As the traditional end of term malaise - and the far less traditional post - inspection malaise - set in, I found myself with a little unexpected time on my hands this week, hence the recent glut of posts in my blog. In the IQAGB discussion forum there's been an interesting discussion going on in the last couple of weeks regarding the BBC's policy as regards reappearences on Mastermind. For the record, the policy from 1972 until the start of the 1995 series was that once you have appeared on the show, then you were never allowed to have another go. This policy changed in time for the 1995 series, enabling Kevin Ashman, a former semi finalist, to win , and set the record score for the show. From then on the only people who weren't allowed to have another go were former champions.
Where the confusion arises is that its not entirely clear how long anyone has to wait between appearing, and reapplying. For those who get knocked out in the first round, you don't have to wait at all. I lost my first round match in 2006, but went on to win in the very next series. I did think that there was a policy of having to wait longer if you were a losing semi finalist, or even longer if your were a losing finalist - but that doesn't seem to be quite the case.
There is a body of opinion that allowing people to reapply weakens the purity of the show - and people who say this have every right to their opinion. Still, the policy is what it is, and I don't really want to carry on the debate here. So why am I writing this ? Well, when I started thinking abou tthe issue I found that what really interests me is the number of people who have made multiple appearences. I have been trawling through my records, and I must apologise that my figures and stats only include the various BBC Mastermind TV and Radio series. This is not to demean or belittle Discovery Mastermind in any way. Is simply because I haven't been able to get hold of any detailed records of who actually appeared in the Discovery series. I may be mistaken, but I do also think that the rounds format was a bit different from the conventional BBC heat - semi final - final arrangement too. So , going by the 1972 - 1997 Magnus Magnusson version - the Radio 4 Peter Snow version - and the John Humphrys BBCTV version, this is what I found. Apologies are extended to all concerned if these figures are inaccurate in any way - I have tried my best to be painstaking, but we are all only human.
I make it that 2 contenders - Hamish Cameron and Ann Kelly - have both appeared 5 times. Hamish also has an additional 3 semi final appearences, and you have to say that he was unlucky not to make the final in 2007. Hamish is one of a select band of contenders who have played in 3 semi finals - nobody so far has reached four semis.
Also in the select band of triple semi finalists are Isabelle Heward, Sheila Altree, Geoff Thomas, and Wendy Forrester. Isabelle and Sheila are quadruple contenders, and Geoff and Wendy triple contenders - although I am sure that Geoff was also a contender in Discovery Mastermind. I'll deal with Geoff in a moment, but Isabelle, Sheila and Wendy surely mark themselves out alongside Hamish as among the finest contenders never to reach a Mastermind final - so far. Sheila, of course, is one of my sparring partners from last year, when we met in the semi final. She has her own very special place in the history of Mastermind. She has three times earned her place in a semi final but only appeared in 2 semi finals. Her second appearence in the first round was before the lifting of the ban in 95, and so when she won her heat she was disqualified before the semi was filmed.
Geoff is the only multiple contender - for my purposes I define a multiple contender as one who has appeared in three or more series - to go on and win the title. His epic 2006 win saw him set a John Humphrys era record score of 36.
There is one other contender who twice reached a final. Roger Stein doesn't make our list of multiple contenders since he has only taken part in two series, but both times he did he made the final.
For the record , I make it that there are 2 quintuple contenders, 8 quadruple contenders, and no fewer than 23 triple contenders. Of these 33 multiple contenders, no fewer than 20 are women. Out of interest, 22 of our multiple contenders reached at least one semi final. Of these 22 - 12 are women. 8 of our multiple contenders have reached a final. Of these 8, 6 are men and 2 are women. I'm not trying to make some deep and meaningful point about the difference between the sexes.I just find it interesting that , bearing in mind that far fewer women take part in Mastermind than men, more women go on to become multiple contenders than men.
If we leave the gender issue aside, then we can say that proportionately more quadruple contenders make finals than quintuple or triple contenders.So, my rather tongue in cheek conclusions are that your best chance of appearing in a semi final, or a final, is to appear in four series. Then remembering what I've already said about specialist subjects in a previous blog, your best bet is to take something literary when you do appear, which will also increase your chances. However, unfortunately, the evidence such as it is suggests that once you go past your 4th series, your chances start to decline.
Actually, I never meant to get so bogged down with the stats when I started writing this. Really, it was just the fact that the discussion on the forum made me think about just how many people had made multiple appearences, and why you'd do it. I mean I say this, but if I hadn't won last year there's every good chance I would have gone on to become a multiple contender myself. Curiously enough, I think that if I had lost in the final, then that might have been enough, and I might have been satisfied enough to call it a day. If I had lost in the semis, then I'm sure I would have applied again.
As to why people make multiple appearences, I can only talk about what I actually know. Personally I have played against quadruple contender Sheila Altree, and triple contender Alastair Finch in the 2007 semi final, and quadruple contender Stewart Cross, and triple contender Derek Moody in the 2007 final. But I can't say that we really talked about why they all kept coming back for more. In Alastair's case, in his previous two appearences he'd lost in the first round, and been very unsatisfied with his own performance in General Knowledge in one of them, so I guess it was as much about proving a pint to himself as anything else. I did ask him after the show if he felt it was likely that he'd apply again or not, and he said that he probably wouldn't now. I had no idea about Sheila's chequered history with the show until months later when I read about her in Magnus Magnusson's "I've Started So I'll Finish " - the beautifully written history of the first 25 years of the show. When Alastair was telling us all about his previous appearences Sheila didn't share any of her own previous experiences. Stewart is interesting because he has appeared in all the different BBC versions of the show. He'd never made it as far as the semis in any of his previous appearences - perhaps there was an element of giving it one last shot there. As for Derek, in his previous appearence he'd been the highest scoring loser, and stand in for the final, so you can see that it really must have been a case of unfinished business for him.
