alan Keen
26. Seema Malhotra
27. Francois Fillon
28. Ayesha Hazarika
29. Bryan Johnson
30. The Artist
31. Angela and Natasha Martin
32. The young Man’s Magazine Number 2
33. Richard Moore
34. Clare Carter and the Hartnoll Hotel, nr. Tiverton
35. Lamont Peterson
36. Mikhail Repin
37. Judge Jules
38. Christopher Logue

In Other News

1) A draw to which team put Fulham out of the Europa League ?
2) What common substance can be obtained duty free in Norwegian Airports ?
3) Who has been appointed Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy of Art ?
4) What strange rainfall fell on Coventry last week ?
5) Which organization have donated £550,000 towards the restoration of the huts at Bletchley Park ?
6) Who is the new president of the Poetry Society ?
7) A huge Viking hoard has been found where ?
8) Which is the fastest rising search term of the year on Google ?
9) Which Man Utd. player has been ruled out indefinitely with colitis ?
10) Which country are withdrawing from the Kyoto Treaty ?
11) Who have announced plans for a commercial space ship – the Stratolaunch ?
12) Who delivered her report on the High Street ?
13) Who were the first team to defeat Man City in the Premier League this season ?
14) Johnny Wilkinson , who announced retirement from International Rugby, won how many caps for England ?
15) Which Republican candidate offered a main rival a $10,000 bet this week ?
16) Who has been sent home from France to face jail ?
17) The 4 main republican candidates have all agreed to abolish what ?
18) Ryan Giggs has admitted that which former lover did not try to blackmail him ?
19) Why were there complaints about a live video stream of Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 breakfast show ?
20) Why have there been complaints about Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s Panto ?
21) OFCOM have ruled that whose adverts during Downton Abbey broke their guidelines ?
22) Which tournament gave Tiger Woods his first win in 2 years ?
23) Where in Britain was there an earthquake last week ?
24) Members of which organization infiltrated a French nuclear power plant at Nogent sur Seine ?
25) Which sportsperson was confirmed as suffering from Dengue last week ?
26) Where is the venue for the UN climate change summit ?
27) Footage of polar bears for the TV show Frozen Planet was actually filmed in a zoo in which city ?
28) Which Downton Abbey actor has joined the judging panel for the Booker Prize ?
29) Which US politician was blasted by Vladimir Putin last week ?
30) Which government watchdog rejected calls for a single examining board ?
31) Which former politician was found guilty on two counts of embezzlement ?
32) Who won the X – Factor ?
33) Whose album is top of the album charts ?
34) Which word did Clegg use to describe what the UK will become if we leave the EU ?
35) Which 3 celebs are in the final of Strictly Come Dancing ?
36) Which BBC show is leaving BBC1 for CBBC ?
37) Which group announced that they are going to reunite for their 50th anniversary next year ?
38) At precisely what time on Christmas Day does research suggest that most people are at their happiest ?
39) What was given to Virgin staff who were made redundant ?
40) What was announced by the PM of Japan last week ?

Mastermind - Round 1 - Heat 6

2011-12-16T14:58:00.001-08:00

Last week’s review of Mastermind sparked the liveliest debate here on LAM for some time. What will tonight’s bring, I wonder? Who knows? Tonight’s first contender was Hannah Coates. Her subject was Sir Francis Walsingham – often touted as Elizabeth Ist’s spymaster. I will admit that following last week’s debate I did keep a weather eye open for specialist subject gimmes, but I didn’t notice any quite as blatant as the Tbilisi one from last week. For the record I scored 3 on Hannah’s round. Hannah did considerably better. In fact, I was surprised that she ended with 13. She seemed to be answering more quickly than that, and getting hardly any wrong at all. Still, 13 is the kind of score which will usually give you a shout of featuring in the final shake up.

Graeme Jones offered us The Valley of The Kings. I would say that the aristocrat who sponsored Howard Carter’s excavation to find the Tomb of Tutankhamen was probably one of the most obvious gimmes tonight – that I think it’s fair to say is well within the bounds of general knowledge. As it happens I had my highest specialist score in this round tonight with 5. Graeme struggled and fought his way through to respectability with 10, and I think judging by his face he was kicking himself about one or two of the ones he missed.

Isabel Morgan’s subject, The Life and Work of George Orwell, should, by rights, have been the SS which suited me best. In fact I only managed to scrape the one point by remembering Mr. Frederick from ‘Animal Farm’. This was a good, confident round from Isabel. She needed in depth knowledge of both the life and work to get the majority of these, and 14 looked to me to be a good return. It put her into the lead, with one more round to go before half time.

Simon Alvey offered us a little light relief, as it were, in this week’s popular culture subject, the TV series The West Wing. I have never watched any of the series, so I was at a bit of a loss to think of where I could possibly gain any points. When a question asked about a problem with a North Korean would be defector who played an instrument I correctly guessed piano. I don’t care if it was pure blind luck – they all count. Simon needed no luck. He was answering at 100 miles an hour, and looked at the end of the two minutes as if he could have happily gone on for another 5. 15 points put him into pole position at half time.

All four contenders managed double figures in their GK rounds tonight, which is a less common occurrence than you might think. I thought myself that the rounds were pretty fair, and much of a level with each other – my own scores were respectively 19, 19, 17 and 20. Graeme began crisply and succinctly, picking off the answers he knew with the minimum of fuss. Alas, it never quite looked like he was going to be able to whack in something like 15 or 16 which would have been a sufficiently challenging total. Nonetheless 12 and 2 passes is very respectable, and it left him with a final total of 22 and 3 passes. Hannah returned to the chair. She seemed quite composed as she picked off 11 of her own answers. Her total of 24 was just enough to make the last couple of rounds interesting, albeit that I think you’d still have got fairly long odds on this score keeping her at the top of the leaderboard until the end of the show.

Isabel gave us the most hesitant round of the show. She obviously knew a number of answers which just didn’t quite make it off the tip of her tongue. 10 is by no means a disastrous score. However it only put her level with Isabel – both had scored 24 with 5 passes. All of which raised the interesting prospect that we might in fact see a tie break if Simon couldn’t score more than 8. For a moment or two at the start of Simon’s round that looked a possibility. He locked into a nervous pass spiral right at the start, passing on three in a row. He pulled out of that with plenty of time to spare though, and began rattling off answers – some right and some wrong – at a fair old clip. That’s good technique. Keep blasting away, and if the total you require is quite a modest one, then you’ve every good chance of getting there. Simon did with tread to spare, and in the end whacked in a commendable 14. His winning score of 18 meant that there was daylight between him and Isabel and Hannah in second. Well played.

The Details

Hannah Coates	Sir Francis Walsingham	13 - 1	11 - 4	24 – 5
Graeme Jones	The Valley of the Kings	10 - 1	12 - 2	22 – 3
Isabel Morgan	The Life and Work of George Orwell	14 - 2	10 - 3	24 – 5
Simon Alvey	The West Wing	15 - 1	14 - 3	29 – 4

Cryptic Question

2011-12-16T14:24:00.001-08:00

Last week’s question was : -

The first was Wellington’s savior at Waterloo, the second linked Eva and Kylie, the third a heavenly wanderer, and the fourth was very handy with the mandible of equus asinus. What were they, and what was the fifth ?

Wellington’s savior was Prussian Marshal BLUCHER, whose timely arrival on the battlefield of Waterloo was one of the decisive moments of the battle. Little Eva and Kylie Minogue both had chart hits with the song , THE LOCOMOTION. The word PLANET is derived from a greek word that means wanderer. SAMSON slew 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. They were the first 4 locomotives built by George Stephenson. The fifth was the famous ROCKET.
So well done, Andrew !

Try this one : -

A journey in Swahili – the 24th element – an airplane stolen by Dirty Harry – The first thing to record Van Allen’s belt, and musical works. Where might you use any one of the above ?

Answers to News Questions

2011-12-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

Who or what are the following , and why have they been in the news ?

1) Eric Ryder
2) Keith Rumboldt
3) Nathan Yates
4) Amelia Hempleman Adams
5) HMS Ocean
6) Stephen Brooks
7) Mark Allen
8) Barry Morrow
9) Paul Evans
10) Gary Smith
11) Rod Blagojevitch
12) Asif Ali Zadari
13) Moshe Katsav
14) Emma West
15) James Ellington
16) Jay Lewis
17) Jenni Murray
18) Chris Ashton
19) Boris Nemtsov
20) Ben Madden
21) Leonora Sinclair
22) Gary McKinnon
23) Keppler 22b
24) Veena Malik
25) James Pryce
26) Colin Adams
27) Alan Savage
28) Michalina Lewandowska
29) Steph Warren
30) Stewart Simonson
31) Simon Beech and Garreth Foster
32) Pusuke

In Other News

1) Who won the Confucius prize - the Chinese equivalent of the Nobel Peace prize ?
2) Who has been given victory in the official results in the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo ?
3) The BBC pulled an episode of which show featuring Jeremy Clarkson ?
4) What has finally been finished ?
5) Who has been granted a medical health tribunal to be held in public
6) Which 3 statues have been unveiled at the Emirates stadium ?
7) The last of what has been phased out in London ?
8) Which is David Cameron’s favourite soap opera ?
9) Which Oxford College is involved in a fight over its name ?
10) Where did the first all female RNLI rescue take place ?
11) What is the name of Putin’s political party , named the winners of the controversial Russian election ?
12) Who has resigned from the IOC ?
13) Manchester United fail to progress in the Champions League after defeat by whom ?
14) The UKs first rehab clinic for what has opened ?
15) Which UK town is Europe’s fastest growing tourist destination ?
16) Who had to apologise for mocking the death of a young man on Stronaway ?
17) Which film star was thrown off an American Airlines jet for playing a game on his iphone ?
18) IN which European country has the Prime Minister been named footballer of the year ?
19) The BBC has announce an end to which political broadcast ?
20) A branch of which chain last week announced Amelia Lily as the winner of the X Factor days before the final ?
21) 29 satellite dishes have been removed from what ?
22) Andrew Lansley announced a plan of how many steps for the NHS ?
23) Who has quit his cricket coaching role with Essex ?
24) What has been dismissed as a super food by the EU ?
25) What was closed to traffic due to overcrowding in the first week of December ?
26) In which EU country do people work the longest hours ?
27) Women are to allowed to serve in what for the first time in the Royal Navy ?
28) A £2 million monument to the Supermarine Spitfire is to be built where ?
29) Which tourist attraction has been bought by the council of Bad Frankenhausen in Germany for 85p ?
30) In which year did the late Dr. Scorates captain the ‘greatest team never to win the world cup’ in the world cup ?

