University Challenge 2024 Quarter Final Elimination Match : Sheffield v. Birkbeck, London

The Teams

Birkbeck, London

Danny McMillan

Olivia Mariner

Samir Chadha (Capt.)

Margherita Huntley

Sheffield

Safiyyah Rujack

Joseph McGough

Cameron Colclough (Capt.)

Matthew Nail

Only last week we saw Imperial beat Manchester to take the first rightful place in the semis. This week the two teams they had both defeated in their first quarter final match duelled it out to see which would remain in the competition for at least one more match.

Poor Matthew Nail fell into the trap on the first question, knowing Michael Jackson’s Bad, but not waiting for the whole of the question. It was worth waiting for too since it combined il buono, il brutto e it cattivo – or the Good, the Bad and Eli Wallach in old money. Danny McMillan opened the Birkbeck account with that one. They took a full house with the names of Japanese dishes. Samir Chadha ed the charge on the next starter identifying that the things alluded to in the question all begin with Neo. I’d like to think that ‘fromthematrix’ was one of them. They took two out of a set on domes. The next was that articular type of UC starter where you have to hold your nerve, wait for it, wait for it, then as soon as it becomes blindingly obvious reach for your shooting irons. Matthew Nail was first in to identify the Island of Zanzibar after Tanganyika was mentioned. A full house on medicine saw me grab a sneaky lap of honour for knowing Endocrine glands.Shelagh Delaney and John Osbourne saw me shouting “Kitchen Sink Drama!” at the telly. Margherita Huntley didn’t shout, but gave the same answer. UNESCO world heritage sites in southeast asia brought just one answer. So to the picture round, and the titles of a writer’s work in the language in which they were originally published. La Peste said Camus to me, which was just as well since that was the answer, as Danny McMillan could confirm. Tow bonuses on more titles of works in the language in which they were published were taken. Eros and Eris, the celestial objects required for the next starter, were provided by Joseph McGough. The Parliament Act of 1911 only provided Sheffield with 1 bonus, which meant that Birkbeck led by 80 – 30 atfer the ten-minute mark.

Matthew Nail pulled ten points back through knowing the Copernican thingummybob. Composers of video game music provided a welcome full house and took a sizeable chunk from the lead. Safiyyah Rujak took another 10 points back, knowing William B. Hays, the first president of Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. Bonuses on African countries brought two correct answers and Sheffield now had their collective nose in front. Nobody recognised a Shostakovitch string quartet for the music starter. A somewhat long-winded starter gave Joseph McGough another starter with Samoa. This earned Sheffield the music bonuses. It didn’t do them much good as none of us knew the composers of three post 1960 string quartets. My default answer for a Japanese film is The Seven Samurai and this paid off for me and for Danny McMillan with the next starter. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance brought the two bonuses that Birkbeck needed to take a five point lead. Margherita Huntley knew the Somerset Levels for the next starter. Terms in cell biology promised some baby elephant walk business, but none of them were quite long or convoluted enough. For the next starter, if you’re asked for a French Monarch you’ll be right often enough if you hit and hope and say Louis XIV. It was right this time. It added to Danny McMillan’s personal tally and brought up bonuses on Eastern towns and cities of the UK with teams in the Speedway Great Britain Premiership. Two correct answers meant that Birkbeck were pulling away just approaching the 20-minute mark.

Danny McMillan kept up his form on the buzzer knowing various definitions that all pointed the way towards norm. Fela Kuti provided two correct answers, and the Birkbeck lead of 65 points was starting to look decisive. For the second picture starter we were shown a rather startling photo of a keta salmon. Nobody knew it. The next starter was rather obviously looking for Maryland, but the buzzer race didn’t start for surprisingly long, when it was won by Cameron Colclough. The bonuses involved a game of name that fish.Good answers brought two bonuses. Various definitions of the word ‘sink’ fell to Safiyyah Rujak. Works from 1905 yielded little, and the clock was running down all the time. Especially considering that Samid Chadha came in early and took the next starter on Aaron Swartz. Two correct answers on  the mythological figures upon whom characters in American Gods were based. Again, the next starter saw nifty buzzer work from Danny McMillan who knew a reference to Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit when he heard one. Joost Van Den Vondel provided the kind of bonuses where you didn’t have to know about him, because a little general knowledge could bring you a full house as it did for Birkbeck. Joseph McGough knew that any book with Mycologia in the title is probably about fungi. They managed to correctly answer 2 bonuses, but it was looking as if this was going to be too little at this stage of the game. None of us knew Watch Night. Safiyyah Rujak knew polyester for the next to earn bonuses on  the periodic table. We both only managed the one on magnesium. And essentially, that was that. The gong sounded halfway through the next starter which was surely asking for cherries.

So farewell, then, Sheffield. No shame in going out in the quarter finals. They had a useful BCR of 56%. As for Birkbeck, well they’ll have another chance to qualify next time out, although I do think that if they have to face Manchester they may have their work cut out for them. If they can repeat this week’s BCR of 79% it really won’t do their chances any harm.

Amol Watch

“Your say somebody German is no tactic at all!” joshed Amol as Birkbeck considered possibilities for the first picture bonuses. Well, actually, it kind of is. If you know the works were first published in German, then saying someone German is clearly a better tactic than saying someone who isn’t German, I would have thought.

Interesting Fact that I Didn’t Already Know of the Week

The word endorphin is partly derived from Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Which family of polymers are formed by the reaction of a dicarboxylic acid with a diol producing water as a by-product? They are widely used in synthetic rubbers, plastic bottles and clothing.

By no means the worst we’ve heard all series, but this was a dum dum -lite contest. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.