Who or What are the following, and why have they been in the news ?
1. Gangnam Style
2. Megan Stammers
3. Jeremy Forrest
4. Damien Lewis
5. Phillipe Gilbert
6. Corrie Sanders
7. Lance Bombardier Lynette Pierce
8. Trenton Oldfield
9. Medinah
10. Mark Halsey
11. Forden, Mid Wales
12. Rahul Gandhi
13. Oleg Blokhin
14. The Valleys
15. Anna Larke
16. Lord Judge
17. Alex Haigh
18. Nick Ponting and Nemesis
19. Paolo Gabriele
20. Vyasheslav Schenchenko
In Other News
1. Who announced he will no longer play for England
2. Where was the Lib Dem Conference held
3. For how many Emmy’s was Downton Abbey nominated ?
4. What was announced as the coolest brand to UK consumers ?
5. Who won the Singapore GP ?
6. England suffered their heaviest ever 20/20 ODI cricket defeat to which country ?
7. What was the score when Arsenal played Man City ?
8. What was the score in the Man Utd. v. Liverpool match ?
9. Who lost what was billed as his final appeal against extradition ?
10. Whose estranged wife has been accused of damaging his car ?
11. John Terry was reported as having been dropped by which sportswear company ?
12. Which british player beat Sabine Lisicki in the Pan Pacific Open ?
13. A mass brawl took place in a factory manufacturing parts for which items ?
14. Steve Wozniak has applied to become a citizen of which country ?
15. Which club knocked Everton out of the League Cup ?
16. China put its first ever of which type of vessel into service last week ?
17. Which producer of many hit shows, including Top of the Pops and The Two Ronnies passed away last week ?
18. Which famous crooner also passed away last week ?
19. Which former Norwich City and Man City ( among others ) manager passed away last week ?
20. A sculpture of which incident was placed outside the Pompidou Centre in Paris last week ?
21. Who wouldn’t or couldn’t translate the words Magna Carta on the Letterman show last week ?
22. What was the fine imposed on John Terry to go with his 4 match ban ?
23. Which 95 year old film actor passed away last week ?
24. This week saw the first ever what in the National Lottery ?
25. Who dropped out of snooker’s top 16 players in the world for the first time in 2 decades ?
26. Name the Rookies in both Ryder Cup teams
27. Where was Megan Stammers found ?
28. A forgotten postbox with letters dating back to 1989 has been found where ?
29. Who won the title of the Lloyds List ‘Seafarer of the Year’ ?
30. Who resigned as manager of Blackburn Rovers ?
31. Lewis Hamilton will race for which team next season ?
32. Michael Nyman, the famous composer, has announced that he will be leaving London to move somewhere safer – which city ?
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Answers to News Questions
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Nevin Spence
2. Patrick Mercer
3. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
4. Paul Beales
5. Aurelien Hamelle
6. 15 Khordad Foundation
7. Susanne Wilkinson
8. Dale Cregan
9. Capita
10. Elinor Barker
11. Doctor Sleep
12. Vindicat W
13. Just Sayin’
14. Daniel Thomas
15. Charlie Richardson
16. Clyde
17. Andrew Mitchell
18. Jessica Harper
19. The Casual Vacancy
20. The Audience
In Other News
1. Who was criticized last week for saying that he can’t think of anything worse than 2 men bringing up a child together ?
2. Spurs achieved their first win in the Premier League this year against which team ?
3. London Welsh achieved their first premier league win against which team ?
4. Michael Gove announced his replacement for GCSEs last week. What is it called ?
5. Who was officially sacked by the Metropolitan Police last week ?
6. At a Charity auction, which celebrity bought Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Bridge last week ?
7. Who won a prestigious Spanish amateur golf title ?
8. Who won cricket’s first division of the county championship ?
9. Who were runners up ?
10. Which two teams were relegated to Division 2 ?
11. Who had the best batting average in Division 1 ?
12. Who had the best bowling average for division 1 ?
13. Which team won the second division ?
14. Which team were also promoted ?
15. Who had the best batting average in division 2 ?
16. Who had the best bowling average in division 2 ?
17. Laura Robson marked her highest ever world ranking by making the final of her first WTA tournament. Where ?
18. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put their troubles behind them and joined dancers on which small island nation ?
19. A huge diamond field has been found in a meteorite crater in which country ?
20. The very last of which make and model of car rolled off the production line last week ?
21. Venice has decided to allow what on the Rialto Bridge ?
22. Who scored the last minute goal to give Real Madrid a 3 – 2 win over Man City ?
23. Which European team did Arsenal defeat 2 – 1 ?
24. Which well respected sports writer and sports editor passed away last week aged 63 ?
25. Striking miners returned to work at which South African mine ?
26. Whose campaign against windfarms was ruled as using a misleading advert ?
27. For what did Nick Clegg publicly apologise last week ?
28. Who is quitting The World Tonight ?
29. With which team did Chelsea draw ?
30. – and with which team did Celtic draw ?
31. Which team did Man Utd. beat 1 – 0
32. Which Space Shuttle flew to its new home in LA ?
33. Who walked out of Piers’ Morgans CNN show after seeing photographs of his ex wife on the set ?
34. Burmese leaders are learning about democracy through watching which TV show ?
35. Which BBC News presenter is now joining Songs of Praise ?
36. By whom was Jeremy Paxman faced with the accusation that University Challenge is ‘dumbing Down “ ?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Irish rugby player tragically killed in slurry pit on family farm
2. 1st named member of the 14 rebel tory MPs who want a leadership contest
3. British winner of the Tour of Britain cycle race
4. On trial in Indonesia for drug charges, but if found guilty will not face death penalty
5. French lawyer retained by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for legal fight with Magazine Closer
6. Organisation that has raised the bounty on Salman Rushdie to reportedly $1/2 million
7. Landlady accused of turning away gay couple
8. Chief suspect in the killing of WPCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone
9. Private firm being paid to track down illegal immigrants
10. Winner of two junior gold medals in world road cycling championships
11. Stephen King has announced that this will be the title of his new sequel to The Shining
12. Peter Charles’ Olympic gold medal show jumping horse, now sold to the daughter of Bruce Springsteen
13. Ricky Gervais new radio based alternative to Twitter
14. Footballer who made disgusting abusive tweet to Tom Daley during Olympics – it has been announced that he will not be charged
15. South London crime boss, passed away last week
16. New mascot for 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games , based on a thistle
17. Tory Chief Whip accused of calling policemen guarding Downing Street F*****g Plebs
18. Former head of Online Security for Lloyds, convicted of serious fraud.
19. JK Rowling’s new novel for grown ups, released next week
New West End play in which Helen Mirren is to reprise her role of the Queen
In Other News
1. Rupert Everett
2. Reading
3. Exeter Chiefs
4. E Bacc ( baccalaureat ) 5. Simon Harwood
6. Chris Evans
7. Javier Ballesteros – son of the late Seve
8. Warwickshire
9. Somerset
10. Lancashire and Worcestershire
11. Nick Compton
12. Graham Onions
13. Derbyshire
14. Yorkshire
15. Con de Lange
16. Robert Croft
17. Guangzhou
18. Tuvalu
19. Russia ( Siberia)
20. Lada Classic
21. Advertising by private sponsors
22. Christiano Ronaldo
23. Montpelier
24. Brian Woolnough
25. Marikana
26. Donald Trump
27. Tuition Fees
28. Robin Lustig
29. JUventus
30. Benfica
31. Galatasaray
32. Endeavour
33. Kelsey Grammar
34. The West Wing
35. Bill Turnbull
36. John Humphrys
1. Nevin Spence
2. Patrick Mercer
3. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
4. Paul Beales
5. Aurelien Hamelle
6. 15 Khordad Foundation
7. Susanne Wilkinson
8. Dale Cregan
9. Capita
10. Elinor Barker
11. Doctor Sleep
12. Vindicat W
13. Just Sayin’
14. Daniel Thomas
15. Charlie Richardson
16. Clyde
17. Andrew Mitchell
18. Jessica Harper
19. The Casual Vacancy
20. The Audience
In Other News
1. Who was criticized last week for saying that he can’t think of anything worse than 2 men bringing up a child together ?
2. Spurs achieved their first win in the Premier League this year against which team ?
3. London Welsh achieved their first premier league win against which team ?
4. Michael Gove announced his replacement for GCSEs last week. What is it called ?
5. Who was officially sacked by the Metropolitan Police last week ?
6. At a Charity auction, which celebrity bought Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Bridge last week ?
7. Who won a prestigious Spanish amateur golf title ?
8. Who won cricket’s first division of the county championship ?
9. Who were runners up ?
10. Which two teams were relegated to Division 2 ?
11. Who had the best batting average in Division 1 ?
12. Who had the best bowling average for division 1 ?
13. Which team won the second division ?
14. Which team were also promoted ?
15. Who had the best batting average in division 2 ?
16. Who had the best bowling average in division 2 ?
17. Laura Robson marked her highest ever world ranking by making the final of her first WTA tournament. Where ?
18. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put their troubles behind them and joined dancers on which small island nation ?
19. A huge diamond field has been found in a meteorite crater in which country ?
20. The very last of which make and model of car rolled off the production line last week ?
21. Venice has decided to allow what on the Rialto Bridge ?
22. Who scored the last minute goal to give Real Madrid a 3 – 2 win over Man City ?
23. Which European team did Arsenal defeat 2 – 1 ?
24. Which well respected sports writer and sports editor passed away last week aged 63 ?
25. Striking miners returned to work at which South African mine ?
26. Whose campaign against windfarms was ruled as using a misleading advert ?
27. For what did Nick Clegg publicly apologise last week ?
28. Who is quitting The World Tonight ?
29. With which team did Chelsea draw ?
30. – and with which team did Celtic draw ?
31. Which team did Man Utd. beat 1 – 0
32. Which Space Shuttle flew to its new home in LA ?
33. Who walked out of Piers’ Morgans CNN show after seeing photographs of his ex wife on the set ?
34. Burmese leaders are learning about democracy through watching which TV show ?
35. Which BBC News presenter is now joining Songs of Praise ?
36. By whom was Jeremy Paxman faced with the accusation that University Challenge is ‘dumbing Down “ ?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Irish rugby player tragically killed in slurry pit on family farm
2. 1st named member of the 14 rebel tory MPs who want a leadership contest
3. British winner of the Tour of Britain cycle race
4. On trial in Indonesia for drug charges, but if found guilty will not face death penalty
5. French lawyer retained by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for legal fight with Magazine Closer
6. Organisation that has raised the bounty on Salman Rushdie to reportedly $1/2 million
7. Landlady accused of turning away gay couple
8. Chief suspect in the killing of WPCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone
9. Private firm being paid to track down illegal immigrants
10. Winner of two junior gold medals in world road cycling championships
11. Stephen King has announced that this will be the title of his new sequel to The Shining
12. Peter Charles’ Olympic gold medal show jumping horse, now sold to the daughter of Bruce Springsteen
13. Ricky Gervais new radio based alternative to Twitter
14. Footballer who made disgusting abusive tweet to Tom Daley during Olympics – it has been announced that he will not be charged
15. South London crime boss, passed away last week
16. New mascot for 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games , based on a thistle
17. Tory Chief Whip accused of calling policemen guarding Downing Street F*****g Plebs
18. Former head of Online Security for Lloyds, convicted of serious fraud.
19. JK Rowling’s new novel for grown ups, released next week
New West End play in which Helen Mirren is to reprise her role of the Queen
In Other News
1. Rupert Everett
2. Reading
3. Exeter Chiefs
4. E Bacc ( baccalaureat ) 5. Simon Harwood
6. Chris Evans
7. Javier Ballesteros – son of the late Seve
8. Warwickshire
9. Somerset
10. Lancashire and Worcestershire
11. Nick Compton
12. Graham Onions
13. Derbyshire
14. Yorkshire
15. Con de Lange
16. Robert Croft
17. Guangzhou
18. Tuvalu
19. Russia ( Siberia)
20. Lada Classic
21. Advertising by private sponsors
22. Christiano Ronaldo
23. Montpelier
24. Brian Woolnough
25. Marikana
26. Donald Trump
27. Tuition Fees
28. Robin Lustig
29. JUventus
30. Benfica
31. Galatasaray
32. Endeavour
33. Kelsey Grammar
34. The West Wing
35. Bill Turnbull
36. John Humphrys
Friday, 28 September 2012
Numpty Watch
It was my turn for another stint as Question Master in the rugby club last night, and after 3 weeks of what I believe to be phone cheat free quizzes I was hopeful that we’d end up with another fair result. I didn’t think to warn people not to use their phones until after the first round, but I’m pretty confident that nothing untoward went on during that round, or any of the rounds. The team who have blighted quite a number of the quizzes in the last couple of years and prompted my indignant post a few weeks ago actually scored really well for the first five rounds, and it was all kosher as far as I could see. I use that phrase advisedly, since I was watching them like a hawk. They were on course for a win, and then two bad rounds ended their challenge, although they still managed to finish clear of the pack in 2nd. Fair play to them, for 3 quarters of the quiz they played really, really well. Of course, I doubt whether any of the other teams will give them a lot of credit for that because of their cheating in previous weeks. One of quizzing’s little ironies, that.
___________________________________________________________________________
Another of quizzing’s little ironies is one that I’m sure that I’ve mentioned here before. I was talking about this with Rob after the quiz, and I’m glad to say that he feels the same way as I do about this. You can have times when you’ll take a great amount of time and care over the quiz you’re compiling for the quiz. You’ll write and rewrite each of the questions several times for maximum clarity. You’ll spend a lot of thought over the way that you’ll combine these questions in rounds. You’ll try your damndest to cover enough different subject areas that there will be something in the quiz for everyone. And then when you do the quiz on the Thursday night it will go down like a lead balloon. Then you’ll have quizzes which you almost throw together, like Thursday night’s which I wrote in one go on Saturday, which for some reason go down a bomb.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not very good at judging my own quizzes. Sometimes I’ll write the easiest quiz I think I can do, then I’ll roadtest the questions in the staffroom, after which I’ll rewrite them to make them easier. I’ll pick up the microphone , fully expecting three teams to get every question right all evening, and about midway through the first round I’ll suddenly start to feel – this is too hard. By which time, of course, it’s too late.
I’d like to think that one of the reasons why last night’s quiz went down so well is a couple of questions I put in which I culled from one of my latest purchases. It's the 1950 Round Britain Quiz Book. I saw this one on ebay a couple of weeks ago, and got into a bit of a bidding war over it. As I recall it may have cost me as much as £5 when you added the postage and packing into it. It’s not quite as cryptic and quite as fiendishly good as the 1975 paperback ( if you haven’t got this one, get a copy. You’ll love it) . Still, there’s some gems in there, and this is one of the ones I put in : -
During whose reign did the Royal Mint produce double headed coins ?
Obvious ? Well, it’s the sort of thing that will come at once to some, and then require a lot of thought from others, and even more satisfyingly will cause those who didn’t get it right to groan when they hear the right answer. I’ve no doubt that you’ve already got it, but just in case, the answer is William (III) and Mary (II) . Two heads – geddit !!??
___________________________________________________________________________
Another of quizzing’s little ironies is one that I’m sure that I’ve mentioned here before. I was talking about this with Rob after the quiz, and I’m glad to say that he feels the same way as I do about this. You can have times when you’ll take a great amount of time and care over the quiz you’re compiling for the quiz. You’ll write and rewrite each of the questions several times for maximum clarity. You’ll spend a lot of thought over the way that you’ll combine these questions in rounds. You’ll try your damndest to cover enough different subject areas that there will be something in the quiz for everyone. And then when you do the quiz on the Thursday night it will go down like a lead balloon. Then you’ll have quizzes which you almost throw together, like Thursday night’s which I wrote in one go on Saturday, which for some reason go down a bomb.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not very good at judging my own quizzes. Sometimes I’ll write the easiest quiz I think I can do, then I’ll roadtest the questions in the staffroom, after which I’ll rewrite them to make them easier. I’ll pick up the microphone , fully expecting three teams to get every question right all evening, and about midway through the first round I’ll suddenly start to feel – this is too hard. By which time, of course, it’s too late.
I’d like to think that one of the reasons why last night’s quiz went down so well is a couple of questions I put in which I culled from one of my latest purchases. It's the 1950 Round Britain Quiz Book. I saw this one on ebay a couple of weeks ago, and got into a bit of a bidding war over it. As I recall it may have cost me as much as £5 when you added the postage and packing into it. It’s not quite as cryptic and quite as fiendishly good as the 1975 paperback ( if you haven’t got this one, get a copy. You’ll love it) . Still, there’s some gems in there, and this is one of the ones I put in : -
During whose reign did the Royal Mint produce double headed coins ?
Obvious ? Well, it’s the sort of thing that will come at once to some, and then require a lot of thought from others, and even more satisfyingly will cause those who didn’t get it right to groan when they hear the right answer. I’ve no doubt that you’ve already got it, but just in case, the answer is William (III) and Mary (II) . Two heads – geddit !!??
Mastermind - Round One - Heat 7
The Beeb continuity announcer informed us just prior to the start of tonight’s heat that this would not be the one which had been scheduled for this evening. Hmm. I think that perhaps I spot a cunning plan to foil those of us who have embarked upon the pleasures of the weekly wiki challenge. Well, it certainly did for me, anyway. I had prepared Everest Mountaineering for tonight’s scheduled show, but was left with a mountain to climb all of my own as I had to face the specialists wikiless.
Kevin Baker, the first of tonight’s contenders, was offering one of my sporting heroes, a man whom I was fortunate to meet a good few years ago when he and Allan Lamb brought their show to Swansea Grand Theatre. That’s Sir Ian Botham, not Kevin Baker. This was the only one of tonight’s rounds in which I fancied my chances at all, and there were certainly a good five or six which the Botham fan could get without much special preparation, and another 3 which I managed to guess, giving me my best specialist total of the night with 9. Kevin, of course, did a lot better. He never seemed to be answering particularly quickly, but this must have been deceptive, since he had amassed a very good 14 and no passes by the end of the round.
I thought that the second subject, The Life and Work of Caspar David Friedrich, which was taken by Andrew Hunt, would offer me precious little – although it stands out as a good subject for a wiki challenge. I knew he was an artist, and if you’d pushed me I would have said early 19th century, but that’s it. So I was glad when 3 guessables came up – the Goethe one being an example. This meant that I didn’t suffer my first pointless round of the series. Andrew started a little slowly, but I needn’t have worried. He knew his stuff, and amassed a creditable 13 and no passes, which certainly put him into contention.
Our popular culture subject of the night was Guns ‘N Roses, which was offered by Nina Featherston. I would never claim to be a great fan of the oeuvre of Mr. Rose and Mr. Slash and the others, but background knowledge and a couple of lucky guesses pushed my score up to 6. Nina answered confidently enough, but not quite as well as her two predecessors. 11 on specialist is nothing to be ashamed of at all, but in this show it did leave her three points off the lead with one contender to come.
Michael Wright answered on something of a good old Mastermind hardy perennial, the Hornblower Novels. Now again, this didn’t offer me a great deal since I have never read any of them. Thankfully guesses about the Duke of Wellington and Nelson’s funeral, and another that escapes me brought me three, This took my aggregate total for the specialists up to 21. That’s by some margin my worst of the series, but on the other hand that was unwikied, on three subjects I wouldn’t have fancied at all. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Michael took his place alongside Kevin at the top of the leaderboard, but he incurred the first pass of the evening. With the scores close, I couldn’t help wondering whether we might perhaps see a tie break.
Nina returned to the chair, and I shamefacedly admit that because of her youth, and the fact that she was three points off the lead, I thought that she would not be contending for the top spot on the podium. That just goes to show how much I know. Nina didn’t answer particularly quickly, but what she did manage to do was, for the most part, answer correctly. Her 14 was one of the better GK rounds that we’ve seen all series. It wasn’t necessarily enough to blow the opposition away, but it was certainly enough to put them all into the corridor of uncertainty. It left her on 25, and remember that both of the last two shows have been won with a 26. I managed 17 on Nina’s questions.
