University Challenge 2024 Grand Final: Imperial v. University College, London

The Teams

Imperial, London

Justin Lee

Adam Jones

Suraiya Haddad (capt.)

Sourajit Debnath

University College, London

James Hall

Ali Izzatdust

Tayana Sawh (Capt.)

Jacob Finlay

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen. After last week’s Mastermind Grand Final we have the University Challenge Grand Final, which really brings to an end the quizzy Mondays that have kept us going throughout the long autumn and winter months. Much to my delight as a Londoner by birth, and an alumnus of London University (Goldsmiths College), the final pitted the best two teams of the series against each other and both are from London. Imperial, independent from London University for some time now, I think, could look back on series wins in 1996, 2001, 2020 and 2022. No team had ever yet won five series. UCL had also been this way before, having lost the 2005 and 2012 series grand finals, but had not yet won a series. Now, to use a footballing analogy, conventional wisdom has it that two London teams in an FA Cup Final usually produces an underwhelming match – and my own attendance at the 1982 replay of Spurs v. QPR would certainly bear this out. But I had a feeling that we could expect better from these two.

So, who would be fastest on the buzzer? Well, Ali Izzatdust won the first buzzer race to identify methods of naming days of the week. The medieval Egyptian ruler Baybars gave us both a full house. Justin Lee came in too early on the next starter. It became obvious that the necessary answer would be an Italian city. James Hall played the percentages with Rome but ‘Ocean’s Nursling’ had suggested Venice to me, and that’s what it was. James Hall buzzed in too early for the next starter, and given the whole question Sourajit Debnath came in with the correct answer of urea, to get the Imperial juggernaut moving. A great set on artworks created through defacing existing artworks was despatched to the boundary by Adam Jones to level the scores at one penalty and one full house each. James Hall identified the artist Lubaina Himid for the next starter. Biological terms starting with chi brought me a lap of honour for getting chimera. Look, I’ll take them where I can get them. I could have waited for the third of the set because I knew chitin too. UCL took the same two bonuses. I’ll be honest, when I saw the picture starter quoting Chaucer and showing various sites of places visited by one of the pilgrims I nearly shouted Wife of Bath, but checked the text first. Just as well for it was clearly the Knight. Justin Lee took his first starter of the evening – it wouldn’t be an only child for long. More pilgrims followed – they had the more difficult ones but the character most famous for the number of pilgrimages she made, the aforementioned Wife of Bath, they missed. Justin Lee buzzed early to explain that St. Bartholomew and Jude were martyred in Armenia. To have one saint martyred in Armenia is misfortune, to have two martyred sounds a bit careless. One bonus on ocean habitats followed. Sourajit Debnath knew that Elia Kazan was the director who co-founded the Actors Studio. Video games that have won the BAFTA for best debut game were very much to Mr. Debnath’s liking and he took a full house in short order. We approached the 10-minute mark with Imperial just beginning to apply the afterburners, leading, as they did, by 80-40.

Sourajit Debnath doesn’t answer as many starters as Justn Lee, but most of the starters he answers are ones which seem to leave all 7 other players scratching their heads. For example the next starer, to which the answer was spline. (I’ll exspline later). Biogeographic regions of Australia sounded harder than they proved to be and Imperial took the two that they needed to put their score into triple figures. Ominous times for UCL, who could really have done with getting the next starter. Ali Izzatdust tried, but lost five for his pains allowing Justin Lee to identify the city of Maastricht. 18^th century wars of succession mean that the answers were going to be the Polish, Spanish and Austrian, so it was a matter of getting them in the right order. Not a problem for Imperial – another full house. Jacob Finlay jumped early on the next starter, but lost five, allowing Adam Jones in with Thailand. The International Phonetic Alphabet opened up the puzzling world of plosives, and fricatives, velars and labials, yielded a single bonus, This led us to the music starter, and for once in this series, something I recognised – Faure’s Pavane. Justin Lee took that one. Other composers associated with the Paris Conservatoire brought Imperial one bonus. None of us knew Pierre Bourdieu (wasn’t he the author of perennial favourite ‘Ce n’est pas mon cochon, c’est ma Belle-mere’?). Tayana Sawh tried to break the stranglehold but gave an incorrect answer to the next starter, allowing Adam Jones in with Cryolite (either a 1980s Doctor Who monster, or a member of the R and B group who had a UK hit with the song ‘Have You Seen Her?’, take your pick.) The book “Mythologies” by Roland Barthes brought the points to stretch the Imperial lead to 150.UCL were looking to be in a right old Imperial leather and their plight was not helped when Justin Lee buzzed in incredibly quickly to identify Berengaria. Mythological paintings by Angelica Kauffmann brought the full house that Imperial needed to take their score to 200. Poor old UCL. They’re a great team, and Heaven knows they had tried hard to beat Imperial to the buzzer. There was nothing more that they could have done. The next starter on Bambara was a good demonstration of this. Ali Izzatdust buzzed incredibly quickly, but he was still beaten by Justin Lee, who knew that the language in question hailed from Mali. Sackings of Rome brought Imperial lashings of points, another full house. The lead had stretched to 200 points. I nearly awarded myself another lap of honour for knowing Fermi was the answer to the next starer, but I was just relieved that Ali Izzadust won the race. Two bonuses on philosophers meant that as we approached the 20 minute mark Imperial led by 225 – 40.

For the next starter Adam Jones identified a painting by Winslow Homer. 3 more paintings of fishermen, although these were by French artists, brought just five more points. Jacob Finlay recognised a description of the Andaman Sea for the next starter. Subatomic particles raised their ugly miniscule heads for the bonuses – I got two!! – bringing a full house to UCL. Ali Izzatdust came in extremely early to identify Ponta Delgada in the Azores. 2 bonuses on the American Civil War and their score was beginning to look more healthy. Not a score that looked high enough to challenge, mind you. Especially when Justin Lee took the next starter on the language of the Cherokee. Bonuses on international economics yielded nowt, but who cared? It wasn’t going to affect the result. Nobody knew about vitamin B1 thiamin curing beri beri. Justin Lee, who would end the evening with 8 starters and the series with a magnificent 36, recognised a description of a rondo. Architecture of the 30s brought us both just the one correct answer with the inevitable Frank Lloyd Wright. Gordon Comstock allowed Adam Jones to give the title ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying ‘ for the next starter and the novel The Princess of Cleves brought two correct answers to give Imperial just the chance of reaching the rarely achieved 300 point mark. Ali Izzatdust denied them on the next starter on the oryx. Composers brought two correct answers. Jacob Finlay denied them on a starter on the work the Strange Death of Liberal England. But that, as they say, was that. The gong struck, leaving Imperial the champions having won the match 285 – 120.

Many, many congratulations to Imperial. They become the first institution to win five series. I think that bearing in mind the quality of the UCL team, this must have been their finest performance of the whole series. For the record Imperial’s BCR was 62, while UCL’s was 78.

Full marks to Suraiya Haddad for praising first her team, then UCL when being presented with the trophy. Then we had the cutaway to a filmed presentation of the trophy by Sir Tom Stoppard. He’s apparently a huge fan of the show (although not enough of a fan to clear his schedule enough to allow him to attend the final on the day, so it would seem.) This happened of the roof of Imperial, which gave the whole thing a sort of Let it Be vibe.

Well, there we are, that was University Challenge 2024. Congratulations and thanks to all of the players, teams, and to the team who put the show together for us. Here’s looking forward to University Challenge 2025

Amol Watch

Amol, did you have to pick on Justin Lee for wearing his hoodie? It’s a measure of just how good this Imperial team were that Amol felt the need to offer encouragement to UCL on the fifteen-minute mark. Another example of Amol addressing contestants by their given names came when he admonished Suraiya Haddad with ‘ You should have listened to Sourajit.” Well, this is part of Amol’s relaxed style and I have to say that if you take the series as a whole, he really has taken to it like a mallard to water. It’s nice to see a question master who isn’t shy about showing just how much he has enjoyed each contest in the series. Very well done, Sir and keep it up.

