University Challenge 2023: Round One: Gonville and Caius v. St. Andrews

 The Teams

Gonville and Caius

Zoe Zhang

Jasper Maughan

Abigail Tan (Capt)

Stefan Ivanov

St. Andrews

Alec Csukai

Simon Gibbons

Joseph Cryan (Capt)

Sofya Anisimova

Hello, good afternoon and welcome. Two venerable institutions locked horns in yesterday’s first round heat. I agree with JP that the rules are unchanging, but unchangeable? Really? They might not have changed before, but it’s not totally beyond the bounds of possibility. Enough of such chaff.

I didn’t have the first starter until it connected conservation with millinery which signposted the RSPB. Simon Gibbons took that one, which put him on the road to becoming the most successful buzzer of the evening. This brought St. Andrews a set of bonuses on photographer Eve Arnold. I knew little about her, but I did know that Marilyn Monroe’s last film was the Misfits. St. Andrews didn’t and failed to add to their score. Various rhyming words pointed the way to Wordle for the next starter and skipper Abigail Tan opened G and C’s account. Place names in England and Scotland ending in -ington – yielded a single bonus, and also the lead. A very good buzz from Joseph Cryan identified Sandra Mason as the first president of the new republic of Barbados. Good shout, that. Worthy of a triumphant raised fist, though? A little early for that, Mr. Cryan I would have thought. Former names of chemical elements were greeted by me putting on my trainers in anticipation of a lap of honour. Niobium set me off on the circuit of the sofa, and astatine and antimony added the gloss of a full house. St. Andrews managed the last, although weren’t far away from either of the other two. So to the picture starter and Simon Gibbons correctly identified the French City indicated as Le Havre. Other cities which have also hosted Olympic Sailing events where the main Olympic city was much further inland – like Weymouth in 2012 (not included presumably because as nice as it is, it’s not a city) brought a timely full house, which meant that right on the cusp of the 10 minute mark St. Andrews led by 50 – 15.

Stefan Ivanov got G&S on the move again, knowing the Exosphere. John Waters films saw the team chew over the three bonuses, but pass 2 and get 1 wrong. Both teams seemed to spend a lot of time on the bonuses last night. None of us knew the Pandora Papers for the next starter. The geometry starter was going nowhere until it mentioned the middle value in a range, at which a buzzer race ensued, won by Stefan Ivanov who gave the correct answer of median. Two bonuses, coupled with a five point deduction for St. Andrews’ early buzz for the Pandora Papers put the teams level. Now, if I hear the words ‘soviet films’ I’m always going to answer Andrei Tarkovsky, and this is what Sofya Anisimova did with the next starter. Semi autobiographical TV series (serieses? Gawd knows) brought two correct answers, although Sofya Anisimova had to verbally beat her team across the heads to get them to accept her correct answer for the last. So to the music starter, and what to me, sounded like the different section of the orchestra were playing completely different pieces from each other. ‘Gotta be Shostakovich!’ I said, and it was too. Sofya Anisimova took her double with that one. Two bonuses on classical composers followed, and the lead was stretching out again. However an interruption lost them five and allowed Abigail Tan to identify the city of Quebec from the clues. Philosophical works translated into English narrowed the gap to a starter and a bonus. Simon Gibbons knew a definition of genes, and this brought a set on measurements. Which was a complete waste of time as none of us knew any of them. It wasted a lot of time too, taking us through the 20 minute mark. St. Andrews led by 90-65.

When you take the number of EU members from the number of countries in the Commonwealth you get 27, which I amazed myself by working out. Alec Csukai was close enough with 28. I took a rare full house on sport on tennis while St. Andrews picked up a brace. This took us to the second picture starter. Alec Csukai took his double by recognising the work of Vermeer. Other works stolen in the largest art heist in history brought again a couple of bonuses, and things were looking highly dangerous for G&C. They weren’t done yet, though. Jasper Maughan correctly identified the work of Wordsworth, which enabled them to take a couple of bonuses on elections in Asia. Skipper Abigail Tan narrowed the lead further with the next starter, knowing that if its about a monkey and about its voice, just buzz and say Howler. A bonus on lager took them into three figures. Nobody knew that Tom Wolfe wrote the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. Jasper Maughan knew various French words beginning with Fr. English words and their earliest OED citations narrowed the gap to just 10 points. It was close. . . but so was the gong. I didn’t understand the question, but Simon Gibbons did, and his fourth starter was probably the most important of the show. Had G&C got it, then it would have been a draw. As it was, the contest was gonged before JP finished reading out the first bonus, and St. Andrews won by 140 – 120.

