Mastermind 2018: Grand Final Preview

Shall we have a look at the statistics, dearly beloved? Why not?

Kyle Nagendra	The X-Men Films	9	2	11	2	20	4
	The Films of James Cameron	14	0	12	4	26	4
Aggregate		23	2	23	6	46	8
Brian Chesney	The Giordano Bruno Novels of SJ Parris	11	0	12	1	23	1
	Harold Wilson	15	0	15	1	30	1
Aggregate		26	0	27	2	53	2
Ken Morland	The Works of HP Lovecraft	9	1	11	0	20	1
	Red Dwarf	14	0	14	3	28	3
Aggregate		23	1	25	3	48	4
Michael Taylor	The films of Paul Thomas Anderson	11	0	12	0	23	0
	U2	14	1	14	4	28	5
Aggregate		25	1	26	4	51	5
Alfred Williams	The Life and Music of Eric Satie	10	0	15	1	25	1
	The Life and Times of Alfred the Great	15	0	16	3	31	3
Aggregate		25	0	31	4	56	4
Ben Holmes	The Graphic Novels of Daniel Clowes	10	2	13	0	23	0
	Dr. Who 2005 - date	15	0	14	1	29	1
Aggregate		25	2	27	1	52	1

Now, let’s state for the record that statistics only tell you so much. Any of the 6 people who reach a Mastermind Grand Final CAN win it. All the statistics tell us is who is most likely to do it based on performance in the series so far. So what do these statistics tell us?

Both Kyle Nagendra and Ken Morland look less likely to win than the other finalists, according to the statistics. Kyle had a fine GK round in the semis, but he was a couple of points behind the leaders as the half time oranges were brought out. He certainly can’t afford that in the final, and even then his GK score last night, good as it was, was still the joint lowest of our 6 finalists. Can he win? Of course he can, but the formbook points to a lower finish than that.

Ken Morland looked shocked when it was announced that he had won his semi and was through to the final. His semi final performance was similar to Kyle’s and again, he’ll need to do a little better on his specialist if he’s not going to be behind going into the GK. His semi final GK again was joint lowest in the semis. Can Ken win? Sure he can, but again, my gut feeling is that he’ll be amongst the chasing pack.

Next contender of this all male group whose chances we should look at is Michael Taylor. If you look at the aggregate scores of Michael, Ben and Brian, there is virtually nothing to choose between them. Looking at Michael’s scores, what they reveal is that this is a contender who performs at a consistently high level. The evidence suggests that he’ll prepare well for his specialist, which means it will all come down to GK. His chances must be taken seriously. I think the most likely outcome for him is a podium spot, but he can win it, make no doubt.

I’d say the same for Ben Holmes too. His GK aggregate is slightly higher than Michael’s, but there’s really nothing in it. Again, I want to stress this, Ben’s stats suggest that he is perfectly capable of becoming a Mastermind champion, and a worthy one he would be. The fact that I’m not tipping him to win has a great deal more to do with the quality of our last two contenders than any deficiency in Ben.

Twist my arm behind my back and force me down off the fence, and I’d tell you that I think two of the contenders are more likely winners than the other 4. The first of this dynamic duo is Brian Chesney. Brian is a former runner up – last time out in 2014 he lost out on passes to our own Clive Dunning. Now there is a precedent to this. In 2003, the first series of the Humphrys Ers, the great Geoff Thomas was runner up to Andy Page. 3 years later he came back and carried all before him in the series that saw my own Mastermind debut. Consider also the fact that Brian is a Brain of Britain runner up, and you can see how foolish it would be to dismiss Brian’s chances. I have never seen him put in an under par performance in his 5 Mastermind appearances so far. I can’t see that he won’t be in the reckoning. However, to win he’ll have to beat a very serious contender indeed.

Alfred Williams looks like a winner to me. There – sorry Alfred, I’ve maybe jinxed your chances there. But every single round he’s put in so far has been quality. In particular that 15 on GK in the semis was truly outstanding – and that after a 16 on GK in the heats. There’s an air of assurance about Alfred when he’s in the chair – he looks as if he never expects to get one wrong, and he doesn’t let it bother him in the slightest on the few occasions when he does. So yes, I think the most likely winners are Brian and Alfred, and of the two, I just think that Alfred has looked more likely during this series.

But hey, what do I know? There may only be 5 GK questions in the whole show that you don’t know, but if they all come out in the middle of your own round, what can you do? Anyone is capable of having a bad night – although the better quizzer that you are the fewer and further between these should be. I wish all 6 contenders the very best of retrospective luck, and hope that you all enjoyed the experience.

