University Challenge - Grand Final 2019

After all the ballyhoo, dearly beloved, it came down to this. 2 teams, Edinburgh and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and 8 players. It’s been an unpredictable series in many ways, and I certainly didn’t predict that Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Robbie Campbell Hewson, and skipper Max Fitz-James of Edinburgh would find themselves in the Grand Final. However they showed resilience after losing in the quarters to Durham, whom they beat in the semis to earn their place. As for Agastya Pisharody, Marceline Bresson, Lizzie Fry and captain Freddy Leo, unbeaten Teddy Hall had looked good for the final for most of the series. Last time out they took out dangerous Darwin, Cambridge, although that semi final had provided Freddy Leo with the unusual experience of only being the second best buzzer on the night. Having seen Edinburgh’s semi final, I felt that this was one I just couldn’t call. Yes, before the semi finals you’d have said that the superior buzzing of Leo would have given them the edge. However Edinburgh’s death or glory gung ho buzzing in their semi had beaten the highly fancied Durham team, and you just fancied that this would at the very least enable them to make a game of it.

A traditional dance form with some silly names gave Max Fitz-James his first buzz of the final. An incorrect one as it happened, since he offered maypole dancing. Didn’t matter at this stage. This was a statement of intent, that Edinburgh were indeed going to buzz fearlessly as they had against Durham. Allowed the whole question it was Lizzie Fry ho gave the correct answer of morris dancing. A set of questions on paperclips brought a single bonus. Freddy Leo took his first starter of the evening, and his 42^nd of the series, knowing a group of clues all pointed towards the colour yellow. Persistent courtship in 19^th century novels brought a full house. Nobody knew that the hydrostatic pressure reaches one kilobar in the world’s oceans at a depth of 10 km. Marco Malusa recognised a description of Vancouver Island for an early buzz which put his team into a positive points total. “You get set of bonuses on the periodic table “ announced JP, pausing momentarily before adding “ in Chinese”. I promptly stopped putting my shoes on in preparation for the anticipated lap of honour. Then I put them on again as I had carbon and boron for the first answer, as did Edinburgh, and we were both right. Edinburgh built on this to take a full house. This brought us to the picture starter. This was a rather nice Venn Diagram, with names of characters from 2 Shakespeare plays, with a main female character missing from the centre. Well, I knew that Helena was missing from the Dream, and that proved to be the correct answer. (I acted in it in the 6^th form at school, and I think it safe to say that those present will always remember my Bottom). Max Fitz-James was first in for that one. 2 bonuses were enough to make the scores level at 40 apiece as we approached the 10 minute mark.

I considered taking a second lap of honour when I shouted ‘Lagrange’ in answer to the next starter just as Freddy Leo buzzed in with the same answer. Bonuses on the latin phrase noli me tangere brought a fine full house. For the next starter we had a few lines by Ogden Nash about a bird. Max Fitz-James allowed himself to be led astray by a mention of Saint-Saens and offered swans. This allowed Lizzie Fry to come in and give the more obvious answer – in this case cuckoo – for the second time in the contest. Bonuses on Harold Macmillan yielded just the one answer. Nobody could get the next one about gases. A rush of blood to the head saw Agastya Pisharody buzz in for a starter which wanted 2 greek letters and just offer omega. After this Robbie Campbell Hewson did exactly what I would have done and buzzed in with Alpha and Omega. He maybe knew, I certainly didn’t, but when you’ve got a free shot like that you have to have a go. Desperately bad luck to Teddy Hall, but you have to keep your wits about you. Edinburgh didn’t look like they fancied the bonuses on Iron Maiden, and yet we both took a full house. A truly wonderful music starter followed. We were played three pieces of ‘popular’ music. Each piece contained the name of a colour in its title. The three colours, top to bottom, made up a national flag. Little RED corvette – Mr. BLUE Sky and ORANGE crush gave me Armenia. Both teams went for flags with green in them. Asked for one of three consecutive years in which a given sequence of events happened, Freddy Leo was in first, but some way out. This allowed Max Fitz-James in with a correct answer of 1790. This again levelled the teams, and one correct answer on the music bonuses put them in the lead. Max Fitz-James got himself a little in a tizzy when he buzzed in first for the next starter, gave the correct answer of Agrippina, and then tried to correct himself. Off the point, I did think that Tiberius’ first wife – a daughter of Agrippa, yes – was known as Vipsania raher than Agrippina, but there you go. The Millennium Prize Problems brought a couple of bonuses which took Edinburgh into triple figures. You got the sense that Edinburgh’s collective tails were up as Marco Malusa buzzed in early to provide the term metaphysical for the next starter. Elizabeth Catlett – yes, Elizabeth Who in LAM Towers – brought a quickfire full house, which meant that Edinburgh had actually established a lead of 125 – 75 at the 20 minute mark.

No need to panic for Teddy Hall yet, but they did need to get their buzzing fingers going again. Max Fitz-James came in early for the next starter, but lost five. Almost inevitably it was Lizzie Fry who did the sweeper’s job, mopping up the loose pass, and sending it into the opposing goal, giving us the correct answer of the Asian Games. 2 bonuses on astronomy followed. The picture starter showed us the artist Georgia O’Keefe, and it was Max Fitz-James who took that one. Art History’s power couples provided Edinburgh with 2 correct answers, and the rest of us with more evidence of Gilbert and George’s unassailable position as the art world’s finest Morecambe and Wise tribute act. Max Fitz-James again came in too early for the next starter, and this time it was Agastya Pisharody who hoovered up the scraps, providing the correct answer of Geometry. Pairs of place names in which the final three letters of the first name are the first three letters of the name of the second were a lovely UC special set. Teddy Hall took one, and this placed them a full house behind. Freddy Leo finally found his buzzer range and provided the starter they needed recognising that gypsum has a value of two on the Mohs scale. One bonus on computing languages left them 10 points adrift. Marceline Bresson recognised the work of Bell Hooks to bring the teams level and earn the praise of her captain. Islands and their languages saw Teddy Hall take one, but throw away 5 points by giving the name of the country which is part of the island of New Guinea  Papua New Guinea – rather than the name of the island itself. On such small margins . . . In a beautiful UC special starter for the next set, the teams firstly had to work out that a list of people were born in Liverpool. Not too hard that. Then they had to take the first three letters of the city, and translate it into a number in roman numerals. LIV gave 54. Robbie Campbell Hewson was first to work it out, and this gave his team back a 5 point lead. The 6^th century Byzantine Empress Theodora allowed for two correct answer before the contest was gonged.

So Edinburgh, winners by 155 to 140, are the champions. It’s probably not much consolation to Teddy Hall, but it was nip and tuck, and really could have gone either way at the end. For what it’s worth it was slightly better bonus conversion which won the match. I’d also like to pay tribute to Max Fitz-James’ buzzing tactics. He took 4 starters, one more than Freddy Leo and Lizzie Fry – but he also came in too early for several as well. However I think that despite giving away 5 points a throw, this put pressure on Teddy Hall, which may be a reason why Freddy Leo’s buzzing was his least effective of the series. He’s still one of the finest buzzers we’ve seen for a quite a while. However, Edinburgh are the champions, and well deserved too.

Congratulations to the production team. Another thoroughly enjoyable series. Thanks very much everyone.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP wrinkled his unlovely nose as Lizzie Fry answered the first starter with morris dancing, and he sniffed , “To think that you had to know that!”

At the end he paid tribute to the fact that both teams were applauding each other – rightly so.

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

The name morris dancing is thought to derive from the Moors.

University Challenge 2019) Semi Final 2 - St. Edmund Hall, Oxford v. Darwin, Cambridge

University Challenge Semi Final 2 St. Edmund Hall, Oxford v. Darwin, Cambridge

If I was being unkind I would say that this contest was all about the two skippers, Freddy Leo of Teddy Hall, and Jason Golfinos of Darwin. The two have certainly been the most outstandingly good players on the buzzer throughout the whole series, and there’s certainly been a lot of speculation as to who is the faster. So you could be forgiven for thinking that this was going to be all about that contest. And I certainly had little doubt that this was going to be crucial. However, I’m also experienced enough to know that it would be foolish to discount the other 6 players. Since losing on a tie break to Bristol, for example, Darwin have proved to have a fine conversion rate, and that’s not just down to their skipper. So, Teddy Hall once again fielded their team of Agastya Pisharody, Marceline Bresson, Lizzie Fry and the mighty Freddy Leo. Darwin also fielded an unchanged team of Stuart Macpherson, Christopher Davis, Guy Mulley and the brilliant Jason Golfinos.

Marceline Bresson had obviously not received the memo that this was all about the two skippers when she correctly answered the name of economist Friedrich Hayek for the first starter. Her skipper seemed very happy as JP informed us all that the bonuses were on Wagner. He wasn’t so happy when he got the first one wrong. Mind you, so did I. 2 correct answers followed for both of us. For the next starter, Jason Golfinos opened his account recognising several clues leading to the word ‘mercy’. Golfinos 1, Leo 0. Less common English nouns in the To be or not to be soliloquy from Hamlet brought two correct answers to level the scores. Jason Golfinos took a second consecutive starter by recognising a description of the Peace of Westphalia. Golfinos 2 – Leo 0. Lasers promised me but little, but my tactic of answering Einstein for any 20^th century physicist brought me an unexpected lap of honour. Darwin took this and one other bonus. This brought us to the first picture starter. We saw a diagram of the structure of a vitamin, and Freddy Leo opened his personal account by recognising vitamin B12. Golfinos 2 – Leo 1. 3 more discoveries of Dorothy Hodgkin brought the 10 points they needed to level the scores once again. Both Freddy Leo and I said that the second of the Plagues of Egypt in the book of Exodus was frogs, and we were both right. Golfinos 2 – Leo 2. Bonuses on punchcards meant that as we approached the 10 minute mark, Teddy Hall had edged in front with 55 – 40, in a contest that so far was living up to the hype.