Answers

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1) A former employee of James Cameron , suing over his claim that Avatar was his idea
2) He killed his wife – suffering from Alzheimers – to spare her the indignity of hospital
3) Crime writer beaten by his girlfriend with a golf club
4) 16 year old daughter of David Hempleman Adams, who has become the youngest person ever to ski to the south pole
5) Ship returning from Libya, which sent home spoof video of “All I want for Christmas is you “ – huge internet hit.
6) Postal worker caught stealing penis enlargement pills from a package by his supervisor
7) Snooker player who made public criticism of Barry Hearn
8) Head of WJEC filmed giving away exam secrets at conference
9) Wanted in connection with death of landlady and her mother.Sighted in Calais, and then posted comment claiming innocence on Facebook
10) Head of Market Field School who said “God help any school in a worse state than mind “
11) Jailed in the US for trying to sell Obama’s former senate seat to the highest bidder
12) President of Pakistan who suffered suspected heart attack
13) Former president of Israel jailed for rape
14) IN court for the racist rant on a tram in Croydon
15) UK sprinter who has put himself on eBay for sponsorship
16) He refused community service sentence in Gloucester Crown Court as a waste of time, and instead accepted a night time curfew
17) Made a dame
18) Rugby player given four week ban for pulling hair of Manu Tuilagi
19) Russian opposition leader arrested
20) Killed on cycle when a deer jumped a barbed wire fence right into his path
21) Jailed for murdering her husband after a row about the TV
22) Alleged computer hacker at the centre of the US / UK extradition row
23) Possibly habitable planet discovered by NASA
24) Bollywood actress suing FHM India over alleged fake nude pictures
25) Duchess of Cambridge wedding hairdresser who has left salon to set up on own
26) British travel writer killed in scuffle in bar in Moscow
27) Boss of Inverness Caledonian Thistle , being sued by mistress Julie Ann Zeitel
28) She was tasered and buried alive by partner
29) Chief Examiner of Edexcel – boasted of setting easy exams
30) Former Chauffeur of Heather Mills made an illegal copy of her blue badge
31) Jailed for setting fire to mosque in Hanley , Stoke in 2010
32) World’s oldest dog, who died in japan aged 26 and 8 months

In Other News

1) Vladimir Putin
2) Laurent Kabila
3) Q.I.
4) Painting the Forth Bridge
5) Ian Brady
6) Herbert Chapman – Tony Adams – Thierry Henri
7) Bendy Bus
8) Eastenders
9) New College Oxford – challenging AC Grayling’s right to call his college the New College of Humanities
10) Cardigan
11) United Russia
12) Joao Havelange
13) Basel
14) Stalkers
15) Ilford
16) Matthew Wright
17) Alec Baldwin
18) Bulgaria
19) Budget Day Live
20) HMV
21) The BT Tower
22) Sixty
23) Graham Gooch
24) Royal Jelly
25) Oxford Street
26) Greece
27) Submarines
28) Southampton
29) A church tower, which leans further than the more famous tower of Pisa
30) 1982 - Spain

Brain of Britain - Round One - Match 5

2011-12-16T14:13:00.001-08:00

Well, I recognized the name of the first of this week’s Brains as soon as Russell announced Hamish Cameron. You don’t have to be blessed with perfect recall to remember Hamish as a Mastermind semifinalist in the last series. Hamish is no stranger to the semis, and in fact I did meet him when he was stand in for the Grand Final of the 2007 SOBM. No prizes for guessing where the full burden of support from the Clark sofa was being placed, then. Hamish took his first question in round one, but then stumbled on the reservoir Rutland Water. None of the other brains knew it – and neither did I. Second brain was Jim Connolly. He was beaten by the University of the Third Age, and as with Hamish, no bonus was taken. Third of the brains to embark upon the voyage of discovery that is each show was Michael Frankel. He took a good three on the bounce, before being tripped up on the country that is home to the Jasper National Park. I guessed Canada. Jim might well have known it, or he might have been guessing. Whatever the case he said the same as I did and earned himself a bonus. Lee (or Leigh – sorry if I have it wrong) Stone was the last of the brains. She too took a first, but didn’t know Nellie Bligh – the assumed name of the lady who took it upon herself to travel around the world faster than Phileas Fogg. Michael led with 3, and all the others had one. In the second round Hamish again took his first question, but was tripped up on the original meaning of the word urchin. Michael knew that it was a hedgehog. Jim took the first of his own questions, but failed on the chestnutty question about which king instituted the order of the garter. He had the right name but the wrong number. Michael, busy hovering up bonuses at this stage, knew it was Edward III. He was stymied by his own question, though. In fact nobody knew what a Great Curassow is. It’s a large South American game bird. Innuendo overload warning. Sorry. Lee took her first two, but was halted by the patron saint of Paris. Hamish was glad to add this one to his collection. So, going into the third round, Michael led with 5, Hamish and Lee both had 3, and Jim had 2.

Hamish began to make inroads into Michael’s lead by taking his first two questions of round three. Rather surprisingly though none of the brains knew that the Borg Warner Trophy is annually awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. Jim was given a music question to begin, and couldn’t identify that the tune ‘Repton’ was written by Hubert Parry. Michael knew it to take a well-earned bonus. Michael didn’t know what it was that killed the Trojan priest Laocoon and his sons. Hamish did – Russell had to check that his answer of serpents – snakes – was acceptable, but was given the green light. It would have been harsh to reject this when sea serpents was the answer. Given the name of a religious festival in French – Lee couldn’t identify candlemas. I’ll be honest, when the word crepe was mentioned I fancied Shrove Tuesday as well. Mais non, mes amis. Poor Lee didn’t have a great deal of luck with her questions from here until the end of the contest, and didn’t manage to take any of her remaining starters, and it was this as much as anything else which prevented her from making a serious challenge. As we went into the Beat the Brains interval, Jim still had 2, Lee still had 3, Hamish had 6, and Michael 7. The first of the 2 Beat the Brains questions was rather simple – which beach inspired Matthew Arnold to write a famous poem. Dover Beach of course, and the Brains gobbled it up. The next, though, which beach, less than 50 miles from Dover, inspired Wordsworth, foxed them, and me as well. It was Calais.

Hamish took his first question of round 4, but couldn’t identify the Battle of Minden and others as belonging to the 7 Years War. Jim had that one. He took his own first and second, but didn’t know a Devon Rex is a cat. Hamish knew it. Michael, defending a narrow lead of a point took a couple, but nobody knew that a warden pie has pears in it. Finally Lee didn’t know that the alternative name for the 4 stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the Otto cycle. That bonus went to Hamish. So while Lee remained on 3, Jim had improved to 5, Hamish to 9, and Michael to 10. It was already beginning to look as if bonuses would be decisive, and at the moment there was hardly anything to choose between Hamish and Michael on that score. Hamish took the next couple, but couldn’t identify the first known Mesoamerican civilization in southern Mexico. Jim took a good bonus with the Olmecs. I ventured the Olmecs myself, but was only about 75% certain. Jim failed on his own first, not knowing that Prudhomme was awarded the first Nobel Prize for Literature. Hamish was in fastest for that one. Michael kept his head, and took his first two. However he didn’t know that when Truman Capote died, it was Gore Vidal who said ‘Good career move’. Lee had that bonus. Her own first question – the person to whom Zeus appeared as a shower of gold – fell to Hamish, who knew it was Danae. Which point was enough to give Hamish the outright lead, with 13 to Michael’s 12, Jim’s 6, and Lee’s 4.

There were three rounds to go, but as it was to turn out all the decisive moments of the contest had already happened as we moved into round 6. Michael was unable to add another point to his score, after such a positive first half of the competition. That’s just the luck of the draw, and the way that it happens sometimes. Jim added two bonuses in round 6, and Lee single bonuses in both rounds 7 and 8. Hamish, though, was the only person to get one of his own questions right at all in the last three rounds. Not that it mattered, since he took 4 bonuses as well. I was pleased with myself for correctly guessing that St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of roman Catholic scholars, theologians etc. Getting back to the contest, I would say that the all-round general knowledge of Hamish ensured that he was always going to take the lion’s share of the bonuses. To have a good chance, the others needed that fortunate run of questions, which they didn’t get, and that was that. I don’t think that Michael’s 12 will see him into the semis, but you never know. Well played anyway and good luck in the semis, Hamish.

The Details

Hamish Cameron – 17
Jim Connolly – 9
Michael Frankel – 12
Lee Stone - 6

Gary's points about Mastermind

2011-12-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

I don’t know if you read my review of Friday’s Mastermind. If you did you might have read Gary Grant’s very thought provoking comments about the show, and its future direction. This was such an intriguing response to the review that I thought I would post my reply in a post of its own. Gary’s original comments are in italics. I haven't quoted the whole of the two comments, so please by all means read them for yourselves.

Right, I’d better begin with a sort of disclaimer. Mastermind is exceptionally special to me, for obvious reasons. So it’s fair to say that I can’t view it or write about it dispassionately , and anything which I say about the show has to be viewed in this light.

OK. Gary’s first main point was -
“I just think in an era of 300+ channels and a plethora of game show formats that MM has a big struggle getting a decent audience due to what has always been its Achilles' heel - the SS round.”
It’s interesting to remember here that the late Bill Wright’s original concept of Mastermind was that it would only have specialist rounds, and he had to be persuaded to include the GK round. The show would have had a very different history without GK rounds, and doubtless it would have had a very different history without SS rounds either. With a plethora of channels and formats, the specialist round is one thing which actually does separate the show from others. But yes, I concede the point that the SS round may be one of the reasons why it never attracts an audience comparable to that of, for the sake of argument, University Challenge. On the other hand I would argue that the audience it does get is a very loyal one. People do know pretty much what they are going to get before they tune in to the show. It says something for the show the way that every year it survives the BBC messing it around, taking it on and off at the drop of a hat, and shoving it around the schedules in the regions (I’m talking about YOU, BBC Wales ).

“Back when the show first started I think they had a better format: a contender would take an enormously broad SS topic such as 'Visual Art' or 'World War One' and this has a twofold effect: first, there was a chance that the viewer at home may be able to play along if it was an interest of theirs, and secondly, it tested an in-depth, prior knowledge rather than what most people do nowadays - which is bone up on something relatively narrow and then try to remember it as short-term recall for the show.”

Gary is right in as much as the average specialist topic in the most early years did tend to be a lot wider than the average topic today. However some very wide topics do still make it onto the show. For example, in 2009 Roger Canwell took the subject “Britain between the Wars” in the 2009 Grand Final – a mind bogglingly wide subject encompassing history – politics – culture etc. etc. In the 2010 series Ron Ragsdale took “Egyptology”. I could give another couple of examples of wide ‘portmanteau’ subjects, although I accept that I am to an extent arguing against myself through the fact that I have to work hard to dig up specific examples of recent wide subjects. Gary’s point is, I think, summed up by what was said by either Nancy Wilkinson, the first champion, or possibly Patricia, the second. She talked of the need to distinguish between ‘savoir’ and ‘connaitre’ – to understand the whole subject, or merely to be acquainted with the facts. I’m not 100% sure that I’d agree that the majority of contenders only pick something they know they can bone up on relatively easily. From my own viewing I still see a lot of people whom I’m sure come on to test their own knowledge of a subject that is a particular interest of their own. Witness the number of people who produce great specialist rounds in the first round, then bomb in the semis on specialist. If it was merely a job of boning up for them, then there really oughtn’t to be that much of a difference between any of their specialist rounds. Yet there often is.

“it is the fact that the first half of Mastermind is essentially watching other people attempt memory recall that you can't play along at home with, that is the show's major, gaping flaw. Certainly, it's why I believe UC gets much better viewing figures - the questions there may be challenging but at least you know you can attempt them. People watch GK quizzes largely to play along at home and if you can't do this for half the programme, it is a significant failing for a knowledge-based gameshow.”

Only if the format offers no compensation in return. You remember that Mastermind moved to Radio 4 after the final Magnus series in 1997. It stayed for three series – 1998 – 2000, before being resurrected by the Discovery Channel. I’m probably not the only fan to think that it didn’t work anything like as well on the radio. Why not ? Because you lost the drama, which is all played out on the contenders’ faces. Alright, people who have appeared on the show before like Gary and me are not the average viewer, I admit, but I suggest that part of the appeal of the show is the drama of each round – and whether or not you can answer any of the questions at home or not is relatively immaterial to this. Don’t underestimate the amount of ‘play along at home’ question there are, either. On Friday there were between 75 and 80 GK questions asked altogether in 16 minutes – and that compares favourably with the very best quiz shows .

“The other bugbear I have is that some of the SS questions are just too easy, possibly in a misguided attempt to improve the 'play at home' factor. Take the other night: I had only vaguely heard of the chess champion, but the first question asked where he was born, and added the info that it was the capital of Georgia. So most people with a grasp of geography would get it, no 'specialist subject' knowledge of Mr Petrosian needed. If you are going to make the specialist subjects so narrow, then should the layperson be able to get 2 or 3 a round right, as I seem to consistently do, through either educated guesses or non-specialist knowledge?”

