In the News Questions

Who are the following and why are they in the news ?

1.Marcus Mumford

2.Astala

3.Terry Connor

4.Kyle Walker

5.Wilson Kipsang

6.Siobahn Benita

7.Pussy Riot

8.Claire Squires

9.Carina Trimmington

10.Mary Beard

11.Korima “Ruby” El Mahrouj

12.Cao Yupeng

13.Frederic Michel

14.Kurt Mix

15.The Perfect American

16.William Balfour 

In Other News

1.Which TV drama has been axed by the BBC after 2 series ?

2.Which famous former Labour MP died at the age of 89 ?

3.Which player , likely to play in the European Championships, has also been named in the GB Olympic Football squad ?

4.Reading became Championship champions after drawing with which team ?

5.Which team became champions of Division 1 ?

6.– and which team were also promoted from Division 1 ?

7.Who was voted PFA Player of the Year ?

8.A TV crew from which channel were arrested in Bahrain ?

9.Which driver won the Bahrain Grand Prix ?

10.Who won the women’s race in the London Marathon ?

11.Where did Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic

12.Name the daughter of Jean Marie Le Pen who scored the biggest ever vote for the far right in the French presidential elections ?

13.Who awoke from a coma last week ?

14.How much is the UK giving to the IMF ?

15.Which 4 teams are the top seeds in the Olympic football tournament ?

16.China is in the middle of an attempt to buy which breakfast cereal ?

17.Which drink is about to be officially declared as the national drink of India ?

18.Which country won the last place in the Olympic football tournament ?

19.– and in which stadium did they manage to do it ?

20.How many times did Theresa May refuse to answer whether officials had confirmed the date and time to launch proceedings over Abu Qatada ?

21.Which comedienne has upset Streatham Council with comments about the area ?

22.Who spoke to a government committee on the issue of drug abuse last week ?

23.Which US state is holding a vote on the abolition of the death penalty ?

24.The director of the Dr. Phibes films passed away last week. Who was he ?

25.What was the score in the Chelsea v. Barcelona second leg match ?

26.– and who scored Chelsea’s goals ?

27.Which teams are in the same group as GB in the Olympic football tournament ?

28.Who will replace Alesha Dixon as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing ?

29.Sarajevo has voted honorary citizenship to which film star ?

30.Mike Tindall has announced that he is to leave which club at the end of the season ?

31.What was the final score in the penalty shoot out of the Bayern v. Real Madrid match ?

32.Which actor will play Tonto in a new Lone Ranger film ?

33.Last week academics announced that they believe that Shakespeare had a co writer for which of his plays ?

34.Who was found guilty of war crimes in the Hague last week ?

35.Which Syrian city was attacked on Tuesday ?

36.Who were deported to Saudi Arabia last week ?

37.PM Gilani of Pakistan was sentenced for contempt last week. How long was his sentence ?

38.Who beat whom in the two Europa League semi finals last week ?

Mastermind Grand Final Preview

This is a really difficult one. My brain knows that the final will have already been recorded, and nothing that I write here can have the slightest effect on the outcome. Yet I get more predictions wrong than I ever get right, and while my comments on the curse of the Clark sofa are made with tongue in cheek, the fact is that I do honestly feel as if I am harming someone’s chances if I tip them to do well. It’s pathetic really.

Well, here is my unofficial table of the results from the semis. I assure you that it is pure coincidence that the three finalists who have shared their experiences with us on LAM fill the top three places.

Name Semi SS Passes Semi GK Passes Total Passes Gary Grant 12 0 16 0 28 0 Andy Tucker 11 0 15 0 26 0 Nick Reed 13 0 12 0 25 0 Maya Davis 12 0 13 1 25 1 Mark Wyatt 13 0 12 2 25 2 David Love 13 1 12 1 25 2

I’ve little doubt that it strikes you pretty much as it strikes me, that this is going to be very close. Now, I will make a confession here. As always, anyone who can get to a final would be a worthy winner. I would be delighted for any of our three contributors to become champ, and any one of them would deserve it. I hope, though, that I could be forgiven for saying that in my heart of hearts I’m rooting for Gary, my skipper from Only Connect. I distinctly remember as we went into the Grand Final of OC series 4 putting on the mantle of omniscient greybeard, and urging Neil and Gary to enjoy the experience, because grand finals don’t come along all that often. Well, Gary, you’re making it a habit, and it’s a nice habit to have. Certainly that experience will stand him in good stead.

