The Teams
Queen’s, Belfast
Sarah Carlisle
Jason McKillen
Daniel Rankin (capt)
Sam Thompson
Warwick
Ananya Govindarajan
Thomas Hart
Oscar Siddle (capt)
Benjamin Watson
Well, on paper it looked fairly difficult to pick a winner.
Queen’s were outstanding in their first round match, looking like potential
series winners, but they looked just a little less impressive while knocking
out Cardiff in the second round. Warwick had looked good in both rounds – not necessarily
up among the favourites, but good enough to give anyone a good match.
So Thomas Hart, his elbow bent ready to pounce on the
buzzer, recognised various events belonging to the 112th century for
the first starter. He’s from Misgyn / Miskin not that far outside Cardiff. I
won a quiz there once and was told that it behoved me to compile the quiz the
next week. The winners that night were the most obnoxious team I think I’ve
ever met, questioning every answer that was different from theirs, justifying
their dissent with “We know all about this, we’re English teachers!” My
response was spherical and in the plural. No. I haven’t been back since. Coming
back to Thomas Hart his correct buzz earned three questions on the
Mediterranean Sea. Two of them were correctly answered. The first clue that
this might be a tough night for Queen’s came when Daniel Rankin buzzed far too
early for the next question and lost five, allowing Benjamin Watson to identify
Erno Goldfinger as the architect of the Balfron and Trellick Towers. He
supposedly lived in the Balfron for a while so its first inhabitants could
speak to him directly about it – presumably most of their comments being of the
‘why did you make it so ugly, you muppet?’ variety. Warwick cemented their lead
with two correct answers on Portland cement – nice to see John Smeaton getting
a name check. This time Daniel Rankin made no mistake as he answered Edward
Teller to the next starter. Members of the Allahakbarries, a cricket team
formed by Kirriemuir’s finest J.M.Barrie, brought a couple of bonuses. I
mentioned Kirriemuir because Barrie grew up there at a time when I had
ancestors living there just a street or two away. Gawd knows about Dogme 95,
but Daniel Rankin came in early to give that answer correctly for the next
starter. French ye-ye music – or as I like to think of it – French non-merci music – brought just the one
correct answer. So to the picture starter all about postcode areas. Nobody took
it and frankly, I ain’t surprised. Now, to me the words “Kingsley Amis”, “friend”
and “librarian” irresistibly suggest Philip Larkin.Benjamin Watson won the
buzzer race for that one. All this brought was the flippin’ post code bonuses.
Warwick got one more than I got. So, as we bore down on the 10 minute mark, Warwick
led by 55 to 30.
Neither team knew that a heraldic two legged dragon is a wyvern
– which is a little surprising since it’s a good old quiz chestnut. (Also the
emblem of Vauxhall Cars – you can have that one for free.) The interminable science
starter that followed – see Baby Elephant Walk Moment – actually brought me a
lap of honour for saying Hydrogen just before Daniel Rankin did the same. Women
appearing in the works of JE Millais tripped up Queen’s who failed to add to
their score. Thomas Hart hadn’t had a starter for a few minutes but he elbowed
his way back in with Kant’s definition of the sublime. (His definition of the
ridiculous being - anyone who thinks it is possible to explain “The Black and
White Minstrel Show to someone under fifty.) The Blood Brain Barrier – which surely
featured in one of the worst episodes of season three of the original series of
Star Trek – surprised me by allowing me a bonus in the shape of meningitis.
