University Challenge Grand Final 2025 Preview

The Tale of the Tape

Christ’s Cambridge

Round	Opponents	For	Against	Margin	BCR
1	Exeter College, Cambridge	205	110	95	58
2	St. Edmund Hall	215	100	115	57
QF1	Imperial	180	160	20	60
QF2	Warwick	205	155	50	62
SF	Bristol	220	50	170	58
Total		1025	525	500	295
Average		205	101	100	59

 Warwick

1	UAE	275	125	150	68
2	Oriel, Oxford	215	110	105	70
QF1	Queen’s Belfast	215	95	120	46
QF2	Christ’s Cambridge	155	205	-50	40
QF3	UCL	220	125	95	63
SF	Darwin, Cambridge	180	160	20	61
Total		1260	800	440	340
Average		210	133	71	57

Well, I promised that I wasn’t going to make predictions about the Mastermind Grand Final this year, but I gave no such undertaking about University Challenge.

So what do the statistics tell us? Well, the first statistic that I will draw your eye towards is the fact that these two teams have met before, in the quarters. Both had won every match up to this point. It was Christ’s who had a clear fifty point win.

Christ’s have allowed an average of 101 points to be scored against them in each match, to Warwick’s 133. Their average winning margin has been 100 points, while Warwick’s has been 71. So a clear win for Christ’s then?

Well, hang on a moment. Let’s look at that quarter final meeting. For Christ’s were only 1 starter better than Warwick. That margin of victory was achieved through a BCR that was 20 percent higher than Warwick’s. When it comes to bonus conversion, Christ’s are extremely consistent, with a low of 57 percent and a high of 62. Warwick, on the other hand, although they have an average BCR of 57, are far less consistent, ranging from a low of 40 to a high of 70 percent. So, if Warwick can get close to their best BCR it changes the complexion of the match too.

Let’s think about the buzzer. Again, this is by no means clear cut. In both teams all four members buzz and get starters. Both teams have buzzing captains in the two Oscars, Despard for Christ’s and Siddle for Warwick. Both teams have brilliant starter machines in the shape of Brendan Bethlehem for Christ’s and Thomas Hart for Warwick. In the semi final Thomas Hart didn’t manage to find his buzzing range until the last ten minutes or so of the match – if this happens again he may find it’s too late to snatch victory. Brendan Bethlehem has, like his team, been remarkably consistent. He seems to know things that none of the opposition knows and that’s worth its weight in gold in UC.

So, what’s the prediction, Dave? On balance there is not really that much separating the teams. If both were to equal their best score of the series, for example, Warwick would win. However, I think that Christ’s are our more likely winners. They have a level of performance that they have ever really dropped beneath throughout the whole series.

Whatever the case, I’m really looking forward to it.

University Challenge 2025 Semi Final 2

The Teams

Darwin, Cambridge

Rebeca McClelland

Sophie Willis

Harrison Whittaker (Capt)

Rowan Stewart

Warwick

Ananya Govindarajan

Thomas Hart

Oscar Siddle

Benjamin Watson

Well, last night was second semi-final time peeps. Undefeated Darwin faced Warwick, whose only loss prior to this was to last week’s winning semi finalists, Christ’s College Cambridge. Was that a clue to the result? Not necessarily, for Darwin had never yet faced Christ’s themselves in this series. Yet.

I’ve mentioned before Thomas Hart’s dramatically raised elbow during the starters, but his skipper Oscar Siddle was doing it as well for the first starter. It didn’t help either for it was Harrison Whitaker who recognised clues to various Rachels and won the buzzer race. The abhorrent transatlantic slave trade provided three near misses but no points. Mr. Whitaker beat the combined elbows again with the next starter to identify a description of Honduras. Alcoholic drinks in Chinese sounded an interesting set and were actually easier than you might have thought. Full house to Darwin. Nobody took the next starter on obese serial wife killer and all-round git, Henry VIII. Warwick took their first starter on the next  question, but it was Ananya Govindarajan whose own buzzer work proved less showy but more effective, when delivering the answer Kirchoff. Gesundheit. Ancient Greek Grammar proved to be all Greek to me, but Warwick did manage one. Now, when I’m asked for a French philosopher’s name I do sometimes say Derrida if I don’t think it’s Sartre or Descartes. I did this with the picture starter which showed a quotation against a background of the tricouleur. So did Benjamin Watson and we were both right. More French thinkers associated with post structuralism (who has time to spend thinking about the structure of a post these days?) brought one bonus. You had to wait and wait for the next starter to become obvious, then when RIBA was mentioned Benjamin Watson won the buzzer race to give the answer architecture. Eponymous gas laws yielded nowt so Warwick led by 40 – 35 at just after the 10 minute mark.

