University Challenge - Round One - Match 2

Liverpool v. St. Peter’s Oxford

We’re one contest in already, and it was quite a good one too. Hoping to match that first game we had Liverpool and St. Peter’s, Oxford. According to JP the two have met in UC before, and that time it was the Oxford college who had the better of it. Liverpool were represented by Jenny McLoughlin, Jack Bennett, Ed Bretherton and skipper Robin Wainwright. St. Peter’s’ team were Isaac Kang, Jeremy Thundow,  Yaroslav Sky Walker, and their captain Nathan Gower.

I have actually heard the first starter about Alien Hand Syndrome before, so I chucked in Dr. Strangelove before it became obvious where the question was driving towards. As soon as it did, though, Robin Wainwright won the buzzer race. Liverpool took two out of three bonuses on British coronations. Nathan Gower opened his team’s account, recognizing a description of the pineal gland. Wizards, as in ‘the wizard of’ followed. We were asked Wishaw (John Higgins), Riga (Mikhail Tal) and Menlo Park (Thomas Edison) , although not The Dribble (Stanley Matthews). A mental pat on the back to myself for knowing Mikhail Tal was from Riga. Jack Bennett had a good early buzz, linking the names of the author of “The Magnificent Ambersons” with the founder of the Salvation Army to get Booth – Tarkington and William respectively. The novels of E.M.Forster, film versions of – provided two bonuses. Did I ever tell you that my nan swore blind that E.M. Forster wrote “Howard’s Way”? Onto the first picture. This was hard. We had a map of Europe, and then in the place where three capital cities would be were the distances to a 4^th capital city. The teams had to work out which the 4^th was. Very hard, and neither team, nor me, managed it. I wasn’t that far out, since Berlin isn’t THAT far from Prague, but still no cigar. The next starter was a little cracker. I had it from – The titles of non-fiction works by which author include a reference to the venues of the 1900 and 1908 Olympic Games – which gives you Paris and London as in Down and Out in – so we’re in George Orwell territory. We also had a reference to Wigan, and another one to Catalonia before Jack Bennett took the plunge. This earned Liverpool a bonus set on more maps and distances, and they were unlucky to fail to add to their score. The Cardwell and Childers Report in the 19^th century led to the reorganization of the British Army.  I didn’t know that – I guessed the Royal Navy – but both captains had a pop at it, and Robin Wainwright had it. Subatomic physics offered me but little, and delivered zilch, and Liverpool looked equally lost as well. It didn’t matter too much. At just past the 10 minute mark they led with 60 – 15.

British protectorate off the coast of East Africa. Be honest, if you go for Zanzibar every time you hear those words you’ll be right a lot more often than you’re wrong. That’s what Jeremy Thundow did, and this brought up a set of bonuses on disputed islands. A full set made their score look a lot more healthy, and the competition look a lot closer. Jack Bennett had already shown an ability to buzz in the moment that the answer became pretty clear, and once the obscure definitions of the word cataract were done, and we had ‘waterfall’ and ‘medical condition’ he was in there. Fossil hominids – I think I’ve taught a few of them in my time – were actually more straightforward than they appeared on the surface, and Liverpool duly despatched the full set to the boundary. So to the music starter, and that man Bennett won the race again when we’d had a couple of seconds of Jimi Hendrix. Again, this was a lovely set – because according to statistical information collected by YouGov ( who, me? Yes, you, guv.) a significant number of people for whom University Challenge is one of their favourite programmes list Jimi Hendrix as one of their favourite performers. More of the same followed with Ian Dury and the Blockheads (yes), Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (nyeh, not so much) and Dusty Springfield (meh). That last one provded the only bonus. Nathan Gower had an impressively early buzz to identify Nate Silver as the statistician who correctly predicted the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election. Not so impressive as an act of prediction in a two horse race, but there we are, nice work if you can get it. Human physiology provided me with my lap of honour moment, since I did know that melatonin controls the sleep-wake cycle. BY the way, in terms of ridiculous misheard lyrics I was very disappointed to see a while back that in “A Whiter Shade of Pale” Procul Harum actually sing ‘ As the Miller told his tale’, rather than ‘As the melatonin fails’ which is what I’d heard. However, I digress. St. Peter’s added no points on that set. Nathan Gower, though, had found his buzzing form well, and identified the Mississippi born author who published her first novel in 1992 as Donna Tartt. Two of my work colleagues whose opinions I valye both absolutely love Donna Tartt. I’ve only read The Secret History, and while I agree it’s well written, I’m afraid it just didn’t do it for me. Benjamin Britten and the Cinema provided two good bonuses, and at least kept them in the game. The gap narrowed more when Jeremy Thundow identified the 1850s as the decade in which lord John Russell, and the earls of Derby and Aberdeen were Prime Minister. 19^th century US history sounded full of Eastern promise – er – western promise. I was pleased with myself for dredging up the Gadsden Purshase – St. Peter’s couldn’t capitalize sadly. Robin Wainwright was the first to buzz in to identify Tannhauser as the Wagner opera about a 13^th century minnesanger. Bonuses on French cities meant that at the 20 minute mark Liverpool led by 115 to 80. Judging from what we’d already seen you wouldn’t have bet against Liverpool completing the win, but both teams looked as if they could post a repechage score as well.

