Mastermind Heat 17 Preview

Sorry, a bit late with today’s preview. I’ve been to breakfast with my two oldest grandsons and Santa and since then I’ve been working on commissions – 1 pen and ink drawing and 3 paintings. Still, I’m here now.

Tomorrow’s specialist subjects will be:-

Meat Loaf

Grinling Gibbons

England Women’s Cricket since 2000

The Life and Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Yeah, I’m not expecting a points bonanza on the aggregate for me in this show. Going through the subjects:-

Meat Loaf – well I was quite partial to a bit of Meat Loaf back in my early 80s headbanging days, so it’s not impossible that I might get one or two of these. On the other hand it’s just as likely I’ll get nowt.

Grinling Gibbons – or ‘funky Gibbons’ as I’d like to think that Sir Christopher Wren would call him in his more jocular moments. Maybe the kind of subject where general knowledge might enable one to blag a point or two

Egland Women’s Cricket since 2000. I’m sorry, but I’m not really a follower of any kind of cricket. For me this round has the potential for zero written all over it.

The Life and Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Right, are we sitting comfortably? Then I will begin. I did have to study Hopkins’ “The Wreck of the Deutschland” for A level Eng. Lit and it’s probably fair to say that I didn’t get either it or him. Then a couple of years later I was fortunate to attend a series of seminars on Hopkins run by one of the finest teachers I ever met, Stan Tottman, head of the English Faculty at Goldsmiths. Unlike other lecturers there was no way you could blag your way through Stan’s seminars. If you hadn’t done the pre-reading then you were sunk. If you were not prepared to offer an opinion, you were sunk. If you did offer an opinion and you wouldn’t or couldn’t defend it, then you were sunk. But if you managed to float, you got so much more out of these seminars than almost any others I ever attended. He was that good. The trouble was, though, that I ever thought I could write about Hopkins afterwards, because the process of getting what Stan had got out of us down into essay form was just too reductive. Well, that’s my excuse. I’d like to think I’ve retained enough in the last forty years to get one or two. We’ll see.

Prediction. Anything over five would be a triumph.

The film quiz league reaches its anti-climax

It was the final film quiz of the year last night, dearly beloved, in the Gwyn Hall in Neath, and as a consequence, also the final quiz of the league, instituted this year.

Normally we don’t attend the Christmas films quiz, because we’re not that interested in them. However, being as we thought that we were going to be proclaimed league champions we were definitely going to turn up.

OK. As for the quiz itself, we thought we were completely out with the washing, after two absolutely dreadful rounds. Much to our surprise we came joint second. It would make no difference to the league, but it was nice to look back on a year of 11 quizzes in which we had won 7 outright, been joint winners in 2 and had a second place and a joint second place.

So, the time came when the scores were announced. Then, as what appeared no more than an afterthought the QM announced – yeah, about the League. . . I’ll put a post on Facebook about it in the New Year.

Let’s put a brave face on it. Maybe he wants to compile everyone’s scores and show every team that took part in any of the 2023 quizzes where they finished in the League. Maybe. But let’s be honest, they knew who the League winners were by the end of last month’s quiz, so they could at least have announced it. One of the more charitable members of our team suggested that maybe it was because they didn’t want to overshadow last night’s winners. Well, again, maybe. Still, I’ll be interested to see what the post says when it eventually appears, and whether, indeed, there is going to be any prize at all. As we all know, no prize is a better prize than panto tickets. But I did feel that last night was an anti-climax.

University Challenge Round Two - York v. Birkbeck

The Teams

York

Emma Giles

Emma-Mae Smith

Ollie Smith (Capt)

David Bachelor

Birkbeck

Danny McMillan

Olivia Mariner

Samir Chadha (Capt)

Margherita Huntley

Well, no prizes for guessing which team were the recipients of the dubious benefit of support from the Clark sofa last night. Birkbeck being from the University of London, and having a captain from my home borough of Ealing were always going to win that one. But could they win the show?

