Right then, lets get down to business. That there has been nothing clear cut or predictable about this year’s series is shown by the fact that both teams contesting Monday night’s final lost their first quarter final matches. Lets get the statistics out of the way first, then, shall we ? Both teams have played 6 matches so far in this year’s series.
The average match scores for both teams are : -
York – 214.2
Magdalen – 265
The average match score for their opponents is a lot closer : -
York – 155.8
Magdalen – 153.3
The average winning margin of both teams are these : -
York – 58.3
Magdalen – 111.6
So going on the stats alone, it’s a win for Magdalen, then. Not only that, but lets not forget that Magdalen only lost by 5 points to Sheffield, while York were beaten by 85 points by Peterhouse.
However, its not quite as simple as that. Magdalen have been impressive throughout the competition, but they have never again looked quite as impressive as they were in their first match, when they looked like series champions in waiting. As for York, they looked unimpressive right up to and including the defeat by Peterhouse. Then a transformation seemed to happen, and they have looked a different team since. They beat Sheffield in the semis, who were favourite for the final among many people , this writer being one of them.
What it may come down to is the fact that although captain Andrew Clemo has received useful support from his team mates, it is his performances that have really driven York on to the final. As for Magdalen, Will Cudmore has been a huge star on the buzzer, but Kyle Haddad-Fonda and James McComish have also been big hitters in the buzzer battle during the series. If Andrew Clemo has a bad day at the office in the final, you feel that York will struggle for starters. Yet if, for example, Will Cudmore struggles, Magdalen still have plenty of firepower.
Put a gun to my head, and insist on a prediction, then I’ll say that I think that Magdalen are the more likely winners. But York are a team with momentum at the moment, and if Andrew Clemo has one more great performance on the buzzer, then they can win . I wish both teams the best of luck, and thank you both for the entertainment you’ve provided us with this year.
Friday, 1 April 2011
Throwing Matches
I never managed to beat my father at draughts. Alright, I never played him that many times, although it wasn’t for the want of asking on my part. I never got to play him after I was about 10 or 11 years old, so maybe it doesn’t come as a surprise that I couldn’t beat him. That having been said, though, I was, although I say it myself, a nifty little player. I’ve never been more than a very basic chess player, but at draughts I was a bit of a star. My grandmother taught me when I was about 5 years old, and I could beat her within a day or two of learning the game. Then I progressed to every other adult in my house, and could beat all of them by the time I was 6 . Except my father. With every other person I played against I knew what they were up to within a couple of moves. Not Dad. He had this way of conjuring up dreamlike attacks which you just never saw coming until they hit you right between the eyes. But he didn’t like the game, and so I could rarely, if ever, persuade him to play it.
Scrabble was a different kettle of fish. For about two years he was mad on it. He’d beg, wheedle, insist and demand that you played him, several times a day sometimes. And the thing was that he was no good at it. He was rubbish. Years of being enslaved to penny dreadfuls with titles like “The Rustlers of Deadman’s Gulch” and the like had dulled his vocabulary. Not only that, but Scrabble can be a more tactical game than you might think, and in stark contrast to his ability at draughts, his tactical awareness in Scrabble was virtually zero. I may never have beaten him at draughts, but on the other hand, he never once beat me at Scrabble. Which was great when it started, but after a year or so, I came to long for the day when he would finally manage to do it. My father was a man of limited attention span to some extent, who went through various fads and crazes. Now, I knew that he desperately wanted to beat me once. In all likelihood if he managed to do that then he’d lose interest and move on to something else, which would mean I could go back to enjoying “The Six Million Dollar Man “ on the telly without being interrupted constantly by “ How do you spell ‘excite’ ?” and so on.
As I say, he never did manage it. Now, at this point it may occur to you to ask yourself why I didn’t just let him beat me once. Don’t think that it didn’t occur to me. If I had just once deliberately soft pedalled, left him a few easy openings, frittered away my best letters, in short, played like Dad normally played, then he could have won. It would have been a simple thing to do to make him very happy, and to get him to leave me to watch ‘Charlie’s Angels ( ah – Jaclyn Smith /Kelly Garrett) in peace. But I never did. I couldn’t. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I wanted him to beat me. I wanted to lose to him. But I couldn’t do it deliberately . I would be middling along, trying to ignore the potential 7 letter word building up on my rack in front of me, and then he would leave me an opening so inviting that I just couldn’t stop myself from destroying his hopes, time after time after time. I was irresistibly reminded of this when I used to watch “The Fast Show”. There was a character on that played by Simon Day , an ultra-competitive dad, who did things like setting up a game of cricket on a family picnic with his two pre-teen sons, then proceeding to smash their bowling all over the place, etc. etc. The only difference being that I saw myself as the father, and my dad as the resigned and disappointed child.
He eventually kicked his Scrabble habit, although as I say it took a lot longer than I’m sure it would have done had he been able to conjure up the elusive win . All of this was brought home to me last night, in the rugby club. It was my quiz, but I was having a chat with some of my usual teammates afterwards, and I updated them on the end of the winning streak. If they were amused about it they at least had the decency to hide it behind their condolences. Knowing that I have the cup final in Bridgend coming up on Monday, one of them asked,
“If you’d won on Tuesday, would you have deliberately lost the quiz you’re going to on Sunday , so that the winning streak can’t end in the cup final ? “
In all honesty, such a thought had never entered my head. And the more I thought about what she’d said, the more I began to wonder whether I am actually capable of deliberately losing a quiz . I should add that I am extremely capable of losing a quiz, and have lost plenty in my time, but none because I wasn’t actually trying to win. As regards deliberately losing, I’m not sure that I could do it. In fact I’d go so far as to say that I’m pretty certain that I couldn’t. The same instinct which kicked in every time it looked like I was giving the old man a chance at Scrabble would kick in, and I’m sure that I couldn’t bring myself to deliberately write down a wrong answer when I know the right one. I suppose it’s the same as when you hear a question asked, and you know that there’s a really tricky right answer, and you also know that the question master is bound to have the wrong answer, you write down what you think the question master is going to give as the answer, not what you know to be right.