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

Cryolite was obtained from a single mine in Greenland.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Meanings of which short term include, in a mechanical context, a ridge on a surface of a part usually used to prevent an otherwise circular part from turning and in mathematics, a function commonly used for interpolation and described by multiple polynomial equations, each one used only within a particular interval to produce a simpler description of a more complex curve or surface?

What do you mean you’ve never heard of a spline?!!!!!!! Dum de dumdum  dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2024 Semi Final 2 - UCL v. Manchester

The Teams

UCL

James Hall

Ali Izzatdust

Tayana Sawh (Capt.)

Jacob Finlay

Manchester

Bluma de Los Reyes-White

Ilya Kullman

Hiru Sanaheedhera (capt.)

Dan Grady

For me, little can beat the pleasure I get from watching a Mastermind Grand Final. Let me be honest though, a good UC semi-final comes close. Last week we saw Imperial University take out Trinity, Cambridge. Coincidentally before last night Imperial were the only team to have defeated Manchester in this series. UCL had an average of 195 going into this match – not as high as Imperial’s, but higher than Manchester’s 165. This was an interesting match, a team with 2 great buzzer slingers ably backed up by the other two team members – UCL – against a team where all 4 team members make good contributions on the starters - Manchester. The head said UCL, but it also reminded me that you’re never going to get rich betting against Manchester in UC.

Ali Izzatdust – one of UCL’s star buzzslingers, took a very early buzz on the first starter, recognising the work of WH Auden. The plays of Arthur Miller only yielded one bonus. A Maths starter followed, duly taken by Hiru Senehedheera on Goldbach. Wasn’t he the Trotskyesque bogeyman in 1984? No. Two bonuses on German architecture were taken to give them an early lead. A lead which was take back by Ali Izzatdust who recognised clues pointing to the artist Bridget Riley. Bonuses on Blaise Pascal brought two more correct answers. Ali Izzatdust took his third starter recognising that the Ragamuffin War occurred in the south of Brazil. A set on dentistry unsurprisingly yielded none of us anything. For the picture starter a 1947 map of India showing the so-called Princely States brought an incorrect answer from UCL – I too thought the state highlighted included Kashmir, which allowed Hiru Senehedheera in with Jammu and Kashmir. Three more of the larger princely states yielded nothing. James Hall took his first starter of the evening with the Wisconsin born mathematician Knuth. A full house on Italian film directors finally got things moving after a rather stuttering start. Dan Grady knew “The Wretched of the Earth” – I didn’t- . Three questions on the word red in other languages brought one correct answer. So just after the 10-minute mark, UCL led by 70-45. All to play for.

The next starter was about my 4x great uncle’s Russian pal, Pushkin. (Seriously, my four x great grandfather Henry Dawe’s brother, George Dawe was a highly successful portrait painter who was engaged by Tsar Alexander 1 to paint portraits of his victorious generals. There’s over 300 of them in the Hermitage. Pushkin even wrote a poem to him. Not the one in the question, mind you.) Dan Grady took a chance with Eugene Onegin without hearing the full question. Given the rest Ali Izzatdust and I both knew the Bronze Horseman. Hip hop production promised nowt but delivered me one for Pharrell Williams, while UCL took a full house. Hox genes. Prefer Levis or Wranglers myself. That gave Bluma De Los Reyes-White his first starter. African footballers brought two correct answers and rather amazingly gave me a full house. I had a note from my Mum excusing me from a lap of honour on this one. Dan Grady knew that the sequel novels – Phineas – and Rabbit are linked by the word Redux. Bonuses on St. Oswald did not fall Manchester’s way. On to the music round, and jazz. Niiiccceeee. Ali Izzatdust zigged with Sarah Vaughan, Hiru Sanehedheera zagged with Ella Fitzgerald and took the points. One music bonus was enough to narrow the gap between the teams to ten points. James Hall pushed it out to a full set again, recognising a description of astatine. Maths bouses saw me earn a lap of honour. The first asked for a Swiss mathematician, and so I took a punt with Bernoulli. A full house for UCL pushed the gap out again. Ali Izzatdust knew that Guwahati is in Assam. The Behistun Inscription in Iran (Darius woz ‘ere?) provide another full house, and the gap had stretched from 10 points to 60 in short order. Ali Izzatdust recognised Archduke Maximilian of the Hapsburg Austro Hungarian Empire, as did I, and we both answered Mexico. Not what was required, and that’s what can happen when you go early. Given the full questio it allowed Ilya Kullmann to give the answer wanted, namely that he was Emperor of said country. Places named in Beatles songs saw Dan Grady waxing lyrical, literally, His full house and the UCL penalty cut the lead in half. UCL came in too early for the next starter and lost a further five. Bluma de Los Reyes-White knew the answer to the starter was iron. French economists did not suit Manchester leading the captain to despairingly ask his team to make a French noise. Nonetheless the gap at the 20 minute mark had narrowed to fifteen as Manchester led by 135 to 120. Squeaky bum time.

UCL had first bite at the picture starter that followed, but it fell to Hiru Saneheedhera to identify the two anklebiters it showed as Romulus and Remus. Twins or figures that resemble each other failed to add to their score. Shame that they didn’t recognise the work of Sir John Tenniel – last year I tried to copy all 90+ illustrations Tenniel made for Lewis Carroll’s Alice books – check out my art blog if you’d like to see my copies. My Art Blog - John Tenniel

Only five points in it now. Ali Izzatdust did the business for UCL, as he had so many times in this series, identifying the first rulers of Flanders. Dungeons and Dragons saw them take a timely full house. With the gap at 30 a full house would not be enough to completely wipe out the gap for Manchester. Again, though, Manchester came back, Bluma De Los Reyes – White recognising nitric acid. Foods sharing the last letters of their names with the last letters of the names of African capital cities provided a fun UC special set which Manchester swallowed with relish. Five point game again. Nobody knew the word paean for the next starter but UCL took a five point penalty. With no more than a couple of minutes left, both teams were square. But again, the irrepressible Ali Izzatdust refused to be bested and came in early with his 7^th starter on Billy Budd. Only one bonus on species and families of bats kept the gap down to fifteen – Manchester could still take the lead with one visit to the table. James Hall denied them the chance, recognising references to Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd. They needed one bonus on early fantasy to leave Manchester needing snookers. Which is exactly what they got. Was there enough time left? Ilya Kullman took the next starter on Swahili. Bonuses on words containing hertero – failed to add to their score. Was there time for the one full house that Manchester needed? It didn’t matter since Jacob Finlay took the next starter, knowing Inchon in South Korea. A full house on figures from Greek mythology mentioned in Handel operas put the seal on victory. The gong ended the match, and UCL had won by 210 to 165.

A great match, played in a fabulous spirit by both teams. UCL had a terrific BCR of 70, while Manchester’s off the same number of bonuses was 33 – and you need look no further than that for the difference between the teams. Very hard lines. The bonus gods were not with you, Manchester, yet you took it right to the last 2 minutes. Very well played UCL and yes, it makes an alumnus of another London University College (Goldsmiths in my case) feel very happy. An all-London final awaits.

Amol Watch

Did Amol have it written down that Descartes died in 1650 so he couldn’t be the right answer to a starter? If not it’s a very impressive display of knowledge. I liked his encouragement to Manchester on the St. Oswald set to ‘give yourself a chance’ – good advice, considering that you lose nothing for incorrect answers on bonuses. Later on he told them on the music bonuses – it looks like you’re having a good time but you are behind. – Kick a man while he’s down, why don’t you?