Andrew came next , and I have to say that while his GK round was certainly by no means at all bad, I never felt convinced that he was going to manage to beat Nina’s total. He came close, mind you. He needed 12 to equal her points total, and that’s exactly what he got. However he also incurred 2 passes, and if the show were to go to pass countback, that wouldn’t be good enough, since Nina only had the one. It’s not often that we see someone turn around in 4th at the halfway stage to come back and win, but it has happened. Would tonight be another such occasion ? I managed 19 on Andrew’s questions.
Well, I have to say that it certainly looked possible, for Kevin was answering his GK questions no more quickly than he’d done on his specialist round, and from about the minute mark I started to think that he was behind on the run rate, as it were. He got close , alright, but just ran out of time as the finishing line was in sight. He scored 10 to take his total to 24. I managed 18 of Kevin’s questions.
Only Michael Wright stood between Nina and a famous victory. Michael Wright, though, in terms of GK was a different kettle of fish to the two contenders who preceded him into the chair. For one thing he was answering very quickly, and thus built up a head of steam that a few wrong answers here and there couldn’t extinguish. Now, this is just my opinion, and relative difficulty of rounds is often more in the eye of the beholder than anything else. But I did think that Michael’s round was actually a tad harder than the others. I scored more on Michael’s round than on the others – 20 – but I felt that was just because Michael himself was going so quickly. Put it another way, I thought that you had to know your stuff to score 15 on that round, which is precisely what Michael did. I feel sorry for Nina after such a splendid fightback, and I hope that she makes it to the semis on a highest runner up spot. Still, there was no doubt about the winner. Michael’s was one of the best performances we’ve seen in this series so far, and he fully deserves his semi final spot. Well played, sir.
The Details
Kevin Baker, the first of tonight’s contenders, was offering one of my sporting heroes, a man whom I was fortunate to meet a good few years ago when he and Allan Lamb brought their show to Swansea Grand Theatre. That’s Sir Ian Botham, not Kevin Baker. This was the only one of tonight’s rounds in which I fancied my chances at all, and there were certainly a good five or six which the Botham fan could get without much special preparation, and another 3 which I managed to guess, giving me my best specialist total of the night with 9. Kevin, of course, did a lot better. He never seemed to be answering particularly quickly, but this must have been deceptive, since he had amassed a very good 14 and no passes by the end of the round.
I thought that the second subject, The Life and Work of Caspar David Friedrich, which was taken by Andrew Hunt, would offer me precious little – although it stands out as a good subject for a wiki challenge. I knew he was an artist, and if you’d pushed me I would have said early 19th century, but that’s it. So I was glad when 3 guessables came up – the Goethe one being an example. This meant that I didn’t suffer my first pointless round of the series. Andrew started a little slowly, but I needn’t have worried. He knew his stuff, and amassed a creditable 13 and no passes, which certainly put him into contention.
Our popular culture subject of the night was Guns ‘N Roses, which was offered by Nina Featherston. I would never claim to be a great fan of the oeuvre of Mr. Rose and Mr. Slash and the others, but background knowledge and a couple of lucky guesses pushed my score up to 6. Nina answered confidently enough, but not quite as well as her two predecessors. 11 on specialist is nothing to be ashamed of at all, but in this show it did leave her three points off the lead with one contender to come.
Michael Wright answered on something of a good old Mastermind hardy perennial, the Hornblower Novels. Now again, this didn’t offer me a great deal since I have never read any of them. Thankfully guesses about the Duke of Wellington and Nelson’s funeral, and another that escapes me brought me three, This took my aggregate total for the specialists up to 21. That’s by some margin my worst of the series, but on the other hand that was unwikied, on three subjects I wouldn’t have fancied at all. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Michael took his place alongside Kevin at the top of the leaderboard, but he incurred the first pass of the evening. With the scores close, I couldn’t help wondering whether we might perhaps see a tie break.
Nina returned to the chair, and I shamefacedly admit that because of her youth, and the fact that she was three points off the lead, I thought that she would not be contending for the top spot on the podium. That just goes to show how much I know. Nina didn’t answer particularly quickly, but what she did manage to do was, for the most part, answer correctly. Her 14 was one of the better GK rounds that we’ve seen all series. It wasn’t necessarily enough to blow the opposition away, but it was certainly enough to put them all into the corridor of uncertainty. It left her on 25, and remember that both of the last two shows have been won with a 26. I managed 17 on Nina’s questions.
Andrew came next , and I have to say that while his GK round was certainly by no means at all bad, I never felt convinced that he was going to manage to beat Nina’s total. He came close, mind you. He needed 12 to equal her points total, and that’s exactly what he got. However he also incurred 2 passes, and if the show were to go to pass countback, that wouldn’t be good enough, since Nina only had the one. It’s not often that we see someone turn around in 4th at the halfway stage to come back and win, but it has happened. Would tonight be another such occasion ? I managed 19 on Andrew’s questions.
Well, I have to say that it certainly looked possible, for Kevin was answering his GK questions no more quickly than he’d done on his specialist round, and from about the minute mark I started to think that he was behind on the run rate, as it were. He got close , alright, but just ran out of time as the finishing line was in sight. He scored 10 to take his total to 24. I managed 18 of Kevin’s questions.
Only Michael Wright stood between Nina and a famous victory. Michael Wright, though, in terms of GK was a different kettle of fish to the two contenders who preceded him into the chair. For one thing he was answering very quickly, and thus built up a head of steam that a few wrong answers here and there couldn’t extinguish. Now, this is just my opinion, and relative difficulty of rounds is often more in the eye of the beholder than anything else. But I did think that Michael’s round was actually a tad harder than the others. I scored more on Michael’s round than on the others – 20 – but I felt that was just because Michael himself was going so quickly. Put it another way, I thought that you had to know your stuff to score 15 on that round, which is precisely what Michael did. I feel sorry for Nina after such a splendid fightback, and I hope that she makes it to the semis on a highest runner up spot. Still, there was no doubt about the winner. Michael’s was one of the best performances we’ve seen in this series so far, and he fully deserves his semi final spot. Well played, sir.
The Details
| Kevin Baker | Sir Ian Botham | 14 - 0 | 10 - 1 | 24 – 1 |
| Andrew Hunt | The Life and Work of Caspar David Friedrich | 13 - 0 | 12 - 2 | 25 – 2 |
| Nina Featherston | Guns n’ Roses | 11 - 0 | 14 - 1 | 25 – 1 |
| Michael Wright | The Hornblower Novels | 14 - 1 | 15 - 4 | 29 – 5 |
Monday, 24 September 2012
University Challenge - Round One - Heat 9
St. Andrews v. University of Bangor
St. Andrews’ teams are always given the choice of wearing their distinctive red cloaks or not when appearing on UC. This year’s team were in plain clothes, so to speak. They were Ben Adams, Jim Parsons, Andrew Newton, and their captain James Gray.
The University of Bangor was , until a very short time ago, a college of the now defunct University of Wales. Well, I did my English degree at Goldsmith’s College, but I did my Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Swansea – which was part of the University of Wales at the time, and so I am afraid that the weight of support from the Clark sofa had to be borne by the collective shoulders of Adam Pearce, Mark Stevens, Simon Tomlinson, and captain Nina Grant.
First blood was drawn by Simon Tomlinson who knew that the USA took control of the Philippines from Spain in the dog end of the 19th century. This brought up two bonuses on world history. I was a little surprised that neither team knew that the two Chancellors of the Exchequer who died on the same day, 70 years apart, were Lord Randolph and Sir Winston Churchill. Simon Tomlinson took his second starter, taking that good old quizzer’s chestnut that the area between the Earth’s crust and its core is the mantle. 2 bonuses were take on the work of Henrik Ibsen. Neither team could answer a definition referring to the term – Self Fulfilling Prophecy. A moment or two of amusement was provided by captain James Gray’s buzz, then his immediate retraction – “Trust me , it’s wrong” he said. Commendable honesty from the St. Andrews skipper. The next starter was another old chestnut, asking about the Scottish born writer of adventure stories who wrote about travels in America, and died on Samoa. Neither team knew this was R.L. Stevenson, and Bangor lost five for an early buzz. Actually thinking about it, the next starter, which neither team got, has done the rounds a few times as well. Carlton Magee invented what ? The Parking meter. You’ve heard it or you haven’t. We were actually stuck in a bit of an answer drought at the moment. The next starter, which was some Physics thing, asked about a particle named after the 20th letter of the greek alphabet. Although one answer got a satisfyingly indignant reaction from JP, neither team knew this would be upsilon. At last we had a correct answer, when James Gray knew that the sporting venue named after an early aviation pioneer was Roland Garros. One bonus was take on a hard set on zoology. James Gray took his second consecutive starter with the picture starter, which showed , as he knew, an Australian Rules football pitch . ( By the way – if you’ve never seen an Aussie rules game, and you get the opportunity, you should. It’s a GREAT sport. ) The bonuses showed other playing areas, and one was duly identified. Ben Adams took a good starter on George Orwell’s Duckspeak, and a full set of bonuses on names was taken. AT this stage St. Andrews had sprinted into a lead of 50 to 30.
Mark Stevens hit back for Bangor with the Van Allen Belt. One bonus followed on language families.Nina Grant knew that a series of characters, culminating with Dinkley from Scooby Doo, all have the name Velma. One bonus on the Roman Catholic church followed. Neither team could recognize a pop music starter. Both teams knew the band was Coldplay, but neither knew the song was Lovers in Japan. Given a series of films starting with Howard the Duck, neither team knew that they had all received the Golden Raspberry for the year’s worst film. Cue an interesting and enjoyable telling off for Simon Tomlinson. After St. Andrews got their answer wrong he buzzed in , without giving JP the chance to read the whole question for him. JP seemed extremely pleased that he got it wrong anyway. Andrew newton, quiet in the match to this point, buzzed in to correctly identify The Mask of Anarchy as being Shelley’s response to the Peterloo Massacre. Unfortunately this earned them the music bonuses. They could identify the groups, but not the countries featured in the titles of the songs. One of those maths things about acceleration accelerated away from both teams. Nina Grant knew that the first and last colours of the rainbow alphabetically are blue and yellow. 2 bonuses followed on volcanic rocks, and they were unlucky not to get a full house, due to the skipper mishearing an answer from Mark Stevens. It had been a good little period for Bangor, and St. Andrews needed to strike back. Andrew Newton took the next starter. knowing Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. 2 bonuses on long stage works narrowed the gap further. Mark Stevens buzzed in quickly for the next starter. he knew that if the question contains the words ‘animal’ and ‘latitudes’ then the likelihood is that we’re dealing with the horse latitudes. 2 bonuses on Science fiction were gladly received. The next starter was the second picture starter, but neither team could identify that the lady depicted had been painted by Picasso. Andrew Newton, though, who was doing a sterling job keeping his team in the game , knew that Russia joined the former G6 after Canada. St. Andrews were unable to identify any of the artists in the picture bonuses. Again, Andrew Newton struck knowing that the substance found at the Earth’s core is also often found in meteorites. No bonuses could be taken on physics, and this close game was getting closer still. Simon Tomlinson knew that the stage of an insect’s life being asked for was pupa. One bonus on classical music was taken. Andrew Newton for once buzzed early unsuccessfully, failing to correctly identify the Sea of Azov. One bonus was taken on a good UC set on rings. Neither team knew that the US state beginning with I , which lies between two other states beginning with the same letter, is Illinois. Jim Parsons took a good starter, knowing that the Museum in the Clouds can be found in the Dolomites. But alas for St. Andrews, no bonuses on institutions followed. Rather surprisingly nobody knew that you can have yellow, grey and pied wagtails. Ben Adams knew that a selection of things were all linked by the word El, but that only brought the gong. There was never much more than a chink of daylight between the two teams, but Bangor probably had the better of the contest overall, and they won by 125 to St. Andrews’ 105. Hard lines St. Andrews, but well done Bangor. Good luck in the second round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP peddled a fine line in exasperated indignation tonight. Firstly we had the response to Stafford Cripps being offered as an answer to the Chancellor / PM question. “Good heavens ! NO ! . . . NEVER !”. Then for the upsilon question, one of the teams suggested ‘neutrino’. Our man did a virtual double take .”. . . WHAT ?!!” Then for the painters bonuses, to be fair to St. Andrews they didn’t know the British artists involved, so they dug up a name to hit and hope with – which really is all you can do when you don’t know. They offered Gormley as one answer. “What – “spluttered our hero, “ Anthony Gormley ? “ Oh come on, Jezz. You knew very well that they didn’t mean Joe Gormley.
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
Jupiter has a system of rings called Halo, Main, Gossamer and Himalia
St. Andrews’ teams are always given the choice of wearing their distinctive red cloaks or not when appearing on UC. This year’s team were in plain clothes, so to speak. They were Ben Adams, Jim Parsons, Andrew Newton, and their captain James Gray.
The University of Bangor was , until a very short time ago, a college of the now defunct University of Wales. Well, I did my English degree at Goldsmith’s College, but I did my Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Swansea – which was part of the University of Wales at the time, and so I am afraid that the weight of support from the Clark sofa had to be borne by the collective shoulders of Adam Pearce, Mark Stevens, Simon Tomlinson, and captain Nina Grant.
First blood was drawn by Simon Tomlinson who knew that the USA took control of the Philippines from Spain in the dog end of the 19th century. This brought up two bonuses on world history. I was a little surprised that neither team knew that the two Chancellors of the Exchequer who died on the same day, 70 years apart, were Lord Randolph and Sir Winston Churchill. Simon Tomlinson took his second starter, taking that good old quizzer’s chestnut that the area between the Earth’s crust and its core is the mantle. 2 bonuses were take on the work of Henrik Ibsen. Neither team could answer a definition referring to the term – Self Fulfilling Prophecy. A moment or two of amusement was provided by captain James Gray’s buzz, then his immediate retraction – “Trust me , it’s wrong” he said. Commendable honesty from the St. Andrews skipper. The next starter was another old chestnut, asking about the Scottish born writer of adventure stories who wrote about travels in America, and died on Samoa. Neither team knew this was R.L. Stevenson, and Bangor lost five for an early buzz. Actually thinking about it, the next starter, which neither team got, has done the rounds a few times as well. Carlton Magee invented what ? The Parking meter. You’ve heard it or you haven’t. We were actually stuck in a bit of an answer drought at the moment. The next starter, which was some Physics thing, asked about a particle named after the 20th letter of the greek alphabet. Although one answer got a satisfyingly indignant reaction from JP, neither team knew this would be upsilon. At last we had a correct answer, when James Gray knew that the sporting venue named after an early aviation pioneer was Roland Garros. One bonus was take on a hard set on zoology. James Gray took his second consecutive starter with the picture starter, which showed , as he knew, an Australian Rules football pitch . ( By the way – if you’ve never seen an Aussie rules game, and you get the opportunity, you should. It’s a GREAT sport. ) The bonuses showed other playing areas, and one was duly identified. Ben Adams took a good starter on George Orwell’s Duckspeak, and a full set of bonuses on names was taken. AT this stage St. Andrews had sprinted into a lead of 50 to 30.
Mark Stevens hit back for Bangor with the Van Allen Belt. One bonus followed on language families.Nina Grant knew that a series of characters, culminating with Dinkley from Scooby Doo, all have the name Velma. One bonus on the Roman Catholic church followed. Neither team could recognize a pop music starter. Both teams knew the band was Coldplay, but neither knew the song was Lovers in Japan. Given a series of films starting with Howard the Duck, neither team knew that they had all received the Golden Raspberry for the year’s worst film. Cue an interesting and enjoyable telling off for Simon Tomlinson. After St. Andrews got their answer wrong he buzzed in , without giving JP the chance to read the whole question for him. JP seemed extremely pleased that he got it wrong anyway. Andrew newton, quiet in the match to this point, buzzed in to correctly identify The Mask of Anarchy as being Shelley’s response to the Peterloo Massacre. Unfortunately this earned them the music bonuses. They could identify the groups, but not the countries featured in the titles of the songs. One of those maths things about acceleration accelerated away from both teams. Nina Grant knew that the first and last colours of the rainbow alphabetically are blue and yellow. 2 bonuses followed on volcanic rocks, and they were unlucky not to get a full house, due to the skipper mishearing an answer from Mark Stevens. It had been a good little period for Bangor, and St. Andrews needed to strike back. Andrew Newton took the next starter. knowing Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. 2 bonuses on long stage works narrowed the gap further. Mark Stevens buzzed in quickly for the next starter. he knew that if the question contains the words ‘animal’ and ‘latitudes’ then the likelihood is that we’re dealing with the horse latitudes. 2 bonuses on Science fiction were gladly received. The next starter was the second picture starter, but neither team could identify that the lady depicted had been painted by Picasso. Andrew Newton, though, who was doing a sterling job keeping his team in the game , knew that Russia joined the former G6 after Canada. St. Andrews were unable to identify any of the artists in the picture bonuses. Again, Andrew Newton struck knowing that the substance found at the Earth’s core is also often found in meteorites. No bonuses could be taken on physics, and this close game was getting closer still. Simon Tomlinson knew that the stage of an insect’s life being asked for was pupa. One bonus on classical music was taken. Andrew Newton for once buzzed early unsuccessfully, failing to correctly identify the Sea of Azov. One bonus was taken on a good UC set on rings. Neither team knew that the US state beginning with I , which lies between two other states beginning with the same letter, is Illinois. Jim Parsons took a good starter, knowing that the Museum in the Clouds can be found in the Dolomites. But alas for St. Andrews, no bonuses on institutions followed. Rather surprisingly nobody knew that you can have yellow, grey and pied wagtails. Ben Adams knew that a selection of things were all linked by the word El, but that only brought the gong. There was never much more than a chink of daylight between the two teams, but Bangor probably had the better of the contest overall, and they won by 125 to St. Andrews’ 105. Hard lines St. Andrews, but well done Bangor. Good luck in the second round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP peddled a fine line in exasperated indignation tonight. Firstly we had the response to Stafford Cripps being offered as an answer to the Chancellor / PM question. “Good heavens ! NO ! . . . NEVER !”. Then for the upsilon question, one of the teams suggested ‘neutrino’. Our man did a virtual double take .”. . . WHAT ?!!” Then for the painters bonuses, to be fair to St. Andrews they didn’t know the British artists involved, so they dug up a name to hit and hope with – which really is all you can do when you don’t know. They offered Gormley as one answer. “What – “spluttered our hero, “ Anthony Gormley ? “ Oh come on, Jezz. You knew very well that they didn’t mean Joe Gormley.
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
Jupiter has a system of rings called Halo, Main, Gossamer and Himalia
Only Connect - Round One - Heat 5
The Trenchermen v. The Numerists
Every OC match up offers us something of interest. Tonight it was a Youth v. Experience confrontation. Experience featured in the persons of the Trenchermen, Steve Donnelly, Gareth Williams and captain Bob Hughes.Youth on the other hand was ably represented by the Numerists, Hannah Twitchell, Dorian Lidell and captain James Wilson. In an everyday quiz you’d give experience the nod over youth the majority of time. But then OC is no ordinary quiz. None of the competitors were previously known to me, as far as I know, so I wasn’t making any predictions this time round.
Round One – What’s the Connection ?