My girls say that I’m horrible to play Monopoly with as well !
Scrabble was a different kettle of fish. For about two years he was mad on it. He’d beg, wheedle, insist and demand that you played him, several times a day sometimes. And the thing was that he was no good at it. He was rubbish. Years of being enslaved to penny dreadfuls with titles like “The Rustlers of Deadman’s Gulch” and the like had dulled his vocabulary. Not only that, but Scrabble can be a more tactical game than you might think, and in stark contrast to his ability at draughts, his tactical awareness in Scrabble was virtually zero. I may never have beaten him at draughts, but on the other hand, he never once beat me at Scrabble. Which was great when it started, but after a year or so, I came to long for the day when he would finally manage to do it. My father was a man of limited attention span to some extent, who went through various fads and crazes. Now, I knew that he desperately wanted to beat me once. In all likelihood if he managed to do that then he’d lose interest and move on to something else, which would mean I could go back to enjoying “The Six Million Dollar Man “ on the telly without being interrupted constantly by “ How do you spell ‘excite’ ?” and so on.
As I say, he never did manage it. Now, at this point it may occur to you to ask yourself why I didn’t just let him beat me once. Don’t think that it didn’t occur to me. If I had just once deliberately soft pedalled, left him a few easy openings, frittered away my best letters, in short, played like Dad normally played, then he could have won. It would have been a simple thing to do to make him very happy, and to get him to leave me to watch ‘Charlie’s Angels ( ah – Jaclyn Smith /Kelly Garrett) in peace. But I never did. I couldn’t. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I wanted him to beat me. I wanted to lose to him. But I couldn’t do it deliberately . I would be middling along, trying to ignore the potential 7 letter word building up on my rack in front of me, and then he would leave me an opening so inviting that I just couldn’t stop myself from destroying his hopes, time after time after time. I was irresistibly reminded of this when I used to watch “The Fast Show”. There was a character on that played by Simon Day , an ultra-competitive dad, who did things like setting up a game of cricket on a family picnic with his two pre-teen sons, then proceeding to smash their bowling all over the place, etc. etc. The only difference being that I saw myself as the father, and my dad as the resigned and disappointed child.
He eventually kicked his Scrabble habit, although as I say it took a lot longer than I’m sure it would have done had he been able to conjure up the elusive win . All of this was brought home to me last night, in the rugby club. It was my quiz, but I was having a chat with some of my usual teammates afterwards, and I updated them on the end of the winning streak. If they were amused about it they at least had the decency to hide it behind their condolences. Knowing that I have the cup final in Bridgend coming up on Monday, one of them asked,
“If you’d won on Tuesday, would you have deliberately lost the quiz you’re going to on Sunday , so that the winning streak can’t end in the cup final ? “
In all honesty, such a thought had never entered my head. And the more I thought about what she’d said, the more I began to wonder whether I am actually capable of deliberately losing a quiz . I should add that I am extremely capable of losing a quiz, and have lost plenty in my time, but none because I wasn’t actually trying to win. As regards deliberately losing, I’m not sure that I could do it. In fact I’d go so far as to say that I’m pretty certain that I couldn’t. The same instinct which kicked in every time it looked like I was giving the old man a chance at Scrabble would kick in, and I’m sure that I couldn’t bring myself to deliberately write down a wrong answer when I know the right one. I suppose it’s the same as when you hear a question asked, and you know that there’s a really tricky right answer, and you also know that the question master is bound to have the wrong answer, you write down what you think the question master is going to give as the answer, not what you know to be right.
My girls say that I’m horrible to play Monopoly with as well !
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Go Rach !
Yes, team Cherryade rides again . Its our own Rachael Neiman carrying the LAM banner into the fray in tomorrow night's Mastermind semi final. I know it must have been recorded ages ago, but Rach, best of retrospective - and hopefully retroactive - luck anyway !
I don't know if any of our other readers - Paul Steeples and Min Lacey come to mind - are in the same semi. If so, in the interests of fairness, I wish you all the very best of luck as well !
Don't miss it .
I don't know if any of our other readers - Paul Steeples and Min Lacey come to mind - are in the same semi. If so, in the interests of fairness, I wish you all the very best of luck as well !
Don't miss it .
University Challenge - Semi Final 2
Peterhouse, Cambridge v. Magdalen, Oxford
Well, although its probably fair to say that Magdalen Oxford started favourites over Peterhouse Cambridge in this , our second semi final of one of the most closely contested series in recent years, but it might be worth remembering that Peterhouse had beaten York on the way to the semis – and York are already in the final. Not only that, but they didn’t lose in the quarters, which is more than can be said for Magdalen.The teams remained the same . Peterhouse were represented by Edward Tait, Ben Slingo, Christopher Stanton and captain Louise Howes while Magdalen fielded James McComish, Kyle Haddad- Fonda, Captain Matthew Chan, and Will Cudmore.