Well, you either want people to be able to play along at home to keep them interested, or you don’t. Actually, I think the inclusion of a couple of accessible questions in some of the SS rounds is a deliberate thing on the part of the setters to help contenders. Nobody is put on the show to embarrass themselves, and hence the appearance of a couple of sitters in each round. I think it’s more obvious to people like Gary and me, because we are quizzers, and we know the things that a good quizzer would just never, ever get wrong. I have no problem with putting a couple of sitters in each round. I do have a problem though where it is blatantly and clumsily done, and the example Gary pointed out from Friday is just that. After all, it wasn’t REALLY a question about Petrossian at all. It was a Geography question – what is the capital of Georgia. I agree, I don’t like this sort of thing. I don’t think that the average person on the street would necessarily get 2 or 3 right with every specialist round, though.

“-The solution I think is to actually make the show like the website, in that your specialist subject has to come from a predefined, very broad category such as 'History', 'Geography' or 'TV'. Viewers could then play along, particularly if the contender picks their 'favourite subject' and you are then also searching for someone with an excellent general and specialist *knowledge*, rather than someone with - potentially - a good-to-fair GK but brilliant short-term memory recall.”

I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t like this. One of the things about MM as it is now, which I think it can be proud of is that it offers the total amateur the chance to play, and at times match the serious quizzer. If you did this, then – and this is just my opinion, I admit – then I think you’d just be making it easier for the fanatical quizzers, who already would have a very good grounding in most of these subjects before they start. I don’t totally agree that it would help you find the true polymath either. I offer myself as an example. I could tell you facts about many, many books I haven’t read, songs and pieces of music I haven’t listened to, and films or TV shows I haven’t watched. I need to know ABOUT them for quizzes. But it doesn’t mean that I actually KNOW them. OK, maybe this is long term memory recall rather than short term memory recall, but it’s still primarily recall. To a large extent, that’s the nature of quiz shows. That’s what sets a show like Only Connect apart. On OC, it’s not enough just to know a lot of stuff. On many other shows – well, on many other shows it is.

“ -How often is the outcome virtually decided by the end of the SS round, suggesting that the recall has far too much current importance (you corroborate this in the above blog saying it became a 2-horse race at half-time)? Again, I think the expansion of the GK to 2 and a half minutes for R1 may be acknowledgement of this (and not just because the 'chats' were often excruciating telly!) “

Yes, I must admit that when we moved to 2 and a half minute rounds for GK, I did think that shows were no longer going to be decided at all by the SS round. I thought that if there was a quizzer in the bunch, then the quizzer would win – nuff said. Quite often there doesn’t seem to be a quizzer in the bunch though. In a way the chats were there to show that the contenders did in fact ‘know’ their subjects, albeit that John H. would sometimes ignore their subject completely in the chat. The dropping of the chats proved a point about making large changes to an original format which I’ll say more about when I address Gary’s last point . I don’t know without looking just how many shows are decided at half time – it might be worth comparing last year’s round one to the round one in 2010 to see if there’s any noticeable difference. When I have time once term ends I may well have a look at this. Interesting question.

“-I think it has to change to do anything other than attract its current 'hardcore' audience (and maybe secure a long-term future) and get some way towards it's previous popularity, and I think it could do this without 'dumbing down' or altering its status as the pinnacle of TV quizzing. “

For a format to achieve the longevity of MM it needs the right elements to come together, and a bit of luck. Once you change those elements you are taking a gamble. As William Goldman said in “Adventures In the Screen Trade “ ( one of the best books about Hollywood ever written ) – “Nobody knows anything.” Alright, he was talking about movies, and the way that when a hit happens it’s usually a happy accident, and something which often cannot be repeated, but the principle holds good for TV as well.
I don’t know if you ever watched “Discovery Mastermind”. The producers of the show carried out some bold experiments with the format of the show – shorter rounds – a different format for qualification for the final – background music etc. While it had some excellent contenders, and a very worthy champion in Michael Penrice, I think it was fair to say that as a show, it was a bit pants. That’s my opinion, anyway. Tweaks can revitalise a show to a certain extent, but they are a gamble. For example, the inter round chats were an innovation for the Humphrys era. I don’t know about you, but as a contender I hated it while John was talking to the others before their rounds, and when it was my turn, although I tried to be as perky and interesting as I could, all I really wanted to do was get on with the round. The whole point of MM, I always thought, was that it was stripped to the essentials. No nonsense, no time wasted getting to know contenders. If they won, we’d get to know more about them later on. Or maybe we wouldn’t, and that didn’t matter either. Personally I thought getting rid of them was the right thing to do.

It’s a different world from 1980, the year when one MM edition had almost 20 million viewers. I don’t see a serious quiz show, of the level of MM/UC/OC or the late lamented 15 to 1 ever achieving a mass audience in the foreseeable future again. I don’t think that’s a realistic ambition for the show. If the show doesn’t sustain its audience – oh, this feels like sacrilege to say it – then maybe it has had its time. I hope to goodness that this is not the case. Personally I don’t think that it is. But if it is the case, then I’m not sure that tweaks, or wholesale changes to the format would save it – and indeed they’d be in danger of hastening its demise.

All of the above is just my opinion, and as always, feel free to disagree.

News Questions

2011-12-10T13:47:00.001-08:00

I’m setting the quiz this week for the rugby club, and I know that some of the guys who come down the club do check out the blog for news questions. So , sorry boys, but I’m holding back a few this week, which I’m going to use in the quiz ! Here’s the rest : -

Who or what are the following , and why have they been in the news ?

1) Eric Ryder
2) Keith Rumboldt
3) Nathan Yates
4) Amelia Hempleman Adams
5) HMS Ocean
6) Stephen Brooks
7) Mark Allen
8) Barry Morrow
9) Paul Evans
10) Gary Smith
11) Rod Blagojevitch
12) Asif Ali Zadari
13) Moshe Katsav
14) Emma West
15) James Ellington
16) Jay Lewis
17) Jenni Murray
18) Chris Ashton
19) Boris Nemtsov
20) Ben Madden
21) Leonora Sinclair
22) Gary McKinnon
23) Keppler 22b
24) Veena Malik
25) James Pryce
26) Colin Adams
27) Alan Savage
28) Michalina Lewandowska
29) Steph Warren
30) Stewart Simonson
31) Simon Beech and Garreth Foster
32) Pusuke

In Other News

1) Who won the Confucius prize - the Chinese equivalent of the Nobel Peace prize ?
2) Who has been given victory in the official results in the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo ?
3) The BBC pulled an episode of which show featuring Jeremy Clarkson ?
4) What has finally been finished ?
5) Who has been granted a medical health tribunal to be held in public
6) Which 3 statues have been unveiled at the Emirates stadium ?
7) The last of what has been phased out in London ?
8) Which is David Cameron’s favourite soap opera ?
9) Which Oxford College is involved in a fight over its name ?
10) Where did the first all female RNLI rescue take place ?
11) What is the name of Putin’s political party , named the winners of the controversial Russian election ?
12) Who has resigned from the IOC ?
13) Manchester United fail to progress in the Champions League after defeat by whom ?
14) The UKs first rehab clinic for what has opened ?
15) Which UK town is Europe’s fastest growing tourist destination ?
16) Who had to apologise for mocking the death of a young man on Stronaway ?
17) Which film star was thrown off an American Airlines jet for playing a game on his iphone ?
18) IN which European country has the Prime Minister been named footballer of the year ?
19) The BBC has announce an end to which political broadcast ?
20) A branch of which chain last week announced Amelia Lily as the winner of the X Factor days before the final ?
21) 29 satellite dishes have been removed from what ?
22) Andrew Lansley announced a plan of how many steps for the NHS ?
23) Who has quit his cricket coaching role with Essex ?
24) What has been dismissed as a super food by the EU ?
25) What was closed to traffic due to overcrowding in the first week of December ?
26) In which EU country do people work the longest hours ?
27) Women are to allowed to serve in what for the first time in the Royal Navy ?
28) A £2 million monument to the Supermarine Spitfire is to be built where ?
29) Which tourist attraction has been bought by the council of Bad Frankenhausen in Germany for 85p ?
30) In which year did the late Dr. Socrates captain the ‘greatest team never to win the world cup’ in the world cup ?

Cryptic Question

2011-12-10T12:39:00.001-08:00

Last week’s question was : -

In English – boar carbuncles. In French – good sticks. In German – a spoonerism of storm and strife. What are they all, and which one did Leontes’ wife attend ?

I’m sure you figured out that boar carbuncles would be Hogwarts – the French for good sticks could be Beauxbatons – german for storm and strife would be sturm und drang – a spoonerism of which is Durmstrang. Devotees of the Harry Potter saga would know that these are the three wizarding schools that provide champions to contest the Tri – Wizard Tournament in the great Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Leontes, from Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” has a wife called Hermione. And Hermione , friend of Harry Potter, attends Hogwarts.

Right, try this one : -
The first was Wellington’s savior at Waterloo, the second linked Eva and Kylie, the third a heavenly wanderer, and the fourth was very handy with the mandible of equus asinus. What were they, and what was the fifth ?

Mastermind - Round 1 - Heat 5

2011-12-10T12:28:00.001-08:00

The first round continues – although I shouldn’t wonder that the Christmas break can’t be far away. Shame. Still, let’s get back to last night’s show. Andrew Hunter was the first to venture into the chair . Andrew is no stranger to the this particular item of furniture. He played in Shaun’s series of 2004, where he took the Battle of Britain. He didn’t make it to the semis then, being runner up in quite a high scoring heat. Andrew certainly knew just how important it is to get off to a great start in the specialist round. So that’s what he did. 18 questions followed about Montgomery of El Alamein, and 17 were answered. A single pass was the only blemish on a superb round.

Second contender Jeff Grimshaw’s subject, by way of contrast, was the American football team, the Chicago Bears. I’ll be honest, if you ask me about the 1986 Chicago Bears Superbowl winning team, - coach Mike Ditka – Walter Payton – William ‘The Fridge’ Perry – Jim McMahon – then I have a slight chance of answering. Other than that, nope. Naturally Jeff Grimshaw was a hell of a lot better than this. In fact his 15 and 1 pass was a fine round, and certainly put him close enough to challenge Andrew, if he could produce a good GK round.

I’m afraid that neither of the last 2 contenders could manage a performance on specialist which would enable them to challenge in the GK section. Keith Bate was answering on the world chess champion Tigran Petrossian. He scored 8. Having watched the round I’m not sure whether he was hampered by nerves, or whether it was one of those times when the question setter and the contender seem to have different ideas of the parameters of the subject. Even on a 2 and a half minute round, Keith was playing for pride after this. Ian Allan offered us Jimi Hendrix. Now, I think that he was definitely affected by nerves. When you see people taking rounds on a popular cultural icon of Hendrix’ stature they usually score very highly. 10 is a perfectly respectable score, but not as high as I expected.

With the best will in the world by half time it was clear that we had a two horse race. First, though Keith returned to the chair for his specialist round. The nerves affected him badly here, I think. He never achieved a head of steam, and never answered more than two questions correctly in a row. In the end he looked relieved when the buzzer finally ended the round. He scored 7 points from 19 questions, and his overall score had gone up to 15. Ian also suffered from the same nerves that had affected his first round performance. After answering 7 of his first 12 questions correctly he lost all the momentum in his round, and didn’t manage one of the next 6 questions before he was rescued by the buzzer.

When you’re not the last contender to go in the GK round, the best way to put pressure on the leader is to whack in the very best GK round you can manage. Jeff certainly tried. He rattled off answers to his first 3 questions. However 2 passes followed, and two incorrect answers after that. From here on in the round was a struggle. To be fair to him he managed to keep his head, and hardly passed again, always trying to offer an answer. this tactic brought him another 7 correct answers. By the end of the round he had scored a decent return of 10 correct answers from 20 questions. The target , though, was not really that much of a mountain for Andrew to have to climb.