I recognised the novel Perfume a little before Freddy Leo came in for the next starter with the correct answer. Golfinos 2 – Leo 3. Bonuses on Thomas Gainsborough saw Teddy Hall take full advantage with a full house, which for the first time opened some daylight between the two teams. For the next starter Jason Golfinos tried to stop the rot, but came in too early and lost 5 for his pains. Golfinos 2 (1miscue) – Leo 3. This allowed Marceline Bresson to give the correct answer of Pietro della Francesca. Bonuses on French Departments brought just one correct answer, but that gap between the teams was starting to look ominous for Darwin. Nobody knew the SI unit the Katal for the next starter. Right, as soon as the next starter linked essay – 1936 – and – Burma I threw Orwell on the table. A moment or two later Guy Mulley beat the Teddy Hall skipper to the buzzer, and won a UC special set on chemical elements. These rather surprisingly defeated them, and indeed moved Jason Golfinos to announce ‘we got nothing’ when asked for the last answer. So to the music starter, and Freddy Leo was first in to recognise the work of Bach. Golfinos 2 (1miscue) – Leo 4. 3 more secular cantatas brought 2 correct answers, and more importantly a 70 point lead. Jason Golfinos came in first for the next starter about a constellation, then shook his head “Actually no, nothing.” Believe it or not, folks, that’s what a good buzzer does. You have to buzz before you’re certain of the answer, in the hope that it will come in the next couple of seconds. Perfectly legitimate tactic. Freddy Leo had a punt with Hermes, but it turned out to be Hercules. A fine buzz from Jason Golfinos this time saw him guess correctly with Charlemagne for the next starter. I’ll be honest, I was still working out what the question meant while he was answering. Golfinos 3 (1 miscue) – Leo 4. Sofia Coppola brought just 5 points but at least Darwin were moving again. It was that man Leo who took the next starter, though, knowing the pleural membrane. Golfinos 3(1) – Leo 5The term agonistes brought a full house. So on the cusp of the 20 minute mark Teddy Hall seemed pretty much in cruise control, as they led by 140 – 60.

Jason Golfinos struck right back being first to recognise a definition of the term imam. Golfinos 4(1) – Leo 5(0). Biochemical compounds linked by the prefix cyto brought two bonuses, and led us into the second picture starter. Jason Golfinos was the first to buzz recognising a photo of Anthony Burgess. Golfinos 5(1) – Leo 5 (0). Other winners of the Benson medal only brought 5 more points. If they were to catch up, they were going to need more than this. Jason Golfinos duly took the next starter, knowing a designation of supernovae 1A. Golfinos 6(1) – Leo 5. England and Scotland in the 12^th century failed to bring Darwin any more points. Agastya Pisharody stopped the Golfinos charge, knowing that calomel is derived from Mercury for the next starter, which earned a Golfinosesque fist bump from skipper Leo. One bonus was enough to reestablish a 50 point lead. Jason Golfinos recognised that the next starter was leading to William F. Buckley. Golfinos 7 (1) – Leo 5 (0). Football clubs with classical names brought an overdue full house. Darwin were now just one full set behind. It had seemed all over by the 20 minute mark, but now. . . Yes, Jason Golfinos did take the next starter, knowing that the Yangtze is the longest river in the world entirely in one country. Golfinos 8 (1) – Leo 5. Aphra Behn seemed unlikely to bring Darwin a full house, but the one bonus they did get narrowed the gap to 10 points. A single starter. After all the shouting, it came down to this , a one question starter shootout. Darwin had to get it, there just wasn’t enough time left for anything else. And yes, Stuart Macpherson had won the race. And yes, he answered ligament, which I felt was the right answer too. We were both wrong, and as the rest of the question revealed we were looking for meniscus. Teddy Hall had done it, and Freddy Leo took his 6^th starter knowing the correct term meniscus. Golfinos 8(1) – Leo 6. There was just time for one bonus, which Teddy Hall failed to get, but it didn’t matter. They had won by 165 to 140.

What a splendid match, worthy of a final, let alone a semi final. For the record, then, Jason Golfinos edged the battle of the skippers, which I’m sure will be scant consolation, but certainly is one of the finest buzzers we’ve seen not to make the final in recent years. With little to choose between the two teams, Teddy Hall had slightly the better bonus conversion rate, which is what won them the match.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP had a good old laugh at Jason Golfinos’ admission that he had nothing for the constellation starter. Other than that he did what all god question masters do, and allowed a great contest to play itself out without unnecessary contributions from himself.

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

The Yangtze is the longest river inn the world to flow entirely in one country (I guessed it, but didn’t know it before the question was asked.)

University Challenge 2019 - Semi Final 1

Apologies all. I was away last weekend, and then when I got back I found that my internet was buggered malfunctioning. Still, all sorted now. So let’s try to catch up a bit.

Semi Final 1) Durham v. Edinburgh

Look I don’t know how they decide which teams face each other in the semis, although it always makes sense to keep the two teams who were unbeaten in the quarters apart from each other. Still, the little quirk thrown up this year was that this semi was a repeat of a quarter final match. So you could have forgiven Durham , in the shape of Sian Round, Cameron Yule, Ben Murray and skipper Matthew Toynbee for entering their semi with confidence. Of all the teams this year, they had seemed the most rounded, with buzzing throughout the team, and frankly had been tipped for the top by many people. As for Edinburgh, well, you wouldn’t have blamed Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Robbie Campbell Hewson and captain Max Fitz-James for entering their semi with a certain amount of trepidation following their defeat by the same team.

You may recall that last time out Durham blitzed Edinburgh with an early buzzing storm which gave them a healthy lead, and although Edinburgh came back towards the end they never really got on terms. Well, Max Fitz-James came in early gambling on a question that was always going to require the answer of Handel’s Water Music or his Royal Fireworks. He zigged with the former, allowing his opposite number to zag with the latter, and earn a set of bonuses on the Kalinga Prize. Durham took two of a pretty gettable set. Max Fitz-James won the buzzer race to identify the noun linking Einstein’s statement about God, and Caesar’s statement on crossing the Rubicon as dice. The Archaeologist Maria Gimbutas – all together now, Maria Who? In LAM Towers – brought their own two bonuses. Matt Booth followed his skipper’s lead and took the next starter recognising a quote pertaining to Shakespeare’s Shylock. Geometry brought me nowt, but a further 10 points and the lead. Already Edinburgh had made a better start than in the previous match between these teams, and there was still a while to go before we hit the 10 minute mark. The picture starter showed us a graph of the USA’s economic performance throughout the 20^th century, with a particular period marked off. You didn’t have to be a genius to see that this was the Great Depression, however you did have to be quick on the buzzer to get a chance to say so. It was Cameron Yule who won that race. More events on the graph brought 10 points and gave Durham back the lead. Matt Booth came in too early for the next one and lost 5. In a way this didn’t matter, since it proved that Edinburgh were determined to stand toe to toe slugging it out with Durham, in a way that they didn’t manage to do early enough in the quarters. Durham were unable to dredge up the term constructivism. Matthew Toynbee recognised a series of victories for the Duke of Marlborough, to earn a set on what is fast becoming a UC hardy perennial, Chinese provinces and their capitals. It didn’t do them a great deal of good, nonetheless they led by 50 – 30 just after the ten minute mark.

The Durham skipper took his second starter in a row, knowing that a variety of nouns can all be preceded by the prefix psycho. This enabled them to take one bonus on a very tricky set on chairs. I’ll be honest, I know nothing about the Scottish mathematician Maclauren, but Robbie Campbell Hewson did, to get his team moving forward again. They took two bonuses on a very gentle set on swans. So to the music round, and very quick buzz from Max Fitz-James identified a wee bit of Tchaikovsky. The bonuses were three other classical works that quoted the works of other well known composers. This brought them back the lead. I don’t blame Cermon Yule for coming in early and chancing his arm with Walt Whitman on the next starter as I did eactly the same, but we were both wrong, and it lost 5. Edinburgh didn’t capitalise. However there was a lovely cameo as Robbie Campbell Hewson squirmed on his seat as he tried to recall the Via Dolorosa. He managed and won the buzzer race. A set on literary criticism brought a very timely full house. Nobody knew the answer to a Sciencey thing for the next starter, and for once my trusted tactic of answering 1 or 0 if the answer required a number let me down. Ben Murray took the next starter, working out that the answer to a biblical question would be Ethiopia. Bonuses on electricity brought them to 85 points. However, Edinburgh already had 95. I may be wrong, but I think that this was the first time that Durham have ever been behind at the 20 minute mark. This was all going to rest on which ever team could manage a grandstand finish.