The final itself will be shown on Good Friday, so no Mastermind next week. Shame.

Mastermind 2018 - Semi Final 6

The last semi final, then. Here’s the tale of the tape –

Sarah Jane Bodell	The History of Kentucky	13	0	12	0	25	0
Don Crerar	The American Civil War	12	1	15	1	27	2
Kyle Nagendra	The Films of James Cameron	14	0	12	4	26	4
Shahab Mossavat	The Life and Career of Muhammad Ali	14	0	12	0	26	0
Ailsa Watson	Coronation Street since 2000	10	1	18	1	28	2

Now, I have a distinct memory of standing up and applauding after watching LAM reader Ailsa’s GK round in the heats – and if I didn’t, I should have. The fact that Ailsa is a Fifteen to One series winner suggested that this was by no means a flash in the pan. Don Crerar’s 15 on GK meant that he certainly couldn’t be discounted. Shahab has been this way before, reaching the semis a few years ago.

First out of the starting blocks, though, was Sarah Jane Bodell. Sarah was actually third in her heat, but still with a score good enough to get her into the semis. She certainly meant business in her specialist round on the TV show Peep Show. This round treated me to a genuinely new experience. I don’t recall the last time I was outscored on any Mastermind round by a member of my family, but my daughter Zara loves Peep Show, and she absolutely wiped the floor with me, scoring 8. A good score. Not as good as Sarah Jane’s though. Her 11 was a quality round, which laid down the gauntlet to the others.

Now, what is the best that you can do in a specialist round? Answer every question correctly, of course. That’s exactly what Don Crerar did in his round on Albert Speer. In an edition notable for the ridiculous length of some of the questions, I think Don particularly suffered, but nonetheless this was a superb performance. He was going to be in the shakeup at the end of the show.

Kyle Nagendra put in one of those perfectly good performances in his heat which gets a contender safely into the semis, but doesn’t arouse undue comment. IN his heat, Kyle’s was a nerveless and sensible performance, when he didn’t go at 100 miles an hour, but didn’t miss much at all, and this is pretty much what happened in his GK round on the X Men films. He dropped one or two, and ended with 9. In the semi finals 2 points is a significant gap, but it’s not unbridgeable.

Last time Shahab Mossavat reached the semi finals he answered on King Edward III. This time he opted for that king’s great grandad, Henry III. Back in 2013 he scored 9 which left him 3 points off the lead. A similar thing happened tonight, as his score of 8 also left him 3 points off the lead. Perfectly respectable performance, but there’s a lot of difference between being 2 and 3 points behind in a semi, and I had a feeling that Shahab might well be out of the running by half time.

So to Ailsa. In the first round heats she scored 10 on her specialist round on Corrie. Tonight, answering on the Jack Parlabane novels of Christopher Brookmyre – not a series I’ve ever read – she also scored 10. Coming off a 90 second round, this was a considerable improvement on the heat. One point behind Sarah Jane and Don, she looked to be comfortably placed as we went into the GK rounds.

So to said GK. Last time he reached this stage, Shahab Mossavat had a bit of a ‘mare in the GK rounds. Ach, sadly lightning seemed determined to strike in the same place. I can’t fault his determination to answer every question and avoid any passes, but sadly there were just too many wrong’uns in there, and he scored 6 to end with 14. Shahab, you’re a double semi finalist, and I know a lot of people who’d love to be able to make that boast.

Now, what do we say about GK round in the semis? Anything in double figures, and you’ve done well. I thought that Kyle Nagendra’s round was quality. Again, he wasn’t rushing, but he was getting the vast majority of his questions right, and most of these weren’t exactly gimmes either. With a total of 20, and three contenders to come I did still feel that he was likely to be the bridesmaid rather than the bride, but nonetheless he had done enough to put the other three into the corridor of doubt, and we know the effect that this can have sometimes.

Ailsa modestly commented in this very blog that she was lucky in the set of GK questions she received in the first round heat. Well, if that’s the case, then she must forgive me for saying that she was unlucky with the set of questions she received in this semi final. It looked desperately close for most of the round, and she was on 19 in total as the blue line of death snaked around the score. She needed to answer the last question correctly, but sadly she didn’t. Hard lines, Ailsa.