To put it into perspective, Andrew managed 10 in 2 minutes in his 2004 GK round. So I confidently expected him to score the highest GK round of the evening. You have to say, he didn’t disappoint. Four correct answers began the round. A wrong answer, a pass, then 4 more correct answers. A pass, another pass, then four more correct answers. A pass, then four more correct answers. A very good, rather symmetrical round which saw him win at a canter. 16 from 21 GK questions is a good return, and 33 is a fine score- well done sir. Good luck in the semis. As for Jeff Grimshaw – well played. I don’t think it’s a high enough score to bring a runner up place in the semis, but you never know.

The Details

Andrew Hunter	Field Marshal Montgomery of El Alamein	17 - 1	16 - 4	33 – 5
Jeff Grimshaw	The Chicago Bears	15 - 1	10 - 3	25 – 4
Keith Bate	Tigran Petrossian	8 - 0	7 - 5	15 – 5
Ian Allan	Jimi Hendrix	10 -1	7 - 4	17 – 5

Only Connect - Grand Final

2011-12-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Analysts v. The Antiquarians

Is it only a year since my friends the Epicureans were crowned champs of the 4th series ? They were the deserving winners of the grand final over my brothers in arms, Gary and Neil and me, collectively the Radio Addicts. Well, yes it is a year. More than a year actually , since our final was filmed in August. I hope that both the Analysts and the Antiquarians had as much fun this year as we did last. I’m sure they did. The Analysts were marked out as a team to watch from their very first match. William de’Ath, our own Paul Steeples, and captain David Lea are all very fine quizzers. They paid tribute to all the teams they’ve played on the way to the final, in particular their quarter final opponents, the Technologists, who took them all the way. Mind you, if this made the ‘Lysts a battle hardened team, you could apply the same term to their fellow finalists, the Antiquarians. They were not one of the teams I marked out as potential champions from their first round match, I can only apologise to Simon Belcher, Debbie Challis and Will Howells. They too were taken right to the wire in a close semi, when they beat the Listeners by a single point.

Round One – What’s the Connection ?

The Ants opened the eye of Horus. Capsule on the London Eye – Avenue in San Francisco and Seat Row on Lufthansa Planes were very much to their liking, and they correctly answered that there is no number 13 of any of these. In the introductory comments to Victoria, David of the Analysts expressed the hope that they could avoid the pictures. No dice. Two reeds gave them pictures of a tarot card ( Justice ) - a Union Flag – a Horseshoe – a raised thumb. Surprisingly the Lysts ran out of time, and the Ants gave the correct answer – they mean bad luck when turned upside down. Neither team could answer the Ants’ next behind Twisted Flax – June 4th – Reform Through Labour – Falun Gong – Tibet Independence Movement. I felt that both teams were on the right lines , but neither could say that these were search terms for the internet banned in China. No, of course I didn’t get it either. The Lysts moved smoothly into gear with Lion. Andrew Bonar Law, and Eamon de Valera were all they needed to see to identify political leaders who were born in a country other than the one they led. Which led to the Ants playing anything you can do – I can do as well. Given Dye becomes Fur – Rust becomes Tidy , it looked like skipper Will who saw the connection. The first word becomes the second if you move each letter one key to the right on a qwerty keyboard. Victoria was impressed, and so was I. The Lysts were left with the music set behind horned viper. They needed all 4 clues, but when they heard songs called Spellbound – Suspicion – Vertigo and Notorious they knew it was Hitchcock films. Full marks to the setters for coming up with that lot – a lovely set. So with the opening skirmishes over the Ants led the Lysts by 6 to 4.

Round Two – What Comes Third ?

Well, let’s remember that I was sitting at home, not in the studio. But I had a good round. I had this one on a full set, which just eluded both teams. Einer jux will sich machen – The Merchant of Yonkers – The Matchmaker. It was the last one that told me that these were all versions of the same story, and the next was the musical Hello Dolly. As did the Lysts , I got Clough after pictures of a stein, and a busby. Victoria was actually absolutely right to say that they would have accepted something paisley as well, since Bob won 2 before Clough won his two. Bob Paisley then went on to win a third as well after Clough’s 2. Still, I digress. The Ants dropped points not seeing Main Sequence Star – Red Supergiant – Supernova would be followed by Neutron Star . Great answer from William – for a supernova can also become a black hole – his answer which was accepted for a bonus. The Lysts had a tricky set which neither team managed. It’s a real – oh , I see it - when you know it. DLS = 24 – DWS – 17 ( and that put me on the right lines ) TLS – 12. A couple of weeks ago we were asked in the Dyffryn Arms how many Double Word Score squares there are on a scrabble board – the answer being 17 , and so DWS = 17 gave it to me. So the right answer was TWS ( Triple word score ) = 8. The Ants took the next set , but frankly had a chance of a five pointer. Feudalism appeared, and I said words to the effect of Marx – stages of history – Communism . The Ants said the same thing, I think, but took the clues to be sure. Well, the final is a place for cool heads, so you can’t blame them. Finally a good shout from the Lysts on the pictures – and a good shout from me, thanks to the identify the world flag games on Sporcle. Shown flags of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica they knew that the flag of Panama would follow. So a good round for me – but much more importantly a good round for the Analysts, who now led the grand final by 10 to 8.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

It’s all a matter of personal taste, I know, but personally I felt that the Analysts’ Lion wall tasted a tiny bit harder than the Ants’ Water wall. That’s the luck of the draw. Pius VI – King Farouk – Idi Amin and James II gave them a set of people who all died in exile. Good shout. Napoleon – Sequin – Double Eagle and Aureus – gold coins. So far so good. Zodiac – Buster – Blow and Serpico were movies based on true crime. Full house so far. Finally Melody – Precious – Moses and Omar. Nope. I didn’t get it either. They are all characters in Matt Lucas’ and David Walliams’ rather disappointing Come Fly With Me. 7 looked like a pretty good score on that wall to me.

The Antiquarians solved their own water wall. Their relative youth counted against them with the first set – Super Fly – Foxy Brown – Car Wash – Shaft. Anyone of my age or older would probably have got it from the last two – they were all Blaxploitation movies. Foxing – Sunned – Marginalia and Dog ears they knew straightaway as terms for damage to books. Piloti – Pilaster – Stanchion and Caryatid they had to work their way around to get spot on , but they had the point for architectural supports. This left them with Slicker – Bookworm – Dr. B. Ching – Remote Controller. I only had it from Slicker and Bookwrom – and if I’d had the wall I would have put Piloti with them as well – for they are all columnists’ names in Private Eye. You either know it or . . . 6 was a good return, but just made the job a tiny bit more difficult in the last round.
With the scores at 17 to the Analysts, and 14 to the Antiquarians one good round from either team would see them take the trophy.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

Well, it’s not often we see a total shut out in a missing vowels. Let’s take absolutely nothing away from the Antiquarians. You have played brilliantly all series, and have nothing to be ashamed of. But this round belonged to the Analysts. They took 3 points on oxymorons, 3 points on Strategies, and 2 on 15 letter words. The Ants just couldn’t buzz their way into the round. The final score was 25 to the Analysts, and 14 to the Antiquarians.

As I say, well played Antiquarians. You have had a fantastic series, and can proudly hold your heads up high after taking a very fine team all the way right up until the last round. As for the Analysts – many congratulations – William, David and Paul – Only Connect Champions ! A fine performance, and a well deserved championship. A special word for Paul as well, who has also been 3rd in Mastermind, and 2nd in Brain of Britain in recent years. Well deserved , gents. Well played.

A special word for the lovely Jenny Heap as well. Jenny looked after us extremely well during series 4, and I was delighted to see her take over the reins as producer this series. Many congratulations Jenny – you made a great series. Congratulations to David Bodycombe as well, and all the team who put the show together. Great job guys – roll on series 6 !

University Challenge - Round 2 - Match 7

2011-12-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

Merton, Oxford v. Balliol , Oxford

JP introduced the penultimate match of the second round, and seemed rather amused that the fixture generator – random or otherwise – had thrown together two Oxford colleges. Both teams won close matches in their first rounds, which saw their beaten opposition progress to the repechage. Merton, who were Bill Hellier, Denis Dillon, Cosmo Grant and captain Tim Smith-Laing, saw off St. Andrews. The Balliol team of Liam Shaw, Andrew Whitby, James Kirby and Simon Wood beat Homerton in their first match. Well, Homerton are already through to the quarters. Would Balliol join them ?

Not if Tim Smith-Laing had anything to do with it. He led from the front in the early part of the show, and started as he meant to go on by taking the first starter, recognizing several descriptions of the word cursor. One bonus was taken on William of Malmesbury. James Kirby struck back with Lord John Russell for the next starter. 2 bonuses were taken on various types of corpuscle. Tim Smith-Laing knew that the figure from a fairy tale whose name is used in conjunction with a planet with the conditions necessary for life is Goldlilocks. A full set of bonuses followed on horses in classical poetry – messrs. Virgil, Horace and Ovid as I predicted were all present and correct. Unfortunately I didn’t get them in the correct order. Merton did. The Merton skipper took a double, knowing that the coypu was introduced to the UK from South American to be farmed for its fur. 2 bonuses were taken. A lovely little starter followed, where the teams were shown a first verse of a famous poem, and asked to identify the poet. The catch was that only the last words of some of the lines were shown. I knew it was Ode on a Grecian Urn by Keats, but the teams let that one pass by. Liam Shaw recognized Mr. Toad’s description of his own gaff, Toad Hall, and this earned the poetry picture bonus set, of which one was taken. James Kirby took the next starter with the Davis Cup, but the team couldn’t add any bonuses on cartography. At the ten minute mark Merton preserved a small lead, with 60 to Balliol’s 45.

Neither team knew the best place for a first date – according to English Heritage. It’s the Roman Baths ( at Bath, presumably ). James Kirby had a good early buzz for the next starter, identifying that two German cities have the word Frankfurt as part of their name. One bonus was taken on George Sand. James Kirby made it a double with the Book of Revelation for the next starter. 2 invertebrates were identified for bonuses. Denis Dillon couldn’t have heard more than a bar or two of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony before he gave it as the correct answer to the music starter – an impressive buzz, that. Alas, Merton could not manage to identify any of three more 7th symphonies by German or Austrian composers. Merton managed to identify Singer as a name shared by several specific people, and this bought up a full set of bonuses on word pairs, where the F at the end of the first word is replaced by a D for the second word – eg Deaf and Dead – Wolf and Wold etc. Liam Shaw knew that Dorothy L. Sayers, Salman Rushdie and Fay Wheldon all were successful in advertising. A couple of bonuses on apples brought the teams level. A number thing followed, but neither team got it. Cosmo Grant buzzed in too early to offer Descartes as a French philosopher mathematician. Well he was, but not the one required. Five points away. Hard lines. Liam Shaw correctly offered Pascal. 1 bonus followed on the largest towns of islands. The second picture starter was identified as a painting by Edgar Degas by James Kirby. The bonuses showed three pictures featuring absinthe, of which 2 were correctly ascribed. That little Balliol flurry had pushed them ahead on the scoreboard. At the 20 minute mark they led by 130 to 90.

It was vital for Merton to take the next starter, but it was the impressive James Kirby who took it, recognizing a set of demands by the Chartists. 1 bonus fell to Balliol on Women’s writing. James Kirby then made it three starters in a row, by giving Munich as the german city housing a particular library. No bonuses could be taken on states of Brazil. Too late now for Merton ? Actually, no. Bill Hellier weighed in with the next starter, giving the right answer of nitrogen. A full set followed on films about bonus, and a part of the lead sliced off. Denis Dillon knew that the only surname shared by both a British PM and a US president is Wilson. No bonus could be taken on the History of Science. Denis Dillon made it a starter double, knowing that Nepal and Bhutan share borders with both India and China. 1 bonus followed on works of Goethe. The gap stood at a mere 15 points. Neither team took the next starter, but James Kirby gave away five for an early buzz. To make amends he did correctly answer that Switzerland is the smallest country in Europe which has the word – land as part of its name. 2 bonuses followed on the moon, and the clock was running down. Bill Hellier knew that Mercury and Venus have no moons. There was time for Merton to correctly answer the first two bonuses on the Human Condition, but that was that. At the gong, it was a narrow win for Balliol by 170 to 160. Another fine contest – well done to both teams.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP seemed rather amused by the Toad Hall question. In fact I may be mistaken but I have a feeling that he may even be a closet Pooh fan. He called the poem bonuses unlocked by the Mr. Toad starter “ less elevated literature” and I don’t even think he was being sarcastic.
On the cartography question the team were doing what I would have done – that is – dredging up the only name which comes to mind for me – Mercator – and trotting it out as the answer to each question . JP wasn’t having any of that. When offered the name for the second time running he replied,
“No – get it out of your head !”

