Mastermind 2018 - Round One - Heat Four

You know, I’m a simple soul at heart, dearly beloved, and it really doesn’t take that much to make me happy. One of the things which will do it every time is an edition of Mastermind in which every one of the contenders has clearly taken their preparation seriously, and given a good account of themselves. Such a one we were served up last night.

M*A*S*H* was something of a phenomenon in American TV shows of the 70s – American sitcoms of the 70s in particular. It ran for 9 years, 11 seasons and 251 episodes. All of which made Emma Busk’s specialist round task more difficult, I’d wager – there were an awful lot of them. Bearing in mind what we’ve been saying for several years now, that anything in the teens on specialist with the length of these questions is a very good score, then Emma’s 12 was a good return, and it was probably fair to say that barring something exceptional she would be in with a shout in the GK rounds. As for me, well I loved M*A*S*H*, and I managed 8 of these, which looked as if it might be the springboard to a new season highest aggregate.

David Sutherland looked rather familiar, and a quick check on my archive revealed that he had indeed been a contender before. Twice in fact, in Jesse’s 2010 series in which he reached the semi-finals, and in Clive’s 2014 series, when he lost by a point in his first round. Bearing in mind my theory that it becomes easier to handle the experience of being in the chair the more times that you do it, then this gave him every chance of doing well again this year. He did too, getting into the teens with his round on the First Earl of Durham. I didn’t know much about the Earl, but I did know enough about the history of the time around the first great Reform Bill to add another 3 to my aggregate, which now stood at 11.

Now, if you’ve been with me for any great length of time, you know me and you know how proud I am of being the last schoolteacher to win the series. I However, the fact is that I would actually like to see another schoolteacher win. I think that the longest gap between schoolteacher wins would be that between David Edwards in 1990, and Michael Penrice in Discovery Mastermind in 2001. Well, all of this is, I suppose, a longwinded way of saying that as much as I take a keen interest in the performances of all contenders, I am especially interested in schoolteachers, and so I was willing David Noble to do well. Answering on English League Football Stadiums I thought he did well to get 12, but ironically his two passes were ones I got. The Hawthorns being the highest ground in England is an old quiz chestnut. In fact I got the 9 I needed to set a new aggregate high score of 20 for this series. There was still a round to come as well. 

I’m not a huge fan of the band U2. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against them or their music, but they’re unlikely to make an appearance in the Clark CD player in the Clarkmobile any time soon, if you know what I mean. They were being offered by Michael Taylor. Now, I may well be wrong, but I have a feeling that this is none other than 2015 University Challenge winner Michael Taylor of Gonville and Caius. He certainly shaped up like a UC winner in this heat, taking 14 consecutive correct answers, and only missing out on a perfect round on the last question. Me? 4 more points to take the new aggregate target for the season to 24.

Based on what I knew about the contenders it looked to me like a straight shootout between the experienced recidivist, David S., and the proven champion, Michael. First back to the chair, though, was Emma. Now, when you start a GK round and you’re a couple of points adrift, it can look like a huge gap, whereas in reality it’s a gap which can be wiped out with just a couple of moments of hesitation by the opposition. So if Emma could manage a decent score there was always the chance of putting those yet to come within the corridor of doubt. Ideally, you want to set a target that is 10 or more points ahead of all of those yet to come. She didn’t quite manage that, and I dare say that her round of 10 points didn’t mark her out as a quizzer. It did mark her out, though, as someone who had a good enough GK to compete, and someone who had achieved a highly respectable score.

Much the same could be said for David Noble. His round was not exactly a carbon copy of Emma’s, but the end result was pretty much the same. Nice to see that. I take no pleasure in anybody only achieving a modest total on Mastermind, but I’m especially glad when a schoolteacher acquits him or herself well.

So to David Sutherland, who has had, if truth be told, mixed fortunes in the General Knowledge rounds in his previous appearances. He wasn’t the quickest to answer that we’ve seen, but on the other hand if it means that you’re making sure that you answer every question you possibly can, then it can be a successful tactic. For the first minute the score built rather slowly, with David only managing correct answers on just over half of the questions. In the last minute, though, he really clicked into overdrive, and took his score up to 26. That’s a score which would win a significant number of first round heats, and it meant that while Michael could still do it, it wasn’t necessarily going to be easy.

It never looked difficult, though. Michael didn’t miss any low hanging fruit, and took a lot of the high hanging stuff as well on his way to a score of 14, and a total of 28, which meant that he won with a little bit of daylight between himself and David S. It looked like a pretty nerveless performance too, and I dare say that he is a contender we need to keep an eye on this season. Recently we saw UC winner Adam Barr get as far as the semis, and just miss out on the final. Stephen, it looks like you have another serious challenger again. As for David, well on 26 you never know. As regards a highest scoring runner up slot, I’d say that the coin is in the air.

Well played all – good show.

The Details

Emma Busk	M*A*S*H*	12	3	10	2	22	5
David Sutherland	John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham	13	1	13	5	26	6
David Noble	English League Football Stadiums	12	2	10	3	22	5
Michael Taylor	U2	14	1	14	4	28	5

University Challenge 2015 - Grand Final

Gonville and Caius, Cambridge v. Magdalen, Oxford

One of the quirks of the current quarter final rounds is that it enables us to get a final where two teams that have already met in the quarters meet again in the final. In the quarter final match between these two teams, Gonville and Caius, in the shape of Ted Loveday, Michael Taylor, Anthony Martinelli, and Jeremy Warner, defeated Magdalen’s Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and skipper Hugh Binnie by 60 points. That margin was perhaps just a tiny bit flattering for that match – the outcome never looked certain until the last two minutes or so. Still, if we’re looking for a psychological edge, then it has to be said that it was advantage Gonville and Caius.

If we’re looking for psychological bonuses, then answering the first starter is always useful, and it was Ted Loveday who answered it, recognizing the words of John Maynard Keynes. Ted is from Hammersmith – so, being a West London boy myself I was hoping he’d have a good evening. This brought up bonuses on British monarchs since 1660, which gave them a full house. As a statement of intent this was pretty emphatic. Not that Magdalen were worrying at this stage. Hugh Binnie took an early buzz to identify the term colloid, and earned his own team a set on trite language. They too took a full house. These two teams put on a great show in their quarter final match, and early indications were that they were going to do the same here. Now, when I heard the words – Renaissance – London and Rotterdam for the next question I went for Erasmus and Thomas More, and Ted Loveday did exactly the same. 2^nd correct starter. Only one bonus was taken on astronomy, which is one more than I got. I liked the picture starter very much. We saw a table of flags, with numbers underneath. These represented nationalities, with the number of Nobel Prize winners of each – so the USA was top, then Uk , then Germany, then France. Asked which country would be next I guessed Russia, as did Michael Taylor, and we were both wrong. Hugh Binnie went for Sweden, and was right. Great shout. As a reward Magdalen received three more similar tables, representing the winners in a specific prize category, and they had to identify the category. Of these they managed two. Various definitions of the word Mensa came next, and Ted Loveday took his third starter in the first ten minutes. A full house on cubism followed. Anthony Martinelli knew the superior vena cava for the next starter. No bonuses were taken on internet pioneers, which meant that the lead at the 10 minute mark remained 75 – 45 to Gonville and Caius.

