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.