Nathan Gower identified Blake’s picture of Shakespeare. More pictures of poets from Manchester Art Gallery reduced the gap to 10 points, and took St. Peter’s into double figures. Neither team knew the term amphibolic and so we moved on. Now, you hear Flemish Artist – and – beard – and you slam the buzzer through the desk and answer Van Dyke. That’s the theory anyway, but neither team were very quick in their response. As it was Robin wainwright buzzed in to win a set of bonuses on geology. 1 bonus pushed them close to a repechage score. The Achievement of a synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits is how Carl Sandburg described poetry apparently. Neither team got that. Robin Wainwright knew that in France, bandes dessines are comic books/comic strips. Leaders of the Lib Dems gave Liverpool a full set, and they were looking good for the win. I was well pleased in my instant answer that 1000 in binary is 16 in decimal, and when the rest of the question was asked Jeremy Thundow had it as well. Books by Nobel Laureates took their score to 120, and although Liverpool led by 35, the result was once again in question. Nobody knew that the southernmost point of mainland Asia is in Malaysia. You say Swedish dramatist, and I think – Strindberg. Why? Because I don’t know any others. Well, it would have bought me the next starter, as it did for Robin Wainwright. Birds brought another timely full set, and at 180 Liverpool were coming back for another game whatever happened. Jack Bennett – best buzzer of the evening, I think, knew that A Tale of the Christ is better known as Ben Hur. Paintings in the collection of the J Paul Getty collection in Los Angeles gave them 5 more to take them to 195. Isaac Kang knew that every King of Scotland in a given period had the regnal name James. At 130 a full set could give them a decent chance of a repechage slot. Operas premiered in La Scala gave them a chance, but they had none. Jenny McLoughlin knew that the metacarpal phalangeal joints are the knuckles. Bonuses on time zones gave them only one chance to add to their score, and they were gonged out.

Liverpool won by 205 to 130. For St. Peter’s sake I hope I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that they may miss out on a repechage slot by a couple of bonuses there. Well played Liverpool, though – the better team on the night.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP again seemed to have been taking his happy pills, since he even went as far as to say that the first picture starter was pretty difficult when neither team got a correct answer.

He doesn’t like Dr. Hook, does our Jez. When that turned out to be one of the favourite groups for a large number of people who love UC he wrinkled up his considerable nose and virtually spat out,

“The viewers of this programme are even older than the presenter!” That’s quite clever actually – an insult to the viewers wrapped up in a seemingly self-deprecating comment. Welcome back JP – we’ve missed you.

There wasn’t much in the rest of the contest, although his exasperated ‘What?!’ when Nathan Gower suggested Carl Sandburg as a noted exponent of the limerick hinted at better things to come during the series.

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

The Cardwell and Childers Report in the 19^th century led to the reorganization of the British Army.  

Only Connect Series Eleven - Match One

Cluesmiths v. Operational Researchers

Last year OC made a triumphant transfer to BBC2. I wasn’t the only one to believe that the show had hit the right level of difficulty again, following the obscurity of some of the sets of questions in series 9. So I’ve been looking forward to this series. First up, then, we had the Cluesmiths – Mick Hodgkin, John Tozer, and Richard Heald, the skipper. Opposing them were the Occupational Researchers, Paul Allen, Alex Hill, and captain Clare Lynch. Let’s get on with the show.

Round One – What’s the Connection?