But then my other tip for the top, Andy Tucker, also has experience of the playing in a Grand Final – of Brain of Britain no less. So the two of them, Gary and Andy both have that advantage over the other contenders. So while it’s entirely possible that one of the other 4 will have a blinder of a performance and win, on the balance of probability when you add the previous experience, and the great general knowledge of both, I think that one of them will be champ.

As for the other positions, well, flip a coin. Nick Reed has shown well all series, and you’d be a fool to count him out. Mark Wyatt is a speed merchant when it come to supplying answers. He’ll go like an express train in the SS round, and if the GK suits, he’ll be right up there. David Love has been extremely solid throughout the whole competition and looks unlikely to be overawed by the big occasion. As for Maya, who , if I’m brutally honest, has somewhat exceeded my expectations, if she can match her semi final performance she’ll be in the shake up at the end.

The last really close final – well, Nancy won by two clear points – but the last really close final was probably mine in 2007. I can see this being another very tight one.

Best of luck all 6 of you – I can’t wait

Answers to News Questions

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

1. Matilda

2. Gloria Bangekila Ngema

3. Sweet Revenge

4. Tom Bower

5. Jim Yong Kim

6. Saajid Muhammad Badat

7. Enoch Powell, Joseph P. McCarthy and Sitting Bull

8. Pep Guardiola

9. Phil Dowd

10. Brian Redpath

11. Brendan Barber

12. David Gilroy

13. Inga Bejer Engh

14. Dick Clark

15. Agni – V

16. Gloriana

17. Mark Clattenburg

18. Levon Helm

19. Ched Evans

20. La Fille du Regiment

21. Helena Torry

22. Royal Deluxe

23. Face Britain

24. George Zimmerman

25. Natasha Harris

In Other News

1. Which Space Shuttle made its final journey to Washington DC, on the back of a 747, en route to the Smithsonian ?

2. Which single is set to be rereleased after 35 years to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee ?

3. – and who was the lead singer of the band who released it, who distanced himself from its rerelease ?

4. What was the score in the FA Cup semi final between Spurs and Chelsea ?

5. Which two clubs will contest the Scottish FA Cup final ?

6. Who won his first ever grand prix in 111 starts in the Chinese Grand Prix ?

7. Pakistan’s first ever edition of which magazine sold out in hours ?

8. A plane belonging to which airline was forced into an emergency landing at Gatwick ?

9. Which team beat Arsenal 2 – 1, earning the rare accolade from Wenger that they had played better than Arsenal ?

10. What was the score in the first leg of the Real Madrid – Bayern Munich semi final of the Champions League ?

11. Who became the first club to win automatic promotion to the Premier League this season ?

12. Who hosted a talk show for the English Language Russia Today channel ?

13. Which prize is not being awarded this year for the first time in 35 years ?

14. Which US State adopted an anti abortion law last week ?

15. The Duchess of Cambridge and Pippa Middleton were both named on whose list of the 100 most influential people ?

16. Allegations have been made of a Home Office blunder over whose appeal to the European Court ?

17. What is ending with the final switchover to digital TV from analogue ?

18. In a survey which shop has overtaken John Lewis as the UK’s favourite ?

19. Who apologized for his elephant hunting expedition in Botswana ?

20. What was the score in the Chelsea v. Barcelona semi final first leg ?

21. – and who scored Chelsea’s goal ?

22. The lead singer of which 70’s group said that they had turned down an invitation to play in the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympics ?