Cameron Quinn took a flyer on the next starter. Good tactic, but it didn’t come off this time. Asked which year Virginia Woolf was referring to, he buzzed before he was told it was the year in which Edward VII died. This let Jeremy Warriner in. 2 bonuses on literary quotations followed to take them to the brink of a three figure score. I didn’t understand the next question, but Hugh Binnie did, and supplied the correct answer of hypothesis. A couple of bonuses took their score to 65. For the music starter Harry Gillow was very quick to recognize an excerpt from Tristan and Isolde. Other works depicted by Marc Chagall in a fresco in the Palais Garnier provided no correct answers, but nevertheless the gap was down to less than one full house of start and bonuses. Cameron Quinn took the necessary starter, knowing about a painting of the Lady of Shallot. The first bonus on geometry was taken. Gap down to 5 points. Second bonus wasn’t taken, but the third was, and we had a tied game. There was a great buzzer race between Ted Loveday and Michael Taylor for the next starter. Ted Loveday won, and took his 4^th starter answering that Ted Heat’s Cabinet had the previous tory PM – Alec Douglas Home, and the next tory PM – Margrapet Thatcher – in it. Incidentally, Ted Heath is an anagram of Had Teeth. We had that asked in a quiz once. Bonuses on Kyrgyzstan ( incidentally, is there another country which has a name that would have a higher score in scrabble? Answers on a postcard please) brought a full house. Ted Loveday took his fifth starter, guessing that the language being referred to in the question was Sanskrit. Bonuses on some physicsy thing brought little – but I did actually know about the precession of the Heavens. After I’d completed my lap of honour around the living room Ted Loveday took his 6^th starter identifying Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter as the work of Simone de Beauvoir. Geology bonuses yielded a further 5 points. Now, shown a portrait of Ben Jonson, JP asked which famous poet this represented. I don’t know – he was certainly a great poet, but I would have said he was better known as a dramatist – or a 100m runner. I think this is the reason why neither team was able to answer. Anthony Martinelli recognized several items all linked by the word ghost. This earned the picture bonuses. More poets laureate were shown, and the team was asked for their names, and the monarchs who appointed them. A full set gave them a commanding lead of 170 to 95 at the 20 minute mark.

The game wasn’t over, but G and C, and in particular Ted Loveday were in commanding form at this stage of the match. It was Ted Loveday who recognized a description of the works which inspired Mussorgsky’s Pictures at An Exhibition for  his 7^th starter. A set of bonuses asking the team to identify the centuries BC in which certain events happened yielded another 15 points and a 100 point lead. Some physicsy thing about sound saw G&C lose 5 for an early buzz, but Magdalen couldn’t capitalize. Ted Loveday took his 8^th starter with the term Chiasmus. Bonuses on rococo libraries – don’tcha just love a good rococo library? – brought another 5 points. The irrepressible Ted Loveday took his third starter in a row, and his 9^th overall recognizing a definition of magma. Fluvial Geography didn’t add a great deal to their score, but it was all academic now anyway. Now, my favourite starter of the night came next. Meaning said only once – which two-word Greek term denotes  - and Ted Loveday took his 10^th starter with the correct answer Hapax Legomenon. That’s a particularly sonorous phrase which I encountered studying Old English and Old Norse at Uni. My best mate, KD Johnson, had also studied Old High German, and encountered the same term. I remember one summer evening, two wine boxes liberated from the English Society, and an increasingly bizarre series of toasts, one of which was a toast to the Hapax Legomenon. Not much else do I remember of the evening. Still, within a couple of hours of the final being broadcast KD tweeted me words to the effect of – 30 years I’ve been watching UC, waiting for that question to come up – and he beat me to it! –Ah yes, one of life’s bitter ironies that. The bonuses – a bit of an anticlimax, but then anything would be an anticlimax after the hapax legomenon – were on epithets applied to Greek heroes and deities. Hugh Binnie rightly took his team into triple figures by identifying Poland as the 6^th most populous EU state. Bonuses on Henry Kissinger (altogether now – Henry Kissinger – How we’re missin’ yer – and Wishin’ you were here. _ Monty Python’s Contractual Obligation Album, I think) yielded a further 10 points. Ted Loveday capped a remarkable performance with his 11^th starter, knowing that Tribunes could be Miliatry, or Of The People. There was just time for a couple of bonuses on geology, and this enabled G&C to take the score to 255 – 105 at the gong.

Hard lines to Magdalen. They have consistently been one of the very best teams in this whole series, and in the final, well, in the final they were up against a terrific team, one of whose members was absolutely on fire for this final, and that’s something you can’t legislate for. As for Gonville and Caius – many congratulations! Another great performance – worthy University Challenge 2015 champions.

Many thanks to the whole production team for yet another absolutely wonderful series – a pure pleasure from start to finish.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP has had a quiet series. He’s definitely mellowed since giving up Newsnight. Having said that, he is always on his best behaviour for the Grand Final. In fact, his words of consolation to Magdalen – you were unlucky with the way the questions fell, I think – were surprisingly well chosen. Having said that, though, the more you know the more likely it is that the questions will feel your way.

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

Cliché originally referred to a stereotype or stencil plate in printing.

University Challenge - Semi Final 1

St. Peter’s, Oxford v. Magdalen, Oxford

Yes, in this, the first of the semi finals, an all Oxford affair saw high flying St. Peter’s take on Magdalen. St. Peter’s, in the form of John Armitage, Ed Roberts, Spike Smith and their skipper, Gabriel Trueblood have thus far carried all before them, winning all of their matches. Their skipper, Gabriel Trueblood, has drawn many of the headlines this series, as much for his excellent buzzing as for his habit of twirling the toggles of his hoodie. Magdalen’s team of Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and skipper Hugh Binnie needed quarter final matches to get this far. As for their prospects in this semi final, well, I confess that I tipped St. Peter’s. However it is worth considering that Magdalen’s loss came to potential champions Gonville and Caius. St. Peter’s have beaten some good teams so far, but they had yet to face any team quite of that standard.

The psychologically important first question was won by a great early buzz from Hugh Binnie, who recognized a list of people who were booked on the Titanic’s maiden voyage, but didn’t sail on it. Good shout that. They were given a set of bonuses on Charles Darwin’s voyage on HMS Beagle, and had the same two correct answers as I had. Spike Smith opened St. Peter’s account with the next starter, on the mathematical term closed. The set of bonuses on fluid mechanics wasn’t kind, but they managed one of them. I was a little surprised that nobody knew that the son of George II, who earned the soubriquet of The Butcher for his brutal suppression of the Jacobite uprising was the Duke of Cumberland. A long question on a piece of classical music followed, but the last words – by Stravinsky – made it clear we were looking for ‘The Rite of Spring’ and this particular buzzer race was won by Hugh Binnie. A UC special set of bonuses, combining the answers to two clues to find the names of comfort foods – eg – Edgar RICE Burroughs and PUDDING Head Wilson = Rice pudding. A full set of these led to the pictures. We saw the periodic table with some of the elements – Nitrogen – Oxygen – Chlorine and Manganese – and were asked in which decade they were discovered. Well, knowing that Priestley discovered Oxygen (before writing An Inspector Calls) I went for the 1770s. The teams went either side of this decade, and so the pictures rolled over. The next starter asked for the author of a quotation. I had it from the words ‘hideous progeny’ I have taught Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” on occasion. Cameron Quinn opened his account with this starter. This opened up the picture bonuses, more elements and decades of their discoveries. Magdalen managed just the one of these, which was just the one more than I did. Cameron Quinn took a great early buzz to ascribe the word Anarchist to the writer Proudhon. Two bonuses on Europeans in Asia took the score to 80 – 15 at the ten minute mark. Early days yet, but Magdalen were looking ominously fast on the buzzer.