Right – off we went. We began with a very quick buzz for the literary career of Churchill from Ben Slingo. Bonuses on University dropouts brought Peterhouse two more correct answers. For the second starter James McComish got Déjà vu. For the second starter James McComish got Déjà vu. No ? Well, please yourselves. Answers requiring items of furniture followed to give Magdalen a slight lead. Ben Slingo buzzed too early on the next, letting in Kyle Haddad-Fonda on Magellan . A good 3 bonuses on poetry followed. Matthew Chan buzzed into early next, allowing Edward Tait in on Vitamin D for a set of bonuses on Physics. Ouch. Actually Peterhouse coped perfectly well with these, taking a full set of quarks. Both teams were twitchy on the buzzer, since Kyle Haddad-Fonda buzzed too early on Phoebe, which Peterhouse didn’t know either. However Christopher Stanton knew that York was the former name of Toronto to make amends. Descriptive extracts from Queen Victoria’s diary brought the team two bonuses. The picture starter gave a diagram illustrating the result of a UK general election. Ben Slingo leapt in confidently with 1983, Margaret Thatcher. More of the same followed, and you have to say that Peterhouse dealt with these effectively – even if the skipper did query whether Harold Wilson was in fact Howard Wilson. Good set. Will Cudmore opened his own account with John Singer Sargeant. This led to a set of bonuses on philosophers , and Magdalen managed 2 of them. This brought a conclusion to a breakneck first 10 minutes, and Peterhouse held a deserved lead of 85 to 55.
Will Cudmore took the next on Neptune. Bonuses on traitors followed. They missed the Tarpeian rock, but took the other two, thus cutting the lead to 5. Will Cudmore’s 3rd consecutive starter wiped it out completely, and you sensed that perhaps the mighty Magdalen machine was now on the march. Quotations about happiness followed. I knew that the first numeral in which the letter B appears is one billion. So did Kyle Haddad-Fonda. Cell biology proved tricky, since the team only managed one bonus . This then led to the music starter, with pieces of music accompanying poems. The teams were asked for the name of the poet whose work had been set to the music. Will Cudmore buzzed in so quickly with Wilfred Owen that he even impressed JP . “Well done !” he said with uncustomary sincerity “you recognised it instantly. “ Three more works by Benjamin Britten followed, and the names of the librettists were required. This proved much more difficult, and they only managed one of them. Ben Slingo proved that Peterhouse were still in it, by taking the next starter with the adjective Marian. Unfortunately this brought a tricky set of bonuses on national flowers. Under the circumstances they did well to take two of them. I knew Edelweiss and Protea – which to be honest was exactly what I thought Peterhouse said anyway . Oh well. Ben Slingo buzzed in too early with the poison on flypaper. Will Cudmore knew it was arsenic. The bonuses on Geoff Dyer were tricky, but they managed 2 of them. Edward Tait took the next starter, knowing that the famous proposition alluded to in Principia Mathematica is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. 3 bonuses followed on astronomical distances. Yes, it never happens when you’re desperately trying to catch up at this stage that you get a nice set of bonuses on capital cities, for example ! Peterhouse didn’t manage any of these. Will Cudmore, who was playing an absolute blinder in this show, knew that the dried leaves being described yielded coriander. This brought up descriptions from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and I have to say that JP’s Middle English accent was spot on. This brought us to the 20 minute mark, and Magdalen had a healthy lead of 160 to 105.
A second picture starter followed, and Kyle Haddad-Fonda identified the flag of Bermuda. Other british territories confounded them a little, and they didn’t get any. A question on capacitance escaped me completely, but Edward Tait knew it. A set of bonuses on time zones brought them another another correct answer. Ben Slingo buzzed in early – too early on the Jacobite victory of 1745. Will Cudmore knew it was Prestonpans. 2 bonuses followed. Kyle Haddad –Fonda, the scent of victory in his nostrils, knew a set of tectonic plates for the next starter. With their tails high, a set of bonuses on glucose molecules brought another two correct answers. Ben Slingo was still hitting and hoping, but nobody knew that Garret Breedlove et al were all played by Jack Nicholson. Kyle Haddad-Fonda knew the term Most Favoured Nation for the next starter. They dropped some bonuses on retail movements, but you had the feeling that it didn’t really matter. James McComish, who was having a quiet evening up to now, heard the name Wagner and leapt in with “leitmotif”. Good shout. Still the bonuses came, and amazingly then Will Cudmore got a starter wrong. Ben Slingo knew that it was Pushkin, not Lermontov in the duel. Kyle Haddad-Fonda, who was buzzing for fun by this stage correctly identified a set of states of brazil for the next , and as it proved, last starter. At the gong, the score stood at 260 to 130 for Magdalen.
Hard lines, Peterhouse. You played well throughout the series, and deserved your place in the semis. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Many congratulations to Magdalen. The final is an intriguing one, and I’ll be looking forward to it in a post to come over the next few days.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
After Magdalen mistook the first quotation on happiness as Jeremy Bentham, they correctly identified the third as Jeremy Bentham. “Yes, “confirmed our man , “ Jeremy Bentham. Then , under his breath “ . . . unmistakeably.” Classic Paxman. I noticed that he wasn’t anything like as nasty to Peterhouse at the end as he was to Sheffield last week. Yes, he’s right, Peterhouse are obviously one of the finest student quiz teams. But so are Sheffield, and he could have said something to that effect last week, but didn’t. Surely this has nothing to do with the fact that our JP was a Cambridge man himself.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Juvenal coined the phrase rara avis – and he gave the example of a black swan as an illustration.