A great early buzz from Robbie Campbell Hewson for the next starter identified my own surname, and suggested that Edinburgh’s tails were up. Welsh orthography provided me with a full house – well I have been learning it for a little while now – and Edinburgh with two bonuses. Neither team recognised Corazon Aquino for the photo starter – I’m guessing that they’re all too young. Again, Durham came back with a great buzz from Cameron Yule to identify a series of events including the foundation of Rome as all ending in the digits 5 and 3. A lovely set of photograph bonuses showing political leaders whose children went on to hold the same office saw me correctly predict Nehru and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, although I didn’t predict the Trudeaus, who apart from creating the Doonesbury cartoon apparently both ran Canada in their spare time as well. The next starter required the surname Moses, and I thought it was always going to be a buzzer race. Yet both teams sat on their buzzers, and it was with a disbelieving shrug that Max Fitz-James placed the right answer on the table. Playing the prediction game again, when JP announced bonuses on writing on slavery I predicted Beloved, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Roots. Well, the first two were right, but the Sport of Kings was the other. None of us worked out clues to the element Tellurium for the next starter. Now, if you’re asked for a composer who wrote 9 symphonies before his death, it might be Beethoven, but Mahler’s a good shout too, and Cameron Yule zagged with that to win the next starter. None of us knew enough about biochemistry to attempt the bonuses that followed, so captain Matthew Toynbee opted sensibly for speed and passed. Once again it was Edinburgh’s captain Fantastic, Max Fitz-James, who kept his side ahead, winning the buzzer race to identify the latin word incipit for the next starter. 20^th century wars of independence offered them the chance to stretch the gap past one full set again, and with two correct answers, they established a 45 point lead. It was imperative that Durham took the next starter. Ben Murray had a go, but failed, but Edinburgh couldn’t capitalise. Didn’t matter, for the clock was on their side. Robbie Campbell Hewson pretty much sealed the deal knowing that Charles I was born in Dunfermline. Max Fitz-James shook his fists in triumph as JP announced bonuses on Racine. That was almost it. Durham led by 180 – 110, and neither team knew Paul Samuelson as the clock ran down. Indeed we were gonged before a correct answer to the next starter.

Very bad luck to Durham who had looked a favourite for the whole of this year’s series up until this game. But an inspired performance from Edinburgh saw them deservedly win their place in the final.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

I would imagine that there’s nothing you can say to the losing semi finalists which would be of much consolation, but fair play to JP he didn’t really try, choosing to remind them that they’d started well, fallen away, and this was a bit of a reversal of their last meeting. Yeah, thanks for that Jez.

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

Plenty that I didn’t know in this show, but nothing stood out. Sorry.

University Challenge - Sudden death match - Manchester v. Darwin, Cambridge

University Challenge – Sudden Death Play Off – Manchester v. Darwin 

Well, here it is, dearly beloved. From here on in, every match is a knockout match. Manchester have one of the finest records of any university in UC, and hoping to make it through to the semis were Alexander Antao, Georgia Lynott, Joe Hanson and captain James Ross. Joining them at the bar in the last chance saloon were Darwin, Cambridge, represented by Stuart Macpherson, Chris Davis, Guy Mulley and skipper Jason Golfinos. Despite their narrow defeat by Bristol, the way that Darwin had outbuzzed a distinctly useful Emmanuel team made them obvious favourites to me. All unless Jason Golfinos had an off night. Which is always possible . . .

Well, that idea was blown out of the water as he buzzed incredibly early to identify laughing as the linking theme between several names. Voltaire, who surprisingly didn’t invent the battery, brought them 2 bonuses. I would imagine that Jason Golfinos, like me, got the next starter from knowing that the Indonesian part of Borneo is Kalimantan, which starts with KAL – and thus he took his second. The latin word quo provided them with a further two bonuses. Look, I didn’t even understand the question for the next starter, let alone Jason Golfinos’ answer The Reimann Zeta Function, but for once he was wrong. Despite that though Manchester had already lost 5 points on that one for an early buzz. Inevitably, Jason Golfinos knew that Lucretius had written a full length explanation of epicurean philosophy – well, it was either that or mowing the lawn, I guess – to earn a set on Physics, which brought Darwin a full set. The picture starter showed a map showing the distribution of a single species of Felidae – big cat. Judging by the copious amounts of mid and southern Africa, and the sporadic pockets in Asia covered I guessed leopard – when I was in school the Asian lion was confined to just the Forest of Gir, and for all I know they might even all be gone now -  and was right. Alex Antao tried civet, and Chris Davis Caracal and were wrong. Something about Newtons and hydraulic pressure saw Stuart Macpherson lose 5, and Manchester fail to capitalise. I’ll be honest, I didn’t get the kit kat club for the next starter any more than either of the teams did. Jason Golfinos stopped the rot, and supplied the term superfluous man for the next starter. If I was being exceptionally mean I could say that this term could be applied to any of his three teammates – joking, joking, sorry, couldn’t resist it. (the joke would be proven to be untrue later in the match.) This brought the map bonuses at last, more of the same, and a further ten points were added to Darwin’s score. Thus they led 80 points to minus 5 at the ten minute mark, and Manchester were staring at the barrel of a gun.

Joe Hanson put Manchester into the black, knowing a range of people connected by the name Shannon. Parties featuring in novels of the 1930s sounded unpromising, but Manchester needed a full house and they got it. I knew The Maiden No More was part of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and I think James Roos might have, but when he buzzed in it had gone, leaving Guy Mulley to prove that he wasn’t a superfluous man by giving the correct answer. They took two, but surprisingly didn’t work out that the Venus de Milo is so called because it was discovered on Milos. Jason Golfinos was back on the mark with the next starter, knowing that both a tooth and a valve in the heart can be called bicuspid. In the words of the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors – ‘I thrill when I drill a  bicuspid. It’s swell, though they tell me I’m maladjusted.’- Scientific terms beginning with obl – brought a full house. There was a nice music starter where we were played a piece written specially for the piano, but we were only allowed to hear the part played by the left hand. If we heard two note we couldn’t have heard much more before Alexander Antao buzzed in to correctly answer Chopin. Impressive. Three more of the same saw them make short work of taking a full house. They were doing well with bonuses, but just couldn’t get going on the buzzer. Chris Davis got himself taken off the superfluous man list, recognising a number of states surrounding Colardo rather quickly. I waited for the inevitable Golfinos high five, and wasn’t disappointed. The author Ali Smith – yes, Ali Who in LAM Towers – provided the bonuses. One of them required the answer Harriet Martineau. I twice stayed in her house in Front Street, Tynemouth during the mid 80s. She wasn’t there, having died 108 years earlier. Only the one bonus fell for Darwin this time. Apparently Mercury has a day longer than two of its years. Nobody knew. Jason Golfinos knew the US sociologist Talcott Parsons for the next starter. This brought a set of bonuses on artistic and historical terms beginning with colo. These were dispatched to the boundary without much difficulty. Joe Hanson won the buzzer race to ascribe ‘If ignorance is bliss . . . “ to Thomas Gray. Bonuses on cycle sport almost brought a full house, and would have done were it not for a slip of the tongue which saw skipper James Ross offer cyclo course for cyclo cross. This meant that by the 20 minute mark they had scored 55 to Darwn’s 175.

I’ll be honest, it didn’t occur to me that the painting for the second picture starter might be by Munch any more than it did to either team. Nor did any of us know the terms earl and bishop palatine. Nor did anybody know the term spicule. So for the second time in the match it seemed that the picture bonuses were never going to come out. Finally I got the chance to earn a lap of honour. Which country’s flag has horizontal bands of colours top to bottom expressed in the words leukocyte – chlorophyll and erythrocyte? knowing this was white green red gave me Bulgaria, a millisecond before Alex Antao buzzed in with the same answer. The pictures showed us three more portraits of the artists’ sisters, and Manchester knew two of them. Neither knew that a region of Bordeaux takes its name from the Garonne and the Dordogne. Georgia Lynott was impressively early on the Booker Prize winning The Luminaries. Constellations brought them two bonuses which pit them within a starter of a triple figure score. There wasn’t enough time left for them to win, but fair play to them, they were giving it a lash. Chris Davis probably thought all his Christmases had come at once, since the next starter was right up his street, and he gave the correct answer Arabidopsis. Gesundheit. After the high five European monarchies brought Darwin a swift full house. James Ross knew that a selection of words including kaleidoscope all contain a Greek element meaning beautiful. Films that refer to Homer’s Odyssey brought ten points to take Manchester to 110. James Ross was on a roll, knowing that the next starter was clearly pointing towards Quasimodo. Different ways of representing ethanoic or acetic acid gave them just one wrong answer before the contest was gonged.

I’m glad that Manchester came back to an extent. They were a pretty decent team and deserved to go out fighting. But Darwin had another great night on the bonuses, and with the Golfinos 6 starter blitz in the first 20 minutes there was only one winning team.

Looking forward to the semis.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

When Guy Mulley suggested that the kit kat club might have been the Pudding Club, rather surprisingly JP just accepted it at face value. As in fact did the studio audience. So it’s just me who has the sense of humour of a schoolboy – and an immature one at that? Fair enough. Then when Alexander Antao came in impressively early on the music starter JP challenged him to name the piece. He did just that, and JP took a sharp intake of breath before confirming it. Worth a well done, Jez, surely. When Joe Hanson realised he was giving the wrong answer to an astronomy question, JP told him he was right- but only that he was right that he had given a wrong answer. Oh Jez, you tease.

