University Challenge 2024 - Quarter Final Qualification - Manchester v. Imperial College, London

The Teams

Manchester

Bluma De Los Reyes-White

Ilya Kullman

Hiru Senehedheera (Capt.)

Dan Grady

Imperial College London

Justin Lee

Adam Jones

Saraya Haddid (Capt.)

Sourajit Debnath

You know, there are some teams that progress as far as the quarters who you never in your heart of hearts feel that they could be potential finalists, then there are others who you feel could. Last year I had that feeling watching the very first match of round 1 and indeed both teams involved came back together to contest the final. Last Monday matched two teams I’ve had my eye on like this – Manchester and Imperial, both institutions being series winners in recent memory.

I’ve just come back from Bucharest so screamed ‘Wallachia’ at the first starter asking which principality united with Moldavia in the 19^th century. The Union of South Africa – that’s the polity and not the preserved LNER Gresley A4 pacific, sadly – brought just one for Imperial. Bluma De Los Reyes-White knew apoptosis for the next starter to open the Manchester account. Films wih scores by ick Cave and Warren Ellis saw me surprise myself by knowing the 2022 film Blonde.  I knew “The Road” having read the book. Manchester had both of those and the other for a full house. My first baby elephant walk moment of the contest came not through the physical sciences but psychology. Nobody knew the dual purpose model. (My Airfix Lancaster bomber was one of those.) Right, be honest, did many of you shouted “Forbidden Planet!” immediately after hearing the names “Louis and Bebe Barron.” Sorry, but I just love that film so much so that I’ve watched it so many times I’m even familiar with the credits. Fair play to Dan Grady, he got it from the full question. I also enjoy  “This Island Earth” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” amongst other contemporary films of the genre, but not as much as “Forbidden Planet.” This earned bonuses on Shane Warne. Look, you don’t need to be a huge cricket fan to know that it was Mike Gatting who was out to the ‘wonder ball’, but Manchester didn’t. I surprised myself getting a full house, but at least Manchester knew Muttiah Muralitharan passed Warne’s world record wicket total. I will be honest, I didn’t get the literary starter that followed asking for the colour yellow any more than either team did. Mr. Reliable – Sourajit Debnath – recognised different uses of the Greek letter epsilon in Maths and Science for his first starter of the contest. Scientists whose surnames all began with Z – brought just the one correct answer. Surprisingly they opted for Milgram for the last one when Zimbardo was already on the table. Pressure of the studio makes you do funny things sometimes. The picture starter showed us a diagram of the starting line-ups of the Brazilian and Italian teams in the 1970 FIFA world cup final. Neither team got it. I guess they’re too young for the names Jairzinho, Rivelino and Carlos Alberto to mean that much to them. Ilya Kullman knew that Desi Bouterse ruled Suriname on a couple of occasions –not bad considering he was once married to Lucille Ball. This earned the football picture bonuses. They took two but zigged with 86 for the second when they should have zagged with 90. Same teams, but not all the same players. All the same, Manchester had the whip hand by the ten-minute mark leading by 60 – 25.