Rowan Stewart came in too early for the next starter. Pacific island nation with lots of languages seemed certainly to point to PNG, but the mention of New Hebrides in the rest of the question allowed Oscar Siddle to get off the mark with Vanuatu. Textile art brought Warwick a full house. Having found his range the Warwick captain took a second consecutive starter with perennial crowd pleaser Elizabeth of Bohemia. Medieval Welsh poetry saw Warwick take a second consecutive full house. You and I both know that I know nowt about chemistry. Personally, I thought that pyruvate was the name of the monsters who were responsible for the destruction of Pompeii in Doctor Who but it was the correct answer to the next starter for Sophie Willis, who raised her arms skywards in joy at halting the Warwick onslaught. Books of the Hebrew Bible, the Five Megillot, brought a timely full house. For the music starter we heard the song ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’” but neither team associated this with Fats Waller. Rowan Stewart knew Dim Sum for the next starter. I’m pretty dim at sums myself. A full house of music bonuses narrowed the gap to 10 points. It was halved when Thomas Hart came in too early for the next starter but Darwin could not capitalize with La Sylphide. Oscar Siddle struck back knowing the Kariba Dam is on the Zambezi. Eponymous results in Group Theory – yeah, I know – brought two correct answers. Again Darwin struck back as the magnificent Mr. Whitaker gave the given name Charlotte for the next starter. A full house meant that the scores were level just on the cusp of 20 minutes. What a good contest.

Finally Thomas Hart managed a starter. By his very high standards last night gave him famine rations, and even now when he gave the correct answer of bitumen he thought it was wrong. German cities originally styled as Hanseatic brought two correct answers for a twenty point lead. Back came Harrison Whitaker with the term public sphere. Two bonuses on Anna Swir levelled the scores again. For the picture starter nobody could recognise a little bit of Fragonard. Now, if you’re asked in any way for a flower, give it a shot with rose. Harrison Whitaker did to take the lead. Other artworks featuring Cupid and Psyche brought just the one bonus. You felt at this stage that if either team could get 30 points ahead then the game would be over. Oscar Siddle took back 10 points of he lead with the next starter on pain receptors. Sciencey stuff represented by the letter Q gave Warwick a five point lead. Planck length – the answer to the next starter - suggests too many puns, but nobody had it. Likewise thick description – no, I’m not making this up. Again Harrison Whitaker won a buzzer race, this time to identify Gerard Manley Hopkins as the poet who wrote the Wreck of the Deutschland. Glory be to God for dappled things. Collaborations between Kurasawa and Toshiro Mifune brought two bonuses and a lead of fifteen.Thomas Hart knew that bamboo is a type of grass. I took a lap of honour for knowing the Henry is the SI unit of Inductance. Warwick took the lead by five. Thomas Hart had found his rage now and knew that the PM the Marquess of Salisbury had the given name Robert. That was the game. Yeah, Warwick had time for one bonus on European Geography but it all came down to that starter.

For the record Darwin achieved a BCR of 71 to Warwick’s 61, so it was Warwick’s buzzing which gave them just the slight advantage needed for the win. It was a wonderful match, and kudos to both teams.

Amol Watch

I love it when a question master is visibly gripped by the drama unfolding and such a man last night was Amol. The way he kept reminding us when the scores were level showed he was as invested in the outcome as we were.

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

Vanuatu has the highest linguistic density in the world

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Named after a French scientist who made the first ascent in a hydrogen balloon, which law states that the volume occupied by a fixed quantity of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature, assuming that the pressure remains constant. Je pense que ca serait dum dedumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2025 - Semi Final 1 - Christ's. Cambridge v. Bristol

The Teams

Christ’s, Cambridge

Anniko Firman

Brendan Bethlehem

Oscar Despard (Capt.)