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

The Kit Kat Club may have taken its name from the mutton pies served at meetings. (You have permission to make your own jokes about chocolate covered wafers)

University Challenge 2019 - Elimination Match - Darwin, Cambridge v. Emmanuel, Cambridge

Elimination Match – Darwin, Cambridge v. Emmanuel, Cambridge

Well, dearly beloved, last Monday we had two of the more interesting teams in this year’s contest drinking in the last chance saloon. Darwin lost to Bristol last time out, when their lightning fingered skipper didn’t quite manage to buzz them back after a bad start. Stuart Macpherson, Chris Davis and Guy Mulley were hoping that skipper Jason Golfinos would manage another virtuoso performance to see them through. Standing in their way were Emmanuel, felled by this year’s other buzzmeister, Freddy Leo of Teddy Hall last time out. Connor Macdonald, Vedanth Nair, Ben Harris and skipper, LAM reader Dani Cugini were hoping that the fighting qualities which have seen them safely this far would stand them in good stead once again.

A good old chestnut kicked us off, and it was Connor Macdonald who won the buzzer race to say that it was Gladstone who Victoria claimed spoke to her as if addressing a public meeting. World history, and events which happened in years made of a recurring number, eg 1414, provided a bonus. The next starter featured a riddle by Jonathan Swift, and maybe I was just having a good evening but I was surprised that neither team could see that the answer was vowels, and it’s not as if I’d encountered the riddle itself before. I didn’t know the term Mean Free Path, but Stuart Macpherson did, and opened Darwin’s account with it. Being two seats removed from his skipper he had to make do with a Golfinos fist bump. Literary criticism of Kate Millet – yes, Kate Who in LAM Towers – brought two bonuses to give Darwin the lead. Jason Golfinos took his first starter of the evening, knowing that Debussy and Charles Trenet both produced works entitled La Mer. A good old UC special set on pairs of words, the last letters of the first of which are the first letters of the second followed, and provided controversy with the first. Asked for a Russian born pioneer of abstract art and a US orbiting space laboratory, the required answer was Kandinsky and Skylab. Darwin offered El Lissitzky and Skylab. Now, I’m sorry, but it’s Skylab, not Zkylab. Yet JP accepted the answer. It didn’t necessarily make any difference to the outcome of the show, but I’d be interested in the justification for accepting that one. For the picture starter Ben Harris recognised the English city marked on the map we saw as Chester. Other cities that have won the EU’s Access City award provided a couple of bonuses and narrowed the gap to 5. A range of things and people referenced in the opening of Trainspotting brought Stuart Macpherson another starter. We both took two bonuses on last lines of American works of literature from the middle of the 19^th century. All of which meant that Darwin led by 60-35 just after the 10 minute mark.

Jason Golfinos’ buzzer finger was in perfect working order to win the buzzer race to answer that Portugal and Spain concluded the Treaty of Tordesillas. Matilda of Tuscany didn’t seem to promise a great deal, but actually delivered the Darwin skipper a very good full house. He seemed to have warmed to the task now, as he buzzed early to identify the Dunning (Clive? Surely not.)-Kruger Effect. Gesundheit. Physics, and a UC special set which involved using the initials of scientists to give chemical elements provided me with what I thought was a well earned lap of honour for getting Isaac Newton – In – Indium. Incidentally this was the only one that Darwin took as well. Ben Harris knew that if the breastbone is the sternum – and it is – then S for sternum will probably point towards the Spanish word for South. This earned much needed bonuses on Russian poet Anna ‘Who’ Akhmatova. The second bonus required the answer of Osip Mandelstam. Dani said that she hadn’t heard of him. I think he’s probably best known through the book “Hope Against Hope” written by his wife Nadezhda Mandelstam, about their torment and persecution before he was taken away by Stalin’s thugs, and died on the way to the gulag. Emmanuel took the other two bonuses. Dani had a great early buzz for the next starter to identify Dario Fo from his Nobel Citation. Two more bonuses on dwarf planets reduced the gap to 25 as we approached the music starter. It took quite a long time before Jason Golfinos identified the work of Gil Scott-Heron. Three other artists who have also in their time been called the Godfather/mother of a genre of music brought a full house. Jason Golfinos correctly guessed that a political and military figure born in Dublin in 1769 was the Duke of Wellington. Sculptures in the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence saw Darwin take another very good full set, and suddenly the gap between the teams was widening ominously. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark Darwin led by 150 – 75.

I was pleased with myself for guessing that aesthetics has been defined as the Science of sensitive knowing – neither team managed that. A great early buzz from Connor Macdonald identified former Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff for the next starter. Bonuses on the world in 1919 brought a timely full house and took Emmanuel’s score into triple figures. Jason Golfinos took his 6^th starter with Juergen Habermas, (who I thought was the left back for East Germany in the 1974 World Cup.) Creative works sharing the same titles were all too easy for Darwin, and brought them another full house. Neither team – nor me – recognised a still from the film Wild Strawberries for the second picture starter. Now, you hear the nickname Kingmaker, you sling some buzzer and answer Warwick. Stuart Macpherson missed with York, allowing Ben Harris in with the correct answer.  The picture bonuses rolled over from the previous starter promised but little on non American road movies, but they might possibly have had Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Nobody knew that Koplick Spots are associated with measles. I don’t blame Ben Harris for answering Leviathan as the creature mentioned in the Book of Leviticus – it sounded a 50/50 between that and Behemoth. Sadly for him it was Behemoth and this gave Jason Golfinos starter number 7. Rivers and National Parks only brought the one bonus, but time was very much on Darwin’s side now. Starter 8 followed fast on its heels as Jason Golfinos identified Dover as the first of the Cinque Ports alphabetically. Cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock took them to 210, and the game was all over bar the shouting. Bose Einstein Condensate brought Vedanth Nair the next starter, and a set of bonuses on Lewises brought a full house. Guy Mulley took the next starter, recognising the titles of Alan Ayckbourn’s Norman Conquests. There was time for just one bonus on the prophet Samuel before the gong ended the contest. Darwin won by 225 – 130.

Hard lines to Emmanuel. They didn’t play badly at all, but were beaten on the buzzer, and also to an extent beaten on the bonuses. They did well on their own bonuses, but not as well as Darwin, who were hitting them out of the park largely in this contest. They’ll fancy their chances of progression after this, and not without good reason.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

You ust got the idea that JP was telling Darwin off for showing off when he told them they could have given the better known Kandinsky for the bonus question. Wonder what he would have said if he’d realised that strictly speaking they gave a wrong answer (I think).

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

Nothing especially grabbed my attention this time. Sorry about that.

University Challenge - Qualification Match

University Challenge – Bristol v. St. Edmund Hall

Bristol, in their first quarter final, beat one ‘superbuzzer’ in the shape of Darwin’s Jason Golfinos in their first quarter. To make it through to the semis in this match they would have to beat another in the shape of Freddy Leo. Hoping to do just that were George Sumner, Owen Iredale, Pushan Basu and skipper Anne LeMaistre. In their own first quarter final, Teddy Hall beat Dani Cugini’s Emmanuel, Cambridge, through the inspired buzzing of that man Leo. Favourites to win this contest, the team were once again Agastya Pisharody, Marceline Bresson, Lizzie Fry and captain Freddy Leo.

This was a rare occasion that Mrs. Londinius was in the front room while the show was on, and I confidently predicted that this would be a Teddy Hall win, with Leo again starring on the buzzer. So of course, Bristol won the first starter. Nobody seemed to fancy a shy at the country alluded to in the question, so it fell to Owen Iredale to have a correct punt with China. This earned bonuses on the American bishop, Elizabeth Poet – sorry, I’ll read that again – the American poet, Elizabeth Bishop. Bristol took a good full house. Mr. Iredale’s buzzer finger was obviously well warmed up since he beat Freddy Leo in the buzzer race to answer that the elements of the periodic table with the longest and shortest names are tin and rutherfordium. Yes, of course I took a lap of honour for that one. European folk dances didn’t look likely to be particularly fertile ground yet yielded me a full house and Bristol 2 correct answers. The next starter, using the memorable phrase ‘frozen music’ is one of those UC hardy perennials, but neither team knew it referred to architecture. Freddy Leo made his first buzz of the night, and lost five points for his pains. Once again, Owen Iredale beat Freddy Leo to the buzzer for the next starter, knowing that the Poe story often regarded as one of the earliest works of detective fiction is “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”. Some physics bonuses brought me absolutely nothing (say it again) and Bristol one, although if skipper LeMaistre had nominated George Sumner for the last rather than misrepeating his answer, they would have had 2. So to the picture starter. A capital city was indicated on a map, and both Owen Iredale and I identified it as Khartoum. That was his 4^th correct starter so far. Three more major cities that grew up around the confluences of major rivers provided a full house, and only one of those was anything like a gimme. George Sumner recognised a definition of the term Moment of Inertia for the next starter, while Teddy Hall continued to have moments of inertia whenever a starter was being asked. Bonuses on cyborgs brought the 5 points Bristol needed to reach 100 just after the 10 minute mark, while St. Edmund Hall languished on minus 5. Mrs. Londinius complimented me on my powers of prophecy and skill as a tipster. My reply was spherical and in the plural.