Kicking off with the horned viper, the Trenchermen were given music to start. I didn’t recognize an excerpt from The Soldier’s Tale, but I did know Soldier, Soldier, and A Scottish Soldier. The Trenchers also took Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier, before supplying the correct answer. Nice little music set that. The Numerists also took a full set from twisted flax. Shaking a pair of gloves – snapping a carrot in half – Crumpling cellophane and walking in cat litter gave them Foley sound effects. I went with that, but it also occurred to me that maybe all 4 of them also form part of the initiation ceremony of the Masons, but I digress. Now, when the Trenchers went for two reeds, they were given Miss World 1973 as the first clue. I shouted out the correct answer – and so, in a manner of speaking, did they. They went for the full five, and found them, with the correct answer that the connection would be that all of the people in the list were stripped of their titles. Maybe a gentler one that if you were around at the time, but then that’s just the lack of the draw. Kudos to the Trenchers for having the guts to go for it, rather than taking ‘another one to be sure’. Adding insult to injury, the Nums then found pictures behind Lion. They maybe didn’t know that the hyena shown in the first was in fact an aardwolf, and that the third picture showed Ffion Hague. They had the right idea, but zigged with doubled letter Fs, when they should have gone with double letters starting the words. This was a bonus which the Trenchers were happy to accept. Still, the Trenchers then returned the favour. They two were in the ballpark, saying that the set behind the eye of Horus – A heart – The Once and Future King – Post War Berlin were all divided in two. Ah, but a heart has 4 chambers. The last part – This question – proved that the Nums were right in saying that they were all divided in four parts – post war Berlin had 4 sectors. The Nums finished the round, and their own mini fightback , by knowing that Sierpinski’s Triangle – The Blind Assassin and Matryoshka are all examples of recursion – each has a little version of itself inside, which has a little version fo itself inside – you get the point. So did the Nums, which put them up to 4, as against the Trenchers’ 7.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
I’m afraid that basic quiz knowledge let down the Trenchers for the set behind Lion. They knew that Kauai and Oahu were islands, but didn’t get that they all formed part of Hawaii. The Nums knew that the largest island of the group is Hawaii itself, aka the Big Island. For their own question they impressed Victoria no end by knowing that 2005 – 8 Isthmian Premier / 2008 – 9 Conference South / 2009 – 11 Conference National – would be followed by 2011 League 2. I had it , but I didn’t know why, other than it’s the next league up. However the Nums also knew that this is the sequence of the rise and rise of AFC Wimbledon. Impressive stuff. Stung into action, the Trenchers called for Water, and given 10: The Wheel of Fortune, and 11: Justice, they played the percentages, knowing this would be tarot cards, and plumped for 13: Death. Simple as that, and a good couple of points earned. Still, if the Trenchers could go early successfully, so could the Nums. Given Kitty – Mary – they leapt right in with Jane, the oldest of the Bennett sisters from Pride and Predjudice – knowing that the youngest, Lydia, had been left off. The twisted flax picture clues called for real lateral thinking. Viper gave the Trenchers pictures of a handball, a volleyball, and a basketball. Neither team figured that these were 7 , then 6, then 5 a side games. So any ball from a 4 a side game – like polo – would have done. No, I didn’t get it either, but it’s a great set. Finally the Numerists let points slip by working out that Centre – Down Centre – Apron were all moving forward along a stage, but not figuring out that if you come any further forward then you’re in the orchestra pit. The Trenchers knew this, and so it meant that at the end of the round they still led, but only by 10 to 11.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Numerists were impressing me a little more as the game went on, and they managed to unravel the whole wall before the time was up. They knew that Turin – Calgary – Chamonix – Nagano have all been host cities for the Winter Olympic Games. Haymarket – Criterion – Prince of Wales and Lyric they knew were large London Theatres. Lillehammer – XYZ – Iran-Contra – Profumo provided one of those moments when Victoria allows a little leeway, and in this case I think it was justified. The Nums offered scandals – while the word being sought was – Affairs, but this time I certainly agreed that they were close enough. The set which they couldn’t get was Boateng – Guinness - Oldfield and Wakely. I’ll be honest, only Boateng and Oldfield gave me fashion designers. A good wall though to give them 7 points.
The Trenchers didn’t fare so wwell with the Lion. They unraveled Shut up – Michael Caine – House of Fun and Lovestruck as Madness songs. That was it though. When the wall was resolved, they could see that Insurance – benefit – Advance Fee and Carousel are all forms of financial fraud. They also knew that Teacup – Octopus – Waltzer and Pirate Ship are all forms of fairground ride.However they didn’t recognize Jel - Mayja – Reem and Vajazzle. It was Vajazzle that gave this one to me . They are all slang terms from The Only way Is Essex – which I believe is a television programme which is popular with a certain stratum of the viewing public. The 4 points they earned were not enough to keep the lead. This now belonged to the Numerists, who led by 17 to 15.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
The Nums had the air of a team that could do very well in the last round, and this impression was confirmed as they leapt into the fray with a 3 -1 score on Air travel terms. This score they repeated on major geographical features of Africa. They only managed two of the Misers, but since the Trenchers only managed 1 it didn’t matter. There was just time for the Nums to pick up one of the Undergarments before the end of the contest.
At the end it looked a very comfortable win for the Numerists by 26 to 18. It was just the way that things worked out. The Trenchermen have nothing to reproach themselves about, it just didn’t work out for them on the wall, and they were beaten by a very good ‘vowels team’. Well done Numerists – good luck in the next round.
Every OC match up offers us something of interest. Tonight it was a Youth v. Experience confrontation. Experience featured in the persons of the Trenchermen, Steve Donnelly, Gareth Williams and captain Bob Hughes.Youth on the other hand was ably represented by the Numerists, Hannah Twitchell, Dorian Lidell and captain James Wilson. In an everyday quiz you’d give experience the nod over youth the majority of time. But then OC is no ordinary quiz. None of the competitors were previously known to me, as far as I know, so I wasn’t making any predictions this time round.
Round One – What’s the Connection ?
Kicking off with the horned viper, the Trenchermen were given music to start. I didn’t recognize an excerpt from The Soldier’s Tale, but I did know Soldier, Soldier, and A Scottish Soldier. The Trenchers also took Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier, before supplying the correct answer. Nice little music set that. The Numerists also took a full set from twisted flax. Shaking a pair of gloves – snapping a carrot in half – Crumpling cellophane and walking in cat litter gave them Foley sound effects. I went with that, but it also occurred to me that maybe all 4 of them also form part of the initiation ceremony of the Masons, but I digress. Now, when the Trenchers went for two reeds, they were given Miss World 1973 as the first clue. I shouted out the correct answer – and so, in a manner of speaking, did they. They went for the full five, and found them, with the correct answer that the connection would be that all of the people in the list were stripped of their titles. Maybe a gentler one that if you were around at the time, but then that’s just the lack of the draw. Kudos to the Trenchers for having the guts to go for it, rather than taking ‘another one to be sure’. Adding insult to injury, the Nums then found pictures behind Lion. They maybe didn’t know that the hyena shown in the first was in fact an aardwolf, and that the third picture showed Ffion Hague. They had the right idea, but zigged with doubled letter Fs, when they should have gone with double letters starting the words. This was a bonus which the Trenchers were happy to accept. Still, the Trenchers then returned the favour. They two were in the ballpark, saying that the set behind the eye of Horus – A heart – The Once and Future King – Post War Berlin were all divided in two. Ah, but a heart has 4 chambers. The last part – This question – proved that the Nums were right in saying that they were all divided in four parts – post war Berlin had 4 sectors. The Nums finished the round, and their own mini fightback , by knowing that Sierpinski’s Triangle – The Blind Assassin and Matryoshka are all examples of recursion – each has a little version of itself inside, which has a little version fo itself inside – you get the point. So did the Nums, which put them up to 4, as against the Trenchers’ 7.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
I’m afraid that basic quiz knowledge let down the Trenchers for the set behind Lion. They knew that Kauai and Oahu were islands, but didn’t get that they all formed part of Hawaii. The Nums knew that the largest island of the group is Hawaii itself, aka the Big Island. For their own question they impressed Victoria no end by knowing that 2005 – 8 Isthmian Premier / 2008 – 9 Conference South / 2009 – 11 Conference National – would be followed by 2011 League 2. I had it , but I didn’t know why, other than it’s the next league up. However the Nums also knew that this is the sequence of the rise and rise of AFC Wimbledon. Impressive stuff. Stung into action, the Trenchers called for Water, and given 10: The Wheel of Fortune, and 11: Justice, they played the percentages, knowing this would be tarot cards, and plumped for 13: Death. Simple as that, and a good couple of points earned. Still, if the Trenchers could go early successfully, so could the Nums. Given Kitty – Mary – they leapt right in with Jane, the oldest of the Bennett sisters from Pride and Predjudice – knowing that the youngest, Lydia, had been left off. The twisted flax picture clues called for real lateral thinking. Viper gave the Trenchers pictures of a handball, a volleyball, and a basketball. Neither team figured that these were 7 , then 6, then 5 a side games. So any ball from a 4 a side game – like polo – would have done. No, I didn’t get it either, but it’s a great set. Finally the Numerists let points slip by working out that Centre – Down Centre – Apron were all moving forward along a stage, but not figuring out that if you come any further forward then you’re in the orchestra pit. The Trenchers knew this, and so it meant that at the end of the round they still led, but only by 10 to 11.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Numerists were impressing me a little more as the game went on, and they managed to unravel the whole wall before the time was up. They knew that Turin – Calgary – Chamonix – Nagano have all been host cities for the Winter Olympic Games. Haymarket – Criterion – Prince of Wales and Lyric they knew were large London Theatres. Lillehammer – XYZ – Iran-Contra – Profumo provided one of those moments when Victoria allows a little leeway, and in this case I think it was justified. The Nums offered scandals – while the word being sought was – Affairs, but this time I certainly agreed that they were close enough. The set which they couldn’t get was Boateng – Guinness - Oldfield and Wakely. I’ll be honest, only Boateng and Oldfield gave me fashion designers. A good wall though to give them 7 points.
The Trenchers didn’t fare so wwell with the Lion. They unraveled Shut up – Michael Caine – House of Fun and Lovestruck as Madness songs. That was it though. When the wall was resolved, they could see that Insurance – benefit – Advance Fee and Carousel are all forms of financial fraud. They also knew that Teacup – Octopus – Waltzer and Pirate Ship are all forms of fairground ride.However they didn’t recognize Jel - Mayja – Reem and Vajazzle. It was Vajazzle that gave this one to me . They are all slang terms from The Only way Is Essex – which I believe is a television programme which is popular with a certain stratum of the viewing public. The 4 points they earned were not enough to keep the lead. This now belonged to the Numerists, who led by 17 to 15.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
The Nums had the air of a team that could do very well in the last round, and this impression was confirmed as they leapt into the fray with a 3 -1 score on Air travel terms. This score they repeated on major geographical features of Africa. They only managed two of the Misers, but since the Trenchers only managed 1 it didn’t matter. There was just time for the Nums to pick up one of the Undergarments before the end of the contest.
At the end it looked a very comfortable win for the Numerists by 26 to 18. It was just the way that things worked out. The Trenchermen have nothing to reproach themselves about, it just didn’t work out for them on the wall, and they were beaten by a very good ‘vowels team’. Well done Numerists – good luck in the next round.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Stop Press ; The People's Choice Returns
I've just seen the news on Facebook that Dave Rainford is debuting as the new Egghead - CJ having left for pastures new. Silly me - I didn't read it carefully, and thought that he was in a team taking on the Eggheads - thanks to Lisa for pointing that one out to me.
Well, CJ will be missed by both those who loved him, and also those who loathed him. Alright, you maybe wouldn't have put him in the same bracket as a quizzer as Kevin, Pat, Barry, Daphne and Chris - well, there's no maybe about it, you wouldn't have - but he worked at his quizzing during his time on the show. He was always good entertainment value too. Good luck CJ.
As for Dave , well I don't think that it will come as a huge shock when I say that the Eggheads are all the stronger for having him on board. We at LAM labelled him as the People's Choice during the two series of Are You An Egghead, and now it seems at last the producers have bowed to pressure to give the people what they want . Go Dave !
Well, CJ will be missed by both those who loved him, and also those who loathed him. Alright, you maybe wouldn't have put him in the same bracket as a quizzer as Kevin, Pat, Barry, Daphne and Chris - well, there's no maybe about it, you wouldn't have - but he worked at his quizzing during his time on the show. He was always good entertainment value too. Good luck CJ.
As for Dave , well I don't think that it will come as a huge shock when I say that the Eggheads are all the stronger for having him on board. We at LAM labelled him as the People's Choice during the two series of Are You An Egghead, and now it seems at last the producers have bowed to pressure to give the people what they want . Go Dave !
Humphrys v. Paxman - take two
The two of them are at it again. Jeremy ‘Piledriver’ Paxman and John ‘The Hammer’ Humphrys are flexing their muscles and beating their metaphorical chests in each other’s direction. As this article from the Daily Telegraph explains, JP entered JH’s lair of Radio 4’s Today programme to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, and John wasted no opportunity to raise the hoary head of the ‘dumbing down’ issue once again. You can read the whole article here :
Daily Telegraph - University Challenge at 50 is harder than ever
It’s almost three years since we last had the sight of these two behemoths squaring up to each other. You can find what I wrote about that particular spat at the time in this post from 2009
There's Only One Way To Find Out
Just in case you don’t remember that original post, or haven’t the time to read it again, I take the liberty of reposting my blueprint for peace between these two rutting stags of the quiz mastery universe : -
The Clark Plan For Peace
Both of you go on Sleb Mastermind, with the same subject – British Politics 1990 – 2007. Then both of you captain a team against each other in a UC quiz. JP can have a team made up of , lets say, the captains of the last three UC winning teams, and JH can have a team made of three Mastermind champions ( I immodestly volunteer my own services. Well, it’s my ball, and if I can’t play then I’m taking it home. ) Should any enterprising BBC producer be reading this, then yes, I am most definitely available, and would even act as MM questionmaster for their show for no added fee.
I still think it’s got legs, boys , if you’re up for it.
Daily Telegraph - University Challenge at 50 is harder than ever
It’s almost three years since we last had the sight of these two behemoths squaring up to each other. You can find what I wrote about that particular spat at the time in this post from 2009
There's Only One Way To Find Out
Just in case you don’t remember that original post, or haven’t the time to read it again, I take the liberty of reposting my blueprint for peace between these two rutting stags of the quiz mastery universe : -
The Clark Plan For Peace
Both of you go on Sleb Mastermind, with the same subject – British Politics 1990 – 2007. Then both of you captain a team against each other in a UC quiz. JP can have a team made up of , lets say, the captains of the last three UC winning teams, and JH can have a team made of three Mastermind champions ( I immodestly volunteer my own services. Well, it’s my ball, and if I can’t play then I’m taking it home. ) Should any enterprising BBC producer be reading this, then yes, I am most definitely available, and would even act as MM questionmaster for their show for no added fee.
I still think it’s got legs, boys , if you’re up for it.
MDN News - Saved by good timing
I wouldn’t want you having another sleepless night wondering about what happened at the Rugby club on Thursday night, and worrying whether the Morally Deficient Numpties were up to their old tricks again. So I’ll tell you now – it was a cracking good quiz , and a cracking night. There were only the three of us in our team, but though I say it myself I was on form, and we gained a win against the odds. Judging by the scores the team featuring the two MDNs who were phone cheating three weeks ago were playing fair again. We took an early lead in the first round, were level pegging after the second round, then behind after the 4th round, then in the lead after the 5th round, and it was a lead which we managed to increase a little further by the end of the quiz. We were even one of the highest scoring teams on the picture quiz, which almost never happens. As the late George Formby used to say – turned out nice again, in’t it. Which reminds me of a friend of the family who insisted a year or two ago on extolling the virtues of her George Formby grilling machine, as she called it. However I digress.
During the quiz, only good timing saved my team from what could have potentially been very embarrassing. Allow me to set the scene. We had opened the quiz with a full house of ten out of ten. We also knew 9 answers of the next round, but I didn’t know the answer to the question – “In the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ , several time the film shows parts of a film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. What was the title of that film ? “ It’s a fair question, but if I ever did know the answer, I’d certainly forgotten it since. Now, one of my two teammates was sure that he knew the answer, but just couldn’t think of it. After a couple of minutes he went outside – for a smoke as I thought. Maybe I had just an inkling of what he was going to do, or maybe I just thought that we weren’t going to get it so we should hand in anyway. So I handed in our sheet a minute or so before the teammate came back. He saw that the sheet had gone, and seemed really disappointed. – I’ve got it – he said – It’s ‘An Affair to Remember’ . – How unfortunate ! – I said – or words to that effect. Then he giggled and admitted that he’d googled it on his phone. Oh dear.
Well, thankfully the paper had gone in before he did this, so I can guarantee that our performance on Thursday night was absolutely kosher. I suppose that I can sort of see what must have driven him to it. As much as I hate the phone cheating, so does he, and so I don’t know, maybe there was a touch of administering a dose of their own medicine. I could see that it was driving him mad that he just couldn’t dredge up the answer. But cheating is still cheating however you look at it. It doesn’t matter who’s doing it. I didn’t go on about it, but I did say that I was glad that we’d already handed in because we couldn’t possibly have used his answer after that. I said that we couldn’t complain about another team cheating if we were going to do things like that ourselves, and left it at that. I’ve never known him to do anything like that before, and he didn’t do it again through the rest of the quiz. Still, I can’t help wondering how I would have felt about it if he’d come back before we handed in, given us the answer, THEN told us how he came by it. I suppose you wouldn’t have been able to blame the other two of us too much because we’d have done it unwittingly. Even so, it would have left a nasty taste in the mouth.
During the quiz, only good timing saved my team from what could have potentially been very embarrassing. Allow me to set the scene. We had opened the quiz with a full house of ten out of ten. We also knew 9 answers of the next round, but I didn’t know the answer to the question – “In the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ , several time the film shows parts of a film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. What was the title of that film ? “ It’s a fair question, but if I ever did know the answer, I’d certainly forgotten it since. Now, one of my two teammates was sure that he knew the answer, but just couldn’t think of it. After a couple of minutes he went outside – for a smoke as I thought. Maybe I had just an inkling of what he was going to do, or maybe I just thought that we weren’t going to get it so we should hand in anyway. So I handed in our sheet a minute or so before the teammate came back. He saw that the sheet had gone, and seemed really disappointed. – I’ve got it – he said – It’s ‘An Affair to Remember’ . – How unfortunate ! – I said – or words to that effect. Then he giggled and admitted that he’d googled it on his phone. Oh dear.
Well, thankfully the paper had gone in before he did this, so I can guarantee that our performance on Thursday night was absolutely kosher. I suppose that I can sort of see what must have driven him to it. As much as I hate the phone cheating, so does he, and so I don’t know, maybe there was a touch of administering a dose of their own medicine. I could see that it was driving him mad that he just couldn’t dredge up the answer. But cheating is still cheating however you look at it. It doesn’t matter who’s doing it. I didn’t go on about it, but I did say that I was glad that we’d already handed in because we couldn’t possibly have used his answer after that. I said that we couldn’t complain about another team cheating if we were going to do things like that ourselves, and left it at that. I’ve never known him to do anything like that before, and he didn’t do it again through the rest of the quiz. Still, I can’t help wondering how I would have felt about it if he’d come back before we handed in, given us the answer, THEN told us how he came by it. I suppose you wouldn’t have been able to blame the other two of us too much because we’d have done it unwittingly. Even so, it would have left a nasty taste in the mouth.
In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Nevin Spence
2. Patrick Mercer
3. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
4. Paul Beales
5. Aurelien Hamelle
6. 15 Khordad Foundation
7. Susanne Wilkinson
8. Dale Cregan
9. Capita
10. Elinor Barker
11. Doctor Sleep
12. Vindicat W
13. Just Sayin’
14. Daniel Thomas
15. Charlie Richardson
16. Clyde
17. Andrew Mitchell
18. Jessica Harper
19. The Casual Vacancy
20. The Audience
In Other News
1. Who was criticized last week for saying that he can’t think of anything worse than 2 men bringing up a child together ?
2. Spurs achieved their first win in the Premier League this year against which team ?
3. London Welsh achieved their first premier league win against which team ?
4. Michael Gove announced his replacement for GCSEs last week. What is it called ?
5. Who was officially sacked by the Metropolitan Police last week ?
6. At a Charity auction, which celebrity bought Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Bridge last week ?
7. Who won a prestigious Spanish amateur golf title ?
8. Who won cricket’s first division of the county championship ?
9. Who were runners up ?
10. Which two teams were relegated to Division 2 ?
11. Who had the best batting average in Division 1 ?
12. Who had the best bowling average for division 1 ?
13. Which team won the second division ?
14. Which team were also promoted ?
15. Who had the best batting average in division 2 ?
16. Who had the best bowling average in division 2 ?
17. Laura Robson marked her highest ever world ranking by making the final of her first WTA tournament. Where ?
18. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put their troubles behind them and joined dancers on which small island nation ?