Linus Luu

Bristol

Ted Warner

Bridie Rogers

Kevin Flanagan (Capt.)

Olivia Watts

This contest always looked as if it was going to be all about the buzzer. Christ’s had a candidate for the top buzzer finger of the whole series in Brendan Bethlehem. Skipper Oscar Despard is no slouch on the buzzer either, and both Anniko Firman and Linus Luu make important contributions with the buzzer as well. On balance, I had them slightly ahead of the very productive Ted Warner - Kevin Flaagan axis of Bristol, although Bristol have usually been able to count on Bridie Rogers and Olivia Watts for timely buzzes too.

Unusually Brendan Bethlehem buzzed in early for the first starter. That’s not unusual, but the fact that he had it wrong was. This allowed Bridie Rogers in with the name Mary, from a clue about Mary Seacole. I’ll be honest, I’ve never read The Anatomy of Melancholy – and doing so is not on my to do list – so I only managed the Keats bonus. Bristol didn’t trouble the scorer. Nothing daunted by his earlier misfire Brendan Bethlehem went early for the next starter, with the Bronze Age Collapse. This earned bonuses on Sichuan dishes which brought two correct answers and the lead. The splendidly complicated term ergative-absolutist alignment from linguistics brought Brendan Bethlehem a second consecutive starter. I took a full house on early Welsh historians while Christ’s missed out on Nennius. The first picture starter showed a diagram of the function of a bodily cell. Brendan Bethlehem earned his hattrick recognising it must be a cone cell. Parts of the eye brought two bonuses. Now, it’s been noticed on social media that here was a bit of a private contest going on between the two captains, with both Oscar Despard and Kevin Flanagan being men of Dublin – a wonderful city it was my great pleasure to visit last summer. Well, first blow in this duel was struck by Kevin Flanagan, who knew the term quantum entanglement for the next starter. Argentinian laureates in the sciences promised me nowt and delivered it, while Bristol took two. This gave us a scoreline of 55 – 30 just approaching 10 minutes.

Oscar Despard struck back in the Dublin Duel, recognising works of literature with the word Ghost in the title. The Hindu Kumbh Mela festival brought us both just the one bonus. Oscar Despard knew Bill Phillips of the eponymous curve for the next starter which earned the extremely dubious honour of bonuses of sociological approaches to love. Sometimes I think they just make these categories up to see if anyone calls them on it. None of the questions mentioned the work of Jennifer Rush, Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Huey Lewis and the News (ask your parents) so I was out with the washing. Christ’s managed one. Oscar Despard clinched his own hattrick by recognising references to cymbals. Geographical Regions of South America saw Christ’s use the old quizzer’s trick of giving the one answer they knew to each question until it was right. So to the music round and it was classical this time. Unusually I recognised it, a little bit of Wagner (who also starred in Hart to Hart in the 80s) while neither team had it. I’ll be honest, when I hear ‘part of the brain’ I often say hippocampus, and Oscar Despard took his fourth starter with the same. Christ’s managed one of the music bonuses that followed. Brendan Bethlehem took the next starter on Colorado. A couple of bonuses on – well, I think it might have been maths but to be honest Amol could have read them out in Finnish and they would  have made no less sense to me – brought a couple of correct answers. An Italian name followed by ‘film director’ meant that the film in question for the next starter had to be 81/2 and Oscar Despard won the buzzer race for that one. Archigram? Don’t ask me, but it was the subject for the bonuses, bringing both of us just the one with the Centre Georges Pompidou (Pompidou being the Argentinian goalkeeper in the 1986 FIA World Cup, I believe.) It completed a ten minute shutout for Christ’s who now led by 155 - 30.

