University Challenge Quarter Final - Kings College, London v. Imperial College

 The Teams 

Kings London 

Ananth Sathyanath 

Rachel Bedwin 

Atyab Rahid(capt) 

Oliver Beard

 

Imperial College 

Max Zeng 

Fatima Sheriff 

Michael Mays (capt) 

Gilbert Jackson 

So, let’s begin with the traditional glance over the form book then, shall we? Kings just about beat Glasgow in a low scoring first round match, then showed a clean pair of heels to Hertford, whom they beat 175-115 in the second round. Imperial bust through the 200 barrier in both of their victories, over St. John’s in the first round and then Exeter in the second. The smart money said Imperial to win – but would the smart money be smart enough? 

The first starter gave clues to, amongst other things, the given name of one of the famous Mitford sisters. Atyab Rahid showed his intent by chancing his arm with Nancy, however the required answer was Jessica, which Fatima Sheriff well knew. This brought up bonuses on Boethius. I don’t know more than about three things about him, but those were all covered in the bonuses. Imperial managed the second and third of these. Right, now, last time out I made the point that Max Zeng is extremely good at Geography questions. I think he may have had one wrong last time out though. Well in this game, he opened his account with the Sea of Marmara. Zoological surveys of wildlife in the River Thames again provided two bonuses. Atyab Rashid took Kings’ first points recognising that Elegast is a brown dwarf. I thought he was one of the wizards in “The Lord of the Rings”. Chemical compound bonuses promised me nowt, which is just what they delivered me. If I said that I understood any of the bonuses I’d be lying, but Kings had all of them. So to the picture round. The moment a map came up I thought – in you go, Max Zeng! - and he did, identifying the state of Tamil Nadu and the capital, Chennai. There was a sense of inevitability as he picked up three more Indian state capitals for a full house of bonuses. Nobody was able to identify the Griffith Observatory for the next starter. Another rush of blood to the head saw captain Rahid in too early on the next starter, allowing that man Zeng in to identify the French term Flaneur. Works inspired by earlier artworks just provided a single bonus. That was enough to complete a very effective opening ten minutes for Imperial who led by 80 – 15. 

Nobody could dredge up that it was Blefuscu at war with Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travels. Fatima Sheriff was first in for Imperial to recognise the original meaning of the word tenterhooks for the next starter. Fungi provided nothing in terms of bonuses for any of us. It was a good old quizzers starter next. You’re given up, down , bottom and top so you slam the buzzer down and say ‘strange’ and ‘charm’, being the missing quark flavours. That’s what last night’s supercharged Max Zeng did. It’s also what I did. What’s that you say? Yes, of course I took a lap of honour for it. I’m afraid that my knowledge of They Might Be Giants goes no further than birdhouse in your soul – a song I love if it’s any consolation – so I didn’t manage any of the bonuses. Imperial took all three, which pushed them into a triple figure score and a lead of 95. One couldn’t help feeling that the event horizon was rapidly approaching. With the music starter Michael Mays was in extremely quickly to recognise the Magic Flute. Imperial struggled with the bonuses though, not recognising any of the opera with mothers singing to daughters. Not surprised. There was a hint of Geography in the next starter – which city in Indiana – so it inevitably fell to Max Zeng. I had it right too, but only because Gary is my stock answer to any question beginning with – which city in Indiana. Authors and bank notes brought a full house. It seemed an awfully long time since Kings had put any points on the board, do it was good to see Ananth Sathyanath buzz in to tell us that Hellas is one of the two football teams of Verona – a title that Shakespeare inexplicably passed on for his play. Their bonuses were on thermo dynamics, and yes, I did take a second lap of honour for guessing the Scottish scientist referenced in the third bonus was James Clerk Maxwell. Kings managed one of these. Sadly, Ananth Sathyanath came in too early on the next starter, allowing Fatima Sheriff to identify a list of films belonging to Charlie Kaufman. 2 bonuses on vaulting – fan rather than pole – were enough to ensure that Imperial led by 165 – 25 on the brink of the 20-minute mark. Game over, I’m afraid. 

Landmarks in Taiwan fell to Max Zeng, as the Imperial onslaught continued. Terms beginning with amph – did not unfortunately contain amphitheatre or Amphitryon, so I was out with the washing after amphora, but Imperial took two. Atyab Rahid rediscovered his touch on the buzzer to win the race to identify a picture of Ayatollah Khamanei for the second picture starter. Others among the world’s longest serving leaders brought one bonus but at least the Kings score was moving upwards again. A nice UC starter on films followed, asking who starred in films ending in Glory, Winter etc. Small point of order here. Atyab Rahid offered Hepburn, which JP accepted on the nod. I just thought he might have asked – which one, bearing Audrey in mind. Yes, I know he knew that Kings knew, but that hasn’t stopped him in the past. This only brought one bonus on physiology, but at least Kings were giving themselves a chance to show what they could do. Right – would you accept a third lap of honour? I took this hat trick for guessing that the physics starter that followed was about the something ratio between electrons and protons. Guess who took that for Imperial? What an evening Max Zeng was having. Units of measurement accepted for use with the SI did nothing for any of us. It didn’t matter – this was running the clock down and hastening the inevitable Imperial win. Michael Mays correctly buzzed in early to supply the answer Ethics  (as opposed to Suthics and Middelthics) and earn a set of bonuses on US state panhandles. Fair play to Max Zeng, I give credit to him for not rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. He had all of them though. To be honest, the two of the Great Lakes linked by the Welland Canal is an old chestnut, but everyone seemed to give Max Zeng a clear run. Yes, of course he had it. The Simon Bolivar Orchestra brought us both just the one bonus. The contest was gonged before Max Zeng had the chance to answer another Geography starter – was it just me, or were there quite a lot of these tonight?  

Imperial won by 235 to 50, and let’s be honest, they were pretty good value for their win. Kings aren’t done yet, though. Yes, they’re in the last chance saloon in their next match, but don’t count them out just yet.  

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

The French word ‘flaneur’ is thought to ultimately derive from Old Norse