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

Medan is the name of the biggest city on the island of Sumatra

Answers to News Questions

2011-12-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1) Mr. Justice Tugendhat
2) Wherever you are
3) Len McCluskey
4) Thomas Blythe
5) Chopper
6) P.C. Deiderick Coetzee
7) Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers
8) June Waldron
9) Tony Nicklinson
10) Adele Joicey
11) Ami Kausar
12) Swanland
13) Nellie Geraghty
14) Laurent Gbagbo
15) Det. Sgt. Alan Taylor
16) Katia Zatuliveter
17) Toby Dring
18) Guido Fawkes
19) Frank Wild
20) Chrissie Wellington
21) Bilbo
22) Brian Dodgeon
23) Roy Bottomley
24) Ross McManus
25) Mark Hall
26) Rebecca Leighton

In Other News

1) Where did Britain’s largest casino open last week ?
2) Last week what did a survey reveal to be the thing which has the power to make men happier ?
3) Who switched on the lights in 10 Downing Street with the PM and his family ?
4) Which annual races took place in Brighton and Covent Garden ?
5) Who is to be appointed manager of Sunderland ?
6) Which singer received his CBE last week ?
7) IN his last interview the late Ken Russell confessed to a 40 year crush on whom ?
8) Which disease is killing red squirrels ?
9) Who said that David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet about Global Warming is hot air ?
10) What is Mike Tindall’s reduced fine ?
11) Which team did Cardiff City beat to win their Carling Cup quarter final ?
12) A pagan stone circle has been destroyed where ?
13) Which US airline declared bankruptcy ?
14) Which team knocked Man Utd out of the Carling Cup ?
15) Which Venetian landmark has been unveiled following conservation work ?
16) Whose grave in Pere Lachaise has been given a makeover ?
17) The UK has closed its embassy where ?
18) Which TV Show last seen on ITV in 2009 is to return on Sky Arts ?
19) What did a teen gang do to outrage Christmas shoppers in Longton, Stoke on Trent ?
20) Who told fans not to buy his £212 boxed set since the price must be ‘ a hoax or a misprint’ ?
21) Who is fronting a campaign for a minister for the elderly ?
22) Richard Desmond called which editor a hypocrite ?
23) What was the ‘deal’ Charlotte Church made with Rupert Murdoch, which she claimed was not honoured when speaking to the Leveson Inquiry
24) Who signed a book deal worth a reported £400,000 ?
25) What registration change did Cunard make to its ships ?
26) Whom did GQ magazine vote the Most Influential Man in Britain ?
27) Who won the Brazilian Grand Prix ?
28) Which team won the Golf World Cup ?
29) Who became the first female artist with the No1 in both singles and albums charts at the same time twice in the same year ?
30) Who won the ATP finals ?
31) A film version of which stage show – based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo – is to be made by Steven Spielberg ?
32) Which London Tourist attraction suffered an accident last week ?
33) What has been found in british oysters ?
34) Which crematorium plans to install turbines in 2 of its burners ?
35) The Islamic PJD party will form its first government in which country ?
36) Which supermarket claims that it has to send 25% of its new recruits back to school ?
37) Which crown court will become the first to issue ipads to jurors to review evidence ?
38) Which two teams have resigned from the formula One teams association ?
39) Which teams are in Eire’s Euro 2012 group ?
40) – and which teams are in England’s ?
41) What was the cost of the new portrait of Speaker John Bercow ?
42) Who were announced as the 2 new judges on Dancing on Ice ?

Answers

1) He granted 2 super injunctions last week
2) The single by the military wives choir, tipped as a potential Christmas Number 1
3) General secretary of Unite
4) Man who has become an internet sensation, searching for a mystery woman he simply knows as Cathy
5) It was an owl – which landed on an oil rig exhausted and covered in oil. It was sent on to a wildlife sanctuary
6) The policeman nicknamed Robocop seriously ill in hospital after being knocked down by a hit and run driver
7) The new sculpture on Skegness seafront
8) Lollipop lady in Herne Bay who has resigned due to the rudeness of drivers
9) He is a paraplegic man asking for the right in the high court to have a doctor help him to end his life.
10) Mother of a Down’s Syndrome child who is asking Jimmy Carr to drop an offensive joke from his act
11) Pleaded guilty to terrorism offences – had a recipe for making ricin on a memory stick
12) Ship from which the Duke of Cambridge rescued sailors
13) She died when trying to stop muggers from stealing her handbag which contained her husband’s ashes
14) The first former head of state handed over to the International Criminal Court – formerly head of Ivory Coast
15) He told the Stephen Lawrence murder trial that his predecessor had changed the numbers of evidence on the database
16) Russian who was cleared of being a spy after having an affair with Mike Hancock MP
17) Youngest child ever to have open heart surgery
18) Nickname of political blogger Paul Staines, summoned before the Leveson Inquiry
19) Shackleton’s right hand man, whose remains were finally interred next to Shackleton’s
20) World Iron Man triathlon champ at the centre of calls for women to be included in the shortlist for BBC Sports personality of the Year – controversially the shortlist this year consists entirely of men
21) A terrier who was stuck down a rabbit hole in Dobwalls Cornwall for 20 days
22) He was convicted after a teen died taking ecstasy at a house party in his house –
23) TV writer who passed away – many TV credits, including Nearest and Dearest
24) Father of Elvis Costello who passed away – best known for secret lemonade drinker R.Whites adverts
25) British animator – creator of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula who passed away
26) Nurse acquitted over Steppings Hill hospital tragedies, sacked last week

In Other News

1) Aspers at Westfield Stratford City
2) A shed
3) Helen Skelton
4) Christmas Pudding Races
5) Martin O’Neill
6) Brian Ferry
7) Glenda Jackson
8) Liver Disease
9) Lord Nigel Lawson
10) £15,000
11) Blackburn Rovers
12) Lampeter
13) American Airlines
14) Crystal Palace
15) The Bridge of Sighs
16) Paul Dacre
17) Esther Rantzen
18) Elvis Costello
19) By attacking Santa in his grotto
20) The South Bank Show
21) Tehran
22) Oscar Wilde
23) She agreed to waiver her £100,000 fee for singing at his wedding in return for good publicity
24) Roger Federer beat Jo Wilfred Tsonga
25) Rihanna
26) USA
27) Mark Webber
28) Boris Johnson
29) All of its ships have now been registered in Bermuda, no longer Southampton
30) Pippa Middleton
31) The War Horse
32) A Walkway onto HMS Belfast collapsed
33) Norovirus
34) Durham
35) Morocco
36) Morrisons
37) Norwich
38) Red Bull and Ferrari
39) Spain – Italy – Croatia
40) France – Sweden – Ukraine
41) £22,000
42) Katarina Witt and Louis Spence

Fun Handout

2011-12-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie, this one. Last night at the rugby club Alwyn was acting as QM. He doesn't often do it, but when he does it's often a good'un. Alwyn is the one who once wrote and published a film quiz book, and so films are something of a speciality. Alwyn's handout was a set of 25 cryptic clues to film titles. For example - Australian Magician - The Wizard of Oz, Prince Charles - The Man Who Would Be King. It took us ages to get one clue, but when we did I have to say that it was my favourite -
See the German guy ?
No ? How about Spiderman ( Spy - der - man) !

Well, I liked it.

Brain of Britain - Round One - Match 4

2011-12-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

In the heats of Brain of Britain you always get a real mixture of contestants. Some impress you with the width of their knowledge. Some surprise you a little with some of the things they don’t know. Occasionally some contestants manage to do both. I found this to be true of Monday’s contestants – each of them produced some fine answers – and then each missed some things they might have had. That’s the way the game works.
First up was Tom Gemmill. He made good ground with his first two questions, but was unable to name the county that is home to Hetty Pegler’s Tump. Not surprised. It’s Gloucestershire. Frank Potter followed, and he too took his first two. I was a little surprised that none of the contestants could remember that the original pretext for Argentinian landings on the Falklands was to ‘collect scrap metal’. Dilys Taylor didn’t score, falling down on the recipient of Mae West’s “Sometime why don’t you come up and see me?” or something of that sort. Nobody knew it was Cary Grant – again, a sufficiently chestnutty question for me to be surprised that no one knew it. Don Young was so close to getting the 19th century American Underground Railroad, but couldn’t quite drag it out. So at the end of the round Tom and Frank led with 2 apiece. Tom didn’t know the Battle of Heligoland Blight. Frank did for a bonus – a good shout that one. He was going great guns with his own questions, dispatching his first 3 to the boundary, but he didn’t know the imaginary substance phlogiston, which was once believed to be given off by all burning matter. Dilys couldn’t name Eddystone, on which several successive lighthouses were built, and this gave Don his first point. Just as well, since he was clean bowled middle stump with his own first. Asked which 19th century presidents, sharing the same name, were distinguished by the second’s unusual middle name, he couldn’t dredge up John Quincy Adams. Frank could, and this gave him a very comfortable lead. He had 7, Tom 2, Don 1, and Dilys had yet to score.

At the start of round three Tom didn’t know that it was Donald Campbell who set a world water speed record in Australia in 1964. No bonus there either. Frank Potter Had a pointless round himself, unable to answer that Karl-Marx-Stadt was the previous name of Chemnitz. Dilys then weighed in with the best round of the whole competition. She took 4 in a row, but alas failed on a music question. She was played part of a Stabat Mater, and couldn’t name Rossini as the composer. Don once again was a faller at the first, not knowing that it was bread, never actually rationed in the world wars, that went on the ration in 1946. Dilys knew this, and it had an interesting effect on the scores. She had leapt up the board to second, being two points behind Frank, who still had 7. Tom had 2, and Don 1. At this point we paused for the Beat the Brains interval. The first question asked what you might be doing if you went out concealed with a dirty basket. The answer is playing canasta. I didn’t know, and neither did the Brains. Nor did any of us know that if you went to hell via kitchen and grave, you’d be playing the 14th hole at St. Andrews.

Tom took his first of the next round, but failed on the Arab name for Tripoli. Frank knew it. He didn’t, however, know that the 4 Noble Truths are central to Buddhism, which was his next question. Don did. Poor Don didn’t get any joy out of his starters all night, but at least he was able to make headway with some bonuses from this point. Dilys couldn’t quite get the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nor, surprisingly, could any of the brains. Don took a stab at Odin as the father of the Valkyries in Wagner’s Ring. Well – same god, different name, I’m afraid. Dilys correctly supplied the name of Wotan. Frank now had 8, Dilys 6, Tom 3 and Don 2. Tom missed out on the year when the Reign of Terror in France began. It was Don who supplied the correct answer of 1793. Frank added his first, but then missed a tricky little number on the 1351 Statute of Labourers. It concerned pay levels, apparently. Dilys took one, but missed out on the man who introduced the rack to the Tower of London. Don took that bonus as well. He couldn’t guess, though, that the musical, often performed in schools, first staged in 1971, was Grease. No bonus for anyone. Frank still led with 9, Dilys had 7, Tom 6, and Don 4.