Well, first blood fell to David Bachelor who recognised a reference to Shakespeare’s Henry V. They went on to take a full set on the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. It was double bubble for David Bachelor as he recognised a description of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge for the second starter – good shout. They took two bonuses on the Roman Empire in North Africa and were a little unlucky not to get a full set. None of us knew about the post war Survey of English. If you stuck with the next question it eventually became obvious we were needing the name Simon de Montfort. This allowed Danny McMillan to take Birkbeck’s first points. A full set of unfathomable (for me) questions on complex numbers narrowed the gap significantly. Danny McMillan completed his double recognising various people who shared Henrietta as one of their names. Jacobean playwright Thomas Middleton brought Birkbeck nowt. So to the first picture starter, and the teams were shown script and asked to identify the language. Now, it was correctly identified as Thai by Emma-Mae Smith. For the show, since she shared her last name with her skipper, she was called E. Smith and he O. Smith. So when Roger Tilling called her name it sounded just like ‘Yorkie Smith’, and this conjured up mental pictures of a cheeky chappie late-middle aged man on his way to the allotment where he grew his rhubarb, accompanied by his whippet. I can only apologise – I’m a product of my upbringing so please feel free to blame my parents. More scripts derived from the Brahmi script of ancient India brought two correct answers. This meant that as we approached the ten-minute mark, York led by 65 – 35.

If a question unites the words Damon Runyon and musical, then you answer Guys and Dolls. Margherita Hutley won the buzzer race to supply that correct answer. Bonuses on the Belgian F1 Grand Prix brought one bonus. Danny McMillan interrupted on a quotation about Kant (Immanuel rather than Brian, I should think) and turned away in shame. Don’t beat yourself up, Danny. York could not capitalise. I was glad to see that the interruption penalty did not deter Danny McMillan from buzzing for the next starter, giving the correct answer that Harold Pinter had written the screenplay for the film The Go Between. The Royal Society’s most influential women in British Science history brought us both one bonus for Dorothy Hodgkin, and I set off on my lap of honour. Margherita Huntley took the next starter on chickpea flour, to put Birkbeck into the lead. 2 bonuses on women who have played the lead I Hamlet (the play, not the cigar advert) took Birkbeck further ahead. The music starter that followed led us into the unfamiliar realms of jazz hip hop. None of us identified the stylings of Mr. Eric B and his friend Mr. Rakim. For the next starter Samir Chadha recognised titles of works by Angela Carter. This earned the music set of bonuses brought two more correct answers. Danny McMillan’s nippy buzzer finger won the race to identify Joseph Lister for the next starter. Hydrocarbons brought just the one bonus, but this was enough to make Amol issue York with some encouragement. 3 minutes before they were in the lead. Now they were fifty behind. It seemed to work as David Bachelor was first to work out that clues in the question were pointing towards Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Sadly for them the bonuses on the French Left Bank group eared nul points. Nobody could find 2 of the three countries – Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – which had been German colonies. This meant that Birkbeck led by 115 – 75 as we approached twenty minutes.

Danny McMillan zigged with Liz Gaskell’s North and South for the next starter which allowed Yorkie – sorry – Emma-Mae Smith to zag with Mary Barton. Historians know by initial(s) and surnames brought a further ten points. Neither team knew something about the letter Q in Physics. Emma-Mae Smith came in too early on the next starter and gave ISIS allowing Margherita Hutley in with Daesh. Artists who have sampled Rick James’ Super Freak brought a brace of correct answers. Neither team recognised the work of Pierre Auguste Renoir for the second picture starter. Danny McMillan groaned as he supplied the wrong answer but soon provided the right one – Descartes for the next. Further depictions of knitting or needlework in art brought one bonus. With a lead of over fifty points Birkbeck were looking pretty secure. Amol offered encouragement and David Bachelor struck again recognising several species of whale. Nobel Laureate Barbara ‘Frank’ McClintock brought us both two bonuses – I nearly awarded myself a second lap of honour for bacteriophages. Not to worry for Birkbeck, since Danny McMillan took the next starter on the musical Groundhog Day. Not to worry for Birkbeck since Danny McMillan took the next starter on the musical Groundhog Day (geddit?) They took one bonus on verse forms. A fifty point lead with maybe 3 minutes to go. A rush of blood to the head saw Danny McMillan lose five for an early buzz which saw him say that the French word for butterfly, for example, began with P – O. This allowed David Bachelor in with P-A. It was even more costly when York managed a full house on events of the 70s. That one set reduced the gap by 30. Captain Yorko Smith – sorry – Olllie Smith took the next starter, knowing the SI unit the Pascal. A full house would win the match. They took the first on Honfleur. They took the second. But oh, lack of knowledge about the French Impressionists cost them again. We had a tie. Would it be Mr. Bachelor or Mr. McMillan to take the last starter? It was fearless Danny McMillan who knew that the sensory organ required for the answer was the eye.