Gabriel Trueblood took an early buzz to identify hares as members of the order leporidae. They couldn’t convert any of the bonuses. Nobody knew that Chadwick discovered the electron by bombarding beryllium with alpha particles. Well, quite. Chris Savory lost five for an early buzz on that one. Gabriel Trueblood knew that Schumann was responsible for the Spring and Rhenish symphonies. A full set of bonuses on quotations about the constellation of Orion was a timely addition to his team’s score. Neither team could quite manage to ascribe a set of locations to Henry IV part 1. Spike Smith had a maths starter I didn’t understand to which the answer was 0110. That was three unanswered starters to St. Peter’s. Two bonuses on latin terms for logical fallacies pushed them to within ten points of Magdalen. A very fast buzz saw Cameron Quinn identify Gounod’s Soldier’s Chorus for the music starter. They were asked to identify three pieces with military connections, and only missed out on the first, Men of Harlech. Cameron Quinn took a second successive starter, buzzing early for a starter on an alternative pathway to photosynthesis. Fair enough. Bonuses on whales sounded gettable, and indeed they were with Magdalen taking a full set. Poor Gabriel Trueblood was unlucky with the next starter. Asked who, in Greek Mythology, was the father of a number of figures, he answered Neptune. Arrghh! The correct answer, sort of, but he was the Roman God, while the answer was the Greek equivalent, Poseidon. Not only did he lose 5, but it allowed Harry Gillow in with the correct answer. Complexity Theory in computer science promised me nothing, but Magdalen took a full set, and at this particular point their lead was starting to look ominous for St. Peter’s. Gabriel Trueblood wasn’t conceding defeat yet, though. He knew that Seqoyeh compiled a syllabary of Cherokee. This provided them with 10 points on bonuses on servants in opera. Now, when asked for part of the former Gilbert and Ellice Islands it’s a 50/50. Sometimes it will be Kiribati, and sometimes Tuvalu. Hugh Binnie zigged with Kiribati, and he was right. A UC Special set followed on prime numbers – eg – what prime number is the result when you subtract the year of the Great Fire of London from the year of The Boston Tea Party? A couple of answers meant that at the 20 minute mark they led by 165 to 85. Game Over? Maybe not, but it was a hell of an ask for St. Peter’s to come back now.

Cameron Quinn, who was having another great game, recognized a piece of sculpture as St. George by Donatello. Blimey, that turtle couldn’t half sculpt. The bonuses showed three paintings of saints, and asked for the name of the saint and the artist who painted each. Now, coming back to my turtle comment, I said as much before noticing that the paintings were by Raphael, then Leonardo, so it was obvious that the last was going to be by Michelangelo. Spike Smith sadly went a decade too early for the Treaty of Nanking and the publication of the Communist Manifesto which should have let Cameron Quinn in. He actually gave the year of the publication of the Communist Manifesto, 1848, and since he had been asked for the decade he was refused the point. I’ve seen those sort of answers given in the past, but have no problem with a letter of the answer adjudication as long as it’s applied across the board. Chris Savory buzzed in too early on a question on Voyager 2. He thought it was about the point at which it became the first man made object to leave the solar system, but it was somewhat earlier in its career than that when it passed Neptune. Ironically, bearing in mind his Greek mythology misfire, Gabriel Trueblood supplied the correct answer of Neptune as the planet it was the first to pass. Bonuses on languages of South Africa weren’t easy, but the two they answered took them into triple figures at least. The apterygota are so named for their wings – which Gabriel Trueblood knew to earn the next starter. Two bonuses on Physics – the last of which I had myself (the traditional lap of honour round the living room followed) reduced the gap further, but there just wasn’t enough time left in the match. Be honest, how many of you also shouted ‘Oak’ when you heard the word ‘sessile’. A couple of years ago that was one of those recurring chestnuts. Given a little more of the question, Cameron Quinn buzzed in correctly. Bonuses on histology brought nowt, which really didn’t matter, since the highly impressive Cameron Quinn took another fine starter, buzzing early to identify the words of Francis Bacon. Bonuses on presidents of Pakistan took Magdalen through the 200 point barrier. Hugh Binnie was in early for the next starter, on the term dipole. Bonuses on dem bones dem bones dat help you walk around only brought another 5 points, but it was all academic by this point. My favourite question of the evening asked which country’s capital city can be made if you rearrange the roman numerals for 552? The Answer is east Timor – from DLII – making Dili. Great shout from Hugh Binnie for that one. Poor old St. Peter’s seemed shell shocked by the fact that their participation in the contest was now over. That was that. Magdalen won convincingly by 235 – 120. In the battle of the superfast buzzers, Cameron Quinn won convincingly for Magdalen, although Gabriel Trueblood at least fought a valiant rearguard action for st. Peter’s. Very well done Magdalen – what price the final being a repeat of their excellent quarter final against Gonville and Caius, I wonder?

Jeremy Paxman Watch

On the Structural Anthropology bonus JP seemed amazed, asking “You’ve never heard of Claude Levi Strauss? Amazing – sic transit Gloria ey?” I wish he wouldn’t do that. Until you’ve had a go on a sleb quiz show yourself, Jez, leave it out. He seemed to have it in for St. Peter’s a bit with this set, since he made comments about both of their other answers, which were also wrong.

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

Perthes Disease affects the head of the femur

University Challenge: Quarter Final Sudden Death Match

Liverpool v. Durham

Ben Mawdsley, Jim Davis,  Hugh Hiscock,and their captain, Declan Crew saw off the challenge of Bristol min their first quarter final match before falling to the collective might of St. Peter’s Oxford in their second. Durham, in the shape of Daniel Morgan – Thomas, Freddie Lloyd, Nikul Boyd-Shah and their captain Fred Harvey lost to the impressive Gonville and Caius team in their own first quarter final, but beat Trinity, Cambridge in their second. From here on in it’s lose and go home, so without further ado, let’s get on with the game.

Fred Harvey had an impressive early buzz to take the first starter with various definitions of the word action. A full house of bonuses on London squares put them well on their way. I give full credit to both teams for waiting for the next very long winded starter to wind through Italian composer .  . . opera. . . until the words William Tell were uttered. Then Daniel Morgan-Thomas won the buzzer race. It would have been easy to buzz too early and gone for Verdi, let’s say. US presidents as a category of bonus looked full of eastern promise, and indeed yielded another full set. Two sets of questions, and Durham were already at the half century mark. Freddie Lloyd took Durham’s third consecutive starter, knowing that the TV series Breaking Bad is sometimes referred to by chemical symbols. Chess openings finally proved their Achilles heel. They took the first, but didn’t know Ruy Lopez (my favourite opening, but then I’m a terrible player) and the term gambit. When asked for the title character of a Shakespeare play who was a Phoenician Prince one might have expected one of the players to go for Pericles, Prince of Tyre, but they didn’t. I felt for Declan Crew who buzzed in early and lost 5 for Deep Grammar rather than Universal Grammar, which was then supplied by Freddie Lloyd. Bad luck on that shout, but the right tactic from the Liverpool skipper. One bonus of a difficult astronomy set was taken. The famous gerrymander cartoon was shown for the picture starter, and neither team recognized it. Neither team knew the origin of the term explicit, and sadly Jim Davis buzzed too early with a wrong answer. Declan Crew squared the books for Liverpool by buzzing early for the next starter, having recognized the description of a lava lamp. Three bonus sets of maps of US congressional boundaries were duly taken to put them 15 points in the black. However Durham led with 75.

Asked for the Archbishop of Henry VII whose ‘fork’ was infamous, Daniel Morgan-Thomas went for Henry VIII’s Archbishop Warham, the man who actually kept Wolsey out of Canterbury, losing 5 points in the process. Nobody in Liverpool’s team knew it was John Morton. Daniel Morgan-Thomas made immediate amends by knowing that the architectural term frieze is derived from Phrygia. Words beginning with the letters lex yielded a further ten points for them. High Hiscock took a flier on the music starter. Asked for the name of the leader of the jazz orchestra we were listening to, he offered Glenn Miller. I thought it was probably Duke Ellington, which was a good guess as it turned out. Durham went for Louis Armstrong. So the bonuses rolled over. Declan Crew earned them, recognizing very quickly two definitions pointing towards the Game of Life. The music bonuses were all to do with choices made by presenters of Desert Island discs when they themselves were castaways. I had a rare full house in music, and Liverpool took ten points. Nobody knew that Henry III died in the 1270s. A superb early buzz from Hugh Hiscock saw him identify the term katybasis as the word coming from the Greek for going downhill. 1 bonus on Chinese provinces took them to 50, and 40 points behind. For the next starter Ben Mawdsley opened his starter account, correctly guessing that JM Barrie said some plays peter out, and some pan out. Great quote. One bonus on resonance was taken, but the gap was now down to 20 points. Nikul Boyd-Shah won the buzzer race when asked for an Irish politician ruined when named in a divorce case, knowing that our old friend Charles Stuart Parnell was being asked for. Two of a set of rather easy bonuses on cricket reestablished a lead of 40. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark the score was 100 to 70.