I give captain Richard of the Cluesmiths credited for taking on the Viper first, although feared for him when he did not use our favoured pronunciation of Horned. The first clue was quintuple – troth. Huh? The second, though – distress single helped a lot. SOS is a distress single. It’s also the title of an Abba singl;e – as is I do I do I do I do I do. The 3^rd clue – 1963 Lincoln memorial speech confirmed it, being the Martin Luther King – I have a dream – speech. The Smiths actually ruled out I have a dream, and went for a last clue – 1815 Belgian Battle. Even then they couldn’t see it, and I’m sorry guys, but that was a bit of a red face moment, especially since the Ops snapped up that unconsidered trifle for a bonus. For their own first set they opted for Lion and received Derbyshire=Nottingham. Nope, me neither. Nottinghamshire=Wantage came next, and at this stage I just didn’t have a handle on the set. Worcestershire = New gave it to me though, since I knew that Wrocs Country Cricket Club play at New Road. I even predicted the 4^th would be Leicestershire=Grace. The Ops didn’t have a Scooby, and the Smiths at least had cricket, but went for captains. OK. Now this is why, if you want to really do well on OC you have to have at least one regular general knowledge quizzer/pub quizzer. I can almost guarantee that anyone who is even slightly serious about their quizzing, if you said to them the words – Leicester – and – Grace – would come up with the idea of Grace Road, and work on from there. Ok – lecture over. The Smiths chose water, and earned the music set for their trouble. I didn’t recognize the first two, but the second was going on about the skies. Kelly Watch the Stars by Air came next, and you never know, I might, like the Smiths, have chanced my arm with stars at this point. They earned their first points, and we moved on to Eye of Horus. This gave the Ops –(eg) Dairy Milk (chocolate). For me this certainly wasn’t enough to go on. Pringles (potato crisps) though gave me the answer – that these are all products which have been disputed – that is – for w while the EU ruled that British chocolate such as Cadbury’s could not actually be called chocolate – and Mr. Pringle actually took issue with the idea that his most excellent snacks are in fact potato crisps. The next two were ketchup (vegetable) and Jaffa Cakes (cakes). The Ops pretty much had it on the 4^th. Now, according to QI the whole issue over Jaffa Cakes – which I believe ARE actually classed as cakes and not biscuits – led to the definition of the difference between biscuits and cakes. It goes like this – when they go stale, biscuits go soft, while cakes go hard. Therefore Jaffa Cakes are cakes, QED. Two reeds gave the Smiths Iago. Now, I would NEVER have gone for it in the studio, but I did actually have a five pointer here. The obvious thing is Shakespearean villains, so I didn’t go there. However, Iago is also the Spanish equivalent of James. Who is the patron Saint of Spain – the Santiago of Santiago de Compostela. So – parton saints of countries in that country’s native language. Francesco e Caterina looked Italian, and Dewi, as in Dewi Sant, is St. David of Wales. John worked it out, and after their first set the Smiths seemed to have rallied well. The Ops finished with pictures. Now, the key to this set was recognizing picture two – Earl Grey. Get this, and you have it off two. As for the others, though, a full ENGLISH BREAKFAST, a RED BUSH, and a golfing GREEN, were not by any means easy. Get Earl Grey, and you know it’s tea. Without it, though it escaped both teams. The Ops had 2, while the Smiths led with 4.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth?

Lion gave the Smiths a picture of a red horse. “Buzz in and chance your arm with Red Lion!” I shouted. They played more cautiously, taking the second picture of a White Hart. That was enough for the Smiths, and as sets go, it was a little bit of a gift. Clare of the Ops too went conventional with her pronunciation of Horned Viper, and earned Madonna – and there are too many possibilities there, then Chris Cornell. That gave it away, and so I yelled ‘Adele!’, this being a sequence of artists who recorded James Bond film themes. They could see what the sequence was, but took the third clue before giving the correct answer. The Smiths took water, and their first clue was the intriguing Teeth. This was followed by Eyes. At about the same time we all worked out that this was Shakespeare’s seven ages of Man – sans teeth, sans eyes, and so the sequence would end with everything. Good shout. Eye of Horus gave the Ops excel – then – el. Now, a few years ago I would have had no chance at this one, but I’ve seen them do this sort of thing on the connecting wall enough now to  see XL – L – Which would mean we’d go EM , then ESS. The Ops had it, but they Opted to play cautious and took the last clue before giving the correct answer. Phonetic rendition of clothing sizes. Twisted Flax brought the Smiths Versus then Kiss. I was struggling at this point. I think it was Richard who had an excellent shout here. Versus is V , while a kiss is an X. V then X are roman numerals, so working on L then C, something like Celsius would do the trick. The Ops finished off with Reeds and 4: Abu Dhabi – which wasn’t enough for me – then 3: Bilbao. Now, the Guggenheim Museum is a thing which most quizzers link with Bilbao, so I went for 1: new York, location of the original Guggenheim. Yes, the Ops had it at this point, and yes, they once again opted to go cautious, and took the last clue 2: Venice. Their caution was understandable, but meant that they were 5 points behind the Smiths, who led with 13.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