19. A huge diamond field has been found in a meteorite crater in which country ?
20. The very last of which make and model of car rolled off the production line last week ?
21. Venice has decided to allow what on the Rialto Bridge ?
22. Who scored the last minute goal to give Real Madrid a 3 – 2 win over Man City ?
23. Which European team did Arsenal defeat 2 – 1 ?
24. Which well respected sports writer and sports editor passed away last week aged 63 ?
25. Striking miners returned to work at which South African mine ?
26. Whose campaign against windfarms was ruled as using a misleading advert ?
27. For what did Nick Clegg publicly apologise last week ?
28. Who is quitting The World Tonight ?
29. With which team did Chelsea draw ?
30. – and with which team did Celtic draw ?
31. Which team did Man Utd. beat 1 – 0
32. Which Space Shuttle flew to its new home in LA ?
33. Who walked out of Piers’ Morgans CNN show after seeing photographs of his ex wife on the set ?
34. Burmese leaders are learning about democracy through watching which TV show ?
35. Which BBC News presenter is now joining Songs of Praise ?
36. By whom was Jeremy Paxman faced with the accusation that University Challenge is ‘dumbing Down “ ?
1. Nevin Spence
2. Patrick Mercer
3. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
4. Paul Beales
5. Aurelien Hamelle
6. 15 Khordad Foundation
7. Susanne Wilkinson
8. Dale Cregan
9. Capita
10. Elinor Barker
11. Doctor Sleep
12. Vindicat W
13. Just Sayin’
14. Daniel Thomas
15. Charlie Richardson
16. Clyde
17. Andrew Mitchell
18. Jessica Harper
19. The Casual Vacancy
20. The Audience
In Other News
1. Who was criticized last week for saying that he can’t think of anything worse than 2 men bringing up a child together ?
2. Spurs achieved their first win in the Premier League this year against which team ?
3. London Welsh achieved their first premier league win against which team ?
4. Michael Gove announced his replacement for GCSEs last week. What is it called ?
5. Who was officially sacked by the Metropolitan Police last week ?
6. At a Charity auction, which celebrity bought Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Bridge last week ?
7. Who won a prestigious Spanish amateur golf title ?
8. Who won cricket’s first division of the county championship ?
9. Who were runners up ?
10. Which two teams were relegated to Division 2 ?
11. Who had the best batting average in Division 1 ?
12. Who had the best bowling average for division 1 ?
13. Which team won the second division ?
14. Which team were also promoted ?
15. Who had the best batting average in division 2 ?
16. Who had the best bowling average in division 2 ?
17. Laura Robson marked her highest ever world ranking by making the final of her first WTA tournament. Where ?
18. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put their troubles behind them and joined dancers on which small island nation ?
19. A huge diamond field has been found in a meteorite crater in which country ?
20. The very last of which make and model of car rolled off the production line last week ?
21. Venice has decided to allow what on the Rialto Bridge ?
22. Who scored the last minute goal to give Real Madrid a 3 – 2 win over Man City ?
23. Which European team did Arsenal defeat 2 – 1 ?
24. Which well respected sports writer and sports editor passed away last week aged 63 ?
25. Striking miners returned to work at which South African mine ?
26. Whose campaign against windfarms was ruled as using a misleading advert ?
27. For what did Nick Clegg publicly apologise last week ?
28. Who is quitting The World Tonight ?
29. With which team did Chelsea draw ?
30. – and with which team did Celtic draw ?
31. Which team did Man Utd. beat 1 – 0
32. Which Space Shuttle flew to its new home in LA ?
33. Who walked out of Piers’ Morgans CNN show after seeing photographs of his ex wife on the set ?
34. Burmese leaders are learning about democracy through watching which TV show ?
35. Which BBC News presenter is now joining Songs of Praise ?
36. By whom was Jeremy Paxman faced with the accusation that University Challenge is ‘dumbing Down “ ?
Answers to News Questions
Who or What are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. San Cristobal
2. Liam Broady
3. Monty
4. Xi Jiping
5. Oli Beale
6. Bill Moggridge
7. Chris Stevens
8. Behind the Lines
9. Rocio Pavan - Narrete
10. Neil Black
11. Sid Watkins
12. John Dunlop
13. Kweku Aduboli
14. Diaoyu / Senkakus
In Other News
1. In which position did Team GB finish in the Paralympic Games medal table ?
2. Team GBs David Weir won golds in how many events ?
3. Which vessel is to be sold for scrap ?
4. Whom did Andy Murray beat in the semi final on the way to his magnificent US Open Singles victory ?
5. With which team did Scotland contest a draw in their first world cup qualifier ?
6. Who won the Italian Grand Prix
7. Who won the Vuelta Espana ?
8. IN which position did GB’s Chris Froome finish in the Vuelta ?
9. Who was revealed as the second best selling author in the UK after JKRowling since 1998 ?
10. Which welsh exam board has announced that it will regrade GCSE English ?
11. Which Olympic Gold medallist will contest Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
12. Who will be the oldest ever contestant in Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
13. What did Iran’s President Ahmedinajad accuse the West of destroying this week?
14. Which city has been chosen or the ‘EuroVegas’ super casino ?
15. Who won the ladies’ singles in the US Open ?
16. Villagers are up in arms to prevent the sale of which Cape to the MOD ?
17. Which X Factor runner up is being sued by her former management ?
18. Who resigned from the Labour Party front bench ?
19. Whose penalty enabled England to gain a 1 – 1 draw with the Ukraine ?
20. Who was sent off for England in the same match ?
21. What was the score in the Wales v. Serbia qualifier ?
22. What was the score in the Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg match ?
23. Which book is the book most left behind in hotel rooms ?
24. Who claimed last week that he had been a victim of domestic abuse in his first two marriages ?
25. What was unveiled by Apple last week ?
26. Which former newspaper editor and broadcaster passed away last week ?
27. What will appear in Midsomer Murders for the first time next month ?
28. Who apologized to Liverpool fans for his horrible Spectator article 8 years ago, following the truth about the Hillsborough tragedy finally emerging last week ?
29. Who refused to have his pension reduced, but agreed not to take it until he is 65 ?
30. Which two teams will be promoted from cricket’s division 2 ?
31. Nissan are to recall 7000 of their 2012 versions of which model ?
32. Who made his last broadcast on radio 1
33. Who is currently visiting Lebanon and Syria ?
34. A new species of which mammal was announced last week ?
35. Which French magazine published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge last week ?
36. Which Hollywood star is helping clear earthquake damage in Haiti ?
37. Who withdrew from the Tour of Britain ?
38. Which resort was the venue for the TUC Conference ?
39. What symbols of love have been removed from ancient bridges over the River Tiber in Rome ?
Answers
Who or what are the following ?
1. Volcano which erupted in Nicaragua
2. Lost in Final of US Open Boys tournament
3. Queen’s corgi that passed away
4. Chinese leader in waiting who has disappeared from public view in recent weeks
5. He graded his noisy neighbours attempts at late night karaoke – the photo became a sensation on the internet
6. Designer of the first lap top – passed away
7. American ambassador to Libya, tragically killed
8. New autobiography of Victoria Pendleton
9. Cleaner on trial accused of stealing £30,000 from Derren Brown
10. New performance director of UK Athletics
11. Formula One safety pioneer passed away
12. Horse racing trainer announced he will retire at the end of this season
13. UBS trader on trial – he lost £1.4 billion
14. Disput4ed island group – cause of tension between China and Japan
In Other News
1. 3rd
2. 4
3. HMS Ark Royal
4. Thomas Berdych
5. Macedonia
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Alberto Contador
8. 4th
9. Jamie Oliver
10. WJEC
11. Victoria Pendleton
12. Johnny Ball
13. Rainclouds
14. Madrid
15. Serena Williams
16. Cape Wrath
17. Rebecca Ferguson
18. Tessa Jowell
19. Frank Lampard
20. Steven Gerrard
21. 6 – 1 to Serbia
22. 1 – 1
23. Fifty Shades of Grey
24. Sir Roger Moore
25. iphone5
26. Derek Jameson
27. An asian family
28. Boris Johnson
29. John Bercow
30. Derbyshire and Yorkshire
31. Qashqai
32. Chris Moyles
33. Pope Benedict XVI
34. A monkey
35. Closer
36. Sean Penn
37. Bradley Wiggins
38. Brighton
39. Padlocks
1. San Cristobal
2. Liam Broady
3. Monty
4. Xi Jiping
5. Oli Beale
6. Bill Moggridge
7. Chris Stevens
8. Behind the Lines
9. Rocio Pavan - Narrete
10. Neil Black
11. Sid Watkins
12. John Dunlop
13. Kweku Aduboli
14. Diaoyu / Senkakus
In Other News
1. In which position did Team GB finish in the Paralympic Games medal table ?
2. Team GBs David Weir won golds in how many events ?
3. Which vessel is to be sold for scrap ?
4. Whom did Andy Murray beat in the semi final on the way to his magnificent US Open Singles victory ?
5. With which team did Scotland contest a draw in their first world cup qualifier ?
6. Who won the Italian Grand Prix
7. Who won the Vuelta Espana ?
8. IN which position did GB’s Chris Froome finish in the Vuelta ?
9. Who was revealed as the second best selling author in the UK after JKRowling since 1998 ?
10. Which welsh exam board has announced that it will regrade GCSE English ?
11. Which Olympic Gold medallist will contest Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
12. Who will be the oldest ever contestant in Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
13. What did Iran’s President Ahmedinajad accuse the West of destroying this week?
14. Which city has been chosen or the ‘EuroVegas’ super casino ?
15. Who won the ladies’ singles in the US Open ?
16. Villagers are up in arms to prevent the sale of which Cape to the MOD ?
17. Which X Factor runner up is being sued by her former management ?
18. Who resigned from the Labour Party front bench ?
19. Whose penalty enabled England to gain a 1 – 1 draw with the Ukraine ?
20. Who was sent off for England in the same match ?
21. What was the score in the Wales v. Serbia qualifier ?
22. What was the score in the Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg match ?
23. Which book is the book most left behind in hotel rooms ?
24. Who claimed last week that he had been a victim of domestic abuse in his first two marriages ?
25. What was unveiled by Apple last week ?
26. Which former newspaper editor and broadcaster passed away last week ?
27. What will appear in Midsomer Murders for the first time next month ?
28. Who apologized to Liverpool fans for his horrible Spectator article 8 years ago, following the truth about the Hillsborough tragedy finally emerging last week ?
29. Who refused to have his pension reduced, but agreed not to take it until he is 65 ?
30. Which two teams will be promoted from cricket’s division 2 ?
31. Nissan are to recall 7000 of their 2012 versions of which model ?
32. Who made his last broadcast on radio 1
33. Who is currently visiting Lebanon and Syria ?
34. A new species of which mammal was announced last week ?
35. Which French magazine published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge last week ?
36. Which Hollywood star is helping clear earthquake damage in Haiti ?
37. Who withdrew from the Tour of Britain ?
38. Which resort was the venue for the TUC Conference ?
39. What symbols of love have been removed from ancient bridges over the River Tiber in Rome ?
Answers
Who or what are the following ?
1. Volcano which erupted in Nicaragua
2. Lost in Final of US Open Boys tournament
3. Queen’s corgi that passed away
4. Chinese leader in waiting who has disappeared from public view in recent weeks
5. He graded his noisy neighbours attempts at late night karaoke – the photo became a sensation on the internet
6. Designer of the first lap top – passed away
7. American ambassador to Libya, tragically killed
8. New autobiography of Victoria Pendleton
9. Cleaner on trial accused of stealing £30,000 from Derren Brown
10. New performance director of UK Athletics
11. Formula One safety pioneer passed away
12. Horse racing trainer announced he will retire at the end of this season
13. UBS trader on trial – he lost £1.4 billion
14. Disput4ed island group – cause of tension between China and Japan
In Other News
1. 3rd
2. 4
3. HMS Ark Royal
4. Thomas Berdych
5. Macedonia
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Alberto Contador
8. 4th
9. Jamie Oliver
10. WJEC
11. Victoria Pendleton
12. Johnny Ball
13. Rainclouds
14. Madrid
15. Serena Williams
16. Cape Wrath
17. Rebecca Ferguson
18. Tessa Jowell
19. Frank Lampard
20. Steven Gerrard
21. 6 – 1 to Serbia
22. 1 – 1
23. Fifty Shades of Grey
24. Sir Roger Moore
25. iphone5
26. Derek Jameson
27. An asian family
28. Boris Johnson
29. John Bercow
30. Derbyshire and Yorkshire
31. Qashqai
32. Chris Moyles
33. Pope Benedict XVI
34. A monkey
35. Closer
36. Sean Penn
37. Bradley Wiggins
38. Brighton
39. Padlocks
Friday, 21 September 2012
Mastermind Round One - Heat 6
Right, let’s recap. I decided earlier in the week that I’d take the wiki challenge on the third and fourth subjects of tonight’s show – The Life and Work of Dave Allen, and General Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. If you’re a regular you’ll know that I posted my Dave Allen set culled from his wiki page a few days ago. However the Custer questions have been notable by their absence, for the simple reason that I just didn’t find enough time this week to find them. So I only wikied on Dave Allen this week.
That’s not really that important anyway. Let’s look at the show. Michael Bradshaw kicked us off with The Epsom Derby since 1980. Now , I know what you need to know about the Epsom Derby for general quizzes, but I had no idea if it would be enough to bring many points in a Mastermind specialist round. So you can imagine I was quite pleased when it was enough to bring me 7 points. Of course this paled into insignificance alongside Michael Bradshaw’s almost perfect 16 – only one wrong answer in an otherwise flawless display. A really fine performance to begin the show. Game on.
I’ve had to follow a specialist round of that calibre myself in the past, and it’s not easy to put it out of your mind as you’re walking forward for your own round. All the more credit to Les Wallace for not letting it affect his own round. As I mentioned in a previous post one of my earliest career ambitions was to become a palaeontologist, and I suppose that enough residual knowledge from my juvenile obsession with dinosaurs and what came after ( alright, a long time after ) to allow me to cull 6 answers from the round. Which incidentally was exactly half of Les’ score of 12. That was a good performance on this round, but even in a 2 and a half minute round a gap of 4 points is a large one to bridge.
Hazel Humphreys has contested the first round of Mastermind before. In Ian’s 2010/11 series she was in the same first round heat as Mike Foden ( a little bird tells me that Mike will be contesting his own heat a little later on in this series ) , where they were both beaten by Peter Reilly, who went on to be runner up to Ian in the final . Back then Hazel took the life of Richard Pryor. Then she scored 13. Tonight she answered on my wiki choice, Dave Allen, and exceeded her previous score with a fine 15. I found that quite a few of the questions could be answered through familiarity with the wiki page. Add a couple more which I knew anyway, and I was pretty pleased with my own score of 11.
Chris Kirk came to the chair, probably knowing that a good performance was essential if he was to be able to compete, let alone win the show. Not a lot passed him by in this round, either. As we’ve often observed, anything in the teens on specialist is a good score, and Chris’ 13 at least gave him a fighting chance,. even if he was to be playing catch up in the GK round. As for me, despite not having time to wiki, there were thankfully enough old stagers - as predicted Comanche the horse was asked for - in order for me to get 5 points on the round. Adding up all my specialist scores I was quite pleased with the 29 aggregate, considering that I only wikied one of the subjects.
It’s not that often that a score of 12 on specialist will leave you in last place at the turn, but that’s what happened to Les Wallace. Still he returned to the chair, and started the GK round very effectively. What he did well was to keep the round ticking over. He wasn’t getting everything right by any means, but he kept answering, or using strategic passes to keep the questions coming, so that he could pick off what he did know. 10 might not be a huge return for a long GK round, but each of the points was earned. 22 didn’t look like a winning score, though.
Chris Kirk never looked at all comfortable when he returned to the chair, and his round was never quite as effective as that of Les. Yet he too did manage to keep the score moving, and inexorably moved towards the 9 points he needed to match Les’ total. He finished with 9 for the round, which also gave him 22. However Chris had only used 3 passes, which technically put him into first, with two players still to go.
Back in her previous appearance , according to the LAM review of the time, Hazel struggled in her GK round. Lightning does sometimes strike twice in the same place. Although she never lost her smile, or her sense of humour, she never got on terms with the round, and never established a momentum. Last time out she scored 8 for GK, this time she missed that by one. The interesting result was that like Chris, she had finished on 22 and 3 passes. I thought it was highly likely that Matthew would surpass their total, but if he didn’t, then we’d be in for the first tie break of this series.
Matthew needed 7 to win, and he had four of these in the first few questions. Then the round rather slowed down. The fact was, though, that a target of seven really isn’t enough to put a contender into the corridor of uncertainty, and there was a certain inevitability about the way that Matthew steadied the ship, passed the total, and eventually pushed his score for the round out to 10 points. In the end he won comfortably with 26 points.
So what we had tonight, really, was a game of 2 halves. In the specialists all of the contenders had prepared and knew their stuff, and none seemed overawed. In the GK although there was much honest endeavor nobody really managed to take the round by the scruff of the neck, and nobody hugely impressed. For the record I thought that the GK rounds were fair, scoring 18 on Les’, 19 on Chris’, then 16 on both of the last two rounds, where the contenders themselves didn’t really establish a momentum. The Details
That’s not really that important anyway. Let’s look at the show. Michael Bradshaw kicked us off with The Epsom Derby since 1980. Now , I know what you need to know about the Epsom Derby for general quizzes, but I had no idea if it would be enough to bring many points in a Mastermind specialist round. So you can imagine I was quite pleased when it was enough to bring me 7 points. Of course this paled into insignificance alongside Michael Bradshaw’s almost perfect 16 – only one wrong answer in an otherwise flawless display. A really fine performance to begin the show. Game on.
I’ve had to follow a specialist round of that calibre myself in the past, and it’s not easy to put it out of your mind as you’re walking forward for your own round. All the more credit to Les Wallace for not letting it affect his own round. As I mentioned in a previous post one of my earliest career ambitions was to become a palaeontologist, and I suppose that enough residual knowledge from my juvenile obsession with dinosaurs and what came after ( alright, a long time after ) to allow me to cull 6 answers from the round. Which incidentally was exactly half of Les’ score of 12. That was a good performance on this round, but even in a 2 and a half minute round a gap of 4 points is a large one to bridge.
Hazel Humphreys has contested the first round of Mastermind before. In Ian’s 2010/11 series she was in the same first round heat as Mike Foden ( a little bird tells me that Mike will be contesting his own heat a little later on in this series ) , where they were both beaten by Peter Reilly, who went on to be runner up to Ian in the final . Back then Hazel took the life of Richard Pryor. Then she scored 13. Tonight she answered on my wiki choice, Dave Allen, and exceeded her previous score with a fine 15. I found that quite a few of the questions could be answered through familiarity with the wiki page. Add a couple more which I knew anyway, and I was pretty pleased with my own score of 11.
Chris Kirk came to the chair, probably knowing that a good performance was essential if he was to be able to compete, let alone win the show. Not a lot passed him by in this round, either. As we’ve often observed, anything in the teens on specialist is a good score, and Chris’ 13 at least gave him a fighting chance,. even if he was to be playing catch up in the GK round. As for me, despite not having time to wiki, there were thankfully enough old stagers - as predicted Comanche the horse was asked for - in order for me to get 5 points on the round. Adding up all my specialist scores I was quite pleased with the 29 aggregate, considering that I only wikied one of the subjects.
It’s not that often that a score of 12 on specialist will leave you in last place at the turn, but that’s what happened to Les Wallace. Still he returned to the chair, and started the GK round very effectively. What he did well was to keep the round ticking over. He wasn’t getting everything right by any means, but he kept answering, or using strategic passes to keep the questions coming, so that he could pick off what he did know. 10 might not be a huge return for a long GK round, but each of the points was earned. 22 didn’t look like a winning score, though.
Chris Kirk never looked at all comfortable when he returned to the chair, and his round was never quite as effective as that of Les. Yet he too did manage to keep the score moving, and inexorably moved towards the 9 points he needed to match Les’ total. He finished with 9 for the round, which also gave him 22. However Chris had only used 3 passes, which technically put him into first, with two players still to go.