Well, although its probably fair to say that Magdalen Oxford started favourites over Peterhouse Cambridge in this , our second semi final of one of the most closely contested series in recent years, but it might be worth remembering that Peterhouse had beaten York on the way to the semis – and York are already in the final. Not only that, but they didn’t lose in the quarters, which is more than can be said for Magdalen.The teams remained the same . Peterhouse were represented by Edward Tait, Ben Slingo, Christopher Stanton and captain Louise Howes while Magdalen fielded James McComish, Kyle Haddad- Fonda, Captain Matthew Chan, and Will Cudmore.
Right – off we went. We began with a very quick buzz for the literary career of Churchill from Ben Slingo. Bonuses on University dropouts brought Peterhouse two more correct answers. For the second starter James McComish got Déjà vu. For the second starter James McComish got Déjà vu. No ? Well, please yourselves. Answers requiring items of furniture followed to give Magdalen a slight lead. Ben Slingo buzzed too early on the next, letting in Kyle Haddad-Fonda on Magellan . A good 3 bonuses on poetry followed. Matthew Chan buzzed into early next, allowing Edward Tait in on Vitamin D for a set of bonuses on Physics. Ouch. Actually Peterhouse coped perfectly well with these, taking a full set of quarks. Both teams were twitchy on the buzzer, since Kyle Haddad-Fonda buzzed too early on Phoebe, which Peterhouse didn’t know either. However Christopher Stanton knew that York was the former name of Toronto to make amends. Descriptive extracts from Queen Victoria’s diary brought the team two bonuses. The picture starter gave a diagram illustrating the result of a UK general election. Ben Slingo leapt in confidently with 1983, Margaret Thatcher. More of the same followed, and you have to say that Peterhouse dealt with these effectively – even if the skipper did query whether Harold Wilson was in fact Howard Wilson. Good set. Will Cudmore opened his own account with John Singer Sargeant. This led to a set of bonuses on philosophers , and Magdalen managed 2 of them. This brought a conclusion to a breakneck first 10 minutes, and Peterhouse held a deserved lead of 85 to 55.
Will Cudmore took the next on Neptune. Bonuses on traitors followed. They missed the Tarpeian rock, but took the other two, thus cutting the lead to 5. Will Cudmore’s 3rd consecutive starter wiped it out completely, and you sensed that perhaps the mighty Magdalen machine was now on the march. Quotations about happiness followed. I knew that the first numeral in which the letter B appears is one billion. So did Kyle Haddad-Fonda. Cell biology proved tricky, since the team only managed one bonus . This then led to the music starter, with pieces of music accompanying poems. The teams were asked for the name of the poet whose work had been set to the music. Will Cudmore buzzed in so quickly with Wilfred Owen that he even impressed JP . “Well done !” he said with uncustomary sincerity “you recognised it instantly. “ Three more works by Benjamin Britten followed, and the names of the librettists were required. This proved much more difficult, and they only managed one of them. Ben Slingo proved that Peterhouse were still in it, by taking the next starter with the adjective Marian. Unfortunately this brought a tricky set of bonuses on national flowers. Under the circumstances they did well to take two of them. I knew Edelweiss and Protea – which to be honest was exactly what I thought Peterhouse said anyway . Oh well. Ben Slingo buzzed in too early with the poison on flypaper. Will Cudmore knew it was arsenic. The bonuses on Geoff Dyer were tricky, but they managed 2 of them. Edward Tait took the next starter, knowing that the famous proposition alluded to in Principia Mathematica is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. 3 bonuses followed on astronomical distances. Yes, it never happens when you’re desperately trying to catch up at this stage that you get a nice set of bonuses on capital cities, for example ! Peterhouse didn’t manage any of these. Will Cudmore, who was playing an absolute blinder in this show, knew that the dried leaves being described yielded coriander. This brought up descriptions from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and I have to say that JP’s Middle English accent was spot on. This brought us to the 20 minute mark, and Magdalen had a healthy lead of 160 to 105.
A second picture starter followed, and Kyle Haddad-Fonda identified the flag of Bermuda. Other british territories confounded them a little, and they didn’t get any. A question on capacitance escaped me completely, but Edward Tait knew it. A set of bonuses on time zones brought them another another correct answer. Ben Slingo buzzed in early – too early on the Jacobite victory of 1745. Will Cudmore knew it was Prestonpans. 2 bonuses followed. Kyle Haddad –Fonda, the scent of victory in his nostrils, knew a set of tectonic plates for the next starter. With their tails high, a set of bonuses on glucose molecules brought another two correct answers. Ben Slingo was still hitting and hoping, but nobody knew that Garret Breedlove et al were all played by Jack Nicholson. Kyle Haddad-Fonda knew the term Most Favoured Nation for the next starter. They dropped some bonuses on retail movements, but you had the feeling that it didn’t really matter. James McComish, who was having a quiet evening up to now, heard the name Wagner and leapt in with “leitmotif”. Good shout. Still the bonuses came, and amazingly then Will Cudmore got a starter wrong. Ben Slingo knew that it was Pushkin, not Lermontov in the duel. Kyle Haddad-Fonda, who was buzzing for fun by this stage correctly identified a set of states of brazil for the next , and as it proved, last starter. At the gong, the score stood at 260 to 130 for Magdalen.
Hard lines, Peterhouse. You played well throughout the series, and deserved your place in the semis. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Many congratulations to Magdalen. The final is an intriguing one, and I’ll be looking forward to it in a post to come over the next few days.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
After Magdalen mistook the first quotation on happiness as Jeremy Bentham, they correctly identified the third as Jeremy Bentham. “Yes, “confirmed our man , “ Jeremy Bentham. Then , under his breath “ . . . unmistakeably.” Classic Paxman. I noticed that he wasn’t anything like as nasty to Peterhouse at the end as he was to Sheffield last week. Yes, he’s right, Peterhouse are obviously one of the finest student quiz teams. But so are Sheffield, and he could have said something to that effect last week, but didn’t. Surely this has nothing to do with the fact that our JP was a Cambridge man himself.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
Juvenal coined the phrase rara avis – and he gave the example of a black swan as an illustration.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
R.I.P. Winning Streak
Yes, the winning streak that I've been on about has finally shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the choir invisible. After ten weeks, and over 30 quizzes, last night we lost in the Duke of Wellington in Cowbridge. Albeit that there is the suspicion that the team who beat us didn't manage to do so by merely using conventional weapons, the fact remains that we lost, scoring 72/80 to their winning score of 74/80. I think its safe to say that we took it well , and limited ourselves to a relatively mild "If that score's kosher, then my *1"@k's a bloater."
Alright, so I'm sad its come to an end. But let's be honest, it was always going to, and the wonder is that its gone on for so long. I would far rather it happened last night, than next Monday, in the final of the Cup competition of the Bridgend league. Which is probably exactly what will happen now that I've jinxed myself by mentioning it. Superstitious ? Me ?
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By the way, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about University Challenge. I shall be posting my review of semi final 2 as soon as I can. Watch this space.
Alright, so I'm sad its come to an end. But let's be honest, it was always going to, and the wonder is that its gone on for so long. I would far rather it happened last night, than next Monday, in the final of the Cup competition of the Bridgend league. Which is probably exactly what will happen now that I've jinxed myself by mentioning it. Superstitious ? Me ?
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By the way, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about University Challenge. I shall be posting my review of semi final 2 as soon as I can. Watch this space.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Mastermind Semi Final 4
Well, we’ve seen a few surprises so far in this series of semis, haven’t we ? In fact , during the first three shows, not one player from the top 10 scorers in the first round has qualified for the final yet. A fact which seemed to work against the chances of both Stephen Porter and Brian Daugherty in last night’s show, who were the 10th and 7th highest scorers in the first round. Well, that and the fact that they were going to have to beat 2009 runner up Ian Bayley if they wanted to progress any further, whom you’ll remember I mentioned as one of two dangerous mid-table floaters. Incidentally the other one, Diane Hallagan, claimed her place in the final last week.
There was one highest scoring runner up in the show last night, Anne Skillen, and she kicked off the show last. Anne was runner up in show 2, way back in August, when she answered on the TV series “To the Manor Born “. Back then Anne managed 13 in her 2 and a half minute GK round, and so her best chance, so it seemed , was to put on a good score on her specialist round of The Novels of Jane Austen. I do know a bit about these myself, and so can confidently say that this was a tough set, requiring very detailed and thorough knowledge. Anne found it tough going, and she finished with 6.
Stephen Porter won show 18, when he answered on English first division football of the 1970s. He’d managed a pretty good 15 on his GK round back then, and so there was no doubt, he was a contender to watch tonight. Her certainly proved this to be the case with his round on Scottish Post Punk Bands 1978 - 1983. He answered a super speed, and only one question prevented him from getting a perfect round. Nonetheless, 14 correct answers in a 90 second round is great quizzing, and put him in with a good chance of being involved in the final shake up.
Brian Daugherty has had a long wait for the semi to come around, since he won the very first heat, all those months ago. Back then he answered on the Bernoullis, and like Stephen Porter, he managed 15 on his GK round. Last night he answered questions on The History of the Ruhr. I surprised myself on this round by actually knowing a couple of the answers on the geography of the region. Not as many as Brian did. He scored a good 12. Game on.
One of my favourite subjects in the first round – Ray Harryhausen – was offered by Leslie Hurn in show 22. Back then he scored 14 on GK, so wasn’t to be too lightly dismissed. Last night he was answering on pre historic marine reptiles. Now, maybe this is boastful, but I loved dinosaurs and the like as a kid, and I still know my icthyosaurs from my plesiosaurs. I actually got 6 of these, which admittedly was less than Leslie. He managed 9, a decent score for 90 seconds, certainly, but one which left him with something of a mountain to climb in the GK round.
Last but not least came Ian. In case you’re wondering why I mentioned Ian in my preview of the semis, well, if his previous record in the show isn’t enough, Ian scored 17 on GK in the first round. That kind of ability will always put you among the favourites in my book. In show 21 Ian answered on the Romanov Dynasty. Last night he offered us the Life and Work of Jean Sibelius. It wasn’t a perfect round, but it was a good one. He might have been 2 points behind the lead on 12, but his GK ability certainly meant this was a gap he could close.
Before that, though, Ann Skillen returned to the chair. I don’t know whether her first round was playing on her mind, or whether it was nerves, or whether it was just a set of questions she couldn’t answer, but she struggled. By the end of the round she had scored a total of 11. Leslie Hurn did better, although he didn’t quite manage to get into double figures for the round himself. He added another 9, to finish with 18.
Brian Daugherty had a go next. As in all the GK rounds so far in this show, there was no great fluency in the round, but to be fair he did grit it out, and kept the score moving throughout the round. So even though he added another 5 passes to his score, he did get into double figures, with 10 points taking his score up to 22.
