University Challenge 2022: Round 2: Edinburgh v. Bristol

The Teams

Edinburgh

Ben Russell Jones

Lewis Thomas

Rishi Sundar (capt)

Al Karunaratne

Bristol

Alex Regueiro

Sam Woodcock

Seb Priest (capt)

Anna Brian

Next up, this morning, then we have UC. The form guide seemed to suggest Edinburgh, who put a lot of points on Peterhouse in their first round would be too strong for Bristol. They had taken a close but decisive victory over Wolfson of Oxford. But you can only tell so much from first round form.

The first question gave us several clues to the word thief – or – thieves. Personally I prefer the Alexander Korda version of the Thief of Baghdad – I think Disney’s “Aladdin” owed more than a little to that one. Ben Russell Jones took that one to open Edinburgh’s account. Irish born Nobel laureates provided a full house for us both. Al Karunaratne was the first to recognise Anitra’s Dance as part of the music for Peer Gynt, and to correctly supply the name of composer Edvard Grieg. Again, bonuses, this time on Africa in 2011, provided us both with a full set, ad at the moment Edinburgh had 50 from a potential 50. Like Ben Russell Jones, I correctly guessed that the 1813 novel to which Charlote Bronte wrote a rather snarky review was “Pride and Prejudice”. I know a great many people who love Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”. I’m not one of them, so I think she was a bit of a cheeky mare being critical of the (in my opinion) far superior Jane Austen. My run of 7 on the bounce came to an end with a set of maths bonuses. Edinburgh took 1. Now, I’ve never studied German, so I was really pleased to work out that the German we saw for the first picture starter seemed to be talking about two warring families – which led to the correct conclusion that it must be Romeo and Juliet. Al Karunaratne took his second in a row with this one. Neither of us managed the next two , but the Macbeth one to finish seemed fairly obvious. 80 points down, and finally Bristol sprang into action as Sam Woodcock buzzed early to identify goose for the next starter. 18^th century prime ministers brought a brace of bonuses. This meant that just a few seconds before the ten minute mark, Edinburgh led by 80 – 20. So far it was 1 – 0 to the form guide.

How the hell the word graphene sprang to my lips at the mention of superconductivity in the next starter I don’t know – maybe from similar UC questions in years gone by. I was bowled over when Alex Regueiro correctly said the same. With Covid in my chest I will not be doing any laps of honour for now – but this would have earned this show’s, believe you me. Bonuses on astronomy are usually fruitful for me but this lot brought me nowt. Bristol, to their credit, took a couple, and in the space of 2 sets they had halved the deficit. Both teams dwelt on their buzzers a bit for the next starter, but when Rimbaud was mentioned Ben Russell Jones supplied the correct answer of symbolism. Edinburgh managed just the one on ducks. To be fair there’s always quite a few options on a duck set – shoveller, ruddy, mallard, mandarin, goldeneye and teal are each always a possibility. I took my second Science starter of the night, knowing that Hafnia – Hafnium refers to Copenhagen. They had to change the name because Wonderful, wonderful Hafnium was a syllable too short for the song. Sam Woodcock took that one. A full set on Hindu iconography helped the Bristol cause. Sam Woodcock, who buzzed super early on the music starter, couldn’t believe his luck to be given something so well known as Carmen. More opera, as sung by Leontyne Price brought them no joy, although they did seem to talk themselves out of at least one answer. Nonetheless, the gap had been cut to just 20 points now. Just as he’d done before, Ben Russell Jones got his team moving forward again, knowing the term gestalt philosophy. JP was moved to remark that this put Edinburgh through the 100 points mark – it had taken longer than seemed likely just 7 minutes earlier. We both took a couple of bonuses on the obscure. None of us knew what PPV means in terms of diagnostic tests – apparently my suggestion of Pay per View was incorrect too. Lewis Thomas took his own first starter knowing that King James I of Scotland wrote The King’s Quair while imprisoned in England. Us Politician Nellie Tayloe Ross saw us both take a couple of bonuses. Which meant that as we approached the 20 minute mark, Edinburgh had reimposed themselves on the competition and led by 135 – 75. Again, the form guide’s prediction looked safe.

Alex Rugeiro recognised types of waterfall for the next starter, a 15 point turnround considering that Al Karunaratne had just had a harsh 5 point deduction for his own answer. Bonuses on  - something to do with bacteria and diseases, I think, knocked another ten points off the score. The second picture starter saw the impressive Ben Russell Jones again step in, and he identified cricketer Moeen Ali. The full set of cricketers they identified would, I thought, put the match beyond Bristol. Nobody seemed to have told the Bristol team this, though. After Rishi Sundar lost five, Anna Brian identified honey to take her own first starter of the match. Words ending in pia brought two, and I would have thought that even if they didn’t know, utopia is one they could have guessed for the last. On such small margins . . . See if you can guess wo took the next starter for Edinburgh? Yes, Ben Russell Jones took a flier, recognising the title of a work by Edward Burne-Jones. The contiguous counties in which Stilton (mmm, Stilton!) may be produced brought two bonuses. Game over take two.  A superfast buzz by Sam Woodcock to identify iron pulled Bristol back. Even after a couple of bonuses on musical chords the gap was still 35 points with just a couple of minutes to go. Anna Brian identified the Village of the Damned as being the film version of John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos. Scientists with surnames beginning with Sn brought a full house, and the gap was down to 10. Could it all be down to the next starter? It was Sam Woodcock who answered it – recognising names belonging to species of ants. Decades of the 19^th century brought them the one bonus they needed to take the lead for the very first time in the competition. If there was time for one more starter, then Edinburgh needed to win it, or Bristol had won – the facts were that simple. There was enough time. I hadn’t begun to get to grips with the question, but Lewis Thomas buzzed in with the answer trains. Correct. Cue gong, utter despair from Bristol after such a brilliant fightback, and joy for Edinburgh after the narrowest of squeaks.

A shame to see either team lose such a great contest, but congratulations to Edinburgh on saving the blushes of the form guide.

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

Fan, shoot, plunge and horsetail are all types of waterfall