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

In Brazil there was an uprising known as the Ragamuffin War

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

This one was shaping up as a corker before Bluma De Los Reyes-White buzzed in to put me out of my misery –

What three letter abbreviation is given to a group of transcription factor genes found in most animal species and crucial in specifying regions along the -

University Challege 2024 Semi Final 1 - Imperial v. Trinity, Cambridge

The Teams

Imperial

Justin Lee

Adam Jones

Suraiya Haddad (Capt.)

Sourajit Debnath

Trinity, Cambridge

Sarah Henderson

Agnijo Banerjee

Ryan Joonsuk Kang

Jeremi Jaksina

It’s the semifinals, folks. No more second chances, and the only place to get a drink is in the last chance saloon. By the time we get to this stage it usually starts to seem as if both teams are very familiar to us and we don’t really want to lose either.

We began with a long-winded starter which might have qualified for the baby elephant walk moments, other than the fact I knew the answer early. Agnijo Banerjee took first blood for Trinity, with differential. Monarchs nicknamed the Conqueror did not include William of Normandy. Trinity managed one of these. Justin Lee came in too early on the Shakespeare starter that followed and lost five. Trinity could not dredge up Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Justin Lee knew Wu languages for the next starter. Imperial failed to score on German engineers – my childhood years as an Airfix modeler meant I knew Heinkel. Never mind though, Justin Lee’s buzzer finger was firing on all cylinders as he came in early recognising the names of leaders of the Children’s Crusade. I played the Pope in a play of the same name and subject when I was in the 6^th form. Ingredients in Bengali five-spice brought two correct answers to give Imperial a 10 point lead. With the picture starter Justin Lee took his third consecutive starter recognising the flag of Bougainville. Flags of three more indigenous movements in the Pacific bought a terrific full house. That man Lee took a fourth consecutive starter with Arnhem Land. Major Commonwealth cities that are not capitals brought one bonus. For the next starer on green chemistry Ryan Joonsuk Kang was just edged out in a buzzer race. By whom? Guess! Yes, Justin Lee, five starters in less than 10 minutes. Chemistry bonuses meant that Imperial had a lead of 85 – 15.

Adam Jones got in before Justin Lee for the next starter on CP Snow’s The Two Cultures speech. Two bonuses on set theory took Imperial into triple figures. Justin Lee took another starter, knowing the German tow of Wittenberg. John Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel saw Imperial give another 2 correct answers. Amol then issued encouragement to Trinity, and lo and behold, after 7 consecutive Imperial starters Agnijo Banerjee came in with the correct answer of camera lucida. Women with the given name Marianne proved to be no help to their cause whatsoever. This took us all to the music set. Amol asked for the Central European composer of a classical piece. Usually when I hear ‘Central European composer’ I’ll go for Liszt, Dvorak or Smetana. This was Janacek (wasn’t he a TV detective played by George Peppard?) Nobody had it. Agnijo Banerjee earned the music bonuses by knowing QCD means Quantum Chroma Dynamics. One correct answer followed. Sourajit Debnath knew that the films cited for the next starter were set in Senegal. American Observatories brought just the one correct answer, but things were still looking good for Imperial with their 100 point lead. Nobody knew champions from GB in the Gymnastics floor event for the next starter. A rush of blood to the head saw Suraiya Haddad come in too early for the next starter and answer that Pygmalion constructed the first woman, Pandora. Understandable error – he created Galatea, but it allowed Agnijo Banerjee to keep his team going with the correct answer of Hephaestus. I have to be honest, the announcement of bonuses on the minimalist composer Pauline Oliveros did not elicit cheers of joy from Trinity. They didn’t get any of them, and I’m afraid when it’s not your night then this is the kind of bonus set which often comes your way. Quotations missing out the word ‘when’ fell to Adam Jones which earned the dubious reward of a set on syncretic beliefs and religion. Didn’t seem to bother Imperial, they took a full house in quick time. For the picture bonus we saw one of Diego Rivera’s murals for Ford world HQ. Jeremi Jaksina took his first starter with this. Three more 10^th century paintings of factories yielded nowt. Like I said – not your night. At the 20 minute mark, Imperial led by 160 – 60.

Justin Lee extended that lead with another correct answer that the president of Dominican Republic in 1861 asked Spain to reconquer the country. Two bonuses on two -hander plays were taken. Why was Tennessee Williams called that when he was born in Mississippi is the question which wasn’t asked, but I’d like to know the answer to. Agnijo Banerjee, still gamely banging on for his team took the next starter knowing the old chestnut that the only female judge in the Old Testament was Deborah. Sustainability bonuses were no more generous to them than their previous sets were. Justin Lee, having a quite magnificent evening, took the next starter with pyrophoric substances. A full house on Sicily took Imperial past 200, and frankly, put them well beyond the event horizon. Neither team knew Burundi or Zambia have coastlines on Lake Tanganyika. The splendid Agnijo Banerjee buzzed correctly on the Geometry starter that followed, giving the correct answer. Me? Don’t be daft. Finally they had a gettable set of bonuses on plants, but probably should have known that tequila is derived from the agave family. Bit of an old chestnut, that one. Adam Jones won the buzzer race to identify the Desai novelists. A bonus on rivers of Russia edged them closer to their average score. Jeremi Jaksina won a buzzer race to identify famous 1980s pineapple impersonator, Manuel Noriega. Sennacherib (gesundheit) yielded one bonus. Captain Suraiya Haddad took the next starer or Imperial, identifying cortisone thus ensuring that all the members of Imperial had correctly answered at least 1 starter. 3 questions on fictional bookworms yielded a full house. I’ll be honest, I was thinking Pompey when Justin Lee buzzed in with the same answer to the next starter, but given the dates it became clear we were looking for Sulla, which is the answer Jeremi Jaksina buzzed in with. Subjects of portraits by Elaine de Kooning remained unanswered as the gong ended the contest. Imperial won by 240 – 110.

Trinity were stunned by the early buzzer onslaught from Justin Lee and unhelpful bonus sets meant that they were never really able to come back on Imperial. Their BCR of 25 is no reflection of their ability but a fair reflection of the way that the bonus Gods were against them. As for Imperial, they had a BCR of 64. They’ve been impressive all series, and now need just one more win.

Amol Watch

Every now and then Amol does seem to like showing off that he knew something the teams didn’t. For example, with the Toby Belch question he couldn’t stop himself from saying ‘they go together’ after giving the answer. Not a criticism, just an observation. JP often did the same thing with literature questions.

I don’t know, but I imagine that Trinity’s hearts may well have sunk after Amol felt the need to issue encouragement after only 12 minutes,

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

Plankalkul is often cited as the first computer programming language.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

One of the 12 principles of green chemistry set out in 1998 by Anastas and Warner, what two word term did Barry Trost introduce in 1991 to refer to the concept of maximising the use of raw materials so that the final product contains the maximum number – (and at this point we could all give thanks that Justin Lee’s buzz spared us more of this question.)

University Challenge 2024 Quarter Final Sudden Death match

The Teams

Birkbeck

Danny McMillan

Olivia Mariner

Samir Chadha (Capt.)

Margherita Huntley

Trinity, Cambridge

Sarah Henderson

Agnijo Banerjee

Ryan Joonsuk Kang (Capt.)

