In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Squee
2. Miffy
3. 3
4. The Ring O’Fire Anglesey Coastal Ultra Marathon
5. Lindsay Sandiford
6. Dan Evans
7. Tom Lackey
8. Sir John Chilcott
9. Major Nidal Hussain
10. Remploy
11. Gordon Taylor
12. Shakter Karagandy
13. Annette Iren Johansen
14. Peter Humphrey
In Other News
1. Who was not released from hospital despite early reports to the contrary?
2. Ohio State University is now being officially sponsored by which clothing brand?
3. Who caused controversy with her appearance at the MTV awards this week?
4. In which country did a mass wedding of police dogs take place?
5. A spoof advert by German media students caused a storm this week, showing a Mercedes car going back in time to do what?
6. There has been much opposition to the Miss World competition going ahead in which country?
7. Which Nobel Prize winning poet passed away last week?
8. A huge canyon was discovered where last week?
9. Who is returing to the BBC after 3 years to present a show on Radio5 live?
10. Which 83 year old faces charges of indecent assault and making indecent images?
11. Which all-time great welsh fly half passed away aged 83?
12. What was the score between Spurs and Dinamo Tbilisi?
13. – and between Swansea and Petrolul Ploesti?
14. Which team defeated Chelsea in the Super Cup?
15. Which English team are drawn in the same Champions League group as champions Bayern Munich?
16. What was the result of the Commons vote on military intervention in Syria?
17. Which actor funds a spy satellite to keep an eye on the Sudanese dictator?
18. Which children’s TV series of the 70s is set to reappear?
19. Name the 83 year old who played straight man to his brother in a double act who passed away last week?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. An exclamation of delight put into the Oxford English Dictionary this week
2. The rabbit created by Dick Bruna given an update this week
3. The first phone network to scrap roaming charges
4. The first public appearance of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since the birth of Prince George
5. Lost final appeal against execution for drug smuggling
6. British tennis player beat Bernard Tomic in US Open
7. He broke his own record to become the world’s oldest wing walker at 93 years of age
8. Head of the Iraq Inquiry, which has announced that it will not report until 2014
9. Fort Hood Gunman sentenced to death
10. Announced that its last three factories are to close
11. Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, under fire for revealing he has gambling debts of over £100000
12. Football team Celtic beat 3 – 0 to qualify 3 – 2 for the Champions League group stages
13. Scientologist who claimed she auditioned to be Tom Cruise’s wife before his marriage to Katie Holmes
14. British corporate investigator whose televised ‘confession’ to corruption has been broadcast on Chinese TV
In Other News
1. Nelson Mandela
2. Abercrombie and Fitch
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Sri Lanka
5. Kill Hitler
6. Indonesia
7. Seamus Heaney
8. Underneath the Greenland Ice sheet
9. Adrian Chiles
10. Rolf Harris
11. Cliff Morgan
12. 3 – 0
13. 1 - 2
14. Bayern Munich
15. Manchester City
16. 285 – 272 against
17. George Clooney
18. The Wombles
19. Mike Winters Name the 83 year old who played straight man to his brother in a double act who passed away last week?
Friday, 6 September 2013
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Univerity Challenge - Round One - Match Eight
Keele v. Liverpool
JP began by telling us that Keele were series champions back in 1968, and this team went on to be runners up in the 40th anniversary re-united series. Fair enough. This year’s team consisted of Austin Haffenden, Rob Croton, David Sharpe, and their captain, Harriet Earle.
Liverpool have yet to win a series, although they have the distinction of being one of the universities to have fielded a team in the Christmas pro-sleb version of the show, as you might say. This year’s team were Katherine Monks, Daniel Jenkin-Smith, Luke Nugent and their captain Chris Spencer. Ok, let’s get on with it then.
Katherine Monks was very quickly in to take the first starter for Liverpool, knowing that there are 24 books in the Iliad. Fictional Universities provided the subject for the first set of bonuses, and brought them another 10 points. Katherine Monks followed up with her second starter, - who knew that there is a river in Turkey called the Batman? Not me. However I did know that a British Army officer’s personal servant has the same name. Bonuses on The English Constitution by Walter Bagehot were very hard if you hadn’t read it, and neither I nor Liverpool managed any of them. Daniel Jenkins-Smith knew that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712 to take the next starter. Three in a row for Liverpool, and Keele were yet to manage to elbow their way into the contest. Bonuses on the French Mathematician Fourier were to follow. 1 was taken. There was something about a triangle on the surface of the earth which I didn’t really get, but Katherine Monks took her third starter with 270 degrees. A set of bonuses on Nietzsche was well taken by Liverpool, which meant that going into the first picture starter Liverpool had a lead of 70 points. Katherine Monks, who was on fire at this early stage of the competition, identified the 2012 US election state of Virginia, which fell to the Democrats. Three more of the same followed, and three more were taken. The lead was now at 95. Coledocholithiasis is a mouthful, but JP had hardly finished saying it before Luke Nugent buzzed in identify it as the medical term for gall stones. Which had the effect of helping Liverpool achieve the rare feats of breaking through the 100 point barrier a) before the 10 minute mark, and b) before their opponents had scored. This earned the Liverpool team a set of bonuses on Raphael – that’s the Renaissance painter, not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but they couldn’t answer them. This meant that at the 10 minute mark Liverpool led by 105 to nil.
There’s a fine line between a great early buzz, and one which is fractionally too early, and Luke Nugent crossed this line when asked for the other name of the Jewish Feast of Lights. This lost 5, and allowed Keele a free run at the question, and skipper Harriet Earle did the honours with Hanukkah. For their pains they earned a set of bonuses on bacteriology. They took 2.I knew anguillae are eels, but for the teams, and any quizzer watching, I’d guess that the big clue was the mention of the Sargasso Sea. It was certainly enough for Luke Nugent, who supplied the correct answer of eel, even though he looked as if he thought it was probably wrong. The first UC special set of bonuses followed. Each one was a clue to a 4 letter word which was also the first part of the standard English rendition of the name of a European country – hence – fortified wine = port = Portugal. They managed 2, missing out on Mold in Flintshire for Moldova. The next starter was on Shakespeare. Now, if you hear that it’s a play based on The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, then you know it’s either Lear or Cymbeline. Rob Croton of Keele was unfortunate to zig with Lear, allowing Daniel Jenkin-Smith to zag with Cymbeline. When things don’t run for you, they really don’t run. A set of bonuses followed on Edward Tufte. I think I was a member of his club when I was a kid, but I digress. In all seriousness, I haven’t a clue who he is or was, but I loved his quote that All power corrupts, but Powerpoint corrupts absolutely. Liverpool took one bonus, and so to the music starter. Luke Nugent recognized the work of J.S.Bach, and this together with the one bonus composer they recognized was enough to take their score to 150. At this stage JP could restrain himself no longer, and he administered the kiss of death to the Keele team with the words,”Keele, there’s still plenty of time to come back”. Ouch. It’s bad enough trailing by so much, without having that little reminder thrown at you. Still, maybe it had the desired effect, since Harriet Earle took the next starter for Keele, knowing that the colour in the title of a 19th century novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – or Charlotte Who? as she is known in Lam Towers – is yellow. A good early buzz that. Bonuses on history and poetry weren’t at all easy, and they managed one. Katherine Monks buzzed in too early for the next starter, and lost five. Keele were unable to capitalize, not knowing Thales. Not surprised. The next starter was something about microfarads. A bit of ointment will clear them up mate, boom-boom-I’m-here-all-week-ladies-and –gentlemen. The answer was 3. I didn’t get the question, and nobody got the answer, so let’s move on. Not the least deterred by her previous false start Katherine Monks was the first to buzz in with the answer that a list of items all begin with Kha. The Fifa world cup provided the bonuses, of which they took one. It didn’t matter. The game, as a competitive match looked dead and buried, I’m sorry to say, and the only questions still to be resolved looked to be how points Liverpool would rack up by the end, and whether Keele could rally to three figure respectability. The year of the Great Reform Act – 1832 – provided Katherine Monks with what I think was her 7th starter. Impressive performance. A really nice set on creatures in The Lord of the Rings provided ten more points to take their score on the 20 minute mark to 180, against Keele’s 30.