When asked about the winner of the first Wolf Prize in Physics I thought Thomas
Hart was cheering Amol’s delivery of the question, but apparently Woo was the
answer. Delphine Seyrig may not be an actress whose name exactly trips off the
tongue but she brought Warwick a full house nevertheless. So to the music
starter and Bejamin Watson recognised the work of Mr.? Little Simz, whom one can
only deduce is a performer whose work has yet to make any impression on the
flinty cliff face of my indifference. More of the same brought neither of us
any points. A quote describing
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus brought Warwick a bonus set on Rivers of Africa,
one of which was correctly answered. The next starter asked for a fictional
school. I wasn’t certain until Mr. Brocklehurst made it clear. Ananya
Govindarajan dredged up the correct answer of Lowood from Jane Eyre. Ugh, Jane
Eyre! Not for me. Sporting autobiographies brought one more correct answer. Now,
I could tell you that I understood the next starter about Dutch economist Jan
Tinbergen, but I won’t because my nose is quite long enough already. Nobody had
it. I didn’t know about SUVAT equations but Thomas Hart did. Oh good, I
enthused sarcastically as Amol announced a set of bonuses on industrial
catalysts. Warwick had no more idea about them than I did and did not trouble
the scorer. The Scottish Darien plan was all too easy for Thomas Hart for the
next starter. Two bonuses on electoral systems meant that Warwick led by 165 – 40,
and you could name your own price for backing Queen’s.
Whenever I see a very old photo of an actress Sarah
Bernhardt is my go to answer and it rendered me good service for the second
picture starter. Daniel Rankin took that one. Other photos of women taking men’s
roles in Shakespeare on stage brought just the one bonus, but they were by no
means an easy set. Zoltan ‘Who’ Kodaly fell to the imperious buzzing of Thomas
Hart. A full house on works of philosophy put Warwick on the brink of 200
points. The next starter asked for a Strait. It was clearly off the coast of
Australia, but was it the Bass or the Torres? Thomas Hart said the Bass Strait
and he was right to do so. People who were born in 1902 and died in 1984 brought
1 bonus, and an end to any realistic hope of Queen’s winning. That man Hart
took yet another starter, knowing Triton, the 7th largest moon of
the Solar System. Ahmed Zewail is not someone whose work I have any familiarity
with, and after three baby elephant walk inducing questions I am no more
familiar with him now than I was, although light, stimulated and emissions gave
me lazers for the last of them. Daniel Rankin worked out that As stands for Arsenic
for the next starter. Mythology of Japan brought them the one bonus. I knew
that Memed, My Hawk is from Turkey – Peter Ustinov made a film of it many years
ago – and so did Daniel Rankin. Musical melodrmas provided just the one bonus –
which was pretty much the story of Queen’s night. That man Rankin very quickly
worked out that King Charles III is King George V’s great grandson for the next
starter. Brightest stars in constellations brought. . . well they brought just
one bonus again. This brought Queen’s to triple figures, but sadly they dropped
five for an incorrect buzz for the next starter. That was all the time that
remained. Warwick won comfortably by 215 to 95.
When I reviewed Queen’s second round victory over Cardiff I
made the point that Queen’s were heavily reliant on skipper Daniel Rankin’s
buzzing ad that they could be in trouble if he had an off night. Well, he
certainly didn’t have an off night, scoring 7 starters. But then that in itself
was a problem since these were the only starters Queen’s managed. But it wasn’t
just that. For the record Warwick’s BCR
was a relatively modest 46 to Queen’s 33.3. Well, both teams will play again,
so nothing is over for anyone. Not yet.
Amol Watch
Kudos to Amol for saying what we were all thinking about
the postcode picture starter. “That’s going to be a fun set of bonuses when
that picture set comes up.” Amol at least did Queen’s the courtesy of telling
them there was plenty of time left after the halfway mark. You know it’s not
your night when he trots that one out in the first ten minutes.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know of
the Week
Triton follows a retrograde orbit around Neptune. (Look, it’s
what I find interesting, okay?!)
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
In kidney physiology, excretion of what element from the
proximal tubule in the nephron is promoted by Angiotensin II ( who was also Tutankhamen’s
great grandfather) and is concomitant with the increased reabsorption of sodium
ions? The same element is pumped by V-Type ATPases into organelles such as
lysozomes in order to maintain an acidic pH.
In the words of Gary Coleman – what you talkin’ ‘bout,
Willus? I picked an element I know is in some acids, Hydrogen and got it right.
And the question still made me feel dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.
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