The Teams
Royal Holloway
Joel Abramovitch
Joanna Brown
George Harvey (capt.)
Micka Clayton
Durham
Harry Scully
Chloe Margaux
Alex Radcliffe (capt.)
Bea Bennett
In his opening comment JP pointed out something I’ve
already noted in this very blog – that only one team has made it through to the
semi finals unbeaten. That team was the first of last night’s teams, Royal
Holloway. Interestingly the way that the semi final draw worked out meant that
their opponents were the team they defeated in their last match, Durham, whom
they beat to secure their place in the semis. In that contest Durham had taken
an early lead, but were pegged back in the second half of the contest. They hadn’t
been helped by giving away five penalties. Take away those penalties and there
was nothing to choose between the teams.
For the first starter Alex Radcliffe was the first to
recognise a description of HMS Endeavour. Bonuses followed on popular Science
books. If you’re like me, then you probably view popular science as an
oxymoron. A couple of correct answers brought a reasonable return on this set. The
Durham skipper struck again for the next starter, recognising a group of words
that can all precede gaze. Bonuses on cow-connected films yielded nothing to
any of us. Having failed to answer a single question correctly thus far I was
relieved to hear the next starter ask about a nasty Shakespeare character who
has more lines than the title character in the play in which he appears. I
answered Iago, so did Bea Bennett and we were both right. Early 20th
century literature provided some bounty too, in the shape of a full house. So
to the picture starter, where a photograph and a map helped George Harvey
identify the ruins of Palmyra. 3 more endangered World Heritage sites brought just
one correct answer, but at least Royal Holloway were on the move now. I didn’t
get the reference to a sentence consisting of 8 iterations of the same word,
but Alex Radcliffe knew that the word in question was buffalo. Bonuses on the
Theory of Relativity brought two correct answers. I earned myself a lap of
honour for guessing that time and space were two of the three possible answers
for the third of these. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Bearing in
mind the way things worked out the last time these teams met, if anything Durham
had made an even better start than last time, leading 75 – 15.
I might have taken another lap of honour for working out
that France and cock combined led to Gallium in the periodic table. George
Harvey took that one. Words and their origins in Indian states did not manage
to provide further points. I don’t know the novelist Tokarczuk but Harry Scully
did for the next starter. 2 bonuses on – flippin’ heck – protein analysis
followed. One more correct answer and Durham would be in triple figures while
Royal Holloway were only just out of the starting gate. So to the music starter
where none of us could identify the work of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Alex Radcliffe
– who was playing a real captain’s innings last night – recognised a description
of adjectives for the next starter. This earned the dubious reward of the music
bonuses, of which I surprised myself by getting one for recognising the Clash. Durham
failed to add to their score. By this time the last time these teams met Royal
Holloway had started their charge. However Durham just kept on outbuzzing them
last night, as Harry Scully recognised the equation of a plane – well, it was something
like that. A single bonus on Swiss cantons followed. Then Alex Radcliffe struck
again, knowing the term autarky. To add to Royal Holloway’s problems Durham
took a full house on the painter Veronese. George Harvey finally managed to
strike a blow for Royal Holloway knowing the story Flatland for the next
starter. Optics provided nothing for the bonuses. At just past the 20 minute
mark Durham led by 145 to 35. Last time out, Royal Holloway were just 25 behind
at this stage.
Literature specialist Bea Bennett struck to identify a
photograph of Truman Capote for the second picture starter. Other writers who
had major non fiction works published in The New Yorker magazine brought two
correct answers and seemed to pretty much seal the deal as far as the result of
the match was concerned. Joel Abramovitch scored his first starter with the
abbreviation PCR. Baroque composers added nothing to heir score. Joanna Brown,
so often Royal Holloway’s star buzzer, took her only starter of the night with
lavender. A brief history of metaphysics according to Existential Comics
brought two bonuses and something I always like to see, a reference to Wittgenstein
the beery swine. Chloe Margaux buzzed in and lost five for only giving us
Stalin for a question that required the answers Stalin, stirling and starling.
George Harvey took that one. Once again the bonuses, this time on Sociology,
proved unforgiving towards RH. Some maths thing where he answer was 10 fell to
Joel Abramovitch. Title characters of Phillipa Gregory novels yielded one
bonus. The contest was gonged before JP had time to complete the next starter,
bringing Durham a comfortable win by 160 – 90.
Some nights it’s just not your night. I’ll be honest, I
struggled last night too. Bad luck Royal Holloway, that’s the way that it goes
sometimes. Nothing to be ashamed of. As for Durham, a great performance to make
them worthy finalists. Best of luck to you.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
The temple from which we derive the word juggernaut is in
the state of Orissa.
1 comment:
Starter watch:
Joal Abramovich - 2
Joanna Brown - 1
George Harvey - 4
Micka Clayton
Harry Scully - 2
Chloe Margaux (1)
Alex Radcliffe - 5
Bea Bennett - 2
Winner: Alex Radcliffe
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