Ian looked rather uncomfortable on his own return to the chair. He stumbled over a couple of questions, and missed a couple I’m sure he would have had under normal circumstances. But that was the kind of show it was, last night. There was an atmosphere of nervous tension , far more than you normally feel through the television, and it had affected all of our contenders last night. Ian added 11 to his score, for a total of 23.
I will admit, I was a little concerned for him. OK, it was by no means a bad score, but it was beatable. To put it into perspective, Stephen needed 10 to win. 9 wouldn’t be enough, because Ian had no passes. If he scored at the same rate as he did in his GK round in the heats, then he would do it. However the same tension that had affected all of the other contenders seemed to turn upon Stephen with an absolute vengeance. After 60 seconds he was well behind the clock, and in the middle of a pass spiral, and he levelled out at 6, for a total of 20.
Well done Ian ! You join Roger Stein, Geoff Thomas, Richard Heller and Mark Grant, our other double Mastermind finalists. I promised myself that I wouldn’t scupper your chances again by tipping you to win, and so I won’t. But the very best of luck, all the same.
The Details
There was one highest scoring runner up in the show last night, Anne Skillen, and she kicked off the show last. Anne was runner up in show 2, way back in August, when she answered on the TV series “To the Manor Born “. Back then Anne managed 13 in her 2 and a half minute GK round, and so her best chance, so it seemed , was to put on a good score on her specialist round of The Novels of Jane Austen. I do know a bit about these myself, and so can confidently say that this was a tough set, requiring very detailed and thorough knowledge. Anne found it tough going, and she finished with 6.
Stephen Porter won show 18, when he answered on English first division football of the 1970s. He’d managed a pretty good 15 on his GK round back then, and so there was no doubt, he was a contender to watch tonight. Her certainly proved this to be the case with his round on Scottish Post Punk Bands 1978 - 1983. He answered a super speed, and only one question prevented him from getting a perfect round. Nonetheless, 14 correct answers in a 90 second round is great quizzing, and put him in with a good chance of being involved in the final shake up.
Brian Daugherty has had a long wait for the semi to come around, since he won the very first heat, all those months ago. Back then he answered on the Bernoullis, and like Stephen Porter, he managed 15 on his GK round. Last night he answered questions on The History of the Ruhr. I surprised myself on this round by actually knowing a couple of the answers on the geography of the region. Not as many as Brian did. He scored a good 12. Game on.
One of my favourite subjects in the first round – Ray Harryhausen – was offered by Leslie Hurn in show 22. Back then he scored 14 on GK, so wasn’t to be too lightly dismissed. Last night he was answering on pre historic marine reptiles. Now, maybe this is boastful, but I loved dinosaurs and the like as a kid, and I still know my icthyosaurs from my plesiosaurs. I actually got 6 of these, which admittedly was less than Leslie. He managed 9, a decent score for 90 seconds, certainly, but one which left him with something of a mountain to climb in the GK round.
Last but not least came Ian. In case you’re wondering why I mentioned Ian in my preview of the semis, well, if his previous record in the show isn’t enough, Ian scored 17 on GK in the first round. That kind of ability will always put you among the favourites in my book. In show 21 Ian answered on the Romanov Dynasty. Last night he offered us the Life and Work of Jean Sibelius. It wasn’t a perfect round, but it was a good one. He might have been 2 points behind the lead on 12, but his GK ability certainly meant this was a gap he could close.
Before that, though, Ann Skillen returned to the chair. I don’t know whether her first round was playing on her mind, or whether it was nerves, or whether it was just a set of questions she couldn’t answer, but she struggled. By the end of the round she had scored a total of 11. Leslie Hurn did better, although he didn’t quite manage to get into double figures for the round himself. He added another 9, to finish with 18.
Brian Daugherty had a go next. As in all the GK rounds so far in this show, there was no great fluency in the round, but to be fair he did grit it out, and kept the score moving throughout the round. So even though he added another 5 passes to his score, he did get into double figures, with 10 points taking his score up to 22.
Ian looked rather uncomfortable on his own return to the chair. He stumbled over a couple of questions, and missed a couple I’m sure he would have had under normal circumstances. But that was the kind of show it was, last night. There was an atmosphere of nervous tension , far more than you normally feel through the television, and it had affected all of our contenders last night. Ian added 11 to his score, for a total of 23.
I will admit, I was a little concerned for him. OK, it was by no means a bad score, but it was beatable. To put it into perspective, Stephen needed 10 to win. 9 wouldn’t be enough, because Ian had no passes. If he scored at the same rate as he did in his GK round in the heats, then he would do it. However the same tension that had affected all of the other contenders seemed to turn upon Stephen with an absolute vengeance. After 60 seconds he was well behind the clock, and in the middle of a pass spiral, and he levelled out at 6, for a total of 20.
Well done Ian ! You join Roger Stein, Geoff Thomas, Richard Heller and Mark Grant, our other double Mastermind finalists. I promised myself that I wouldn’t scupper your chances again by tipping you to win, and so I won’t. But the very best of luck, all the same.
