tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401280171563686515.post5924742468348773040..comments2024-03-12T12:54:32.926-07:00Comments on Life After Mastermind: James Gratrex - On that 2nd Round MatchLondiniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07871325359167581176noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401280171563686515.post-76838647745540196242012-12-12T02:43:15.189-08:002012-12-12T02:43:15.189-08:00Yes, watching past episodes gets you used to the f...Yes, watching past episodes gets you used to the format of questions as well. UC questions have a particular style - if you know the "kind" of answer you need that can let you know the answer a vital second or two before the other guy.<br /><br />Our match was one of the last matches (the last?) filmed in the second round.BoiCymraeghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11746800400667840738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401280171563686515.post-23865243085481687842012-12-10T04:03:10.017-08:002012-12-10T04:03:10.017-08:00Yes, by and large my practice was similar - drawin...Yes, by and large my practice was similar - drawing on what I already knew but also watching every single past UC episode I could get my hands on. Although it's unlikely that the same question comes up again, you can get a feel for the pace and it helps to practise your recall and buzzer speed. We did that as a team too when we could - even sitting in the right order and so on! <br /><br />I don't quite know when your second-round match is but (retrospective) good luck!jim360https://www.blogger.com/profile/11827592412424749053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401280171563686515.post-64552967730513021672012-12-10T03:54:28.753-08:002012-12-10T03:54:28.753-08:00I generally agree with you regards sitting down an...I generally agree with you regards sitting down and learning stuff, at least in preparation for UC - the odds against certain things happening to turn up are just so small that it hardly seems worth the effort. We did a certain amount of practice as a team before the filming, which I think was a good idea but only inasmuch as it helped us learn what each other knew (and thus when to keep quiet) and got us in the habit of drawing information at random. Most of the stuff I got, as I suggested elsewhere, wasn't even anything to do with my university course but rather stuff I just happened to know for whatever reason... even playing computer games helped in some cases! (Civilization / Total War type games are good for history and geography for example!)BoiCymraeghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11746800400667840738noreply@blogger.com