Brendan Bethlehem knew the Italian musical term con legno, named after the popular Italian cartoon character Fogorno Conlegno. US presidential elections where the candidate who wo the popular vote lost out in the electoral college (if you know about the US electoral system then you already know what that means and if you don’t, well, that’s what Google is for. Remember kids, every day’s a school day.) brought us both a full house. I knew the building in the second picture starter was associated with the Vienna Secessionists, but neither team did. I love it that Mimas is nicknamed the Death Star. Kevin Flanagan had that one. People associated with the Vienna Secession inevitably included Gustav Klimt, although not Egon Schiele, which limited me to just the one correct answer on the picture bonuses. The same went for Bristol. The Lieber Code did nowt for any of us. That man Bethlehem knew that the first sin depicted in Dante’s Inferno is Pride. Geographical names ending in Va brough two correct  answers to Christ’s and they were unlucky not to quite get the first. I answered carotene to the next starter, while the teams tried alpha carotene and beta carotene. I was right by Amol’s ruling and so claimed my lap of honour around the sofa. Brendan Bethlehem knew monasteries in the Meteora earning bouses on the films of Park Chan Wook. Two correct answers fell to the Christ’s juggernaut. Finally Ted Warner took a starter with the Bystander effect. He’s been so excellent on the buzzer this series it would have been a real shame if he had not managed at least one in the semi-final. There was only time for one starter on non-Newtonian fluids. Christ’s were in the final, having won by 220 to 50.

Well, let’s be honest. With their dominance on the buzzer Christ’s probably didn’t need a great Bonus Conversion Rate. As it was, theirs was pretty good at 58. Poor old Bristol had relatively few bonus chances and this means that their BCR of 30 looks a worse than it really was. It’s not fair to hang the gold medal around Christ’s’ collective neck at this point, but it looks as if it will take a hell of a performance to deprive them of it.

Amol Watch

Well done again, sir. A fine show that you handled with a lightness of touch that helped make it such a enjoyable experience. Again, I agree with the rather strict ruling on the carotene starter. Sorry, but it’s either the right answer to the question that is actually asked, or it’s not.

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

Saturn’s moon Mimas is nicknamed the Death Star because of a large crater on it.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Which German mathematician, born in 1826, gives his name to a definite integral that may be defined as the limit of the sum of the areas of regular partitions of the area under a curve between two integrals, as the width of these two partitions approaches zero?

Umm. . . would the answer be dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum?

University Challenge 2025 - Quarter Final Sudden Death - Queen's, Belfast v. Bristol

The Teams

Queen’s University, Belfast

Sarah Carlisle

Jason McKillen

Daniel Rankin (Capt)

Sam Thompson

Bristol

Ted Warner

Bridie Rogers

Kevin Flanagan (Capt)

Olivia Watts

Here we are then, the last gasp of this year’s quarter finals. We’ve take up semi-permanent residence in the last chance saloon; since last week every match left is sudden death.

Both of the teams had one buzzer they could rely on for a steady stream of starters – Daniel Rankin of Queen’s and Ted Warner of Bristol. So it would pretty much come down to which team could supplement their star buzzer best and which could do most with the bonuses they earned. Daniel Rankin struck the first blow for his team, knowing that the Hebrew term shophet is used for a Judge in the Bible. Scottish architect Thomas ‘Housing’ S. Tait (see what I did there?) brought just the one bonus. Ted Warner struck back immediately for Bristol with the writer Joan ‘Who?’ Didion. Former Dutch colonies in the Americas brought two bonuses. Ted Warner recognised a series of events that all occurred during the reign of the longest reigning Plantagenet king, Henry III. Long term scientific experiments promised me nowt but I did know that the biggest killer yutta yutta is cardiovascular diseases, so took one to Bristol’s 2 and wheezed my way around the sofa on my lap of honour. For the picture starter we had the final stage direction of a modern play. None of us knew “Our Country’s Good.” Well, on a good day, anyway. I’ll admit I could see where Daniel Rankin was coming from when he buzzed in early with Hubble for the next starter, but was incorrect. So this told me to go for the other Big Bang man with Lemaitre. It had to be that or Doctor Sheldon Cooper. Kevin Flanagan shook his head as he buzzed in with Lemaitre, but it was right. The stage directions picture bonuses escaped Bristol, but I did correctly guess Noises Off. Max Ernst’s paining of Saint Anthony brought Bristol the next starter. Fine art in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky brought us both two correct answers. Bristol led by 70 – 10, and looked decent value for their lead too.