The second picture starter showed an illustration from the Canterbury Tales. Seeing the names Palamon and Arcite Harriet Earle was able to buzz in quickly to identify the Knight’s Tale. Three harder ones followed. They answered ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ for the first two, which weren’t, but not for the last one, which was. If you’re going to be successful on UC, there are times when you have to anticipate and go for it before the end of the question. Having heard the words ‘algebraic aid’, ‘toy’ and ‘1977’ you had to fancy that the words ‘Rubik’s cube’ would not be far shy of the answer. That’s what Luke Nugent did to earn the points. Danish computer scientists didn’t sound promising, but they managed one of the bonuses. Daniel Jenkin-Smith knew that ‘L’Ancien Regime’ was written by de Toqueville. This earned bonuses on actors and actresses born in 1913, and the films they appeared in. They didn’t manage any of these – they’re all far too young to have seen most of those films. Now coming back to the point about buzzing early, as soon as you’ve heard ‘observatory’ and ‘Cheshire’ you just have to slam your hand on the buzzer and give the answer ‘Jodrell Bank’. That’s what Katherine Monks did. What seemed like a fairly simple set of bonuses on French was dispatched over the pavilion. Katherine Monks, now back up to full speed again, was the first to identify the five letter word referring to the shields of Zeus and Athena as aegis. Two bonuses brought their score to 250, and it was just possible that with 3 minutes to go they might reach the psychologically important score of 300. Daniel Jenkin-Smith knew that Edgar Allan Poe died in 1849. 260 points. The second UC special set of the night, which asked for words that can be made using any of the letters from the word perjury. 2 were taken. 270 points. Luke Nugent knew that two of the counties whose names appear in the names of National Parks in England and Wales are Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire. This was followed by another UC special set, with words which form part of the names of Commonwealth countries. Only one was taken, for 285 points. Poor Austin Haffenden buzzed in early with e answer pedology for the next starter, but JP had only asked for the first 4 letters. No cigar, five points lost. This led Katherine Monks to supply Pedo, and earn the bonuses, this time on Physics. Only one was needed to get to 300, but there was only time for one, and they didn’t get it.
The final score was 295 to 40. For once JP did have some words of real consolation, telling the viewers at home that Keele were still a good team who had scored highly on their test papers to get into the competition in the first place. Well said. As for Liverpool, well, this was a highly impressive performance. Exactly how good they are is difficult to judge. They won the buzzer race hands down, but then Keele – sorry Keele, but I have to say it – really weren’t very fast on the buzzer at all. But Liverpool will certainly be up amongst the favourites to get to the quarter finals at the least. Good luck.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
In one of the bacteriology bonuses when asked for a chemical substance used for this or that (stop me if I get too technical) Keele offered ammonia. JP seemed to find this very funny, considering the answer was iodine. I don’t know, I can understand him getting indignant when they get literature ones wrong, but I really don’t think he’s got any right to do it with Science questions.
I’m sure JP is only trying to be nice, and to encourage a team when he says that there’s still time to come back, but because he only tends to do it when a team is floundering it can’t do a great deal to help them raise their spirits.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The River Batman is a tributary of the Tigris
JP began by telling us that Keele were series champions back in 1968, and this team went on to be runners up in the 40th anniversary re-united series. Fair enough. This year’s team consisted of Austin Haffenden, Rob Croton, David Sharpe, and their captain, Harriet Earle.
Liverpool have yet to win a series, although they have the distinction of being one of the universities to have fielded a team in the Christmas pro-sleb version of the show, as you might say. This year’s team were Katherine Monks, Daniel Jenkin-Smith, Luke Nugent and their captain Chris Spencer. Ok, let’s get on with it then.
Katherine Monks was very quickly in to take the first starter for Liverpool, knowing that there are 24 books in the Iliad. Fictional Universities provided the subject for the first set of bonuses, and brought them another 10 points. Katherine Monks followed up with her second starter, - who knew that there is a river in Turkey called the Batman? Not me. However I did know that a British Army officer’s personal servant has the same name. Bonuses on The English Constitution by Walter Bagehot were very hard if you hadn’t read it, and neither I nor Liverpool managed any of them. Daniel Jenkins-Smith knew that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712 to take the next starter. Three in a row for Liverpool, and Keele were yet to manage to elbow their way into the contest. Bonuses on the French Mathematician Fourier were to follow. 1 was taken. There was something about a triangle on the surface of the earth which I didn’t really get, but Katherine Monks took her third starter with 270 degrees. A set of bonuses on Nietzsche was well taken by Liverpool, which meant that going into the first picture starter Liverpool had a lead of 70 points. Katherine Monks, who was on fire at this early stage of the competition, identified the 2012 US election state of Virginia, which fell to the Democrats. Three more of the same followed, and three more were taken. The lead was now at 95. Coledocholithiasis is a mouthful, but JP had hardly finished saying it before Luke Nugent buzzed in identify it as the medical term for gall stones. Which had the effect of helping Liverpool achieve the rare feats of breaking through the 100 point barrier a) before the 10 minute mark, and b) before their opponents had scored. This earned the Liverpool team a set of bonuses on Raphael – that’s the Renaissance painter, not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but they couldn’t answer them. This meant that at the 10 minute mark Liverpool led by 105 to nil.
There’s a fine line between a great early buzz, and one which is fractionally too early, and Luke Nugent crossed this line when asked for the other name of the Jewish Feast of Lights. This lost 5, and allowed Keele a free run at the question, and skipper Harriet Earle did the honours with Hanukkah. For their pains they earned a set of bonuses on bacteriology. They took 2.I knew anguillae are eels, but for the teams, and any quizzer watching, I’d guess that the big clue was the mention of the Sargasso Sea. It was certainly enough for Luke Nugent, who supplied the correct answer of eel, even though he looked as if he thought it was probably wrong. The first UC special set of bonuses followed. Each one was a clue to a 4 letter word which was also the first part of the standard English rendition of the name of a European country – hence – fortified wine = port = Portugal. They managed 2, missing out on Mold in Flintshire for Moldova. The next starter was on Shakespeare. Now, if you hear that it’s a play based on The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, then you know it’s either Lear or Cymbeline. Rob Croton of Keele was unfortunate to zig with Lear, allowing Daniel Jenkin-Smith to zag with Cymbeline. When things don’t run for you, they really don’t run. A set of bonuses followed on Edward Tufte. I think I was a member of his club when I was a kid, but I digress. In all seriousness, I haven’t a clue who he is or was, but I loved his quote that All power corrupts, but Powerpoint corrupts absolutely. Liverpool took one bonus, and so to the music starter. Luke Nugent recognized the work of J.S.Bach, and this together with the one bonus composer they recognized was enough to take their score to 150. At this stage JP could restrain himself no longer, and he administered the kiss of death to the Keele team with the words,”Keele, there’s still plenty of time to come back”. Ouch. It’s bad enough trailing by so much, without having that little reminder thrown at you. Still, maybe it had the desired effect, since Harriet Earle took the next starter for Keele, knowing that the colour in the title of a 19th century novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – or Charlotte Who? as she is known in Lam Towers – is yellow. A good early buzz that. Bonuses on history and poetry weren’t at all easy, and they managed one. Katherine Monks buzzed in too early for the next starter, and lost five. Keele were unable to capitalize, not knowing Thales. Not surprised. The next starter was something about microfarads. A bit of ointment will clear them up mate, boom-boom-I’m-here-all-week-ladies-and –gentlemen. The answer was 3. I didn’t get the question, and nobody got the answer, so let’s move on. Not the least deterred by her previous false start Katherine Monks was the first to buzz in with the answer that a list of items all begin with Kha. The Fifa world cup provided the bonuses, of which they took one. It didn’t matter. The game, as a competitive match looked dead and buried, I’m sorry to say, and the only questions still to be resolved looked to be how points Liverpool would rack up by the end, and whether Keele could rally to three figure respectability. The year of the Great Reform Act – 1832 – provided Katherine Monks with what I think was her 7th starter. Impressive performance. A really nice set on creatures in The Lord of the Rings provided ten more points to take their score on the 20 minute mark to 180, against Keele’s 30.