Out of interest, there are currently 5 champions who appeared in at least one earlier series unsuccessfully. These are
Kevin Ashman - semi finalist 1987 - winner 1995
Robert Gibson - semi finalist 1993 - winner 1998
Christopher Carter - contender 1984 - winner 1999
Geoff Thomas - semi finalist 1994 - finalist 2003 - winner 2006
David Clark - contender 2006 - winner 2007
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
Scrooge or Fezziwig ?
The Annual Dilemma - to be Scrooge or Fezziwig ?
This is the first year since 1994 that I haven't actually written a quiz to be played over the Christmas period. My last was played on December 4th, and my next scheduled one will be on January 15th. This is not through choice or design - its just the way that things happen to have fallen out this year. For many of the 13 years that I have been one of the regular setters for the Aberavon Rugby club's Thursday night quiz just two of us have kept it going, but at the moment there are more regular setters than you can shake a stick at, and so my next turn falls after the holiday period. Such is life, and at least it saves me from the dilemma that faces all quiz compilers at this time of year - whether you should be Scrooge or Fezziwig.
In case this all sounds rather too cryptic, I'll explain what I'm driving at here. Nobody needs me to explain that 'Scrooge' refers to Ebeneezer Scrooge, of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Probably most people also know of Mr. Fezziwig - Scrooge's master who knew better than most how to have a good old fashioned Christmas knees-up. So what I'm trying to say is that as a question master setting a quiz over the Christmas period, you have to decide whether you will be a 'Bah, Humbug, we'll have no Christmas questions in my quiz, Scrooge' of a question master , or a 'Mince pies all round, we'll have a whole quiz all just about Christmas, Fezziwig' of a question master. I'll be honest, I usually veer more towards Scrooge, with perhaps one question per round about Christmas thrown in as a sop. You see, basically, in my experience, being as honest, broad minded and fair as I can be, I have to say that, by and large, as a rule, speaking as I find, without beating about the bush . . . themed quizzes usually suck.
To be fair, any quiz which concentrates on one subject, or one topic to the detriment of all others is usually rather unenjoyable. I don't apply this criticism to specialist sports quizzes, or specialist entertainment quizzes. Within both of those genres there is such a diverse wealth of subjects and topics you can still use that you can still have a quiz full of variety and interest, especially if the QM works with care and craft. However, finding between fifty and eighty questions about Christmas, for example, is a tall order, and as a result such quizzes do tend to be very samey.
I mention all of this because I'm attending just such a quiz this coming Sunday. Normally my friend John and I try to never visit the same Sunday quiz more than once a fortnight. I apologise to readers if this sounds arrogant, but you can wear out your welcome very quickly if you keep winning every week, and so only playing in each of them once a fortnight does mean that another team can win every other week. Last Sunday was the turn of the Culverhouse hotel. At the end we had just agreed with each other that we'd go to the Haywain the next week, when the question master announced that this Sunday all the questions will be about Christmas. John, it appears, has been swotting up, and is absolutely determined that it doesn't go to waste. At the moment, John knows everything you could possibly expect to be asked in a Christmas Quiz. For example - did you know that Santa actually had 10 reindeer ? I didn't. I thought he had the traditional 8 - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Blitzen, Donner and Vixen - plus Rudolf to make nine. The other one is called Olive, apparently.
Hence we'll be going back to the Culverhouse this week.
For the record, the worst ever themed quizzes I've played in were : -
In Bronze Medal Position: -
Ten years ago I attended a quiz in Uplands Swansea - can't remember the name of the pub - which had a Guy Fawkes themed quiz. Tenuous is not the word.
In Silver Medal Position : -
The West House in Bridgend produced a Halloween themed quiz of stunning tedium a few years ago. There's only so many questions you should ever ask about bats in one evening.
In Gold Medal Position : -
For several years in the late 90s and early Noughties a non quizzer at Aberavon insisted on setting a Wales themed quiz in the rugby club every year for St. David's Day. Now, I totally accept that Wales is wonderful place, and you could easily compile a quiz where every question had a welsh dimension, and yet you still had a wide variety of sport, entertainment, history, geography, natural world etc. etc. Unfortunately the guy who used to do the quiz seemed blissfully unaware of this. Almost all of the 80 questions he would ask in the course of the evening would be about people who had lived in Merthyr Tydfil in the 19th century. Actually I'm being unfair. Some of them had lived in Aberystwyth. I think that the top score ever achieved in one of his quizzes was about 33 out of 80, but it never daunted him from trotting out almost exactly the same quiz for several years running, until attendance for the St. David's Day quiz tailed off so much that on the very last running of his quiz the entire population of the pub numbered a grand total of 12 -which consisted of himself and the scorer - one team of 4 - and half a dozen packets of pork scratchings. Rumour has it that the pork scratchings won, but this has been disputed since.
Just in case anyone has been on tenterhooks sinc my post last week concerning walkovers, we didn't after all take a beating last night in the rugby club, but won from Rob's team by a satisfyingly close 2 points.
This is the first year since 1994 that I haven't actually written a quiz to be played over the Christmas period. My last was played on December 4th, and my next scheduled one will be on January 15th. This is not through choice or design - its just the way that things happen to have fallen out this year. For many of the 13 years that I have been one of the regular setters for the Aberavon Rugby club's Thursday night quiz just two of us have kept it going, but at the moment there are more regular setters than you can shake a stick at, and so my next turn falls after the holiday period. Such is life, and at least it saves me from the dilemma that faces all quiz compilers at this time of year - whether you should be Scrooge or Fezziwig.