Back in her previous appearance , according to the LAM review of the time, Hazel struggled in her GK round. Lightning does sometimes strike twice in the same place. Although she never lost her smile, or her sense of humour, she never got on terms with the round, and never established a momentum. Last time out she scored 8 for GK, this time she missed that by one. The interesting result was that like Chris, she had finished on 22 and 3 passes. I thought it was highly likely that Matthew would surpass their total, but if he didn’t, then we’d be in for the first tie break of this series.
Matthew needed 7 to win, and he had four of these in the first few questions. Then the round rather slowed down. The fact was, though, that a target of seven really isn’t enough to put a contender into the corridor of uncertainty, and there was a certain inevitability about the way that Matthew steadied the ship, passed the total, and eventually pushed his score for the round out to 10 points. In the end he won comfortably with 26 points.
So what we had tonight, really, was a game of 2 halves. In the specialists all of the contenders had prepared and knew their stuff, and none seemed overawed. In the GK although there was much honest endeavor nobody really managed to take the round by the scruff of the neck, and nobody hugely impressed. For the record I thought that the GK rounds were fair, scoring 18 on Les’, 19 on Chris’, then 16 on both of the last two rounds, where the contenders themselves didn’t really establish a momentum. The Details
| Matthew Bradshaw | The Epsom Derby since 1980 | 16 – 0 | 10 - 2 | 26 – 2 |
| Les Wallace | Extinct Fauna of the Ice Age | 12 - 1 | 10 - 4 | 22 – 5 |
| Hazel Humphreys | The Life and Work of Dave Allen | 15 – 0 | 7 - 3 | 22 - 3 |
| Chris Kirk | General Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn | 13 - 0 | 9 - 3 | 22 – 3 |
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Only Connect Round One - Heat 4
The Wordsmiths v. The Educators
Only Connect from time to time throws up matches where teams of well known and experienced quizzers are pitted against teams who maybe have less of a serious quiz pedigree. The fact that these rarely result in total thrashings says a lot for the success of OC as a format. On paper, last night’s show had the look of just such a match up. The first of the teams, the Wordsmiths are far from unknown. Our own LAM regular Brian Pendreigh, a Mastermind semi finalist and seasoned campaigner, along with CIU quiz supremo Chris Brewis both flanked skipper Dave Taylor. I’m sure that I’ve met Dave at previous CIU finals before. A formidable team certainly. I can’t say that I had any prior knowledge of the Educators. Matt Finch , Michelle La Roche, and Jay La Roche are all secondary school teachers – which fact raised a small cheer from the Clark sofa. However I did fear for them, bearing in mind the firepower that I knew their opposition were packing.
Round One – What’s The Connection ?
The Educators kicked off with The Eye of Horus. This turned out to be the picture set, and revealed a sailing ship, an East European country , a dessert, and a tennis player. I had a pretty good night on this show, and I kicked off with the Terra Nova and Moldova to get this on 2. The Eds couldn’t see it, and the Smiths were glad to take a bonus on it – Pavlova and Kournikova completing a good set. I needed 3 to get the Smiths’ first set behind horned viper. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Life of Riley and Abigail’s Party gave me plays where the title character does not appear, and I even correctly predicted Waiting for Godot would come next. The Smiths took all 4 just to be on the safe side. The Eds took their first point with twisted flax. Making gunpowder – Roman mouthwash ( and to many of us Roman mouthwash means just one thing – which turned out to be the correct answer ) – Thickening Wool and Marking territory. That last one gave the Eds the answer – all involved using urine. The Smiths showed just a tiny bit of vulnerability , when they quickly figured out that – With pipe – With straw Hat – Without beard were all referring to paintings by Van Gogh. At first they plumped for Dr. Gachet, then just generally Van Gogh paintings. When With Bandaged Ear was offered to the Eds they gratefully took the bonus, that these were all self portraits. The Eds followed this up by solving another 4 part connection. The Music clues behind Lion were Machine Gun – Mack the Knife – Eton Rifles and Grenade. They knew that they all mentioned weapons in the title. So it fell to the Smiths to finish the round with Water. No messing around this time. Good Dogs Always Eat – and – All Cows Eat Grass – were enough to give skipper Dave the answer that all are musical mnemonics. A good shout, and enough to give the Smiths a 2 point lead, of 5 to the Ed’s 3.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
I had the Eds’ first clue which lay behind two reeds on 2. Mastercard preceded Rubik’s Magic – and I knew we were dealing with increasing numbers of interlocking rings. The Eds had it too as soon as they were4 given the third clue of Audi, and they opted for the Olympic flag – which would have 5. Lovely set that. The Smiths went for the eye of Horus, and got an OC special . 7000>>13 – 13>>8 – 8>>5. They didn’t get it, and neither did I. The Eds took a good bonus with 5>>4. The second number is the number of letters in the first number if you write it out. Good set. Mind you, they blotted their copybook a little on the next set behind Flex, which was a straightforward quizzers’ set. I’d lay odds that had it fallen for the Smiths they might even have been tempted to go for the full points off one clue. 4- Titov – 1 – Gagarin ! I shouted. But 3: Grissom – 2:Shepherd didn’t help the Eds, which gave the bonus to the Smiths – the list of the first four men in space thus being completed. Viper revealed a picture set for the Smiths, and faced with the cover of Victoria’s book For Richer for Poorer, and a still from In Sickness and in Health , they knew that the answer would be a still from the original series Till Death Us Do Part. Again, a nice set, if a little gentle. Neither team managed the next set – of Grain – Malt – Wort . A couple of decades ago I dabbled with home brew, so I knew it was beer. The Smiths were on the right lines with mash, but no bonus point . They took a good one with the last set, though. Lion revealed Belgrade – Budapest , and Bratislava, and they had the key to it straight away – capital cities on the Danube. They knew that Vienna would be next – well worth a point that one. The lead, then , had extended, as the Wordsmiths now had 11 to the Educators’ 6.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Lion wall yielded up its secrets to the Smiths some time before the end of the three minutes. They could see a set of European currencies which had been replaced by the Euro, and it took a little while to untangle them, but they soon found Mark – Guilder – Punt and Tolar. Almost immediately they also found – Smear – PR – Fund Raising and Military – all types of campaign. They took a bit of stock there for a while, but comfortably found the next two lines before the time was up. When asked by Victoria they knew that Benn – Shavin – Holmes and Dennis are all regulars on Radio 4’s excellent The Now Show. ( Friday evenings – in the News Quiz slot – highly recommended. ) I bet Brian is kicking himself for seeing that Wasserman – Ishihara – Schilling and Mantoux are all medical tests just a little too late. Still, 7 points meant that they would still be ahead going into the last round, however well the Eds did.
I don’t want to be horrible, but the Eds really didn’t do very well on the wall at all. I don’t think it was necessarily any harder than other walls we’ve seen in this series, but they were unable to untangle any of the lines before time ran out. They had seen that there was a set of Squares there, but didn’t get the right set – which was revealed to be Red – Tiananmen – Tahrir and St. Peter’s. They were by no means certain about Oak Apple – Armistice – Lady and Trafalgar, and looked surprised when Victoria confirmed that their guess of traditional holidays was right. Now, a slightly controversial moment. Given Remus – Wenceslas – King Hamlet and Abel – the closest that they could come was that they all had famous brothers. This wasn’t really the point – this being that they were all murdered by a brother. Victoria eventually allowed this one. At the end of the day leeway is often given to contestants who are close to the answer, and maybe I am being far too harsh here, but I didn’t think that I would necessarily have given it without the idea of murder as well. Whatever the case, Victoria seemed very surprised when they didn’t see that Pinko – Lefty – Attack Poodle and Wet – are all terms of political abuse. So even with a lenient adjudication the Eds were left with a mountain to climb, now trailing to the Wordsmiths by 18 to 9
Round Four – Missing Vowels
If you were underwhelmed by the Eds performance on the wall, at least your opinion would veer the other way during this final round. The first category was bedclothes. The admirable skipper of the Eds, Jay La Roche took the first two. The Smiths took one, but buzzed too early and lost a point. So the lead was down by two. Once again, the Smiths buzzed too early and lost a point on careers that Barbie has tried – fantastic category ! – and the Eds took 3 correct answers. Another 4 points off the lead. Architectural features proved to be the Eds Achilles heel, and a couple of points to the Smiths gave them a modicum of comfort. Still the Eds came back to take two Eurovision Song Contest Winners, before the end of the contest. The Wordsmiths won by 19 to 16, but their skipper Dave looked anything but pleased with the performance in the final round. The fact is , though, that the Wordsmiths were clearly the better team in three out of the four rounds, and deserved their win. Well done to the Educators, though. Coming back from a bit of a disaster on the wall to produce such a great final round was a performance of real character, and something to be proud of. Good show.
Only Connect from time to time throws up matches where teams of well known and experienced quizzers are pitted against teams who maybe have less of a serious quiz pedigree. The fact that these rarely result in total thrashings says a lot for the success of OC as a format. On paper, last night’s show had the look of just such a match up. The first of the teams, the Wordsmiths are far from unknown. Our own LAM regular Brian Pendreigh, a Mastermind semi finalist and seasoned campaigner, along with CIU quiz supremo Chris Brewis both flanked skipper Dave Taylor. I’m sure that I’ve met Dave at previous CIU finals before. A formidable team certainly. I can’t say that I had any prior knowledge of the Educators. Matt Finch , Michelle La Roche, and Jay La Roche are all secondary school teachers – which fact raised a small cheer from the Clark sofa. However I did fear for them, bearing in mind the firepower that I knew their opposition were packing.
Round One – What’s The Connection ?
The Educators kicked off with The Eye of Horus. This turned out to be the picture set, and revealed a sailing ship, an East European country , a dessert, and a tennis player. I had a pretty good night on this show, and I kicked off with the Terra Nova and Moldova to get this on 2. The Eds couldn’t see it, and the Smiths were glad to take a bonus on it – Pavlova and Kournikova completing a good set. I needed 3 to get the Smiths’ first set behind horned viper. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Life of Riley and Abigail’s Party gave me plays where the title character does not appear, and I even correctly predicted Waiting for Godot would come next. The Smiths took all 4 just to be on the safe side. The Eds took their first point with twisted flax. Making gunpowder – Roman mouthwash ( and to many of us Roman mouthwash means just one thing – which turned out to be the correct answer ) – Thickening Wool and Marking territory. That last one gave the Eds the answer – all involved using urine. The Smiths showed just a tiny bit of vulnerability , when they quickly figured out that – With pipe – With straw Hat – Without beard were all referring to paintings by Van Gogh. At first they plumped for Dr. Gachet, then just generally Van Gogh paintings. When With Bandaged Ear was offered to the Eds they gratefully took the bonus, that these were all self portraits. The Eds followed this up by solving another 4 part connection. The Music clues behind Lion were Machine Gun – Mack the Knife – Eton Rifles and Grenade. They knew that they all mentioned weapons in the title. So it fell to the Smiths to finish the round with Water. No messing around this time. Good Dogs Always Eat – and – All Cows Eat Grass – were enough to give skipper Dave the answer that all are musical mnemonics. A good shout, and enough to give the Smiths a 2 point lead, of 5 to the Ed’s 3.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
I had the Eds’ first clue which lay behind two reeds on 2. Mastercard preceded Rubik’s Magic – and I knew we were dealing with increasing numbers of interlocking rings. The Eds had it too as soon as they were4 given the third clue of Audi, and they opted for the Olympic flag – which would have 5. Lovely set that. The Smiths went for the eye of Horus, and got an OC special . 7000>>13 – 13>>8 – 8>>5. They didn’t get it, and neither did I. The Eds took a good bonus with 5>>4. The second number is the number of letters in the first number if you write it out. Good set. Mind you, they blotted their copybook a little on the next set behind Flex, which was a straightforward quizzers’ set. I’d lay odds that had it fallen for the Smiths they might even have been tempted to go for the full points off one clue. 4- Titov – 1 – Gagarin ! I shouted. But 3: Grissom – 2:Shepherd didn’t help the Eds, which gave the bonus to the Smiths – the list of the first four men in space thus being completed. Viper revealed a picture set for the Smiths, and faced with the cover of Victoria’s book For Richer for Poorer, and a still from In Sickness and in Health , they knew that the answer would be a still from the original series Till Death Us Do Part. Again, a nice set, if a little gentle. Neither team managed the next set – of Grain – Malt – Wort . A couple of decades ago I dabbled with home brew, so I knew it was beer. The Smiths were on the right lines with mash, but no bonus point . They took a good one with the last set, though. Lion revealed Belgrade – Budapest , and Bratislava, and they had the key to it straight away – capital cities on the Danube. They knew that Vienna would be next – well worth a point that one. The lead, then , had extended, as the Wordsmiths now had 11 to the Educators’ 6.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Lion wall yielded up its secrets to the Smiths some time before the end of the three minutes. They could see a set of European currencies which had been replaced by the Euro, and it took a little while to untangle them, but they soon found Mark – Guilder – Punt and Tolar. Almost immediately they also found – Smear – PR – Fund Raising and Military – all types of campaign. They took a bit of stock there for a while, but comfortably found the next two lines before the time was up. When asked by Victoria they knew that Benn – Shavin – Holmes and Dennis are all regulars on Radio 4’s excellent The Now Show. ( Friday evenings – in the News Quiz slot – highly recommended. ) I bet Brian is kicking himself for seeing that Wasserman – Ishihara – Schilling and Mantoux are all medical tests just a little too late. Still, 7 points meant that they would still be ahead going into the last round, however well the Eds did.
I don’t want to be horrible, but the Eds really didn’t do very well on the wall at all. I don’t think it was necessarily any harder than other walls we’ve seen in this series, but they were unable to untangle any of the lines before time ran out. They had seen that there was a set of Squares there, but didn’t get the right set – which was revealed to be Red – Tiananmen – Tahrir and St. Peter’s. They were by no means certain about Oak Apple – Armistice – Lady and Trafalgar, and looked surprised when Victoria confirmed that their guess of traditional holidays was right. Now, a slightly controversial moment. Given Remus – Wenceslas – King Hamlet and Abel – the closest that they could come was that they all had famous brothers. This wasn’t really the point – this being that they were all murdered by a brother. Victoria eventually allowed this one. At the end of the day leeway is often given to contestants who are close to the answer, and maybe I am being far too harsh here, but I didn’t think that I would necessarily have given it without the idea of murder as well. Whatever the case, Victoria seemed very surprised when they didn’t see that Pinko – Lefty – Attack Poodle and Wet – are all terms of political abuse. So even with a lenient adjudication the Eds were left with a mountain to climb, now trailing to the Wordsmiths by 18 to 9
Round Four – Missing Vowels
If you were underwhelmed by the Eds performance on the wall, at least your opinion would veer the other way during this final round. The first category was bedclothes. The admirable skipper of the Eds, Jay La Roche took the first two. The Smiths took one, but buzzed too early and lost a point. So the lead was down by two. Once again, the Smiths buzzed too early and lost a point on careers that Barbie has tried – fantastic category ! – and the Eds took 3 correct answers. Another 4 points off the lead. Architectural features proved to be the Eds Achilles heel, and a couple of points to the Smiths gave them a modicum of comfort. Still the Eds came back to take two Eurovision Song Contest Winners, before the end of the contest. The Wordsmiths won by 19 to 16, but their skipper Dave looked anything but pleased with the performance in the final round. The fact is , though, that the Wordsmiths were clearly the better team in three out of the four rounds, and deserved their win. Well done to the Educators, though. Coming back from a bit of a disaster on the wall to produce such a great final round was a performance of real character, and something to be proud of. Good show.
Monday, 17 September 2012
University Challenge - Round One - Heat 8
Imperial v. Jesus, Cambridge
Watching UC tonight was a frustrating experience. By tacit agreement I don’t watch UC, OC or Mastermind downstairs on the big TV ( trust me, it’s the best way of doing it for all concerned ) and so I try to watch it on the iplayer live. Try being the operative word. My far from perfect Virgin internet connection was being even further from perfect tonight. It took forever to watch the whole show. Never mind.
You might remember a very good Imperial team losing out in the semi finals of 2010 to losing finalists St. John’s Oxford. Starting Imperial’s 2012 campaign tonight were Pietro Aronica, Dominic Cottrell, Henry Guille and captain Martin Evans. Only 3 weeks ago we saw another Jesus, that of Oxford, beating Queen Mary College of London. An omen ? Perhaps. Certainly Alistair Bolger, Thomas Wood, Nina Fetherston and captain Alex Kite would be doing their best to join their Oxford counterparts.
Dominic Cottrell struck first for Imperial, recognizing some titles of works by Christopher Hitchens. Two bonuses followed on a gettable set of Queens and their (alleged ) lovers.Pietro Aronica, who was to go on to have a very productive evening, took his first starter on Lisbon. It wouldn’t be his last. A single bonus followed on non violence. A science starter, again taken by Imperial , brought up bonuses on Scientific laws, of which Imperial were happy to take a couple. A lovely UC starter followed, with various meanings of the word Twitter. Nina Fetherston jumped in too early for Jesus, and this left it to Henry Guille to supply the correct answer. A full set of three bonuses on Arthur Miller’s plays followed, and the gap was looking ominous. Still, with the memory of last week’s miraculous Manchester fightback still fresh in the memory, even JP refrained from issuing the doom laden ‘Plenty of Time to come back’ comments. And rightly so, for Alastair Bolger took the next, the picture starter which showed a map of Australia with the confluence of two rivers. He quite rightly knew that if you’re talking about two conjoined Australian rivers it’s going to be the Murray Darling. JP was impressed, and Jesus were away. 2 points on more maps of more river confluences brought a further 10 points, and now Jesus were a mere 70 points behind Imperial.
This was a gap that narrowed further when Alistair Bolger recognized a description of Camomile. 2 bonuses on the internet followed. Pietro Aronica took his second starter with Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Bonuses on cross symbols brought another couple of correct answers to Imperial. The impressive Mr. Aronica buzzed in for his second in a row with porphyrins. Nope, me neither. Another couple of bonuses were taken on ballistics. I got the one about the word ballistics, but it was goodnight Vienna for me on that set after that one. A lovely starter on the late Anita Roddick followed. Bonuses on words made from the letters of Absolutely proved tricky for Jesus.Neither team recognized the subtitle of King Henry VI part 2, although Imperial were only 1 out.Neither team got a Maths one about volume. It was left to Nina Fetherston to recognize the titles of some songs by Bo Burnham , or as he was known in LAM Towers before tonight, Bo Whom ? A bonus on hop varieties was taken. On the music starter we were offered an overture to an opera, and asked to name the composer. Alex Kite took a flyer with Mozart after something like half a bar, but to no avail. Given a little more Dominic Cottrell recognized it was by Wagner – Tannhauser to be precise. This it transpired was the piece of music that has been played most times at the Proms – lovely bit of Triv that – and more very popular Prom pieces followed. Only one of these was taken.
Either Jesus found another gear now, or they were going to run out of time to make any impression on the lead, but once again it was Pietro Aronica who won the buzzer race. He knew that Mongolia has the lowest population density. A bonus on chemical solvents followed. Henry Guille lost five on the next starter, but Jesus couldn’t capitalize, not knowing the plant horsetail. Never heard of it myself. Pietro Aronica knew that the Louis Phillipe Monarchy was nicknamed the July Monarchy – sadly Alex Kite lost five with another slightly too early buzz. Don’t blame him for that. he was doing a captain’s job in trying to get something happening for his team. 2 bonuses on novels followed. The second picture starter followed, but neither team could identify the Athens 2004 Olympic Stadium. I thought JP was a little quick to conclude that neither team knew that Los Angeles is the biggest county in the USA for the next starter. Pietro Aronica again won the buzzer race for the next starter to say that Gaius Octavius – Octavian – was named as Julius Caesar’s heir in his will. One bonus on the Olympic stadium pictures meant that Imperial were already into the next round, with a lead of 180 to 60 and minutes to go. Neither team knew the next starter on density. Sadly Jesus lost five with another early buzz on works created by people surnamed Brown – and Imperial picked up the scraps from that one. Alastair Bolger took the next starter on Turkey, but no bonuses on zoology followed. He went on to make it a double, knowing that several flags all contained red and yellow – good shout that one. 1 bonus followed on a UC special set about public figures who have a separate Wikipedia page devoted to their deaths. Dominic Cottrell picked up the next starter with I love you in three languages. A bonus on John Milton followed, and that in its turn was followed by a starter on John Milton. It was Dominic Cottrell who was first in with Pandemonium.There just remained time for Imperial to pick up a couple of bonuses on molecular biology.