Well played both teams. A great fightback from York, and neither team really deserved to lose. For the record York had a BCR of 67, while Birkbeck, who took more starters, had a BCR of 47.

How is Amol Doing?

Look, I think I may well stop doing this section in the reviews, because he’s great. One of the things I judge a question master on is whether they make the job look easy. Amol does just that, while I’m sure it really isn’t easy at all. Good job, sir.

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

Frances de la Tour became he first woman to play the lead in Hamlet on the English stage in 1979.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

The complex argument for any complex number z, what two word term denoted the complex number found by reflecting the argand plot of Z in the X axis typically written z-bar.

The answer turned out to be complex conjugate. Too complex conjugate for me. Mind you, I do remember the Argands from the original series of Star Trek. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

Mastermind 2024 First Round Heat 16

Hello, good afternoon and welcome. One of the things I’m going to check when I have the time and inclination is whether the average score for this series is lower than it was for last year’s. My impression is that it maybe is- but impressions are not always correct. So I may well have a go when I can.

I’m not trying to cast aspersions on any individual player, but merely wondering if we are witnessing a trend. If there is a trend for lower scores, then we can consider the reasons later on.

So let’s get to the 4 individuals who contested last night’s match, beginning with Elliott Hooson. Elliot was answering on the artist Bridget Riley. I’m a little ashamed that I didn’t manage to get any points on this round, bearing in mind that she is a fellow Goldsmith’s College, University of London alumnus, albeit she was there three decades before I was. Elliott had prepared thoroughly, and as we’ve seen in this series, 9 has become a good score, and so he would be in with a chance in the GK round.

When I was previewing this heat I did mention that the fact that Thomas Wetherill’s specialist round on the Winter Olympics only covered those in the 21^st century, then he was likely to get questions really probing for in depth knowledge. Me, I was delighted to get the easy one he was asked about GB’s success in the skeleton bob in successive games. Again, I can’t sugar coat this – sadly Thomas scored 4 on what I felt was a very tricky round.

The sitcoms of Peter Kaye was my ‘banker’ round for the show. Not as much as it was Faye Tryhorn’s though. She didn’t miss much at all, and managed to get into double figures. I was interested that the round asked several questions about From the Cradle to the Grave, based on Danny Baker’s first volume of autobiography, where the great man really shone as Danny’s dad, Spud. Typically I didn’t get any of those ones right, but managed 3 on some of the other sitcoms.

Now, as much as Thomas’ winter Olympics round called for very specialist knowledge, Liz Davison’s round on St. Albans was the kind of round that a decent general knowledge would gift you the answers to some of the questions. 4 to be precise, and none of those referenced my naughty 4x great uncle Jabez Rainbow either.

Well, we’ve already seen this series how what looks like a two horse race at half time can be won by a backmarker with exceptional general knowledge, so I was making no pronouncement’s on the most likely winner this time. First back to the chair was Thomas. When someone has a score that they are probably disappointed with in specialist it’s always interesting to see how they manage to rally themselves for GK. In Thomas’ case the answer was – very well indeed, thank you. When Clive announced that his score was 14 he looked disappointed. I get it, but he’d had to produce a good, competitive GK round to get there and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Liz Davison did even better with her GK round. She wasn’t snapping the answers out, but her measured responses built the total until she finished the round with a good 11. The target she had set was 17. Normally you wouldn’t have thought that this was going to be quite enough to take the win, but we’ve seen some funny things happening in the last few weeks, so all bets were off.