The second picture starter showed an illustration from the Canterbury Tales. Seeing the names Palamon and Arcite Harriet Earle was able to buzz in quickly to identify the Knight’s Tale. Three harder ones followed. They answered ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ for the first two, which weren’t, but not for the last one, which was. If you’re going to be successful on UC, there are times when you have to anticipate and go for it before the end of the question. Having heard the words ‘algebraic aid’, ‘toy’ and ‘1977’ you had to fancy that the words ‘Rubik’s cube’ would not be far shy of the answer. That’s what Luke Nugent did to earn the points. Danish computer scientists didn’t sound promising, but they managed one of the bonuses. Daniel Jenkin-Smith knew that ‘L’Ancien Regime’ was written by de Toqueville. This earned bonuses on actors and actresses born in 1913, and the films they appeared in. They didn’t manage any of these – they’re all far too young to have seen most of those films. Now coming back to the point about buzzing early, as soon as you’ve heard ‘observatory’ and ‘Cheshire’ you just have to slam your hand on the buzzer and give the answer ‘Jodrell Bank’. That’s what Katherine Monks did. What seemed like a fairly simple set of bonuses on French was dispatched over the pavilion. Katherine Monks, now back up to full speed again, was the first to identify the five letter word referring to the shields of Zeus and Athena as aegis. Two bonuses brought their score to 250, and it was just possible that with 3 minutes to go they might reach the psychologically important score of 300. Daniel Jenkin-Smith knew that Edgar Allan Poe died in 1849. 260 points. The second UC special set of the night, which asked for words that can be made using any of the letters from the word perjury. 2 were taken. 270 points. Luke Nugent knew that two of the counties whose names appear in the names of National Parks in England and Wales are Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire. This was followed by another UC special set, with words which form part of the names of Commonwealth countries. Only one was taken, for 285 points. Poor Austin Haffenden buzzed in early with e answer pedology for the next starter, but JP had only asked for the first 4 letters. No cigar, five points lost. This led Katherine Monks to supply Pedo, and earn the bonuses, this time on Physics. Only one was needed to get to 300, but there was only time for one, and they didn’t get it.
The final score was 295 to 40. For once JP did have some words of real consolation, telling the viewers at home that Keele were still a good team who had scored highly on their test papers to get into the competition in the first place. Well said. As for Liverpool, well, this was a highly impressive performance. Exactly how good they are is difficult to judge. They won the buzzer race hands down, but then Keele – sorry Keele, but I have to say it – really weren’t very fast on the buzzer at all. But Liverpool will certainly be up amongst the favourites to get to the quarter finals at the least. Good luck.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
In one of the bacteriology bonuses when asked for a chemical substance used for this or that (stop me if I get too technical) Keele offered ammonia. JP seemed to find this very funny, considering the answer was iodine. I don’t know, I can understand him getting indignant when they get literature ones wrong, but I really don’t think he’s got any right to do it with Science questions.
I’m sure JP is only trying to be nice, and to encourage a team when he says that there’s still time to come back, but because he only tends to do it when a team is floundering it can’t do a great deal to help them raise their spirits.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The River Batman is a tributary of the Tigris
Saturday, 31 August 2013
In the News
In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Squee
2. Miffy
3. 3
4. The Ring O’Fire Anglesey Coastal Ultra Marathon
5. Lindsay Sandiford
6. Dan Evans
7. Tom Lackey
8. Sir John Chilcott
9. Major Nidal Hussain
10. Remploy
11. Gordon Taylor
12. Shakter Karagandy
13. Annette Iren Johansen
14. Peter Humphrey
In Other News
1. Who was not released from hospital despite early reports to the contrary?
2. Ohio State University is now being officially sponsored by which clothing brand?
3. Who caused controversy with her appearance at the MTV awards this week?
4. In which country did a mass wedding of police dogs take place?
5. A spoof advert by German media students caused a storm this week, showing a Mercedes car going back in time to do what? 6. There has been much opposition to the Miss World competition going ahead in which country? 7. Which Nobel Prize winning poet passed away last week?
8. A huge canyon was discovered where last week?
9. Who is returing to the BBC after 3 years to present a show on Radio5 live?
10. Which 83 year old faces charges of indecent assault and making indecent images?
11. Which all-time great welsh fly half passed away aged 83?
12. What was the score between Spurs and Dinamo Tbilisi?
13. – and between Swansea and Petrolul Ploesti?
14. Which team defeated Chelsea in the Super Cup?
15. Which English team are drawn in the same Champions League group as champions Bayern Munich?
16. What was the result of the Commons vote on military intervention in Syria?
17. Which actor funds a spy satellite to keep an eye on the Sudanese dictator?
18. Which children’s TV series of the 70s is set to reappear?
19. Name the 83 year old who played straight man to his brother in a double act who passed away last week?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Squee
2. Miffy
3. 3
4. The Ring O’Fire Anglesey Coastal Ultra Marathon
5. Lindsay Sandiford
6. Dan Evans
7. Tom Lackey
8. Sir John Chilcott
9. Major Nidal Hussain
10. Remploy
11. Gordon Taylor
12. Shakter Karagandy
13. Annette Iren Johansen
14. Peter Humphrey
In Other News
1. Who was not released from hospital despite early reports to the contrary?
2. Ohio State University is now being officially sponsored by which clothing brand?
3. Who caused controversy with her appearance at the MTV awards this week?
4. In which country did a mass wedding of police dogs take place?
5. A spoof advert by German media students caused a storm this week, showing a Mercedes car going back in time to do what? 6. There has been much opposition to the Miss World competition going ahead in which country? 7. Which Nobel Prize winning poet passed away last week?
8. A huge canyon was discovered where last week?
9. Who is returing to the BBC after 3 years to present a show on Radio5 live?
10. Which 83 year old faces charges of indecent assault and making indecent images?
11. Which all-time great welsh fly half passed away aged 83?
12. What was the score between Spurs and Dinamo Tbilisi?
13. – and between Swansea and Petrolul Ploesti?
14. Which team defeated Chelsea in the Super Cup?
15. Which English team are drawn in the same Champions League group as champions Bayern Munich?
16. What was the result of the Commons vote on military intervention in Syria?
17. Which actor funds a spy satellite to keep an eye on the Sudanese dictator?
18. Which children’s TV series of the 70s is set to reappear?
19. Name the 83 year old who played straight man to his brother in a double act who passed away last week?
Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Dinenka Maguire
2. nomophobia
3. Bridget Christie
4. Sergeant Robert Bales
5. John Dubis
6. Kenny Miller
7. Matty Smith
8. Sir Peter Hendy
9. Elaine West
10. Bo Xilai
11. Gareth Southgate
12. Rose Brewer and Flame Brewer
13. Pervez Musharraf
In Other News
1. Lance Armstrong has settled his case with which newspaper he had successfully sued for claiming that he used performance enhancing drugs before his confession last year?
2. Which former world leader’s retrial began last week?
3. Whose estate is to start publishing 5 unpublished works in 2015?
4. What was the score in the Cardiff City v. Man City match ?
5. Who won the Belgian GP?
6. Which team beat England for the bronze medal in the European Hockey championship?
7. Which became the first council to withhold hardship payments to smokers and drinkers?
8. Tuesday 27th August is the 50th anniversary of which famous speech?
9. Which water company was fined £200,000 for dumping sewage in the sea?
10. Which singer is to star in a show about his own life?
11. A player who won two world cup winner’s medals, and featured in the tournaments of 1954, 58, 62 and 66 passed away last week. Name him
12. What was the score in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final?
13. What did convicted Bradley Manning announce last week?
14. Which 89 year old was sworn in as president of his country for another 5 years?
15. Who was fined 50% of his match fee for ranting about Stuart Broad’s failure to walk int eh first test?
16. What was the score between Swansea and Petrolul Ploiesti in their first leg Europa League match?
17. What was the Europa League score between Spurs and Dinamo Tbilisi?
harlequins’ captain has signed on for two more years – who is he?