In case this all sounds rather too cryptic, I'll explain what I'm driving at here. Nobody needs me to explain that 'Scrooge' refers to Ebeneezer Scrooge, of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Probably most people also know of Mr. Fezziwig - Scrooge's master who knew better than most how to have a good old fashioned Christmas knees-up. So what I'm trying to say is that as a question master setting a quiz over the Christmas period, you have to decide whether you will be a 'Bah, Humbug, we'll have no Christmas questions in my quiz, Scrooge' of a question master , or a 'Mince pies all round, we'll have a whole quiz all just about Christmas, Fezziwig' of a question master. I'll be honest, I usually veer more towards Scrooge, with perhaps one question per round about Christmas thrown in as a sop. You see, basically, in my experience, being as honest, broad minded and fair as I can be, I have to say that, by and large, as a rule, speaking as I find, without beating about the bush . . . themed quizzes usually suck.
To be fair, any quiz which concentrates on one subject, or one topic to the detriment of all others is usually rather unenjoyable. I don't apply this criticism to specialist sports quizzes, or specialist entertainment quizzes. Within both of those genres there is such a diverse wealth of subjects and topics you can still use that you can still have a quiz full of variety and interest, especially if the QM works with care and craft. However, finding between fifty and eighty questions about Christmas, for example, is a tall order, and as a result such quizzes do tend to be very samey.
I mention all of this because I'm attending just such a quiz this coming Sunday. Normally my friend John and I try to never visit the same Sunday quiz more than once a fortnight. I apologise to readers if this sounds arrogant, but you can wear out your welcome very quickly if you keep winning every week, and so only playing in each of them once a fortnight does mean that another team can win every other week. Last Sunday was the turn of the Culverhouse hotel. At the end we had just agreed with each other that we'd go to the Haywain the next week, when the question master announced that this Sunday all the questions will be about Christmas. John, it appears, has been swotting up, and is absolutely determined that it doesn't go to waste. At the moment, John knows everything you could possibly expect to be asked in a Christmas Quiz. For example - did you know that Santa actually had 10 reindeer ? I didn't. I thought he had the traditional 8 - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Blitzen, Donner and Vixen - plus Rudolf to make nine. The other one is called Olive, apparently.
Hence we'll be going back to the Culverhouse this week.
For the record, the worst ever themed quizzes I've played in were : -
In Bronze Medal Position: -
Ten years ago I attended a quiz in Uplands Swansea - can't remember the name of the pub - which had a Guy Fawkes themed quiz. Tenuous is not the word.
In Silver Medal Position : -
The West House in Bridgend produced a Halloween themed quiz of stunning tedium a few years ago. There's only so many questions you should ever ask about bats in one evening.
In Gold Medal Position : -
For several years in the late 90s and early Noughties a non quizzer at Aberavon insisted on setting a Wales themed quiz in the rugby club every year for St. David's Day. Now, I totally accept that Wales is wonderful place, and you could easily compile a quiz where every question had a welsh dimension, and yet you still had a wide variety of sport, entertainment, history, geography, natural world etc. etc. Unfortunately the guy who used to do the quiz seemed blissfully unaware of this. Almost all of the 80 questions he would ask in the course of the evening would be about people who had lived in Merthyr Tydfil in the 19th century. Actually I'm being unfair. Some of them had lived in Aberystwyth. I think that the top score ever achieved in one of his quizzes was about 33 out of 80, but it never daunted him from trotting out almost exactly the same quiz for several years running, until attendance for the St. David's Day quiz tailed off so much that on the very last running of his quiz the entire population of the pub numbered a grand total of 12 -which consisted of himself and the scorer - one team of 4 - and half a dozen packets of pork scratchings. Rumour has it that the pork scratchings won, but this has been disputed since.
Just in case anyone has been on tenterhooks sinc my post last week concerning walkovers, we didn't after all take a beating last night in the rugby club, but won from Rob's team by a satisfyingly close 2 points.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
TV Extra
Only Connect Monday 15th December 8:30pm
Semi final number 2 saw the the Lapsed Psychologists take on the Bankers. The Bankers struggled in the first round, and picked up no points to trail 4 - 0, only to come roaring back in the second round - the what comes last in the sequence round - to lead 6-5. The connections wall did for them, though. The lapsed Psychologists took their time to get started, but a last minute flurry saw them complete the wall to earn maximum points. Unfortunately the Bankers failed to unravel any of their wall. Neither team exactly covered themselves with glory in the missing vowels round, but the Lapsed Psychologists emerged comfortable winners. so they go forward to meet the Crossworders next week. If I was a betting man then my money would be on the Crossworders, but you never know - anything can happen in a two horse race.
University Challenge
Lincoln College Oxford took on The University of St. Andrews in another enjoyable tussle. An otherwise fairly mellow Jeremy Paxman growled at the start that he wasn't going to go through the rules, since the teams shouldn't even be there if they didn't already know how to play. It was clear from pretty early on that Lincoln College had the measure of their opponents, and finished just a shade short of the magical 300 point mark. Paxman himself said at the end that he felt that the contest had seemed rather closer than the score suggested, and in a funny way I know exactly what he meant. You weren't so conscious of St. Andrews not answering, but I would guess that their bonus conversion rate was quite a bit down on Lincoln's.
Celebrity Eggheads
Well, we've had celebrity everything else in the last few years, so why not celebrity Eggheads. On Monday Nicky Campbell and assorted Radio 5 Live luminaries took on and inevitably lost to a team of the 5 original Eggies. Then on Tuesday Judith sat out and Barry came in against a team of BBC Breakfast News newsreaders. Judith lost on Music on Monday, C.J. lost on politics on Tuesday. That's about it, really. Between ourselves, I can't see that celebrities have any more chance of beating the Eggheads than any normal quiz team, and so there's not really any more entertainment value to the show than normal. There you have it.