23. Which rugby world cup winning player suffered a suspected stroke ?

24. Which publishers are selling their guides as ebooks for the first time ?

25. Which US stadium celebrated its centenary ?

26. A concert in favour of which film and TV characters is being held as part of the Proms ?

27. Where is a giant bell for the London Olympics being made ?

28. Which peer told Londoners they shouldn’t vote for Ken Livingstone ?

29. Who described Alex Salmond as a Caledonian Hitler ?

30. Which airline reported that it is considering imposing a controversial ‘take off ‘ tax

31. Which 91 year old guitarist passed away ?

32. The Louvre have announced plans to open a branch in which city ?

Who or what Answers

1. Musical that won Olivier awards in 7 categories

2. Engaged to Jacob Zuma

3. The unauthorized biography of Simon Cowell

4. Writer who wrote unauthorized biography of Simon Cowell

5. New President of the world bank

6. Terrorist freed for providing information on Al Qaeda to CIA

7. All of them were cited in Anders Behring Breivik’s speech to the court

8. Coach of Barcelona, denied that he is in line for job at Chelsea

9. Chosen as referee for FA Cup Final

10. Coach of Gloucester RFC who quit

11. Announced he is stepping down as head of the TUC at the end of this year

12. First person ever to be sentenced for murder live on British TV

13. Chief Prosecutor in the Anders Behring Breivik trial

14. The ‘world’s oldest teenager ‘ – US TV presenter passed away last week

15. Successfully launched Indian ballistic missile

16. Royal Jubilee rowing barge launched on the Thames

17. Only British football referee selected for 2012 Olympics

18. Drummer of The Band – passed away last week

19. Wales and Sheffield United footballer convicted of rape

20. Opera in the Royal Opera House with a (non singing ) performance from Anne Widdecombe

21. A shop dummy entered for local government elections in Aberdeen

22. 200,000 children’s self portraits projected onto the façade of Buckingham Palace to form a portrait of the Queen

23. On trial in USA for murder of Trayvon Martin

24. New Zealand woman who died from drinking 10 litres of coca cola per day

Other news - Answers

1. Discovery

2. God Save the Queen

3. John Lydon

4. 3 – 1 to Chelsea

5. Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian

6. Nico Rosberg

7. Hello

8. Virgin

9. Wigan

10. 2 – 1 to Bayern

11. Reading FC

12. Julian Assange

13. Pulitzer Prize for fiction

14. Mississippi

15. Tim Magazine

16. Abu Qatada

17. Ceefax

18. Ikea

19. King Juan Carlos of Spain

20. 1- 0 to Chelsea

21. Didier Drogba

22. Sex Pistols

23. Michael Lynagh

24. Haynes

25. Fenway Park Boston

26. Wallace and Gromit

27. Netherlands

28. Lord Sugar

29. David Starkey

30. Ryanair

31. Burt Weedon

32. Lens

BTW - Blogger has changed, and the only way I can get paragraphs to work is by using a table. It's a flippin' nuisance !

Mastermind - Semi Final 6

All too soon we come to our final semi final of this year’s series. So let’s cast an eye over the runners and riders for this final group one qualifier.

Mark Wyatt – 31 (3) – 7th on unofficial list

Quentin Holt – 30 (0) – 9th on unofficial list

Simon Alvey – 29 (4) – 15th on unofficial list

Eliot Wilson – 28 (5) – 20th on unofficial list

Sarah Waller – 26 (7) – 26th on unofficial list

Yes, as you can see we had a more balanced roster for this show than in some of the others. Difficult to pick a winner based on first round performance , since only 3 points separated the top four of tonight’s contenders. Mark Wyatt looked to have the whip hand, and yet both Quentin Holt and Eliot Wilson outscored him by 2 on GK in the heats. As is often the case, the contender who handled the pressure best was probably going to win.

Eliot Wilson was the last of the high scoring runners-up to go in this year’s semis. He lost out to finalist Gary Grant in heat 14, although his was the performance of the night on GK. Back then he answered on the life of Enoch Powell. Tonight another politician, albeit a rather less controversial one, in the shape of Harold Macmillan. In 2 minutes in the heat he’d managed 13. Tonight he managed the same score off half a minute less – a serious performance, which, bearing in mind his GK prowess, looked likely to give him a real shot.