The Ops went for the Lion Wall. Early doors they could see a linked set of sort of crown type headgear denoting rank, but left these go for a bit in order to find Goosen – Crown – Dover and Tito. Take the last letter of each off and hey presto, you’ve caught a bird. Pschent – Diadem – Tiara and Coronet were the headgear, and they fell quickly. They could see a set which would all follow American in film titles – Beauty – Sniper – Pie and Hustle, but hung fire a minute to try to work out what linked Sabbatini – Locke – Player and Frost. Well, Player and Locke were both South African golfers so that was my guess. They went with philosophers – John Locke – but he never won the Open so no. 7 points.

The Smiths, faced with Water, tried a group of words denoting something false. These wouldn’t resolve. They saw Ascorbic Acid and initially thought food additives. Not a million miles away, but a serious quizzer would know that it’s Vitamin C, which would have given away a line of vitamins. I could also see a list of words which, when combined with a specific number, would give the name of a group – eg Sham (Sham 69) – and this was the first group they resolved with Sham – Shed – East – Haircut. Then the vitamins fell with Retinol – Ascorbic Acid – Thiamin and Riboflavin. They could see that there was a group of things also symbolized by E, so they knew the connections of the last two sets, it was just a matter of resolving them. They didn’t manage to do so, but when they were resolved they were MDMA (Ecstasy = E) – Earth – Tocopherol (vitamin E) and Spain were the Es, while Ersatz – Faux – Mock and Shanzhai the fakes/false items. 6 points meant they led by 19 – 15.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

Category one was excuses given by train companies. I like this sort of category because you know what is likely to come up, and so you just have to spot them first. These fell 3 – 1 to the Smiths. Nicknames for newspapers went 2 apiece. All known by the initials AA (surely that should be the initials _ _ ?) fell 2 apiece. There was only time for one of the Works of Handel, which fell to the Smiths. They won comfortably in the end, by 27 – 20.

I hadn’t been impressed by the Smiths in the first couple of sets, but they went on to show their true mettle, and came up with some pretty good shouts during the contest. I don’t think that they will necessarily be the strongest team of this series, but they’ll be in there with a chance. Hard lines to the Ops, but they have another chance to prolong their involvement in the series. 

University Challenge 2016 - Round One - Match One

Glasgow v. Peterhouse, Cambridge

One of my last posts, I notice, was actually the Grand Final of the previous series. Surely it isn’t a year since we were watching the documentaries about the selection of all of last year’s teams? Well, yes, I’m afraid it is. Well, I didn’t notice any such documentaries this year, but never mind, we certainly have the first two teams of the series anyway. Glasgow were represented by Andrew Davidson, Vitali Brejevs, Ollie Allen and captain Evelyn McMenamin. Peterhouse in their turn were represented by Thomas Langley, Oscar Powell, Julian Sutcliffe and their skipper Hannah Woods. Well, that’s the niceties over with, and away we go.

The first question was a relatively gentle lob about Thomism, and first to the buzzer was Thomas Langley. This brought a series of bonuses on Bleak House. This was not a novel with which the Peterhouse team were familiar, and thus a gettable set went begging. The next starter asked about the term bitcoin. Vitali Brejevs opened his team’s account with this one, and they took the lead with a set of bonuses on Physicists, of which they managed one. I did my first lap of honour of the living room of this series when my guess of Ernest Rutherford brought me a point on this set. Vitali Brejevs zigged with Galvani for the inventor of the first battery, allowing Thomas Langley to zag with Volta. Artists as described by Simon Schama brought us both a full house. I knew that “The Aspern Papers” is set in Venice, and so did Evelyn McMenamin, which earned Glasgow a set on South America,in which each answer began with –qu-. A good full set were taken. This brought us to this series’ first picture starter. We were shown a map with the trail marked on it. Hannah Woods offered ‘ The Pennine trail’ and this was accepted under the ‘close enough’ ruing. The answer is more correctly The Pennine Way. Yes, ok, that’s fair enough, as long as other teams are also allowed answers which are equally close while not adhering to the strict letter of the answer. Time alone will tell on that one. Three more of the same followed, and Peterhouse took one. I would only have had the same one – Hadrian’s Wall path – myself. So after a brisk and competitive start to the contest Peterhouse led by 50 – 40 at the 10 minute mark.

