University Challenge Round One - Guildhall School of Music and Drama v. Darwin, Cambridge

The Teams

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Sam Warburton

Jamie Harms

Tara Beavon (Capt.)

Dara Toal

Darwin, Cambridge

Ella Mason

David Lumsden

Rachel Gu (Capt.)

Macsen Brown

Well, good people, after the rather lacklustre Mastermind earlier yesterday evening it fell to University Challenge to provide us with a little quality and maybe a modicum of excitement.

The first question was a pretty topical one, which is surprising considering it was about a Victorian lady called Elizabeth Wardle. I knew she was the driving force behind the Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry. It’s wonderful. All of the naked figures in the original have little shorts and proto bikinis – well, this was the Victorian Era. If you’re ever in Reading go to the museum and see it. Captain Tara Beavon came in very early for this one. Films of the actor Mia “Who?” Goth brought one bonus. When Amol said in the next starter that the creature he wanted can grow up to 2 feet long and is harmless to humans I guessed a snake of some sort and was right, but neither tea, picked up on the clues. Daniel Lumsden opened his team’s account knowing some ancient names for the Caspian Sea. Pairs of words differing only by the replacement of an initial C with a K proved a nice UC special set though it yielded just one correct answer. Rather embarrassingly Guildhall lost five on a music question, allowing Ella Mason in with Alberti Bass, who played Bootsie in the Army Game (ask your great grandparents). Scientific words beginning with the prefix helio – brought Darwin a full house. I as happy to take an early lap of honour for knowing the last two. For the picture starter, I recognized the flag of the Isle of Wight immediately, having a patch of the very same in my collection of patches from places I’ve visited. Macsen Brown – who had introduced himself by saying Hi in Welsh despite coming from Kilburn – was first to win the buzzer race. More flags of islands around the UK brought a good couple of bonuses. Both teams rather sat on their buzzers with the next starter, eventually allowing Daniel Lumsden to take a leisurely buzz and identify the US State of Virginia. 2 bonuses on volcanoes completed a very effective first ten minutes for Darwin and they led 80- 10.

Sam Warburton struck back for Guildhall, recognizing several definitions of the word lobe. 1 bonus was taken from a gettable set on Michelangelo. They could have had another but said the Greek name, Dionysus instead of the roman one, Bacchus, God of Wine, whose brother Tobacchus was the God of Nicotine. (RIP John Browning.) Tara Beavon was the winner of the buzzer race to identify Figaro, from two operas based on a song by the Brotherhood of Man. One bonus on Stockholm was taken. So to the music starter. Nobody recognized a wee bit of Mahler. For the next starter I had eyepatch from Snake Plissken, while Macsen Brown had it after Danger Mouse. More classical pieces dedicated to drinking and alcohol did not, sadly, include J.S. Bach’s “Buy us a pint or I’ll kick yer arse”, and brought one bonus, Darwin missing out on Beethoven and Carl ‘Sod’ Orff. The old quiz chestnut about Percy Spencer’s invention of the microwave oven fell to Sam Warburton. Biographical films about the lives of scientists brought another single bonus. Jamie Harms knew that the R in several abbreviations stood for rights. Granta’s first list of best young novelists from 1983 brought them, well, another single bonus. Still, at least Guildhall were having a bit of a purple patch with the buzzer and Jamie Harms knew that it was Hector whose wife was Andromache. Bonuses on trip-hop (no, me neither) , well, somewhat inevitably they got just the one. Going into the second picture starter on 20 minutes the score stood at 95 – 85 to Darwin.

Sam Warburton won the buzzer race to identify a photo of a swift. Other birds with long migrations at last provided Guildhall with a full house and the lead. Ella Mason knew that the smallest sword used in fencing is a foil. One bonus on early Christian imagery levelled the scores with only 6 minutes to go. Macsen Brown won the buzzer race to identify Orion from Rigel and Betelgeuse. Equations in biology brought two bonuses, and only a slip of the tongue prevented a Darwin full house. Tara Beavon knew the game Cyberpunk for the next starter. The three bonuses were all connected with the word strawberry. They took one, ignoring the time honoured axiom that if it’s an old Swedish film, then the answer is often Ingmar Bergman. I did not know that sarcasm comes from the Greek for flesh tearing, but worked it out from sarcophagus – flesh eater. Nobody had it. Jamie Harms identified the pectoral muscles for the next starter. German prepositions brought them two bonuses and late in the game either team could win, and both could get a repechage score. Macsen Brown recognized a list of people who have all appeared on £10 notes. Poets writing about poetry brought 1 bonus. Ella Mason recognized various types of root for the next starter pushing Darwin back in front. Universities named after people gave them a 20 point lead. It looked as if Guildhall had to get the next starter. Dara Toal got it for them too, recognizing applications of the word screen. They didn’t have enough time to get any bonuses on adaptations to extreme cold, though. Darwin won by 165 to 155.

Guildhall had a BCR of just under 43%, while Darwin’s was 55.5% and so even though Guildhall got more starters, the bonuses won the game for them. As for Guildhall, well, I rather hope that they will make it to the repechage.

Amol Watch

Do you care that Amol was born in 1983? No, me neither. He does like his little autobiographical asides does our Amol.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of the Week

The Adelie penguin makes the longest migration of any flightless bird, at a staggering 8000 miles (and if I was walking 8 miles, let alone 8,000, let me tell you that I’d be staggering too.)

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

What biological concept whereby organisms appear to behave in a way that is harmful to themselves but beneficial to others, is rationalized by Hamilton’s rule? This formula takes into consideration the cost and the benefit of performing a certain action, as well as the genetic relatedness between the two individuals involved.

Altogether now – dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.