Adam Jones, rather quiet up to this point, responded to Amol’s encouragement by buzzing in with “Game of Life”. We’ve had something about this in the past, so I wasn’t quite so completely baffled as I was last time. Jacques Derrida did nothing for Imperial. None of us knew that the punkiest tit is the crested tit. Well, quite. (The school in which I teach has a very large nesting colony of Annoyinglittle Tits. Yes, old joke, I know.) Various locations pointing to Sir Caerfyrddin – Carmarthenshire to you, sir – didn’t point clearly enough for either of the teams. Justin Lee knew that Benfica stole the name Stadium of Light from Sunderland FC – kidding – and he went on to deliver a full house on Samguk Yusa, a work of Mythology among the people of Korea.  The next starter on the periodic table was pure lap of honour fodder, especially after it asked for the element named after the titan who stole fire from the Heavens. Crested titan? Hiru Senehedheera snapped up that one earning Manchester a set of bonuses on Ischia. Gesundheit. Both of us only managed one for the Talented Mr. Ripley. So to the music starter, and Gil Scott-Heron. Adam Jones earned Amol’s approval for snapping that one up quickly. Bonuses were three spoken word artists that none of us knew. Neither team had Bell Hooks for the next starter. Classical musical works all featuring the word Butterfly fell to Adam Jones, whose buzzer finger seemed to be nicely warmed up now. Bonuses on some Maths stuff were enough to put Imperial into the lead, so it seems as if Amol had switched his jedi powers back on for the show. Hiru Senehedheera wiped out the lead by taking the next starter on wave function. I thought that was either as a greeting, or a response to a greeting. Or to help you go surfing. The penguin hundred best sort stories ever written gave Manchester a full house, with Dan Grady doing much of the heavy lifting. Nobody knew that Feste’s song in Twelfth Night was ‘What is Love?’ – Howard Jones did a cover version of it in the eighties. Ilya Kullman knew that the three colours of the Madagascan flag are green white and red, but he rearranged them into the wrong tricolour with Bulgaria , which has horizontal stripes, allowing Justin Lee in with Italy. Pragmatic sanctions in European history promised but little. Imperial did well to take a full house. Justin Lee knew that if Japan defeated the USA in the final of a world championship then it was probably baseball, and took the next starter in short order with it. Only one bonus was taken on British architecture. Still it meant that Imperial were a full set ahead by 125 – 100 as we passed the 20-minute mark.

Neither team recognised the man I’d like to think that Ronald Reagan probably called Leech Weltzer – Lech Walesa to you and me. Justin Lee widened the gap between the teams, recognising that the poet Hadrawi hailed from Somalia. Three more leaders of anti-Soviet campaigns brought five more points. Now Amol issued encouragement to Manchester. Was lightning going to strike twice in the same show? Maybe not because Sourajit Debnath took the next mathematical starter on orientable shapes. Two correct answers on a set of bonuses about bridge designs mean that the Imperial lead stretched to 60. Given the names of five people Justin Lee – who was really turbo charging his team on starters at the moment – knew that the only decade where they all lived at the same time was the 1820s. They only managed one of a gettable set on Cadian Provinces and capitals, but that’s something you can afford when you have the afterburners on and you’re speeding towards the event horizon. Saraya Haddad took her first starter with the Earthshot Prize. Common scientific terms coined by Berselius must have been very common indeed because I got a full house on them, while Imperial took 2 being close but not quite close enough with the other. I don’t know about Tollens Reagent, but Dan Grady did. Too little, too late one felt, but they did manage 2 on marine biology. Nobody knew that Missouri and Tennessee both border 8 other states. That man Justin Lee knew that Cambodian and Vietnamese were the languages referenced in he next starter, pushing Imperial through the 200 barrier. The match was gonged before Amol could complete the first bonus on the court of Elizabeth I – which surely was Hampton Court – which is also very painful when it happens, but enough of such things. Imperial won by 205 – 120, and thus are the first team through to the semis.

Don’t count Manchester out – they had a fine BCR of 67 to Imperial’s 49, but they were beaten to the buzzer too many times in this contest. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett.

Amol Watch

Amol hailed Shane Warne as ‘my hero’. Pretty good choice I’d say and I’m not even that bothered about cricket. Just don’t have the attention span for it, I guess. Amol did say that Michael Vaughan was an appalling answer for the wonder ball question. I mean, yes, it wasn’t great, but come on Amol! You can’t be the teams’ mate and then at the same time come out with that sort of thing. It’s not big and it’s not clever.

The first encouragement – to Imperial – was issued on the ten-minute mark. Worked like a charm. The second encouragement – to Manchester – was issued about 10 minutes later. Worked like a – not so much.

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

The crested tit is featured on the emblem of The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. I just find it interesting considering that they chose it and not the more glamourous Osprey or Golden Eagle or some other such.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In Psychology what three word term denoted a number of theories of social information processing – an example being the elaboration likelihood model – which attempts to explain an approach to decision making and problem-solving by positing two separate mechanisms? The first is instinctive, unconscious and fast and the second is (incorrect buzz) slower and demands systematic reasoning.

Not ‘tossing-a-coin’ then? Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.