Daniel Rankin narrowed the gap with the next starter on the word belt. Hmm – word belt– that sounds like a type of puzzle in a newspaper. You heard it here first, folks. Queen’s were not rubbing their collective hands together when they got a set on the Japanese Takarazuka theatre company and none of us troubled the scorer on that set. Still, Daniel Rankin does tend to devour film starters and he knew film editor Thelma Schoonmaker (wasn’t she Fred Flintstone’s mother-in-law?) for the next. Bonuses on me old cock linnet brought a smile to the face and one correct answer to Queen’s. The fact that two consecutive starter and bonus sets had yielded just twenty five points highlights how difficult Queen’s were finding it to make headway. For the music starter Sam Thompson suggested Raye, and to be fair it did sound like Corinne Bailey Raye. Well more than it sounded like Ted Ray (Ask your grandparents) Bristol’s suggestion of Amy Winehouse earned Amol’s scorn. Nobody knew the term International Gothic for the next starter. Olivia Watts knew Lewis, the photon man and earned the music bonuses on Neo Soul practitioners. Neo Soul – tough on music, tough on the causes of music. Only one was taken. The island of Bioko is in Equatorial Guinea. Ted Warner knew that. Me? Never even heard of it. Topologicians ( if the word doesn’t exist you can credit me with coining it) brought little to any of us, just the one for Bristol. Daniel Rankin identified the first known person of African descent to vote in a British election as Sancho. Philosopher Queens brought a couple of bonuses keeping Queen’s within contention. Opera Verismo escaped all of us. So as we zeroed in on the 20 minute mark Bristol led by 90 – 50.

Ted Warner stretched the gap by knowing the answer modern synthesis for the next starter. East Asian cities brought two bonuses and Bristol rolled on closer to victory. Nobody identified the statue of Scott of the Antarctic by his wife – it seemed like insult to injury when one of the teams identified him as Amundsen. Olivia Watts knew the term tempering chocolate and this won the picture bonuses. Mrs of the Antarctic was a fine sculptor and we saw three more of her works. Bristol took two of them. By this stage Ted Warner was snapping up anything that Queen’s were uncertain of and he knew the Robbers Cave Experiment for the next starter. Ancient regions of Asia Minor brought one bonus but that was enough to give Bristol a 100 point lead. Algorithms to find the shortest path to something brought Kevin Flanagan the next starter. Robert Burns Woodward brought a full house and extinguished the faintest flicker of Queen’s hopes. Kevin Flanagan took a double with the next starter and Gerlach Peak, the highest mountain in the Carpathians. Health economics didn’t bring much to the Bristol total, but what did it matter at this stage. Daniel Rankin knew that the Zand dynasty ruled the Iranian Empire to earn three bonuses on Shakin Shakespeare brought just one bonus. Ted Warner knew Baltimore for the answer to the next starter, about the American city that took its name from the performer of unforgettable 80s hit “Tarzan Boy”. Notable students of Arnold Sommerfeld were the last set of bonuses and the gong sounded while the third was being read out. Bristol comfortably won by 200 – 65.

Sometimes it’s not your night and you get the feeling that this is as far as your campaign goes. Queen’s were comfortably outbuzzed and also they had one of their lowest BCRs of the whole series with 33. When it ain’t your night that’s the way the questions fall for you. Bristol finished with 51 and earned their place in the last four.

Amol Watch

After the first picture starter went unanswered Amol announced “We’ll take your picture bonuses when we get started, right. I think those picture bonuses might take some time.” When I first watched I thought he was criticising the teams but now I think it may well have been the question setters. Bit uncalled for, whatever the case.

Also a bit uncalled for was his reaction to the teams’ failure to recognise Erykah Badu. I mean, she might be a household name chez Rajan, but she ain’t in LAM Towers either.

I have to pay tribute to Amol’s genuine warmth when commiserating with the teams – his words about Daniel Rankin’s last gasp sudden death buzzing in a previous match was a very nice touch.