I was a bit disappointed that JP had no words for G&C at the end – their fightback was worthy of comment. However the spoils go to St. Andrews, who go forward to the second round. Well played.

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

The Paul Bunnell test is used to detect the presence of Glandular Fever

Mastermind - about those Fiction Specialist Rounds.

Let’s start by stating a truth universally acknowledged, namely, that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. So I know that some people are going to disagree with me over this and that’s absolutely fine. As always, please feel free to disagree.

I wanted to make a point about something I think that I’ve seen happening in Mastermind specialist rounds over the last couple of years, particularly in rounds about works of fiction including films or TV shows. It seems to me that such rounds seem to have come to focus more and more on the specific events of the films or shows in question, and less and less on the production side of it. Now, I admit that this is not an opinion I’ve reached based on any kind of scientific analysis, it’s no more than an impression. However, I was reminded of this when one of the rounds last night concerned Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” books – yes, I know, books, not films or TV shows, but the same principle seemed to hold.

It’s hard to make hard and fast pronouncements about a specialist round when you really don’t know much about the subject involved. However, as I mentioned in the review yesterday, I do know a bit about these books. My grandfather had, back in the 40s or 50s, bought a large set of ‘classic’ British novels, and by the time I came along only a few of these were left. I remember – “Jane Eyre” – “David Copperfield” – “The Mill on the Floss” and “Alice in Wonderland”. The one which interested me from a tiny age was “Alice”. I started off being fascinated – and not a little scared – by the Tenniel illustrations, then read the book after learning to read. I wouldn’t say that my love of the surreal is completely due to this book – but on the other hand it surely played its part in fostering it. Then, earlier this year, following an internet sketching group prompt, I copied a large number of the Tenniel illustrations in ink. In the process I learned quite a bit about the background to the books, and Carroll himself. (Skip this bit if you’re not interested. There is no evidence whatsoever that a) Lewis Carroll used drugs while writing it, and b) that he ever had improper feelings for Alice and her sisters)

So, let’s get to the round. 13 questions were asked. 12 of them were specifically about details from the narrative or the text, and all of them were about the content of the books. The only question not specifically about the narrative asked about what is written on the ticket in the illustration of the Mad Hatter’s hat.

Yes -  you might well say – well, isn’t that the point? Shouldn’t a round on the Alice novels actually BE about the Alice novels? – Well, that’s certainly one point of view. But there are other things that might have been asked about the novels which aren’t from quite such a narrow field, for example:-

·       Which of the characters in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is based on Lewis Carroll himself?

·       What was the title of the original manuscript of the story which Carroll gave to Alice Liddell?

·       What was the name of the children’s author friend to whom Carroll showed the manuscript in order to help him decide whether to publish it or not?

·       What was the name of the clergyman who accompanied Carroll and the Liddells on the boating trip where the story was originally conceived?

·       Who illustrated the handwritten original manuscript of what became “Alice in Wonderland”?

(Answers are at the bottom of this post)

and so on.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me about this. I am not saying that having such a relatively narrow focus made the round easier, because I’m sure it didn’t. I’m not blaming the question setter either. I’ve known a couple of people who have set questions for the show and I’m aware that they are under fairly strict instructions about the range of questions, the level of difficulty, the length and style etc. What I can’t help wondering is why the decision seems to have been made somewhere along the line to do this with rounds about works of fiction – be they printed, televisual or filmed. Is it, I wonder because it’s felt that this will make it easier for people to play along at home, or more interesting for people playing along at home? Maybe. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of another reason.

Please feel free to disagree with me on this. I personally feel that a Mastermind specialist round should reflect the whole subject, not just the most interesting or accessible aspects of it, as much as is possible in up to 15 questions, anyway. I’ve picked on the Alice round, not to denigrate the setter or the contender who answered on it, but simply because it’s a subject that I know a little bit about. However, I could easily have picked on other rounds in this and the previous series. You know, I don’t know if this is necessarily the most apt analogy, but it’s a bit like doing an autobiographical subject, and only being asked about the subject’s years of fame and success, and nothing at all about the childhood or the background.

I’d be interested to hear your views on the subject.