Thomas Langley provided a good early buzz to identify Charles I’s Short Parliament. The SOHO space mission provided slim pickings, yielding one bonus. Oscar Powell opened his account identifying a series of words beginning with the letters –ul-. Regions of China provided one bonus. Now, coming back to the ‘close enough’ rule, Hannah Woods offered the Taklaman desert, and it was reassuring to see that this was not accepted for the Taklamakan Desert. Bad luck because she obviously knew the right one, but the right adjudication. Some Physics questions about optics eluded all of us. Now, you hear the words 1961 – and – New Capital – and you buzz in with Brazil before you even hear the words ‘world heritage site’. Well, that’s the idea. Both teams listened to the whole question, then Hannah Woods buzzed in. She sounded uncertain, but she was right. Peterhouse at this stage of the game were outbuzzing Glasgow. Questions about Graham Greene (met him once and was very unimpressed. Mind you, so was he.) A couple of bonuses were answered correctly. The first music starter of this series saw neither team manage to identify a little bit of Monteverdi. Not surprised. So the bonuses rolled over while we had another starter, and Ollie Allen recognized a definition of the term ‘bus’ as used in computing. The music bonuses offered three pieces inspired by the myth of Orpheus, and asked for their composers. I fancied we’d be getting the Can Can, and this was actually the last one. It was the only one I got, but Glasgow didn’t know it. A very good early buzz from Vitali Brejevs identified “Cabbages and Kings” as the work of O. Henry. The 2014 Winter Olympics brought 2 correct answers and ten points. Oscar Powell looked as if he was guessing when he buzzed to offer sial as the name used for the upper part of the Earth’s crust, but he was right anyway, and he earned his team bonuses on English and Scottish monarchs. Now the first one, about the king at the time of the Norman Conquest was asked in the rugby club two weeks ago, and considering the difficulty of the question I was a little annoyed that we weren’t given anything for putting Malcolm II rather than Malcolm III, but I digress. Peterhouse were close to all three, but only managed the one. This took their score to 115, which meant that they had now established a 50 point lead by the 20 minute mark, and were looking like the stronger of the two teams.

Julian Sutcliffe recognized the Duke of Wellington’s quote about battles won being as melancholy as battles lost. Miserable old git. That’s the Duke of Wellington, and not Julian Sutcliffe. Questions on Switzerland brought another 5 points. Vitali Brejevs, who to be honest so far had been almost single handedly keeping his team in the game, was first to buzz in for the second picture starter to identify an engraving by Gustave Dore. The bonuses were further illustrations by Dore, and the team had to identify the work it was created for and the author of the work. They managed two, but were probably kicking themselves for not getting the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. A great early buzz from Hannah Woods saw her recognize the definition of postmodernism. I’m a post-impressionist myself. My impression of a post is brilliant. I’m here all week, ladies and gents. Neglected Tropical Diseases brought a good full set, and Peterhouse were, if not home and dry, certainly in their own street and only slightly damp. Oscar Powell was unlucky not to quite understand the question for the next starter. Only participle was needed, while he offered past participle, which wasn’t quite the answer to the question as asked – and again he was correctly decided not to have quite qualified for the close enough rule to come into operation. Maybe misled by the previous answer, Glasgow plumped for gerund. Close but no cigar. Hannah Woods knows that you hear the words ‘Swiss French architect, and you hit the buzzer and say ‘Le Corbusier’. Novels about the First World War brought two correct answers – I didn’t know “The Daughters of Mars” either. Ollie Allen knew that the first country to declare war in July 1914 was Austria-Hungary. Bonuses on Ancient Greece took them to 105, and with maybe 5 minutes left they at least had the chance of making a bid for a repechage slot. Now, with the Maths starter that followed, I used the Clark principle of always answering zero or 1, and got it right by answering zero. So did Vitali Brejevs. European cities with 4 letter names took Glasgow to 130, and a good enough score for a run at the repechage was looking a much higher possibility. The impressive Mr. Brejevs knew that FLOPS stands for Floating Operations Per Second, and a set on royal wives added 5 more points. 145 might just do it, and in fact a win wasn’t out of the question now. Well, Oscar Powell wasn’t having any of that, and won the buzzer race to say that ATP stands for Adenosine Triphosphate. Italian football grounds provided 5 more points, but the two they missed out on were gettable. Vitali Brejevs won the buzzer race to name the Indonesian province on Borneo as Kalimantan, and that, I fancy, might just be enough to take them to the repechage round. There was no time for any bonuses, and so Peterhouse won 185 to 155.

