Mastermind 2024 Grand Final Preview

 The Tale of the Tape 

For each contender the top row is the semi final stats, the second row is the first round stats and the third is the average of the two.

Ruth Hart	The novels of Dame Muriel Spark	10	0	10	2	20	2
		12	0	14	0	26	0
		11	0	12	1	23	1
Helen Lippell	British Prime Ministers of the 18th century	11	0	13	0	24	0
		12	0	9	0	21	0
		11.5	0	11	0	22.5	0
Thomas Nelson	Sir Bobby Robson	12	0	14	0	26	0
		10	0	16	0	26	0
		11	0	15	0	26	0
Oli Hanson	World Athletics Championships 2011 to the Present Day	11	0	12	2	23	2
		9	0	12	0	21	0
		10	0	12	1	22	1
George Twigg	The Prose Edda	12	-	13	0	25	0
		13	0	10	0	23	0
		12. 5	0	11. 5	0	24	0
Sarah Thornton	Happy Valley	12	0	14	1	26	1
		12	0	11	1	23	1
		12	0	12. 5	1	24. 5	1

 

Okay, it’s that time of the year when I embarrass myself by making predictions about the Mastermind Grand Final. I have been singularly unsuccessful in the last few years, but there you go. For what it’s worth, and in the order in which they won their place in the final :-

Sarah Thornton

Sarah won the first semi. Now, in both heat and semi her specialist rounds were exemplary. It doesn’t automatically mean she will do well in specialist in the final, but it’s a useful indicator that she is likely to. For Sarah I can’t help thinking it will come down to GK. If she gets close to the performance from the semi, then she could be there. However her GK in the heat was good, but not outstanding. Prediction – amongst the meals, but silver or bronze most likely.

George Twigg

Like Sarah, George’s specialist rounds have been excellent. I believe tha this will be another very tight final, and the ability to bring out a top scoring specialist round could turn out to be the difference between the winner and the rest. George himself said that his 10 on GK in the heats was disappointing. I think he’ll need a round closer to the GK from his semis. Let’s not forget that George took out the top scorer from the heats, Stephen Dodding in his semi. Prediction – Silver, but gold would not be a shock either.

Oli Hanson

Oli is the opposite to Sarah and George. He’s consistently scored well in GK but only managed good rather than great rounds on Specialist. While his general knowledge has been high in both rounds, it hasn’t bee quite high enough that you can see him overhauling everyone else if he’s a couple of points behind at half time. Prediction – not on the podium.

Thomas Nelson

We are in the unusual position that the most impressive performer of his group of Mastermind finalists did not actually win his heat. Thomas lost by a point to Peter Wilson in the heats, but was brought in when one of the heat winners could not make it to the semis. Well, Peter Wilson did not make it to the final. We’ve seen enough times in the past that someone who has achieved excellence in heat and semi performs below par in the final, so this has to be born in mind, but Thomas seems to have an advantage in GK. Prediction – champion.

Helen Lippell

In all honesty the tale of the tape suggests that the final is so close that it could be won by any of these 6 contenders if they have a great performance on the night. So make no mistake, Helen is certainly in with a chance. Based on what we’ve seen I think it’s a little less likely she will win than three we’ve already mentioned. But what do I know? Prediction – not on the podium.

Ruth Hart

Well, so far it’s really been a game of 2 halves for Ruth. Along with Thomas she was the best performer out of the finalists in her first round heat. Yet she went on to have the lowest winning score of any of the semis. So you really do have to pay yer money and take yer chance on what kind of performance she will have. Can she win? Certainly. But I have to go on the balance of probability. Prediction – not on the podium.

So – Thomas, I can only apologise. The Clark tip for the top is usually the kiss of death for any contender.

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

The Teams

Imperial

Justin Lee

Adam Jones

Suraiya Haddad (Capt.)

Sourajit Debnath

Trinity, Cambridge

Sarah Henderson

Agnijo Banerjee

Ryan Joonsuk Kang

Jeremi Jaksina

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

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

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

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

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

Amol Watch

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

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

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

Plankalkul is often cited as the first computer programming language.