Jeremi Jaksina

So, away we go, dearly beloved, with the last of this year’s quarter final matches. Would we see Birkbeck become the third team from London through, or would Trinity be the last college standing from Oxbridge? Well, not if Danny McMillan had much to do with it as he came in early to take the first starter on Matisse. Birkbeck took one on Jason and the Argonauts. Nobody knew that Trowulun is on Java for the next starter. Danny McMillan knew petit maman for the next starter. I’ll be honest, I knew no more about Les Nabis than Birkbeck did as we both failed to score on them. Agnijo Banerjee, so good at the Science and Maths questions proved he’s no slouch at Shakespeare too by knowing the character Hero from Much Ado. Geographical terms taken from Spanish brought them two correct answers. For the next starter both Agnijo Banerjee and I knew that Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics. I took a gamble by letting the lap of honour ride for this one. Trinity took one bonus on microbiology but were at least now in the lead. The picture starter showed us verses from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Danny McMillan recognised it. To my delight openings from three more medieval texts provided us both with a full house. Well, look, I was always far more interested in the older stuff during my Literature degree. We were almost at 11 minutes when Birkbeck completed that set to give themselves a lead of 50 – 35.

Danny McMillan knew the Kronos Quartet for the next starter. Eurasian nomads of antiquity and early Middle Ages brought Birkbeck one correct answer which was one more than I had. Neither team knew the name Abigail from either a wife of King David or from the colloquial term for a Victorian serving girl. Danny McMillan won the buzzer race to identify Strasbourg from a set of clues. Their misfortune with the bonuses reared its ugly head again as they were presented with a set on Edna St. Vincent Who Millay. They managed one. Don’t ask me about Virial theorem, but it brought Agnijo Banerjee the next starter. Metallic elements and their ores are good old quiz chestnuts. We both took a full house on this set of bonuses and I decided this would be a good opportunity for my lap of honour. So to the music round, and classical this week. Nobody recognised the work of Haydn. Sarah Henderson knew that John Donne wrote the Holy Sonnets – surprised he had the time while presenting his show on Radio 2 (ask your grandparents). Sarah Henderson also excelled on the music bonuses bringing her team a full house. Samir Chadha pulled his team back to the table by buzzing early with the term nucleation. Classical music and literature showed yet again that the bonus gods were not smiling on Birkbeck. We both managed just the one. Jeremi Jaksina got his first starter of the contest by knowing that Francisco Solano Lopez had been president of Paraguay. One bonus on food stabilisers meant that both teams were level on 95 at just after 20 minutes. Who wanted it more?

Kriging, anyone? It was the answer – which none of us had – to the next starter. You have to feel for Olivia Mariner with the following starter. So often a question about a woodwind instrument used in Peter and the Wolf has the answer the oboe, but this time this answer was not the one sought. Given the full question it became obvious that what was wanted was the bassoon. Sarah Henderson tapped that one into the open goal. You can imagine how delighted I was when Amol announced that the set of bonuses to follow were on vector calculus. Trinity made hay while the sun shone and took a full house. The second picture starter showed the London memorial to my distant relative Edith Cavell. Danny McMillan took it. How Birkbeck would have wanted a kinder set of bonuses at this point. They took one, but got their Garbo’s mixed up with their Dietrichs. To be fair Garbo did look rather like Marlene in the photograph shown. Nobody knew novels set in Zambia for the next starter. Ryan Joonsuk Kang knew that beryllium is found in certain gemstones. The director Youssef Chahine only took the lead to 30 ponits, but that’s crucial because it meant that whatever happened, even if they took a full house on the next set then Birkbeck would need two visits to the table to catch them. Danny McMillan tried but came in too early for the next starter, allowing Ryan Joonsuk Kang in with the Prague school of linguists. Cities that have hosted the World University Games brought no further points but served at least to run the clock down. The Trinity skipper, the bit firmly between his teeth took the next starter on oxytocin, which pretty much guaranteed his team the win. Trinity failed to score on key figures in the struggle for Irish Independence. There was just time for Sarah Henderson to give the correct answer of ice cream to the next starter and then the contest was gonged, with Trinity winning by 165  - 100.

Birkbeck finished the match with a BCR of 38 while Trinity score 51.  While Danny McMillan was comfortably the best buzzer of the night, all of the Trinity team managed at least one starter, and three of them took three each, which shows I guess that  there’s only so much one star buzzer can do, while it’s better to have buzzing throughout your whole team. 

Amol Watch

Amol’s patience was tested by Birkbeck as early as the first set of bonuses where he found himself quite rightly having to issue them with the kind of ‘come on’ which is usually reserved for the last 10 minutes or so. It was nice to see him hail Sarah Henderson’s full house on the music set as impressive too. He had a wee dig at Ryan Joonsuk Kang for not knowing the Daegu question – ‘ If only you had a South Korea captain!’ but let’s be honest, we saw JP say far more biting things in his time.

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

Kronos was the youngest of the Titans. (Did that make him a teen titan?)

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In Physics, what theorem provides a mechanical description of a system of multiple discrete objects which is in equilibrium in particular the relationship between the total potential and kinetic energies of the system? The turn in question – (at this point Agnijo Banerjee buzzed in to put us out of our misery)

Let’s be honest, a question like this might as well be asked in Old High Gallifreyan as far as I’m concerned. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2024 Sudden Death Quarter Final - Manchester v. Christ Church, Oxford

The Teams

Manchester

Bluma De Los Reyes-White

Ilya Kullmann

Hiru Senehedheera (Capt

Dan Grady

Christ Church, Oxford

Eliza Dean

Melika Gorgianeh

Arthur Wotton (Capt)

Elliot Lowe

Howdy pardners and thank’ee kindly for joining me for another wee dram in the last chance saloon. And following last week’s fine performance from Christ Church it really was a case of you pays yer money and takes yer choice here. I couldn’t pick a winner before we came under starter’s orders.

Hiru Senehedheera came in too early on the first starter, which remained obscure until the mention of the answer’s trusted lieutenant, Dessalines created the opening to allow Arthur Wootton in for his first starter with Toussaint L’Ouverture. The Oxford skipper took 8 starters last time out, so his buzzer finger would be crucial to CC’s chances of progression. Two bonuses followed on digraphia. Hiru Senehedheera didn’t have to fish too deeply for the mathematician Poisson to answer the next starter (see what I did there?) Medical terms combining Greek and latin derivations, for example neonatal, provided us both with a full house. Yeah, I did take a lap of honour. Dan Grady won the buzzer race to provide the name King Kong for the next starter. Two bonuses on Schopenhauer were taken. I loved the response to the question about Ixion – it’s not in Percy Jackson so I don’t know! Various clues to the word jazz went begging for the next starter. Anechoic chamber? Nope, me neither but the Manchester skipper knew it for the next starter. Two bonuses on the prophet Elijah followed. The picture starter brought a halt to the Manchester charge as Arthur Wootton took his second starter recognising the locations of the cities of Tokyo and Kyoto. More Japanese places with name elements in common brought one bonus. This meant that as we neared 10 minutes the score stood at 55 – 35 to Manchester.

None of us knew what ANT stood for so the next starter went unanswered. Right, now I’m very sorry but the first words of he next starter, “Born in 1791, which physicist – “ were enough for me to shout FARADAY! And so confident was I that I’d completed another lap of honour before Hiru Senehedheera buzzed in with the same. To be fair, it is a very short lap. A UC special set on prominent thinkers whose name appears in other words proved to be surprisingly tricky and we both only had the one. Ilya Kullmann buzzed in before the next starter revealed that the Shakespeare title character it wanted was female. He answered Macbeth. Cleopatra was the answer but CC shot wide of the open goal. So the next starter asked about the four corners National Monument in the USA. Oliver Wotton knew it was maintained by the Navajo nation. Amol announced that their bonuses were on relativistic mechanics and I prepared for the strains of the Baby Elephant Walk to start. Gawd knows what the questions were about, but just like my good self, CC didn’t get any of them. Nobody knew the Non-juror bishops for the next starter. Eliza Dean came in early for the next starter on Negritude. Musical performers named in Angela Davis’ work Blues Legacies and Black Feminism were not as hard a set as it sounded, and CC failed to score. With the gap standing at 5 points we came to the music starter. Nobody could identify the music from the ballet Swan Lake. Arthur Wotton won the buzzer race to answer about Robin Hood Bay to earn the dubious reward of the music bonuses – more pas de deux from other ballets. Nul points. CC were having a purple patch with the buzzer, but failures on the bonuses meant that they weren’t pulling away from Manchester. Dan Grady stopped the rot on the next starter which asked for gravitational waves. Blue plaques in North Staffordshire paid fitting tribute to Elizabeth Wardle, the lady behind the Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry where the naked men in the borders seem to be wearing cycling shorts. Currently in Reading Museum and check it out if you don’t believe me. Manchester took a full house. Nothing daunted Arthur Wotton knew that the upside down tree is the baobab for the next starter. A timely full house on Jose Luis Borges gave CC the lead by 95 – 90 with just a few minutes to show us who wanted it more.