Daftest Answers
The things I put myself through for the sake of this blog. I'm fully aware that I have not posted a daftest answer of the week for a couple of months now, and with this in mind I steeled myself to sit through The Weakest Link. As a reward for my pains these two answers seemed worthy of sharing: -
Q : What name is given to the joint between the forearm and the hand ?
A : Elbow ?
Q : Born in Hull in 1759, the MP who was a prime mover in the fight to abolish the slave trade was William who ?
A : Hague ?
Mastermind (1980 series ) Sky Arts 1 - Tuesday 7pm
You may have noticed by now a slight bias in my blog towards all things Mastermind. Let me assure you that this is purely intentional. So I was delighted to see that Sky Arts is now broadcasting the epoch making 1980 series of Mastermind. I say epoch making since this was the series won by Fred Housego, arguably the most famous Mastermind champion of all time, certainly the champion whose win made the biggest splash when it occured. I have to say that I really wanted to see a Magnus Magnusson show again, because I was certain that you could actually end up having more time to answer your questions in those days, than you do now. Now you get your 2 minutes, and this is very strictly observed, however long or short your questions are. Lo and behold though, when I timed the last general knowledge round tonight, this actually lasted for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. So if scores generally are not as high now as they were in the days of Magnus, I think that's a pretty good indication why this might be.
Ego Trip Of the Week
I'm currently in the grip of a chest infection, but my sufferings were temporarily relieved when a neighbour brought in a copy of the Christmas Radio Times, and showed me that I had a name check on p. 52, or 53 I think. There's a little section all about which quiz are you most suited to, and it mentions the last three Mastermind champions. Of coruse, it mentions questions which we all got wrong, but then that's only to be expected. As I'm sure you know, people only ever want to talk about the few questions you got wrong, rather than the many questions you got right. Such is life.
Semi final number 2 saw the the Lapsed Psychologists take on the Bankers. The Bankers struggled in the first round, and picked up no points to trail 4 - 0, only to come roaring back in the second round - the what comes last in the sequence round - to lead 6-5. The connections wall did for them, though. The lapsed Psychologists took their time to get started, but a last minute flurry saw them complete the wall to earn maximum points. Unfortunately the Bankers failed to unravel any of their wall. Neither team exactly covered themselves with glory in the missing vowels round, but the Lapsed Psychologists emerged comfortable winners. so they go forward to meet the Crossworders next week. If I was a betting man then my money would be on the Crossworders, but you never know - anything can happen in a two horse race.
University Challenge
Lincoln College Oxford took on The University of St. Andrews in another enjoyable tussle. An otherwise fairly mellow Jeremy Paxman growled at the start that he wasn't going to go through the rules, since the teams shouldn't even be there if they didn't already know how to play. It was clear from pretty early on that Lincoln College had the measure of their opponents, and finished just a shade short of the magical 300 point mark. Paxman himself said at the end that he felt that the contest had seemed rather closer than the score suggested, and in a funny way I know exactly what he meant. You weren't so conscious of St. Andrews not answering, but I would guess that their bonus conversion rate was quite a bit down on Lincoln's.
Celebrity Eggheads
Well, we've had celebrity everything else in the last few years, so why not celebrity Eggheads. On Monday Nicky Campbell and assorted Radio 5 Live luminaries took on and inevitably lost to a team of the 5 original Eggies. Then on Tuesday Judith sat out and Barry came in against a team of BBC Breakfast News newsreaders. Judith lost on Music on Monday, C.J. lost on politics on Tuesday. That's about it, really. Between ourselves, I can't see that celebrities have any more chance of beating the Eggheads than any normal quiz team, and so there's not really any more entertainment value to the show than normal. There you have it.
Daftest Answers
The things I put myself through for the sake of this blog. I'm fully aware that I have not posted a daftest answer of the week for a couple of months now, and with this in mind I steeled myself to sit through The Weakest Link. As a reward for my pains these two answers seemed worthy of sharing: -
Q : What name is given to the joint between the forearm and the hand ?
A : Elbow ?
Q : Born in Hull in 1759, the MP who was a prime mover in the fight to abolish the slave trade was William who ?
A : Hague ?
Mastermind (1980 series ) Sky Arts 1 - Tuesday 7pm
You may have noticed by now a slight bias in my blog towards all things Mastermind. Let me assure you that this is purely intentional. So I was delighted to see that Sky Arts is now broadcasting the epoch making 1980 series of Mastermind. I say epoch making since this was the series won by Fred Housego, arguably the most famous Mastermind champion of all time, certainly the champion whose win made the biggest splash when it occured. I have to say that I really wanted to see a Magnus Magnusson show again, because I was certain that you could actually end up having more time to answer your questions in those days, than you do now. Now you get your 2 minutes, and this is very strictly observed, however long or short your questions are. Lo and behold though, when I timed the last general knowledge round tonight, this actually lasted for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. So if scores generally are not as high now as they were in the days of Magnus, I think that's a pretty good indication why this might be.
Ego Trip Of the Week
I'm currently in the grip of a chest infection, but my sufferings were temporarily relieved when a neighbour brought in a copy of the Christmas Radio Times, and showed me that I had a name check on p. 52, or 53 I think. There's a little section all about which quiz are you most suited to, and it mentions the last three Mastermind champions. Of coruse, it mentions questions which we all got wrong, but then that's only to be expected. As I'm sure you know, people only ever want to talk about the few questions you got wrong, rather than the many questions you got right. Such is life.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
The Question Master is Always Right
Section 8 - Natural World
I’m not sure what it is about this category, but it often sends question masters scurrying for the record books – biggest, heaviest , tallest , oldest – you name it. This presents a few problems . As new discoveries are made, records may change, but a question master’s tried and trusted answers often don’t.
What is the world's oldest species of tree ?
