University Challenge Qualification Match - Bristol v. UCL

The Teams

Bristol

Sam Kehler

Jacob McLaughlin

Tess Richardson (capt.)

Alejandro Ortega

UCL

Rachel Collier

Michael Fleetwood-Walker

James Salmon

Louis Collier

If you’d tortured me into answering the question – which two teams do I really think have the equipment to do well in the semi finals this year – I’d have said Bristol and UCL. So which two teams did we get pitted against each other in this qualification match? Bristol and UCL. We know that Bristol can be beaten, however I’d say that they are now better than they were when Durham squeezed them out in their first round match. UCL have looked good value throughout the series.

I did say to myself – whichever team wins the first starter wins the match. That’s a silly thing to say, however I couldn’t help thinking that the team who did would have a massive advantage. Both teams waited with the first starter until Jacob McLaughlin recognised the work of Jay-Z. Mr. Z is a popular musician apparently. Scholars and translators in the Encyclopaedia of Wales brought two bonuses. James Salmon came in early and lost five for suggesting that the oak is the queen of British trees. You can’t really blame him, but if he’d waited he would have heard the latin name faga sylvatica. Tess Richardson knew that this was the beech. Falsifiability sounded like a rum old subject, but still provided Bristol with a full house. Tess Richardson knew that there are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. Asterisms provided much discussion but no points. So to the picture starter. Now, you see the name ‘Mrs. Malaprop’ you buzz and say ‘Th Rivals’. Arch buzzslinger Jacob McLaughlin won that buzzer race. More characters from works of literature brought one correct answer. Neither team could work out from born in Switzerland. . . Blue Rider group . . . that we were looking for Paul Klee. Tess Richardson lost five on this one. Bristol could afford it. Finally UCL outbuzzed Bristol when Louis Collier provided the term self-induction. Gesundheit. The bonuses were nominally on the work of Charles West Cope, but really were a guess the year set. UCL managed 2 of these, which meant that they trailed 15 – 65 at the ten-minute mark.

So UCL already had a mountain to climb. A mountain which became a bit higher when Sam Kehler buzzed in for the next starter with cyrene. That’s a brand of moisturiser, isn’t it? Bonuses on proteins saw Bristol chance their arms with our old friend, the golgi apparatus. It’s been years since that had a name check on UC. Mind you, it was wrong. Bristol knew flagellum for their bonus. So did I, and the lap of honour swiftly followed. Michael Fleetwood-Walker knew the term warring states which earned UCL a set of bonuses on ghosts in Shakespeare. You could tell the team were rattled when they placed Hamlet and Banquo in the same play. Nonetheless they managed to put themselves right for the second bonus and the third into the bargain. This brought us to the music round. Sam Kehler recognised the work of Kanye West. Like Mr. Z, Mr. West is another popular musician. Village Voice’s annual Pazz and Jop poll was the link with the three bonuses. I recognized Elvis Costello, but I’m annoyed that I didn’t recognise REM. Neither did Britol, but they did get PJ Harvey. Joad, toad and road where the rhyming words required for the next starter. Again, Jacob McLaughlin rarely loses this kind of buzzer race and he didn’t lose this one. Only one bonus on politics was correctly answered, but it really didn’t matter at the moment, since Bristol were steadily pulling further ahead. James Salmon came into early on the next starter about a large Canadian arctic island and didn’t hear the crucial word ‘uninhabited’. Bristol didn’t know Devon Island. Jacob McLaughlin knew a german writer who shared the surname Lessing – presumably it would have been with the more famous Doris. Terms in economics and physical sciences were too easy for Bristol and provided them with a full house. So as we approached the 20-minute mark Bristol had increased their lead to 130 – 30. Game over.

Except that there were still many questions to be asked. Rachel Collier recognised the anagrams altitude and latitude for the next starter. Hyper reality meant bugger not a lot to me, yet I knew both Ballard’s novel Crash and Umberto Eco. UCL were only able to take the first on Baudrillard. At least UCL were moving. Michael Fleetwood-Walker took the next starter, knowing some silly sod who’d described sociology as a martial art. When was the last time someone used sociology to kick someone else’s head in, eh? Bonuses on the Philippines followed.  In a couple of minutes they’d raised their score to 60. Bristol decided that this was quite enough of that thank you very much and so Tess Richardson buzzed in very quickly on the second picture starter to identify the work of Rachael Whiteread. Other Holocaust memorials brought a full house – funnily enough I have seen each of them in the flesh myself. Louis Collier fell into a wee bit of a trap with the next starter, answering that the two sovereign city states that held F1 GPs in 2022 were Monaco and San Marino. This allowed Sam Kehler in with Monaco and Singapore. Inhibitors provided another full house to Bristol. James Salmon, so often the star buzzer for UCL, finally found his range and came in early to identify Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman. Philosophy provided a couple of correct answers. Nobody knew the term homotopy for the next starter. Again Jacob McLaughlin showed everyone else a clean pair of heels on the next starter, giving us clues to various Booths. Visual albums were a new one on me. Not so Bristol who took the first bonus. James Salmon was hitting and hoping, which you must do when you’re behind, so lost five on the next starter. Had he waited the word imperator might have told him that the royal title wanted was Emperor. Sam Kehler had that one. There was not time for the set of bonuses on Penguin Essentials (chocolate, biscuit and chocolate cream, surely?) At the gong, Bristol were very comfortable winners with 205 – 70.

The obvious thing to say is that Bristol outbuzzed UCL. That’s certainly true. Both teams had similar bonus conversion rates of a little over fifty percent. Looking a tiny bit deeper, yes, Bristol’s star buzzer, Jacob McLaughlin was the top buzzer of the night, while James Salmon who has shone for UCL in previous matches just couldn’t find his buzzer range. But more than that, Tess Richardson and Sam Kehler both made very important contributions on the buzzer.

I hope that this doesn’t knock UCL’s confidence. I still think they have something to offer in the competition. However, Bristol are looking better and better. I’m not going to ruin their chances by tipping them for the top, but they’re in the semis. Best of luck.

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

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet.