The Teams
Lancaster
Josie Hyland
Talhah Hussain
Lex Wilkins (Capt)
Eoin Neale
Lincoln
Grace Bloomfield
Laura Bruce
Samuel Orman-Chan (Capt)
John Clayworth
Off we go – old hands Lancaster played Newbies Lincoln. For
the first starter – condiment - and – brassica - pointed towards Mustard, and
Josie Hyland came in early to take first blood for Lancaster. Bonuses on
Hirokazu ‘Hip’ Tanaka (there are worse parts of your anatomy you can be
nicknamed after) brought a full house to make a perfect start to Lancaster’s
evening. A knight playing chess with Death can only be one of two things –
Ingmar Bergman or an episode of the Young Ones. Well, if you’re an old codger
like me anyway. Talhah Hussain is not an old codger like me and went for Alfred
Hitchcock. Lincoln didn’t fancy the sound of the question and didn’t chance
their collective arm. Samuel Orman-Chan broke his team’s duck knowing giant
flightless crickets called Weta in New Zealand. The mind boggles. Two bonuses
on the Forth and Clyde Canal followed. John Clayworth was the first to pick up
references to Saddam Hussein for the next starter. The story of Orpheus brought
just the one bonus. So to the picture starter and a historic map showing some
of the historic counties of Wales. Nether team identified Carmarthenshire – in fact
they gave the names of non historic counties. Respect to skipper Lex Wilkins
who came in extremely quickly to recognise a description of the national flag
of Kyrgyzstan. The picture bonuses showing more maps of historic counties of
Wales brought just 1 bonus. The Lancaster skipper doubled up on the next
starter on works with Venus and Mars in the titles. Bonuses on artists and
operas brought just the one correct answer, nonetheless it meant that Lancaster
led by 55 to Lincoln’s 35.
As soon as Amol read the stage direction ‘massiveness,
solidity and purpose’ more than thirty years of teaching the play for GCSE made
me yell “Anne in Spectacles!” – or as some people call it ‘An Inspector Calls’.
Samuel Orman-Chan won the buzzer race. Advances in statistics during World War
II didn’t sound too promising but I took two of them, incidentally the two that
Lincoln didn’t. I’m not entirely sure why but the name Parmentier in the next
question pointed me in the direction of potato. John Clayworth had that one.
British wild birds saw more profligacy with the bonuses, and again they only
took one of a quite gettable set. Nobody recognised a description of the board
game Othello. Strictly speaking the original 1883 game was Reversi – while Othello
is a 1971 variant. We didn’t get the whole question so maybe this would have
been explained. John Clayworth was the first to recognise the description of a
spinnaker. Characters in Pixar films proved far more to Lincoln’s liking and
they took a rare full house. For the music starter I didn’t actually know the
piece of music we heard, but I guessed Kraftwerk as it sounded like them. After
rather more of it than I cared for, John Clayworth guessed the same. More pieces
of music commissioned for the opening of major exhibitions provided the subject
of the bonuses. Lincoln failed to add to their total. Samuel Orman-Chan worked
out that the language sought in the next starter was Finnish. The history of
proprietary medicine sounds like an esoteric Mastermind specialist subject. It
was just a set of bonuses though and again Lincoln missed out on all bar one. Clues
to flying ace Roland Garros allowed Talhah Hussain to drag Lancaster back into
the match. Critically endangered crafts of the UK and Ireland did not include
the time honoured Elthorne High School craft of manufacturing the pee - filled
water bomb, but sporran and curragh manufacture brought two bonuses. This meant
that for all of their dominance on the buzzer during the last ten minutes, as
we approached 20 Lincoln only led by 110 – 70.
John Clayworth knew the identities of Holbein’s
Ambassadors. Writers who have served as Children’s Laureates yielded just the
one bonus. For the second picture starter we saw what was obviously the work of
Piet Mondrian, which launched a buzzer race won by Eoin Neale. More artists
whose work proved the inspiration for album covers brought two bonuses and cut
the gap to 35. Now, I didn’t get the next question at all, but the answer was
fuzzy. So was my head for that matter. Neither team had it but Lancaster lost
five which they could not afford to lose. Talhah Hussein recognised that the
Japanese terms in the next starter probably referred to Sumo. Major oil ports
brought Lancaster a full house and the gap was reduced to 15. However this
lengthened to 20 with an incorrect buzz for the next starter. There were clues
enough that the answer was Cheviot, but Lincoln didn’t get it. Eoin Neale knew
that the Martian scientists were actually from a little closer to home –
Hungary to be precise. Two bonuses on self portraits brought the scores dead
level. It was reliable John Clayworth who buzzed first to identify types of
Gothic architecture. Lincoln managed two bonuses on Books of the Dead. (as
opposed to exercise books of the dead, which I marked many of in my time).
Samuel Orman-Chan took the next starter on the Peltier effect and recipients of
the National Geographic Society Hubbard Medal brought two bonuses but saw them
missing out on the first men on the Moon. Come on! Talhah Hussain took the next
starter on the key of A minor. Lancaster looked a little too far behind to win,
but a place on the repechage table was already theirs and the more points they
scored the more chance they might stay there. A full house on Teddy Roosevelt
narrowed the gap to 10 but skipper Lex Wilkins took a flyer and lost five on
the next starter. This let his counterpart in with the correct answer of
Shropshire. That was it. The gong ended the contest and Lincoln had won by 170
to 145.
For the record, Lancaster achieved a BCR of 67% while
Lincoln’s was 47%.
Amol Watch
When Lincoln suggested that Handel might have written music
for the opening of the 1920s British Empire Exhibition Amol said what I guess
many of us were thinking – ‘just a few centuries out there.’
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
The first medical patent issued in England was for Epsom
Salts.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
No, nothing to report this week. Well done to all
concerned.
Repechage Table
|
Sheffield |
170 |
|
SOAS |
170 |
|
New College Oxford |
150 |
|
Lancaster |
145 |
|
--------------------------------------- |
|
|
Cardiff |
115 |
|
Linacre, Oxford |
115 |
|
Newcastle |
105 |
|
Bath |
70 |
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