80 isn’t a great score, but Jesus didn’t seem that bad a team. It just didn’t go their way, and they were clearly second best on the buzzer. That’s life. But Imperial’s 225 was not a bad performance at all, and you never know, they could go further. This is an interesting seriesm and I’m finding it difficult to call.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Really not a lot to report. JP never broke into his stride on this show. There was just “ Well – why should you be gardeners ? “ when neither team managed to answer horsetail, and very little else. It happens.
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
The words of the late Dame Anita Roddick appeared on the edge of a commemorative £5 coin.
Watching UC tonight was a frustrating experience. By tacit agreement I don’t watch UC, OC or Mastermind downstairs on the big TV ( trust me, it’s the best way of doing it for all concerned ) and so I try to watch it on the iplayer live. Try being the operative word. My far from perfect Virgin internet connection was being even further from perfect tonight. It took forever to watch the whole show. Never mind.
You might remember a very good Imperial team losing out in the semi finals of 2010 to losing finalists St. John’s Oxford. Starting Imperial’s 2012 campaign tonight were Pietro Aronica, Dominic Cottrell, Henry Guille and captain Martin Evans. Only 3 weeks ago we saw another Jesus, that of Oxford, beating Queen Mary College of London. An omen ? Perhaps. Certainly Alistair Bolger, Thomas Wood, Nina Fetherston and captain Alex Kite would be doing their best to join their Oxford counterparts.
Dominic Cottrell struck first for Imperial, recognizing some titles of works by Christopher Hitchens. Two bonuses followed on a gettable set of Queens and their (alleged ) lovers.Pietro Aronica, who was to go on to have a very productive evening, took his first starter on Lisbon. It wouldn’t be his last. A single bonus followed on non violence. A science starter, again taken by Imperial , brought up bonuses on Scientific laws, of which Imperial were happy to take a couple. A lovely UC starter followed, with various meanings of the word Twitter. Nina Fetherston jumped in too early for Jesus, and this left it to Henry Guille to supply the correct answer. A full set of three bonuses on Arthur Miller’s plays followed, and the gap was looking ominous. Still, with the memory of last week’s miraculous Manchester fightback still fresh in the memory, even JP refrained from issuing the doom laden ‘Plenty of Time to come back’ comments. And rightly so, for Alastair Bolger took the next, the picture starter which showed a map of Australia with the confluence of two rivers. He quite rightly knew that if you’re talking about two conjoined Australian rivers it’s going to be the Murray Darling. JP was impressed, and Jesus were away. 2 points on more maps of more river confluences brought a further 10 points, and now Jesus were a mere 70 points behind Imperial.
This was a gap that narrowed further when Alistair Bolger recognized a description of Camomile. 2 bonuses on the internet followed. Pietro Aronica took his second starter with Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Bonuses on cross symbols brought another couple of correct answers to Imperial. The impressive Mr. Aronica buzzed in for his second in a row with porphyrins. Nope, me neither. Another couple of bonuses were taken on ballistics. I got the one about the word ballistics, but it was goodnight Vienna for me on that set after that one. A lovely starter on the late Anita Roddick followed. Bonuses on words made from the letters of Absolutely proved tricky for Jesus.Neither team recognized the subtitle of King Henry VI part 2, although Imperial were only 1 out.Neither team got a Maths one about volume. It was left to Nina Fetherston to recognize the titles of some songs by Bo Burnham , or as he was known in LAM Towers before tonight, Bo Whom ? A bonus on hop varieties was taken. On the music starter we were offered an overture to an opera, and asked to name the composer. Alex Kite took a flyer with Mozart after something like half a bar, but to no avail. Given a little more Dominic Cottrell recognized it was by Wagner – Tannhauser to be precise. This it transpired was the piece of music that has been played most times at the Proms – lovely bit of Triv that – and more very popular Prom pieces followed. Only one of these was taken.
Either Jesus found another gear now, or they were going to run out of time to make any impression on the lead, but once again it was Pietro Aronica who won the buzzer race. He knew that Mongolia has the lowest population density. A bonus on chemical solvents followed. Henry Guille lost five on the next starter, but Jesus couldn’t capitalize, not knowing the plant horsetail. Never heard of it myself. Pietro Aronica knew that the Louis Phillipe Monarchy was nicknamed the July Monarchy – sadly Alex Kite lost five with another slightly too early buzz. Don’t blame him for that. he was doing a captain’s job in trying to get something happening for his team. 2 bonuses on novels followed. The second picture starter followed, but neither team could identify the Athens 2004 Olympic Stadium. I thought JP was a little quick to conclude that neither team knew that Los Angeles is the biggest county in the USA for the next starter. Pietro Aronica again won the buzzer race for the next starter to say that Gaius Octavius – Octavian – was named as Julius Caesar’s heir in his will. One bonus on the Olympic stadium pictures meant that Imperial were already into the next round, with a lead of 180 to 60 and minutes to go. Neither team knew the next starter on density. Sadly Jesus lost five with another early buzz on works created by people surnamed Brown – and Imperial picked up the scraps from that one. Alastair Bolger took the next starter on Turkey, but no bonuses on zoology followed. He went on to make it a double, knowing that several flags all contained red and yellow – good shout that one. 1 bonus followed on a UC special set about public figures who have a separate Wikipedia page devoted to their deaths. Dominic Cottrell picked up the next starter with I love you in three languages. A bonus on John Milton followed, and that in its turn was followed by a starter on John Milton. It was Dominic Cottrell who was first in with Pandemonium.There just remained time for Imperial to pick up a couple of bonuses on molecular biology.
80 isn’t a great score, but Jesus didn’t seem that bad a team. It just didn’t go their way, and they were clearly second best on the buzzer. That’s life. But Imperial’s 225 was not a bad performance at all, and you never know, they could go further. This is an interesting seriesm and I’m finding it difficult to call.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Really not a lot to report. JP never broke into his stride on this show. There was just “ Well – why should you be gardeners ? “ when neither team managed to answer horsetail, and very little else. It happens.
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
The words of the late Dame Anita Roddick appeared on the edge of a commemorative £5 coin.
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Mastermind - next week's wiki challenge
Right then, in case you’re thinking of taking the wiki challenge next Friday, I’ve just checked out next Friday’s specialist subjects . They are : -
The Epsom Derby since 1980
Extinct fauna of the Ice Age
The Life and Work of Dave Allen
General Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn
I’ll be honest, I don’t fancy my unaided chances on any of these subjects. Still, it’s a fact that I am just not going to have the time or inclination to take the challenge on all four subjects. Therefore I’ve decided to take my chances on the first two – GK might get me a couple of points on the Derby, and my first career ambition when I was a kid was to be a palaeontologist, so there’s just a very little knowledge already there on the fauna. So for me I shall do my best to wiki challenge with both Dave Allen and Custer and the Little Big Horn. I have half a suspicion that the name of Custer’s horse might come up, which would be one point, but without preparation I can’t see me getting any others there. I think that my highest specialist aggregate of the series of 31 is hardly in any danger next week.
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Wiki Challenge – Dave Allen Questions
1. What was Dave Allen’s original name ?
2. What was actually contained within his trademark whisky glass ?
3. Allen was born in which area of Dublin ?
4. What was the name of his first wife, whom he divorced in 1983 ?
5. What was the name of his second wife, whom he married in 2003 ?
6. What was the name of Allen’s youngest child, born in 2005 ?
7. Allen’s father Cully Tynan O’Mahony was the managing editor of which newspaper ?
8. Allen attended Newbridge College, The Catholic University College, and which other secondary school ?
9. Allen first worked as a copy boy on which newspaper ?
10. Allen became a Butlin’s redcoat in which English resort ?
11. Before finding success, Allen sold toys in a store in which English city ?
12. Allen worked as a door to door salesmen selling which items ?
13. How did Allen lose the top of his middle finger, despite the many different versions of the story he told ?
14. Allen had his first TV appearance on which BBC talent show ?
15. In 1962 he compered a touring show which included the Beatles, but was headlined by which act ?
16. With which American vaudeville star did Allen tour South Africa in 1962 ?
17. In the early 60s, Allen worked in Australia as the resident comedian of which English scriptwriter and actor ?
18. Allen was banned from Australian airwaves for telling the producer of the Channel 9 show Tonight with Dave Allen to go away and masturbate for trying to interrupt an interview with whom ?
19. What was the title of Allen’s First British TV series ?
20. Which Variety Club Award did Allen win in 1967 for Tonight with Dave Allen ?
21. What was the title of the 1998 series in which Allen reflected on his life and career, interspersed with clips from earlier shows ?
22. What was Allen presented with at the 1996 British Comedy Awards ?
23. What was the title of the first exhibition of his paintings in Edinburgh in 2001 ?
24. What was the title of the Edna O’Brien play in which Allen starred in 1972 at the Royal Court Theatre ?
25. Which pantomime character did Allen play in the London Colisseum ?
26. In 1979 Allen played a troubled property man in whose TV play “One Fine Day “ ?
27. What was the title of the only cinema film in which Allen had a starring role ?
The Epsom Derby since 1980
Extinct fauna of the Ice Age
The Life and Work of Dave Allen
General Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn
I’ll be honest, I don’t fancy my unaided chances on any of these subjects. Still, it’s a fact that I am just not going to have the time or inclination to take the challenge on all four subjects. Therefore I’ve decided to take my chances on the first two – GK might get me a couple of points on the Derby, and my first career ambition when I was a kid was to be a palaeontologist, so there’s just a very little knowledge already there on the fauna. So for me I shall do my best to wiki challenge with both Dave Allen and Custer and the Little Big Horn. I have half a suspicion that the name of Custer’s horse might come up, which would be one point, but without preparation I can’t see me getting any others there. I think that my highest specialist aggregate of the series of 31 is hardly in any danger next week.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wiki Challenge – Dave Allen Questions
1. What was Dave Allen’s original name ?
2. What was actually contained within his trademark whisky glass ?
3. Allen was born in which area of Dublin ?
4. What was the name of his first wife, whom he divorced in 1983 ?
5. What was the name of his second wife, whom he married in 2003 ?
6. What was the name of Allen’s youngest child, born in 2005 ?
7. Allen’s father Cully Tynan O’Mahony was the managing editor of which newspaper ?
8. Allen attended Newbridge College, The Catholic University College, and which other secondary school ?
9. Allen first worked as a copy boy on which newspaper ?
10. Allen became a Butlin’s redcoat in which English resort ?
11. Before finding success, Allen sold toys in a store in which English city ?
12. Allen worked as a door to door salesmen selling which items ?
13. How did Allen lose the top of his middle finger, despite the many different versions of the story he told ?
14. Allen had his first TV appearance on which BBC talent show ?
15. In 1962 he compered a touring show which included the Beatles, but was headlined by which act ?
16. With which American vaudeville star did Allen tour South Africa in 1962 ?
17. In the early 60s, Allen worked in Australia as the resident comedian of which English scriptwriter and actor ?
18. Allen was banned from Australian airwaves for telling the producer of the Channel 9 show Tonight with Dave Allen to go away and masturbate for trying to interrupt an interview with whom ?
19. What was the title of Allen’s First British TV series ?
20. Which Variety Club Award did Allen win in 1967 for Tonight with Dave Allen ?
21. What was the title of the 1998 series in which Allen reflected on his life and career, interspersed with clips from earlier shows ?
22. What was Allen presented with at the 1996 British Comedy Awards ?
23. What was the title of the first exhibition of his paintings in Edinburgh in 2001 ?
24. What was the title of the Edna O’Brien play in which Allen starred in 1972 at the Royal Court Theatre ?
25. Which pantomime character did Allen play in the London Colisseum ?
26. In 1979 Allen played a troubled property man in whose TV play “One Fine Day “ ?
27. What was the title of the only cinema film in which Allen had a starring role ?
News Questions
Who or What are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. San Cristobal
2. Liam Broady
3. Monty
4. Xi Jiping
5. Oli Beale
6. Bill Moggridge
7. Chris Stevens
8. Behind the Lines
9. Rocio Pavan - Narrete
10. Neil Black
11. Sid Watkins
12. John Dunlop
13. Kweku Aduboli
14. Diaoyu / Senkakus
In Other News
1. In which position did Team GB finish in the Paralympic Games medal table ?
2. Team GBs David Weir won golds in how many events ?
3. Which vessel is to be sold for scrap ?
4. Whom did Andy Murray beat in the semi final on the way to his magnificent US Open Singles victory ?
5. With which team did Scotland contest a draw in their first world cup qualifier ?
6. Who won the Italian Grand Prix
7. Who won the Vuelta Espana ?
8. IN which position did GB’s Chris Froome finish in the Vuelta ?
9. Who was revealed as the second best selling author in the UK after JKRowling since 1998 ?
10. Which welsh exam board has announced that it will regrade GCSE English ?
11. Which Olympic Gold medallist will contest Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
12. Who will be the oldest ever contestant in Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
13. What did Iran’s President Ahmedinajad accuse the West of destroying this week?
14. Which city has been chosen or the ‘EuroVegas’ super casino ?
15. Who won the ladies’ singles in the US Open ?
16. Villagers are up in arms to prevent the sale of which Cape to the MOD ?
17. Which X Factor runner up is being sued by her former management ?
18. Who resigned from the Labour Party front bench ?
19. Whose penalty enabled England to gain a 1 – 1 draw with the Ukraine ?
20. Who was sent off for England in the same match ?
21. What was the score in the Wales v. Serbia qualifier ?
22. What was the score in the Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg match ?
23. Which book is the book most left behind in hotel rooms ?
24. Who claimed last week that he had been a victim of domestic abuse in his first two marriages ?
25. What was unveiled by Apple last week ?
26. Which former newspaper editor and broadcaster passed away last week ?
27. What will appear in Midsomer Murders for the first time next month ?
28. Who apologized to Liverpool fans for his horrible Spectator article 8 years ago, following the truth about the Hillsborough tragedy finally emerging last week ?
29. Who refused to have his pension reduced, but agreed not to take it until he is 65 ?
30. Which two teams will be promoted from cricket’s division 2 ?
31. Nissan are to recall 7000 of their 2012 versions of which model ?
32. Who made his last broadcast on radio 1
33. Who is currently visiting Lebanon and Syria ?
34. A new species of which mammal was announced last week ?
35. Which French magazine published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge last week ?
36. Which Hollywood star is helping clear earthquake damage in Haiti ?
37. Who withdrew from the Tour of Britain ?
38. Which resort was the venue for the TUC Conference ?
39. What symbols of love have been removed from ancient bridges over the River Tiber in Rome ?
1. San Cristobal
2. Liam Broady
3. Monty
4. Xi Jiping
5. Oli Beale
6. Bill Moggridge
7. Chris Stevens
8. Behind the Lines
9. Rocio Pavan - Narrete
10. Neil Black
11. Sid Watkins
12. John Dunlop
13. Kweku Aduboli
14. Diaoyu / Senkakus
In Other News
1. In which position did Team GB finish in the Paralympic Games medal table ?
2. Team GBs David Weir won golds in how many events ?
3. Which vessel is to be sold for scrap ?
4. Whom did Andy Murray beat in the semi final on the way to his magnificent US Open Singles victory ?
5. With which team did Scotland contest a draw in their first world cup qualifier ?
6. Who won the Italian Grand Prix
7. Who won the Vuelta Espana ?
8. IN which position did GB’s Chris Froome finish in the Vuelta ?
9. Who was revealed as the second best selling author in the UK after JKRowling since 1998 ?
10. Which welsh exam board has announced that it will regrade GCSE English ?
11. Which Olympic Gold medallist will contest Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
12. Who will be the oldest ever contestant in Strictly Come Dancing this year ?
13. What did Iran’s President Ahmedinajad accuse the West of destroying this week?
14. Which city has been chosen or the ‘EuroVegas’ super casino ?
15. Who won the ladies’ singles in the US Open ?
16. Villagers are up in arms to prevent the sale of which Cape to the MOD ?
17. Which X Factor runner up is being sued by her former management ?
18. Who resigned from the Labour Party front bench ?
19. Whose penalty enabled England to gain a 1 – 1 draw with the Ukraine ?
20. Who was sent off for England in the same match ?
21. What was the score in the Wales v. Serbia qualifier ?
22. What was the score in the Northern Ireland v. Luxembourg match ?
23. Which book is the book most left behind in hotel rooms ?
24. Who claimed last week that he had been a victim of domestic abuse in his first two marriages ?
25. What was unveiled by Apple last week ?
26. Which former newspaper editor and broadcaster passed away last week ?
27. What will appear in Midsomer Murders for the first time next month ?
28. Who apologized to Liverpool fans for his horrible Spectator article 8 years ago, following the truth about the Hillsborough tragedy finally emerging last week ?
29. Who refused to have his pension reduced, but agreed not to take it until he is 65 ?
30. Which two teams will be promoted from cricket’s division 2 ?
31. Nissan are to recall 7000 of their 2012 versions of which model ?
32. Who made his last broadcast on radio 1
33. Who is currently visiting Lebanon and Syria ?
34. A new species of which mammal was announced last week ?
35. Which French magazine published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge last week ?
36. Which Hollywood star is helping clear earthquake damage in Haiti ?
37. Who withdrew from the Tour of Britain ?
38. Which resort was the venue for the TUC Conference ?
39. What symbols of love have been removed from ancient bridges over the River Tiber in Rome ?
Answers to News Questions
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Michael Wilshaw
2. Kate Lundy
3. Aisha and Amani>br> 4. Pittenweem
5. Alan Oliveria
6. Andy Ferrie
7. Amanda Telfer
8. The Secret Race
9. Harriet Cass and Charlotte Green
10. GRRR!
11. Chris Grayling
12. Sophie Christiansen
13. Hitler
14. Michael Clark Duncan
15. Sarah Storey
16. Verity
17. Agitos 18. Alex Zanardi
19. Johnnie Peacock
20. Peter Bowers
21. Joe South
22. Michael Kenny
23. Manuel Charr
24. Rachel Morris and Karen Drake
25. LeShawn Merritt
In Other News
1. Who led a team of abseilers down the Shard ?
2. Which vegetable was confirmed as that which children are most reluctant to try ?
3. The BBC have been criticized for heavily featuring which make of fridge on the Great British Bake Off ?
4. How old was Reverend Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church when he died last week ?
5. Who score a hat trick for Man Utd. v. Southampton ?
6. Which was the only Premier League football club to take three wins from their first three games ?
7. Who won the Belgian Grand Prix
8. Who was lost last week on a boat off Long Island ?
9. Whose dresses were bought for £73,000
10. Which honour was awarded to Sir Paul McCartney ?
11. Which Premier League Manager has already been given a two match touchline ban ?
12. Who have Save The Children now said they will also help ?
13. Who is the new Chairman of the Arts Council ?
14. Who is the controversial choice as new Health Secretary ?
15. What remarkable announcement was made by Hello Magazine last week ?
16. Which club has Michael Owen signed for ?
17. Whose tomb has been found beneath a car park ?
18. What is the record number of ministers who now attend cabinet meetings ?
19. Which famous sportsman and commentator passed away last week aged 82 ?
20. Which former sportsman announced last week that he intends giving boxing a try ?
21. Which country has ordered foreign workers for Save the Children to leave ?
22. Where will Neil Armstrong be buried ?
23. Who knocked Roger Federer out of the US Open ?
24. Who has entered the Guinness book as having the longest career as a male entertainer ever ?
25. What jubilee icon was sold at a loss to a buyer from Portugal ?
26. What was the score in the England v. Moldova world cup qualifier ? 27. Name the nature broadcaster who passed away last week
28. Name the Antiques broadcaster and expert who passed away last week
29. What was the score in the Wales v. Belgium world cup qualifier ?
30. A special monopoly board has been launched to honour which scientist ?
31. Who said that his job is now too big for one man ?
32. In a survey it has been shown that this year pocket money has fallen on average for children by how much per week ?
33. Which writer was told by Wikipedia that he is not a credible source about his own novels ?
34. Which cricket team were relegated following their loss to Middlesex last week ?
35. Against which country did Argentina score their first points, through a draw, in the old Tri Nations championship ?
Answers
Who or what ar the the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Head of OFSTED who has called for tougher exams despite the recent GCSE furore
2. Australian Minister for Sport who last week completed her forfeit for Australia finishing below GB in medals table at the Olympics – she rowed down the Eton Dorney course
3. The new twins born to hero Mo Farah and his wife
4. Scottish beach where a school of pilot whales were stranded
5. Brazilian runner who beat Oscar Pistorius in 200m final, leading to Oscar Pistorius’ comments about some athletes using longer blades just for the Games
6. Businessman who shot two burglars in his home
7. The lady tragically killed by a falling window in Mayfair
8. Tyler Hamilton’s book giving details of Lance Armstrong’s alleged doping during the Tour de France
9. Both announced their retirement from Radio 4 after many years’ service
10. New Rolling Stones album which has angered fans for containing only 2 new tracks
11. New Justice Secretary appointed in Cabinet reshuffle
12. First British competitor to win 3 gold medals in the London Paralympics
13. Name of a store in Ahmedabad which has bowed to public pressure to change its name
14. Star of the Green Mile who passed away last week
15. Competitor who equaled Tanni Grey Thompson’s career total of 11 gold medals in the Paralympic Games 16. Damien Hirst’s planned colossal statue given the go ahead in Ilfracombe
17. The symbol of the Paralympic Games 18. Former F1 driver who won Paralympic Gold
19. Training partner of Greg Rutherford, winner of 100 metres in Paralympics, setting a world record beating his idol Oscar Pistorius 20. Judge who said that a burglar was brave
21. Singer who passed away, best known for The Games People Play
22. First man to train for a degree from the Norland College for Nannies
23. Opponent for Vitali Klitschko in what might be his last fight
24. British Paralympic cyclists, who held hands across the line so that they could be awarded the bronze medal jointly, but officials insisted on a photo finish to separate them.
