Mastermind 2022: Round One - Heat Fifteen

We’re getting there, dearly beloved. Heat 15 already. I had a bit of a ‘mare last week in the specialists with a measly  (and frankly lucky to get a couple of them). Tonight’s subjects promised me a little more. Well, three of them did.

First of these three was Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, as offered to us by Claire Spinks. Now, the think is, it’s a very long time since I read the books. Bearing that in mind I shouldn’t feel too disappointed with the brace of points that was all I could manage. Claire did quite a bit better, getting herself into double figures, even if it seemed like it took a little while for the scoreboard to really get moving. Good round.

I also thought I might well get a couple in the next round, Shajeev Anigasekara’s round on All Blacks Test Matches 2004 – 2015. I don’t blame Shajeev for having such a relatively short period to revise, but it does make me wonder about how the production teams ecide how long or short a period they will allow for such a round to cover. Yes, in my first ever appearance I had to do the Modern Summer Olympic Games, which at that time stretched from 1896 – 2004, and so yes, I am jealous! Mind you, probably because he was dealing with such a relatively short period of time, the questions did require Shajeev to show wome pretty detailed knowledge, which he did, to finish with 9.

Sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint just what happened with a contender’s round. I think it was pretty clear what happened with Ruth Joesbury’s on the Golden Age of MGM Musicals. She began confidently enough, but sadly a wrong answer pushed her into what appeared to be a horrible pass spiral. I don’t think that she was undone by a lack of knowledge, but by nerves, and I felt huge sympathy. It must be the most horrible feeling. Ruth scored 4.

With decent whacks in both of the previous rounds I had pushed my score on the specialists up to 11, and this was where I would stay until the end of Dom Walker’s round on The Life and Works of John Clare. Yes, I know I studied English Lit at uni, and I know that I’ve taught English for nigh on 35 years, but somehow I’ve managed to avoid his work in all that time. Which is a shame for me, but not for Dom, who whacked in a good 12 and no passes to put daylight between himself and the peloton.

I can only imagine how hard it must be to compose yourself on your return to the chair after a specialist round which has just not turned out the way you would have liked. So respect to Ruth Joesbury for mentally dusting herself down, and scoring a respectable 9 points on her GK round, to take her total to 13. Still, with all due respect, it was the other three contenders who were going to be duking it out for the win. Shajeev weighed in with a good 11 and 2 passes, to set a total which would mean that the remaining contenders would at least have to dip a toe into the corridor of doubt.

Claire was up to the challenge. Granted that she only managed to match Shajeev’s GK total of 11 and 2 passes, but crucially she had begun the round 1 point to the good, and so this was all that she needed to guarantee second place. Could it guarantee the win, though?

There was precious little suspense about the result though. Dom Walker was too good to leave it to any chance. I was a little surprised to see that he only finished with 12 for his GK round. Somehow it felt somewhat better than that. It didn’t matter, though, for the daylight that he had placed between himself and the other contenders in the first round had widened, and he won with a score of 24 which frankly seemed the least that he deserved. Well done to you, sir, and as always, the best of luck in your semi final. 

The Details

Claire Spinks	Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” Trilogy	10	1	11	2	21	3
Shajeev Wanigasekara	All Blacks Test Matches 2004 - 2015	9	1	11	2	20	2
Ruth Joesbury	The Golden Age of MGM Musicals	4	5	9	1	13	6
Dom Walker	The Life and Works of John Clare	12	0	12	0	24	0