Going into round 6 Russell stressed that anyone could still win, and he was right. Tom’s chances looked slimmer after he missed his first. Frank knew that the animal used in testing a TB vaccine was a guinea pig. He took two of his own, but didn’t know about Endymion. Don did. Dilys was unable to identify the dulcet tones of Noddy Holder from Slade, which Frank did. He mopped up the round by taking a bonus on Don’s first for good measure as well, knowing that Orienteering originated in Norway and Sweden. One more round left, and it looked all over bar the shouting. Frank led with 14, Dilys had 7, Tom 6 and Don 5. In fact Tom, Dilys and Don all missed their first questions. Tom didn’t know the literal meaning of halal – neither did the others. Frank took his first, but didn’t know who sat in the Siege Perilous. Don did. He also knew the term legerdemain, which Dilys missed. Unfortunately he didn’t know Synovial fluid, which ended his spirited run. AT the end, Frank had won easily with 15. As for second place, well, we had a three way tie. Tom, Dilys and Don all had 7. Unfortunately I think it’s almost certain that this will not be enough to give any hope of a place in the semis. The semis, though, are exactly where Frank is heading. Well played.

The Details
Tom Gemmill – 7
Frank Potter – 15
Dilys Taylor – 7
Don Young - 7

CJ leaving Eggheads

2011-12-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I missed this one earlier. According to UK Gameshows.com, CJ has announced that he will be leaving Eggheads. The quote on the site says that he wants to devote all his time to his acting career.

If its CJ's own decision, and he hasn't been 'pushed' - and I have no reason to suggest that he has - then good luck to him. Of all the Eggheads, CJ probably has more of the 'marmite' factor than any of the others - people either love him or hate him. They don't ignore him, though. The show has been going for a long time now, and he must take his fair share of credit for its success.

Good luck !

Win A Quiz Book

2011-12-05T10:23:00.001-08:00

- and quite a good one, too ! Daniel Fullard has several copies of The Whitakers Quiz Book and Sport Quiz Book to be won over on his blog
The Quiz Addict

Just click on the link there, or on the link in my recommended links.

Good luck !

Cryptic Question

2011-12-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Right – last week’s was : -

A roman double cross: Kelly’s ocular equipment: the age of suffrage. What comes next ? Which of these could bring you to a port in Asia ?

X is the roman numeral for 10 – double it and you have 20. In Bingo, Kelly’s Eye is the call for Number 1. In the UK , 18 is the legal voting age. Working clockwise from 12 o’clock, these are the first 3 numbers on a standard dartboard. 4 comes next, and strictly speaking, any of the numbers can give you SHANGHAI, as long as you score single , double and triple of the same number with 3 darts.

Now try this one : -

In English – boar carbuncles. In French – good sticks. In German – a spoonerism of storm and strife. What are they all, and which one did Leontes’ wife attend ?

This Week's News Questions

2011-12-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Answers to News Questions

2011-12-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1) Father Gabriele Amorth
2) Arcadia
3) Jamie Dale
4) Sheffield Odeon
5) HMP Kirkham
6) Angie Sowton
7) Carl Anthony Mason
8) Andrew Paterson
9) Andre Lake
10) Lord Chadlington
11) Busilex and Velcade
12) Benton
13) Squeezed Middle
14) Liz Douglas
15) Det Constable Stephen Hopkins
16) Leon Reid
17) Shipbourne
18) Keith Greaves
19) Barry Bannon
20) Leanne Harris
21) Denzel Cassius Hervy
22) Shelagh Delaney
23) Stuart Lancaster
24) Mr. Justice Bean
25) Paul Mealor
26) Andrew Kelly
27) Mariano Rajoy
28) Jose Pimental
29) HMS Westminster

In Other News

1) Which band will record the soundtrack to the BBC 2012 Olympic coverage ?
2) Which country’s branch of the Fair Trade movement have been criticized for relaxing rules governing what counts as fair trade ?
3) It has been announced that the 2013 Tour de France will start where for the first time ?
4) The European Commission have presented the UK with a £20 million fine for importing what?
5) Who said last week that rows on the X Factor are scripted ?
6) The BBC apologized for a controversial report on Dale Farm screened on which programme?
7) Who was named Britain’s greatest living treasure in a survey ?
8) Curry’s last week wrongly advertised a Samsung laptop at which price ?
9) Who opened a store in the Champs Elysee last week ?
10) Name the leader of Yemen who has finally agreed to step down ?
11) Which title has finally been conferred officially on the Duke of Edinburgh ?
12) Which children’s TV show is to receive a special BAFTA ?
13) What has the town of Staines now added to its name ?
14) What was unusual about the appearance of King Juan Carlos of Spain last week ?
15) Which tour firm saw its share price collapse when it anbnounced a plan to restructure its debts ?
16) Which claim about water does the EU actually allow bottlers to put on water now ?
17) IN the new remake of the Sweeney – which car will the main protagonists drive ?
18) St. Andrews University Conservative Association have been widely criticized for burning whose effigy ?
19) IN the remake of the Sweeney , which two actors play the main parts ?
20) Man City were defeated by which team in the Champions’ League this week ?
21) This week saw a state visit to the UK by the leader of which country ?
22) A Tennessee plan to tax which product was defeated last week ?
23) Who said that he has lost his wife to Alzheimers, and he has to build a new life for himself ?
24) What was the result of the Reggae Reggae Sauce hearing ?
25) Staff have been given plastic whistles to use in emergencies in which hospital ?
26) A BBC documentary will claim that Hitler spent Christmas 1912 where ?
27) What upset shoppers in the Curry’s store in New Malden ?
28) Name the England rugby player who has threatened to sue over allegations from a New Zealand Hotel worker ?
29) Which company opened their first store in Britain since the last one closed in 1915 ?
30) Grafitti by whom was discovered in a flat in London last week ?
31) Which store is selling red Brussels sprouts ?
32) Who defended his own comment last week that some types of rape were not serious ?
33) Who said that the Antiques Roadshow makes him cry ?
34) Parents have been warned not to give too much what to children ?
35) Which singer, musician and songwriter was diagnosed with liver cancer ?
36) What is the venue for the ATP tour finals ?
37) What was unusual about the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards Best Actor Award last week ?
38) Which tradition has been ended by the Supreme Court ?
39) Who defeated both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic last week ?
40) Which singer has been reported as suffering from a serious case of pneumonia ?
41) Who won the 2011 Emmy for Best International Actress ?
42) Who has released his first new song since 2004 ?

Answers

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?

1) The former chief exorcist of the Vatican who claims ‘yoga is satanic . . . just like reading Harry Potter “
2) 250 of their stores are to shut
3) Head of drug dealing trio, sent to jail for combined total of 44 years
4) Last of the Odeon chain to switch to digital
5) Thieves broke IN and stole £8000 worth of cigarettes
6) She posted letters on local lampposts to the crooks who burgled her home
7) Convicted of stealing poppy tins – beaten up twice while on remand
8) Police halted his funeral to take his fingerprints – he had been living under an assumed identity for years
9) Convicted burglar who was taken on by the Ministry of Justice, who has been convicted for stealing colleagues’ wallets at the ministry
10) His private land deal with David Cameron has faced criticism
11) 2 bone marrow cancer drugs which have been recalled
12) The dog who has become a massive Youtube hit for herding deer on Richmond Park despite his owner screaming for him to come back
13) The Oxford dictionaries ‘word’ ( its more than one word ! ) of the year
14) She was in a car crash and saved from potentially serious injury when her head was cushioned by a loaf of bread
15) He has been nominated for an award. He studied law in his own time so he could prosecute a criminal when the CPS decided it could not proceed with the case
16) Burglar who gave police a checklist of things that stopped him from burgling a house.
17) Village whose inhabitants have overturned Prince Khalid Abdullah’s decision to close an ancient footpath which runs through his land.
18) He was electrocuted while trying to tap into the National Grid while on a metal stealing expedition
19) Aston Villa footballer fined £4500 and banned for 18 months for drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident
20) Legal secretary in Hove who stole more than £400,000 from a client
21) He successfully overturned his conviction for swearing at the police
22) Playwright – known for “A Taste of Honey” – who passed away , aged 71
23) England’s caretaker rugby coach for the 6 Nations
24) Judge whose ruling that its not a crime to swear at the police because they are used to it has caused understandable outrage.
25) Composer of the Royal wedding Music – CD released last week
26) The first man to be charged on the drink boating law
27) Winner of the Spanish General election and probable next prime minister
28) He has been seized by US police charged with planning bomb attacks against returning US troops
29) Ship that sailed to Libya with only 4 missiles on board.

In Other News

1) Elbow
2) American
3) Corsica
4) Importing Garlic from China
5) Sir Bruce Forsythe
6) The One Show
7) Sir David Attenborough
8) £22
9) Marks and Spencer
10) Ali Abdullah Saleh
11) Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy
12) Newsround
13) – On Thames
14) He had a black eye
15) Thomas Cooke
16) ‘It Keeps You Cool, and Helathy’
17) Ford Focus ( and why not ! It’s a good car . )
18) Barack Obama
19) Ray Winstone – Ben Drew ( aka Plan B )
20) Napoli
21) Turkey
22) Jack Daniels
23) John Suchet
24) The Judge ruled that Levi Roots did not steal the recipe, but he accused him of ‘fraudulent misrepresentation’
25) John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
26) Liverpool
27) An ipad display model displaying hardcore porn
28) James Haskell
29) Fabergé
30) The Sex Pistols
31) Marks and Spencer
32) Ken Clarke
33) Ed Balls
34) Calpol
35) Robin Gibb
36) The O2 Arena
37) It was awarded jointly to Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, who alternated the two roles of Frankenstein and his monster in Frankenstein
38) Judges and Lawyers no longer have to wear robes and wigs
39) David Ferrer
40) George Michael
41) Julie Walters
42) Leonard Cohen

Mastermind - Round 1 - Heat 4

2011-12-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

Have you missed me ? Don’t answer that . All back from early Santa duty, and raring to go. So lets start with Friday’s Mastermind. I didn’t know or recognize any of the contenders, so each of them suffered from equal amounts of support from the Clark sofa. First up was Susan Holmes. Susan was answering on the Richard Hannay Novels of John Buchan. Yes, the 39 Steps is just the first. We nearly saw a perfect round here. Susan was not the quickest you’ve ever seen answering the questions, but she was getting them all right, and that’s as valid a tactic as you’ll get. I made it 13 from 13 questions, when the 14th just knocked her off balance a little , and she had to pass. She recovered to get the next, and last question right though, setting the bar at 14.

Peter Royle followed with The Peak District. One of those tricky portmanteau subjects, I suspected, as he settled into the chair. Peter went through his first 8 like an absolute dose of salts. However the 9th stopped him, and this was followed by a pass. Still, he mentally dusted himself down, and supplied another 6, with just one more pass to break them up. Another good round. Paul Smith , who followed, would have been forgiven for being daunted , but he obviously wasn’t. His subject – aircraft of WWII – was my favourite of tonight’s. I know just enough about the subject to be able to tell you just how difficult some of Paul’s questions were – very is the answer. Number 8 , where he supplied the Vickers Wellington rather than the Wellesley ( As did I ) tripped him up, but other than that it was another good, confident round. Amazingly his 13 left him in 3rd place.