Now, I did just have a feeling that Sarah Jane wasn’t going to take the lead. That’s not said in a disrespectful way – well it’s not meant to be. What happens sometimes in the semis, is that the GK is just ramped up a little in terms of difficulty, and this can sort out the merely good from the great. Actually, despite a slow start, Sarah Jane did pick up speed, and in the end she too was just one point away from taking the lead. What I liked about the round is that Sarah Jane never stopped looking like she was enjoying herself, and that’s good. It’s easy to forget it when you’re in the thick of it, but this is supposed to be fun.

Don Crerar, I thought, was going to do it, especially after he knocked off the first 3 points he needed pretty quickly. Yet, somehow, the round became becalmed. I don’t know if he was nervous, but Don started dropping two out of every three questions, which left him limping rather than sprinting towards the finishing line. There was an interesting piece of camerawork as the round came to an end, since we could clearly see a smiling Kyle, who must have been counting Don’s answers. Again, it was desperately close, but not close enough.

Many congratulations, Kyle. Best of luck in the grand final.

The Details

Sarah Jane Bodell	Peep Show	11	0	8	0	19	0
Don Crerar	Albert Speer	11	0	8	2	19	2
Kyle Nagendra	The X-Men Films	9	2	11	2	20	4
Shahab Mossavat	Henry III	8	0	6	0	14	0
Ailsa Watson	The Jack Parlabane novels of Christopher Brookmyre	10	1	9	2	19	3

University Challenge - Qualification Match - Merton, Oxford v. Edinburgh

So we come to the return of the much fancied Merton, Oxford team. Edward Thomas, Alex Peplow, Akira Wiberg and captain Leonie Woodland have carried pretty much all before them so far in this series. In the introductions, JP somewhat gleefully pointed out that Edinburgh have won three matches so far with an aggregate of just 25 points. Still, the fact is that John Heaton-Armstrong, Stanley Wang, Phillipa Stone and skipper Innes Carson had won all their matches so far. How would they stand up in particular to the demonic buzzing of Messrs Peplow and Wiberg?

A nice old chestnut started us off – and Alex Peplow won the buzzer race to identify George Bernard Shaw as the only person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. A full house on Britain and Asia served as a good statement of intent. Have you heard of chaperone proteins? Akira Wiberg has, and he buzzed early to say so too. Characters from Russian literature whose creators both were born and died during the 19^th century yielded us both two bonuses. A rush of blood to the head from the normally reliable Alex Peplow saw him give away 5 on a question to which he didn’t have a Scooby. Neither did any of us. It required the answer of the African country of Guinea. Stanley Wang compounded his team’s slow start by giving “II” as the name of the king restored to the throne in 1660, and when asked for the name, allowing James to slip past his tongue before Charles. Akira Wiberg was not the sort to allow that to go unpunished, and buzzed straight in with the correct answer. Danish scientists allowed me to get the obligatory lap of honour out of the way for knowing capillaries. I knew the Sargasso Sea too, taking two bonuses on ostensibly a Science set. Merton had them all. A great early buzz from John Heaton-Armstrong to identify the flag of Alaska rescued his team from negative equity. More flags of areas which would be huge countries in their own right if they were independent brought a great full house. It didn’t bother Alex Peplow who knew that the word Purdah comes from a word for veil or curtain – a fine early buzz, that. I think that we found something of a Merton Achilles’ heel in British theatre directors, since they drew a blank on that set, and at the 10 minute mark they led by 75 to 20.

Now, Newton’s rings might well give rise to some ribald comments, but let us content ourselves with saying that it was the answer to the next starter, and Leonie Woodland took it. A full house would put Merton into triple figures. US philosophers proved to e right up Akira Wiberg’s street, and he supplied the answers. When I heard ‘ the publisher Geoffrey Faber’ in the next starter, the name TS Eliot popped irresistibly to mind. It did for Alex Peplow as well. Constellations seemed full of eastern promise but actually brought me nowt. Same happened to Merton as well. Now, if it’s about the Edinburgh Barrs company it could theoretically be about my childhood favourite, Tizer. You can bet your life it’s Irn Bru, 9 times out of 10, though. Innes Carson took that one. Female authors with male noms de plume should have brought Edinburgh a full house, but they seemed a little shell shocked by this point, and only managed the one. So to the music starter. We heard part of an opera, but nobody knew it was composed by Verdi. When people of my generation hear the word junta I would imagine that we think of Argentina, which was actually the answer to the next starter. John Heaton-Armstrong chanced his strong arm with Bolivia, leaving Akira Wiberg to supply the right answer. This brought the music bonuses and so, given several more pieces connected with witches or witchcraft brought a full house. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really get the next starter at all, but the answer was second, and Leonie Woodland had it. Pairs of place names  in which the final letters of the first form the first letters of the second proved a lovely and gettable UC special which provided another full set. Alex Peplow recognised the titles of some of the major works on Stoicism, and this won bonuses on scientific terms starting with the prefix – allo - . This brought just the one correct answer, but as we headed towards the second picture starter and the 20 minute mark, Merton were in cruise control and frankly, already in the semis, leading 175 – 30.

