The Teams
Edinburgh
Parthav Easwar
Johnny Richrds
Alice Leonard (Capt)
Rayhana Amjar
Merton, Oxford
Ciaran Duncan
Evelyn Ong
Elliot Cosnett (Capt)
Verity Fleetwood-Law
Thankfully the two week winter Olympics break was not long
enough to make me lose interest in this year’s UC and that’s all to the good
for last night we saw the first qualification match of this year’s quarter
final round. Parthav Easwar recognised that the clues to various film titles
all had answers whose only vowels were O and A. Philosophical debates brought
two bonuses, which is two more than I managed. A world heritage site in Georgia
passed us all by. Elliot Cosnett, so good on the buzzer in previous appearances
seemed a little twitchy in this contest and came in too early for the interminable
science starter that followed. The answer was Lewy bodies – no, me neither (and
Edinburgh neither for that matter). The next starter asked for the type of
structure appearing in a number of paintings. Brueghel gave me Towers – I have
seen The Tower of Babel in the Kunsthalle in Vienna and I absolutely love it.
Neither team knew it and Merton lost another 5. Rayhana Amjad recognised part
of the introduction to A Suitable Boy and stopped the rot. Poet John Clare yielded
nothing whatever, although they had a correct answer on the table with the last
bonus. Merton again lost five with the next starter but Edinburgh couldn’t
quite summon up the title of the James Cagney movie White Heat. Remarkably Merton
suffered their 4th incorrect interruption in the first 10 minutes
with the next starter, and again Edinburgh did not capitalise. Nobody knew
Huerta , a founder of the UAW. Rayhana Amjad recognised various works with the
word Annals. At last the Chinese Century of Humiliation yielded some bonuses.
At just past the ten minute mark the score stood at 40 to minus 20 in
Edinburgh’s favour – a remarkable first ten minutes but sadly for the wrong
reasons.
For the picture starter again neither team could make any
headway, as nobody recognised part of another blockbuster from Pliny the Elder.
Fair play to Elliot Cosnett. Earlier misfires did not stop him from chancing
his arm in the next starter and coming in early with the correct answer of
limbo – the religious concept as opposed to the dance. Picture bonuses showing
maps of the locations of ancient cities mentioned by P the E which are the
locations of ruins which are world heritage sites brought two bonuses and saw
the Merton score zoom up to zero. Sorry – couldn’t resist it. Nobody knew Ras –
el – hanout – who was surely one of Batman’s protagonists. Elliot Cosnett
buzzed early for the next starter on Wicca (the worship of baskets?) which
earned bonuses on carcinogenic chemical elements. Merton managed just the one,
but that score was creeping forward. Johnny Richards won the buzzer race to
supply the term grand-guignol for the next starter. Bonuses on varieties of
spiced coffee (which mostly sounded disgusting) brought a brace of correct
answers. Music maestro please for the next starter but nobody recognised the dulcet
stylings of Animal Collective (who?) Nobody knew Therapeutic Index (a New
Romantic Band?) for the next starter. I don’t recall seeing so many unanswered
starters in one show before, but then I couldn’t answer hardly any of them
either so I can’t say anything there. I knew Henri de Navarre, or Henri IV
which gave me the next starter from the first clue. Sadly, Merton lost five
more points they couldn’t afford to lose coming in too early which gave Parthav
Easwar a shot at an open goal which he duly converted into points. Songs named
after music venues brought just the one bonus, but it kept the Edinburgh score
jogging along, which was what was really required in this particular match. I’ll
be honest, I didn’t know Pahlavi was the name of an old Persian writing system
but I knew it was the name of the deposed Shah and his son and so did Pathav
Easwar. The Trappist order ( which is surely “Shhhussshhh!”) brought two bonuses.
As we approached 20 minutes the score stood at 100-10 to Edinburgh.
Evelyn Ong scored for Merton knowing the combined total of
players in various teams for different sports. Predominantly Young British Artists
brought one bonus on my Goldsmiths contemporary Damien Hirst. For the second
picture starter Evelyn Ong recognised a diagram of a camera obscura. Paintings
by three artists that Dai Hockney claimed has used a camera obscura brought two
bonuses. Ciaran Duncan knew that Max Ophuls’ La Ronde is set in Vienna for the
next starter. Botanist Lester Sharp (alright, Lester ‘Who?’ Sharp) yielded just
one correct answer. However it introduced me to the phrase ‘jumping genes’, the
mental picture conjured up by which has surely enriched my life a little. Again,
the belated but impressive Merton assault on the buzzer continued as Evelyn Ong
recognised a description of the constellation Virgo. They had no luck with
their set of bonuses on musical tones. Still they had scored 60 unanswered
points. Nobody knew about huge water lilies from Bolivia for the next starter. Nobody
knew the island of Skomer for the next after that. Evelyn Ong knew Thiol for
the next starter, even though challenged to spell it. Creatures of British and
Irish folklore from the Royal Mail’s special set of stamps saw a name check for
grindylows which I’d only previously read of in (I think) Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire. Merton only had the selkie, but this put them a mere 10 points
behind Edinburgh. Were we witnessing the best comeback since Lazarus? Neither
team managed the next starter on the colour green. I knew that Tower Hamlets
and Greenwich are the two boroughs east of the City of London that are homes to
world Heritage sites. So did Johnny Richards. Jean-Baptiste Colbert (qui?) brought
nowt. Apart from the gong. And so, from being so much in control at the 20
minute mark, Edinburgh won by less than a full set, 105 – 85.
For the record, Edinburgh achieved a BCR of 47.6% while
Merton’s was 38%, which shows why it was a comparatively low scoring match. I
don’t care. Welcome back UC – I’ve missed you.
Amol Watch
In his welcome to the teams Amol mentioned both teams’ “crazy
mascots”, Careful there Amol. That’s just one step from ‘whacky’ or ‘zany’ and
if you start using those terms then we will have to call Security.
For once, Amol was right when he told Merton there was
plenty of time left, but the fact that he felt moved to say it on 10 minutes
told them its own story.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of
The Week
The person ultimately responsible for Wicca was the rather
prosaically named Gerald Gardner.
Baby Elephant Walk Moment
What is the name given to the aggregations of the protein
alpha-synuclein that can appear within and often displace the components of
brain cells. (incorrect buzz from Merton).They are named for the German
neurologist who discovered them while examining the brains of patients who had
suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and dementia . Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum
dumdum.
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