18. What was the length of sentence handed out to Bradley Manning?
19. In which city did the devastating chemical attack in Syria take place?
20. Which entertainer was told last week that he will not face sexual assault charges due to lack of evidence?
21. The man who promoted the Beatles on visits to the USA passed away last week. Who was he?
22. What was the score in the Champions League match between Arsenal and Fenerbahce?
23. Last week a man was found dead at the US home of which Australian singer and film actress?
24. Which 87 year old novelist passed away last week?
25. Angela Merkel has become the first German leader to visit the site of what?
Answers
Who or what are the following?
1. She set a new record in the world bog snorkeling championships in Llanwyrtyd Wells
2. Fear of being without a mobile phone which half of Britons surveyed suffer from
3. She won the Edinburgh Festival Comedy Award ( formerly the Perrier)
4. US soldier sentenced to life imprisonment following massacre of Afghan civilians
5. Charged with stalking Jennifer Lopez
6. Scottish international striker who has retired from internationals
7. Winner of the Lance Todd trophy in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final
8. Boss of transport in London alleged to have had an affair with a call girl
9. She has been promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal in the RAF, becoming its first ever female two star officer
10. A former rising star of the Chinese Communist Party, on trial for corruption
11. He has been named coach of England U21 football side
12. They are cousins who became the world’s youngest formation wingwalkers
13. The former dictator of Pakistan has been charged with the murder of Benazir Bhutto
In Other News
1. The Times
2. Hosni Mubarak
3. J.D.Salinger
4. Cardiff 3 – Man City 2
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Netherlands
7. Edinburgh
8. Martin Luther – I have a Dream
9. Southern Water
10. Russell Watson
11. Djalma Santos
12. 16 - 0
13. He intends to switch gender
14. Robert Mugabe
15. 5 – 1 to Swansea.
16. 5 – 0 to Spurs
17. Chris Robshaw
18. 35 years
19. Ghouta
20. Jim Davidson
21. Sid Bernstein
22. 3 – 0 to Arsenal
23. Olivia Newton John
24. Elmore Leonard
25. Dachau concentration camp
Who or What are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Dinenka Maguire
2. nomophobia
3. Bridget Christie
4. Sergeant Robert Bales
5. John Dubis
6. Kenny Miller
7. Matty Smith
8. Sir Peter Hendy
9. Elaine West
10. Bo Xilai
11. Gareth Southgate
12. Rose Brewer and Flame Brewer
13. Pervez Musharraf
In Other News
1. Lance Armstrong has settled his case with which newspaper he had successfully sued for claiming that he used performance enhancing drugs before his confession last year?
2. Which former world leader’s retrial began last week?
3. Whose estate is to start publishing 5 unpublished works in 2015?
4. What was the score in the Cardiff City v. Man City match ?
5. Who won the Belgian GP?
6. Which team beat England for the bronze medal in the European Hockey championship?
7. Which became the first council to withhold hardship payments to smokers and drinkers?
8. Tuesday 27th August is the 50th anniversary of which famous speech?
9. Which water company was fined £200,000 for dumping sewage in the sea?
10. Which singer is to star in a show about his own life?
11. A player who won two world cup winner’s medals, and featured in the tournaments of 1954, 58, 62 and 66 passed away last week. Name him
12. What was the score in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final?
13. What did convicted Bradley Manning announce last week?
14. Which 89 year old was sworn in as president of his country for another 5 years?
15. Who was fined 50% of his match fee for ranting about Stuart Broad’s failure to walk int eh first test?
16. What was the score between Swansea and Petrolul Ploiesti in their first leg Europa League match?
17. What was the Europa League score between Spurs and Dinamo Tbilisi?
harlequins’ captain has signed on for two more years – who is he?
18. What was the length of sentence handed out to Bradley Manning?
19. In which city did the devastating chemical attack in Syria take place?
20. Which entertainer was told last week that he will not face sexual assault charges due to lack of evidence?
21. The man who promoted the Beatles on visits to the USA passed away last week. Who was he?
22. What was the score in the Champions League match between Arsenal and Fenerbahce?
23. Last week a man was found dead at the US home of which Australian singer and film actress?
24. Which 87 year old novelist passed away last week?
25. Angela Merkel has become the first German leader to visit the site of what?
Answers
Who or what are the following?
1. She set a new record in the world bog snorkeling championships in Llanwyrtyd Wells
2. Fear of being without a mobile phone which half of Britons surveyed suffer from
3. She won the Edinburgh Festival Comedy Award ( formerly the Perrier)
4. US soldier sentenced to life imprisonment following massacre of Afghan civilians
5. Charged with stalking Jennifer Lopez
6. Scottish international striker who has retired from internationals
7. Winner of the Lance Todd trophy in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final
8. Boss of transport in London alleged to have had an affair with a call girl
9. She has been promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal in the RAF, becoming its first ever female two star officer
10. A former rising star of the Chinese Communist Party, on trial for corruption
11. He has been named coach of England U21 football side
12. They are cousins who became the world’s youngest formation wingwalkers
13. The former dictator of Pakistan has been charged with the murder of Benazir Bhutto
In Other News
1. The Times
2. Hosni Mubarak
3. J.D.Salinger
4. Cardiff 3 – Man City 2
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Netherlands
7. Edinburgh
8. Martin Luther – I have a Dream
9. Southern Water
10. Russell Watson
11. Djalma Santos
12. 16 - 0
13. He intends to switch gender
14. Robert Mugabe
15. 5 – 1 to Swansea.
16. 5 – 0 to Spurs
17. Chris Robshaw
18. 35 years
19. Ghouta
20. Jim Davidson
21. Sid Bernstein
22. 3 – 0 to Arsenal
23. Olivia Newton John
24. Elmore Leonard
25. Dachau concentration camp
Friday, 30 August 2013
Mastermind - Round One - Heat Four
I’ll be honest, I didn’t check out the contenders or the specialist subjects prior to tonight’s show, so this was another unwikied one. It would have been quite enlightening to have had a look at the contenders first, though, since there were a couple of very familiar faces on show.
First up tonight was Barry Humphrey. Barry has appeared on quite a number of TV quizzes. You might well remember him as a member of the Footballers, the team which took 4th place in the last but one series of Only Connect. Or failing that, winning the final of Breakaway in 2012. In what I believe is his first go at Mastermind he offered us the TV show “Six Feet Under”. Barry answered very quickly, and for the most part, very correctly. Now, I wonder if this struck anyone else who watched tonight’s show. A number of regulars have commented on the length of some of the questions, but tonight it seemed to go beyond a joke in the specialist rounds. There were very few questions that were not qualified by a piece of needless, and sometimes irrelevant extra information. I’ll be honest, it makes even a round which you might know something about into something of a chore. As I say, Barry answered well, but even so the length of the questions meant that he was only able to score 10. The only thing I can really say in the show’s defence was that the questions in the other three specialist rounds seemed equally prolix to me.
So to this show’s second familiar face. By my reckoning tonight’s show was the start of Hamish Cameron’s 6th Mastermind campaign. If my information is correct – which I can’t guarantee – then Hamish has reached the semis on three occasions, but never made it through to the final. I should imagine that the closest that he came was in the 2007 SOBM, where he had the third highest score in all the semis, but was in the same semi as Stuart Cross, who had the first highest score in all the semis. Few people, then, know more about winning first round shows than Hamish. The subject he was hoping would carry him part of the way there tonight was James Ramsey Macdonald – one time MP for Aberavon (although that question didn’t come up). Hamish knew the majority of those that did, though. Bearing in mind the length of the questions his 12 looked to be a quality round.
Philip Price certainly hasn’t made 5 previous attempts to win a show on Mastermind, but he did make one in 2012. Back then he came 4th in his heat, so full marks to him for having another go. We’ll maybe discuss that a little more fully later on. His subject was The City of London Parish Churches of Sir Christopher Wren. Actually that’s a good subject, although I only managed 3 on it myself. Philip knew his stuff, but he probably didn’t quite know it quickly enough. I’d guess that he could have managed another couple of questions if he’d answered a little more quickly. 11 and 1 pass, on these questions, was a good return, but judging from his previous GK performance I couldn’t see him living with Barry or Hamish.