Arthur Wotton certainly wanted it. He won the buzzer race to identify two of the three German states that border Poland. Bonuses on de Toqueville’s “Democracy in America” – which surely inspired Kim Wilde’s immortal “Kids in America” – brought two correct answers, which meant that Manchester would need a full house to even the scores. So to the second picture starter. Elliot Lowe correctly identified a sculpture, of which one of the figures depicted on it was Aeneas. Three more 17^th century artistic portrayals of the story of Aeneas netted now for them. Still, Manchester now needed at least two visits to the table. Both teams sat on their buzzer a bit for the next starter until Ilya Kullman identified Topkapi Palace as the residence of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Bonuses on industrial catalysts brought one correct answer. Would it be the catalyst that set off a Manchester revival? It looked like it when Bluma de los Reyes-White gave the correct answer of Nobel Prize winning scientist Calvin (the awards committee obviously ignored his partner, Hobbes.) South American cities taking their names from cities in Spain gave them a full house, and the lead. None of us knew the Roman poet Sextus Propertius (or even his stupider brother Emptius Propertius). Hiru Senehedheera came in too early and lost five on the next starter but CC could not take advantage. The Manchester skipper made immediate amends, winning the buzzer race to identify the painter Lucien Freud. The Japanese costume designer Emi Wada did nothing for Manchester other than to run the clock down. Arthur Wotton’s buzzer finger fired too early on the next question, but Manchester couldn’t find the word wax to seal the deal. Yet still Captain Fantastic Wotton came back to take the next starter on the word confederate. Only one bonus on small choo choos in art left them one bonus behind Manchester. Dan Grady just won the buzzer race on the next starter on Simone de Beauvoir. GONGGGG! Yes, after a terrific match it all came down to the last starter. 145 played 130. Congratulations to Manchester, and many commiserations to Christ Church.

Christ Church achieved a BCR of 37, while Manchester who scored fewer starters had a BCR of 63, and that’s what won it and lost it.

Amol Watch

With the ANT starter Amol made he slightly cryptic comment “I thought that was going to take you some time to work out.” Er, they didn’t work it out, Amol. They had it wrong. Amol seemed surprised that Christ Church didn’t know de Toqueville wrote ‘Democracy in America’. Well, they’re all easy if you know them, Amol, and difficult if you don’t.

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

Digraphia means languages which can be written in more than one script.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In a ratio relating to the rest mass of a particle and its mass when travelling a velocity v the Greek letter gamma is used to represent a factor named after which Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate born (buzz)

University Challenge 2024 Quarter Final Elimination - Open University v. Christ Church, Oxford

The Teams

Open University

Ellie Romans

Mike Holt

Ann Gavaghan (Capt)

James Davidson

Christ Church Oxford

Eliza Dean

Melika Gorgianeh

Oliver Wotton (Capt)

Elliot Lowe

Sorry it has taken so long to get round to this review. Long story. So, let’s cast a quick glance around this Last Chance Saloon, before taking in the two teams joining us for a wee dram – only one of them would get out of here alive. The stats seemed to favour the Open, but not by that much.

Oliver Wotton was in extremely quickly with the Ionian Islands for the first starter. You may remember that he scored a superb 9 starters in an earlier match against Southampton. Was this an omen that we were going to see another such virtuoso performance on the buzzer? The answer earned a set on French literary cycles – Baudelaire was allegedly an expert on the Penny Farthing. 2 correct answers were given. You had to stick with the poetry starter that followed. I didn’t recognise the lines quoted but as soon as Amol announced the title, Annus Mirablilis (supply your own jokes, please) I knew it was John Dryden. James Davidson opened the Open’s account with the same. The first hint that this maybe was not going to be Open’s night came when they took the first of a gettable set on musical styles, but missed out on two which really and truly were old quiz chestnuts. Nobody knew the Science populariser JBS Haldane – so he wasn’t a very popular populariser it seems. The moment the next starter asked us for the name of an opera originally entitled Leonora, Elliot Lowe buzzed straight in. To give the wrong answer. Again, I just make the point because this is a real quiz chestnut because its Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. Ann Gavaghan knew that Joseph Paxton designed the original Crystal Palace for the next starter. The Open were unlucky to get a difficult set of bonuses on language families and came away from the table with nowt, much like my good self. The picture starter was a map showing the site and extent of a notorious oil spillage. I was certain it had to be the Exxon Valdez. Oliver Wotton took starter number 2 with the same. Christ Church are collectively too young to have remembered the Torrey Canyon, but remembered the Deepwater Horizon. An absolute masterpiece of mathematical gobbledygook allowed Melika Gorgianeh in with the correct answer of geometric for the next starter. Two correct answers meant that Christ Church led by 50 – 25 as we passed the ten-minute mark.

James Davidson knew that Thackeray had good things to say about Brussels. Me? I won’t even eat them for Christmas dinner myself. Mythological triads proved a tricky set and we both only got the one from Greek Mythology. Now, come on. If you study English Literature the moment you hear the name Saxo Grammaticus you should think Hamlet. So the country he wrote about had to be Denmark. That one passed the teams by.

None of us knew the chloralkali process, but Christ Church lost five on it. A great early buzz from Oliver Wotton earned a third starter, when he knew that the Geographical feature contained in many named of French Departements are rivers. Three questions on Black Swan Theory – named after the Natalie Portman film, I believe - brought just the one correct answer. Oh, for the days of the First Aid in English, where innocent primary school kids had the collective terms for animals and the name of their habitats pummelled into their brains with no thought for relevance whatsoever! Neither team knew that a holt is the home of an otter. There’s a water otter in my kitchen. It’s a kettle, which makes the water ‘otter. I’m ere all week, ladies and gents. Don’t applaud, just throw money. Ouch – I said money! The next starter asked for the name of an artist. ‘Born in Crete “ was enough to give Ann Gavaghan El Greco. 1 bonus on geology brought the scores level. Game on. None of us knew the composer of the opera we heard in the music starter, who was Massenet. Or put it another way, who was Massenet? None of us knew Audre Lord or the next starter either. Both teams sat on the buzzers a bit before Oliver Wotton took his fourth starter knowing that Nassau is the national capital on New Providence. This earned the music bonuses on pieces of music inspired by pieces of French literature whose composers were unFrench. I thought Christ Church did well to get two of them. Starter number five fell to Oliver Wotton as he knew that Old Prussia was a member of the Baltic family of languages. The Christ Church skipper, from Cardiff, smiled as Amol announced a set of bonuses on Medieval Wales. Justifiably too since he took a full house. I love the first question referencing Mervyn the Freckled. As epithets go that’s one that should be used a lot more in conversation, I reckon. Starter number 7 followed in pretty short order, as Christ Church’s Captain Fantastic supplied the answer that whiskey stills are traditionally made from copper. One bonus on paintings in the Manchester Art Gallery was enough to give Christ Church a lead of 155 – 55 at 20 minutes.