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

My Old Man/ Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way is actually about a couple doing a moonlight flit. Gawd alone knows how I’ve managed 6 decades on this Earth without figuring that out before.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Which Polish mathematician gives his name to a theorem which states that every contraction mapping on a complex metric space has a unique fixed space. Short but deadly. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge Quarter Final Sudden Death - Warwick v. UCL

The Teams

Warwick

Ananya Govindarajan

Thomas Hart

Oscar Siddle (Capt)

Benjamin Watson

UCL

Calum Jack

Josh Mandel

Olivia Holtermann Entwistle (Capt)

Sanjay Prabhakar

Okay peeps, we’ve retained our seat in the last chance saloon from last week, the difference being that now the prize is qualification for the semi finals. For the losers, well it’s still on yer bike I’m afraid.

Benjamin Watson knew two video games with the word Valley in the title to take the first starter. The Vitra Furniture company is a new one on me, so is its Well am Rhein campus. So I was pretty pleased to get two of the architecture bonuses about it. Warwick managed a full house. Now, the Rebecca Riots have been a staple of the secondary school History syllabus probably since the 19th century, so I knew the next starter. Thomas Hart took his first starter with this one. It would not be his last. A beautiful UC special set on years of multiple Roman Emperors provided us both with a full house. A ridiculously long starter followed. I hardly understood a word, but Scientist and Saturn was enough to give me Cassini and it worked for Josh Mandel too. Maud ‘Who’ Menten brought me a lap of honour for guessing enzymes for the first bonus. This was the only one UCL managed too although they were a lot closer with the others than I was. For the picture starter we had a quotation from an Ancient Greek Philosopher in Ancient Greek. Sanjay Prabhakar identified the work of Aristotle (Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle). More of the same followed and by the expedient of answering Socrates to every bonus I took one of them. That was the only one that UCL didn’t get. More philosophy followed with the next starter, where Thomas Hart identified references to Edmund Husserl. No, me neither. A nice set on locations in Wales beginning with Aber brought two bonuses. Did you know that the welsh name for Milford Haven – Aberdaugleddau – means – at the mouth of the two (river) Cleddaus? I think. This meant that Warwick led by 70-30 on 10 minutes.

Sanjay Prabhakar knew the play Hippolytus. Nuffin’ light about a hippo mate - said I to no one in particular. (I have a strict quota of Dad jokes to fulfil each day). Good old Ted Hughes followed. I am afraid I can never hear the name Ted Hughes without thinking of a couple of English students at Goldies the same time I was who would chant ‘The Wife Murderer!’ every time his name was mentioned in lectures or seminars. We both took a full house on this set. Calum Jack knew the Japanese term ronin (Keating? Kemp? The Accuser?) for the next starter. People with the given name Louise brought the one bonus that they needed to level the scores. Thomas Hart knew Extracellular Matrix – which may have been a rejected title for one of the later films, to earn bonuses on fractionation. I won’t pretend that I understood any of them but I guessed G stood for gravity. Which gave me one more bonus than Warwick got. The music starter saw Thomas Hart recognise the work of Mussorgsky from his well-known opera about a pub landlady, Doris Godunov. More operas where the composers wrote their own librettos brought two bonuses and took Warwick into triple figures. Thomas Hart was on a roll and Amol had hardly mentioned Rubens before he gave the correct answer of Marie de Medici. National flags containing a common element – a phrygian cap – (an ancient form of birth control?) were a rather lovely set and they brought Warwick a full house. Calum Jack, doing a sterling job for his team, knew Korean culinary speciality Gochujang for the next starter. The Italian Cinecitta film studios brought two bonuses. Benjamin Watson worked out that the African Lake asked for in the next starter must be Lake Chad. The 9 completed symphonies of Gustav Mahler brought two bonuses and meant that Warwick led by 145 – 90 at the 20 minute mark. Game over? No, but it only seemed to be going in one direction.