Answers to the questions:-

1) The Dodo – it’s a pun on Carroll’s attempts to say his real name caused by his stutter – Do-Do-Dodgson

2) Alice’s Adventures Underground

3) George MacDonald

4) Robinson Duckworth

5) Lewis Carroll himself

Oh you don't want to see my pictures do you? Alright - these are copied freehand from Tenniel's originals - just a few

Mastermind 2023: First Round Heat Four

Hello and good evening, dearly beloved. Well, let’s call a spade a spade, tonight’s heat wasn’t a classic, but there was still a bit to enjoy, if you looked closely enough.

So let’s start with Julie Clifton. Julie was answering on the TV series Detectorists, which is not a series I can ever remember watching. Well, she started well, and she ended well. In between she faltered a wee bit. The late rally took her up to 9, which is certainly respectable, but bearing in mind some of the scores and performances we’ve already seen this series, it did look as if this was going to leave her with a lot to do.

Now, our second contender, Isabel Burgin, was answering on the Alice Novels of Lewis Carroll. These are books that fascinated me from a very early age indeed. Mostly this was to do with John Tenniel’s illustrations – so much so that I’ve made copies of many of them for my own amusement in the last year or so. And to be fair, it was enough to bring me 3 points on the round. Isabel did better, but, sadly, not that much better. I’m going to be a wee bit cheeky and suggest that Isabel just hadn’t prepared quite thoroughly enough for the demands of the round.

Pete Westcott’s subject – British Politics in the 1960s – brought me more points than the previous round, which rather surprised me. Not as many as it brought Pete though. After the two previous rounds it was a pleasure to see a round where the contender’s preparation enabled him to post a score in double figures.

Well, considering that I’d scored nowt on Detectorists, I was absolutely delighted that my knowledge of Sir Elton was enough to take my cumulative total for the specialist round up to 17, my best of the series so far. Yes, alright, Sam did much better. He said in his later filmed insert that pretty much everything he revised came up, and it certainly looked like it as he raced away to 12 points to take the lead at the half time interval.

So it was Isabel who was the first to return to the chair. I have every sympathy for contenders whose round just didn’t come off, and I’m afraid it was like this for Isabel. She scored five. Things weren’t much better for Julie when she returned to the chair, either. Once again she started well, but this time, after becoming bogged down in the middle of the round she didn’t manage to rally as she had done in the specialist round. 7 was enough to bring her a respectable total of 16.

So to the real contest. Pete Wescott, while never looking totally convincing in his GK round did at least manage double figures, adding 10 to his previous score to raise the bar to 21. Bearing in mind the winning scores we’ve seen so far this season – and quite a few of the totals that didn’t win, the target looked to be a quite achievable one. Well, it might well have looked that way, but Sam really had to grapple with his round, and it wasn’t until the last stages of it that he managed to equal and then surpass Pete’s total.

Well, there we are. You can’t have caviar every single week and sometimes a bit of marmite on toast provides a bit of welcome variety. Well done to Sam – you have nothing to lose in the semi finals.

The Details

Julie Clifton	Detectorists	9	1	7	0	16	1
Isabel Burgin	The Alice Novels of Lewis Carroll	7	0	5	3	12	3
Pete Wescott	British Politics in the 1960s	11	1	10	3	21	4
Sam Swift	Sir Elton John	12	0	10	0	22	0

A Quiz of Three Teams

Yes, dearly beloved, I know you’re dying to know how the quiz went on Thursday night. In fact that’s why I’m posting about it now and not later in the weekend. I don’t want you suffering from anxiety. Well, it went okay, I think. It was difficult to judge because there were only 3 teams last night. I was put in mind of one of my favourite “Not the Nine O’Clock News” sketches from about 1982. It’s a Rowan Atkinson single hander, where he plays a vicar whose church is hosting an edition of Songs of Praise. He begins “You join a full congregation of local people who have come to worship tonight. Indeed it makes quite a change to have so many here because it wasn’t quite the same story last week, was it? Last week the congregation numbered 7, four of whom had turned up a week early by mistake. The previous week, Harvest Sunday, there were 3 of us. Myself, the organist Mr. Posner, and a tin of spaghetti.” If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link - Not the Nine O'Clock News - Songs Of Praise - YouTube

Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting that the three teams last night resembled a tin of spaghetti in any way, shape or form. No, all that I meant was that I do understand why people can’t come every week – there’s holidays, the beginning of the long cold and flu season, and the feeling of -I don’t want to play on my own if nobody else can come, but it was a slightly strange experience doing a quiz with so few teams.