Game over? Not yet, but the Open’s collective eyes seemed glassy, and their defence porous. The Wotton onslaught continued as he identified 1975 as the year Bangladesh and others joined the UN, benefitting from the Ken Bruce Statute (one year out is permissible). An Irish mathematician saw Oliver Wotton give the cheeky answer of Joseph Grimaldi. To be honest, this set meant I was fighting the sound of the Baby Elephant Walk coursing through my head that I didn’t notice how Christ Church did with them. Not so much questions as bloody good scores in Scrabble. The blessed relief of the second picture starter saw Ellie Romans identify Apollo 11 Command Module pilot Michael Collins. Other Hubbard Medal winners brought just one correct answer. They needed more. Nobody knew the Hyades for the next starter. (I think that  they were 6^th in the 1977 Eurovision with their catchy tune, “Bim, bong, bing bammy bing.” They don’t write ‘em like that any more.) Oliver Wotton took his 8^th starter to cap off an absolutely splendid personal performance knowing that the device on the national flag of Portugal is an Armillary sphere. The Japanese playwright Chikamatsu brought just the one correct answer, but it was all academic by this stage. Christ Church were going to win, and all that remained in question was how many points they were going to win by. Eliza Dean took her first starter with No Exit, which was probably an adequate description of how The Open must have felt by this point. The first chemical elements discovered through spectroscopy only yielded one bonus, but the gap between the teams was almost in triple figures now. Ann Gavaghan, still leading her team from the front, knew that one of the events mentioned in the next starter occurred in 1989. Ancient Athens brought a single bonus. The ever popular category of plate tectonics saw neither team find the term moment. The next starter was on a Shakespeare heroine and as soon as her brother Sebastian was mentioned Eliza Dean won the buzzer race to answer Viola. German cities named after people did not have enough time to yield more points before the contest was gonged. Christ Church won by 170 to 75.

The Open have had a bit of an up and down series, but the fact that their average score going into this match was 210 speaks volumes about their ability. They were just beaten by the better team on the day. I’ve referenced Oliver Wotton’s performance throughout the review because it was so decisive. He was the massive difference between the teams in this match. For what it’s worth Open had a BCR of 28, while Christ Church had a BCR of 47.

Amol Watch

Nice to see you playing in the spirit of conviviality – Amol praised both teams for applauding each other at the start before adding rather ominously – let’s see if it lasts. To be fair, it did. He astutely pointed out that Sebastian was the real giveaway in the Viola question.

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

Joseph Paxton not only designed the Crystal Palace, he was also responsible for the Cavendish Banana, ancestor of the modern variety we eat today.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In mathematics if the arithmetic mean of a set of numbers is calculated from the sum of their values, which adjective denotes a mean defined as the nth root of the product of n numbers? The same adjective is applied to sequences where the ratio between terms is constant and has a broad meaning of relating to properties of shape and space.

Need I say more? Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2024 - Quarter final qualification match: Trinity, Cambridge v. UCL

The Teams

Trinity. Cambridge

Sarah Henderson

Agnijo Banerjee

Ryan Joonsuk Kang (Capt)

Jeremi Jaksina

UCL

James Hall

Ali Izzatdust

Tayana Sawh (Capt.)

Jacob Finlay

How are we, then? So, last night we saw another quarter final qualification match, this time between Trinity and UCL who both won their first quarter final matches.

Normally I never get any questi9ons about Greek letters in Science and Maths, but after a number of given uses for it were given, I knew that the letter Mu is used for the SI prefix micro. Dunno how I knew it, but it was good enough for me and I set off on my ap of honour. James Hall came in too early with lambda and lost five which left the Trinity skipper to snap up that unconsidered trifle. The government’s tentative list of proposed new UK UNESCO World Heritage Sites brought two out of three bonuses. A very quick buzz from Jeremi Jaksina identified assassinated poet and playwright Lorca. Films whose titles contain the full name of a character brought the disarming comment from Mr. Kang – pffft – we’re not going to get this right – but we did both get Casper Hauser, the last one right. None of us knew the Growing Block Theory about time for the next starter, but Trinity lost five for an early incorrect buzz. Nucleophilic substitution sounds completely disgusting, but it was the answer to the chemistry starter that followed and Ryan Joonsuk Kang, playing a captain’s innings, supplied it. One bonus on genetics followed. So to the picture round, showing a relief map of China with an arrow pointing to a city’s location. I took a bit of a punt with Nanjing, and was right to do so. That man Kang had it. Three other treaty ports from the Treaty of Nanking brought a single bonus. As we approached the ten minute mark, Trinity led by 60 to -5 and UCL could give thanks that Trinity weren’t quite firing on all cylinders with the bonuses yet.

Amol encouraged UCL, reminding them that they had plenty of time to get going.Well, no. They had plenty of time to come back, but they needed to get going very, very soon in order to do so. Jeremi Jaksina came in too early for the next starter and lost 5, but none of us knew mise en abyme so that shot at an open goal went wide of the posts. Jeremi Jaksina knew about the Unification Day of Bulgaria for the next starter. Works in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour brought one correct answer. Ali Izzatdust did the right thing by buzzing early for the next starter, but sadly could not quite summon the correct answer. Given the whole question Agnijo Banerjee buzzed in with the correct answer of Sir Francis Bacon. A full house on anarchists took them to 95 points, 105 ahead of UCL. Finally Ali Izzatdust found his buzzer range to come in early with the British social anthropologist Evans-Pritchard. Who was also a character in Under Milk Wood, surely? Two bonuses on garden biodiversity narrowed the gap further. This brought us to the music starter. Jacob Finlay recognised the vocal talents of Kendrick Lamar. The bonuses were three jazz artists who played on one of his albums. None of us had any of them. Well, at least UCL were moving now as James Hall buzzed in on the next starter to identify the Uralic Mountain range. We both took a full house on Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato. Right – a question beginning Sir Stamford Rffles founded which – is fraught with danger. Ali Izzatdust zigged with Singapore. Nope. Which meant it had to be London Zoo. Ah, but the question asked for the organisation with the initials ZSL. Sarah Henderson tried London Zoo, but it was the Zoological Society of London that was required. A bit of a let off for UCL. Ali Izzatdust buzzed in on the Superbike world championship with Marquez, to earn bonuses on Chinese mythology. 2 correct answers followed. James Hall came in too early without an answer to the next starter. Given the whole question Jeremi Jaksina recognised a description of surrealism. Or do I mean a fish? A full house on Japanese culinary terms undermined a lot of the good work that UCL had been doing. However James Hall took the next starter with osprey. Holidays and celtic festivals brought two correct answers. So just after the 20 minute mark Trinity still held a useful lead of 120 to 75. But UCL were starting to come back. . .

James Hall knew that Wordsworth wrote the Prelude. Some stuff about saccharides meant nowt to me, but kept the UCL bandwagon rolling. So to the picture starter. Now, if it’s a Shakespeare play with a young woman with bandaged hands and blood all round her mush, a pound to a penny it will be Titus Andronicus, the play that proves that even a genius could write a turkey. James Hall took that one. Photos of productions of Shakespeare’s Roman plays brought a timely full house, and voila! The scores were tied. However it was UCL who had the momentum. Mind you they weren’t anything like home and dry. Asked about the post held by Eamonn de Valera and others, Jacob Finlay offered the Taoiseach. Close but no cigar. It allowed Jeremi Jaksina in with the President of the Republic of Ireland – not the Taoiseach. Trinity only managed the one on Japanese and British Monarchs whose reigns coincided. Jacob Finlay made up for losing five on the previous starter by taking the next with the film Triangle of Sadness. I thought that was a 1980s BBC soap opera but there you go. Two bonuses on Mountain ranges levelled the scores again. Another good buzz from Jacob Finlay took the next starter on iron. Any old iron? Gawd knows. Christopher Wheeldon provided just the one bonus, but the collective UCL nose was in front now for the first time in the match. Ali Izzatdust almost jumped out of his seat buzzing for the next starter, but it fell to James Hall, who knew the islands of Estonia (which country’s capital is close to the top of my bucket list now). Place names in Roman Britain brought just one bonus, but crucially it gave UCL a 30 point lead which meant that Trinity would need at least two visits to the table. Well, Agnijo Banerjee won them one with the term genus.They took the first two bonuses on ancient civilisations, but the contest was gonged before the third. UCL won by 165 – 150.