You wait all series for a first round contender from 2012, and then two of them come along at once. Our fourth contender, Isabel Morgan, also played in the first round two years ago, although not in the same heat as Philip. She was joint runner up in her heat, losing out because of the GK round. Her subject tonight was Welsh poet Alun Lewis. She knew her stuff, too. 13 and 1 pass on these questions is pretty good going. I don’t see how you could score above 15 on a 2 minute round with questions this long. Well, let’s leave that to one side for now.
Barry was the first to return to the chair, however this was not necessarily significant bearing in mind that the most likely opposition – Hamish – was only 2 points ahead. All you can do in Barry’s position is to go as fast as you can, answer as many as you can, and set a target which is as high as you can. Barry answered very quickly for the most part, and although he seemed to lose momentum once or twice he battled his way through to 14, for a total of 24. That was enough to leave all of his opponents needing double figures to win, and that can put anyone into the corridor of uncertainty.
Philip certainly never looked convincing in his round. 6 correct answers and six passes wasn’t a great return. Slow answers and a pass spiral meant he was doing the Mastermind equivalent of trying to roll a pea uphill with his nose. I somehow expected that it would be a different kettle of fish when Hamish came to sit down for his second round, and I was right. To put it into perspective, Hamish needed to score 13 to go into the outright lead, and if we take 28 to be a safe repechage score, he needed 16 to be almost certain of reaching the semis. Not easy, but doable if you keep your head. Hamish certainly managed that. He didn’t answer them all correctly, although he answered a lot of them correctly, and he did pass, but each of those three passes were made at a moment when he was right to do so, to get his round moving again and just keep racking up the points. Alright, despite his 17 for a total of 29 he didn’t know for certain that he was through, but Isabel would have to produce something very special to deny him.
She certainly started well enough, but as we’ve seen so many times, 2 and a half minutes can be a very long time indeed when you're trying to maintain a full head of steam. After the third question she was asked who wrote ‘not waving , but drowning’ she just couldn’t remember, and that was it, her momentum had gone completely. She had the presence of mind to pick off the questions she knew for certain, but it’s momentum which helps you come up with answers to questions that you aren’t sure of, or don’t know. The round was not even half over before the total Hamish had set was out of reach, and it wasn’t long before the current repechage threshold passed as well. By the end she’d reached double figure respectability with 10 and 5 passes.
So many congratulations to Hamish on reaching another semifinal, and I do sincerely hope that you make it to the final now. Hard lines to Barry – it was bad luck meeting such a good, seasoned Mastermind veteran in the first round. I hope that he might make a repechage slot, but it's looking precarious, even now. Now, just before we move on to look at the details, I would like to return for a moment to the whole question about what makes people come back to Mastermind for more. Now, this is all speculation on my part, and they may each have reasons which I haven’t ever considered. Still, I can only tell you what I think. I came back for a second bite of the cherry myself, and I had two reasons for doing so. One, despite losing in the first round in 2006 I enjoyed it, and two, more importantly to me, I was sure that I could do better. Hamish , having reached the semifinal so many times, cannot reasonably be expected to stop trying until he at least reaches the final. As for Isabel, well, as I said she was the joint runner up in her previous show, so it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to enter in the hope that she could go one better this time. As for Philip, though, well, that might be a little harder to understand. In Philip’s previous show, he had another modest GK score, and finished a considerable way behind the 3rd placed contender. Maybe tonight was a shot at putting that to rights. Or maybe he just enjoyed the whole experience last time round. There is actually something to be said for putting yourself through the discipline of learning a specialist subject for Mastermind, something actually rather enjoyable. When you get right down to it, enjoyment is the only sensible reason for applying for the show in the first place.
The Details
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
Barry Humphrey 24 - 7
Lauren White 23 – 4
First up tonight was Barry Humphrey. Barry has appeared on quite a number of TV quizzes. You might well remember him as a member of the Footballers, the team which took 4th place in the last but one series of Only Connect. Or failing that, winning the final of Breakaway in 2012. In what I believe is his first go at Mastermind he offered us the TV show “Six Feet Under”. Barry answered very quickly, and for the most part, very correctly. Now, I wonder if this struck anyone else who watched tonight’s show. A number of regulars have commented on the length of some of the questions, but tonight it seemed to go beyond a joke in the specialist rounds. There were very few questions that were not qualified by a piece of needless, and sometimes irrelevant extra information. I’ll be honest, it makes even a round which you might know something about into something of a chore. As I say, Barry answered well, but even so the length of the questions meant that he was only able to score 10. The only thing I can really say in the show’s defence was that the questions in the other three specialist rounds seemed equally prolix to me.
So to this show’s second familiar face. By my reckoning tonight’s show was the start of Hamish Cameron’s 6th Mastermind campaign. If my information is correct – which I can’t guarantee – then Hamish has reached the semis on three occasions, but never made it through to the final. I should imagine that the closest that he came was in the 2007 SOBM, where he had the third highest score in all the semis, but was in the same semi as Stuart Cross, who had the first highest score in all the semis. Few people, then, know more about winning first round shows than Hamish. The subject he was hoping would carry him part of the way there tonight was James Ramsey Macdonald – one time MP for Aberavon (although that question didn’t come up). Hamish knew the majority of those that did, though. Bearing in mind the length of the questions his 12 looked to be a quality round.
Philip Price certainly hasn’t made 5 previous attempts to win a show on Mastermind, but he did make one in 2012. Back then he came 4th in his heat, so full marks to him for having another go. We’ll maybe discuss that a little more fully later on. His subject was The City of London Parish Churches of Sir Christopher Wren. Actually that’s a good subject, although I only managed 3 on it myself. Philip knew his stuff, but he probably didn’t quite know it quickly enough. I’d guess that he could have managed another couple of questions if he’d answered a little more quickly. 11 and 1 pass, on these questions, was a good return, but judging from his previous GK performance I couldn’t see him living with Barry or Hamish.
You wait all series for a first round contender from 2012, and then two of them come along at once. Our fourth contender, Isabel Morgan, also played in the first round two years ago, although not in the same heat as Philip. She was joint runner up in her heat, losing out because of the GK round. Her subject tonight was Welsh poet Alun Lewis. She knew her stuff, too. 13 and 1 pass on these questions is pretty good going. I don’t see how you could score above 15 on a 2 minute round with questions this long. Well, let’s leave that to one side for now.
Barry was the first to return to the chair, however this was not necessarily significant bearing in mind that the most likely opposition – Hamish – was only 2 points ahead. All you can do in Barry’s position is to go as fast as you can, answer as many as you can, and set a target which is as high as you can. Barry answered very quickly for the most part, and although he seemed to lose momentum once or twice he battled his way through to 14, for a total of 24. That was enough to leave all of his opponents needing double figures to win, and that can put anyone into the corridor of uncertainty.
Philip certainly never looked convincing in his round. 6 correct answers and six passes wasn’t a great return. Slow answers and a pass spiral meant he was doing the Mastermind equivalent of trying to roll a pea uphill with his nose. I somehow expected that it would be a different kettle of fish when Hamish came to sit down for his second round, and I was right. To put it into perspective, Hamish needed to score 13 to go into the outright lead, and if we take 28 to be a safe repechage score, he needed 16 to be almost certain of reaching the semis. Not easy, but doable if you keep your head. Hamish certainly managed that. He didn’t answer them all correctly, although he answered a lot of them correctly, and he did pass, but each of those three passes were made at a moment when he was right to do so, to get his round moving again and just keep racking up the points. Alright, despite his 17 for a total of 29 he didn’t know for certain that he was through, but Isabel would have to produce something very special to deny him.