A three figure lead is not to be lightly dismissed. It was too early to say that the contest was over, but it would take a hell of a fightback for St. Edmund Hall.

They missed an opportunity with the next starter when Pushan Basu came in too early and lost five, but they were unable to recognise John Keat’s “Ode to Autumn”, one of the most perfect poems in the English (or any other) language. At last the Leo buzzer finger found its mark with the next question, on the Italian drinking song called a Brindisi. Places described in a work on Anglo-Indian words and phrases brought a couple of bonuses. Freddy Leo then took his second starter in row, knowing that Vega completes the summer triangle with Deneb and Altair. The communist politician Anna Pauker – yes, Anna Who? in LAM Towers – proved equally tough to Teddy Hall who drew a blank. Rather bizarrely, Pushan Basu came in very early on the music starter to suggest that Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High was the work of Kate Bush. This allowed Lizzie Fry in for the correct answer. Other works featuring the session musician Carol Kaye only produced a further five points. Still there was a lot of time still remaining, and the gap was narrowing. Freddy Leo linked stoa and stomata to get S T O for the next starter to narrow the gap further. The Hogarth Shakespeare bonuses saw Mrs. L observe that Freddy Leo wasn’t really listening to the advice of his team, and was dropping gettable bonuses. Well he certainly did that with the first, and his team only managed one bonus from a gettable set. So as we approached the 20 minute mark this last ten minutes had been all Teddy Hall, yet they had only taken their score to 55, while Bristol’s had been reduced to 95.

Now, all the momentum being with Teddy Hall at this stage of the competition, what was called for was a good buzz from Bristol, and that’s what we got from Owen Iredale, who identified Dr. Tulp from the famous work by Rembrandt. Orbital elements from Astronomy provided a distinctly useful 2 bonuses. I didn’t understand the next question, but Marceline Bresson knew the answer was 2.5%. Good answer. Bonuses on Lactantius brought a well earned full house. For the second picture starter Freddy Leo did a Golfinos, buzzing then pausing before answering, and was called out for it by JP, He still got the right answer of Toni Morrison, though. Other givers of the Jefferson Lecture took Teddy Hall into triple figures, and more importantly, one good buzz would give them the chance of taking the lead. Asked the number of the English King in 1414, Anne Le Maistre missed an opportunity by answering 4. Freddy Leo buzzed and then didn’t answer for a long pause. He earned even more of a Paxman wigging, but was still given the points for a correct answer. Quotations from the 1860s provided the one bonus they needed to draw level with Bristol. It had taken a long time, but all the evidence of the last 15 minutes suggested that they would go on to take the contest. Bristol seemed a little shell shocked, as Leo was having it all his own way on the buzzer. The final words of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner proved all too easy for him to identify for the next starter. Jewels provided a full house in short order, which actually gave time for Owen Iredale to take the next starter, knowing that as well as Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina are all entirely south of the Equator. Bristol needed a full house on place names beginning with Kar but passed on the second and third. It was all down to the last starter – and it was Freddy Leo who applied the coup de grace, knowing that Thoreau wrote Walden. Gong.

What a thoroughly interesting contest. It showed that what Bristol did to Darwin was no fluke, and also that Teddy Hall are vulnerable if Leo’s buzzing is a little off, as it was for the first ten minutes. However it also showed that Teddy Hall are resilient when things don’t go their way. That contest could have gone either way – both teams over 50% on the bonus conversion rate. Well done to St. Edmund Hall, but certainly don’t write Bristol off after that.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP back was to his stern self early doors, giving Anne Le Maistre a wigging for not repeating George Sumner’s answer to the Physics bonus correctly. He didn’t give them the points either. I’ve no problem with that as long as the rule is applied consistently.

As early as 10 minutes into the competition JP was issuing the dreaded “Perhaps you’ll get going with this” to Teddy Hall. Few teams ever come back from words of encouragement from Paxman. He was very disbelieving when Marceline Bresson offered Spring for the Keats question, but then just chuckled. Time was when he’d have ridiculed her unmercifully for that.

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

Emperor Hirohito made the Jewel Voice Broadcast in 1945

University Challenge 2019 - Quarter Final Elimination Match

Glasgow v. Manchester

Yes, drinking in the last chance saloon on Monday we had Glasgow and Manchester. Glasgow were represented by Lewis Barn, Freya Whiteford, Cameron Herbert and captain James Hampson. Manchester were beaten last time out by Edinburgh, and they were represented by Alexander Antao, Georgia Lynott, Joe Hanson and skipper James Ross. Favourites? Well, you pays yer money. . .

I had a very early lap of honour in this show. The first starter was extremely science, then took a swerve asking about a theoretical wager on the existence of God. Pascal! I shouted at the same time as Georgia Lynott buzzed in with the same answer. The architectural partnership of Venturi and Scott-Brown brought Manchester just the one bonus. Both teams let the next starter play out rather longer than absolutely necessary – after all, fictional work inspired by Carlyle’s History of the French Revolution rather screams out A Tale of Two Cities, but eventually Cameron Herbert went first and picked up the points for Glasgow. 20^th century inventions brought 2 bonuses and the lead. A good early buzz from James Hampson identified La Boheme from a description. Cell biology did not fill me with optimism, with good reason for I couldn’t get any of the bonuses. Glasgow managed just the one as well. For the picture starter we saw a map showing an island country. Now, the country itself was enlarged in relation to the rest of the map, the most obvious feature of which was the island nation of Sri Lanka. This was a pretty big clue to the Maldives, but not a clue either team could pick up on, and the picture bonuses rolled over. I spotted the Monroe Doctrine in the next question early doors, and shortly afterwards so did Joe Hanson, to get Manchester on the move again. Picture bonuses of 3 more island groups provided 2 correct answers, and this meant that we had a tied game at 35 apiece by the ten minute mark.

Neither team knew the optical axis any more than I did for the next starter. There was a lovely UC special for the next starter. If you take the initial letters of a country and its capital, then France would be FP and Germany GB. Got it? The teams were asked to name two countries of Europe which would be SB. Lewis Barn had it with Serbia and Belgrade, and Slovakia and Bratislava. I’m sure he could have had Switzerland and Bern as well. Film criticism brought them two more correct answers. James Ross knew works that were connected by Warsaw. The Cote d’Azur brought absolutely nowt to Manchester for the bonuses. I only knew the perfume one myself. I have no idea what blockchain is all about but Freya Whiteford was in with it very early for the next starter. Ted Hughes brought two bonuses, the other was very gettable too. So to the music starter, and Joe Hanson veritably leapt in to provide the identification of the work of Philip Glass. This was Einstein on the Beach. Three more songs about Scientists saw both of us take a single bonus on Kate Bush. Something about pressures of a gas passed me by completely, but Alexander Antao supplied the correct answer of 2.5 atmospheres. Purpose built capital cities saw Manchester really fail to get to grips with any of the questions and a full set of bonuses went begging. A really lovely starter asked us for the common name of sambucus niger, then helpfully told us it could be made from the Spanish and German masculine definite articles singular – el and der. Alexander Antao was first to work that out. This gave Manchester the lead and a set on classical mechanics. Again unable to convert any bonuses – which can’t have done much for their overall conversion rate, this meant Manchester led by 80 – 70 at the 20 minute mark – but crucially, they had the buzzer momentum at this vital stage.

This state of affairs continued as Alexander Antao took his third consecutive starter with Jack Nicholson’s Chinatown. Three bonuses on fictional works about non existent works brought at last 1 bonus. So to the second picture starter, and James Ross buzzed in to identify a sketch by Tracey Emin. Works by other people who have held professorships at the Royal Academy brought a more healthy pair of bonuses. It seemed a long time since Glasgow had managed to buzz in for a starter. The next starter on Geology didn’t help, as Joe Hanson supplied the correct answer of James Hutton. Pyrotechnic colorants – which I thought were in Persil biological – provided a couple of bonuses, and pushed Manchester closer to the event horizon. I didn’t know but guessed that Jan Smuts was the only person to sign the peace settlements of both the first and second world wars. Alexander Antao lost 5, but Glasgow couldn’t capitalise, and with that, you felt, their chance had gone. Now, I’m sorry to boast, but Dorothy Hodgkin earned me a second lap of honour for the next starter. She’s a Science answer I’ve been waiting to trot out for ages. That fell to the highly effective Alexander Antao, who was one of the main differences between the two teams in this contest. People with the surname Talbot brought just the one bonus, but it was all academic by this point anyway. Alexander Antao had pulled his team ahead through quick buzzing, but came in just a tad too early on the next starter and lost 5. Again, Glasgow couldn’t capitalised, not having worked out that Napoleon’s Corsican birthplace would have been Ajaccio. James Hampson correctly buzzed in the moment he’d heard ‘sporting figure born in Sao Paolo’ but then knew that the answer had just gone. Not your night, sir, I’m afraid. Manchester thus took the whole question, and Joe Hanson supplied the coup de grace with Ayrton Senna. Three bonuses on music provided one correct answer, one wrong answer and then the contest was gonged. Manchester won by 155 to 70.