Steve Watson offered us the other specialist where I knew a few of the answers – American Number 1 singles 1954 - 1994. This sort of subject is one where people tend to either really know their stuff and produce stellar rounds – I’m thinking of Howard Pizzey for example – or they crash and burn. This was a stellar round. 17 asked, 17 answered correctly. In a tight contest like this, it was the equivalent of being a pit stop ahead of all the other cars on the circuit. Still, as we know, anything can happen in a GK round. Paul returned to the chair, and delivered a very fine 15. I scored more highly on Paul’s round than the other three, but this was probably just because Paul answered quite a bit more quickly than the other three contenders managed to. His was the GK performance of the night. 28, then, was the score to beat.
Susan tried. She was battling against the fact that she had only answered one more correctly than Paul had in the first round, and he had answered very quickly . So it wasn’t a huge shock that she leveled out at 25, a good score, but a little way below Paul’s. Peter returned to the chair, and it never quite looked like he was going to build up the same head of steam that Paul had. When the 2 and a half minutes had expired he had added enough to take his own score to 25. Again, a good score, and nothing to be ashamed of, but Paul was still at the top of the leaderboard. It doesn’t often happen that the player in 4th at the halfway stage goes on to take the win, but it looked a distinct possibility in this show. After all, Paul had only scored 4 fewer than Steve had in the first round. Steve, it had to be said, didn’t manage his GK round with quite the same assurance that he managed his specialist round. Hardly surprising really. Still, what he did do was manage to keep his head, despite incurring 4 passes. The ones he knew for certain, he answered, and sometimes that’s enough. The buzzer went with Steve on 28 and 4 passes. That’s not enough. Paul only had 2. Still, John had started the last question. It all hinged on this one, and Steve made no mistake. His correct answer just put him across the finishing line, and he goes forward to the semis. Well played ! Is it over for Paul ? Not necessarily. 28 just might be enough to get him a place in the semis. Time will tell.

The Details

Susan Holmes	The Richard Hannay Novels	14 – 1	11 – 1	25 – 1
Peter Royle	The Peak District	14 – 2	11 – 3	25 – 5
Paul Smith	Aircraft of World War II	13 – 0	15 – 2	28 – 2
Steve Watson	American No. 1 Singles – 1954 – 1994	17 – 0	12 – 4	29 – 4

Only Connect - 3rd Place Play Off

2011-11-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

Third Place Play Off – The Listeners v. The Trade Unionists

By the time we get to the third place play off we’ve come to know the two teams quite well. So it’s a pleasure to welcome back the Listeners and the Trade Unionists. The Listeners are Jane Teather, Andrew Lyman and captain Dave Tilley. You may remember that they lost a thriller in the semi to the Antiquarians. More about that later. Their opponents were the Trade Unionists, Colin Whorlow, Nick Atty, and captain James Hastie. They were narrowly beaten last week by the Analysts.

Round One – What’s the Connection ?

The Listeners kicked off with twisted flax. Now you may remember them in their semi guessing their first set off 2, and getting it wrong. This might have cost them the whole match. They did something similar in this , They took three music clues, and working from Silver Lady and Moody Blues Nights In White Satin they guessed wedding anniversaries. Incorrect. Given a wee bit of Iggy Pop , the TUs worked out we had Soul ( David ) Blues and Pop. The first was Big Country. Types of music, and a bonus point thank you very much. Their own set behind water were blood transfusion – web rotary printing press – RMS Titanic – Eddystone Lighthouse. Neither team could see the answer – which was appropriately tricky. They all killed , in a way, the man responsible for their creation. The Lists found the pictures behind two reeds. Elizabeth Barratt Browning – Barack Obama’s Dog, a Portuguese Man of War – and I think they had it here – then Cristiano Ronaldo gave them Portuguese. Nobody knew the TUs’ next – Birds Path – Straw Road – Silver River – The Road to Santiago. They are all alternative names for the Milky Way. The Listeners’ took a good set with hecatomb – Argus – ten duotrigintillion ( I hope that’s right ) and US senate, with 100 being the connection. ( That number is a googol, which has 100 noughts. ) Finally The TU’s took Lion, for Yubari Melons – Kopi Luwak Coffee – Wagyu Beef – Saffron – which are all the most expensive of their type. Honours for the round even – 2 points apiece.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?

The Lists jumped wrongly with Wellington – Melbourne – Salisbury. They saw cities, which was wrong. The TUs at least saw prime ministers, but not the right one. These were all PMs at the accession of monarchs – the next, for George V, was Asquith. The Pictures behind Flax were my Moment Of The Week. The first showed Peter Crouch. The Rugby World Cup still lingering in the memory I chanted out Crouch – Touch – Hold ( Pause in the show, but I said hold ) – Engage. So it proved. I even predicted the ring, as did the TUs on the full set. I didn’t do badly on the next set either. The Lists unearthed Shu – Geb – and I had Horus by this time as the answer. The next was Osiris. The Lists correctly gave Horus, and honest Dave Tilley admitted this was a take a guess at an Egyptian God answer. Good enough. Each one was the son of the previous one. Great answer from the TU’s on the next – Doubles – Minor – Triples. They knew we were dealing with bell ringing, and gave Major correctly as the 4th. Neither team knew that sphere – sphereoid – ellipsoid would be followed by quadric. They are all less specific than the previous. Another great answer from the TUs followed. They could see that Sphinx has one vowel in 6 letters, borscht 1 in 7, and schmaltz 1 in 8. They gave strengths, the only 9 letter word with 1 vowel. For me they thoroughly deserved their lead of 8 to 4.

Round 3 – The Connecting Walls

Both teams unraveled their walls successfully. The TUs opted for water, behind which they found sets : -
Rosyth – Scapa Flow – Woolwich and Chatham – naval dockyards
Barrytown – Millennium – Border – Deptford – literary trilogies
Murrayfield – Eden Park – Flaminio – Newlands – national rugby stadia
Bull – Skye – Norfolk – cairn – terriers.
So whatever happened the lead would not be less than 4. In fact, 4 was exactly what the lead remained, since the water wall yielded up all of its secrets to the Listeners. They found sets of
trash – jerry – spray and watering – types of can
Ivar – Billy – Malm – Effektiv – all sold in Ikea
Flora – Pax – Minerva – Vesta – Roman Goddesses
Lack – Oddie – Bond – Audubon – ornithologists.
So honours shared, and the lead remained at 4, with 18 to the TUs , and 14 to the Listeners.

Round 4 – Missing Vowels

All to play for, and away we went. We began with Famous roads in the US. The Lists made a slight inroad into the lead, scoring 2 – 1. Words with 5 identical vowels fell 2 apiece , and time was running out. A great set of movie spoilers followed, and this was shared 1 -1 . That was it, and the final scores were 19 to the Listeners, and 22 to the Trade Unionists. An appropriately close result, but the Trade Unionists fair winners of the bronze, I feel , for their performance on round two. Well played both.

University Challenge -Round Two - Match 6

2011-11-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

University College, London v. University of Warwick

The teams lining up to try to live up to the excellent contests we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks were UCL and Warwick. UCL were actually the lowest scoring winners of round one, although their win margin against York was a healthy 80 points. Warwick were comfortably in the middle of my unofficial table. They beat Edinburgh in the very first heat of this series, back in July. The UCL team were Hywel Carver, Patrick Cook, Tom Andrews and captain Jamie Karran. Warwick were re[resented by Martin Rixham, Celia Nicholls, Sumukh Kaul and captain Thomas Hayes.

Celia Nicholls took the first starter when she worked out that a set of colloquialisms were all earlier equivalents of Catch 22. The team didn’t manage to take any of a set of bonuses on John Donne ( whose verses, according to James I, were like the peace of God, in as much as they passeth all understanding. ) Jamie Karran knew that John Arbuthnot’s famous satire was “John Bull”. 2 bonuses were taken on covenants. Sumukh Kaul took his first starter on the actor Pete Postlethwaite. It wouldn’t be his last. He was by far the most effective of the Warwick team on the buzzer in this match. 2 bonuses were taken on the word ‘if’. It was a starter double for Sumukh Kaul, as he took the next starter on the term – conjugate. Unfortunately Warwick couldn’t manage any of the bonuses on the ear. They had a one in three chance on the ossicles, but went for stirrup when they should have gone for malleus, or hammer. Patrick Cook recognized a photograph of the publisher Mr. Pulitzer, of Prize fame. For which he earned a set of bonuses of photographs of Pulitzer prize winning female writers. They found these rather tricky. Henri of Navarre – or Henri IV of France was the next starter – sorry, I didn’t note who got that one – the iplayer was iplaying up at the time. It was UCL anyway, and they took two bonuses on novels of George Eliot. Sumukh Kaul completed a very good first ten minutes for himself by knowing a set of cryptic clues all pointed to various Chancellors of the Exchequer. One bonus on mineralogy was enough to give Warwick back the lead at the 10 minute stage, as the scores stood at 55 to 50.

Neither team knew the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe for the next starter. UCL knew the next starter referred to the scene from Tom Sawyer which, incidentally, has been part of the Google logo today. Small world. One bonus followed on words made up from the letters in Das Kapital. Neither team recognized Einstein’s definition of Science. Hywel Carver took the next , a UC special , where the internet abbreviations from several countries – Botswana etc. – were combined to make the latin phrase Bona Fide. A good 3 bonuses on languages followed. Celia Nicholls knew that the plot of Il Postino concerned a postman trying to deliver letters to the poet Neruda. 1 bonus was taken on Astronomers Royal. The music starter followed, and Thomas Hayes was in like lightning to identify the theme of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Three more of the same followed , and they missed out on farscape. Not surprised. I know people who will never forgive them for not getting Blake’s Seven. Nobody knew the city which shares the same name as some of the main protagonists in War and Peace is Rostov. Jamie Karran supplied the Norns for the next starter. This brought up 2 bonuses on marine invertebrates. Three of the world’s highest capital cities are in South America. Neither team could supply any two of La Paz – Bogota and Quito for the next starter. Sumukh Kaul muscled his way back into the match by knowing that songs including Johnny Todd were connected with Liverpool. A full set of bonuses linked by the word rare was taken. Hywel Carver could see that a set of words including brake and jockey were all connected by the word disc. A set of bonuses on shipping firsts brought up another 2 bonuses. The second picture starter was identified as a seascape by Turner by Patrick Cook. One bonus on other artist’s seascapes followed. Thomas Hayes took a starter on pharmacology, and his team answered a bonus on Queen Victoria and her prime ministers. This brought us to the 20 minute mark, and UCL now had a small lead, with 145 to Warwick’s 125.

Neither team took the next starter which required the word aluminium. Jamie Karran was very quickly in with Louisiana, as the only state other than south Carolina whose name contains 6 vowels. Good shout that. A bonus was taken on astronomy. Patrick Cook knew that a nougat-y sweet was named after Mozart. This brought up a brace of bonuses on the River Nile. Hywel Carver knew an anagram of Heart of Darkness, and the gap was suddenly becoming a chasm. 2 bonuses followed on ancient monuments and the modern day countries where they were situated. Sumukh Kaul took another starter, knowing that the Bank of England was founded partly to fund the foreign wars of king William III. We had female Pulitzer winners earlier, and now we had female Nobel laureates. They took one. Jamie Karran supplied sulphur for the next starter, but they took no bonuses on measuring instruments. Tom Andrews now got in on the act for UCL, knowing that hagfish and lampreys lack jaws. No bonuses were taken on Middle Eastern cities. Finally there was just enough time for Sumukh Kaul to cap a very good personal performance by answering the last starter on Norwegian Nobel prize for literature winners. That was it. In the end a comfortable win for UCL with 220 to 150. Well played.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Most of the time you can’t really tell JP’s opinion of the teams. Sometimes, though, it seems clear that he likes one of them, and in this case it was UCL, whom he found to be particularly amusing. Indeed he even said so at the end. There were several nice vignettes in this show. When the picture of Harper Lee came up we had “ I think we’ll have an answer please . . . Perhaps we won’t have an answer ! “ He was just warming up , though. When offered the identification of a photo of Sylvia Plath as Carol Ann Duffy he replied “POSTHUMOUSLY !!! She’s hale and hearty ! “ With a smile on his face.
When the answer “Felix Holt the Radical” was required, captain Jamie Karran was told in no uncertain terms by Patrick Cook NOT to offer Tess of the D’Urbervilles. So he passed. “NO answer.” replied JP. “Very good. Actually, it’s not very good. It’s terrible ! “ You tell ‘em !
There was a very good old fashioned look when Sumukh Kaul offered Makarova for Rostov. Finally, when offered Caravaggio for Courbet, he gave up , and spluttered “CARAVAGGIO !!?! “ and gave in to laughter.