It’s a shame really that there weren’t more teams because it was quite tight all the way through the quiz, and at the end after all the shouting there were only 3 points separating all 3 teams. I’m pleased for the winners, because whatever you say it must be a little bit disheartening turning up week after week and knowing that – God, this is going to sound smug and arrogant, but I can’t think of a better way of phrasing it – knowing that you’re probably playing for second place at best. But I have to say that I’m particularly pleased for my team. As I was compiling the quiz last week I was conscious of thinking – you are at a distinct disadvantage in this quiz if you’re less than fifty years old. Well the three of them fall a couple of decades short of this age. Yet they finished joint second, only 3 points behind the winners. And they won the picture quiz as well.

Well, nobody was moaning loudly enough at the end of the quiz for me to hear them so I think I did alright. Dai Norwich ( so called because a) his name is David, and b) he’s connected with Norwich) asked me if I’d do the New Year quiz, so hopefully he won’t ask me again before then.

University Challenge: Round One: Glasgow v. Queen's University, Belfast

The Teams

Glasgow

Nabil Yousif

Alison Nunziante

Harry Brennan (capt)

Imogen Miller

Queen’s Belfast

Michael Sharry

Jack McInerney

Courtney Campbell (capt)

Luke Duffy

Well, here we are, dearly beloved, pretty much half way through the first round. Doesn’t time just fly? A famous quotation from William Morris – with the magic word being ‘beautiful’ – brought the first starter to Imogen Millar for Glasgow. Women who were their country’s first female head of government brought a couple of bonuses, while they missed out on Corazon Aquino. Imogen Miller took her second consecutive starter , seeing knitting as the connection between Gromit, Tom Daley and les Tricoteuses (who incidentally had a minor 1963 hit with the song ‘Ce n’est pas Mon Cheval, c’est Ma Femme!’). English castles only provided a single bonus. Michael Sharry, for the first but certainly not the last time in the contest buzzed in to identify the Juneteenth holiday in the USA. A full house of bonuses on pomegranates – and why not? – followed. For the picture starter we saw the bird of paradise from the flag of Papua New Guinea. Harry Brennan won the buzzer race to identify it. Far play to Glasgow, they managed two of the other birds on other flags, but missed out on Kiribati. Neither of the teams managed to dredge up the name of the Bridgewater Canal for the next starter, and Courtney Campbell lost five of her team’s points by being just a wee bit too quick on the buzzer. Now, be honest, if you’re an oldie like me, did you too shout out MASH!  The moment the name Larry Gelbart was mentioned in the next starter? It could, to be fair, also have been about the film Tootsie. But Mash it was, as Michael Sharry suggested in his second buzz of the night. Films by Dee Rees did not enable me to trouble the scorer further on this set, more importantly Queen’s didn’t add to their score either. So as we approached the 10 minute mark Glasgow looked pretty decent value for their lead of 55 – 30.

None of us knew enough about the Copley Medal for the next starter. Now, for the next starter Agaricus was the big clue that we were dealing with a mushroom, as Harry Brennan knew. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is not, if I’m honest, something I know a great deal about. At least Glasgow managed one of the bonuses with dialectic. Michael Sharry looked disbelieving as he offered Snowdonia as the National Park home to the highest British mountains outside of Scotland, but he was right. Novels that have won the Booker since 2002 somehow managed to completely elude Queens, even though I’d say that Wolf Hall was a bit of a sitter, and The Testaments not that difficult either. A lovely UC starter special followed , when we were asked for the three letters beginning various words – caesura being the first. Harry Brennan again struck for his team. Space exploration only yielded one bonus, but it was enough to mean that Glasgow had over double Queen’s score at this point. For the music starter I was so shocked to hear something that I actually knew that I didn’t shout out ‘Calamity Jane’ for at least half a second. Michael Sharry let Glasgow have a pop before coming in with the correct answer. More songs from Western musicals saw Queen’s fall a little wide of the mark. They really were having a shocking time with their bonuses. The next starter saw Harry Brennan identify the year of Charles Dickens’ birth as 1812. Two bonuses on Belize and its wildlife took Glasgow through the 100 point barrier. With ages left on the clock, you’d have put money on Glasgow at the very least getting a repechage score. Well, good job that you didn’t. Michael Sharry put together a long eared American hair and a very large fruit and came up with jack. At last Queen’s managed to do something with their bonuses, scoring a full house on Catherine the Great. Courtney Campbell played a captain’s innings by recognising various people linked by the name Clara for the next starter. Technical terms with similar sound or spelling to an item of clothing brought more points. Suddenly, as we approached the 20 minute mark, Queen’s found themselves just 15 behind, as Glasgow led by 105- 90.