In heat 24, LAM reader Quentin Holt won an exciting show by scoring 15 on both of his rounds, just beating Julie Aris on pass countback. Then he was answering on The London Olympics of 1908 and 1948. Tonight he offered us Sir Isaac Newton. 12 questions – 12 correct answers, and then the buzzer after the last question. Quentin couldn’t answer straight away, and so John asked him “Shall I tell you the answer ? “ I felt like giving Quentin a standing ovation for saying “No, give me a minute!” and then even more for dredging up the correct answer. That took some nerve ! A perfect 13 , if anything an even better round than he managed in the heats. Can’t do much better than that.

On paper Sarah Waller looked like the underdog in this show, much as it pains me to dismiss the chances of a fellow teacher. But then these games aren’t played on paper. Sarah won heat 7 answering on the life and work of Antonia Forest, but tonight her specialist subject was the History of the Cayman Islands. Full marks for an original subject there. She didn’t quite manage a 13 , but she managed 12, and that’s proportionately better than her 14 off two minutes in the heat . Well done for that. Dark horse she might have been, but she was giving herself every opportunity of pulling off an upset.

The highest ranked of tonight’s contenders was Mark Wyatt, who won Heat 9 off the back of a perfect round of 18 on Nick Drake. Proportionately that would take some matching in tonight’s round on Band of Brothers, and maybe he didn’t quite manage that. Still his thirteen and one wrong answer was pretty good – certainly good enough to keep him up with the two leaders going into the GK round. 4 contenders down, and it still looked like anyone’s game.

The last contender to go in the specialist rounds in the semis, then , was Simon Alvey. Simon won heat 6 on The West Wing, scoring 15 points in the process. Tonight his subject was a far more traditional one , the English Civil Wars in the 17th century. I’m afraid that Simon couldn’t match the scores we had already seen. It seemed to me that he made an error in an early question which played on his mind, and it was a while before he could pull himself back into the round after this. He scored 7.

Which of course meant that he returned to the chair first in the GK round. He’d scored 14 off 2 and a half minutes in the heats, so is obviously no slouch, and to be fair he started very brightly with this set. A little becalmed at halfway he just failed to register double figures for the round and finished with 16. Sarah Waller came next, and she too kept her composure, and picked off what was there to be answered. Her tactic was to answer what she knew, and pass rather than guess what she didn’t/ It’s a valid tactic, and it brought her a further 9 points to give her the lead on 21. You sensed that it probably wouldn’t be enough, but it’s a respectable semi final score, be in no doubt about that.

Three contenders headed the table at the halfway stage with 13 points, and Eliot Wilson was the first of these to go in the second. He required 9 points of his own to take the lead. He started very crisply, and seemed to be seeing the ball in flight well, as it were. However he too slowed down as the round continued, and rather surprisingly he too scored 9, the third contender in a row to do so. It’s perfectly respectable, but it’s not the kind of 2 minute total you need to be posting to give yourself a realistic chance of winning. Still, for the third round in a row the bar had been raised, and now stood at 22.

I had a sneaky feeling that this was going to be Quentin Holt’s night, and so I can only apologise to Quentin if this in any way put the mockers on him. We’ve seen that he is capable of putting in a very good performance on GK – witness his performance in the heats. I’m sorry to say that it didn’t come off this time. It didn’t work out for him, and he finished with 19. It happens. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can end up having a ‘mare if it’s not your night.

It was all down to Mark Wyatt, then, to go out and grab the round by the scruff of the neck. He needed 10 to win outright. Now, he’d scored 13 off two and a half minutes in the heat, and with 30 seconds less time, it looked as if it could be close. Well, it could have been, but it wasn’t. Mark is a very good, quick, crisp answerer – if such a word exists – and he never looked in the slightest trouble throughout the round. He made it with some time to spare, and eventually breasted the tape with 12 points for a total of 25. Well played , sir !

So that completes the semis. We have to wait for the final, though, since the snooker is on, and heaven forbid that Mastermind should have the temerity to get in the way of that. I’ll be posting a preview shortly.