This was a good and enjoyable contest, and both teams can be pretty pleased with their displays. On balance Peterhouse seem to have a little more buzzing throughout their team than Glasgow, but then first round form is notoriously unreliable.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

JP earned himself some Clark brownie points by alluding to the TV series Doctor Who, but lost all of them immediately by calling the character Doctor Who, rather than The Doctor. The Doctor supposedly gained his degree from Glasgow.

I thought that we were going to get a comment about Peterhouse’s identification of the Glyndwr Way as the Brecon Beacons, but JP merely looked down his not inconsiderable nose and moved on. There was the hint of a laugh when Glasgow offered Handel for the composer of the Can Can.

I’ve rarely seen JP so lost for words as when Vitali Brejevs offered the title of “The Firebird” in Russian! In English? he replied, his expression suggesting that he maybe felt that Mr. Brejevs was ‘showing off’.

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

Thomas Keneally wrote the 2012 novel “The Daughters of Mars”

Where Was I?

Right now, where was I?

Actually, that’s a very pertinent question. Look, I am really sorry to any formerly regular readers who happen to chance upon this entry that it’s been months since I last posted. I feel I owe you some kind of explanation, albeit that I really don’t have much that I can say.

Going back through to January, this has been a hell of a difficult year for me. It started badly when I was sick right throughout the Christmas holiday period, and wasn’t really recovered when I went back to work in January. Since January this school year has been the most difficult, most pressurized I can ever remember – I won’t labour the point, but basically my school closes when it amalgamates with two other local schools one year from now, and none of us knew whether we would in fact get jobs in the new school. Add to the fact that the school underwent an inspection as well. Meanwhile, at home we had the difficulties of two of my daughters splitting up with their partners, and coming to live with us again. Pip brought my grandson Ollie with her – and don’t get me wrong, I was delighted about that because that young man is the apple of my eye – and Jen gave birth to my granddaughter Amelia a little while after moving back with us. Now, my grandchildren are nothing but a joy – but you can understand this has been a very difficult and trying period.

Well, the school passed through the inspection with flying colours, which is ironic considering we’re closing, and thankfully I have a job in the new school. Pip and Jen are renting a house together and have moved out, but it’s literally 3 streets away so I can see Ollie and Meemo (Amelia) any time I want to. So what my grandmother always said does actually seem true – it’ll all come out in the wash, and things have a habit of working out in the long run.

Now, I haven’t actually fallen out of love with quizzing – far from it, and I always said that writing LAM was never a chore for me, but a labour of love. But the fact is that things that have happened since January , some of which I’ve tried to explain above, have just left me mentally shattered and exhausted. I would hate to be writing LAM, and begrudging doing it. So it wasn’t actually a conscious decision to stop writing – more a question of waiting until I had something which I felt was worth saying. The return of UC and OC seemed the perfect opportunity.

So I am sorry if you’ve missed LAM, and ask for your understanding. Thanks.

And now, back to the quizzes. 

In the News

In the News

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

The Magic Whip

Lars Peter Nordhaug

Armata T14

Lindsey Vonn

Bobby Heath

Sir Norman Bettinson

Robert Blay

Dave Goldberg

Richie Porte

Alessandra Ferri

Grant Ferguson

Gavin Caldwell

Richard Colton

Danae Stratou

Memphis Depay

John Whittingdale

Greg Clark

Pritti Patel

Amber Rudd

Anna Soubry

Sajid Javid

Matthew Hancock

Norman Lamb

Georgina Campbell

Woman of Algiers

Tracey Crouch

Killer Women

Paul Cook

Patagonian Toothfish

Marshal Hyon-Yong-Choi

Mary Creagh

Amelia Caller

Patrick O’Flynn

Roger Smith

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Manu Tuilagi

In Other News

Which politician called for “Doctor Who “ and “Strictly Come Dancing” to be scrapped?

What are the three first names of the royal baby

Which crime writer passed away?

What was the result of the Mayweather Pacquiao fight?

Chelsea confirmed their league title with victory over which team?

Which club won The Championship?

What was the result in the European rugby championship?

For which team did Danny Jones, who tragically passed away during a rugby league match, play?

Who publically backed, and then later repudiated the Labour Party before and after the election?