Amol hit the nail on the head when he called this a great contest. I don’t know what the biggest comeback in UC history was, but this has to be one of the best. For the record, Trinity had a BCR of 54%, while UCL’s was 60%. I certainly won’t be betting against Trinity taking their own place in the semis in their next match.

Amol Watch

Fair play to Amol, he took mateyness to new heights in this show. Dear old Bamber , if I recall correctly, was always on second name terms with the team members. JP was often not even on that, but certainly never first name terms. When Ali Izzatdust buzzed too early on the Bacon question, Amol went on to commiserate, “Bad luck, I’m sure you knew the answer, Ali.” Well, this is the 21^st century after all. Will we eventually see nicknames being used to address the students? I look forward to Roger Tilling announcing “Keble – Jimbo “ in the future.

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

This was one of those rare occasions when none of the many things I didn’t already know particularly grabbed me.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

First a disaccharide consisting of two glucose molecules connected by an alpha linkage. It is a product of starch breakdown by amylases.

By normal standards that’s short, but it’s still pretty deadly. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2024 Quarter Final Elimination Match : Sheffield v. Birkbeck, London

The Teams

Birkbeck, London

Danny McMillan

Olivia Mariner

Samir Chadha (Capt.)

Margherita Huntley

Sheffield

Safiyyah Rujack

Joseph McGough

Cameron Colclough (Capt.)

Matthew Nail

Only last week we saw Imperial beat Manchester to take the first rightful place in the semis. This week the two teams they had both defeated in their first quarter final match duelled it out to see which would remain in the competition for at least one more match.

Poor Matthew Nail fell into the trap on the first question, knowing Michael Jackson’s Bad, but not waiting for the whole of the question. It was worth waiting for too since it combined il buono, il brutto e it cattivo – or the Good, the Bad and Eli Wallach in old money. Danny McMillan opened the Birkbeck account with that one. They took a full house with the names of Japanese dishes. Samir Chadha ed the charge on the next starter identifying that the things alluded to in the question all begin with Neo. I’d like to think that ‘fromthematrix’ was one of them. They took two out of a set on domes. The next was that articular type of UC starter where you have to hold your nerve, wait for it, wait for it, then as soon as it becomes blindingly obvious reach for your shooting irons. Matthew Nail was first in to identify the Island of Zanzibar after Tanganyika was mentioned. A full house on medicine saw me grab a sneaky lap of honour for knowing Endocrine glands.Shelagh Delaney and John Osbourne saw me shouting “Kitchen Sink Drama!” at the telly. Margherita Huntley didn’t shout, but gave the same answer. UNESCO world heritage sites in southeast asia brought just one answer. So to the picture round, and the titles of a writer’s work in the language in which they were originally published. La Peste said Camus to me, which was just as well since that was the answer, as Danny McMillan could confirm. Tow bonuses on more titles of works in the language in which they were published were taken. Eros and Eris, the celestial objects required for the next starter, were provided by Joseph McGough. The Parliament Act of 1911 only provided Sheffield with 1 bonus, which meant that Birkbeck led by 80 – 30 atfer the ten-minute mark.

Matthew Nail pulled ten points back through knowing the Copernican thingummybob. Composers of video game music provided a welcome full house and took a sizeable chunk from the lead. Safiyyah Rujak took another 10 points back, knowing William B. Hays, the first president of Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. Bonuses on African countries brought two correct answers and Sheffield now had their collective nose in front. Nobody recognised a Shostakovitch string quartet for the music starter. A somewhat long-winded starter gave Joseph McGough another starter with Samoa. This earned Sheffield the music bonuses. It didn’t do them much good as none of us knew the composers of three post 1960 string quartets. My default answer for a Japanese film is The Seven Samurai and this paid off for me and for Danny McMillan with the next starter. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance brought the two bonuses that Birkbeck needed to take a five point lead. Margherita Huntley knew the Somerset Levels for the next starter. Terms in cell biology promised some baby elephant walk business, but none of them were quite long or convoluted enough. For the next starter, if you’re asked for a French Monarch you’ll be right often enough if you hit and hope and say Louis XIV. It was right this time. It added to Danny McMillan’s personal tally and brought up bonuses on Eastern towns and cities of the UK with teams in the Speedway Great Britain Premiership. Two correct answers meant that Birkbeck were pulling away just approaching the 20-minute mark.

Danny McMillan kept up his form on the buzzer knowing various definitions that all pointed the way towards norm. Fela Kuti provided two correct answers, and the Birkbeck lead of 65 points was starting to look decisive. For the second picture starter we were shown a rather startling photo of a keta salmon. Nobody knew it. The next starter was rather obviously looking for Maryland, but the buzzer race didn’t start for surprisingly long, when it was won by Cameron Colclough. The bonuses involved a game of name that fish.Good answers brought two bonuses. Various definitions of the word ‘sink’ fell to Safiyyah Rujak. Works from 1905 yielded little, and the clock was running down all the time. Especially considering that Samid Chadha came in early and took the next starter on Aaron Swartz. Two correct answers on  the mythological figures upon whom characters in American Gods were based. Again, the next starter saw nifty buzzer work from Danny McMillan who knew a reference to Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit when he heard one. Joost Van Den Vondel provided the kind of bonuses where you didn’t have to know about him, because a little general knowledge could bring you a full house as it did for Birkbeck. Joseph McGough knew that any book with Mycologia in the title is probably about fungi. They managed to correctly answer 2 bonuses, but it was looking as if this was going to be too little at this stage of the game. None of us knew Watch Night. Safiyyah Rujak knew polyester for the next to earn bonuses on  the periodic table. We both only managed the one on magnesium. And essentially, that was that. The gong sounded halfway through the next starter which was surely asking for cherries.

So farewell, then, Sheffield. No shame in going out in the quarter finals. They had a useful BCR of 56%. As for Birkbeck, well they’ll have another chance to qualify next time out, although I do think that if they have to face Manchester they may have their work cut out for them. If they can repeat this week’s BCR of 79% it really won’t do their chances any harm.

Amol Watch

“Your say somebody German is no tactic at all!” joshed Amol as Birkbeck considered possibilities for the first picture bonuses. Well, actually, it kind of is. If you know the works were first published in German, then saying someone German is clearly a better tactic than saying someone who isn’t German, I would have thought.

Interesting Fact that I Didn’t Already Know of the Week

The word endorphin is partly derived from Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Which family of polymers are formed by the reaction of a dicarboxylic acid with a diol producing water as a by-product? They are widely used in synthetic rubbers, plastic bottles and clothing.

By no means the worst we’ve heard all series, but this was a dum dum -lite contest. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2024 - Quarter Final Qualification - Manchester v. Imperial College, London

The Teams

Manchester

Bluma De Los Reyes-White

Ilya Kullman

Hiru Senehedheera (Capt.)

Dan Grady

Imperial College London

Justin Lee

Adam Jones

Saraya Haddid (Capt.)