Not hard to call this one. Both teams were pretty evenly matched up to about 18 minutes, then Manchester’s buzzing, and once again I pay tribute to Alexander Antao’s buzzing in particular because it turned the contest at the crucial time, just overwhelmed Glasgow. This is just as well, since their bonus conversion rate was a miserable one in three. Hard lines Glasgwo, best of luck in the next match Manchester.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Early indignation as James Ross deliberately wound JP up by suggesting that the Aland Islands might be the Faeroes. “The Faeroe Islands!!” spluttered out hero in mock indignation. Freya Whiteford raised her arms in frustration over not being able to dredge up an optics answer and JP sniffily asked “Are you miming something?”

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

Mark Kermode conducted an interview in 2006 with Werner Herzog, during which Herzog was shot with an air rifle.

University Challenge Quarter Final Qualification Match Durham v. Edinburgh

Qualification Match Durham v. Edinburgh

Durham, in the shape of Sian Round, Cameron Yule, Ben Murray and skipper Matthew Toynbee, defeated a good Glasgow team in their first qualification match. They were looking to make it a double over Scottish opposition in this first qualification match. Edinburgh, for their part, defeated Manchester in their first quarter final, and that’s always a good scalp to take. They were represented by Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Robbie Campbell Hewson and captain Max Fitz-James. Favourites for this one? Well, memories of the 360 points Durham scored in the first round lingered, so I fancied they might be just a tad too strong.

Now, Max Fitz-James knew that if you’re asked for a work of 1988 and told that it concerns physical science, it’s never going to be a bad idea to chance your arm with “A Brief History of Time”. Bonuses on limestone brought us both 2 correct answers. Durham skipper Matthew Toynbee had a fantastic early buzz to link the Leningrad Symphony by Shostakovitch with the number 7. This earned a set on knots. Reef and bowline were pretty predictable but none of us knew a figure of 8 knot. All square. Max Fitz-James came in too early for the next starter on a mathematician, allowing his opposite number to take his second starter with a punt at Euler. French place names, derived from clues from symbols for elements – yes, a UC special set that – gave me just the one and Durham two. Right, I did not in any way, shape or form understand the next question, but Ben Murray knew it was Leetspeak, so let’s be thankful for that. Seperatist movements again brought Durham two bonuses. So to the picture round. Now we saw a diagram containing several character names and arrows illustrating their relationships. The names Vladimir and Estragon were signposts that this was Waiting for Godot, and bearing in mind there was the name of a character missing I fully expected when Matt Booth buzzed in that he was going to say Godot. The name failed him, though, allowing Cameron Yule in. More unseen characters from plays proved to be a surprisingly tricky set, Durham managing none, and I only managed Abigail from Abigail’s Party. Nonetheless, Durham had set out their stall purposely in the first 10 minutes and led by 70 – 15.

Nobody knew the answer to a question about mass and kinetic energy for the next starter. No, of course I didn’t. If it’s Maths, I always answer 1 or 0. Ben Murray was 100% on the right lines with his answer to the next starter, but the answer he gave – Covenant – was not specific enough, which lost 5 and allowed Max Fitz-James in with the Solemn League and Covenant. A lovely set on Spanish cities and their namesakes provided two bonuses. Cameron Yule got Durham on the move again knowing that William Hazlitt wrote Table Talk and The Spirit of the Age. Pharmacology saw me earn a lap of honour for knowing serotonin. I didn’t get any other bonuses in this set while Durham took a full house. Now, I earned a potential second lap of honour (on which I passed) for guessing that a meteor shower named from the constellation between Taurus and Cancer would be the Geminids.

Jeremy Paxman WatchMatthew Toynbee gave the same answer. The UK tech industry promised me nowt, which it delivered. More surprisingly Durham failed to add to their score as wwell. So to the music starter. From the first ooher – ooher all the fifty somethings like myself were probably shouting ‘The Buggles!’ at the telly. Max Fitz-James, noting a similarity to the immortal Barbie Girl presumably, offered Aqua. Ben Murray came close, offering the Bugles. No cigar for that one, I’m afraid. The next starter was one of those which suddenly becomes easier right at the end. Patrick Clifton, as many good quizzers know, is none other than Postman Pat, and postman was the linking theme behind that starter. Matthew Toynbee had a shy at it, before Matt Booth gave the correct answer. More pop songs or tunes featuring Oscar nominated composers proved harder than I expected, and Edinburgh took 2, while I only took the one. 19^th century French artist working mainly in wood engraving certainly suggested Gustave Dore, which was the correct answer given by Cameron Yule for the next starter. Solar eclipses gave me just the one correct answer with Isandlwana, the same as Durham. So as we approached the 20 minute mark Durham still had a healthy lead, with 115 to Edinburgh’s 55.

I know bugger all about plane of polarization or whatever the next starter was about. However I had a pretty good idea that the English scientist who died in the year that Marie Curie was born was Michael Faraday, which was enough to give me the Faraday Effect, the points, and a declined opportunity for a lap of honour. Max Fitz-James came in before the English scientist was even mentioned and lost 5. Durham couldn’t capitalise. Various actors and actresses with the initials LM saw both teams rather dwelling on their buzzers before Cameron Yule supplied the answer. Literary titles including the names of an SI unit were a rather lovely UC special set which gave Durham a full house. Robbie Campbell Hewson had a good early buzz to identify Trieste as the main seaport of the Austro Hungarian Empire. Fictional composers brought me nowt, but a further ten points to Edinburgh. I couldn’t honestly see them winning at this stage, but it was still possible. So to the second picture starter. Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what Ada Lovelace looked like, but then I didn’t know any other lady mathematician of the period so she seemed like a pretty decent shout to me. Obviously Max Fitz-James thought the same and we were both right. Other women commemorated in the Overlooked feature of the New York Times did nowt for me, but Edinburgh took one for Sylvia Plath. Asked for two of the three Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany to have held the position for more than 10 years I gave Kohl and Merkel, as did Cameron Yule, Konrad Adenauer being the other. Bonuses on the various French Republics were gettable, and provided me with a rare full house, although Durham only managed 1. It didn’t matter. The clock was against Edinburgh, and they already had one foot in the semis. Matt Booth knew a definition of spirals to take the next starter. Oxymorons in Shakespeare gave me one I knew from Romeo and Juliet, one I guessed in The Tempest, and one I didn’t have a scooby on, which was from Hamlet. Edinburgh took the one. Max Fitz-James took a good early buzz to identify Pitt the Younger’s death as leading to the Ministry of All the Talents. Bonuses on areas of England known as the Isle of. . . led me to predict Thanet , Ely and Dogs. Well two out of three wasn’t bad. The second was actually Axholme, and dogs didn’t get a look in. Edinburgh took just the one again. Ben Murray knew that Jamaica was traditionally divided into counties of Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey to earn a set of bonuses on aberrations in optics. This meant nothing to me, and Durham failed to add any more to their score before the gong. Didn’t matter, as they’d still won by 165 to 110.

Both teams, then were pretty evenly matched for bonuses, converting about half of them, but Durham have more buzzing throughout their team – Cameron Yule, Matthew Toynbee and Ben Murray all made significant contributions on this score, while Edinburgh were heavily reliant on their skipper. Don’t count them out yet, though. Well played Durham, though, and best of luck in the semis.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

There was an interesting reaction from the audience when Ben Murray offered “The Bugles”. So much so that even the subtitles on the iplayer acknowledged it with ‘audience murmurs’. JP paused for a moment – presumably waiting for an adjudication in his lughole – before saying “No, it was the BUGGLES!” then adding for comic effect “Shame on you!”. He was obviously in that kind of mood, since after the next starter he muttered, “Who could fail to get Postman Pat.” Be honest with you, I’m not sure if he was having a go at Matthew Toynbee for not getting it, or Matt Booth for knowing it. Probably both.

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

Trieste was the main port of the Austro Hungarian Empire

University Challenge - Quarter Finals, Emmanuel,Cambridge v. St. Edmund Hall, OXford

Emmanuel, Cambridge v. St. Edmund Hall, Oxford

Right, dearly beloved, a very interesting match up this, as Oxbridge derbies often are. We had Dani Cugini’s Emmanuel team, up against Freddy Leo’s Teddy Hall outfit. Freddy Leo, you may recall, is the lightning fingered skipper whose buzzer performance in the first two rounds was as worthy of comment as Jason Golfinos. The Emmanuel team were Connor Macdonald, Vedanth Nair, Ben Harris, and skipper, LAM reader Dani Cugini. St. Edmund Hall were Agastya Pisharody, Marceline Bresson, Lizzie Fry and captain, Freddy Leo.

Now, as soon as William Penny Brooks was mentioned I knew that the first starter was about the Olympics. When de Coubertin was also mentioned Vedanth Nair won the buzzer race to take the points. Bonuses on Stockholm brought a full house. Maybe it was just me, but the next starter seemed to be crying out for the answer – Einstein – but Vedanth Nair undid some of his own previous good work coming in early to offer Linus Pauling. This allowed Freddy Leo to come in for his first of the evening. Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare made a rather lovely set, and they produced their own full house, every bit as worthy of a Paxman well done, but not receiving one for their pains. A rare Leo missbuzz saw him come in too early for the next starter with a rather wild guess – even just from Edward Jenner he ought to have known it could only be cow pox or small pox that was required. Given the full question Dani knew it was cow pox. Sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List saw them only add 5 more points to their score. The decisive battle of 1356 gave me enough to work out we wanted the actor Sidney Poitier for the next starter, and a moment or two later we saw Freddy Leo employ that distinctive buzzing style, where he seems to bounce up on his chair while slamming down the buzzer, to provide the same answer. The physicist Lise Meitner – wasn’t she the co-writer of 80s sitcom The Young Ones? – gave both of us one correct bonus for nuclear fission. I can tell you, it was a relief to get the lap of honour out of the way early in this show. So to the picture round, and we saw the title of One Hundred Years of Solitude in Spanish. Neither team was in especially quickly, and it fell to Freddy Leo. Three more works in English influenced by Magical Realism whose titles had been translated into Spanish provided a full house in fairly short order. This meant that at the 10 minute mark St. Edmund Hall led by 60 – 35.

