The Teams
Imperial
Rahim Dina
Eugenia Tong
Oscar O’Flanagan (Capt)
Justin Keung
Churchill College, Cambridge
Ella McGovern
Matt Hasler
Sam Webber (Capt)
Shiv Sheshan
For the first starter last night, it suddenly became clear
that the figure Karl Marx described as a splendid fellow was Spartacus. Which
makes sense, after all, I am Spartacus. Oscar O’Flanagan had that one. Games
that won a BAFTA – no, me neither – saw Imperial take a couple of passes and a
near miss. An incorrect Imperial interruption gave Churchill the full question
and allowed Shiv Sheshan to answer Equatorial Guinea. 3 questions on Shelley
brought 1 correct answer. You had to wait and wait with the next starter that
required the name of an artist, then when Third of May was mentioned Justin
Keung leapt to his buzzer and gave the correct answer of Goya. Transition metal
complexes. Imagine my delight when Amol announced the next bonus subject. At
least Imperial had two of them – which is two more than I did. A relatively
gentle picture starter showed the flag of Fiji. Shiv Sheshan’s twitchy buzzer
finger gave away 5, and Eugenia Tong came in with the correct answer. More
flags with representations of fruit on them brought a pair of bonuses to
Imperial. Amol announced a Maths starter. It was all too easy for Justin Keung who
knew lambda calculus almost before Amol had asked for it. From Greek letters to
Greek Mythology for the bonuses – figures whose names began with Pro. Imperial
managed just one, much to the obvious irritation of their skipper. Steady the
buffs, mate. This brought us to the 10 minute mark, with Imperial leading 60 –
15.
Oscar O’Flanagan recognised the character Julia from Orwell’s
1984. When I first read it 1984 was still several years in the future. Zang
Tumb Tumb (surely a character in Star Wars Part 1) surprisingly brought me two
bonuses while Imperial took 1. Imperial lost five of their hard won points with
the next starter while Shiv Sheshan gave the correct answer of Paraguay.
Unusual items in the collection of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds only
yielded 1 bonus. Shiv Sheshan recognised a reference to Thucydides for the next
starter. Notable academicians buried in Gottingen brought a single bonus which
took us up to the music starter. Nobody recognised a little bit of Holst.
Smithson – surname of two numpties who did a lot to promote horrible brutalist
architecture in the UK, brought Rahim Dina his first starter. This earned the
music bonuses on classical compositions based on jigs. There you go. Nul
points. Nobody knew about archaeophytes for the next starter. Rahim Dina took a
double by recognising a description of the film 81/2 and this brought bonuses
on Errollyn Wallen, alright, Errollyn ‘Who?’ Wallen.I had a surprising full
house, while Imperial managed 2. Imperial came in too early for the next
starter but lost fve, but nobody in the Churchill team had good enough French to
get the pronoun mon. Shiv Sheshan knew the aboriginal concept of Dreamtime for
the next starter. The Seven Wonders of the Peak was a new one on me, but two
bonuses on the subject fell to Churchill. It was Imperial who led by 95 – 65 though.
So far, then, a pretty unremarkable contest between two
decent teams. At this point Matt Hasler found the range with his buzzer to
answer that the latin phrase given meant The Once and Future King.The Masque of
The Red Death provided two bouses and narrowed the Imperial lead to 10 points.
Matt Hasler very quickly recognised a still from A Matter of Life and Death for
the second picture starter. Other films chosen for Royal Film Performances saw
Churchill take just one of a pretty gettable set. Justin Keung took the next
starter knowing that L means Lossless. Who knew? (Not me). Index fossils saw a
welcome namecheck for trilobites. (I’ve always liked trilobites). We both took
a full set on these. The Bourbons – the dynasty rather than the biscuits –
brought another starter for the impressive Shiv Sheshan. Two bonuses on the
year 1325 were taken, and only a mishearing by the skipper prevented a full
house. All square. He made amends by recognising a description of Swahili for
the next starter. A full house on transcription systems gave Churchill a 25
point lead, and put them in striking distance of at least a repechage score. Shiv
Sheshan’s starter answer on the border between India and Pakistan pushed them
even closer. The endocrine system brought me a lap of honour for guessing hormones
was the answer to the first bonus. The couple that Churchill took guaranteed
they would be back during the series. Could Imperial match them? Oscar O’Flanagan
knew that La Scala means the stairway. A full house on Korean cuisine pushed
them to the brink. The skipper also knew the term Recombination in relation to
the history of the Universe. The one they knew on tidal islands put them into
the repechage at least. Matt Hasler sealed the deal for Churchill, though,
knowing that German words for tide and ghost combine to form the word
zeitgeist. GONNNGGGGG! Churchill had won with 175 – 160.
Well, who would have thought that the contest would develop
the way that it did after that start? For the record Imperial had a BCR of 50%
while Churchill had a slightly better 54%. I’m glad that both teams have gone
through, it would be a shame for one to have had to leave after that.
Amol Watch
Amol, sir, I loved your work in the last third of the
contest, as your speed of delivery was equal to the speed of the contest.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
An administrative area of Paraguay is named after rather
nondescript US president Rutherford B. Hayes.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
The chemical messengers used by the endocrine system were
given what name from the Greek ‘to arouse’ by physiologist Ernest Starling, who
discovered the example of secretin with William Bayliss? Dum de dumdum dum dum
dum dum dumdum.
Repechage Table
|
Sheffield |
170 |
|
SOAS |
170 |
|
Imperial |
160 |
|
--------------------------------- |
|
|
New College Oxford |
150 |
|
------------------------------- |
|
|
Lancaster |
145 |
|
Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
135 |
|
Grenn-Templeton, Oxford |
130 |
|
Durham |
120 |
|
Cardiff |
115 |
|
Linacre, Oxford |
115 |
|
Newcastle |
105 |
|
Bath |
70 |
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