She certainly started well enough, but as we’ve seen so many times, 2 and a half minutes can be a very long time indeed when you're trying to maintain a full head of steam. After the third question she was asked who wrote ‘not waving , but drowning’ she just couldn’t remember, and that was it, her momentum had gone completely. She had the presence of mind to pick off the questions she knew for certain, but it’s momentum which helps you come up with answers to questions that you aren’t sure of, or don’t know. The round was not even half over before the total Hamish had set was out of reach, and it wasn’t long before the current repechage threshold passed as well. By the end she’d reached double figure respectability with 10 and 5 passes.
So many congratulations to Hamish on reaching another semifinal, and I do sincerely hope that you make it to the final now. Hard lines to Barry – it was bad luck meeting such a good, seasoned Mastermind veteran in the first round. I hope that he might make a repechage slot, but it's looking precarious, even now. Now, just before we move on to look at the details, I would like to return for a moment to the whole question about what makes people come back to Mastermind for more. Now, this is all speculation on my part, and they may each have reasons which I haven’t ever considered. Still, I can only tell you what I think. I came back for a second bite of the cherry myself, and I had two reasons for doing so. One, despite losing in the first round in 2006 I enjoyed it, and two, more importantly to me, I was sure that I could do better. Hamish , having reached the semifinal so many times, cannot reasonably be expected to stop trying until he at least reaches the final. As for Isabel, well, as I said she was the joint runner up in her previous show, so it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to enter in the hope that she could go one better this time. As for Philip, though, well, that might be a little harder to understand. In Philip’s previous show, he had another modest GK score, and finished a considerable way behind the 3rd placed contender. Maybe tonight was a shot at putting that to rights. Or maybe he just enjoyed the whole experience last time round. There is actually something to be said for putting yourself through the discipline of learning a specialist subject for Mastermind, something actually rather enjoyable. When you get right down to it, enjoyment is the only sensible reason for applying for the show in the first place.
The Details
| Barry Humphrey | Six Feet Under | 10 – 2 | 14 – 5 | 24 - 7 |
| Hamish Cameron | Life and Times of James Ramsey Macdonald | 12 – 1 | 17 – 3 | 29 – 4 |
| Philip Price | The City of London Parish Churches of Sir Christopher Wren | 11 – 1 | 6 – 6 | 17 - 7 |
| Isabel Morgan | Life and work of Alun Lewis | 13 – 1 | 10 – 5 | 23 – 6 |
Repechage Table
Beth Webster 28 – 2
Barry Nolan 26 – 3
Ricki Kendall 25 – 4
John Berridge 24 – 3
Barry Humphrey 24 - 7
Lauren White 23 – 4
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Linkee on' Dragon's Den'
I think you probably know me well enough that it doesn’t come as a complete shock to you when I say that I have not been averse to making the odd bob or two from quizzing when the opportunity has arisen. A few months ago a friend of mine who supplies questions to, well, basically to anyone who wants them, asked if I fancied putting together some question sets for a game called Linkee. I won’t lie, I had a go. To be fair they do invite you within the game itself to have a go and send them questions for nothing, and if it gets used in a future edition, then your name will feature on the card. Sorry guys, but I prefer the cash. Well, the reason why I mention it now is that I’ve just got round to watching Sunday’s edition of “Dragon’s Den”. The Linkee people were featured on it, pitching the Linkee game and brand to the dragons offering £50,000 for 10% of the company. If you want to see it for yourself it’s 30 minutes into the show.
If you’re not familiar with the game, well, basically it’s all about connections. The game consists of question cards. Each card has 4 questions. The QM reads out the first, and the selected player answers – or not, in which case it goes across. The answers to all 4 questions on the card are linked. As soon as any player knows the link, they shout out ‘Linkee!’ and give the connection to win that set of cards. Each card has a letter on the back, one of the letters of the name of the game. Once you collect all 6 letters to spell out Linkee, then you win.
Well, that’s basically it, anyway. At the risk of biting the hand that has fed me I will make a couple of observations. Speaking as at least a student of the quiz games genre if not a connoisseur, it’s not a bad game at all, and there are a lot worse out there. However, on Dragon’s Den the guys described it as ‘anti genius’ , saying that you don’t actually have to know very much to be ‘the smartest person in the room’. In addition the packaging does make a boast of the fact that the most serious quizzers are no more likely to win than any other player. I beg to differ. Even allowing for the randomizing factor of the letter collecting a serious quizzer will have read, or encountered a lot of these connections before in quizzes, and is more likely to spot them earlier. Let me give you an example of how this works, although not one from the actual game. Last week Rob from Lemurs produced the quiz in the rugby club, and bloomin’ good it was, too. After the first round it was obvious that he was asking connections questions. So when one set started with the question “What did Yankee Doodle call the feather in his hat?” I immediately said "The connection is penguins!” George of my team looked at me, shook his head, laughed, and said “How do you know things like that?” or words to that effect. Well, it’s pretty simple really. Most people know that Yankee Doodle called it macaroni. So if the connection begins that way then it’s most likely to be either the mundane connection of types of pasta, or the better connection of species of penguin. Not only that, but whenever I hear macaroni as part of a connection, then that connection is penguins. I’ve even used the same connection in one of my own quizzes. So it’s penguin, alright?! No, I didn’t say this to George, but I’m sure you know where I’m coming from. Well, the same principle works with the game. There are some good, original questions sets in it, but a lot that regular quizzers will have encountered before.
During their pitch in ‘Dragon’s Den’ the three creators revealed that they had been approached by a TV producer and asked if they’d ever thought of doing a TV version. Hmmm. I can’t help thinking that what would come of it would be a weak, watered down version of ‘Only Connect’ , without Victoria Coren Mitchell to boot.
SPOILERS
I’ll be honest, I thought that they’d priced themselves out of the market completely by giving the company a £500,000 valuation, bearing in mind that they’d only sold 2000 units at the time of recording, still the creators did actually get one offer of funding. Duncan Bannatyne offered the money in return for 40%, which they didn’t want to go for.
Is that it for Linkee, then? Not necessarily. The Dragons have turned down winners before. Certainly the appearance on the show probably won’t do it any harm. Good luck, anyway.
If you want to read my take on Linkee and a lot of other quiz games, past and present, then you can either click on My Web Pages in the adjacent links section, or you could follow this link : -
My Quiz Games Page
If you’re not familiar with the game, well, basically it’s all about connections. The game consists of question cards. Each card has 4 questions. The QM reads out the first, and the selected player answers – or not, in which case it goes across. The answers to all 4 questions on the card are linked. As soon as any player knows the link, they shout out ‘Linkee!’ and give the connection to win that set of cards. Each card has a letter on the back, one of the letters of the name of the game. Once you collect all 6 letters to spell out Linkee, then you win.
Well, that’s basically it, anyway. At the risk of biting the hand that has fed me I will make a couple of observations. Speaking as at least a student of the quiz games genre if not a connoisseur, it’s not a bad game at all, and there are a lot worse out there. However, on Dragon’s Den the guys described it as ‘anti genius’ , saying that you don’t actually have to know very much to be ‘the smartest person in the room’. In addition the packaging does make a boast of the fact that the most serious quizzers are no more likely to win than any other player. I beg to differ. Even allowing for the randomizing factor of the letter collecting a serious quizzer will have read, or encountered a lot of these connections before in quizzes, and is more likely to spot them earlier. Let me give you an example of how this works, although not one from the actual game. Last week Rob from Lemurs produced the quiz in the rugby club, and bloomin’ good it was, too. After the first round it was obvious that he was asking connections questions. So when one set started with the question “What did Yankee Doodle call the feather in his hat?” I immediately said "The connection is penguins!” George of my team looked at me, shook his head, laughed, and said “How do you know things like that?” or words to that effect. Well, it’s pretty simple really. Most people know that Yankee Doodle called it macaroni. So if the connection begins that way then it’s most likely to be either the mundane connection of types of pasta, or the better connection of species of penguin. Not only that, but whenever I hear macaroni as part of a connection, then that connection is penguins. I’ve even used the same connection in one of my own quizzes. So it’s penguin, alright?! No, I didn’t say this to George, but I’m sure you know where I’m coming from. Well, the same principle works with the game. There are some good, original questions sets in it, but a lot that regular quizzers will have encountered before.