Asked for the English name of a constrictor Eunectes Murinus, Jim Davis offered boa constrictor. Now, here’s a curious fact. The boa constrictor is the only creature whose full English name is exactly the same as its full latin name! It was an anaconda, while Durham incorrectly offered python. Daniel Morgan-Thomas recognized the full name of English Heritage. Here’s a question for you. What’s the name of the Welsh equivalent body to English Heritage? Answer at the bottom. British mammals as a set focused exclusively on deer. Missing out on red deer and roe deer for the first two bonuses, it would have been funny if cruel if the last answer hadn’t been fallow deer, but it was. The impressive Daniel Morgan-Thomas won the buzzer race to identify an illustration from Alice in Wonderland as the work of John Tenniel (the Captain’s drawings were crap. Younger readers might like to ask their parents to explain that reference.) Works by other British illustrators from the ‘golden age of illustration’ provided a further ten points, and with a lead of 80 Durham were looking pretty fair set for the semis. Especially when Nikul Boyd Shah knew about Ensor’s painting of Christ’s entry into Brussels for the next starter. A UC special set on pairs of people followed in which the surname of one of which appears at the end of the surname of the other. Bonuses took the lead to 100 points, and that was game over, even though a few minutes remained. Ben Mawdsley recognized a list of different types of galaxies. Bonuses on Alex Gibney, better known as Alex Who? In LAM Towers, took Liverpool to 85. Surely they could get triple figures. If you’re asked for a 19^th century Nordic composer if it’s not Grieg it’s Sibelius, and if it’s not Sibelius it’s Grieg. Hugh Hiscock zigged correctly with Sibelius for the next starter, which took them to 95, and earned them a UC special set of bonuses on biological terms which can be made up from the letters of the word challenge. One bonus took them into three figures. Nikul Boyd-Shah won the buzzer race to identify the Aleutian Islands as being part of Alaska. They didn’t manage any of a set of bonuses on populations. That was it. In the end Durham won comfortably by 175 to 100, and progress to the semis, where they will probably be looked on as underdogs, but hey, every underdog has its day. Well played, and bad luck Liverpool.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

On the JM Barrie starter, asked for the two words completing the JM Barrie quote about plays, “Some peter out and some – “ Daniel Morgan-Thomas offered Peter Pan. Well, that made perfect sense to me, but JP wrinkled his nose as if he’d just caught a whiff of a rotten egg and intoned, “Good lord no!”

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

I recognized the definition of the term frieze, but I had no idea that the word derived from Phrygia.

·      *   The Welsh body equivalent to English Heritage is Cadw

University Challenge - Quarter Final Sudden Death Match

Bristol v. Magdalen, Oxford

Maybe I am doing the Bristol team of Lewis Rendell, Benjamin Moon, Miles Coleman and their captain, Anastasia Reynolds a disservice when I say that I was a wee bit surprised to see them put away Oxford Brookes in their last match. It didn’t exactly get them out of the last chance saloon, but at least it gave them a shot at the semis. Standing in their way, though, were the impressive Magdalen, Oxford team. Tipped as semi finalists themselves, their only stumble ame against the fine Gonville and Caius team. The smart money said that Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and their captain Hugh Binnie should prove too good for their opponents, but Bristol had already been written of once and confounded the doubters.

Chris Savory took the first starter, knowing that the Three Gorges Dam is now the world’s largest hydroelectric power station. Three bonuses on border cities provided a full house to open Magdalen’s account, and it was tempting to fear the worst for Bristol even at this stage. Chris Savory took the next starter as well – it was about DNA Ligase apparently. Didn’t they have a minor hit in 1985 with Baby, I want your love thing? Three bonuses on fauna of the British Isles meant they had taken a perfect 50 points from 50. Cameron Quinn made it 60 from 60, knowing that as well as sunflowers, Van Gogh had quite a penchant for painting irises. Guess what – three bonuses asked on Kings of England, and three correct answers given. 75 from 75. I’ll be honest, I don’t know about George Monbiot, but Miles Coleman did to stop the rot and get Bristol off the runway. One bonus on quotations about hope took them to 15. For the picture starter we were shown a map of the UK with several locations all linked by the same word. Nobody knew it was Castle. So the next starter asked about Mozart’s divertimenti, and Hugh Binnie took it. This brought the dubious benefit of the picture bonuses, in this case more places linked by names which began with the same first three letters. One bonus was taken. All of which meant that Magdalen led by 90 – 15 at the ten minute mark, and were looking well in control in this early stage of the game.

Chris Savory answered some mathsy-sciencey thing. This earned bonuses on number theory, and with two bonuses the gap between the teams was up to 95. For the next starter Cameron J. Quinn extended the lead to three figures, knowing the difference between egoism and egotism. The names Harry, Ron and Hermione as used in Shakespeare (sort of) provided another Magdalen full set, as they set sail towards a second century of points. The next question required the teams to spell the answer, which was nitrite. Neither knew it. I lived right on the edge of Blackheath for three years at Uni, so I was pleased to know that Blackheath was the football club which split with the FA and played a leading role in the development of the oval ball game. Nobody had it. Nobody had the Cleopatra’s Nose approach to History either, for that matter. A UC special starter gave a set of definitions, and it was down to the teams to work out that the answers are also name for card games. Hugh Binnie arrived there first, earning bonuses on languages of Russia. Only one bonus was taken, which led us into the music starter. It was Benjamin Moon who was the first to recognize a little bit of Chopin. Of the three more etudes or studies played they took a good full set to take their score to 40. Thus encouraged, Miles Coleman took the next starter for Bristol as well, knowing a set of characters created by Ben Jonson – this was before he became disqualified for using drugs in the 1988 Men’s 100m final. Another full set, this time on alkanes put them up to 65. Benjamin Moon was the first to recognize a description of the term savanna. This brought up a couple of bonuses on Portuguese writers, and now they were up to 85. It was a good fightback, and happening at exactly the right point of the game too. A UC special set on multiplying a number of prime ministers by another number of prime ministers fell to neither team. The next starter was funny. Asked about US servicemen in a famous photo, raising the flag on a pacific island, Cameron Quinn was first in and offered Okinawa, much to the consternation of this team mates who seemed to all know it was in fact Iwo Jima. I bet he knew too, and it was just one of those times. So Miles Coleman accepted that windfall. A UC special set on words which can be made from the letters of the word curvaceous meant that in the space of the last few minutes plucky Bristol had lowered the gap from over 100 points to 35, as Magdalen led by 140 – 105.

Harry Gillow knew that Virgil wrote his Eclogues. Historical questions linked with the word Iron provided two bonuses. Now, you see a photo of a white haired old gent, and you’re told it’s a 20^th century US poet, you slap your buzzer and answer Robert Frost. Very occasionally it might be Carl Sandberg, but you’ll rarely go wrong with Frost. Cameron Quinn had that one. More 20^th century US writers followed, but they only took the one. The formula for calculating the volume of a cone - 1/3 H piR squared – was supplied by Hugh Binnie. A full set would take them to 200, and they achieved just that. That looked to be a winning lead now, but Bristol weren’t finished yet. Anastasia Reynolds knew that the London street with 6 consecutive consonants was Knightsbridge. Cells in the immune system took them to 120 points. LX multiplied by IX is DCLX as Hugh Binnie was the first to answer for the next starter. Waterfalls took them to 240, and with virtually no time left Miles Coleman took a flyer on barotitis affecting the veins, and lost 5. Nobody knew it was the ear. Cameron Quinn recognized the names of several Ottoman Sultans. There was no time left for the bonuses on airports. The final score was 250 – 115. Magdalen were very comfortable winners in the end, but well played Bristol as well for coming back after the Magdalen blitz start.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Our hero was relatively well behaved until the Harry, Hermione and Ron bonus set. The first two were about Harrys and Hermiones in Shakespeare. The second began “Although Shakespeare never had a character called Ronald – God, this is laboured !” He moaned. Well said , Jez! – although don’t remember, this is all part of the charm of it too.