There's only one thing worse than getting a wrong'un in the middle of a quiz, and that's getting a wrong'un for the jackpot prize at the end of the quiz. This was one such. The answer we were all given , which, annoyingly, some of the teams actually gave as their answer was,
The Giant Redwood/Sequoia
Oh dear. This is such an elementary mistake. The Sequoia is generally recognised as the world's tallest species of tree, but its a relative youngster when compared to
a bristlecone pine nicknamed Methuselah
which has been carbon dated at over 4,000 years, and is given in the 2008 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. However, at time of writing scientists also believe that they have discovered a spruce tree in Sweden which is possibly twice as old
Advice: Records can be broken. The only safe record to ask is : who was the first to . . . , and even then mistakes still get made. If you're a question master, check your answer really carefully before you answer it. If you're a player - put down the right answer, and cross your fingers.
To which group of animals do Duck Billed Platypus and Echidna Belong ?
The moment you hear this question you just know that a wrong'un is hurtling towards you. Australian animal , right ? Not a conventional mammal , right ? So it must be
Marsupial
Well, hang on a minute. If they are marsupials, then show me the pouches ! The echidna ( spiny anteater ) and the duck billed platypus are actually the only living members of a type of mammal, which lay eggs , but also produce milk for their young. The official word to describe them is
Monotremes
Interestingly as well, the duck billed platypus is the only mammal ( of any type ) to produce venom.
Advice : - If the question master just gives echidna and duck billed platypus as examples, you'd better go with the right answer. But if he gives any additional example, then play the man and not the ball and say marsupials ( even though its wrong )
What is the world's largest species of Reptile ?
There's a fifty fifty chance that the question master who asks this will give you
the komodo Dragon
as the answer. This is a shame, because its wrong. Granted, the Komodo Dragon, which is a species of Monitor Lizard, is the world's largest species of lizard, but by no stretch of the imagination is it the largest reptile. A komodo Dragon may grow up to as much as ten feet long, from snout to tail. This makes it about half the size of a
Saltwater ( or estuarine ) Crocodile
I suppose question masters get it wrong because the croc just isn't as exotic as the komodo dragon. Either that, or they have lingering memories of a young David Attenborough trying to film one.
Advice : Largest lizard - dragon , largest reptile - croc. No need for any confusion.
Which three species of snake are native to Britain ?
This is slightly different from many of the wrong 'uns in our collection, since it requires three answers, and usually the question master will have two correct answers
and one wrong 'un. The two correct answers will be
adder and grass snake
However when we get to the third answer, the problems occur. A very, very wrong answer would be this : -
the viper
for the simple reason that the viper is another name for the adder, its not a seperate species. A slightly better answer would be
the slow worm
This is a different species, and its native to the UK. There's only one problem. It looks like a snake, and it moves by a snake, but its actually a lizard. Granted, it doesn't have any legs, but its still a lizard, not a snake. The correct answer is
The smooth snake
Unfortunately, this is one that roughly half the time the question master will get wrong.
Advice - Play the man and not the ball. Ask yourself - is my question master good and careful enough to know the correct answer ? If you're not sure, put smooth snake down anyway - and cross your fingers.
Which is the world's biggest species of snake ?
Its not so much the answer to the questions that are the problem with this one. Its the question itself. You see, 'biggest' just isn't clear enough. The answer your question master will probably give is
the anaconda
Well, in one sense, this is actually right. Anacondas are without doubt the heaviest snakes in the world. They can weigh over 500 pounds. However they grow to up to 27 feet in length. This is quite a bit shorter than
the reticulated python
which can actually grow up to 10 feet longer than an anaconda. So which is the biggest ? Depends what you mean, mass or length, and that's why it is so important to define your terms.
Advice : - While most of the teams will write anaconda as the answer, the knowledgable ones will know about the reticulated python. So unless you want to lose all respect as a question master - NEVER ask what is the biggest snake - ask the longest - or the heaviest.
Which is the largest species of crow ?
This is a wrong'un that has done the rounds over the years, but its unusual in that I have no idea where it came from, or how it came to be. Several times when this question has been asked , I've heard the question master give the answer
The rook
I have no idea what on earth would lead them to say this. Rooks, ravens and crows all belong to the corvid family of birds, commonly called the crow family. There's no confusion about it at all, the largest species is
The raven
Yet question masters get it wrong often enough to make you think twice before putting it as your answer.
Advice - don't even think about it. The answer is the raven. Write it down, and get on with the quiz.
Which is the largest diamond in the world ?
Its an odd question in as much as its probably easier to say what isn't rather than what it is. What we can say for definite is that it is not the
Koh-i-Noor ( the Mountain of Light )
This is actually a relative minnow, since it doesn't even quite feature in the top 10 of cut and faceted diamonds now. But then that term itself highlights a problem. Since an uncut diamond, and a cut diamond are clearly two very different things. The answer often given is
The Cullinan Diamond
Despite reports in 2007 that a rough diamond of twice the size of the Cullinan had been discovered in South Africa, this is still accepted as the largest rough diamond ever found. However, this does not exist any more. It was in fact cut up into 9 sperate stones. Until the late 80s, the largest of these was the largest cut stone in the world, and it was called
The Star of Africa ( Cullinan I )
However in the 1980s a slightly bigger diamond was cut, and this one is called
The Golden Jubilee Diamond
and this is accepted at the moment as the world's biggest cut diamond.
Advice : -Its not the Koh - i - Noor !Define the question carefully - do you want them to say the largest cut or uncut diamond ever ? If you don't know what you want them to tell you, how can they possibly know ?
Sunday, 14 December 2008
The Question Master Is Aways Right - Part Four
Section 6 : Geography
I think it was Peter Tinniswood who once wrote “ men are buggers for geography”, and its certainly one of the most popular categories in pub quizzes. And as we have seen, the more times questions are asked on a particular topic, the greater the likelihood that there will be wrong’uns lurking within. Here are some choice selections.
