The Teams
Magdalen, Oxford
Aidan Woo
Lily Costa-Ferreira
Benjamin Sharkey (Capt)
Sasha Walker
Darwin, Cambridge
Lewis Strachan
Ruth Ni Mhuircheartaigh
Louis Cameron (Capt)
Jonathan White
Ah, the second round already. An Oxbridge match – Darwin of
Cambridge v. Magdalen of Oxford. There wasn’t a huge amount to choose between
either team’s first round BCRs, and really it was going to come down to whichever
team was better on the day. And on that stunningly obvious note, let’s begin.
For the first starter, a writer of historical fiction born
in 1771 had to bbe Walter Scott. I couldn’t get on with Scott at all, until after
visiting Edinburgh a few years ago I read and enjoyed Heart of Midlothian. Both
teams allowed Amol to get well into the question before Louis Cameron came in
with the answer. Artists who studied at Paris’ Academie de la Grand Chaumiere
brought two bonuses which is one more than I managed. Ruth Ni Mhuircheartaigh
recognised several people with the surname Conway for the next starter to earn
bonuses on video game characters voiced by Jennifer Hale. Sorry – if it ain’t
Mario ( and they weren’t) then I don’t know ‘em. NOMINATE ME! Demanded Lewis
Strachan, and his skipper was wise to do so since he delivered a full house. Sasha
Walker opened the Magdalen account knowing Nuremberg was at one end of Germany’s
first railway line. Now, I’ll be honest,
the first time that I really feared for Magdalen during this competition was
when they only took 1 of a set of Physics bonuses and I knew the 2 that they
didn’t. Yes, of course I took a lap of honour. It would have been churlish to
decline. For the picture starter we were shown an upside down cross and asked
with which saint it is associated. Obviously Peter, thought I, as did Darwin’s
skipper. More crosses associated with specific saints I was less successful
with, while Darwin managed one. For the next starter I knew that Ai Weiwei was
the sunflower seeds man and he was from China. Louis Cameron took that. Aristocratic
women in pre Conquest England yielded nowt. Nonetheless as we approached the 10
minute mark Darwin looked to be in control, leading by 70 – 15.
Sasha Walker took hers and Magdalene’s second starter, coming
in very quickly to identify Minnesota as the state that adopted a new flag in
2024. Opera Houses brought a single bonus. Something about RNA or DNA or both
prompted Lewis Strachan to answer endonuclease and Amol gave him the points
even though it wasn’t strictly what was written on the card. Tar water, a
popular medicine in days gone by brought two bonuses. Aidan Woo recognised
titles linked by the phrase ‘a fistful of’ for the next starter. Tapestries
brought two bonuses for Magdalen. For the music starter none of the youngsters
of both teams recognised the stirring sounds of The British Grenadiers (the
first few bars of which I always expect to seque into the Blackadder theme.) Louis
Cameron knew that Nineveh was the city that the prophet Jonah was sent to tell
of its impending destruction. The music bonuses featured other pieces of music
used in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon’.None of them were taken. For the next
starter Louis Cameron buzzed, then hesitated and was lost, losing five in the
process. Magdalen couldn’t capitalise, not knowing the titles of several novels
all containing the month August. For the next starter we required the name of
an island. Both teams waited and waited, then when Amol mentioned John Cabot Benjamin
Sharkey won the buzzer race with Newfoundland. The psychology of memory did not
exactly sound full of Eastern promise, and brought just one bonus to Magdalen. Jonathan
White took his first starter recognising a trio of Idas (which I believe was
also the given name of Dr. No’s wife). Three bonuses on the spice mix chaat
masala brought us both two bonuses. All of which meant that Darwin led 115 to
65 as we loomed over the 20 minute mark.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know what the word hallucinate has
to do with computing terminology, but Aidan Woo did and this earned three
bonuses that the 7 year old me would have loved and answered correctly, on
sauropod dinosaurs. Magdalen took 1 bonus. For the second picture starter Louis
Cameron recognised a self portrait of Goya at his easel. Other artist’s self
portraits while at the day job brought a single bonus. Jonathan White
recognised references to the province of Gujarat for the next starter. Musicals
that have won the Drama Desk award for outstanding lyrics brought a single
bonus. Lewis Strachan was in early to identify that a specific test indicates
syphilis. Moving swiftly on three bonuses on ‘To the Finland Station’ – a book
I was recommended to read by my headmaster, the late Nicholas Wheeler-Robinson
during my History A Level. When I get round to it I’ll let you know, sir. I
still managed the two correct answers that Darwin had. Nobody knew consorts all
born in Denmark. Neither did anyone know what BPS stood for. Lewis Strachan
knew that Thailand means Land of the Free. Pairs of people with the same first
two given names brought a couple of bonuses, and took the Darwin lead into
triple figures with only a couple of minutes remaining. Lewis Strachan knew the
F block of the periodic table. Language families and the continents on which
they are primarily spoken brought a single bonus. Jonathan White got himself a
bit muddled up on the next starter, hesitating and then answering Hawaii, when
the answer wanted was Honolulu, Sacha Walker took that one. Magdalen’s laughter
when given sport in 1925 kind of summed up how it had not been their night. They
didn’t get any of them either. Theat was that. Darwin won comfortable by 190 –
80.
For the record Magdalen managed a BCR of 33.3% while Darwin’s
was 47.2%. When you get right down to it, Darwin were better on the day. That’s
the way it goes.
Amol Watch
Amol does have this habit of admonishing the team captain
that one of his team had a better answer than the one he gave. While accepting
Louis Cameron’s St. Bridget he did point out that it is more commonly given as
St. Brigid “As Ruth said.” Time and a place, mate.
He apologised to Darwin for being ‘brutal’ over the Louis Cameron
hesitation. Brutal? It was just applying the rules fairly in my book.
I’m not fussed on Amol’s habit of saying that the other
team knew all of the bonuses that your own team got wrong. Amol – bonuses for
show, starters for dough. Don’t matter how many bonuses you can answer if you
don’t get the starters.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
Mozart’s Don Giovanni was first performed in Prague. (In “Amadeus”
it looked as if it was in Vienna.)
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
An essential component of DNA repair pathways, among other
functions, which broad class of enzymes is responsible for breaking the
phosphodiester of bonds of DNA or RNA. . . (yeah, I know the question wasn’t
finished, but it had me at phosphodiester. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.)
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