Baby Elephant Walk Moment

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

Mastermind 2024 - Semi-Final 6

The Tale of the Tape

Ruth Hart	12	0	14	0	26	0
Caryn Ellis	10	0	11	4	21	4	-
Tom Moody	13	0	7	2	20	2	-
Tom Flowerdew	9	0	9	1	18	1	-

 Yes thanks, I had a lovely time in West Wales. As it happens I did watch Monday’s last semi-final, but it’s only since returning home I’ve had he chance to write it up.

So let’s start with Tom Flowerdew. Tom was the lowest scorer on my unofficial table of heat winners. Is that significant? Well, not necessarily, no. It’s a clean slate in the semis. The real question is – can you improve on your performance from the heats? The second real question is – can you improve enough to earn yourself a place in the final? Tom was answering on bears. Now, had I made a prediction about this match I’m not sure I would have made this my banker subject. However, I should have done since I managed five of these. Tom certainly achieved the objective of improving on his heat performance, scoring a double figure round with 10.

Second contender Ruth Hart had the best performance of all four heat winners in her first round match. She came in 3^rd on my unofficial table with an excellent 26 and if you didn’t know any better you’d have been forgive for thinking that, with all three fellow contenders in the bottom half of the table, that this match was hers to lose. It doesn’t necessarily work like that in a semi-final, though. Answering on the Novels of Dame Muriel Spark, a subject on which I was amazed to score 1.

Our third contender and second Tom of the evening, Tom Moody, weighed in at number 20 on my unofficial table. However, he had scored an excellent 13 on specialist back then, and if he could repeat this it would give him a useful advantage over our first two contenders. On Monday night Tom was answering on the ICC Cricket World Cup. I was a little uncertain about this – I felt I might do okay on world cups up until the 90s. In fact this is exactly how it worked out, and I added four to my aggregate to take me to double figures. Tom, like Ruth and Tom F before him scored 10, but he incurred a single pass.

Our final contender Caryn Ellis came in at number 17 on my heat winners’ list. She’d scored a good 10 on specialist in the heats, but the rounds we’d seen so far round had already show that this was the least that was going to be needed in this semi. On Monday night Caryn answered on William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of Blood. I haven’t checked, but this could well be the longest specialist subject title of the series so far. I took a couple to take me 12, a pretty decent aggregate, but Caryn scored 9 and 1 pass.

You know, I do like a match when all four contenders have prepared their subjects so well that they are all still in with a very realistic chance of winning at the turn around. All four contenders were separated by one point and one pass. That’s close. Usually at least one contender is out of it by half time.

Back to the chair for Caryn, then. She’d scored double figures in the heats with 11, and being realistic she would need all of that to have a good chance of keeping the lead until hometime.  She got it, too. That was certainly going to put the other three into the corridor of doubt, although in such a tight match the three passes she had accrued during her round were looking dangerous to her prospects.

Well, Tom Flowerdew, the next to go, also passed three times. In the heats he had scored 8 on GK, and he actually improved on this. Sadly for him though, the 9 that he scored left him a point behind on 19. Look, winning your heat, then improving on your performance in the semi final, that’s got to be a cause of some satisfaction.

Ruth Hart had scored an excellent 14 on GK in her heat. She didn’t need to improve on this, or even equal it to take the lead. 10 and no more than 3 passes would see her take the lead with one contender to go. Well, she scored the 10 points she needed while she passed . . . twice. Some way down on her best, but good enough to take the lead. Could Tom Moody take it from her?

Well, he could, but it would need him to make a significant improvement on his GK round in the heats, where he scored 7. He certainly tried. You could see his frustration every time he gave an incorrect answer. He kept his momentum going with a few quick passes, but the line was approaching more quickly than his total was growing and in the end he fell just short with 19.

Well played everyone. Nobody need feel the least disappointment, although it’s only natural to want to win and to be disappointed if you don’t. Well done especially to Ruth, and good luck in the Grand Final – which is on Monday! Yay.

Tom Flowerdew	Bears	10	0	9	3	19	3
Ruth Hart	The novels of Dame Muriel Spark	10	0	10	2	20	2
Tom Moody	The ICC Cricket World Cup	10	1	9	4	19	5
Caryn Ellis	William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of Blood	9	1	11	3	20	4

Normal Service is suspeded

 - but it will be resumed shortly. I'm going away for the week to West Wales with some of the family. So I'm going to excuse myself from posting until I come back at the weekend.  See you soon.