Which 2 European capital cities are the closest together ?
This is a little oddity of a question. I have often heard the answer given as
Rome and the Vatican City
There’s no other two closer, certainly , being as the Vatican is clearly inside Rome. But does the Vatican City, which is an independent state in its own right, count as its own capital ? Especially when its only one small part of another city ? The mind boggles. If you discount this, then the two closest are
Vienna and Bratislava
Although admittedly this is nothing like as good a question .
Advice : - make it clear in the question what you want. If you want the Vatican as an answer , then go ahead, and don’t complain when the arguments start flying around your ears. If you want Vienna and Bratislava as the answer – then make it clear when you ask the question that you personally do not count The Vatican and Rome.
What was the former name of the island on which the Statue of Liberty stands ?
OK, its not the most common question to be asked, but I've heard it asked, and I've heard the wrong answer given too. So, lets begin. I hope that we all know that the
Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour stands on an island which is now called Liberty Island. Many people think that the former name of the island was
Ellis Island
But that's wrong. Its easy to see how the confusion arises. Ellis Island was where immigrants coming to make a new life in America were processed, and then sent out to make their way in the great new country. But it wasn't the same island. Liberty Island was once called,
Bedloe's Island
And that's it really.
Advice - there's no argument, and no room for doubt.
Section 7 : Language, Literature, Art and Music
In the original version of Cinderella, what were her slippers made of ?
I guarantee that you’ll amaze and impress your less knowledgable team members when you smile and supply the answer to this one :-
Fur / ermine
The reasoning goes like this. It’s a mistranslation . The most famous version of the Cinderella story was that written by Frenchman Charles Perrault. In french – verre – glass, sounds the same as – vair – ermine/fur.
However – we have a problem. In Charles Perrault’s original manuscript he uses – verre – glass ! In older versions of the story it wasn’t a slipper at all. It was a gold ring which had to fit the right( correct ) finger.
Advice – its such a terrific story it’s a shame to cast doubt, but it’s a very dodgy question. One to avoid, I’d say.
What are the three common words in English which end with the letters GRY ?
I’ve been asked this one many times, although never in a quiz, but just in case
Angry – hungry and . . . er. . .
The fact is that there is no other COMMON word, which isn’t a hyphenated compound ending in either angry or hungry. Once again, if you don’t believe me, then check in the OED.
Advice: - There’s a reason why you’ve never heard the third word when this one has been asked. That’s because there IS no 3rd word.
Why is sirloin called sirloin ?
Ah, the vagaries of the ruling classes ! If you get asked this one, then the question master will probably say : -
It was knighted by King James Ist ( and VIth of Scotland )in a particularly jocular mood one day
What a charming story ! What a load of old rubbish ! The fact is that different versions of this story exist with Henry VIII or other kings in place of James. However, the old spelling of sirloin is surloin, as in surname. So the far more prosaic and far more accurate answer is
Its from the French pronoun – sur – meaning over.
Not so funny or charming really, but that’s life, isn’t it.
Advice – a false for a true or false question.
How did the Lovers in the Opera Aida die ?
This is a very special type of wrong’un. Its still possible to go to quizzes, where you will be asked this question, and be told the answer is that they were
Burned alive
Its wrong, and its all due to a printing error. Like many question masters I’ve had my favourite sources for questions over the years, and one of them has been The Pears Quiz Companion. Its been superceded by bigger and better books over the years, but its served well over the years. However, it does state that the lovers were burned alive, rather than the correct answer
Buried alive
Its only one letter, but it makes all the difference. For some reason, as well, this error from the original 1987 edition was never picked up in the new editions of the mid nineties, and the year 2000. So two generations of quiz masters have asked it, and given the wrong answer in all good faith. Me included.
Advice – no one can blame you for taking the answer from the Quiz Companion, but now you know the truth, you’ve no excuse. Get it right.
I think it was Peter Tinniswood who once wrote “ men are buggers for geography”, and its certainly one of the most popular categories in pub quizzes. And as we have seen, the more times questions are asked on a particular topic, the greater the likelihood that there will be wrong’uns lurking within. Here are some choice selections.
Which 2 European capital cities are the closest together ?
This is a little oddity of a question. I have often heard the answer given as
Rome and the Vatican City
There’s no other two closer, certainly , being as the Vatican is clearly inside Rome. But does the Vatican City, which is an independent state in its own right, count as its own capital ? Especially when its only one small part of another city ? The mind boggles. If you discount this, then the two closest are
Vienna and Bratislava
Although admittedly this is nothing like as good a question .
Advice : - make it clear in the question what you want. If you want the Vatican as an answer , then go ahead, and don’t complain when the arguments start flying around your ears. If you want Vienna and Bratislava as the answer – then make it clear when you ask the question that you personally do not count The Vatican and Rome.
What was the former name of the island on which the Statue of Liberty stands ?
OK, its not the most common question to be asked, but I've heard it asked, and I've heard the wrong answer given too. So, lets begin. I hope that we all know that the
Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour stands on an island which is now called Liberty Island. Many people think that the former name of the island was
Ellis Island
But that's wrong. Its easy to see how the confusion arises. Ellis Island was where immigrants coming to make a new life in America were processed, and then sent out to make their way in the great new country. But it wasn't the same island. Liberty Island was once called,
Bedloe's Island
And that's it really.
Advice - there's no argument, and no room for doubt.
Section 7 : Language, Literature, Art and Music
In the original version of Cinderella, what were her slippers made of ?
I guarantee that you’ll amaze and impress your less knowledgable team members when you smile and supply the answer to this one :-
Fur / ermine
The reasoning goes like this. It’s a mistranslation . The most famous version of the Cinderella story was that written by Frenchman Charles Perrault. In french – verre – glass, sounds the same as – vair – ermine/fur.