NMR, I thought, was a music paper from the 80s, but apparently had something to do with nuclear magnetic resonance. That man Hart had that. Sporting venues ending with Road served to slow the Warwick onslaught as they left the table empty handed. Only for a moment as Oscar Siddle recognised the work of Caillebotte in the second picture starter. Works by other contemporaries gifted by him to the nation brought them two correct answers. Neither team knew poet Elizabeth Bishop for the next starter. Benjamin Wason knew Paul Krugman – who went on to play Quincy on TV, surely – and earned bonuses on ring theory in Maths. Polymath Thomas Hart ensured a full house. Me? Don’t be ridiculous. With the lead at more than 100 Calum Jack got UCL back into the game with the word pile. The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (was a real pissant) brought a full house. Nobody knew that Eugene Parker was the first living person to have a spacecraft named after them. Thomas Hart knew that the US state with the motto about being a pleasant peninsula was Michigan. I’d have been wrong with Florida, like Josh Mendel was. Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, Sharif of Mecca, brought a single bonus, but it was looking immaterial to the result of the match. Josh Mandel and I worked out that the Chinese dynasty referred to in the next starter had to be the Ming. Writers published by Virago brought UCL just the one bonus. Thomas Hart took his last of 8 starters knowing figures from British history featured in operas by Donizetti. The rather tenuous terms in Science sharing their last three letters with the last letters of names of South American Capitals allowed no time to add more points. Warwick won by 220 – 125.

For the record, Warwick, with Thomas Hart in such inspiring form comprehensively outbuzzed UCL, while their BCR of 63 was slightly better than UCL’s 62.

Amol Watch

Credit where it’s due. Amol put on a pretty flawless performance in this match. Loving your work, sir.

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

Kenilworth Road is the smallest ground in Premier League History.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

Born in the Republic of Genoa in 1625 which astronomer gives his name to a family of quartic curves described by a point such that the product of its distance from two fixed points positioned 2A apart is a constant B squared, which take the shape of a single oval or dog bone when A is less than B, a lemniscate when A is equal to B, and a pair of unlinked ovals when A is greater than B? He also gives his name to a dark region on Saturn’s moon Iapetus and the gaps between Saturn’s A and –

Honestly! Forget all the other gobbledygook – all you needed in this question was Italian scientist and Saturn! Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.

University Challenge 2025 - Quarter final qualification match - Darwin, Cambridge v. Bristol

The Teams

Darwin, Cambridge

Rebecca McClelland

Sophie Willis

Harrison Whitaker (Capt.)

Rowan Stewart

Bristol

Ted Warner

Bridie Rogers

Kevin Flanagan (Capt.)

Olivia Watts

Well, after all the excitement earlier in the evening in Mastermindland were we, I wondered, in for a wee bit of a change of pace in UC? Probably not. For this was another qualification match. To the winners a place in the semis and to the losers a bar stool in the last chance saloon.

I will confess that I didn’t really get where we were heading with Iris van Herpen’s skeleton dress for the first starter, however it was Darwin’s top buzzer who did. Harrison Whitaker knew that this must have been the first dress made by 3D printer. Good shout. - Norse Myths as chronicled in Gylfaginning - announced Amol. Yum yum, announced I. I had the lot, but only the last one, Bifrost the Rainbow Bridge was at all easy, and this was the one bonus Darwin took. Bristol’s top buzzer, Ted Warner took the next starter knowing the Mukden Incident, among others. Muk Den was the main character in the Beijing based version of Eastenders back in the 80s, I believe. Winners of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival brought us both just the one point for Pride. For once I awarded myself a lap of honour for something other than a Science question. I know as little about video games as I do about Science so when I correctly guessed the Final Fantasy series of games for the next starter, off around the Clark sofa I trotted. Ted Warner gave Bristol the lead with that one. Amol announced a set of bonuses on proteins and my mind went back to sleep for a bit. Bristol took two, and received an apology from Amol that he couldn’t accept the third. For the picture starter we saw a map and a vinyl disc. The vinyl disc contained a photograph of a recording artist. The map showed the location of a town or city mentioned in the name of a well known song recorded by the artist. Olivia Watts knew it was Aretha Franklin so the city had to be San Jose. Ah, but she didn’t ask Amol if he knew the way to San Jose so was right, but didn’t get the starter. Rebecca McClelland knew Nobel Laureate Felix ‘Everybody in the whole cell’ Bloch for the next starter. This earned the picture bonuses. The last answer was Tina Turner and Nutbush City Limits, which I once thought was about Rupert Bear’s home town. Darwin took a single bonus. Nobody knew the Rhinemaidens for the next starter but Darwin lost five. So at the ten minute mark Bristol led 35 – 25.