The picture starter was one of those grainy, chiaroscuro-y, engraving things which is usually Durer or Dore. I thought it looked more like Dore, but Alex Peplow zigged with Durer. This allowed Stanley Wang to zig with Dore. We were both wrong. It was Arthur Rackham. None of us knew that 4 of the 3 state routes between Mexico and Canada pass through Idaho. Philippa Stone knew about a plant’s anther and so earned the Arthur Rackham illustrations from Wagner’s Ring Cycle. They took two, which is as many as I managed too. There was a real buzzer race to identify the two PMs whose centenary was in 2016. Innes Carson won to supply Wilson and Heath – probably best known for being given name checks in “Taxman” on Revolver. Dogs in Art brought a couple of bonuses. Nobody knew that Cork was missing from a list of the Republic of Ireland’s largest counties. A mathsy thing about ternary saw Leonie Woodland – having a great match – supply the correct answer of 55. Stuff about a roman writer whose name escaped me saw a full house gained which pushed Merton to a score of 200. Now, I’m not being funny, but the only times that the name Edward Hodges Bailey ever appears in a question, then the answer is Nelson’s Column – specifically the statue of Nelson on top. I have a feeling that Bailey was misprinted Banly in the original Pears Quiz Companion, although I may be wrong about that. Alex Peplow zigged with Eros – which I believe was the work of Alfred Gilbert – allowing Innes Carson to zag with Nelson. Edinburgh’s bonuses on the scientific names of plants and animals brought 10 more points. Leonie Woodland always sounded uncertain when giving a starter answer, yet she was invariably right in this contest in which she played a real captain’s innings, and she was right again with the answer Helium 3 (as opposed to Charlton Athletic 0) to the next starter. Bonuses on artists brought just one more correct answer before we were gonged.

Hard lines Edinburgh – after all, you were playing one of the stand-out teams of this season. Nope – not going to tip them to win the series yet as I don’t want to jinx them. But Merton continued their impressive ways, and no other team will necessarily relish meeting them in the semis.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

When Stanley Wang suggested Ghana as the answer to an early starter, JP angrily retorted , “Ghana’s NOT Francophone!” Yes, alright, it was in the question Jez.

When Innes Carson of Edinburgh answered the Irn Bru question he couldn’t help adding “That has made you what you are.” I bet he was tempted to add haggis and deep fried Mars Bars to this reprehensibly anti-Caledonian stereotyping.

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

If independent, Western Australia would be the world’s tenth largest country.

University Challenge 2018: Quarter Finals - Elmination match - Bristol v. Ulster

The executioner’s axe loomed large over this contest for the first time in this set of quarter finals. Put in simple terms, the team that won would not yet be through to the semis, but the team that lost would be going home. Bristol’s team were Oliver Bowes, Kirsty Biggs, Tom Hewett and captain Sam Hosegood. They lost a rather close contest with Newcastle, where it was even for all but the last few minutes when Newcastle cut loose. Their opponents, Ulster, were Cathal McDaid, Kate Ritchie, Matthew Milliken and their own skipper, Ian Jack. Their own first quarter had seen them lose to St. John’s Cambridge in a match which had seen them snooze for the first half of the contest, before matching St. John’s stride for stride, and even having the better of the last quarter of an hour. So for me, one of the big questions of this match was how quickly Ulster would get into their stride.