I often tell anyone who’ll listen that if the question is asking about types of a specific flower, then the answer will be orchid more often than it’s not. It was now for the next starter. Neither team had it though. A lovely lovely starter followed, asking you to combine a female monster of Greek myth and the author of Germinal to get Gorgonzola. Jack McInerney took his first starter with this one. Opera and cinema saw Queen’s return to their former bonus profligacy, and hey didn’t get any of them. Nobody knew T for tunnelling in some internet abbreviation thingy – stop me if I get too technical. Nobody recognised a still from the film “Do the Right Thing” for the second picture starter. That man Michael Sharry suggested a carpet on the V and A reckoned to be the oldest in the world is Persian. We both managed a couple of the picture bonuses, and Queen’s were ahead for the first time in the contest. Michael Sharry, who frankly was winning the buzzer contest almost singlehandedly for Queen’s, correctly guessed that Wendy Cope’s bloody poem is about bloody buses. Bonuses on the digestive process followed. Now, you might have notice that this week has thus far been a lap free zone. I awarded myself one for guessing that the pancreas is responsible for the release of protease, amylase and lipase (who were each defeated by the Fantastic Four in the 1960s). Well, you have to get your lap of honour where you can. Again, a bonus set went begging for Queen’s. I loved the next starter for making the connection between The Thousand Eyes of Doctor Mabuse, and Strictly Come Dancing Goddess Oti Mabuse. Sadly neither team had it. Jack McInerney took his second starter, knowing that the recycling symbol is actually a type of Mobius strip. Only one bonus on Chinese dynasties and inventions followed. But Queen’s didn’t care, they were battering Glasgow out of the competition on the buzzer. Reliable Michael Sharry ensured that this continued, buzzing early to identify the work of Allen Ginsburg. I was going to read some of his stuff once, but then he never read any of mine so I thought sod it. Subatomic particles also made me say sod it. They took Queen’s though to a fifty point lead. Now, if you’re asked about named features on a moon, just say craters. It won’t always be right – just most of the time. Jack McInerney did just that. Were Glasgow’s buzzers disconnected for the second half of the contest? American critics and social commentators didn’t allow Queen’s to add to their score. Which didn’t matter because we were gonged, and Queen’s had won by 165 to 105.

Well, a real game of two halves, there. Glasgow needed to sling more buzzer during the last 10 minutes, whether they knew the answer or not. Better to go down all guns blazing, I’d say. Hard lines to them. As for Queen’s – what a good fight back. Very well done. I dare say they’ll want to do much better with the bonuses in their next match. If they can, well, who knows what might happen.

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

The Copley Medal is believed to be the oldest scientific prize in the world.

Mastermind 2023 - First Round - Heat 3

Good evening, dearly beloved, and welcome to our review of the third heat of this year’s Mastermind competition. First into the chair was Emeritus Professor Joe Andrew. I must just digress, since it’s not often that I have the opportunity to say anything nice about Rupert Murdock. I was reminded by the word emeritus that Rupert Murdoch is supposed to have told the editor who swallowed the huge shaggy dog story that was the so-called Hitler Diaries that he was being made emeritus editor. When asked what it meant he is supposed to have said ‘E means you’re sacked, and meritus means you deserve it.’ Coming back to Joe Andrew he delivered perfection answering on the life of the Suffragette Emily Wilding Davison. He wasn’t rushing his answers, and maybe could have had another question by answering a little more quickly, nonetheless this was all very impressive.

Padraig O’Kane, by contrast, was answering on the much-loved TV show “The Thick of It”. I’ve no doubt that Padraig pt time and effort into his preparation – he’d never have got even 7 points had he not. However, his preparation wasn’t enough to enable him to get a score to challenge Joe. OK, you might argue and say it is possible to pull back a 6-point deficit at half time, but let’s be honest, it’s a once in a blue moon occurrence.