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

Blaise Pascal popularized the Cleopatra’s Nose approach to History, which concentrates on the effects of chance events 

University Challenge - Quarter Final Qualification Match

Gonville and Caius v. Magdalen, Oxford

Gonville and Caius’ team of Ted Loveday, Michael Taylor, Anthony Martinelli, and Jeremy Warner, have looked pretty good value for their wins in the competition so far, and in round two saw off Manchester. Last time out they beat Durham. Their opposition, the Magdalen team of Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and their captain Hugh Binnie are another of the highly fancied teams in this year’s tourney. They defeated Trinity in their own first quarter final match. At stake in this match was an automatic place in the semis for the winners. So let’s see who won.

Hugh Binnie was in exceptionally quickly for the first starter. He didn’t need a lot more than Benedict Cumberbatch on U2 to get that the answer required was photo bomb. The first set of bonuses on the City of London surprised me when nobody on the team recognised the latin version of – If you seek his monument – look around you. Still, they took the other two. For the next starter Harry Gillow won the buzzer race to identify the Ruhr. French overseas departments gave Magdalen their first full house. Next starter it was Cameron Quinn who interrupted early, providing the correct answer that what we were listening to was a description of a fungus. Some Sciency thing followed about metals and rocks and stuff. They took 2. Cameron Quinn, obviously energised by Magdalen’s blitz start, had a rush of blood to the head and buzzed in too early for the next starter. Given a free run at the question, Caius were given details about three countries, which were the only ones to begin with a specific letter of the alphabet. Unsettled, perhaps by Magdalen’s onslaught, they opted for B rather than the correct answer – H. Straightaway Anthony Martinelli made amends, though, but recognising several of the components of the International Space Station. World champions in chess brought just the one bonus – but at least they were up and running, and weren’t now in danger of being told by JP there was plenty of time to come back – a kiss of death from which there is no chance of recovery. Cameron Quinn recognised the logo of La Francophonie for the picture starter. Three more logos of International Organisations that use French as an official working language. They took the last. Nobody knew that Rolf Dobelli wrote The Art of Critical Thinking for the next starter. Thus, just before the 10 minute mark, Magdalen led with a convincing 75 – 15, and were winning the buzzer race emphatically.

Anthony Martinelli looked despairing and shook his head as he offered the answer John of Gaunt to a question requiring the father of Henry IV. Which was of course the correct answer. Names or terms beginning with three consecutive letters of the alphabet promised much for the bonus set, and the two they managed took their score to 35. Cameron Quinn buzzed too early again, and then hesitated when asked in which Italian province Bari and Brindisi can be found. Anthony Martinelli correctly answered Puglia. Linear algebra offered me little, but hey, on this sort of question if you just keep answering 0 you’ll often get a point. So I got one, while Caius took a full set. The gap was down to 10 points, and it was starting to look as if Caius had weathered the opening storm from Magdalen. Neither team knew the term super plasticity, so we moved on. Tannenberg – two battles – escaped both teams as well. Cameron Quinn, so impressive in previous matches, had been a little off his game in this show up to this point. However he took a brilliantly quick buzz on a William Morris pattern to supply the correct answer of strawberry. Endangered species brought two bonuses, and led us onto an unmistakeable wee snatch of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. Ted Loveday took his first starter of the night on that one. More classical pieces followed, and they identified 2 of them. Now, I don’t know how I knew that the thinnest material is graphene, but I did. That didn’t matter – but it mattered that High Binnie knew it, and was in for it very quickly too. Travel writing in the 18^th century provided a gettable set, and Magdalen managed 1 – confusing their Jonsons with their Boswells. Michael Taylor took a good UC starter for the next, working out that if you add the 2^nd Empire to the 5^th Republic you get 7. Abolished cabinet posts brought a full house, and the gap was now down to a mere 5 points. Nobody recognised a quote from John Steinbeck, and so we moved on to the next starter. Now, the phrase uncanny valley means nowt to me, and Cameron Quinn supplied it so quickly to the next starter that I can offer you little else but the amplification from JP – It’s when a robot becomes so humanlike that it bothers you. Very good buzz. Computer technology, and acronyms didn’t do much for Magdalen. The only one I knew was BASIC. Hugh Binnie knew that if you roll two fair six sided dice the probability that the combined score will be 10 or higher is one in six. Well, that’s good to know. Kings of France was the subject of the bonuses, and Magdalen took just the one. Which meant that just after the 20 minute mark they led by 130 – 100. You still sensed that the force was with Magdalen, but Caius had staged a splendid fightback, and it was still anybody’s game.

Michael Taylor wiped out 10 points of the lead, knowing that the Duke of Windsor had been the Governor of the Bahamas. 11ths in a list provided a full set, which wiped out another 15. The lead was again down to 5 points. Now, for the second picture starter I knew that the major religious reformer of the 17^th century we could see absolutely wasn’t Martin Luther, so guessed Jean Calvin. Ted Loveday didn’t know it wasn’t Martin Luther, so he gave that a lash, and I can’t blame him for that. This let Cameron Quinn in. More of the same followed of which Magdalen managed one. For the next starter we were all asked for the surname of a group of writers including the author of The Heart of Midlothian. Ted Loveday won the buzzer race to answer – Scott. Nuclear power generation offered three questions that were all gettable, but, with the chance to take the lead they could only manage one. Ted Loveday took a good buzz for the next starter, though, with the word paraclete, and they were now in the lead for the first time. People born in Barcelona brought a further 10 points. Anthony Martinelli also knew spiracles on arthropods for the next starter. Cities in the Bible brought two more correct answers, and remarkably, Caius now had a 35 point lead with about two and a half minutes to go. What a good match. Michael Taylor knew that corgi is a Welsh word. Da iawn! Ardderchog! Sometime homophones brought a timely full house. Hugh Binnie played a captain’s innings for Magdalen, buzzing in to identify Dorset Blue Vinney as cheese. Currencies they needed a full house on but only took one. Cameron Quinn was in too quickly for the author of the 1689 work Two Treatises of Government, and you wondered whether that was just about it for Magdalen. Ted Loveday gave the correct answer of John Locke. That was all we had time for. A terrific fightback by a team inspired by the never say die attitude of their captain saw Gonville and Caius winners by 215 to 155. That gap of 60 points is a little flattering, but what a competition. Very well played Gonville and Caius – bad luck Magdalen, but you can still make the semis.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

When Jeremy Warner offered B rather than H for the countries, he just sat there for a moment or two with a look, almost of disgust, upon his face. Look, Jez, it’s called pressure, ok?

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

Uncanny Valley is a phrase used for when a robot becomes so humanlike that it bothers you. 

University Challenge - Elimination Match

Oxford Brookes v. Bristol

The Oxford Brookes team of Simon Joyce, Paula Ayres, Stephen Mayes, and skipper David Ballard were unfortunate to meet Gabriel Trueblood and the St. Peter’s team at the top of their form last time out, and so they found themselves on Monday night drinking in the last chance saloon with the Bristol team of Lewis Rendell, Benjamin Moon, Miles Coleman and their captain, Anastasia Reynolds, who lost to Liverpool last time out. The Maths this time was pretty simple – win and you live to fight another day, lose and you’re out.