However – we have a problem. In Charles Perrault’s original manuscript he uses – verre – glass ! In older versions of the story it wasn’t a slipper at all. It was a gold ring which had to fit the right( correct ) finger.
Advice – its such a terrific story it’s a shame to cast doubt, but it’s a very dodgy question. One to avoid, I’d say.
What are the three common words in English which end with the letters GRY ?
I’ve been asked this one many times, although never in a quiz, but just in case
Angry – hungry and . . . er. . .
The fact is that there is no other COMMON word, which isn’t a hyphenated compound ending in either angry or hungry. Once again, if you don’t believe me, then check in the OED.
Advice: - There’s a reason why you’ve never heard the third word when this one has been asked. That’s because there IS no 3rd word.
Why is sirloin called sirloin ?
Ah, the vagaries of the ruling classes ! If you get asked this one, then the question master will probably say : -
It was knighted by King James Ist ( and VIth of Scotland )in a particularly jocular mood one day
What a charming story ! What a load of old rubbish ! The fact is that different versions of this story exist with Henry VIII or other kings in place of James. However, the old spelling of sirloin is surloin, as in surname. So the far more prosaic and far more accurate answer is
Its from the French pronoun – sur – meaning over.
Not so funny or charming really, but that’s life, isn’t it.
Advice – a false for a true or false question.
How did the Lovers in the Opera Aida die ?
This is a very special type of wrong’un. Its still possible to go to quizzes, where you will be asked this question, and be told the answer is that they were
Burned alive
Its wrong, and its all due to a printing error. Like many question masters I’ve had my favourite sources for questions over the years, and one of them has been The Pears Quiz Companion. Its been superceded by bigger and better books over the years, but its served well over the years. However, it does state that the lovers were burned alive, rather than the correct answer
Buried alive
Its only one letter, but it makes all the difference. For some reason, as well, this error from the original 1987 edition was never picked up in the new editions of the mid nineties, and the year 2000. So two generations of quiz masters have asked it, and given the wrong answer in all good faith. Me included.
Advice – no one can blame you for taking the answer from the Quiz Companion, but now you know the truth, you’ve no excuse. Get it right.
Maybe I'm Going Soft
Yes, maybe I'm going soft, but I went to a terrific quiz last Thursday - great question master - good questions - convivial company - and for all that I didn't enjoy it. Why not ? Because it was a walkover.
I'd better explain myself. Now, please don't think that I say this for self-aggrandisement. Don't get me wrong, I'm as arrogant as the next person, and I love to blow my own trumpet, but just this once this isn't what I'm trying to do here. The point that I'm trying to make is this.
The quiz took place at the Aberavon Rugby Club. Regular readers will know that this is my 'home' quiz - and I take regular turns setting the questions. There are hardly ever lss than 6 teams. My team - the Boyks - win some, and my friend Rob's team, the Lemurs - win some too. The others between them win very occasionally. Now , on Thursday night, none of the Lemurs were there. That's OK - they have their own lives to lead - yutta - yutta. However, the fact is that wth the standard of questions that were being asked on Thursday night, they were the only team that could conceivably have challenged us. All of the other teams were always going to have a round when they fell 4 or 5 short of our score, and they were never going to make it up. We won by a dozen points, and I'll be honest, I could hardly have cared less.
So - winning by itself, its not as much to me as I thought it was. Its the competition. Winning against opposition who COULD beat you. On an ideal evening, the result should be in question right up until the end of the final round, with the winning score being a couple of points above the second place. That makes it interesting. That gets the competitive juices flowing. Even a tight loss can be more exciting than winning by that much.
Last Sunday John and I returned to the Haywain in Bridgend. The management's disastrous policy of moving the quiz forward to 6 o'clock has resulted in an empty pub on a Sunday evening, so at last sanity has prevailed. However, the problem is that a lot of the regular teams there saw my Mastermind win, and now virtually cede us the win as soon as we walk in. We won by 61 points to 49 last week. That's no good. I want the second place team to go back to their nefarious practice of phoning up for answers ( alright, I can't prove that's what they used to use their phones for - but their scores used to be a hell of a lot closer to ours ) . I want to have the frisson that comes from knowing an off week means that you could lose.
Thankfully, I had reason to celebrate on Tuesday. I had been inspected, and found up to the job in school, so I knew that there was no chance that I could be observed again on the Wednesday. So, on pretty much the spur of the moment, John, my eldest daughter Phillippa, and I bombed off to Cowbridge to compete in the Duke of Wellington Quiz. Good quiz - good questions - sandwiches at half time - the works. And we only won by 2 points, and also had to share the jackpot with another team too. That's more like it.
I do realise, that having ranted off like this there is every good chance that we will get stuffed out of sight on Thursday night. I'll let you know.
I'd better explain myself. Now, please don't think that I say this for self-aggrandisement. Don't get me wrong, I'm as arrogant as the next person, and I love to blow my own trumpet, but just this once this isn't what I'm trying to do here. The point that I'm trying to make is this.
The quiz took place at the Aberavon Rugby Club. Regular readers will know that this is my 'home' quiz - and I take regular turns setting the questions. There are hardly ever lss than 6 teams. My team - the Boyks - win some, and my friend Rob's team, the Lemurs - win some too. The others between them win very occasionally. Now , on Thursday night, none of the Lemurs were there. That's OK - they have their own lives to lead - yutta - yutta. However, the fact is that wth the standard of questions that were being asked on Thursday night, they were the only team that could conceivably have challenged us. All of the other teams were always going to have a round when they fell 4 or 5 short of our score, and they were never going to make it up. We won by a dozen points, and I'll be honest, I could hardly have cared less.