I may be wrong, but I think that Anna Kirby Hall is our first teacher contender of this series, so of course she received the dubious benefit of support from the Clark sofa. Taking The New Romantics as her subject, although she managed a decent 8, I can’t help wondering if she was expecting more of the questions to be about the music – I was. In fact, all of my points on the round came from this source. Again, while a five-point gap is theoretically bridgeable, it’s not something you often see happen.

Last to go in the first round then was Joe Karimi. Joe offered us 20^th century US presidents. I have to thank him for this, since it taught me that I know a hell of a lot less about US vice presidents than I previously thought that I did. Once again, we saw a contender who certainly seemed to know his subject, but rather got bogged down in parts, and left too many unclaimed points behind him.

The upshot of all of this was that the on-course bookies had probably stopped accepting bets on Joe by the time that the half time oranges were being brought out. With the nearest contender being five points behind him it was going to take something extraordinary to deny him the win.

Well, we hadn’t seen a real disaster of a GK round in either of the previous shows, and we didn’t see one this week either. Padraig returned to the chair first. No, if I’m honest it wasn’t a brilliant general knowledge round, but I can live with that. It was a perfectly decent and respectable general knowledge round and that’s really what I’m looking for from a contender.

Joe did slightly worse, but only to the tune of one point. As was the case with Padraig, the evidence is that he’s not a regular quizzer, and if he has the desire to pass this way again, this is something he could work on for a year or two.

Anna had proven herself to be the best of the rest in the Specialist round, and this was a soubriquet to which she cemented her claim with a rather good general knowledge round. Yes, judging by her expression she was riding her luck at times, but then being able to make a guess which could be right is a genuine skill in its own right. If she could put in a really barnstorming specialist round in a future appearance, then she’d certainly have a chance of getting through.

No chance tonight, though. If anything, I was even more impressed with Joe’s general knowledge round than I was with his specialist. If last year’s series is anything to go by, then Joe’s excellent fifteen will turn out to be one of the best GK scores of the whole first round. What I found even more impressive about it was that Joe continued his measured response to each question. It shows that he was getting most of them right, and could maybe, if needed, go faster. Very well-done sir – an impressive performance which marks you out clearly as one to watch in the semifinals.

The Details

Joe Andrew	Emily Wilding Davison	13	0	15	0	28	0
Padraig O’Kane	The Thick of It	7	3	10	2	17	5
Anna Kirby Hall	The New Romantics	8	0	12	0	20	0
Jack Karimi	20th Century US Vice Presidents	7	1	9	3	16	4

You Know You're Past It When . . .

How’s your weekend going? Me? Oh, not bad, not bad. In fact, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about really. You see, I’ve spent quite a bit of tie, yesterday evening and today, putting together the quiz for Thursday night. As you might recall, time was when you couldn’t stop me from wanting to be question master – I enjoyed it every bit as much as actually playing in a quiz and would have done it every week if I could. Well, times change. That was all 27 years ago, and since then there was my quizzing lost weekend which only ended a year ago. I haven’t got the urge to do it anymore.

None of which is to say that I won’t do it anymore. If I’m asked, unless I have a good reason why not to do it, then I’ll do it – just please don’t ask me too often. But it’s not something I’ll volunteer to do. And that’s not just because I haven’t got the desire to do it anymore. Some of it has to do with the fact that, in the nicest way possible, I have to say that I think I’m getting a bit past it.

Putting the quiz together I’ve tried to do the best I can, but there’s been a number of questions where I’ve thought – blimey, I was asking this sort of thing a quarter of a century ago. Time was that I had my ears to the ground, and a constant eye out for something that might make a fresh, more interesting question. I’m not finding that easy at all now. If we take the fields of entertainment and popular culture for instance, I’m just not that interested in keeping up with it all. Case in point – UC often features questions on video games nowadays, and this area is a complete blank to me. Now, I’ve always had weak areas, but I’ve had an idea of where to find information about these areas, and how to formulate questions about them. But, whisper it quietly, I find I just can’t be arsed.

Which is not quite such a problem with the quiz for the rugby club since it’s probably true that you could say the same about the majority of players in the club. Even at the ripe old age of 58 I’m still one of the younger players at the club. Still, I don’t intentionally do a bad job, and I find myself hoping that it will all go down alright this Thursday. Then hopefully that might be me done for 2022, and not taking my next stint until the New Year quiz.