The Details
| Anne Skillen | The Novels of Jane Austen | 6 - 3 | 5 - 6 | 11 - 9 |
| Stephen Porter | Scottish Post Punk Bands 1978-83 | 14 - 1 | 6 - 4 | 20 - 5 |
| Brian Daugherty | History of the Ruhr | 12 - 1 | 10 - 5 | 22 - 6 |
| Leslie Hurn | Prehistoric Marine Reptiles | 9 - 0 | 9 - 5 | 18 - 5 |
| Ian Bayley | Life and work of Jean Sibelius | 12 - 0 | 11 - 0 | 23 - 0 |
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
University Challenge - Semi Final 1
Semi Final 1 – Sheffield v. York
Well , a match to savour this. All-conquering Sheffield , the team of all talents, v. battle hardened warriors York. No prizes for guessing that all the support from the Clark sofa was for Sheffield. This is not to say that I have no admiration for York at all, their performances in their second two matches in the quarters were inspirational. York, the come back kids, were represented by Chris Caudwell, Ben Keane, Simon Donnelly and captain Andrew Clemo. As for Sheffield, they maintained the usual team of Andy Bolton, our own Tristan Cole and Hugh Bennett, and captain Tom Thirkell
Well, away we went. Andrew Clemo started where he left off in the quarters when he knew that Bismarck and Raleigh were linked by being capitals of states with the word North in their names. A set of bonuses on quotes saw them take two. Chris Caudwell took York’s second starter on the Electra complex. Faced with a set of bonuses on british prime ministers, they stretched their lead to 45. Neither team quite knew Luther’s 95 theses. Tris Cole took Sheffield’s first starter on Roland Barthes. Bonuses on truth followed, and they took 2. Andrew Clemo knew the poem Invictus to reassert York’s ascendancy. A set of physics bonuses proved rather tricky , as they only managed one of them. This brought up the picture starter. Andrew Clemo recognised the Nobel Peace Prize medal, which brought up three more of the same. None of them proved gettable. Andy Bolton knew that the Triassic preceded the Jurassic. A series of bonuses on composers followed, and Sheffield managed 2 of them. Andrew Clemo buzzed too early on dutch cities for the next, but Sheffield couldn’t capitalise. Chris Caudwell knew the graphic novel Maus , and a couple of bonuses on French artists added to the score. So at the ten minute mark it certainly hadn’t all been one way traffic, but it was definitely advantage York, as they led by 90 – 40.
We’ve seen York get off the blocks quickly before, but sometimes , like last week, they have let the opposition find their way back into the contest. This wasn’t going to happen if Andrew Clemo had anything to do with it. He knew Donatello’s David, to bring up bonuses on comparative biology. One fell to them. Andy Bolton buzzed in too quickly on the next , and it was Ben Keane who correctly identified the word synod. A good UC set of bonuses followed on pairs of homonyms. Again, York didn’t really hammer home their advantage, but kept the score ticking away, and the gap widening. The first music starter followed, and our own Hugh had it within a couple of bars. More bonuses on string quintets followed, but they could only take one of them. Tris continued taking the fight to York by buzzing in early to identify The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Bonuses on US presidents followed, and they took one of them. Hugh then took the next , an old Mathematical chestnut. A set of tricky bonuses on stage works about birds followed. Hugh nipped in again for the next starter on the Zapatistas. No doubt about it, the boys were getting into their stride. A set of bonuses on elements followed. The gap narrowed to just 15 points, and at this stage, roughly halfway through the contest, it was anybody’s game. Chris Caudwell took a good one for York, knowing that you get chickpeas in falafel. The bonuses on the 1660s proved a bit of a godsend as they took all of them. Hugh knew that Picasso was born in Malaga. Bonuses on poets and astronomers followed, and they managed one of them. Simon Donnelly took the second picture starter, knowing if it’s a bloke with a bowler with an apple in front of his bonce, its a Magritte. ( You never get this sort of detail from Brian Sewell ! ) Picture bonuses stretched the lead to 40 points at the 20 minute mark , as they led by 160 to 120.
So it was still too close to call. If my boys could all keep buzzing in as they had done for the last ten minutes they could still do it. But a barnstorming 5 minutes from York could settle the match for good. Big hitting Chris Caudwell took a vital starter on Bill Hicks. A set of bonuses on capital cities proved extremely tricky , and York managed none of them. Inspirational leader Andrew Clemo knew that CCS means carbon capture and storage. Bonuses on US foreign policy all helped them increase their lead as they took all 3. A great early buzz from Tristan Cole identified original sin. Bonuses on latin grammar weren’t all that helpful to Sheffield at this stage. Tris went for a hit and hope on the next starter, on a dartboard. He was on the right lines, but needed the whole question. With the benefit of this, Andrew Clemo knew that 12 o’clock would be 20. A bonus on wine put York almost out of sight. Chris Caudwell took the next geographical starter, and York were home and dry. Andy Bolton managed the next start on the word appal , and this brought bonuses on African countries. However all this meant was that Andrew Clemo knew Germinal in the French revolutionary calendar for the next starter. Tris took the last starter, knowing that the Borough of Queens’ takes its name from Katherine of Braganza.
JP put my back up a little bit when he told my boys from Sheffield “Well, you didn’t play particularly well, you’ve played much better than that in the past. “ Come on Jezza. Play fair ! You play as well as you’re allowed to play. York have got better and better with each match, and Messrs Clemo and Caudwell in particular played a blinder. On the whole they were just that little bit too quick. When you’re meeting a good opponent who hits top form there is absolutely nothing you can do about it except applaud. Hugh, Tris, Andy and Tom, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have been one of the teams of the tournament, and have put on some really memorable performances this year.
York – the momentum is with you ! Best of luck for the final.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Well, until that last comment to Sheffield, I was quite enjoying JP in this show. I liked the way that he replied chuckling to Hugh on the arithmetic – 5 robots question – “Don’t look so surprised just because it was easy !” Mind you I should have guessed the mood he was working up to with his correction of a perfectly good pronunciation of the river Vltava with
“Yes – the V - ltava I call it but I’m sure it’s the same place. “
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
Like Picasso , Antonio Banderas was born in Malaga.