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

A nougat based sweet was named after Mozart

Brain of Britain - Round One - Match Three

2011-11-30T06:05:00.000-08:00

This week’s contestants were Christopher Anton, Alan Boden, Richard Tindall and Ray Ward. Ray I had the pleasure of meeting in 2010 when I guested for North London in a summer league match. Needless to say, he is an excellent quizzer, and so was burdened with the dubious benefit of support from the Clark sofa during this heat.

Christopher Anton kicked off with 2 answers in round one, but he couldn’t remember that the Spanish Armada set out from Lisbon. Ray did for a bonus. Alan missed out on his first question, and in fact nobody could identify the Greek mythological chimaera from a description. Richard Tindall took a good three answers, but monotremes tripped him up. They’re those mammals distinguished by their egg laying abilities, as Christopher knew for a bonus. Finally Ray took two of his own, but couldn’t name Turin as the original capital of the Italy. Nobody quite managed that one. So Christopher, Richard and Ray all went into the next round with 3 points. Christopher laid down a marker by taking a full set of 5 and a bonus at the start of round two. Alan took his first, but missed out on the Kreutzer sonata. I was particularly pleased with guessing that one correctly myself. Richard took his first, but missed the fact that Tolstoy had 13 children with his wife Sonia. Ray knew that one. Ray took one, but missed out on Wales’ unfortunate rugby captain Sam Warburton. Alan had that to double his score to 2 points. Richard had 4, and Ray 5, but Christopher was ahead of the pack with 9. It didn’t look as if Christopher would wait a long time before scoring another point, but that’s exactly what happened. He didn’t know that Asser wrote the life of King Alfred the Great. That was another bonus for Alan. He took one of his own. Richard failed on his own first question, and I was a little surprised that none of the Brains knew that the solan goose is the nickname for the gannet. Ray took his first, but then got a nasty little question concerning a quote, which actually turned out to have been made by Mother Theresa. This brought us to the break for the Beat the Brains interval, and meant that Alan and Richard had 4, Ray had closed up to 7, but Christopher still led with 9.

A couple of rather difficult questions awaited the brains, and I can’t say I’m surprised that they couldn’t answer either of them. Neither could I. They didn’t know a) that in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, King Arthur is said to possess a sword called Caliburn rather than Excalibur – b) In the same source he is said to possess a spear called Ron.

Christopher was given one of those questions which required a bit of creative thinking, but was work-out-able. Asked for the name of the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, nobody quite managed to see that this would be Hermaphroditus. Alan managed a couple of answers, but didn’t know Culzean castle, which Ray did for a bonus. Richard was asked one which nobody could answer, about a composer who was actually born in the Netherlands. Ray missed out on his own first question, not knowing that c quotation about a Prime Minister actually referred to Neville Chamberlain. Richard and Christopher’s scores were unchanged, while Alan had improved to 6, and Ray to 8. Again, Christopher missed out on his first question. This was a bit of an old chestnut, asking which creature an ailuraphobe fears. Alan knew it was cats. He took one of his own. Richard again came a cropper on his first question, but Ray knew full well that Gruoch was married to Macbeth. He went on to take his own first question, but then couldn’t identify that Vanilla Ice’s number 1 hit Ice Ice Baby used the baseline from Queen’s hit Under Pressure. Still the bonus had brought him level, and the answer to his first question put him into the lead, with 11, Christopher remained on 9, Richard on 4, and Alan had moved up to 8. Round 6, and again Christopher failed to answer his first. I thought that Ray had a great shout here, knowing that the Labour Party first started to call themselves the Labour Party in 1906.Alan put himself ahead of Christopher with 2 answers, but when asked for a specific halogen couldn’t dredge up fluorine. Ray did. Richard couldn’t manage to explain the derivation of ZIP as in zip code. Ray was close, but nobody quite managed zone improvement plan. Ray had the chestnut about which UK city had the first postcodes. He was geographically quite close with Ipswich, but it was Norwich. Christopher and Richard hadn’t managed to add to their scores in this round, Alan had improved to 10, but Ray had a 3 point lead with 13. With one more round to go, you had to fancy it looked like a win for Ray.

It had been a long time since Christopher had managed to put any points on the board, so it was nice to see him answer his first question. He missed a rather simple one asking for Dava Sobel’s Longitude for his second, and Richard made no mistake to take the bonus for it. Alan needed a good run, but his first question required the name for the three legged symbol of the Isle of Man. Christopher knew that this was a triskelion. Richard did not know where strychnine comes from, but Ray did. With the win already secured, Ray could afford to miss out on his first question. Laertes is the character from Hamlet who shares his name with Odysseus’ father. So the contest finished with Ray winning with 14, Christopher and Alan tied on 11, and Richard on 7. Well played, Ray ! Good luck for the semis.

Details

Christopher Anton – 11
Alan Boden – 11
Richard Tindall – 7
Ray Ward – 14

A Few Odds and Ends

2011-11-26T15:38:00.001-08:00

I thought that I had better give fair warning before next weekend. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been doing most of my posting on a Saturday for the last few weeks. It’s just fitted in better, being a particularly busy time at work. It’s a pain, but it’s the job that puts the food on the table, as it were. Still, next weekend I’m going on the traditional pre Christmas visit to the family in England, and so I’m not going to be able to post much on Saturday. What I will try to do is post in mid-week – Wednesday or Thursday.

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This Thursday just gone was one of those occasions where you lose, yet you are so happy with your own performance that it’s almost as good as winning . I say almost , because I’m being honest. Admitting it doesn’t make it much better, but at least I do admit that I take winning pub quizzes far too seriously. Still, on Thursday night there were two of us in my team, George and myself, and the best team in opposition, ( and to be honest they are the best team that I play against in any regular pub quiz ) Lemurs, had a full team. Rob M. is a serious enough opponent on his own, but add in Terry and the rest and you’ve got a team that really mean business. George and I went behind by a couple of points about halfway through, and I honestly had the feeling that we’d go on to lose a point to them each round, but we played a bit of a blinder and pulled back to be a point behind going into the last round. – With luck – I thought, we might even pull back another point to draw on the questions. Consider my surprise when we found that the guys had their worst round of the night, and we actually won the questions by 2 points. What made it even better was that George only gave me one answer all night. I’d always wondered how I might get on if I played on my own in the club.Alright , I can’t swear to it that I would have reproduced this kind of form if I really had been on my own, but you can’t blame me for thinking that, on that night at least, I might have done. I’ve played on my own in a number of places, and its an interesting experience. Even discounting the answer that George gave me, I would still have won the questions by a point.

Mind you, we were pretty soon brought back down to earth when the handout scores were announced. Lemurs asserted their authority by winning and taking a full 6 points. We came last and got 1 – and that point was probably a sympathy one as well ! So we were beaten fairly comfortably in the end, but what the hell . You have to take pleasure from having one of those nights when you’re hitting the back of the net from all angles – even if it’s not enough to bring you the win.

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I don’t know if you follow Brain of Britain at all. If you don’t, you should give it a try. It’s very good. You can listen to it at any time. If you follow the link in my links section it will take you to the show’s homepage, and you can listen direct . This week the winner was Ian Clark, who was kind enough to leave a comment after the review, which you can read . One of the things Ian said was that he actually played in BoB as long ago as 1977.Unless I’m mistaken he was also a finalist in Mastermind in 1974. I said that I’d be really interested to hear his views on whether the experience of appearing on a show like BoB has changed that much. You have to say as well, a gap of 34 years between appearences has to be some kind of record. Unless of course, you know differently . . .

Cryptic Question

2011-11-26T05:34:00.000-08:00

Right – last week’s was

A Joplin rag: an inventive Russian soldier: an American Albatross: the Sun of May: The crux of astronomy. Where are they all, and which 3 appear more than once ?

Not so difficult at all this one. Scott Joplin wrote The MAPLE LEAF Rag. In America, a score of three under par – the Kalashnikov Rifle was invented by the eponymous Russian soldier - an albatross in the UK is a DOUBLE EAGLE – The SOL de MAIO is the Sun of May, and The SOUTHERN CROSS constellation has the latin name Crux. All appear on national flags. There are double headed eagles on the flags of Montenegro and Albania. The Sol de Maio is on the flags of both Uruguay and Argentina. The Southern Cross can be found on the flags of Australia and New Zealand. The Maple Leaf is on the flag of Canada, and the Kalashnikov on the flag of Mozambique
Here’s the next –

A roman double cross: Kelly’s ocular equipment: the age of suffrage. What comes next ? Which of these could bring you to a port in Asia ?

Mastermind - Round One - Heat Three

2011-11-26T05:27:00.000-08:00

As John introduced the 4 contenders I recognized one of them straightaway last night. To the best of my knowledge I have never met John Beynon, but I’m very aware of his work. Well, on Mastermind and Brain of Britain, anyway. John has a very good MM track record already, having made the semi finals in Nancy’s series in 2009, where he lost by a single point to Richard Heller. Then in last year’s Brain of Britain John took a repechage slot in the semis, and got to the final, where he came runner up , pushing champion Iwan Thomas all the way to the line. Robin McGhee, John Marshall and Sue Collins , the other three contenders in this heat certainly seemed to have their work cut out for them.

I confidently predict that student Robin McGhee will turn out to be one of the youngest contenders in this year’s series. That doesn’t have to count against you. Robin was answering on the band Led Zeppelin. I’ll be honest, this was my favourite of all last night’s specialist rounds. Robin started at 100 miles an hour, but he seemed to have decided to adopt the tactic of passing immediately if the answer didn’t come at once. That’s a valid tactic too, but it’s a dangerous one. Passes are like rabbits – they breed quickly. It’s too easy to get locked into a pass spiral, and this threatened to happen to Robin at times during his round. In the end he leveled out at 9 – three more than were gained by the team on the Clark sofa. John Marshall followed Robin to the chair. His subject was British Speedway 1945 – 1970. It’s a fair subject to take. I’m sure most of us under a certain age can’t imagine just how popular speedway was in Britain during this period, but it really was. John M. certainly knew his stuff, as 16 on any round is an excellent return. Good quizzing. Sue Collins followed with the life of Emperor Maximilian Ist, an interesting character certainly. Sue was rather more measured and studied than the previous two contenders, and did pause a couple of times , losing rhythm. Still, 11 was no bad return for a tricky round. Now, you’ll have gathered from my opening comments that John B. is an old hand at this game now. Well, if you didn’t know it before , you’ll have worked it out for yourself after his perfect 17 out of 17 on the Cathars. Fantastic performance.

To put John’s performance into perspective, Robin had a lot of work to do when he returned for his second round in order to reach John’s score. His round in many ways was very similar to his first, a lot of very quick passes. Still, I can see why he applied for MM so relatively young. He definitely has a general knowledge beyond that of the average person, and had some good answers. In the end he earned his reward, and gained 9, enough to take him into a lead for the moment. Sue also had 9 correct answers. I scored considerably less on her round than on the other three. I had a 19 and 2 20s on the others, but only 16 on Sue’s , probably because she paused a lot, and didn’t get through as many questions as the others. Still, she too had her time in the lead, as she reached 20 . John Marshall then had the opportunity to use his 16 as a springboard to set a total that would a) set a challenging target for John B, and b) put him onto the repechage board for the foreseeable future. He did all of that, with a good round of 15 correct answers. I didn’t quite think it would be enough to win last night, , but it was still a good performance. So John B. returned, and posted a very good 17, and no passes. Not passing is a sign of someone who knows what he is doing. His total of 34 is one which marks him out to be a serious contender – which to be honest is something we already knew. Well done to John Marshall as well, 31 is a fine score, and I wouldn’t be that surprised if it keeps him on the repechage board for the rest of the first round.

The Details

Robin McGhee	Led Zeppelin	9 – 7	9 – 10	18 – 17
John Marshall	British Speedway 1945 – 1970	16 – 0	15 – 5	31 – 5
Sue Collins	Maximilian I	11 – 1	9 – 6	20 – 7
John Beynon	The Cathars	17 – 0	17 – 0	34 – 0