US Athlete who set a new world 110m hurdles record at 12.80 seconds.
In Other News
1. Prince Andrew/ Duke of York
2. Spinach
3. Smeg
4. 92
5. Robin Van Persie
6. Chelsea
7. Jenson Button
8. Russell Crowe
9. Margaret Thatcher
10. The Legion d’Honneur
11. Alan Pardew
12. Children in the UK
13. Peter Bazalgette
14. Jeremy Hunt
15. They will be ending their reliance on celebrity gossip
16. Stoke City
17. Richard III
18. 32
19. Lord John Oaksey
20. Freddie Flintoff
21. Pakistan
22. At Sea
23. Thomas Berdych
24. Sir Bruce Forsyth
25. The Spirit of Chartwell
26. 5 – 0 to England
27. Terry Nutkins
28. David Barby
29. 2 – 0 to Belgium
30. Alan Turing
31. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury
32. 27p
33. Philip Roth
34. Last year’s champions Lancashire
35. South Africa
1. Michael Wilshaw
2. Kate Lundy
3. Aisha and Amani>br> 4. Pittenweem
5. Alan Oliveria
6. Andy Ferrie
7. Amanda Telfer
8. The Secret Race
9. Harriet Cass and Charlotte Green
10. GRRR!
11. Chris Grayling
12. Sophie Christiansen
13. Hitler
14. Michael Clark Duncan
15. Sarah Storey
16. Verity
17. Agitos 18. Alex Zanardi
19. Johnnie Peacock
20. Peter Bowers
21. Joe South
22. Michael Kenny
23. Manuel Charr
24. Rachel Morris and Karen Drake
25. LeShawn Merritt
In Other News
1. Who led a team of abseilers down the Shard ?
2. Which vegetable was confirmed as that which children are most reluctant to try ?
3. The BBC have been criticized for heavily featuring which make of fridge on the Great British Bake Off ?
4. How old was Reverend Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church when he died last week ?
5. Who score a hat trick for Man Utd. v. Southampton ?
6. Which was the only Premier League football club to take three wins from their first three games ?
7. Who won the Belgian Grand Prix
8. Who was lost last week on a boat off Long Island ?
9. Whose dresses were bought for £73,000
10. Which honour was awarded to Sir Paul McCartney ?
11. Which Premier League Manager has already been given a two match touchline ban ?
12. Who have Save The Children now said they will also help ?
13. Who is the new Chairman of the Arts Council ?
14. Who is the controversial choice as new Health Secretary ?
15. What remarkable announcement was made by Hello Magazine last week ?
16. Which club has Michael Owen signed for ?
17. Whose tomb has been found beneath a car park ?
18. What is the record number of ministers who now attend cabinet meetings ?
19. Which famous sportsman and commentator passed away last week aged 82 ?
20. Which former sportsman announced last week that he intends giving boxing a try ?
21. Which country has ordered foreign workers for Save the Children to leave ?
22. Where will Neil Armstrong be buried ?
23. Who knocked Roger Federer out of the US Open ?
24. Who has entered the Guinness book as having the longest career as a male entertainer ever ?
25. What jubilee icon was sold at a loss to a buyer from Portugal ?
26. What was the score in the England v. Moldova world cup qualifier ? 27. Name the nature broadcaster who passed away last week
28. Name the Antiques broadcaster and expert who passed away last week
29. What was the score in the Wales v. Belgium world cup qualifier ?
30. A special monopoly board has been launched to honour which scientist ?
31. Who said that his job is now too big for one man ?
32. In a survey it has been shown that this year pocket money has fallen on average for children by how much per week ?
33. Which writer was told by Wikipedia that he is not a credible source about his own novels ?
34. Which cricket team were relegated following their loss to Middlesex last week ?
35. Against which country did Argentina score their first points, through a draw, in the old Tri Nations championship ?
Answers
Who or what ar the the following and why have they been in the news ?
1. Head of OFSTED who has called for tougher exams despite the recent GCSE furore
2. Australian Minister for Sport who last week completed her forfeit for Australia finishing below GB in medals table at the Olympics – she rowed down the Eton Dorney course
3. The new twins born to hero Mo Farah and his wife
4. Scottish beach where a school of pilot whales were stranded
5. Brazilian runner who beat Oscar Pistorius in 200m final, leading to Oscar Pistorius’ comments about some athletes using longer blades just for the Games
6. Businessman who shot two burglars in his home
7. The lady tragically killed by a falling window in Mayfair
8. Tyler Hamilton’s book giving details of Lance Armstrong’s alleged doping during the Tour de France
9. Both announced their retirement from Radio 4 after many years’ service
10. New Rolling Stones album which has angered fans for containing only 2 new tracks
11. New Justice Secretary appointed in Cabinet reshuffle
12. First British competitor to win 3 gold medals in the London Paralympics
13. Name of a store in Ahmedabad which has bowed to public pressure to change its name
14. Star of the Green Mile who passed away last week
15. Competitor who equaled Tanni Grey Thompson’s career total of 11 gold medals in the Paralympic Games 16. Damien Hirst’s planned colossal statue given the go ahead in Ilfracombe
17. The symbol of the Paralympic Games 18. Former F1 driver who won Paralympic Gold
19. Training partner of Greg Rutherford, winner of 100 metres in Paralympics, setting a world record beating his idol Oscar Pistorius 20. Judge who said that a burglar was brave
21. Singer who passed away, best known for The Games People Play
22. First man to train for a degree from the Norland College for Nannies
23. Opponent for Vitali Klitschko in what might be his last fight
24. British Paralympic cyclists, who held hands across the line so that they could be awarded the bronze medal jointly, but officials insisted on a photo finish to separate them.
US Athlete who set a new world 110m hurdles record at 12.80 seconds.
In Other News
1. Prince Andrew/ Duke of York
2. Spinach
3. Smeg
4. 92
5. Robin Van Persie
6. Chelsea
7. Jenson Button
8. Russell Crowe
9. Margaret Thatcher
10. The Legion d’Honneur
11. Alan Pardew
12. Children in the UK
13. Peter Bazalgette
14. Jeremy Hunt
15. They will be ending their reliance on celebrity gossip
16. Stoke City
17. Richard III
18. 32
19. Lord John Oaksey
20. Freddie Flintoff
21. Pakistan
22. At Sea
23. Thomas Berdych
24. Sir Bruce Forsyth
25. The Spirit of Chartwell
26. 5 – 0 to England
27. Terry Nutkins
28. David Barby
29. 2 – 0 to Belgium
30. Alan Turing
31. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury
32. 27p
33. Philip Roth
34. Last year’s champions Lancashire
35. South Africa
Friday, 14 September 2012
Mastermind - Round 1 - Heat 5
Firstly a gentle slap on the wrists for the BBC. Last night’s show was actually the edition broadcast closest to the 40th anniversary of the first ever edition of Mastermind in 1972. There was no hint of this from the continuity announcer at all. Shame on you.
Regulars will know that this week I took on the double wiki challenge of answering on the specialist rounds on Arkansas, and on Terry Venables. It turned out that these were the last two of the specialist rounds in this heat, and so we’ll come to them in a little while. Philip Walters began the show with his specialist subject of Dr. Who – 1963 – 1989. Here’s a specialist question for you. What makes Dr. Who unique among specialist subjects ? Answer – there has been a one off Dr. Who Mastermind special , which was won by a lady called Karen Davies. I fancied my chance on this round, and I managed 8 with no study, but it was by no means easy. I have a decent knowledge of the series, and I’d say that over half of the questions were pretty tough, and required a real in depth knowledge of the show. Which thankfully Philip Walters had. His 13 and no passes was a competitive score, and meant that he could return from the black chair having acquitted himself well.
The Story of Moses in the King James Bible, the subject offered by Jackie Phillips, was one of those subjects where a certain number of points were there to be gained by serious GK quizzers without any study beforehand. Questions like the meaning of the name Moses, the first of the plagues of Egypt, Moses’ age when he died etc. are within the canon of old general knowledge stagers, so I racked up a score of 6 on the round. Jackie knew her stuff, but she was a little hesitant, and I may be wrong, but I thought that the nerves really started to take hold by the second half of the round. She made it to double figures with 10 and one pass, and that’s a respectable score in its own right. 3 points is a significant gap, but in a 2 and a half minute round it’s by no means insurmountable.
The first of my two wiki challenge subjects, Arkansas, was offered by Ian Copping. I found that I’d culled a lot more about the Geography of Arkansas than the History of it, and so I wouldn’t have minded more Geography questions than were asked in the round. Still, bearing in mind that I’d have had precisely 1 of this set right if I hadn’t taken the challenge, I did manage 6 of them after preparing my own set of questions. Ian did much better than this, scoring an impressive 10, even if he did miss the one that I would have got right even if I hadn’t prepared with wiki, namely, the town where Bill Clinton lived for the first four years of his life.
Last but not least was Shahab Mossavat, with my second wiki subject, Terry Venables. As a Spurs fan I’d like to think that I’d have had a few on this set of questions even without the wiki – I’d say 4 of them. With the help of the wiki page I managed 10 on this set last night. Of all of this show’s contenders Shahab looked the most steady under fire, and even though he couldn’t quite match Philip’s score, his 12 was certainly enough to put him right on the leader’s shoulder as they were moving towards the home straight. My aggregate score for the specialist rounds, then , was 30, a pleasing total, albeit 1 off what I managed for the previous heat.
We were in the position that all 4 contenders’ first round scores were close enough that any of them could win with a good GK round. Unfortunately for Jackie Phillips, first to come back to the chair, it didn’t work out that way for her. She started brightly enough, but soon her round was bogged down by long pauses, and three passes didn’t help her cause either. She kept going, though, to be fair to her, and eventually managed 9 points, to put her score up to a respectable 19. Not a winning score, no, but a respectable one. I managed 15 on the round, but it was difficult because the pauses meant that you couldn’t really build up any momentum. Ian Copping too looked rather beset by nerves, and didn’t go as quickly as I always like to see contenders go, but at least he was dragging out correct answers where he knew them. He managed to get 12 in his round, which pushed his total up to 22. Nothing to be ashamed of there. My total for Ian’s round was 17.
I did say earlier that I thought Shahab was outwardly the most composed of all four contenders, and you know, that can count for a lot in the GK rounds, where keeping your head can bring you points you might otherwise have thrown away. Shahab’s round of 14 might not have been the very best that we’ve seen so far this series, but it wasn’t bad. He maintained his momentum well, and the fact that he hadn’t incurred any passes during either of his rounds meant that Philip was going to have to match his round in order to win outright.
Despite his nerves, he gave it a lash, I’ll give him that. You did get the feeling that he was a little bit behind the clock, but the answers were coming. In the end, he was still a couple of points away from the win, and finished with 12.I managed 19 on this set. John Humphrys made a point of saying that his score of 25 could well see him back to the semi finals. Well, maybe, but it’s rather unlikely , given that the lowest qualifying score for a highest loser semi final place in the last two years has been 28. Still, well played, and well played Shahad – good performance.
The Details
Regulars will know that this week I took on the double wiki challenge of answering on the specialist rounds on Arkansas, and on Terry Venables. It turned out that these were the last two of the specialist rounds in this heat, and so we’ll come to them in a little while. Philip Walters began the show with his specialist subject of Dr. Who – 1963 – 1989. Here’s a specialist question for you. What makes Dr. Who unique among specialist subjects ? Answer – there has been a one off Dr. Who Mastermind special , which was won by a lady called Karen Davies. I fancied my chance on this round, and I managed 8 with no study, but it was by no means easy. I have a decent knowledge of the series, and I’d say that over half of the questions were pretty tough, and required a real in depth knowledge of the show. Which thankfully Philip Walters had. His 13 and no passes was a competitive score, and meant that he could return from the black chair having acquitted himself well.
The Story of Moses in the King James Bible, the subject offered by Jackie Phillips, was one of those subjects where a certain number of points were there to be gained by serious GK quizzers without any study beforehand. Questions like the meaning of the name Moses, the first of the plagues of Egypt, Moses’ age when he died etc. are within the canon of old general knowledge stagers, so I racked up a score of 6 on the round. Jackie knew her stuff, but she was a little hesitant, and I may be wrong, but I thought that the nerves really started to take hold by the second half of the round. She made it to double figures with 10 and one pass, and that’s a respectable score in its own right. 3 points is a significant gap, but in a 2 and a half minute round it’s by no means insurmountable.
The first of my two wiki challenge subjects, Arkansas, was offered by Ian Copping. I found that I’d culled a lot more about the Geography of Arkansas than the History of it, and so I wouldn’t have minded more Geography questions than were asked in the round. Still, bearing in mind that I’d have had precisely 1 of this set right if I hadn’t taken the challenge, I did manage 6 of them after preparing my own set of questions. Ian did much better than this, scoring an impressive 10, even if he did miss the one that I would have got right even if I hadn’t prepared with wiki, namely, the town where Bill Clinton lived for the first four years of his life.
Last but not least was Shahab Mossavat, with my second wiki subject, Terry Venables. As a Spurs fan I’d like to think that I’d have had a few on this set of questions even without the wiki – I’d say 4 of them. With the help of the wiki page I managed 10 on this set last night. Of all of this show’s contenders Shahab looked the most steady under fire, and even though he couldn’t quite match Philip’s score, his 12 was certainly enough to put him right on the leader’s shoulder as they were moving towards the home straight. My aggregate score for the specialist rounds, then , was 30, a pleasing total, albeit 1 off what I managed for the previous heat.
We were in the position that all 4 contenders’ first round scores were close enough that any of them could win with a good GK round. Unfortunately for Jackie Phillips, first to come back to the chair, it didn’t work out that way for her. She started brightly enough, but soon her round was bogged down by long pauses, and three passes didn’t help her cause either. She kept going, though, to be fair to her, and eventually managed 9 points, to put her score up to a respectable 19. Not a winning score, no, but a respectable one. I managed 15 on the round, but it was difficult because the pauses meant that you couldn’t really build up any momentum. Ian Copping too looked rather beset by nerves, and didn’t go as quickly as I always like to see contenders go, but at least he was dragging out correct answers where he knew them. He managed to get 12 in his round, which pushed his total up to 22. Nothing to be ashamed of there. My total for Ian’s round was 17.
I did say earlier that I thought Shahab was outwardly the most composed of all four contenders, and you know, that can count for a lot in the GK rounds, where keeping your head can bring you points you might otherwise have thrown away. Shahab’s round of 14 might not have been the very best that we’ve seen so far this series, but it wasn’t bad. He maintained his momentum well, and the fact that he hadn’t incurred any passes during either of his rounds meant that Philip was going to have to match his round in order to win outright.
Despite his nerves, he gave it a lash, I’ll give him that. You did get the feeling that he was a little bit behind the clock, but the answers were coming. In the end, he was still a couple of points away from the win, and finished with 12.I managed 19 on this set. John Humphrys made a point of saying that his score of 25 could well see him back to the semi finals. Well, maybe, but it’s rather unlikely , given that the lowest qualifying score for a highest loser semi final place in the last two years has been 28. Still, well played, and well played Shahad – good performance.
The Details
| Philip Walters | Dr. Who - 1963 - 1989 | 13 - 0 | 12 - 1 | 25 – 1 |
| Jackie Phillips | The Story of Moses in the King James Bible | 10 - 1 | 9 - 3 | 19 – 4 |
| Ian Copping | The History and Geography of Arkansas | 10 - 1 | 12 - 2 | 22 – 3 |
| Shahab Mossavat | Terry Venables | 12 - 0 | 14 - 0 | 26 – 0 |
Technological Problems - The Appliance of Science
Enjoyed the quiz last night . It was my turn as QM last night , and maybe it was a little tougher than I would normally aim to do for the club, but I think I got away with it. I took a leaf from Alwyn’s book from last week, and rather than go into my usual ‘phone cheating is evil ‘ lecture, I simply said “Turn your internet phones off now .” looking straight at the two MDNs (Morally Deficient Numpties ) who ruined the quiz two weeks ago. As far as I could see – and I did keep my eyes open throughout the quiz – everything was kosher and above board throughout the quiz, and do you know what ? The team who won through their cheating a fortnight ago were right in contention up to the end of the quiz, and only lost through a bit of a disastrous last round. I hope that they got much more of a sense of achievement from last night than from their despicable tainted victory a fortnight ago.
As it happens the team in question were the first to hand in their picture quiz last night, and the member of the team who handed it in was the MDN I stood behind a fortnight ago while he was googling, and I announced to the world ‘What a . . . . cheat !” , which he ignored. Now, on the handout , the very last picture was Britain’s first ever world formula 1 driving champion Mike Hawthorn. The team in question had written down ‘Mike Haywood’ , which I remarked upon. The MDN in question said ‘ Well, you could just mark it right anyway. ‘ To which I replied ‘ Yes, I could. But then that would make me a cheat . . . and there’s nothing worse than a cheat, is there? ‘ In all honesty I have no idea if he actually got my less than subtle dig, but he didn’t reply , and went back to his seat.
We’ve had a bit of a problem with our sound system in the club for a while. On a good night the mike will cut out once or twice , but other than that you’ll emerge from the experience relatively unscathed. Last night was not a good night. For some reason the speakers on many occasions just decided to start humming and buzzing. On other occasions they just cut out completely without warning. Our poor steward was up and down like a yoyo all evening, trying to coax it back into action. At about the halfway stage I junked the damn thing and stood in the centre of the room, and gave the answers to one of the rounds in my best ‘Assembly’ voice. Unfortunately it started working again , and so I felt honour bound to go back to the frustration of using the mike – which continued intermittently buzzing and cutting out throughout the rest of the quiz. I don’t remember ever being so glad just to get to the end of a quiz when I’ve been question master.
As it happens the team in question were the first to hand in their picture quiz last night, and the member of the team who handed it in was the MDN I stood behind a fortnight ago while he was googling, and I announced to the world ‘What a . . . . cheat !” , which he ignored. Now, on the handout , the very last picture was Britain’s first ever world formula 1 driving champion Mike Hawthorn. The team in question had written down ‘Mike Haywood’ , which I remarked upon. The MDN in question said ‘ Well, you could just mark it right anyway. ‘ To which I replied ‘ Yes, I could. But then that would make me a cheat . . . and there’s nothing worse than a cheat, is there? ‘ In all honesty I have no idea if he actually got my less than subtle dig, but he didn’t reply , and went back to his seat.