First indications were that it might be some time. Oliver Bowes was first in to recognise a description of the Royal Standard. African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature brought a full house. Now, with the second starter, as soon as JP mentioned a painting with ‘Cookham’ in the title I knew it was by Stanley Spencer, and since we wanted a given name, the answer was obviously Stanley. I saw Ian Jack twitch on the buzzer, but he was beaten by Tom Hewett. Now, a full house of bonuses on essential oils was almost enough to send me off on a lap of honour, but inertia won and I stayed put. Bristol managed one. A lovely UC special starter followed. If you take the initial letters of the 8 planets of the solar system, the name of which planet can be spelled using some of them? Sam Hosegood was the first to work it out, and buzzed in with Venus. Good shout. 19^th century Science writer Mary Somerville promised but little, but when I worked out that the second bonus must refer to Herschel’s sister I set off on my trot around the sofa. I considered making it a double for knowing Ada Lovelace, but then that would have been gilding the lily. Bristol had 55 points, and Ulster couldn’t get into the contest. For the picture starter we showed a map showing what the effect of a rise in sea level of 60 metres would look like. The teams were asked to name two of the 5 capital cities which would have been submerged. Neither team could manage two. Nobody knew the investigative journalist Nick Davies for the next starter, and sadly Cathal McDaid put his team into negative equity with an incorrect early buzz. A fantastic buzzer race ensued for the next starter. I saw at least 5 reaching for their shootin’ irons, but it was Kirsty Biggs who got to supply the three answers – folk – Polk – yolk. The picture bonuses – more ‘drowned Earth’ maps – provided a further 10 points. This took their score to 80, while Ulster languished on -5. History repeating? It certainly appeared so.

Using the atomic numbers of the periodic table, if boron (5) plus carbon (6) is sodium (11), what is nitrogen plus oxygen? Working quickly through magnesium – aluminium – silicon – I got to phosphorus just as Sam Hosegood did the same. Too knackered by the mental effort for a lap of honour this time I watched as Bristol managed a single bonus on Oscar awards of 1976. Now, when you hear ‘sculpture’ and ‘Paolo and Francesca – “ you go for your buzzer and answer’ the Kiss’. That’s what Matthew Milliken did to put his team in the black. A hard set of bonuses on Russian cities yielded no further points. Ian Jack was at least slinging some buzzer as well now, but his punt of Henry II as the king who prosecuted the 7 bishops for seditious libel was way short of the mark. People whose surnames began with Ner provided 10 more points, and the lead was now in triple figures. Nobody managed sorrel – as in Hetty – for the next starter. Tom Hewett knew that C.S.Lewis wrote ‘Mere Christianity’ but components of the brain provided none of us with any points. For the music starter nobody recognised the work of the great Alan Menken from the wonderful “The Little Mermaid”. The next starter was one of those which became patently obvious in its last word – namely – pouch. Ian Jack won that buzzer race to answer marsupials. The Ulster team earned the scorn of my daughter who was watching with me by failing to answer any of the music bonuses which required them to identify the actor singing and the Disney film from which the song came. Sam Hosegood threw a slender lifeline to Ulster, coming in too early for the next starter, allowing Matthew Milliken to answer that Germany’s first university was in the state of Hesse. The French Directory again proved a set of bonuses too far for them. So, with Ulster having taken three starters but missed out on 9 bonuses, the score at the 20 minute mark stood at 120 – 25.

Oliver Bowes won the race to answer Valkyries for the next starter. Fundamental constant in Physics saw me take a full house. Nah, just joshing, I got zilch. Bristol took 2. Sam Hosegood added to Ulster’s woes by knowing that Eugenius Warming is regarded as the founder of the science of ecology. Greta Garbo (Great bloody Garbo – God bless the memory of Peter Cook) saw Bristol add a further ten points to their score. Ian jack won the buzzer race to identify Billie Jean King for the second picture starter, brought up a set of bonuses on other tennis players who have had stadia or courts named after them. At last they accrued a couple of bonus points. Kirsty Biggs knew that Scott Fitzgerald wrote This Side of Paradise – which was also the title of an episode of Star Trek, the original series, although I don’t think that was written by Scott Fitzgerald. Poor devil had already been dead for decades – although I’d  like to think he’d have wanted to write for Star Trek. Literary characters with three letter names brought both of us just the one correct answer. Tom Hewett knew that Khaleda Zia was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. Bonuses on Chabrier took Bristol, who had long since passed over the event horizon, to 185. An astronomy bonus on degrees of Ascension saw me have a wild stab of 45 which proved correct both for me and Sam Hosegood. Bonuses on India provided nothing, but this was immaterial bearing in mind that their opponents were already lying prone upon the canvas. The final moments saw Tom Hewett identify Fort William from a description. Gonged out before we got any of the bonuses, the final score was 205 to 45 for Bristol.

Hard lines Ulster. I think it’s fair to say that this was a match too far for them, and I shudder to think what their bonus conversion rate was.

As for Bristol, well played, and good luck in the sudden death match to come. Without wishing to be horrible, I doubt that their own bonus conversion rate quite reached 50%. It will need to be better to have a chance of going much further, I dare say.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Rather sniffy our Jez when referring to the picture starter – “the picture starter which everyone had such difficulty with – “ they got it wrong Jez, that’s all.

