The Teams
Warwick
James Coe
Luke Beresford
Matthew Bliss (Capt)
Abby Akarapongpisakdi
Trinity, Cambridge
Sarah Henderson
Agnijo Banerjee
Ryan Joonsuk Kang (Capt)
Jeremi Jaksina
So a mere fortnight after their triumphant return in the
repechage Trinity came looking to repeat and to gain their place in the
quarters. First blood fell to Warwick though, and James Coe who knew the
Fischer Tropsch process. Gesundheit. Two bonuses were taken on notable
real-life robots. Nobody knew about he philosophical term disenchantment for
the next starter. Jeremi Jaksina took the first points for Trinity, knowing
that the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo are from Argentina. Writers who have been
the subject of biographies by Hermione Lee brought just the one bonus. Jeremi
Jaksina took a double, recognising the description of various women with the
given name Rosa. I was waiting for Kleb, but it never came. TV shows linked by
the US state of Oklahoma brought us both just the one bonus. Nobody knew a
sunrise flag on a green background was used by the independence movement in
Ireland prior to independence. Sarah Henderson knew that the Crawfords and
Bertram’s feature in Jane Austen’s masterpiece, “Mansfield Park”. This earned
the picture bonuses of three more flags featuring sunburst motifs. They took
two but missed on the only one that I knew, Namibia. Ow, the chemistry starter
that followed had a healthy slice of Greek Mythology attached to it or I’d
never have known it was argonauts and earned myself a lap of honour. Agnijo
Banerjee took that one. Bonuses on pairs of pendant paintings brought the first
full house of the contest, and meant that Trinity led by 75 – 20.
Italian and Scottish symphonies were enough to put Sarah
Henderson onto Mendelssohn for the next starter. Two bonuses on Thomas Cromwell
put Trinity one question away from triple figures. Now it was that Warwick
finally managed to win a buzzer race with skipper Matthew Bliss knowing the
term simulacrum. Me? No – I could tell you about wasimacram, but that’s about
it. The bonuses on subatomic particles earned me a bar to my lap of honour for
correctly guessing neutrinos. (So much better than oldtrinos.) This was
compounded by knowing cloud chamber and Thomson. I Can’t remember the last time
I had a full house on science – if indeed I ever have. Warwick only managed
two. I didn’t recognise the wee bit of Debussy for the music starter, but Sarah
Henderson did. Other composers who composed works based on symbolist poetry
Trinity took two which was two more than I did. Ryan Kang recognised the derivation
of the word renegade to take the next starter. He became a little overexcited,
raising his fists in the air in a momentary celebration. A dangerous thing to
do with half the contest still to go. Playwrights associated with the Theatre
of the Absurd (sounds like the plays we used to put on in dear old Elthorne
High School in Ealing in the late 70s and early 80s. Not the plays – our ‘acting’)
brought Trinity just the one correct answer. I would have answered Ionesco to
all of them too in the hope of getting one. Just as Warwick were slipping out
of the contest again, the skipper won the next starter knowing the method man, Stanislavski.
A UC special set of pairs of places sharing the first three letters in their
names brought just one bonus but at least they were moving again. James Coe
maintained his momentum, providing the super answer of the prefix super for the
next starter. 2 bonuses on cuisine followed. Agnijo Banerjee prevented Warwick
from taking a treble, knowing that the most westerly borough of the West
Midlands is Wolverhampton. They took a full house on chemical elements, and
such was my science prowess in this show I took two of them too! But Warwick’s
collective dander was up, and they struck back with Luke Beresford knowing that
Mount Korab is the highest point of elevation in both North Macedonia and
Albania. 2 bonuses were taken on grammar. I had a full house – thank you Lionel
Rose (my latin teacher). Nevertheless, Trinity still had a commanding lead of
155 – 95 on 20 minutes.
Abby Akarapongpisakdi knew that the painting for the second
picture starter was by a Russian artist. Three more late 19th/early
20th century paintings depicting bears brought two more bonuses.
This set had taken Warwick into triple figures and they were stealthily creeping
up on Trinity. Once again though Agnijo Banerjee beat them to the buzzer just
when they were working up a head of steam. He knew the cryptocurrency Tether.
Literature and Greek Mythology brought a full house, which lengthened the odds
of a Warwick win somewhat. Nobody knew methyl violet for the next starter. Luke
Beresford took the next starter on Egypt. This earned bonuses on Chad. Nice
fella. No, not Chad the person, but Chad the country. TTwo bonuses meant that
they were exactly fifty behind with four minutes left. Amazingly it was
possible for them to draw. However they needed the next starter. They took it
as well! Abby Akarapongpisakdi knew the Orange, Peach and others are all
sporting Bowls in the USA. Only two bonuses on video games meant that they were
still 30 behind and would need at least two visits to the table. However, with
Sarah Henderson taking the next starter Warwick’s hopes wee all but
extinguished. Monarchs who died from horse related incidents (No, not Catherine
the Great! Wash your minds out with soap!) simultaneously ran down the clock
and ran up the lead to forty five. Warwick needed two unopposed visits to the
table. They got the first visit when Matthew Bliss correctly identified Emily ‘Cheap
as Chips’ Dickinson for the next
starter. Two bonuses on reptiles meant that Warwick really had to take a full
house on he next set. If there was time. There was certainly enough time or
James Coe to take the next starter. 2 bonuses on snakes in Shakespeare meant
that the tie was possible if they took the starter. Oh, the narrow margin
between success and defeat. Asked for a seven letter stage of cooking sugar, Abby
Akarapongpisakdi came in with caramelisation. So close. It allowed Ryan Kang to
seal the deal with caramel. Both he and Jeremi Jaksina put their hands together
as if giving thanks to a deity. Rightly so for the contest was gonged before
the first bonus was answered.
What a contest! What a fightback by Warwick! But
congratulations too to Trinity who kept their heads. Warwick’s BCR was 60,
while Trinity’s was 58, showing the closeness of the contes, which was played
in an excellent spirit.
How is Amol Doing?
With 11 and a half minutes on the clock, Amol uncorked a dose
of ‘plenty of time to get going, Warwick.’ That ole jedi magic was back, as
captain Matthew Bliss won the next starter. As the contest went on the power of
the Force became more and more evident as Warwick came within a gnat’s whisker
of forcing a tiebreak.
I like the way that Amol shows his enthusiasm at the end of
a contest – and that contest was certainly worth being enthusiastic about.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
The name given to pairs of paintings that were painted
together and meant to be displayed together is pendant paintings.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
Nothing really this week. I can’t nominate the most
convoluted Science question because I got it right.
4 comments:
Starter watch:
James Coe - 3 (1)
Luke Beresford - 2
Matthew Bliss - 3
Abby Akarapongpisakdi - 2
Sarah Henderson - 4
Agnijo Banerjee - 3
Ryan Joonsuk Kang - 2
Jeremi Jaksina - 2
Winner: Sarah Henderson
(Note: I'm pretty sure that this is the first time since I started doing these starter watches that all eight players have achieved at least two correct starters each. It's rare enough for everyone to get one.)
Thanks George. You may well be right. A couple of weeks ago I was surprised when all 8 managed at least 1.
Funnily enough, it has happened before in this very series :). When Kings, Cambridge played UCL back in mid-August all players there got at least two starters as well.
Malone1 - just checked, and you're quite right! I'd forgotten about that one. Humble pie eaten.
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