We’ve had a bit of a problem with our sound system in the club for a while. On a good night the mike will cut out once or twice , but other than that you’ll emerge from the experience relatively unscathed. Last night was not a good night. For some reason the speakers on many occasions just decided to start humming and buzzing. On other occasions they just cut out completely without warning. Our poor steward was up and down like a yoyo all evening, trying to coax it back into action. At about the halfway stage I junked the damn thing and stood in the centre of the room, and gave the answers to one of the rounds in my best ‘Assembly’ voice. Unfortunately it started working again , and so I felt honour bound to go back to the frustration of using the mike – which continued intermittently buzzing and cutting out throughout the rest of the quiz. I don’t remember ever being so glad just to get to the end of a quiz when I’ve been question master.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Wiki Challenge - Venables Questions
Yes, with tomorrow's Mastermind fast approaching I've been having a quick look at El Tel's wiki page, and here's the questions I've culled from the information thereon. We'll see how many - if any - feature in the show.
Terry Venables Wiki Challenge Questions
1. Where was Terry Venables born ?
2. What is his middle name ?
3. For which team did he make his first team debut as a professional footballer ?
4. IN which year did he make this debut ?
5. Terry Venables has managed England and which other national football team ?
6. What was the name of the secondary school attended by Terry Venables ?
7. Terry Venables signed for his first professional club after being left out of which amateur squad ?
8. Against which cub did Venables score in the final of the 1965 League Cup ?
9. For how much was Venables sold to Tottenham Hotspur in 1966 ?
10. Venables was one of the players whose bust up with which manager over a pre match curfew eventually leading to his sale to Tottenham Hotspur?
11. How many goals did Venables score in his professional league career ?
12. How many games did Venables play for Crystal Palace before being appointed their manager ?
13. Venables was appointed manager of Crystal Palace in succession to which manager ?
14. In his first season as manager Palace achieved promotion through a dramatic away win on the last day of the season against which club ?
15. In which month of 1979 did Venables’ Crystal Palace top the first division for the only time in the club’s history ?
16. In October 1980 Venables left Palace to manage which club ?
17. Against which side did Venables QPR lose an FA Cup Final replay in 1982 ?
18. In 1984 QPR achieved their highest League position while he was manager, what was it ?
19. Which fellow British manager recommended Venables for the position of coach of Barcelona ?
20. In which year did Barcelona under Venables win La Liga ?
21. Which team defeated Venables’ Barcelona in the final of the 1986 European Cup in a penalty shoot out ?
22. In the semi finals of the 1986 European Cup, Venables’ Barcelona overame a 3- 0 first leg deficit to beat which team ?
23. Which British team defeated Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Uefa Cup in 1987, which was one of the contributory factors towards the end of Venables’ tenure ?
24. Whom did Venables sign for Spurs in the first £2 million transfer between British clubs ?
25. Who was Venables partner in his failed £20 million bid to takeover Spurs ?
26. When Venables was appointed as Chief Executive by Alan Sugar which former manager was reappointed as team manager ?
27. What was Venables’ official designation when he was appointed in charge of the England National team in 1994 ?
28. Which team did Venables’ England team defeat 4 – 1 during the group stages of the 1996 Euro ?
29. Venables was appointed the manager of Australia following whose resignation ?
30. Which competition did Venables lead Australia to the final of in 1997 ?
31. Which team beat them in the final of this competition ?
32. Venables’ Australia missed out on qualification for the 1998 World Cup when they were beaten on the away goals rule in a play off against which team ?
33. While managing Australia Venables became consultant with then Chairman of which English league club ?
34. Which of his former clubs did Venables return to manage in 1998 ?
35. With whom did Venables co-manage Middlesbrough in 2001 in their successful fight against relegation ?
36. A fortnight into his appointment as manager of Leeds United, Venables sold which England international for a record transfer fee to Manchester United ?
37. What was the name of Venables’ London Drinking Club ?
38. Which TV series was co – written by Venables for ITV ?
39. Under which pseudonym did Venables and his co writer write the series ?
40. Venables has co-written four novels with which author ?
41. In 1994 which BBC programme made allegations against Venables ?
42. A photograph of Venables appeared on the cover for which single by Morrissey ?
43. With which band did Venables record England Crazy in 2002 ?
44. Venables appeared in a 1996 TV advert with former managers Graham Taylor and Bobby Robson for what ?
45. Venables is Chairman of which Welsh League side ?
46. In 2010 Venables’ version of “If I Can Dream reached number 23 in the charts. It was produced in association with which newspaper ?
Terry Venables Wiki Challenge Questions
1. Where was Terry Venables born ?
2. What is his middle name ?
3. For which team did he make his first team debut as a professional footballer ?
4. IN which year did he make this debut ?
5. Terry Venables has managed England and which other national football team ?
6. What was the name of the secondary school attended by Terry Venables ?
7. Terry Venables signed for his first professional club after being left out of which amateur squad ?
8. Against which cub did Venables score in the final of the 1965 League Cup ?
9. For how much was Venables sold to Tottenham Hotspur in 1966 ?
10. Venables was one of the players whose bust up with which manager over a pre match curfew eventually leading to his sale to Tottenham Hotspur?
11. How many goals did Venables score in his professional league career ?
12. How many games did Venables play for Crystal Palace before being appointed their manager ?
13. Venables was appointed manager of Crystal Palace in succession to which manager ?
14. In his first season as manager Palace achieved promotion through a dramatic away win on the last day of the season against which club ?
15. In which month of 1979 did Venables’ Crystal Palace top the first division for the only time in the club’s history ?
16. In October 1980 Venables left Palace to manage which club ?
17. Against which side did Venables QPR lose an FA Cup Final replay in 1982 ?
18. In 1984 QPR achieved their highest League position while he was manager, what was it ?
19. Which fellow British manager recommended Venables for the position of coach of Barcelona ?
20. In which year did Barcelona under Venables win La Liga ?
21. Which team defeated Venables’ Barcelona in the final of the 1986 European Cup in a penalty shoot out ?
22. In the semi finals of the 1986 European Cup, Venables’ Barcelona overame a 3- 0 first leg deficit to beat which team ?
23. Which British team defeated Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Uefa Cup in 1987, which was one of the contributory factors towards the end of Venables’ tenure ?
24. Whom did Venables sign for Spurs in the first £2 million transfer between British clubs ?
25. Who was Venables partner in his failed £20 million bid to takeover Spurs ?
26. When Venables was appointed as Chief Executive by Alan Sugar which former manager was reappointed as team manager ?
27. What was Venables’ official designation when he was appointed in charge of the England National team in 1994 ?
28. Which team did Venables’ England team defeat 4 – 1 during the group stages of the 1996 Euro ?
29. Venables was appointed the manager of Australia following whose resignation ?
30. Which competition did Venables lead Australia to the final of in 1997 ?
31. Which team beat them in the final of this competition ?
32. Venables’ Australia missed out on qualification for the 1998 World Cup when they were beaten on the away goals rule in a play off against which team ?
33. While managing Australia Venables became consultant with then Chairman of which English league club ?
34. Which of his former clubs did Venables return to manage in 1998 ?
35. With whom did Venables co-manage Middlesbrough in 2001 in their successful fight against relegation ?
36. A fortnight into his appointment as manager of Leeds United, Venables sold which England international for a record transfer fee to Manchester United ?
37. What was the name of Venables’ London Drinking Club ?
38. Which TV series was co – written by Venables for ITV ?
39. Under which pseudonym did Venables and his co writer write the series ?
40. Venables has co-written four novels with which author ?
41. In 1994 which BBC programme made allegations against Venables ?
42. A photograph of Venables appeared on the cover for which single by Morrissey ?
43. With which band did Venables record England Crazy in 2002 ?
44. Venables appeared in a 1996 TV advert with former managers Graham Taylor and Bobby Robson for what ?
45. Venables is Chairman of which Welsh League side ?
46. In 2010 Venables’ version of “If I Can Dream reached number 23 in the charts. It was produced in association with which newspaper ?
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Only Connect - Round One - Heat 3
The Footballers v. Second Violinists
I was in a bit of a quandary as to who to support this week. I’ve posted on the same internet forum as Barry Humphrey , of the Footballers, and he’s a seasoned TV quizzer who’s been on his fair share of shows. Michael McPartland is not unknown to LAM either, having contested Brain of Britain, and also being a former Mastermind semi finalist. Captain Jamie Turner I don’t know, but with quizzers on either side of him I guessed that he was bound to have form too. So my gut reaction was to support Barry’s team, who were surely favourites for the match. On the other hand Sophie Fitzsimmons, Agnes Henson and Captain Rosie Howarth are all members of Cardiff University’s symphony orchestra, which means they had dibs on local support from me. Oh, decisions, decisions !
Round One – What’s the Connection ?
The Footballers kicked off with Twisted Flax. They were given True Lies – Three Men and A Baby – Sommersby and The Birdcage. I was a little surprised neither knew it, since Sommersby and The Birdcage were quite well known as remakes of French original films, but sometimes when you’re on set you can’t see the wood from the trees. The Violinists . Lion gave the Violinists pictures, and they knew that Queen of the Night, and Queen of the Nile would probably be accompanied by Queen of the South – which gave them Queen of . Nice set, and a 2 – 0 lead. Water gave the Footballers music, and I was impressed that Barry was straight onto La Fille Mal Gardée. I didn’t recognize the Welly Boot song myself, but when we heard These Boots were Made for Walking I remembered that there’s a clog dance in that ballet. Mind you, the Footballers were there a little ahead of me. Good shout, and their first points on the board. Two Reeds were the next choice of the violinists.Anne Desclos – Marc Felt – Brooke Magnani – Ben Collins appeared before them in fairly short order. I’ll come clean, I didn’t get it before the Stig came out. I think I;ve met him once – but he had his helmet on so it could have been anyone, mind you. No joy for the V iolinists, but a bonus for the Footballers , who knew about their hidden identities . This brought them the lead for the first time. They then went on to pick Eye of Horus. This was one of my favourites of the night – although Sue Lawley which came first is actually the one I knew best ! She was followed by Ireland’s Industry – Gladly the Cross eyed Bear – Scuse me while I kiss this guy. As the footballers knew, all misheard pop lyrics. Ireland’s Industry ? Try it – Ireland’s Industry , that is what we are , nothing in between , how can we be wrong etc. Great set. The Violinists brought the round to an end with Horned Viper . I must admit that when you get a relatively benign set like black and yellow; Buenos Aires – Red – Hong King – Black London and Yellow , New York – you really have to put it in the back of the net. The Violinists did. This meant the score was 4 – 2. I feared a little for the V iolinists at this stage, but then we haven’t had a mismatch yet this series, and so I kept the faith.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
The Footballers kicked off with Twisted Flax.Basilicata , Campania and Lazio were Italian regions, yes, but they still had to figure out the right direction we were moving in. They did just that with Tuscany. The Violinists went with Water, and took the pictures. They were given Howard Stern, a glass of Port and someone taking a Bow. They knew we were dealing with parts of a ship, and they correctly supplied Starboard. Now, behind the Lion for the Footballers was my monet of the evening. No, I don’t know if I would have gambled in the studio, but at home when I saw The Vicar of Dibley’s Script Editor I knew it was Emma Freud, and so I shouted out Sigmund Freud. Then I worked out that the spaces would indeed be right for Emma Freud’s great granddad. If it was. Indeed it was, but if you didn’t see the Freud connection, you would struggle. The Footballers didn’t get it, neither did the Violinists. They opted now for Horned Viper. These were all sections of the economy, but none of us involved – Footballers, Violinists or me knew that 4 : Knowledge based – 3 : services – 2: Manufacturing would be led by 1 : raw materials. The Footballers opted for two reeds. Part score and game escaped them, but small slam gave them, and me, the answer Grand Slam, from Bridge. So the Violinists finished the round with Eye of Horus. A relatively kind set again, with Post Office Tower – Nat West Tower – One Canada Square saw them correctly supply London’s newest tallest building, The Shard. Going into the Walls, then, the Footballers still led, but only by 1, with 8 playing 7.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Violinists opted for the Water wall, and probably regretted it. In 2 minutes they saw a connection, but just couldn’t unravel any of the sets. When it was resolved they could see that Bounty – Ransom – Premium and Reward can all be paid or received . But unfortunately that was it. They knew that Maverick – Payback – Tequila Sunrise and Ransom were all films, but not that they all starred Mel Gibson. Peach – Nove – Salmon and Fudge can all be heard on Radio 2 – and I’m afraid that I didn’t see that either. I think that desperation may have kicked in with raspberry – fuse – fortune and kiss – as they didn’t see that all of them can be blown. Well, sometimes, it never rains but it pours. But it certainly looked as if it would be an uphill struggle going into the last round
The Lion Wall was hardly much more forgiving towards the Footballers, though. The picked out cartoon dogs in the shape of Odie – Ren – Lady and Spike, while – Pelt – Bolt – Barrel and Dart were also unraveled. but they didn’t get that they are all synonyms for rush. I thought that was tricky. The other lines they didn’t get were stock – receiver – safety and sight, which they knew were parts of a gun, then full back – rover – wing and ruckman. The Footballers knew they were positions in a sport but they didn’t get which sport – I guessed Aussie Rules Football, mostly by ruling out what it wasn’t. So the four points they earned meant that the Violinists had suffered a setback, but at least not a complete catastrophe. The Footballers led by 12 to 8.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
No point in the Violinists playing safe here, and to be fair they took 2 of the fundraising events while theFootballers missed out. That, though, was as close as they were going to get really. UK racecourses went 3 – 1 to the Footballers. Advocates of Women’s Rights ( funnily enough Jim Davidson wasn’t one of them ) went 2 – 0 to the Footballers. Hard lines on the Violinists who supplied Emily DaviDson instead of Emily Davison – a hard call but a correct one. Items in a first aid kit went one apiece – but that was it. The teams having used a lot of time on the walls, there really was never going to be a long vowels game today. So that proved a comfortable win for the Footballers in the end by 18 – 11. No shame to the Violinists, but the Footballers were the better team, and deserved their win.
I was in a bit of a quandary as to who to support this week. I’ve posted on the same internet forum as Barry Humphrey , of the Footballers, and he’s a seasoned TV quizzer who’s been on his fair share of shows. Michael McPartland is not unknown to LAM either, having contested Brain of Britain, and also being a former Mastermind semi finalist. Captain Jamie Turner I don’t know, but with quizzers on either side of him I guessed that he was bound to have form too. So my gut reaction was to support Barry’s team, who were surely favourites for the match. On the other hand Sophie Fitzsimmons, Agnes Henson and Captain Rosie Howarth are all members of Cardiff University’s symphony orchestra, which means they had dibs on local support from me. Oh, decisions, decisions !
Round One – What’s the Connection ?
The Footballers kicked off with Twisted Flax. They were given True Lies – Three Men and A Baby – Sommersby and The Birdcage. I was a little surprised neither knew it, since Sommersby and The Birdcage were quite well known as remakes of French original films, but sometimes when you’re on set you can’t see the wood from the trees. The Violinists . Lion gave the Violinists pictures, and they knew that Queen of the Night, and Queen of the Nile would probably be accompanied by Queen of the South – which gave them Queen of . Nice set, and a 2 – 0 lead. Water gave the Footballers music, and I was impressed that Barry was straight onto La Fille Mal Gardée. I didn’t recognize the Welly Boot song myself, but when we heard These Boots were Made for Walking I remembered that there’s a clog dance in that ballet. Mind you, the Footballers were there a little ahead of me. Good shout, and their first points on the board. Two Reeds were the next choice of the violinists.Anne Desclos – Marc Felt – Brooke Magnani – Ben Collins appeared before them in fairly short order. I’ll come clean, I didn’t get it before the Stig came out. I think I;ve met him once – but he had his helmet on so it could have been anyone, mind you. No joy for the V iolinists, but a bonus for the Footballers , who knew about their hidden identities . This brought them the lead for the first time. They then went on to pick Eye of Horus. This was one of my favourites of the night – although Sue Lawley which came first is actually the one I knew best ! She was followed by Ireland’s Industry – Gladly the Cross eyed Bear – Scuse me while I kiss this guy. As the footballers knew, all misheard pop lyrics. Ireland’s Industry ? Try it – Ireland’s Industry , that is what we are , nothing in between , how can we be wrong etc. Great set. The Violinists brought the round to an end with Horned Viper . I must admit that when you get a relatively benign set like black and yellow; Buenos Aires – Red – Hong King – Black London and Yellow , New York – you really have to put it in the back of the net. The Violinists did. This meant the score was 4 – 2. I feared a little for the V iolinists at this stage, but then we haven’t had a mismatch yet this series, and so I kept the faith.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth ?
The Footballers kicked off with Twisted Flax.Basilicata , Campania and Lazio were Italian regions, yes, but they still had to figure out the right direction we were moving in. They did just that with Tuscany. The Violinists went with Water, and took the pictures. They were given Howard Stern, a glass of Port and someone taking a Bow. They knew we were dealing with parts of a ship, and they correctly supplied Starboard. Now, behind the Lion for the Footballers was my monet of the evening. No, I don’t know if I would have gambled in the studio, but at home when I saw The Vicar of Dibley’s Script Editor I knew it was Emma Freud, and so I shouted out Sigmund Freud. Then I worked out that the spaces would indeed be right for Emma Freud’s great granddad. If it was. Indeed it was, but if you didn’t see the Freud connection, you would struggle. The Footballers didn’t get it, neither did the Violinists. They opted now for Horned Viper. These were all sections of the economy, but none of us involved – Footballers, Violinists or me knew that 4 : Knowledge based – 3 : services – 2: Manufacturing would be led by 1 : raw materials. The Footballers opted for two reeds. Part score and game escaped them, but small slam gave them, and me, the answer Grand Slam, from Bridge. So the Violinists finished the round with Eye of Horus. A relatively kind set again, with Post Office Tower – Nat West Tower – One Canada Square saw them correctly supply London’s newest tallest building, The Shard. Going into the Walls, then, the Footballers still led, but only by 1, with 8 playing 7.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Violinists opted for the Water wall, and probably regretted it. In 2 minutes they saw a connection, but just couldn’t unravel any of the sets. When it was resolved they could see that Bounty – Ransom – Premium and Reward can all be paid or received . But unfortunately that was it. They knew that Maverick – Payback – Tequila Sunrise and Ransom were all films, but not that they all starred Mel Gibson. Peach – Nove – Salmon and Fudge can all be heard on Radio 2 – and I’m afraid that I didn’t see that either. I think that desperation may have kicked in with raspberry – fuse – fortune and kiss – as they didn’t see that all of them can be blown. Well, sometimes, it never rains but it pours. But it certainly looked as if it would be an uphill struggle going into the last round
The Lion Wall was hardly much more forgiving towards the Footballers, though. The picked out cartoon dogs in the shape of Odie – Ren – Lady and Spike, while – Pelt – Bolt – Barrel and Dart were also unraveled. but they didn’t get that they are all synonyms for rush. I thought that was tricky. The other lines they didn’t get were stock – receiver – safety and sight, which they knew were parts of a gun, then full back – rover – wing and ruckman. The Footballers knew they were positions in a sport but they didn’t get which sport – I guessed Aussie Rules Football, mostly by ruling out what it wasn’t. So the four points they earned meant that the Violinists had suffered a setback, but at least not a complete catastrophe. The Footballers led by 12 to 8.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
No point in the Violinists playing safe here, and to be fair they took 2 of the fundraising events while theFootballers missed out. That, though, was as close as they were going to get really. UK racecourses went 3 – 1 to the Footballers. Advocates of Women’s Rights ( funnily enough Jim Davidson wasn’t one of them ) went 2 – 0 to the Footballers. Hard lines on the Violinists who supplied Emily DaviDson instead of Emily Davison – a hard call but a correct one. Items in a first aid kit went one apiece – but that was it. The teams having used a lot of time on the walls, there really was never going to be a long vowels game today. So that proved a comfortable win for the Footballers in the end by 18 – 11. No shame to the Violinists, but the Footballers were the better team, and deserved their win.
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