During their pitch in ‘Dragon’s Den’ the three creators revealed that they had been approached by a TV producer and asked if they’d ever thought of doing a TV version. Hmmm. I can’t help thinking that what would come of it would be a weak, watered down version of ‘Only Connect’ , without Victoria Coren Mitchell to boot.
SPOILERS
I’ll be honest, I thought that they’d priced themselves out of the market completely by giving the company a £500,000 valuation, bearing in mind that they’d only sold 2000 units at the time of recording, still the creators did actually get one offer of funding. Duncan Bannatyne offered the money in return for 40%, which they didn’t want to go for.
Is that it for Linkee, then? Not necessarily. The Dragons have turned down winners before. Certainly the appearance on the show probably won’t do it any harm. Good luck, anyway.
If you want to read my take on Linkee and a lot of other quiz games, past and present, then you can either click on My Web Pages in the adjacent links section, or you could follow this link : -
My Quiz Games Page
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
University Challenge - Round One - Match 7
Brasenose College, Oxford v. Manchester
In many people’s eyes Brasenose drew the short straw having to face Manchester in the first round. Manchester have made something of a speciality of winning this competition, and are in fact going for their hattrick of consecutive wins this year. Whatever the magic formula is they seem to have found it, a fact that JP alluded to in his opening remarks. Looking at it from the other side of the coin, though, is the fact that this Manchester team must feel tremendous pressure considering what their immediate predecessors have done. Whatever the case, Brasenose introduced themselves first, and the team were Joshua Phillips, James Burt, Turner Edwards, and their captain Ben Ralph. The Manchester team consisted of Ed Woudhuysen, Joe Day, Jonathan Collins and their captain Elizabeth Mitchell. On with the show.
Turner Edwards opened the Brasenose account, knowing that Paul Durand Ruel was particularly associated with the Impressionists – that’s Monet and co, not Bremner and co. Bonuses on US political figures born in 1913 was a nice set to start with, and they managed two , missing out on Jimmy Hoffa. Jonathan Collins knew that Paul Johnson wrote an essay on the fictional character James Bond, and was none too complimentary about him either. This won Manchester their first set of bonuses on the novel ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Manchester managed one, but a full set for me meant that we were 8 questions in, and I was yet to drop one. That was coming, though, don’t you worry about that. Something about triangles and hypotenuses came next. I didn’t get it, neither did either team.A good early buzz from Johnathan Collins took the starter which asked for the knowledge that the Boilerhouse Project became the Design Museum.The set of bonuses on inventions and medical procedures pioneered in Ireland or by Irish people only yielded one correct answer. For the first picture starter we were shown a diagram of the seating plan for an orchestra. It was skipper Elizabeth Mitchell who correctly identified where the violins would sit. More of the same followed for the bonuses brought them another ten points for two correct answers. James Burt came in with the answer of slush fund on a good early buzz for the next starter. A full set on Mathematics bonuses took the Brasenose total to 45, just 5 points behind Manchester at the 10 minute mark.
Ben Ralph knew that Matthew Syed, author of Bounce – The Myth of Talent and The Power of Practice ( brilliant book – if you haven’t read it – do ) – competed at table tennis. When he said Ping pong for some reason there was no reaction to his answer, so he had to qualify it with table tennis. Another of those nice sets of places which each begin with a greek letter – for example Taunton – Tau was to follow. They managed two, but missed on Nullarbor Plain and Nuremberg – Nu. Still, it was enough to give them the lead. Right, the next question asked for the condition whose name is derived from the greek for half skull. The answer,as given by Ed Woudhuysen was migraine. Would they have accepted hemicrania, I wonder, which is the actual Greek, and the medical term as well? I’m glad to say that I don’t tend to get the nausea with it, just the headaches and the visuals, which is quite enough, thanks all the same. Bonuses on Gloria Steinem eluded them, and the Brasenose lead, although reduced, held for the time being. The next starter was a good old opera chestnut, if there should be such a thing. Asked what the Italian title of the opera rendered into English as “Women Are Like That” – I’ve heard it asked as ‘thus do they all’ – or ‘they’re all at it’ or variations on the same theme – Ben Ralph took a stab at Cosi Fan Tutte and hit a bullseye. Given a gettable set on musicals they managed one bonus. At this stage of the competition it was a tense affair, certainly, with neither team quite managing to capitalize with their bonuses. At the same time as I shouted ‘amethyst’ when JP asked for a variety of quartz with a deep purple colour, Elizabeth Mitchell buzzed in early with the same answer. Bonuses on chemistry meant nowt to me, but a couple of bonuses brought the teams level, as we went on to the music starter. A fantastically quick buzz from Elizabeth Mitchell earned her 10 points for recognizing Colin Firth’s warbling from the film of Mamma Mia. Given more actors giving it a go in film musicals, I just knew that either Lee Marvin or Clint Eastwood from Paint Your Wagon would be coming. As it happened, it was Clint. Michael Medved said that they could have advertised the film with the tag line “Dirty Harry Sings!” This was the only one that Manchester missed, and they had taken back the lead. Ah, the innocents of both teams failed to see that a Steve Jones quote about a human activity he called ‘the great leveller’ referred to sex. A good buzz from Joe Day saw him correctly answer that the Roman empire reached its greatest extent under the emperor Trajan. The team managed 2 bonuses on countries bordering Iran. Joe Day buzzed in just too early on the next starter. Asked about the chemical symbols for Uranium and Animonty when combined he knew you get USB. Ah, but the fiendish question wanted to know what it stands for – Universal Serial Bus as any regular quizzer can tell you ( though for heaven’s sake don’t ask what it actually does! ). Brasenose couldn’t get it, and so this meant that Manchester led by 110 to 80. Not a winning lead, but it was noticeable that Manchester had been making all the running for the last 5 minutes. Brasenose would need to find momentum from somewhere.
James Burt knew about the Malacca Strait, and Brasenose were scoring again. Bonuses on fictional characters and the real people they were based on or inspired by yielded them nothing, and we moved on to the second picture starter. Nobody recognized David Haig playing Jim Hacker in the remake of Yes Prime Minister. Not surprised. He’s a fine performer, but you can’t, and probably shouldn’t even try to improve on perfection. Elizabeth Mitchell won the buzzer race to announce Titian as the venetian artist who gave his name to a hair colour. This brought Manchester the fictional politician picture bonuses. They managed two, but couldn’t dredge up the title of The New Statesman. Joe Day knew that you get 57 degrees to one radian. Nope, me neither. Three bonuses on the outbreak of World War I brought their total to 155, a lead of 60, and this did now look like a decisive lead. Turner Edwards recognized a succession of heroines created by Edith Wharton, which took Brasenose into three figures. I loved the set of bonuses on English football clubs that have been runners up in the football league, but never won it. They managed one of them. A nice starter saw Jonathan Collins answer that the northernmost towns of England and Scotland – Berwick and , er , Wick ? – are linked by the letters – er – wick. Bonuses on the letter M in science ( there’s no letter M in Science the way that I spell it, but I digress ) – pushed Manchester’s score to 175. The increasingly effective Joe Day knew that Beethoven was born in Bonn . Bonuses on Wagner – that’s the composer, not the X-Factor contestant of years gone by – brought another 10 points. In another rgood old UC chestnuit, Ed Woudhysen knew that if the words “speech . . . 1946 . . . Stettin . . . Balkans” are uttered, then you’ve got to go for it with Trieste. Animal behaviour brought them two bonuses. That was pretty much it. JP started a question about what I think was Graham’s Law, but the gong prevented us from finding out.
The score was Manchester 215 – Brasenose 105. A convincing win on paper, which denies Brasenose any chance of going further. Still, they can take consolation from the fact that it was a real contest up until the last 7 or 8 minutes. Well played Manchester – good luck in the 2nd round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP kicked off with a wigging for Ben Ralph for buzzing in but not answering straightaway. Small stuff, but we could only hope that he was just warming up.