As often happens with the first starter, it was quite long and involved, then suddenly became obvious. Lewis Rendell buzzed in as soon as he was given the words – Fifth Republic – and gave the answer of Charles de Gaulle. 1 bonus on Chancellors of the Exchequer followed. David Ballard knew Twitter’s Vine service for the next starter. Now, as soon as JP announced that the bonuses were on constructed languages I said  - if you don’t know, choose Klingon, coz that will be one of them! – As it happened it was the last one. I can heartily recommend Bill Bryson’s book ‘One Summer’ – or for that matter anything written by him – but neither of the teams knew it was about the year 1927. A lovely UC special starter followed, asking which TV drama’s title can be expressed using the symbol for the 6^th element, and the standard of measures adopted by etc etc. CSI – said Lewis Rendell, and he was right to do so. A rather long and involved set of bonuses on organic chemistry followed. When my mind came back in the room Bristol had managed one of the bonuses. The picture starter showed us a bit of a family tree and invited us to say who was missing. It looked pretty clear that it was John Fitzgerald Kennedy missing, and Paula Ayres was the one who won the buzzer race to say so. Three more family trees of US political figures followed, and OB managed 2 of them, missing out on the Harrisons – including presidents William Henry and Benjamin. Oblique equilateral quadrilateral  - began JP. It’s our old friend the rhombus – I exclaimed to no one in particular. Lewis Rendell gave the same answer at practically the same time. He was having a very good start to the match. A set of musical disaster bonuses weren’t exactly a disaster for Bristol and they added a further five points to their score. Thus, a little after the ten minute mark we had a good match, with Bristol ahead by 45 to 40.

Now, Stephen Mayes was guilty of a slip of the tongue trying to say the daughter of Germanicus who married her uncle Claudius. He actually said her grandpa, Agrippa, before adding – Agrippina. It was very bad luck, but – and this is just my opinion and feel free to disagree – a correct application of the first answer rule. It couldn’t go across as a bonus, so we went on to the novelist who wrote 9 novels in Russian before starting to write in English. A good shout from Anastasia Reynolds saw her answer Nabokov. Now, I know little or nothing about Romanesque sculpture, and so none of us had any of the bonuses thereon. Neither did any of us know the Palae-Arctic for the next starter on eco zones. Kenneth Arrow didn’t mean a great deal to any of us either. Thus seemingly becalmed, thankfully Oliver Sacks ‘The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’ gave Paula Ayres a chance to stop the rot. A UC special set of bonuses on words either beginning or ending with three consecutive letters of the alphabet offered much, but in the end they only managed just the first. In a close game you’ve got to fill your boots on a set like that. When you’re asked for the name of an American composer, and it’s a classical piece, unless you know differently you go for your buzzer and say Aaron Copland. That’s what Benjamin Moon did, and it worked. Three more pieces with mountains as their themes saw Bristol add ten more points to their score. Lewis Rendell knew that most questions that contains the words ‘American State’ and ‘Book of Mormon’ are going to want Utah as the answer, and duly won that buzzer race. Maths bonuses did nowt for me, but at least brought another 5 points to Bristol. David Ballard had a very good early buzz to identify screenwriter Nora Ephron for the next starter. Now, a full house on revolutions saw them reduce the deficit to 15. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark Bristol led 90 – 75.

As they say in tight sporting contests, this was maybe going to come down to who wanted it more. The second picture starter allowed Anastasia Reynolds to identify Nicholas Hytner of the NT. They couldn’t manage any more of the same for the bonuses. None of us had drag or frictional force for the next starter, and so we moved on to allow Lewis Rendell to identify Swedish as the last of the 24 languages of the EU when listed alphabetically. None of us had a clue about the bonuses on lipids and stuff like that. Nor did anyone know about KOH. A hard quote from Henry VI was not taken by either team. Lewis Rendell knew that the term manqué is from the French verb meaning to lack. Just out of interest, the first time I ever watched Home Alone it was in St. Malo, and its French title is Maman, J’ai Manqué L’Avion! – or – Mum, I Missed the Plane. This brought up bonuses on the World Cup – Phew. Something I could answer. We were given cities, and had to name the tournament and year. They took one bonus, but were unlucky with Mexico 1970 for the last. Those cities were Mexuco, but from the second time they hosted the tournament in 1986. Well, it’s not meant to be easy – this is University Challenge after all, not Pets Win Prizes. Nobody knew Soave, so we moved to another starter, and Stephen Mayes buzzed in early to identify various US Secretaries of State. Biographical novels gave nothing away as bonuses, but the gap remained at a bridgeable 40 points. Tow full houses would do it, but time was starting to run out. Nobody knew that 10 to the power of 24 is denoted by the prefix yotta. Miles Coleman knew that the short stories “My Life” and “A Visit to Friends” were written by Chekhov, and it was Bristol who managed the full house, on Jamaica. Maybe someone among the teams knew that it was Henry II married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, but neither team had it. That was that. At the gong, OB had 85, and Bristol 150. Bad luck to OB – Bristol get another chance at the semis. Well played.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

It was a long suffering JP who listened to OB’s answer on the composer of ‘Pines of Rome’ and said ‘Who did you say!’ – then rather helpfully added that the three consecutive letters they were looking for could be any three consecutive letters.

When he asked which wine takes its name from the Italian for sweet, and David Ballard offered ‘Prosecco’ – JP replied “Good lord no!”

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

SQuja is Scrooge in the Klingon translation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

University Challenge - Quarter Final Qualification Match 1

Liverpool v. St. Peter’s, Oxford

The Liverpool team of Ben Mawdsley, Jim Davis,  Hugh Hiscock,and their captain, Declan Crew defeated Bristol in their first quarter final match to place one collective foot in the semi-finals. Standing in their way though was the seemingly irresistible force of St. Peter’s Oxford. The team of John Armitage, Ed Roberts, Spike Smith and their skipper, Gabriel Trueblood defeated Oxford, Brookes in their own first quarter final, and many people are already tipping them as potential finalists.

Jim Davis was, in my opinion, very unlucky to have his answer of The Watergate Hotel ruled wrong for the answer to the first question. This left St. Peter’s, who themselves were sure that it was Watergate, a little nonplussed for a moment, until their skipper Gabriel Trueblood buzzed in with a speculative – Watergate . . . building? Now, I don’t so much have a problem with the adjudication that Hotel specifically was wrong. But this is a consistency point. Because we’ve all seen times when JP has been allowed to say words to the effect of – well, specifically it was the . . . but you’re close enough etc. etc. – Which meant that either every answer in this show would need to be spot on if we were going to be consistent.  Well, I’ve no doubt that everyone will have their own opinion on that one. St. Peter’s answered two out of three bonuses on Greek Islands. A group of clues to the word fifth allowed Liverpool’s own top buzzer, Hugh Hiscock, into the show. A full house on chemical elements put them level with their opponents. I took a flyer on Sydenham’s chorea with St. Vitus Dance, and as soon as the question mentioned that it takes its name from an early Christian martyr Hugh Hiscock supplied the same answer. They took two correct answers. Declan Crew buzzed in just a little too early on a question leading to Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, allowing Gabriel Trueblood to take his second starter. This brought up bonuses on words containing the letter combination a – e – a . A full house put them ten points ahead. Now, the first picture starter showed an irrational number thingy. Whatever it all meant it was Spike Smith who provided the correct answer of the square root of two. More of the same brought a full house, and since I answered Pi to each one, I ended up with a Maths bonus as well, since it actually was the answer to the last. Right, in the next starter Ed Roberts gave the answer ‘Head of the Civil Service’ to a question which really wanted the answer ‘Cabinet Secretary’ which is the name of the post. Now, yes, the Cabinet Secretary is the head of the Civil Service, but if JP was applying the letter of the question, it might not have been allowed. One bonus was taken on heroes, and this meant that at the 10 minute mark St. Peter’s had a useful lead of 85 to 35.

A mathsy/physicsy thing about Newton seconds and tennis balls was correctly answered by Declan Crew. Bonuses on palaeontology brought nothing – they weren’t easy by any means. I knew Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur. but that was it. Hugh Hiscock won the buzzer race to identify Alfred Dreyfus as the French officer imprisoned in the 1890s, thus earning a bonus on time and calendars. John Armitage answered what I believe was his first starter of this year’s series, knowing that Finland is the most densely forested country in Europe. Here’s a funny coincidence. We had that exact same question in the league, on exactly the same night. This earned St. Peter’s a set of bonuses on the Nobel Peace Prize and Latin America. These were too hard, and none of us got any bonuses. Now, I recognised the voice of Elton John pretty quickly, if not the song, for the music bonus, but it seemed like ages before Ben Mawdsley buzzed in to say the same. This earned the music bonuses all of which took their inspiration form the works of Shakespeare. One correct answer took them to within 15 points of St. Peter’s. Gabriel Trueblood took the next starter, knowing that the term guerrilla came into parlance during the Peninsular War. He’s a medical student, and he doesn’t make mistakes on his own subject, so took three correct answers on cranial nerves. Now, funnily enough I also had the chemistry starter which provided Gabriel Trueblood’s next starter. For some reason I took a punt with benzene, which proved correct for both of us. One History bonus was all that this yielded. I was a little surprised that nobody knew Bach’s Coffee Cantata, but there you go. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark St. Peter’s had pulled out the lead again, and the score was now 135 to 80.