Linear Accelerator meant nowt to me, but it gave Freddy Leo starter number 4. Coalition governments. This yielded but little, but that hardly mattered considering that the momentum seemed to be all with Teddy Hall by this point. Now, I fancy it may have been on UC in years gone by that I first heard the word mondegreen – it’s a misheard lyrics thing. All of Mondays participants were too young to have watched it back then so that one went begging. Dani Cugini played a captain’s innings with the next starter, coming in early after working out that the clues in the question were all pointing to words beginning with the letter K. Large numbers filled me with apathy, but to be fair you could at least have an educated guess at these. I took 2, and Emmanuel 1. The main thing was thought that it put them at just a full set behind. With Leo in such form, Emmanuel had to buzz early, so I don’t blame Connor MacDonald for coming in too early for the next starter. Freddy Leo knew that Admiral Donitz was eventually named as Hitler’s successor. Bonuses on logic brought two to Teddy Hall and 1 to me – asked for a British philosopher if the year is possible I always answer Bertrand Russell – he crops up regularly on UC does our Bert. So to the music starter. To be fair we were allowed perhaps 3 bars before Leo leaped at his buzzer again. Alright, it was quite a well known piece of music, but nonetheless this was still impressive. More pieces written after the composers in question had suffered hearing loss provided one bonus. Funnily enough they never went for the most obvious ‘deaf composer’ in Beethoven. Emma hadn’t given up, and Dani was in for the next – sadly too early, but nonetheless the right tactics to adopt. Of course, this left an open goal for Freddy Leo to tap synecdoche into the net. By this stage I couldn’t help wondering if Freddy was going to score all of his team’s starters in this match. Actors who’ve played Heathcliff on screen paid tribute to Timothy ‘Jones the Bond’ Dalton but brought just the one correct answer. To be fair to Agastya Pisharody he did have a shy at the next Science starter, but lost 5 for his pains. Nobody knew a pi bond (make your own puns). Nobody knew the Wanderings of Oisin by Yeats for the next starter. All of which meant that Teddy Hall led by 120 to 40 as we approached 20 minutes, and to all intents and purposes this contest was over.

Connor Macdonald knew that Maricopa is the most populous county of Arizona. The Bible didn’t provide them with any further points sadly. So to the second picture starter. Freddy Leo recognised the work of Delacroix, and so earned bonuses on three more examples of orientalism in fine art. 2 correct answers ensued. Freddy Leo was first in to recognise clues to the name Mansfield. Alternative statements of the principle of conservation of energy did nowt for me, but when I came back to consciousness after the set, Teddy Hall had scored another 10 points. Marceline Bresson had a wild punt with the next starter – she could afford to, but nobody worked out that Alpha Centauri would probably be in the constellation of Centaurus – hence the name. Look, when you’re under pressure somehow the obvious becomes a lot less obvious, I know. Still having a go, Vedanth Nair came in too early for the next starter about the method of dismissal covered by law 38 in cricket. That man Leo knew that the last Stuart Monarch to rule solely in Scotland was Mary Queen of Scots. Conductors – that’s orchestral rather than bus or lightning – brought 5 more points, but it was all academic by this stage of the game. Naming two German states that border the Czech Republic was a bit of a gift for Freddy Leo, and he quickly supplied Saxony and Bavaria to take his own and his team’s 11^th starter. Poems by Robert Browning put the Oxford team within striking distance of the 200 barrier. Ben Harris, though, took his team through the 50 point barrier, recognising several works connected by chip. As for the bonuses, well by the time that JP had said ‘perpendicular gothic architecture’ we were gonged.

The final score was 190 to 55. The huge difference between the two teams on the score board actually came down to one factor – the buzzing of Freddy Leo. He took every single one of his team’s 11 starters – and 11 is a ridiculous number of starters for one individual to get in one show. A fantastic performance. The team’s conversion rate was over 50% as well, slightly better than Emma’s. Well, Emma aren’t out of it by any means, but will be drinking in the last chance saloon in their next match. They’ve been there before, though, and know how to bounce back. As for Teddy Hall, well, it was always going to be said after this performance – the question remains, what happens to them if Freddy Leo has an off day? Time may tell.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Seemingly in a good mood this evening, he handed out a coveted – well done – to Emmanuel as early as the first set of bonuses. On the coalition government sets, the Oxford skipper hesitated before answering, referring to JP when he said “He’s going to laugh at us if we say something stupid, isn’t he?” to which JP smiled as if to say – yes, I am. Then he went easy when their actual answer was a little wide of the mark. We later on had the remarkable sight of JP apologising to Emmanuel when they offered William Tyndale for John Wycliffe. That wouldn’t have happened five years ago, let me tell you that. Then he corrected himself. He told Freddy Leo that a painting was Parisian Women “As you guessed” and then, bearing in mind possibly the Guttenplanesque nature of Freddy’s performance, he said “ or as you KNEW”. Which he followed up with “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you! You KNEW it! Well done!” What has gotten into him?

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

Stephen Langton is credited with making the chapter divisions in the Bible that we use today.

University Challenge Quarter Final Match 3 - Manchester v. Edinburgh

Quarter Final Match 3 – Manchester v. Edinburgh 

The Manchester team of Alexander Antao, Georgia Lynott, Joe Hanson and captain James Ross didn’t, in the words of Shania Twain, impress me much in their first round heat. Their second round match though was a much more useful performance. As for the Edinburgh team of Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Robbie Campbell Hewson and skipper Max Fitz-James, well they were more convincing in their first round match. Who would win then? You paid yer money and took yer choc ice.

Robbie Campbell Hewson took first blood with a good early buzz to say that Victoria is the southernmost state of the mainland of Australia, thus earning an early Paxman well done. Bonuses on Baghdad brought a quick full house. Much like the England rugby team in recent matches, Edinburgh’s tactic seemed to be to blitz the opposition at the start, as Max Fitz-James put in a terrific early buzz to say that the Mantoux test is widely used to detect immunity to TB. Ladybird books made a nice UC special set which brought another full house. So far Edinburgh were 6 out of 6. This run came to an abrupt halt when Max Fitz-James came in too early, and suggested that “Go Set a Watchman’s” manuscript was discovered in a trunk in 1991. Not a daft suggestion that, but had he waited a couple of seconds more he’d have heard that it was written more than 100 years earlier, which ruled out Harper Lee’s book. Given the Widow Douglas, Manchester still missed out on Huckleberry Finn, which will have to count as an opportunity spurned. Joe Hanson, as well as winning the accolades for by far the best shirt of the whole match, knew the Poynting Vector – no, me neither – to kickstart his team. The physicist Thomas Sydenham brought both of us two points. I was a little surprised that nobody knew that Sarah Kingdom’s famous son born to a French father in Portsmouth in 1806 was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but there we are. Just 6 years later Charles Dickens was born in the same city. Alexander Antao came in far too early for the next one. Asked for a particular style of decoration, we just hadn’t been given enough to narrow it down by the time he offered the Arts and Crafts Movement. In fact, associating it with Islamic Art at the end of the question took me out of the equation, and Edinburgh couldn’t dredge up Arabesque or Moresque either. Another early buzz from Robbie Campbell Hewson saw him identify the first of a series of MPS elected in 2017 as representing constituencies all in Cumbria. Nuclear models in physics promised me nothing, which is what it delivered. More surprisingly, Edinburgh also took nothing more from that visit to the table. So to the picture starter, and first to buzz in to identify the city on the map in question as Bruges was Marco Malusa. Other cities whose tourist websites call them the Venice of the North provided two correct answers. So as we approached the 10 minute mark Edinburgh certainly looked the sharper of the two teams, leading by 75 – 15.

Captain James Ross made inroads into the deficit, knowing the Guelphs and Ghibellines for an early buzz. Arthur Schopenhauer bit a further 10 points out of it. I didn’t understand the next question, but Georgia Lynott knew the answer was plagal cadence. Gesundheit. The director Mary Harron provided both of us with one correct answer, and meant that Manchester were now just a full set behind. Clearly on a roll, Georgia Lynott buzzed early to identify the Oktoberfest for the next starter, thus earning bonuses on blood coagulation. I awarded myself a lap of honour for knowing vitamin K for the last of these. Manchester had the other two as well, and so the scores were level, but all the momentum was with Manchester. Something about triangles and resistors went begging – not surprised – and so Max Fitz-James came in too early for the herb in sauce bearnaise and lost five. Alexander Antao tapped tarragon into the open goal, and Manchester took the lead for the first time. Multiple gold medallists at the 2016 Olympics didn’t do Manchester many favours. The music starter, om popular music, was always going to be a buzzer race, and Max Fitz-James got his team’s bandwagon rolling again by winning it with the name of Chuck Berry. Other tracks also played to drive Manuel Noriega from his hiding place. It was maybe a little bit strict not to allow them just the Vandellas for Martha and the Vandellas, but there you go. They took the other two and the lead. Something maths-y led Robbie Campbell Hewson to give the correct answer. Fair enough. Bonuses on the great Anish Kapoor brought a timely full house. There was a great buzzer race between the two captains to identify the penultimate character to die in Hamlet, won by James Ross. Fractions in binary notation brought laughter but not points. So, by slightly after the 20 minute mark Manchester had had the better of the previous ten minutes, but Edinburgh still led, by 115 – 95.