The Details

Eliot Wilson	The Life and Times of Harold Macmillan	13 - 0	9 - 4	22 - 4
Quentin Holt	Sir Isaac Newton	13 – 0	6 - 0	19 - 0
Sarah Waller	History of the Cayman Islands	12 - 1	9 - 5	21 - 6
Mark Wyatt	TV Series Band of Brothers	13 - 0	12 - 2	25 – 2
Simon Alvey	The English Civil Wars in the 17th Century	7 - 0	9 - 4	16 - 4

Zimmer Frame on Stand by,please

As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s been ( yet another ) busy work weekend. Still, I would hate you to think that your Dave is all work and no play at all. I broke off for a couple of hours at 7pm last night to watch my latest guilty pleasure, The Voice. As it happens I’m watching tonight’s as I type this. Still, as I say, I was watching it last night, and one of the voices was Deneice Pearson. If you’re not old enough to remember, Deneice Pearson was one of five siblings who formed the mid-late 80s soft R&B combo Five Star . Don’t worry – I’m not about to go off on one about how good/bad/indifferent they were. I know it’s all a matter of opinion. If you disliked them, well and good, likewise if you liked them. No, I’m afraid that when I saw her, the thing it brought immediately to mind was watching Going Live with my 4 year old daughter, when Five Star were being interviewed, and taking calls from viewers, when one mischievous little imp rang in to ask them “Why are you so . . . . (LAM is a family show, so I won’t write the actual words which followed – but they rhymed with ducking bap). I even remember the name of the boy who made the call, because we were asked once in a quiz – How did Elliot Fletcher cause controversy on children’s TV show Going Live in 1990 ? ( or 89 – it was one or the other )

Which in turn brought to mind the famous Bill Grundy interview. This happened in 1976 – I distinctly remember that I was 12 years old. I may be wrong, but I think you could only see it at the time if you lived in the Thames TV franchise area. Well, I did. Basically the Today show was a teatime chat and current affairs-y sort of thing – not a million miles removed from BBC’s One Show, come to think of it, although a little earlier in the evening. The group Queen were due to be guests, but dropped out at short notice, and some bright spark had the idea of getting the Sex Pistols on in their place. After a fairly tame start to the interview , Steve Jones let go with the F word, and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) the S word, which seemed to wind up Bill Grundy, who got him to repeat it. Distance lends enchantment to the view , but I remember sitting with my grandmother ( honestly ) watching this , open mouthed, desperately wanting to laugh, but not daring to, hoping that she wouldn’t switch it over. I couls ee she was disgusted, but to be fair to her the only comment she made was after Steve Jones called Bill Grundy a f@*!ing rotter, when she looked me in the eye and said "Do people still use the word 'rotter' , now, then ? " My initial impression was that Bill Grundy was actually egging them on. I guess that I wasn’t the only one who saw it this way either. An interview like this wouldn’t pass without comment even now in these permissive times. Back in 1976 there was a huge rumpus. I’ve read about it since, and I don’t know that the late Bill Grundy’s career ever really recovered. To be fair, he did become the answer to a hardy perennial quiz question , about whose career was wrecked when he interviewed the Sex Pistols on the Today programme etc. etc.

It’s funny the things that make a big impression on you at the time, isn’t it ? I mean yes, at the time I doctored a couple of safety pins so I could clip them to my ear and make it look like they were actually going through it ( they weren’t ) but at the time I much preferred the safe Scandinavian europop of Abba to their own offerings – although I wouldn’t have said so. I had enough of the Michael ripped out of me at the time as it was, without going out of my way to sit up and beg for it. True to form, I only really started to ‘get’ it with punk just as that first great explosion was dying away. Still, I watched the Bill Grundy clip on Youtube last night again, and experienced a suprising glow as I did so. Surprising ? Well, it’s just that I never quite expected to look back on them with the same kind of nostalgia that my parents looked back on Elvis and his contemporaries.

Once again – I’m ready for my zimmer frame, Mr. Demille.

The 3rd Degree

It's been a busy week, and I'm afraid it's also a busy working weekend as well, hence the posts yesterday, when I knew I could find a couple of hours to do it. I was tapping away at the keyboard, listening to the last e[isode of this year's series of the 3rd Degree on Radio 4. I will admit that I haven't caught any of the previous espisodes of this series - the rotten devils who schedule radio 4 have moved the Monday quiz to 3pm, which is hopeless for me, I'm afraid.