Which French politician was suspended from the party he formed?

Which Spurs and England all time great suffered a severe stroke?

Which England player retired from international cricket?

Which European champion announced that she won’t run in this year’s world athletics championship in Beijing?

What was the score in the first leg champs league semi between Real and Juventus?

 – and Barcelona and Bayern?

Which excuse for defeat was given by Manny Pacquiao

What was the result in the final of the world snooker championship?

Which attraction quickly included a model of new Princess Charlotte?

Who is England’s new Director of Cricket?

Which singer passed away , aged 71?

The Who were confirmed for which festival?

The BBC4 show All Aboard! The Canal Trip – was filmed on which canal?

What did Graham Taylor deny he was ordered by the FA?

Which 4 teams contested the Championship play offs?

What was significant about May 8^th?

Who became Singapore’s first celebrity anti drug ambassador?

Which 4 teams contested the League 1 play offs?

Which party leader’s resignation was not accepted?

Who resigned from the Labour Party over its attitude towards business?

Whom did Andy Murray defeat in the final of the Madrid Masters?

Who won the Spanish GP?

Stephen Hawking is to appear where?

Which country banned the use of its National Anthem as a ringtone?

Who entered and then withdrew from the Labour Leadership contest?

With whom was it announced that Sally Bercow has had an affair?

Which british heptathlete has pulled out of Gotzis?

What was the score in the second leg champs league semi between Bayern and Barcelona?

– and Real and Juventus?

Which decision did Greece reach over the Elgin marbles?

What is the world’s most valuable brand, according to the Forbes Magazine list?

What has Sarah Brightman pulled out of?

Who was named Britain’s most influential Catholic?

What stipulation have AQA made about their new GCSE Music course?

What has happened to the USA men’s 4x100m sprint team from the 2012 Olympics?

Which british actress is on the jury at the Cannes film festival?

Who is the RFUs England player of the year?

Who won the Babcock Trophy?

Who quit The Simpsons?

Which former world Motorcycle champion passed away last week?

Whose dogs had to be deported from Australia?

A new earthquake struck which country?

Europa League – semi final Dnipro v. Napoli

Europa League – semi final – Seville v. Fiorentina

Which injury did Alberto Contador suffer in stage 6 of the Giro D’Italia?

Which tournament did Andy Murray quit due to fatigue?

How much were Aston Villa fined for crowd trouble in the match against West Brom?

Which royal event will only be screened by ITV in 2016?

Which musician passed away aged 89?

In The News

In the News

Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

Hudsonian Godwit

Tigist Tufa and Eliud Kipchoge

Len Blavatnik

Surrey Storm

Loretta Lynch

Claude Littner

Jim Wells

Protein World

James Holmes

Curtis Elton

Helena Lucas

Clandon House

Progress

Stuart Bingham

Carcraft

Freddie Gray

Jean Ndietch

Rod Weston

Ben E. King

In Other News

What has been banned for Wimbledon ?

What was the score between Arsenal and Chelsea?

For what specifically was Ronnie O’Sullivan warned during his match against Matthew Stevens?

What was the score between Everton and Man Utd.?

Which became the first Championship team promoted as by right to the Premier League?

Who is the PFA Player of the Year?

Who criticized fellow authors Michael Ondaatje and Pete Carey’s opposition to Charlie Hebdo receiving a PEN award?

Who won the FA Youth Cup?

Who is the PFA Young Player of the year?

Which bank announced it is opening 100 branches on Bank Holiday?

Which team won the Championship?

What was announced by Sandi Toksvig?

Which British entertainer and ventriloquist passed away?

Which US city was riven by rioting?

Which was pronounced the best font to use for writing a CV?

Which were the first two teams relegated from the Championship?

Who were awarded £357,000 from the Portuguese Police in damages for libel?

What was the score between Hull and Liverpool?

How much money is in this year’s Wimbledon Prize Pot?

Who gave himself an umlaut and a hyphen?

Which party leader met Russell Brand online?

Where will the HQ of the square kilometer array – the world’s largest radio telescope – be?

What was the score between Chelsea and Leicester?

Where will December’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year be hosted?

In which country did the king controversially alter the line of succession last week?

Which country banned unofficial weather forecasts last year?

Who are the new sponsors of the FA Cup?

A Chinese skyscraper of 57 storeys was built in how many days?

Which anniversary did the penny black and the tuppenny blue celebrate last week?

Which two players contested the world snooker final?