Matt Booth knew that the 4 states bordering Mexico west to east have initials which spell cant. Fair enough. Bonuses on Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey brought a couple of bonuses. So to the second picture starter, and a stamp commemorating famous Gandalf lookalike, Walt Whitman. He was number 1 in the UK for weeks on end with ‘Rose Marie’, I believe. Matt Booth took his second consecutive starter with that one. More US postage stamps commemorating famous Americans provided Edinburgh with no further points. Alexander Antao buzzed in very early on the names Trung Trac and Trung Nhi to supply the correct answer of Vietnam. Volcanic activity in the solar system brought Manchester 10 points closer. Nobody knew that Cecil Beaton and Edith Head won Oscars for costume design. My Mum’s cousin studied under Cecil Beaton, but that’s another story. Did you know that pteridomania refers to a passion for ferns? Me neither, and more importantly, nor did either team. A good early buzz from Max Fitz-James saw him identify Kurosawa’s film Rashomon. Nazi Germany provided rather a gentle set of bonuses, which Edinburgh quickly dispatched to the boundary. Alexander Antao correctly identified refugee as a word first coined to describe French Huguenots – of whom my ancestor William Rainbow was one – who escaped to Britain in the 17^th century. People with the name Quiller allowed one bonus before the contest was gonged. Edinburgh won by 170 – 130, and on reflection it was that opening burst in the first 7 minutes or so which proved the difference between both teams, and I may be mistaken but I did think that Edinburgh were slightly better on the bonuses, although neither team did badly on that score. Well played – good match.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

On the tarragon question Max Fitz-James give a long pause before answering ‘cilantro’. Our hero replied “I’m sorry, but you must answer when you buzz . . . (pause for comic effect) You’re wrong anyway.” Oh Jez, you old tease.

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

The Mantoux test is widely used to detect immunity to tuberculosis

University Challenge 2019 - Quarter final match - Darwin, Cambridge v. Bristol

Darwin, Cambridge v. Bristol

Yes, last Monday saw the return of high-fiving Jason Golfinos, and his Darwin, Cambridge team of Stuart Macpherson, Chris Davis and Guy Mulley. Jason Golfinos amassed a very large number of starters in the first two rounds, and there’s been speculation as to how Darwin might fare if he had an off night on the buzzer. Would time tell? Well, aiming to put this to the test for Bristol were George Sumner, Owen Iredale, no slouch on the buzzer himself, Pushan Basu and captain Anne LeMaistre.

The first starter was one of those that, if you had the nerve to wait, would suddenly become obvious. Winning the buzzer race when it did was Owen Iredale, who correctly deduced that the required answer was Claude ‘Show me the’ Monet. W.H.Auden provided 2 bonuses. The Darwin skipper hit back with his first starter of the evening, with one of my pet hates, Brutalism in architecture. British artists born in the early 20^th century enabled them to level the scores with two correct bonuses. A very long and involved economics question resulted in Guy Mulley correctly answering the letter J for the next starter. Jason Golfinos once again had to bully him into giving a reluctant high 5. Bonuses on Joseph Swan saw them fail to add to their score. I’ll be honest, I also answered silver nitrate for the photograph one, although I did have the previous two. So to the pictures, and a coat of arms from the flag of Ecuador. Nobody knew this, nor the fact that removing the coat of arms leaves the flag of Colombia. Lovely question. I didn’t understand the next question about molecular biology but Chris Davis knew that the answer was TATA. With a long suffering look on his face he held out his hand, rather low, I thought, for the inevitable high five coming in from his captain. Three more sets of flag charges followed, with Darwin being asked from which flag they were taken, and which flag resulted from removing it. I’ll be honest, you have to really know your flags to get these, and Darwin didn’t, so another set went begging. Nevertheless, approaching the 10 minute mark they led by 40 – 20 and were outbuzzing Bristol at the moment.

Jason Golfinos threw away 5 points of that lead coming in too early for the next starter. Once the question informed us that the ancient Empire in question became a major rival of Rome it became clear that we were looking for the Parthian Empire, although Bristol couldn’t capitalise. George Sumner then came in too early for the next starter, allowing Jason Golfinos to correctly answer that shell and bone script is often considered to be the earliest for of Chinese characters. A rather incongruous set on cocoa and football provided Darwin with another correct answer. Jason Golfinos sailed a little close to the wind with his next buzz. He knew the quotation in question belonged to Otto Von Bismarck, but he hesitated, and probably just avoided a Paxman wigging. Again, they failed to make the best of their bonuses taking just one. For all of their domination on the buzzer, Darwin were only 55 points ahead at this stage as the music starter loomed on the horizon. Neither team recognised the work of Brahms. If you add together the stars on the flag of New Zealand - 4, stripes on the flag of Thailand - 5 and colours on the flag of South Africa – 6 you get 15. It sounded like Owen Iredale was guessing, but who cares, it was right. More pieces of music referenced in Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia provided nothing in the case of the first two bonuses. For the last they had to decide who composed the Sound of Music. Ah, they zigged with Hammerstein, but should have zagged with Rodgers. Fair play to Owen Iredale. I’ve never heard of Lydia Koidula, nor did I know that Parnu is in Estonia. That was enough for him to get the correct answer. Binomial pairs, where the two are always in the same order and always joined by ‘and’ provided a rather gentle set, and Bristol duly despatched them to the boundary. This meant that Bristol were just 20 behind now. Owen Iredale seemed to have found his range now, as he was first to buzz to identify bivalves amongst others as molluscs. Peter Sloterdijk – gesundheit – provided a full house, and put Bristol into the lead. How would Darwin respond? Well, asked about a Norwegian polar explorer Jason Golfinos slung some buzzer and zigged with Amundsen, losing 5. Bristol couldn’t dredge up Nansen, the other one. Nonetheless, as unlikely as it had seemed a mere 5 or 6 minutes earlier, Bristol now led by 75 – 65 as we approached the 20 minute mark.

No need for either team to panic now. Jason Golfinos showed that he was not daunted by the previous buzz and came in very early to identify Tagalog as one of the official languages of the Philippines. Bonuses on Kings of Scots promised to be a little trickier than they sounded, and indeed added nothing to the Darwin total. I’ll be honest, like Jason Golfinos I thought that the second picture starter looked like the work of Caravaggio. JP informed him that it was not, let him thump the desk in anguish, then told him off for hesitating after buzzing. Ouch. Pushan Basu applied a little salt to Darwin’s wounds by buzzing in to correctly say it was the work of Gentileschi. Three more works featuring biblical scenes with women of the female gender brought the Bristol total to 90. Chris Davis chanced his arm on the next starter, but came in too early and lost 5. However the Bristol knowledge of Shakespeare sonnets was not up to producing coral and rose from sonnet 130. Again that Golfinos buzzer finger dragged his team back into contention, knowing some Physics thing named after Curie. Prime numbers gave Darwin a prime opportunity to get back on terms, but they managed just the one. That man Iredale knew a number of things connected by the word Mona, and this earned Bristol the opportunity to take a couple of bonuses on African currencies. Jason Golfinos was still plugging away though, and earned a terrific fast starter for the poet Mistral. Indigenous fauna of New Zealand brought two bonuses and narrowed the gap back down to 5. George Sumner’s twitchy buzzer finger saw him squander that gap by coming in too early for the next starter. Which seemed the perfect point for the gong to sound, as indeed it did.

So to a tie break. As JP succinctly explained, the next to score a point would win, or the next to lose a point would lose. Both teams showed nerve in waiting for the full question, on how man times the letter A appears in three book titles. Neither could answer correctly. Now, unlike both teams I knew cholesterol was the answer to the next starter, and so I took a very belated lap of honour. Nobody knew that the Rite of Spring premiered in 1914. Nobody knew Aaron’s Rod. Finally Pushan Basu applied the coup de grace, knowing Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair”.

Okay then, let’s try to unpick what happened here. You cannot say that somebody who manages six starters, as did Jason Golfinos, has had a bad night. As it happened, Darwin won 8 starters in total – 2 more than Bristol who won 6. But their conversion rate was – and I’m sorry to say this – poor, standing at about 33%. Bristol on the other hand had an over 60% conversion rate, and that’s what kept them in the contest up to the gong. So, a very exciting match, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But if I was a betting man, I’d be lengthening the odds on either team winning the competition after this.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Not until the tie break was there anything worthy of note. When Bristol initially declined to have a free throw for the first starter, as captain Anne LeMaistre said “We don’t know it” JP spluttered, “You don’t know it!!!!!!” with indignation. As we approached the 5^th tie break starter, with more than a hint of exasperation he exhorted both teams “Come on or we’ll be here all night.”

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

Shell and bone script is often considered to be the earliest for of Chinese characters.

And

A prime number that forms a different prime when the digits are reversed is an emirp.