Well , a match to savour this. All-conquering Sheffield , the team of all talents, v. battle hardened warriors York. No prizes for guessing that all the support from the Clark sofa was for Sheffield. This is not to say that I have no admiration for York at all, their performances in their second two matches in the quarters were inspirational. York, the come back kids, were represented by Chris Caudwell, Ben Keane, Simon Donnelly and captain Andrew Clemo. As for Sheffield, they maintained the usual team of Andy Bolton, our own Tristan Cole and Hugh Bennett, and captain Tom Thirkell
Well, away we went. Andrew Clemo started where he left off in the quarters when he knew that Bismarck and Raleigh were linked by being capitals of states with the word North in their names. A set of bonuses on quotes saw them take two. Chris Caudwell took York’s second starter on the Electra complex. Faced with a set of bonuses on british prime ministers, they stretched their lead to 45. Neither team quite knew Luther’s 95 theses. Tris Cole took Sheffield’s first starter on Roland Barthes. Bonuses on truth followed, and they took 2. Andrew Clemo knew the poem Invictus to reassert York’s ascendancy. A set of physics bonuses proved rather tricky , as they only managed one of them. This brought up the picture starter. Andrew Clemo recognised the Nobel Peace Prize medal, which brought up three more of the same. None of them proved gettable. Andy Bolton knew that the Triassic preceded the Jurassic. A series of bonuses on composers followed, and Sheffield managed 2 of them. Andrew Clemo buzzed too early on dutch cities for the next, but Sheffield couldn’t capitalise. Chris Caudwell knew the graphic novel Maus , and a couple of bonuses on French artists added to the score. So at the ten minute mark it certainly hadn’t all been one way traffic, but it was definitely advantage York, as they led by 90 – 40.
We’ve seen York get off the blocks quickly before, but sometimes , like last week, they have let the opposition find their way back into the contest. This wasn’t going to happen if Andrew Clemo had anything to do with it. He knew Donatello’s David, to bring up bonuses on comparative biology. One fell to them. Andy Bolton buzzed in too quickly on the next , and it was Ben Keane who correctly identified the word synod. A good UC set of bonuses followed on pairs of homonyms. Again, York didn’t really hammer home their advantage, but kept the score ticking away, and the gap widening. The first music starter followed, and our own Hugh had it within a couple of bars. More bonuses on string quintets followed, but they could only take one of them. Tris continued taking the fight to York by buzzing in early to identify The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Bonuses on US presidents followed, and they took one of them. Hugh then took the next , an old Mathematical chestnut. A set of tricky bonuses on stage works about birds followed. Hugh nipped in again for the next starter on the Zapatistas. No doubt about it, the boys were getting into their stride. A set of bonuses on elements followed. The gap narrowed to just 15 points, and at this stage, roughly halfway through the contest, it was anybody’s game. Chris Caudwell took a good one for York, knowing that you get chickpeas in falafel. The bonuses on the 1660s proved a bit of a godsend as they took all of them. Hugh knew that Picasso was born in Malaga. Bonuses on poets and astronomers followed, and they managed one of them. Simon Donnelly took the second picture starter, knowing if it’s a bloke with a bowler with an apple in front of his bonce, its a Magritte. ( You never get this sort of detail from Brian Sewell ! ) Picture bonuses stretched the lead to 40 points at the 20 minute mark , as they led by 160 to 120.
So it was still too close to call. If my boys could all keep buzzing in as they had done for the last ten minutes they could still do it. But a barnstorming 5 minutes from York could settle the match for good. Big hitting Chris Caudwell took a vital starter on Bill Hicks. A set of bonuses on capital cities proved extremely tricky , and York managed none of them. Inspirational leader Andrew Clemo knew that CCS means carbon capture and storage. Bonuses on US foreign policy all helped them increase their lead as they took all 3. A great early buzz from Tristan Cole identified original sin. Bonuses on latin grammar weren’t all that helpful to Sheffield at this stage. Tris went for a hit and hope on the next starter, on a dartboard. He was on the right lines, but needed the whole question. With the benefit of this, Andrew Clemo knew that 12 o’clock would be 20. A bonus on wine put York almost out of sight. Chris Caudwell took the next geographical starter, and York were home and dry. Andy Bolton managed the next start on the word appal , and this brought bonuses on African countries. However all this meant was that Andrew Clemo knew Germinal in the French revolutionary calendar for the next starter. Tris took the last starter, knowing that the Borough of Queens’ takes its name from Katherine of Braganza.
JP put my back up a little bit when he told my boys from Sheffield “Well, you didn’t play particularly well, you’ve played much better than that in the past. “ Come on Jezza. Play fair ! You play as well as you’re allowed to play. York have got better and better with each match, and Messrs Clemo and Caudwell in particular played a blinder. On the whole they were just that little bit too quick. When you’re meeting a good opponent who hits top form there is absolutely nothing you can do about it except applaud. Hugh, Tris, Andy and Tom, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have been one of the teams of the tournament, and have put on some really memorable performances this year.
York – the momentum is with you ! Best of luck for the final.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Well, until that last comment to Sheffield, I was quite enjoying JP in this show. I liked the way that he replied chuckling to Hugh on the arithmetic – 5 robots question – “Don’t look so surprised just because it was easy !” Mind you I should have guessed the mood he was working up to with his correction of a perfectly good pronunciation of the river Vltava with
“Yes – the V - ltava I call it but I’m sure it’s the same place. “
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
Like Picasso , Antonio Banderas was born in Malaga.
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