There really isn’t much excuse for not knowing that George Washington’s portrait is on the one dollar bill, and it fell to Spike Smith to supply the correct answer. A UC special set on words followed, asking for a set fo words which can be made using any of the letters in the word – challenge. These are often sets that promise a full house, and St. Peter’s didn’t make any mistake with them. The second picture starter showed the Duke of Wellington, and Spike Smith took his second consecutive starter. Two bonuses on other Prime Ministers stretched the lead to 100 points now. Declan Crew was a little unfortunate to offer a hyperbola for the geometrical figure defined in the next starter, but it fell to John Armitage to take his second starter of the evening with an ellipse. A full house of bonuses on Haralds was duly taken. At this stage of the game the collective foot of St. Peter’s was pressing the pedal to the metal, and Liverpool just couldn’t find a second gear. Hugh Hiscock knew Louis Althusser for the next starter – good shout, that. German social philosophers offered but little, but two good answers took Liverpool into triple figures, and that was no less than they deserved. Now, if you hear the word Hesperus, you have to go for your buzzer and answer Venus. That’s what Gabriel Trueblood did. Biology bonuses provided none of us with anything, but it really didn’t matter, since St. Peter’s were by now comfortably into the semis. A little surprisingly neither of the teams knew the Pretender Perkin Warbeck for the next starter. Gabriel Trueblood knew that the Benguela current takes its name from a sea port in Angola – good shout. Two bonuses on Japanese public holidays added a little more gilding to the score. Both teams sat on their buzzers for a while after being asked who was the first American dramatist to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Eventually Spike Smith gave the correct answer of Charlie Chaplin’s father in law – or Eugene O’Neill, if you prefer. There wasn’t time for St. Peter’s to answer correctly any of the bonuses on regions of Spain. All of which meant that the final score was 245 to 100.

Well, it answered the question, what might happen on a night when Gabriel Trueblood has some real competition on the buzzer? There was buzzing throughout the St. Peter’s team in this game, and they also faced a stiff test in the shape of a good Liverpool team, who pushed them hard throughout the first half of the show, until they really hit top form. As for Liverpool, well, it isn’t going to be easy now, but they can still come back and make it through.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

When Liverpool couldn’t dredge up ‘The Light Of The World’ JP explained , ‘It’s the one with the lantern’ and then held up an imaginary lantern to demonstrate. I’m looking forward to his mime of deoxyribonucleic acid.

Was there just a wee smidgeon of sarcasm in JPs voice as he said farewell to the irrational numbers with the words ‘Everyone at home will have been working those out with great pleasure, I have no doubt.’

His comment about the Elton John song “That was released in 1970, that’s social pre-history for you, really.” – now that was definitely sarcastic.

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

Mumford and Sons’ “Sigh No More” is inspired by “Much Ado About Nothing”

University Challenge - Quarter Final Match 4

Magdalen, Oxford v. Trinity, Cambridge

In the first round Magdalen defeated Pembroke, and in the second the Open University. The team of Harry Gillow, Chris Savory, Cameron J. Quinn and skipper Hugh Binnie are one of the teams who are quietly fancied to duke out the semi-final stages. Their opposition, Trinity, represented by Matthew Willetts, Claire Hall,  Aled Walker and skipper Hugh Bennett defeated St. Andrews in the first round, and Leicester in the second. The reigning champions can never be easily dismissed.

There was a bit of a slow start as both teams sat on their buzzers for a moment or two until Cameron Quinn identified the Battle of St. Albans as the start of the Wars of the Roses. Bonuses on trilogies brought no more correct answers, but to be fair none of these were exactly gimmes. Matthew Willets, who had a blinder on the buzzer last time out had a real rush of blood to the head buzzing in far too early for a quotation from Shelley, and lost 5. Nobody knew that the ‘daughter of earth and water’ is a cloud. Cameron Quinn took a second starter, recognizing a description of Nye Bevan. Island nations of the Caribbean brought a full set of bonuses. Now, when you hear a UC question which starts asking about the Critias by Plato, it’s a safe bet that most of the time it’s going to be about Atlantis. Harry Gillow took a good early buzz on this one. The resulting bonuses on bees brought another correct answer and took us up to the first picture starter. This week we saw a list of characters from a 20^th century stage play. Willy Loman identified it immediately as Death of a Salesman, and Chris Savory won the buzzer race to say so. More of the same followed and they took the second two, but rather surprisingly missed out on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I’m afraid that the dreaded Paxman words of encouragement were issued at this stage – “See if you can get off the mark with this one, Trinity.” Believe me, they were trying, Jez. The next starter was another of those which suddenly becomes obvious when one of the details is given. In this case, the name of the work “The Affluent Society”. Magdalen had won all of these buzzer races so far, and Cameron Quinn won this one. He knew it was the work of JK Galbraith. Proper names that are eye rhymes followed – as in Degas and Vegas. A full set put them one starter away from triple figures in the first ten minutes. Well, they didn’t get it. Hugh Bennett buzzed in to say that the Treaty of Utrecht gave Britain Gibraltar and Minorca. Some Science things about metals provided the bonuses. Trinity had 2 which gave them 15 points to 90 at just after the ten minute mark.

Hugh Binnie recognized a definition of Malic acid. Good shout. Terms coined by Social Scientists – as opposed to antisocial scientists, one presumes – and two of these were answered correctly. A very good early buzz saw Cameron Quizz answer that EAU were the three letters at the end of the surnames of authors of two books I don’t know. One bonus on Hindu deities followed. Hugh Binnie recognized the strains of Gershwin’s An American in Paris very quickly for the music starter, and for the bonuses they were asked for pieces of music from Musicals to have won the Pulitzer drama prize. Magdalen managed one, but were too young to know that There is Nothing Like A Dame is from South pacific. Maybe they never saw the Morecambe and Wise skit. If you haven’t then click on this link –

There is Nothing Like a Dame – Morecambe and Wise

Yes folks – they did it long before Comic Relief started making newsreaders sing and dance. For the next starter Hugh Binnie very quickly worked out that Wednesday comes 100 days after Monday. The set of bonuses on authors yielded them 2 correct answers. Chris Savory knew that Deborah , Samson and others appear in the Book of Judges. Botany was the subject of their next set of bonuses, and these netted them 5 points. It seemed like a long time since we’d heard anything from Trinity, and the next starter didn’t make it any better for them. Asking for the country of the Hausa people, Cameron Quinn, as he had been doing all contest, won the buzzer race to supply Nigeria. A great UC set on primroses and politics offered the chance of a full set, but Magdalen settled for 1 correct answer. Now – if it’s studied gorillas it’s Diane Fossey, and if it’s chimps it’s Jane Goodall. That man Quinn knew that, and took the starter. Scientific apparatus did little for me, nor for Magdalen for that matter. Already we had arrived at the second picture starter, and it was Cameron Quinn who recognized the work of Rubens. Three more garden scenes by Central European Artists provided them with a full house – good work after being a tiny bit profligate with earlier sets. So it was that this period from the 10 to the 20 minute mark had provided us with that rarity, a 10 minute shut out, as Trinity languished on 15, while Magdalen had already won with 225.