He was less sneery and more amused when Ulster suggested that Marshal Ney was Napoleon’s chief diplomat, “No. . . he wasn’t a diplomat in the slightest!” The words ‘pot’, ‘kettle’ and ‘black’ spring irresistibly to mind, Jeremy.

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

‘Anna Christie’ – Garbo’s first talkie, was based on a play by Eugene O’Neill

Mastermind 2018 : Semi Final 5

At last the Beeb have deigned to allow us to watch the next semi final. As has become traditional, let us have a look at the first round form book.

Christine Quigley	Margaret Atwood’s Maddaddam novels	15	0	12	6	27
Claire Slater	The Life and Works of Leonardo da Vinci	12	1	13	3	25
Jonathan Frere	Julius Caesar	10	0	12	0	22
Brian Chesney	Harold Wilson	15	0	15	1	30
Jonathan Wright	The History of the Tour de France	12	0	15	0	27

Now, even before we consider previous experience, Brian Chesney rather stuck out as the man to beat according to first round form. When we consider he is a former finalist, and runner up in Clive’s series, then you can see why it was difficult for me to look beyond him for the favourite to last night’s show. However we’ve also seen already this season that Mastermind can be no respecter of reputations. So if not Brian, well, Jonathan Wright, although a runner up, had shown well in his heat, and neither Christine Quigley nor our own Claire Slater should be dismissed out of hand. 

So to the show. Now, last time out I set a new record aggregate specialist round total for this year’s semis. Casting an eye down the list of subjects for last night’s show, it soon became obvious that I was more likely to set a record lowest aggregate total . Jonathan Wright’s round on Manchester Music offered me a little, and I was glad to take two points and run on that one. Jonathan had scored 12 on the Tour de France in the first round – off 30 seconds less he scored 7 on this round. That’s perfectly respectable, but as we’ve seen already in this series, it’s just not going to be enough to allow you to make a realistic challenge for a win. 

I scored 2 on Christine Quigley’s round on The Battle of Clontarf. I expected to get one by answering Brian Boru to every question, but I did know the Jarl of Orkney as well, much to my surprise. Christine Knew her subject, but the semi final is a funny old beast. I know a number of people whose opinion I value and respect who reckon that the semi final can often be harder than the final, and so even Christine dropped a couple of points. Nevertheless, 9 is a good score, and can keep you in contention at this stage. 

I don’t recall ever having watched an episode of E.R. I know that years ago, when it first began showing in the UK, it was shown on a Thursday evening at the same time as I was playing it he quiz in the Aberavon Rugby Club. Besides, doctors, or cops for that matter don’t do it for me. Courtroom dramas, that’s a different matter, however, I digress. So I scored zilch. LAM reader Claire posted a perfectly respectable 7, but too many obscure plot details prevented her from building a higher total. 

I have actually visited the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. So I did think that I might maybe nick a point or two on Jonathan Frere’s round on Augustus Pitt Rivers. In short, I did not. Jonathan, like Brian, took part in a previous series. Unlike Brian he didn’t make it to the semis. So Jonathan had dne well to reach this stage. Like Christine he posted 9, a good performance, but was still caught out on a couple of questions. 

So to Brian Chesney. Brian was offering The Giordano Bruno Novels of SJ Parris, or SJ Who? as he/she is known in LAM Towers. Which probably gives you a clue that I posted another duck on this round. On the other hand Brian managed to answer every one of them. A double figure round in the semi final specialists is a terrific performance, and bearing in mind Brian’s prowess with GK, you could probably have named your own price on any of the other four contenders at this stage of the game. 

Still upsets can happen, and the contest was far from over yet. Jonathan Wright was first to return to the chair. Now, going back to my comment about some people thinking that the semi final stage actually being the hardest, what does sometimes happen in the semis is that the GK is ramped up a little bit, and so some contenders who have done well in GK in the heat seem to underperform when it comes to the semi. Jonathan had scored an excellent 15 in the heat in GK. Sadly he never hit these heights in this semi final round. It just wasn’t his night, and he dropped a few which I dare say he’d have had on another evening. A respectable 8 put him on 15.

Claire did rather better. Her battling 9 put her onto 16, a point ahead of Jonathan. It didn’t look likely to remain the top score for long, but never mind. Claire, you can be pleased with your 2018 campaign, and I hope you really enjoyed it. 