So - winning by itself, its not as much to me as I thought it was. Its the competition. Winning against opposition who COULD beat you. On an ideal evening, the result should be in question right up until the end of the final round, with the winning score being a couple of points above the second place. That makes it interesting. That gets the competitive juices flowing. Even a tight loss can be more exciting than winning by that much.
Last Sunday John and I returned to the Haywain in Bridgend. The management's disastrous policy of moving the quiz forward to 6 o'clock has resulted in an empty pub on a Sunday evening, so at last sanity has prevailed. However, the problem is that a lot of the regular teams there saw my Mastermind win, and now virtually cede us the win as soon as we walk in. We won by 61 points to 49 last week. That's no good. I want the second place team to go back to their nefarious practice of phoning up for answers ( alright, I can't prove that's what they used to use their phones for - but their scores used to be a hell of a lot closer to ours ) . I want to have the frisson that comes from knowing an off week means that you could lose.
Thankfully, I had reason to celebrate on Tuesday. I had been inspected, and found up to the job in school, so I knew that there was no chance that I could be observed again on the Wednesday. So, on pretty much the spur of the moment, John, my eldest daughter Phillippa, and I bombed off to Cowbridge to compete in the Duke of Wellington Quiz. Good quiz - good questions - sandwiches at half time - the works. And we only won by 2 points, and also had to share the jackpot with another team too. That's more like it.
I do realise, that having ranted off like this there is every good chance that we will get stuffed out of sight on Thursday night. I'll let you know.
Saturday, 13 December 2008
TV Watch - 12th December
TV Watch – 12th December
Its Mastermind, Jim, but not as we know it.
Mastermind itself signed off for its winter break after the 14th show of the current series. The show’s website tells us that Celebrity Mastermind will be shown again before the end of this month. Well and good. However, for the last couple of years the run up to Christmas hasn’t just meant Celebrity Mastermind, but also Junior Mastermind. Yet there is no mention of whether Junior Mastermind is coming back this season.Well, actually, there is one version of Juior Mastermind that is already on our screens. On last Sunday Evening Mastermind Plant Cymru began.
Mastermind Cymru is, as the name implies, the welsh language series of Mastermind, presented not by John Humphrys, albeit that he is welsh, but by Betsan Powis, on S4C the welsh language terrestrial channel . There have been 2 champions, the inaugural champion from 2006, Emyr Rhys Jones, and the 2007 champion Sion Aled. This season the show has become Mastermind Plant Cymru which roughly translates into Wales Children’s Mastermind.
I will admit that I haven’t watched the show – I have lived in Wales for over 20 years, but somehow have never quite got round to mastering the undoubted beauty of the welsh language. However I will be watching out and keeping my ear to the ground, since a little bird tells me that the daughter of one of my colleagues at work is a contender in this series. Watch this space for more details.
Only Connect
The first semi final saw the Crossworders, Mark, David and Ian march their way into the final. Tricky connections became , so it seemed even a little trickier, although to my immense satisfaction I saw a couple of the connections which neither team managed. Alright, so I was sitting at home on a comfy sofa, not in a hot studio, but it still gave me a feeling of satisfaction. Can I please ask any readers who haven’t already done so, follow the link I gave you last week, and leave a positive comment about the show . It would be such a shame if this were to be the only series of what I think has become a little gem of a show.
Sorry that its only a short TV entry this week. At work we’ve had the Inspectors in, and so my viewing has had to be severely limited to allow time for preparation. It seems we might be moving into a bit of a fallow period on the TV – what with Mastermind leaving our screens until the New Year, and Only Connect with only two more episodes to go. At least there’s still University Challenge, and the Brain of Britain on the radio. Lets be thankful for small mercies.
Its Mastermind, Jim, but not as we know it.
Mastermind itself signed off for its winter break after the 14th show of the current series. The show’s website tells us that Celebrity Mastermind will be shown again before the end of this month. Well and good. However, for the last couple of years the run up to Christmas hasn’t just meant Celebrity Mastermind, but also Junior Mastermind. Yet there is no mention of whether Junior Mastermind is coming back this season.Well, actually, there is one version of Juior Mastermind that is already on our screens. On last Sunday Evening Mastermind Plant Cymru began.
Mastermind Cymru is, as the name implies, the welsh language series of Mastermind, presented not by John Humphrys, albeit that he is welsh, but by Betsan Powis, on S4C the welsh language terrestrial channel . There have been 2 champions, the inaugural champion from 2006, Emyr Rhys Jones, and the 2007 champion Sion Aled. This season the show has become Mastermind Plant Cymru which roughly translates into Wales Children’s Mastermind.
I will admit that I haven’t watched the show – I have lived in Wales for over 20 years, but somehow have never quite got round to mastering the undoubted beauty of the welsh language. However I will be watching out and keeping my ear to the ground, since a little bird tells me that the daughter of one of my colleagues at work is a contender in this series. Watch this space for more details.
Only Connect
The first semi final saw the Crossworders, Mark, David and Ian march their way into the final. Tricky connections became , so it seemed even a little trickier, although to my immense satisfaction I saw a couple of the connections which neither team managed. Alright, so I was sitting at home on a comfy sofa, not in a hot studio, but it still gave me a feeling of satisfaction. Can I please ask any readers who haven’t already done so, follow the link I gave you last week, and leave a positive comment about the show . It would be such a shame if this were to be the only series of what I think has become a little gem of a show.
Sorry that its only a short TV entry this week. At work we’ve had the Inspectors in, and so my viewing has had to be severely limited to allow time for preparation. It seems we might be moving into a bit of a fallow period on the TV – what with Mastermind leaving our screens until the New Year, and Only Connect with only two more episodes to go. At least there’s still University Challenge, and the Brain of Britain on the radio. Lets be thankful for small mercies.
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