Sourajit Debnath

You know, there are some teams that progress as far as the quarters who you never in your heart of hearts feel that they could be potential finalists, then there are others who you feel could. Last year I had that feeling watching the very first match of round 1 and indeed both teams involved came back together to contest the final. Last Monday matched two teams I’ve had my eye on like this – Manchester and Imperial, both institutions being series winners in recent memory.

I’ve just come back from Bucharest so screamed ‘Wallachia’ at the first starter asking which principality united with Moldavia in the 19^th century. The Union of South Africa – that’s the polity and not the preserved LNER Gresley A4 pacific, sadly – brought just one for Imperial. Bluma De Los Reyes-White knew apoptosis for the next starter to open the Manchester account. Films wih scores by ick Cave and Warren Ellis saw me surprise myself by knowing the 2022 film Blonde.  I knew “The Road” having read the book. Manchester had both of those and the other for a full house. My first baby elephant walk moment of the contest came not through the physical sciences but psychology. Nobody knew the dual purpose model. (My Airfix Lancaster bomber was one of those.) Right, be honest, did many of you shouted “Forbidden Planet!” immediately after hearing the names “Louis and Bebe Barron.” Sorry, but I just love that film so much so that I’ve watched it so many times I’m even familiar with the credits. Fair play to Dan Grady, he got it from the full question. I also enjoy  “This Island Earth” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” amongst other contemporary films of the genre, but not as much as “Forbidden Planet.” This earned bonuses on Shane Warne. Look, you don’t need to be a huge cricket fan to know that it was Mike Gatting who was out to the ‘wonder ball’, but Manchester didn’t. I surprised myself getting a full house, but at least Manchester knew Muttiah Muralitharan passed Warne’s world record wicket total. I will be honest, I didn’t get the literary starter that followed asking for the colour yellow any more than either team did. Mr. Reliable – Sourajit Debnath – recognised different uses of the Greek letter epsilon in Maths and Science for his first starter of the contest. Scientists whose surnames all began with Z – brought just the one correct answer. Surprisingly they opted for Milgram for the last one when Zimbardo was already on the table. Pressure of the studio makes you do funny things sometimes. The picture starter showed us a diagram of the starting line-ups of the Brazilian and Italian teams in the 1970 FIFA world cup final. Neither team got it. I guess they’re too young for the names Jairzinho, Rivelino and Carlos Alberto to mean that much to them. Ilya Kullman knew that Desi Bouterse ruled Suriname on a couple of occasions –not bad considering he was once married to Lucille Ball. This earned the football picture bonuses. They took two but zigged with 86 for the second when they should have zagged with 90. Same teams, but not all the same players. All the same, Manchester had the whip hand by the ten-minute mark leading by 60 – 25.

Adam Jones, rather quiet up to this point, responded to Amol’s encouragement by buzzing in with “Game of Life”. We’ve had something about this in the past, so I wasn’t quite so completely baffled as I was last time. Jacques Derrida did nothing for Imperial. None of us knew that the punkiest tit is the crested tit. Well, quite. (The school in which I teach has a very large nesting colony of Annoyinglittle Tits. Yes, old joke, I know.) Various locations pointing to Sir Caerfyrddin – Carmarthenshire to you, sir – didn’t point clearly enough for either of the teams. Justin Lee knew that Benfica stole the name Stadium of Light from Sunderland FC – kidding – and he went on to deliver a full house on Samguk Yusa, a work of Mythology among the people of Korea.  The next starter on the periodic table was pure lap of honour fodder, especially after it asked for the element named after the titan who stole fire from the Heavens. Crested titan? Hiru Senehedheera snapped up that one earning Manchester a set of bonuses on Ischia. Gesundheit. Both of us only managed one for the Talented Mr. Ripley. So to the music starter, and Gil Scott-Heron. Adam Jones earned Amol’s approval for snapping that one up quickly. Bonuses were three spoken word artists that none of us knew. Neither team had Bell Hooks for the next starter. Classical musical works all featuring the word Butterfly fell to Adam Jones, whose buzzer finger seemed to be nicely warmed up now. Bonuses on some Maths stuff were enough to put Imperial into the lead, so it seems as if Amol had switched his jedi powers back on for the show. Hiru Senehedheera wiped out the lead by taking the next starter on wave function. I thought that was either as a greeting, or a response to a greeting. Or to help you go surfing. The penguin hundred best sort stories ever written gave Manchester a full house, with Dan Grady doing much of the heavy lifting. Nobody knew that Feste’s song in Twelfth Night was ‘What is Love?’ – Howard Jones did a cover version of it in the eighties. Ilya Kullman knew that the three colours of the Madagascan flag are green white and red, but he rearranged them into the wrong tricolour with Bulgaria , which has horizontal stripes, allowing Justin Lee in with Italy. Pragmatic sanctions in European history promised but little. Imperial did well to take a full house. Justin Lee knew that if Japan defeated the USA in the final of a world championship then it was probably baseball, and took the next starter in short order with it. Only one bonus was taken on British architecture. Still it meant that Imperial were a full set ahead by 125 – 100 as we passed the 20-minute mark.

Neither team recognised the man I’d like to think that Ronald Reagan probably called Leech Weltzer – Lech Walesa to you and me. Justin Lee widened the gap between the teams, recognising that the poet Hadrawi hailed from Somalia. Three more leaders of anti-Soviet campaigns brought five more points. Now Amol issued encouragement to Manchester. Was lightning going to strike twice in the same show? Maybe not because Sourajit Debnath took the next mathematical starter on orientable shapes. Two correct answers on a set of bonuses about bridge designs mean that the Imperial lead stretched to 60. Given the names of five people Justin Lee – who was really turbo charging his team on starters at the moment – knew that the only decade where they all lived at the same time was the 1820s. They only managed one of a gettable set on Cadian Provinces and capitals, but that’s something you can afford when you have the afterburners on and you’re speeding towards the event horizon. Saraya Haddad took her first starter with the Earthshot Prize. Common scientific terms coined by Berselius must have been very common indeed because I got a full house on them, while Imperial took 2 being close but not quite close enough with the other. I don’t know about Tollens Reagent, but Dan Grady did. Too little, too late one felt, but they did manage 2 on marine biology. Nobody knew that Missouri and Tennessee both border 8 other states. That man Justin Lee knew that Cambodian and Vietnamese were the languages referenced in he next starter, pushing Imperial through the 200 barrier. The match was gonged before Amol could complete the first bonus on the court of Elizabeth I – which surely was Hampton Court – which is also very painful when it happens, but enough of such things. Imperial won by 205 – 120, and thus are the first team through to the semis.

Don’t count Manchester out – they had a fine BCR of 67 to Imperial’s 49, but they were beaten to the buzzer too many times in this contest. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett.

Amol Watch

Amol hailed Shane Warne as ‘my hero’. Pretty good choice I’d say and I’m not even that bothered about cricket. Just don’t have the attention span for it, I guess. Amol did say that Michael Vaughan was an appalling answer for the wonder ball question. I mean, yes, it wasn’t great, but come on Amol! You can’t be the teams’ mate and then at the same time come out with that sort of thing. It’s not big and it’s not clever.

The first encouragement – to Imperial – was issued on the ten-minute mark. Worked like a charm. The second encouragement – to Manchester – was issued about 10 minutes later. Worked like a – not so much.

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

The crested tit is featured on the emblem of The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. I just find it interesting considering that they chose it and not the more glamourous Osprey or Golden Eagle or some other such.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In Psychology what three word term denoted a number of theories of social information processing – an example being the elaboration likelihood model – which attempts to explain an approach to decision making and problem-solving by positing two separate mechanisms? The first is instinctive, unconscious and fast and the second is (incorrect buzz) slower and demands systematic reasoning.

Not ‘tossing-a-coin’ then? Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.