Now, thanks to Alex Haley’s “Roots” I knew the term griot for the next starter.  Harrison Whitaker knew it as well. Gloria Steinem brought a full house which pogoed Darwin into the lead. I haven’ t heard of the Crying of Lot 49 but Harrison Whitaker was in quickly for it. Medieval philosophy provided a second consecutive full house to give Darwin fifty points on the bounce. Centimorgan? Me? Nope, but it gave Ted Warner the next starter. The artist Barbara Walker brought just one bonus, but Bristol will have to view that particular set as a missed opportunity. With the next starter we had to wait and wait until suddenly it became clear we were looking for the mother of invention. Harrison Whitaker won the buzzer race to say necessity. Science stuff brought a full house, and Darwin had a fifty point lead. I was very pleased with my guess of Poulenc for the music starter – nobody else had it. Ted Warner knew an inlet of the Caspian Sea and this earned him the music bonuses on Les Six. A full house halved the gap between the teams. Bridie Rogers knew trochlea and trochlear for the next starter. Ways of preparing vegetables for cooking did not include the classic British method of boil the bejeesus out of them. We both took the same one with Julien. Darwin lost five with an early interruption for the next starter, allowing Ted Warner in with the cocktail party problem. Women and the Mexican Revolution brought just the one bonus. So as we zeroed in on the 20 minute mark Bristol led by 105 – 95. Anyone’s game.

Harrison Whitaker traced the Lords Appellant to the reign of Richard II, without mentioning the Lords Repellant in every reign since. 3 questions on the element Mercury brought two bonuses. So to the second picture starter and Kevin Flanagan identified a beautiful painting by Rousseau. Bonuses on three more carnival scenes brought two correct answers. French philosopher Lyotard gave Harrison Whitaker another starter. The literary magazine Blast brought Darwin two correct answers. A good old quiz chestnut about the acid present in culinary vinegars saw both teams hesitate before Olivia Watts gave the answer of acetic acid. A really tricky set on semantics yielded nowt. All square again. “The Journey Across the Heath” was the clue that we wanted The Return of the Native for he next starter. Ted Warner zigged with Tess of the D’Urbervilles. This allowed Harrison Whitaker in with the right answer. European place names beginning with the English name of a culinary herb – eg – Dillenburg – brought just the one bonus, when a full house would have been possible. Nobody knew Don Giovanni for the next starter. Captain Kevin Flanagan knew that Marie Curie would be he right answer to the next starter. Historical fashion brought nowt and Bristol still trailed by 10. Olivia Wats wiped this out recognising a starter alluding to the Japanese Tea Ceremony. They got one bonus wrong, and then came the bong. Another tie break! For once, I also knew the answer to it. I knew my favourite poem, Ode to Autumn ends with “Gathering swallows twitter in the sky”. So did Harrison Whitaker. On such small margins. Darwin went straight through to the semi final.

It seems an obvious thing to say that there wasn’t much in it. Darwin were slightly outbuzzed by Bristol. However their BCR of 67 kept them in the game. Bristol won two more starters than Darwin did, but their bonus conversion rate of 38 meant they couldn’t seal the deal in full time.

Amol Watch

Whatever else I say about Amol, I freely admit that he consistently gets it right with his rulings on whether answers are acceptable or not. Yes, I know that he probably has direction coming into his ear about this, but his “I’m so sorry, I can’t accept that Olivia, I did ask for the full title of the song. . . “ just strikes the right note. I yield to no one in my admiration for Jeremy Paxman, but sometimes his rejoinders in such cases were tantamount to insult being added to injury. While I’m praising Amol, I like the way he makes it clear just how much fun he’s having. His reaction to Tina Turner’s Chattanooga Choo Choo from Darwin was rather infectious.

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

The cocktail party problem is a term describing the phenomenon of selective attention wherein someone can attend to a single auditory stimulus tuning out surrounding noises.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

In enzymology, the Km is the substrate concentration where half of the maximum rate of reaction is reached. The letters Km stand for which constant?

I was fine up to ‘in’. Dum de dumdum dum dum dum dum dumdum.