Until, that is, Elliott Hooson passed Liz’s 17 with a couple of questions remaining. Like Thomas, Elliott scored double figures. His 10 raised the target to 19 points. We’d seen three consecutive double figure rounds on GK. If Faye Tryhorn also got double figures, she would win. If she scored 9 she already had too many passes, so she would not. So bearing that in mind I think that her tactic of passing quickly on things she didn’t have a clue about was probably sensible. Unfortunately though there were just too many questions she couldn’t answer. By the time we got to the last 20 seconds or so it was pretty clear she was going to fall short. Not bby much – she scored 8 to take her total to 18, just one point behind Elliott. But that was enough of a gap, and a surprised Elliott, if his piece to camera at the end was anything to go by, took the win. Best of luck to you in the semi-final, sir.

The Details

Elliott Hooson	Bridget Riley	9	0	10	1	19	1
Thomas Wetherill	Winter Olympics 2002 - 2022	4	2	10	3	14	5
Faye Tryhorn	The Sitcoms of Peter Kaye	10	1	8	5	18	6
Liz Davison	The History of St. Albans	6	1	11	3	17	4

 

 

An appropriate prize for winning the film quiz league?

Here’s a question for you. We’ve been playing in a monthly film quiz for the last couple of years. This year, 2023, the organisers decided that all points scored during the 11 quizzes of the year (no quiz in August) will go into a league and there will be a prize for the league winners at the end of the year. Alright, alright, I’m heading in the vague general direction of the question. The winners of each monthly quiz get free cinema tickets. But. . . we have no idea what the prize will be for winning the league. It may sound arrogant me wondering about prizes before the last quiz has been held, but, well, we have actually already won the league. Even if we don’t turn up on Wednesday we already have an unbeatable points total. Of course, we are going to turn up on Wednesday. Still, between our team there has been a lot of speculation about the question (told you). . . what would be an appropriate prize for winning the League?

Bear in mind that you get cinema tickets for winning just one of the monthly quizzes. So – I don’t know what’s going to happen. We are praying that it won’t be tickets to the pantomime which the venue is hosting. That would, frankly, be worse than no prize at all. Altogether now – Oh yes it would!

Mastermind - Heat 16 preview

What, preview time already? Hey, count yourselves lucky I’ve been ill then away for the last few days, or you would have had it even earlier.

So tomorrow night’s specialist subjects will be : -

Bridget Riley

The Winter Olympics 2002 – 2022

The Sitcoms of Peter Kay

The History of St. Albans

Going through them, I would say unless I have a lucky guess there’s really nothing for me in Bridget Reilly. A point if I’m lucky. The Winter Olympics. Now, the fact that this is limited to the Winter Olympics of the 21^st century, that suggests that in depth knowledge of each event in each games is going to be required. (What’s that? In 2006 you took on the Summer Olympics – all of them, didn’t you, Dave? Well, alright, I did, but that was then and this is now.) Because I don’t think there’s going to be that much general in them I think maybe 1 or at most 2. As for the sitcoms of Peter Kay, well I’d say that this is the closest thing I have to a banker subject in this show, but even then my love of Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere and Car Share are by no means guaranteed to bring much here. Let’s say a maximum of three. Finally, the History of St. Albans. Little chance of points here unless it asks about Verulamium, Francis Bacon, or my several times great uncle Jabez Rainbow, who was found guilty of trying to murder his mistress in a hotel in St. Albans by slitting her throat. She survived, and it was her testimony in his favour at the trial – apparently he was off his . .  . head on laudanum, that persuaded them to downgrade his original death sentence to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land. And let’s be honest . . . they ain’t going to ask about him, are they?

So – 3 – 6 I would say. Pools forecast, I’d tear up your coupon if I were you.

Popmaster Series 2 - Application form link

 Yes, dearly beloved, here t'is - a link to the application form for Popmasters. Tell 'em Dave sent you.

Popmasters Application form