If you haven't listened to the 3rd Degree it's a relatively lighthearted quiz between a team of students from a particular University, and a team of their lecturers. There's no great significance to me not having listened to any of this series before, it's a pleasant enough half hour, even if Steve Punt isn't quite as amusing on this , in my opinion, as on the Now Show. However, I digress. Well, as I say, I was listening to The 3rd Degree from Monday, and this question was asked - something along the lines of : -
"Which two word phrase is actually a legal term to refer to events so long ago that nobody can remember them, which is taken to refer to the reign of Richard II ? "
Well - thought I - that would be time immemorial. However, I thought that went back to 1189 - which come to think of it was the start of the reign of Richard I. The answer was given as Time Immemorial - but then Steve Punt went on to confirm that it was indeed 1189.

I was just a little surprised that this error hadn't been picked out in the question setting stage, or the editing of the show. It didn't make any material difference to the result of the show, but, I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old, but I found myself tutting, much the same way that I do when a QM makes a mistake in a pub quiz. Is pedantry an unavoidable complication of quiz obssession ?

News Questions

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

1. Matilda
2. Gloria Bangekila Ngema
3. Sweet Revenge
4. Tom Bower
5. Jim Yong Kim
6. Saajid Muhammad Badat
7. Enoch Powell, Joseph P. McCarthy and Sitting Bull
8. Pep Guardiola
9. Phil Dowd
10. Brian Redpath
11. Brendan Barber
12. David Gilroy
13. Inga Bejer Engh
14. Dick Clark
15. Agni – V
16. Gloriana
17. Mark Clattenburg
18. Levon Helm
19. Ched Evans
20. La Fille du Regiment
21. Helena Torry
22. Royal Deluxe
23. Face Britain
24. George Zimmerman
25. Natasha Harris

In Other News

1. Which Space Shuttle made its final journey to Washington DC, on the back of a 747, en route to the Smithsonian ?
2. Which single is set to be rereleased after 35 years to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee ?
3. – and who was the lead singer of the band who released it, who distanced himself from its rerelease ?
4. What was the score in the FA Cup semi final between Spurs and Chelsea ?
5. Which two clubs will contest the Scottish FA Cup final ?
6. Who won his first ever grand prix in 111 starts in the Chinese Grand Prix ?
7. Pakistan’s first ever edition of which magazine sold out in hours ?
8. A plane belonging to which airline was forced into an emergency landing at Gatwick ?
9. Which team beat Arsenal 2 – 1, earning the rare accolade from Wenger that they had played better than Arsenal ?
10. What was the score in the first leg of the Real Madrid – Bayern Munich semi final of the Champions League ?
11. Who became the first club to win automatic promotion to the Premier League this season ?
12. Who hosted a talk show for the English Language Russia Today channel ?
13. Which prize is not being awarded this year for the first time in 35 years ?
14. Which US State adopted an anti abortion law last week ?
15. The Duchess of Cambridge and Pippa Middleton were both named on whose list of the 100 most influential people ?
16. Allegations have been made of a Home Office blunder over whose appeal to the European Court ?
17. What is ending with the final switchover to digital TV from analogue ?
18. In a survey which shop has overtaken John Lewis as the UK’s favourite ?
19. Who apologized for his elephant hunting expedition in Botswana ?
20. What was the score in the Chelsea v. Barcelona semi final first leg ?
21. – and who scored Chelsea’s goal ?
22. The lead singer of which 70’s group said that they had turned down an invitation to play in the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympics ?
23. Which rugby world cup winning player suffered a suspected stroke ?
24. Which publishers are selling their guides as ebooks for the first time ?
25. Which US stadium celebrated its centenary ?
26. A concert in favour of which film and TV characters is being held as part of the Proms ?
27. Where is a giant bell for the London Olympics being made ?
28. Which peer told Londoners they shouldn’t vote for Ken Livingstone ?
29. Who described Alex Salmond as a Caledonian Hitler ?
30. Which airline reported that it is considering imposing a controversial ‘take off ‘ tax
31. Which 91 year old guitarist passed away ?
32. The Louvre have announced plans to open a branch in which city ?