Hugh Bennett did what he had to do, and buzzed early for the next starter. Unfortunately he answered that 12 years separated the execution of Charles I and the Restoration of Charles II, while it was 11. Hugh Binnie supplied that one. US Secretaries of State were gettable, but they only managed the one. The Magdalen skipper also knew that Door-Dashan is a public service broadcaster in India. Bonuses on films brought another ten points to an already burgeoning score. Hugh Bennett forced his way back in with the next starter, knowing that the sequence of numbers topped off by Beethoven’s Pastorale would be 4 5 6. Regions of Italy brought just the one answer, but at least the score was moving in the right way now. Cameron Quinn knew that the words “Scotland Brought Me Forth” were on the sarcophagus of Duns Scotus. Bonuses on English Kings claiming the title King of France added 10 more points to the Magdalen score. Cameron Quinn was able to identify a setof titles of works by Magritte. Former Military ranks. This was getting repetitive, but Magdalen again managed 2 out of three bonuses. Incidentally this took them to the milestone of 300 points. Aled Walker took another 10 points for Trinity, knowing that the book “The Worst Journey in the World” is about Scott’s journey to the South Pole. Bonuses on South America provided them with 5 more points. Nobody fancied Locksley Hall much for the next starter, but Hugh Bennett took a shy at it with Tennyson and was right to do so. Politics in the 1830s gave them one more correct answer. Now, any question which contains the words up – down – top – bottom – strange – and – charm either wants the answer quark – or you’re watching the wrong type of quiz show. Cameron Quinn was never going to let that one go begging. Features on the lunar landscape were enough to take Magdalen to 315, while Trinity languished with 55. Trinity – it really wasn’t your night. I don’t know if a couple of earlier penalties for early buzzes put them off their game for this show, but they were not hitting the buzzer as they had done against the Open Uni. As for Magdalen, a very impressive performance. Very well played.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Cameron Quinn offered ‘Bevan’ for Nye Bevan, and JP asked for more clarification. Then he did something I’ve rarely seen him do before, and explain why he asked for clarification – the fact that many people confuse Nye Bevan and his contemporary Ernest Bevin. It was almost apologetic. What is the matter with our Jez?

He did get a bit fussy on the eye rhyme bonuses when he corrected the pronunciation of Brougham – “I’ll accept that . . . It’s usually pronounced Broom.”

On the 100 days after Monday question, Hugh Binnie earned JP’s exasperated amazement with his answer, “How did you know that?!” and a look on his face which spoke volumes.

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

The rank of Brigadier replaced the rank of Colonel Commandant in the British Army in 1928. 

University Challenge - Quarter Final match

Durham v. Gonville and Caius

In their first round match Durham dismissed Brasenose. The team consisted of Daniel Morgan – Thomas, Freddie Lloyd, Nikul Boyd-Shah and captain Fred Harvey, and York were their victims in round two. Gonville and Caius – highest scorers in round one – consisted of Ted Loveday, Michael Taylor, Anthony Martinelli, and Jeremy Warner. Having dismissed St. Anne’s they took the prized scalp of Manchester in round two. Let’s get on with it.

The first starter was asking for a scientist, and it promised little until the words ‘one-side band or strip’ gave me Mobius and a rare Science starter. Nikul Boyd-Shah won the buzzer race for that one, and earned a set of bonus on the Vikings. They took the first two, but didn’t know Vinland. For the next starter Ted Loveday knew that the bassoon represents the Grandfather in Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”. My heart sank as JP announced that the set of bonus would be on modularity. Not that Caius minded – they took a full set. Anthony Martinelli won the buzzer race for the next starter, which it rapidly became clear was asking for stick insects. Words with two often contradictory meanings (cleave being the most famous example probably) gave Caius another full house. A very good early buzz from Freddie Lloyd identified the historian Tony Judt, and brought up a bonus set on The Aeneid.They could only manage the one correct answer, so remained 20 points adrift of Caius.A fantastic answer from Ted Loveday identified Menander as the creator of the aphorism – Who the Gods love die young. Two bonus on whales kept the score ticking over nicely. The picture starter showed a parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland. Michael Taylor identified West Belfast – a good shout, that. Three constituencies in Yorkshire were all gettable, but they only managed Sheffield Hallam - Nick Clegg. Never mind. At the ten minute mark Caius looked to be comfortably in control, leading by 80 – 30.

Ted Loveday anticipated the next starter well, offering Occam’s Razor before it became obvious where the question was driving towards. Pairs of words where you changed he letter of one answer to get the name of a country – eg – Conga – Tongs - Tonga . Bit tricky to get your head around, that. Some numbers thing which nobody knew followed. A great starter which offered amongst others, the composer of Otello – Verdi – and the author of The Quiet American – Graham Greene – was asking for green as the connection – and the Caius skipper was the first to see that. Dreams in Shakespeare gave another ten points, and the Caius juggernaut rolled onwards. Time for the music round, and very quickly Ted Loveday recognised a soupçon of Charpentier. Three more pieces also known by the name Te Deum followed – and they managed one of them. The lead stood at 110 points and it was looking ominous for Durham. Anthony Martinelli took the next starter, on the Roger Ebert test. Two bonus on astronomy followed. There was a great buzzer race to answer which novel ends with the line “So we beat on.” It was between Messrs Taylor and Martinelli of Caius. One bonus on opera was taken. Ted Loveday knew as well as I do that when you hear the words ‘sham village’ you slap that buzzer and answer Potemkin. A couple of bonuses on Mexico were taken. At last Freddie Lloyd won a buzzer race for Durham, knowing that Paris was redesigned by Baron Haussman. Sadly they couldn’t take any of a set of bonuses on aerodynamics. At the twenty minute mark Caius had a winning lead of 190 – 40.

For the second picture starter Anthony Martinelli identified an engraving of Sir Isaac Newton. A full set of three other engravings of scientists followed in short order. For once the mighty Caius showed a little vulnerability as Michael Taylor buzzed far too early on the next starter. Nikul Boyd-Shah knew that Quentin Crisp said that autobiography is an extended obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing. Fair play, he had a bit of style. I met him once in Chelsea, but that’s another (rather boring) story. US Presidential Election slogans added 10 points to their score. The Durham rearguard action continued as Daniel Morgan-Thomas recognised a group of cabinet minusters who all served under Clement Atlee. Bonuses on terms beginning with the prefix tetra yielded them nowt. Now, I did actually know that a mass of yellow tissue of some sort is the corpus Luteum – as did Anthony Martinelli. After a lot of toing and froing and argying and dare I say it, more than a touch of bargying, Caius managed a full set on the Kings of England. Jeremy Warner got into the act for Caius, identifying two Spanish regions that border Portugal. A full set on Geological Periods followed. Neither team could work out that the first letter of the alphabet not to appear in the names of any of the 12 months of the year is K. The next starter went begging as well, and I didn’t get it any more than the teams did. As soon as he heard the words La Grande Illusion Freddie Lloyd buzzed in with Renoir, and thus earned a set on Berlin, which brought them ten points. Anthony Martinelli knew the term bradycardia for the next starter – really good shout, that. There was just time for the one bonus, which took Gonville and Caius to 275, against Durham’s 95.

It’s still quite early to be placing the mantle of favourites upon the colletive shoulders of any team, but I have to say that I like the look of this Gonville and Caius outfit. They cover a great deal of ground between them, and there’s good buzzing throughout the team. They may well take some beating.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP started early this week. While introducing Durham he noted that Brasenose put in a dismal performance against them, scoring 35. Well, Jez, nobody deliberately has a low score, old son, and you really don’t need to rub it in to a team who left the series some time ago.

After that unnecessary comment, though, his next comment of note was a response to the question about the substance in a whale’s head, once thought to contribute to the reproductive process. The answer was spermaceti. When Caius offered ‘sperm’, he replied – “No – that does contribute to the reproductive process!” Alright, it’s not exactly Oscar Wilde, but it made me chuckle.

On the 3^rd Kings’ bonus, after much argument Caius asked if they could have a repeat of the date. “No, come on, get on with it!” barked our hero. Do you know, there’s evenings when I have longed to reply to similar queries in the rugby club with those same words.

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

A test to find out whether a synthesized voice can time and deliver a joke well enough to make people laugh is named after film critic Roger Ebert.