The Teams
Manchester
Ray Power
Kirsty Dickson
Kai Madgwick (Capt)
Rob Faulkner
Sheffield
Rhys Lewis
Abdelrahman Elsisi
Jacob Price (Capt)
Isobel Dobbie
The first of two winner takes all matches to round off the
quarter final stages pitted two of my favourite teams against each other. Oh,
don’t get me wrong, I like all teams on UC but there are some I really find myself
rooting for and both of these Manchester and Sheffield teams fell into this category.
Well, only one of them was walking out of the last chance saloon alive in this
match.
A long and involved starter saw Kai Madgwick buzz in first
to identify countries and territories whose internet domains all start with H. Regions
of Chile would bring me 2 answers with O’Higgins and Punta Arenas. Manchester
had the last one I didn’t but not the second which I did. Isobel Dobbie opened
the Sheffield account when she answered the late American artist Keith Haring
for the next starter. I remembered the Graeae from Greek mythology. Sheffield
didn’t but took bonuses two and three anyway. Sadly Sheffield lost five of
their points for an incorrect buzz for the next starter, allowing Kai Madgwick
to supply the colour black. Had I listened to the whole of the first geometry bonus
I would have been stunned into silence, but after the first few words I guessed
ellipse and rewarded my correct answer with a lap of honour around the Clark sofa.
As for Manchester, well, they took a full house. I will be honest, I didn’t
work out that De Woeste Hoegte (a hit for chanteuse Kaatje Boousch ?) was the
Dutch title of Wuthering Heights, nor did I get it from any of the other titles
for it in other languages for the first picture starter. Kirsty Dickson worked
it out. More of the same left me pointless, while Manchester managed the last
one, Pride and Prejudice. Jacob Price knew kaons for the next starter. Documentaries
by Wim Wenders brought a plethora of passes. Incidentally, I’m sure the Buena
Vista Social Club was also name checked in Mastermind earlier. Abdelrahman
Elsisi knew that the Zabur in Islam is equivalent to the book of Psalms in the Old
Testament. The only 14 mountains recognised as being more than 8,000m above sea
level brought us both a timely full house. So at just past ten minutes the
match was nicely poised with Manchester leading 60-50.
Kai Madgwick worked out that two cocktails were originally
made in Trinidad and Tobago. James Dewar, the vacuum flask man, brought one
bonus. Ray Power knew the Act of Killing for the next starter. (That’s the
documentary as opposed to the deed itself.) Jacquetta Hawkes (‘Sparrow’ to her
mates, I believe) brought us both just one bonus. Jacob Price was first in to
recognise The Cure for the music starter. Three bonuses on Bands that Dave Has
Never Even Heard Of brought Sheffield a full house. I know little about
economics but the computer reference in the question seemed to be screaming
input and output to me so I was a bit surprised neither team could take the
next starter. But then I didn’t know Sun Wukong for the next starter which Kai
Madgwick did. The word moral, its derivatives and their earliest OED citations brought
two correct answers and just brought a feeling that Manchester were starting to
get the upper hand. Abdelrahman Elsisi struck back with Malmonides. Dutch
architect Rem ‘Wie?’ Koolhass enabled me to be smug knowing that Boavista FC
play in Porto and take the first bonus. Bonuses narrowed the gap and then Rhys
Lewis supplied the musical term acciaccatura which narrowed it down to 10
points. Bonuses on the religious text, The Canticle of the Sun, saw Sheffield surprise
me when they missed the first which so clearly pointed to St. Francis of Assisi.
They took one to be just a single bonus behind Manchester. Who decided that
this was quite enough of that sort of thing as Kai Madgwick buzzed early to
answer a starter on Anish Kapoor. Manchester, mainly through Kirsty Dickson
took a full house on DNA damage. I was disappointed none of the questions were
about the kind of DNA damage that creates superheroes but there you are. On 20,
Manchester led by 135 to 105 and both teams were still in it to win it.
None of us knew thioester for the next starter. Crikey
moses, polyester is just about my level. Kai Madgwick knew King Frederick II
for the next. Royal Succession brought two out of a gettable three bonuses.
Didn’t matter though as Manchester were building momentum. Nobody recognised
that the two leathery old geezers in stetsons in the photo for the 2nd
picture starter were John Wayne and John Ford. (Permit me a small digression –
forgive me if you’ve heard it. John Wayne played the centurion in the biblical
epic The Greatest Story Ever Told. He didn’t have many lines. One of which was
something like ‘Surely this man wuz the Son of Gaahhd’. He delivered the line
in his trademark drawl, then director George Stephens asked, “Could you say it
with a little more awe, John?” Wayne drew a breath, then said ‘Awww, surely
this man wuz the Son of Gaahhd.) Rob Faulkner identified Belle Vue as a
greyhound racing venue and earned Manchester the picture bonuses, showing more
director – actor combinations who had made several films together. The two
bonuses gave Manchester a lead which would require several unanswered visits to
the table for Sheffield to wipe out and this looked ominous at this stage of
the competition. It didn’t help that Kai Madgwick took the next starter on the
poem Ulysses. A very, very nice UC special set on football clubs that are the
only league clubs based in particular metropolitan or London boroughs brought
no joy to Manchester but even then it still ran the clock down a bit. Had I not
already had my lap of honour I’d have taken it for knowing sulphur dioxide as a
constituent of acid rain for the next starter. Rhys Lewis had that one. Social
Science bonuses refused to provide any of us with points. Abdelrahman Elsisi
was in very quickly with the Sanskrit word sandhi – which was also the title of
a song in Grease. Seaweed in cooking passed the team by. They were in such a
rush that they passed on the last question even though Abdelrahman Elsisi had
put the correct answer on the table. It wouldn’t affect the outcome of the
match – that had already been decided. Nobody knew RK Narayan for the next
starter. Jacob Price recognised the ph scale for the next starter. British
screenwriters and their stage plays proved another bonus set of which they
failed to get any. This would do bad things to their BCR. There was no time to complete
the next starter, meaning that Manchester won by 185 to 135.
The stats, then. Manchester’s BCR was 56.6% to Sheffield’s
37%. This wasn’t the only reason why they won – they were generally faster on
the buzzer too. That’s the way it goes. Hard lines Sheffield, but I’ve enjoyed
watching your progress through the series.
Amol Watch
Enjoying your work, sir. Bamber Gascoigne, God rest his
soul, always seemed to be thoroughly enjoying each contest, and so do you,
which is an admirable quality.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
The earliest known use of the word ‘moral’ is in The Clerk’s
Tale in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Look, I like words, okay?
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
Three questions for you, Manchester, on a shape. The lack
of an algebraic equation for calculating the perimeter of what shape has led to
the development of a number of formulae for approximating it, the simplest
being pi times the sum of A and B, where A and B are the lengths of the
semi-major and the semi-minor axes of the shapes? What didn’t you get it? I
did, but still - Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.
