Mastermind 2025 Semi Final 1

 

							Table Position
Ian Grieve	11	0	17	0	28	0	1
John Robinson	12	0	12	0	24	0	4
Robin Dunford	11	0	12	3	23	3	7
Jane Northen	10	0	12	3	23	3	8

Well, peeps, if you read my preview of the semi finals last week then you’ll know that John Robinson promised us that this week’s first semi final would boast four of the top 8 contenders of the first round. Well, he was right about that. We’ve seen semi finals before that have been this top heavy – let’s be honest, we tend to get 1 every series, at least. But it just strikes me as a shame to have a line up of contenders who could grace a final all in the same semi. Well, regardless of what I think, that’s what we had.

First to go was LAM reader Ian Grieve. Ian had a great specialist round in his first match, followed by an absolutely blinding GK round, the best of the series so far. Tonight he was answering on The Clash. Cars on the table – to say that I did not do very well on the specialists in his show would be an understatement. Ian did well, in fact at one stage I thought a perfect round might be in the offing. Well, we didn’t quite get that, but 11 and no passes was a serious statement of intent.

Jane Northen was offering us The Ironclad Battleship, HMS Warrior. I think the Warrior has its own Mastermind connection since I think that Mastermind legend Gavin Fuller – 1993 champ (youngest champ of the Magnus era) was its archivist. Jane had obviously prepared really well, and she topped Ian’s round, scoring 12 and 1 pass. Already this semi final was turning out to be one of the best shows of the series so far – and we’d only had 2 of the 6 rounds yet.

Robin Dunford, who was 7th on my unofficial round one leaderboard, had scored two double figure rounds in his heat. Answering on the films of Marilyn Monroe he managed 8. In this day and age that’s a good score, but the merely good was not going to be good enough in this particular show. As an aside “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” did at least bring me my first correct answer of the show, so I can thank you for that, Robin.

Finally then, LAM reader (and teacher) John Robinson. John was fourth on my first round leadership table and he was answering on one of his favourite artists, Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Mine too, John, mine too. I’ve been lucky enough to see his work in the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum too. This yielded me a massive or measly three. (Measly because it’s a low total, massive because its three times as many points as I got from any of the other specialist rounds. John’s round was practically flawless, and he had a deserved lead scoring 13 and no passes.

So it would all come down to the GK. Robin, nothing daunted by having become detached from the leading group, rallied himself well and delivered a double figure round of 10. No, he wouldn’t win with 18, but he’d certainly be able to walk away with his head held high.

So to Ian, then. If the round went his way he had shown that he was capable of setting an extremely challenging total. Did it go his way? Well, it was a very good round indeed, but the dog end of the round just seemed to throw in some of the hardest questions we’d hear all night. I never knew that the Man in the Iron Mask was part of a longer work, for example. As a result Ian’s round finished on 13 for 24 when it looked as if he was going to score one or two more. It meant he was clearly leader in the clubhouse, but with two left out on the course anything could happen. If Jane could equal her best of 12, she would be behind Ian on pass countback. She had 12 on the scoreboard and a question to go. Which state is Mt. Kosciusko located in? She zigged with Victoria when she should’ve zagged with NSW. 24 points. Fine score, but only good enough for 2^nd.

John’s outstanding specialist round meant he needed 11 and no passes to force a tie break, and 12 to win outright. John had scored 12 in the heats, so he was certainly capable. It was close, but in the end not that close, since he managed to equal Ian’s 13 and no passes, which gave him a clear win on 26.

This was a fine, fine show, full of excitement and great performances.  Time will tell if 24 would have been enough to have won some of the other semi finals – my gut feeling is that it will. I will have huge sympathy for Ian and Jane if this does prove to be the case. Every year we lose at least one genuine contender because they are in a really tough semi, but knowing this can’t make it ay easier to bear if you’re the contender to whom it happens.

But on a more positive note, congratulations to John! That performance was a great example of what I said about preparation and maximising your performance in GK. I think at this point I should introduce a self imposed rule that I do not tip, or even comment on the potential of teacher contenders since it only tends to scupper their chances. So I will content myself by saying great performance. Best of luck.

The Details

Ian Grieve	The Clash	11	0	13	0	24	0
Jane Northen	The ironclad battleship HMS Warrior	12	1	12	3	24	4
Robin Dunford	The Films of Marilyn Monroe	8	2	10	3	18	5
John Robinson	Pieter Brueghel the Elder	13	0	13	0	26	0