Realistically, if either Christine or Jonathan Frere was going to put Brian into the corridor of doubt, then they were going to need to post a very good score in GK. This looked a little unlikely bearing in mind that they posted good rather than great scores in their GK rounds in the heats. Christine matched Jonathan Wright’s 8, and having started 2 points to the good she leapfrogged Claire into the lead, with a score of 17. So far, each of our contenders had been in the lead following their GK round. Would Jonathan Frere repeat this feat? Yes indeed. In his heat Jonathan scored 12 on GK. In real terms, with 30 seconds less, his score of 10 in this semi was statistically better. That was the good news. The bad news was that I couldn’t see it being enough to put Brian into the corridor of doubt.

Brian is a pretty nerveless performer in my experience of watching him in Mastermind, and listening to him in Brain of Britain. I’ll be honest, I thought he had quite a few bouncers to contend with in his GK round, but nothing phased him, and he made relatively short work of the 9 he needed to go into the lead, finishing with 12 and a 4 point margin of victory. Well played sir. AM I going to jinx Brian by tipping him to win the final. No, sir, I am not, well, not yet, anyway. But I will say this. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Brian, the ‘bridesmaid’ in Mastermind and BOB in the past, turns out to be the bride in this series. Time will tell. 

The Details

Jonathan Wright	Manchester Music 1978 - present	7	1	8	3	15	3
Christine Quigley	The Battle of Clontarf	9	1	8	4	17	5
Claire Slater	E.R.	7	2	9	1	16	1
Jonathan Frere	The Life and Word of Augustus Pitt Rivers	9	0	10	0	19	0
Brian Chesney	The Giordano Bruno Novels of SJ Parris	11	0	12	1	23	1

University Challenge Quarter Finals stages - Qualification Match - Newcastle v. St. John's, Cambridge

Newcastle v. St. John’s Cambridge

Newcastle, represented by Jack Reynard, Molly Nielsen, Adam Lowery, and their skipper Jonathan Noble, had a victory over Bristol in their first quarter match, which looked more comfortable on the scoreline than it actually was. Their unbeaten opponents in this first qualification match were St. John’s, represented by John-Clark Levin, Rosie McKeown, Matt Hazell, and their captain James Devine-Stoneman defeated the University of Ulster, where their blitz start gave the enough of a cushion to ride out a late onslaught. The prize in this show? Qualification for the semi finals. 

I’ll be honest, even before Jonathan Noble came in with an incorrect interruption for the first starter, the name Alfred Waterhouse rang a bell, and the moment JP mentioned a building with facades of terracotta I went for the Natural History Museum. Rosie McKeown put the all into the open goal for that one. Biopics provided me with a full house, and St. John’s with 2.I’ll be honest, when I hear the word ‘monetarism’ I tend to automatically think of Milton Friedman – who I used to think was also theatre critic for the Evening Standard – and it was Jonathan Noble who atoned for his earlier misfire by winning the buzzer race for this one. Nobel laureates yielded both of us only the one correct answer. I’ve no idea where I’ve read about Bird in Space, but the moment it was mentioned I came up with the name Brancusi. So did Molly Nielsen. Astronomy bonuses whose answers began with H provided  a full house.For the picture starter we saw the titles of three paintings by the same artist, given in the language in which they were originally titles. Le Fils de l’Homme (1964) made me chance my arm with Rene Magritte (surely Le Fils De la Pomme? Oh, come on folks – puns in French as well, that’s gotta be worth the price of admission today.) Molly Nielsen took her second successive starter with this one. I had Giacometti from L’Homme Qui Marche, and also Salvador Dali, but I missed Malevitch. Newcastle took just the last of these. I’ll be honest, I have no idea whether my school had any Brady’s Reagent to destroy, but neither team managed to identify it from the question – Jack Reynard losing 5 for an incorrect interruption. Rosie McKeown won the buzzer race to identify the language group including Finish and Hungarian as taking it’s name from the Urals. Animal sanctuaries in India, and the states in which they are located promised me little, and delivered less – St. John’s managed one. So at the 10 minute mark we had a nicely balanced contest, as Newcastle led 45 – 30.