Answers to News Questions

In The News

Who Or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

Rima Horton

Sir Philip Carter

Box Office

420 celebration

Oskar Groning

Clive Howard

Matthew Warchus

Ankit Kishri

Lelisa Desisa and Caroline Rotich

Patrick Bamford

Katie Cross

Roy Mason

Jack Grealish

Sunrise Farms Iowa

Reanne Evans

Phil Rudd

Don the Sheepdog

Navinder Singh Sarao

Lutfur Rahman

Calbuco

Alison Saunders

Adam Johnson

Box Office

In Other News

Which High Street Bank said that it may move headquarters out of the UK?

What went back on display in Italy after 4 months?

Leaked emails suggested which star had a slave owning ancestor which he tried to cover up?

What was the result of the Liverpool v. Villa FA Cup semi?

How many medals did team GB win in the European Gymnastics championships?

Who won the Bahrain GP?

Which item on This Morning received a huge number of complaints?

Who announced that 2015 will be his last Open Golf Championship appearance?

Who announced he will ride in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire?

What specifically was criticized as unrealistic in Poldark?

Pep Guardiola announced he is staying at which club this year?

Which New Zealand player was ruled out of the Rugby World Cup?

Who was inducted as a soloist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Where in London did an Air Ambulance land last week?

Name the teams contesting the Rugby European Champions Cup final?

Name the teams contesting the Rugby European Challenge Cup Final?

Which USTV star announced that she is going blind through macular degeneration?

What form of propulsion did the Japanese train which set a speed record of 374mph use?

Who denied editing his and other Tory MPs’ Wikipedia entries?

Which venue will host the GB v France Davis Cup quarter final?

What was the Champions’ league result of the Bayern v. Porto tie?

– and Barcelona v. PSG?

Where was a conference about the Charlie Hebdo Massacre cancelled?

Robert Downey Jr. walked out of an interview with whom?

What was the score between Real Madrid and Atletico?

 – and Monaco and Juventus?

Who scored a century for the W. Indies in the first innings of the 2^nd Test?

Which Hollywood star joined the campaign for the return of the Elgin Marbles?

Which Premier League club have promised to slash season ticket prices the season after next?

Which anniversary did the Hubble Space Telescope celebrate?

Which US figure was given 2 years’ probation for leaking military secrets?

Which product did Apple launch last week?

Who announced a return to boxing promotion?

Which cycling team escaped a ban from the UCI over doping offences?

Answers

Who Or what are the following and why have they been in the news?

She married Alan Rickman

One of the architects of the Premier League who passed away

AP McCoy’s last ride

Celebration in support of legalization of cannabis

Auchwitz guard on trial in Germany – the ‘bookkeeper of Auschwitz’

‘Nightstalker’ rapist jailed

Taking over fro Kevin Spacey as artistic director of Old Vic

Indian cricketer who died during an IPL match

Men’s and Women’s winners of Boston Marathon

Football – Championship Player of the Year

Daughter of former striker David Cross, 1^st woman to play cricket in the Lancashire League

Former Northern Ireland Secretary who passed away

Footballer wanted by both England and Republic of Ireland

Farm that has to slaughter 3 million chickens with bird flu

Women’s World Snooker Champion for the last 10 years lost in this year’s semis to Ng On Yee

AC/DC Drummer pleaded guilty to threat to kill in New Zealand

He ‘drove’ a tractor onto the M74

The so called bedroom trader accused of causing mayhem on US stockmarkets

Mayor of Tower Hamlets stripped of office for corruption

Chilean volcano which erupted without warning

DPP who faced criticism for her decision not to prosecute Lord Janner

Sunderland footballer charged with sex offences

Tony McCoy’s last ride

In Other News

HSBC

Turin Shroud

Ben Affleck

2 – 1 Villa

8

Lewis Hamilton

Bondage for Beginners

Sir Nick Faldo

Bradley Wiggins

Aidan Turner’s scything

Bayern Munich

Aaron Cruden

Ringo Starr

Trafalgar Square

Toulon and Clement Auvergne

Edinburgh and Gloucester

Roseanne Barr

Maglev

Grant Shapps

Queen’s Club

6 – 1 Bayern (7 – 1 aggregate)

2 – 0 Barcelona ( 5 – 1 aggregate)

Queen’s University Belfast

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

1 – 0 Real

 0 – 0 (1 – 0 Monaco)

Marlon Samuels

Liam Neeson

West Ham Utd

25 years

David Petraeus

iWatch

Kellie Maloney

Astana