John Clark Levin knew that Deo Vindice was the motto of the Confederate States of America. Artists sponsored by Queen Cristina of Sweden saw St. John’s quickly grab a full house and the lead. A lovely UC starter saw Johnathan Noble link a Henry James novel and a Canterbury tale with the word Miller. Experiments concerned with the theory of Biogenesis – aren’t they a Phil Collins tribute band? – gave me a lap of honour moment when Louis Pasteur proved correct for the last question. Newcastle had also managed the first bonus. Nobody knew WV Quine for the next starter, but John Clark Levin lost five. Now, when the next starter asked for apes of South East Asia, James Devine Stoneman zigged with orangutan, allowing Newcastle a shot at an open goal. After all, the other ape, as opposed to monkey of the area is the gibbon. They spurned the chance to zag that way, and thus an opportunity was missed. For the third starter in a row, St. John’s lost five through an incorrect interruption. I’m sure that Rosie McKeown was going for Albrecht Durer, which made perfect sense, but the two letters being looked for had to be those of the domain name of the country that won the world cup in 2010. Spain = es, but nobody in Newcastle knew, and a second chance to capitalise went begging. Now, when JP said Chulalongkorn, apart from an urge to say bless you, a memory of that being the name of the Crown Prince in the 1970s TV series Anna and the King – based on The King and I – based on Anna Leonowens’ experiences as governess at the court of the King of Siam – also came into my head. So I answered Thailand just before John Clark Levin did the same to get his team out of reverse gear. Bonuses on battles whose names began with the same three letters gave them the full house they needed to take back the lead. This seemed to galvanise St. John’s, and James Devine Stoneman came in very quickly to identify Mossbauer for the next starter. Phosphorus and phosphates provided another 5 points. For the music starter we wanted an Austrian composer. Since Jonathan Noble zigged with Mozart, both Rosie McKeown and I zagged correctly with Haydn. The bonuses gave us three more works constructed with the help of palindromes. They only yielded the one for either of us. Oh, Jack Reynard was very unlucky when he came in early for the next starter. Given the names of Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, he gave the answer ‘succeeded a dead president.’ Now, while they all did that, it sadly didn’t fit the rest of the question , which specified that these were the ONLY men to do what? The first man to succeed a dead president was, I believe, John Tyler, when W.H. Harrison caught a chill on his inauguration and obligingly died a matter of days later. Given the whole question John Clark Levin supplied the answer. Jack Reynard did look a little cheesed off, which I understand, but that’s what can happen sometimes. Hard luck, I’m afraid. Shutdowns of the US Federal Government didn’t look promising, but I managed the same 2 that St. John’s did. Right on the cusp of the 20 minute marked it seemed as if St. John’s had begun to kick for the line, leading as they did by 120 – 60.

In a fabulous starter neither team knew that the favourites in Shakespeare’s Richard II who share their names with Royal Parks are Bushey and Green. Which is also the answer to the question, what does a privet hedge look like, but I digress. Medical student Molly Nielsen was very quick to recognise a description of the peritoneum for the next starter. A full house was provided on bonuses about Emma of Normandy and Harthacanute. Well, Harthacanute is better than none, I suppose. For the second picture starter both Rosie McKeown and I recognised the work of John Singer Sargent. More works by artists commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee provided them with one bonus, which was one more than they provided me. QUIZ CHESTNUT ALERT. Right, be honest. How many of you shouted out pheasant the moment that JP said nide? It took a little while longer, but Jack Reynard provided the answer for Newcastle. Physics delivered just a single bonus, but this was enough to take Newcastle to triple figures and give them a chance. Which was enhanced when Jonathan Noble recognised a quote relating to Eamonn De Valera. Events of the 20^th century summarised in We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel saw them come close for all three bonuses but only take one. Nobody knew that the word chino comes from the Spanish for toasted. Jack Reynard knew what PEP stands for – no, I have no intention of trying to transcribe his answer. The South coast of England gave them the 10 points to draw level with St. John’s, with just minutes to go. Times like this are when you want a buzzer like Rosie McKeown on your team. In the time that it took me to work out which two of the 4 US States beginning with New are contiguous, she had already answered New York and New Jersey. Unit conversions added just 1 correct answer for both of us, but it did run the clock down a little further, which was all in St. John’s favour. Newcastle had to take the next starter, but it was the marvellous Miss McKeown who recognised that we were being asked for cogito ergo sum, or I think therefore I am. That really applied the coup de grace, earning bonuses on Symphonies. Didn’t matter, since the gong ended the contest, giving St. John’s a winning score of 160 – 135.

Good contest, good show. Congratulations to St. John’s, and Newcastle, well, don’t count them out yet. 

Jeremy Paxman Watch

I was absolutely delighted to hear JP pronounce the dinosaur as diPLODacus- my childhood pronunciation of the beast - rather than a diplOH-dockus as seems to have become pretty universal in intervening years. 

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

Based on the Russell – Einstein Manifesto, the conference which brings together scientists concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons is called Pugwash. Apparently the conference which brings together scientists who aren’t concerned about it is called Cutthroat Jake.