When Manchester suggested that Gloria Steinem had worked undercover as a waitress in the Pentagon he replied, “No, the New York City Playboy Club. Not dissimilar, I agree.” Satire, even!
This wasn’t the last of it, either. When Elizabeth Mitchell quickly identified the dulcet tones of Colin Firth in Mamma Mia he replied, “You’re obviously a fan. . . Don’t know why – he just about made it through unscathed, I thought.” I don’t know, can you see JP dancing in the aisles of his local fleapit during the late showing of Mamma Mia?
We did get to see a glimpse of the iron fist within the velvet glove when Brasenose offered Sally for Sally Bowles. “I need more, “ said our hero, then “and I need it now!”
The sledgehammer of his sarcasm descended when the Manchester team offered the Mastersinger of Nuremburg as the opera about a song contest in Wartburg ( then again, maybe it WAS that Wagner) . “No . . . That’s obviously in Nuremberg!!!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The term slush fund originated from the practice of cooks collecting money from the sale of fat, grease and watery food.
In many people’s eyes Brasenose drew the short straw having to face Manchester in the first round. Manchester have made something of a speciality of winning this competition, and are in fact going for their hattrick of consecutive wins this year. Whatever the magic formula is they seem to have found it, a fact that JP alluded to in his opening remarks. Looking at it from the other side of the coin, though, is the fact that this Manchester team must feel tremendous pressure considering what their immediate predecessors have done. Whatever the case, Brasenose introduced themselves first, and the team were Joshua Phillips, James Burt, Turner Edwards, and their captain Ben Ralph. The Manchester team consisted of Ed Woudhuysen, Joe Day, Jonathan Collins and their captain Elizabeth Mitchell. On with the show.
Turner Edwards opened the Brasenose account, knowing that Paul Durand Ruel was particularly associated with the Impressionists – that’s Monet and co, not Bremner and co. Bonuses on US political figures born in 1913 was a nice set to start with, and they managed two , missing out on Jimmy Hoffa. Jonathan Collins knew that Paul Johnson wrote an essay on the fictional character James Bond, and was none too complimentary about him either. This won Manchester their first set of bonuses on the novel ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Manchester managed one, but a full set for me meant that we were 8 questions in, and I was yet to drop one. That was coming, though, don’t you worry about that. Something about triangles and hypotenuses came next. I didn’t get it, neither did either team.A good early buzz from Johnathan Collins took the starter which asked for the knowledge that the Boilerhouse Project became the Design Museum.The set of bonuses on inventions and medical procedures pioneered in Ireland or by Irish people only yielded one correct answer. For the first picture starter we were shown a diagram of the seating plan for an orchestra. It was skipper Elizabeth Mitchell who correctly identified where the violins would sit. More of the same followed for the bonuses brought them another ten points for two correct answers. James Burt came in with the answer of slush fund on a good early buzz for the next starter. A full set on Mathematics bonuses took the Brasenose total to 45, just 5 points behind Manchester at the 10 minute mark.
Ben Ralph knew that Matthew Syed, author of Bounce – The Myth of Talent and The Power of Practice ( brilliant book – if you haven’t read it – do ) – competed at table tennis. When he said Ping pong for some reason there was no reaction to his answer, so he had to qualify it with table tennis. Another of those nice sets of places which each begin with a greek letter – for example Taunton – Tau was to follow. They managed two, but missed on Nullarbor Plain and Nuremberg – Nu. Still, it was enough to give them the lead. Right, the next question asked for the condition whose name is derived from the greek for half skull. The answer,as given by Ed Woudhuysen was migraine. Would they have accepted hemicrania, I wonder, which is the actual Greek, and the medical term as well? I’m glad to say that I don’t tend to get the nausea with it, just the headaches and the visuals, which is quite enough, thanks all the same. Bonuses on Gloria Steinem eluded them, and the Brasenose lead, although reduced, held for the time being. The next starter was a good old opera chestnut, if there should be such a thing. Asked what the Italian title of the opera rendered into English as “Women Are Like That” – I’ve heard it asked as ‘thus do they all’ – or ‘they’re all at it’ or variations on the same theme – Ben Ralph took a stab at Cosi Fan Tutte and hit a bullseye. Given a gettable set on musicals they managed one bonus. At this stage of the competition it was a tense affair, certainly, with neither team quite managing to capitalize with their bonuses. At the same time as I shouted ‘amethyst’ when JP asked for a variety of quartz with a deep purple colour, Elizabeth Mitchell buzzed in early with the same answer. Bonuses on chemistry meant nowt to me, but a couple of bonuses brought the teams level, as we went on to the music starter. A fantastically quick buzz from Elizabeth Mitchell earned her 10 points for recognizing Colin Firth’s warbling from the film of Mamma Mia. Given more actors giving it a go in film musicals, I just knew that either Lee Marvin or Clint Eastwood from Paint Your Wagon would be coming. As it happened, it was Clint. Michael Medved said that they could have advertised the film with the tag line “Dirty Harry Sings!” This was the only one that Manchester missed, and they had taken back the lead. Ah, the innocents of both teams failed to see that a Steve Jones quote about a human activity he called ‘the great leveller’ referred to sex. A good buzz from Joe Day saw him correctly answer that the Roman empire reached its greatest extent under the emperor Trajan. The team managed 2 bonuses on countries bordering Iran. Joe Day buzzed in just too early on the next starter. Asked about the chemical symbols for Uranium and Animonty when combined he knew you get USB. Ah, but the fiendish question wanted to know what it stands for – Universal Serial Bus as any regular quizzer can tell you ( though for heaven’s sake don’t ask what it actually does! ). Brasenose couldn’t get it, and so this meant that Manchester led by 110 to 80. Not a winning lead, but it was noticeable that Manchester had been making all the running for the last 5 minutes. Brasenose would need to find momentum from somewhere.
James Burt knew about the Malacca Strait, and Brasenose were scoring again. Bonuses on fictional characters and the real people they were based on or inspired by yielded them nothing, and we moved on to the second picture starter. Nobody recognized David Haig playing Jim Hacker in the remake of Yes Prime Minister. Not surprised. He’s a fine performer, but you can’t, and probably shouldn’t even try to improve on perfection. Elizabeth Mitchell won the buzzer race to announce Titian as the venetian artist who gave his name to a hair colour. This brought Manchester the fictional politician picture bonuses. They managed two, but couldn’t dredge up the title of The New Statesman. Joe Day knew that you get 57 degrees to one radian. Nope, me neither. Three bonuses on the outbreak of World War I brought their total to 155, a lead of 60, and this did now look like a decisive lead. Turner Edwards recognized a succession of heroines created by Edith Wharton, which took Brasenose into three figures. I loved the set of bonuses on English football clubs that have been runners up in the football league, but never won it. They managed one of them. A nice starter saw Jonathan Collins answer that the northernmost towns of England and Scotland – Berwick and , er , Wick ? – are linked by the letters – er – wick. Bonuses on the letter M in science ( there’s no letter M in Science the way that I spell it, but I digress ) – pushed Manchester’s score to 175. The increasingly effective Joe Day knew that Beethoven was born in Bonn . Bonuses on Wagner – that’s the composer, not the X-Factor contestant of years gone by – brought another 10 points. In another rgood old UC chestnuit, Ed Woudhysen knew that if the words “speech . . . 1946 . . . Stettin . . . Balkans” are uttered, then you’ve got to go for it with Trieste. Animal behaviour brought them two bonuses. That was pretty much it. JP started a question about what I think was Graham’s Law, but the gong prevented us from finding out.
The score was Manchester 215 – Brasenose 105. A convincing win on paper, which denies Brasenose any chance of going further. Still, they can take consolation from the fact that it was a real contest up until the last 7 or 8 minutes. Well played Manchester – good luck in the 2nd round.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
JP kicked off with a wigging for Ben Ralph for buzzing in but not answering straightaway. Small stuff, but we could only hope that he was just warming up.
When Manchester suggested that Gloria Steinem had worked undercover as a waitress in the Pentagon he replied, “No, the New York City Playboy Club. Not dissimilar, I agree.” Satire, even!
This wasn’t the last of it, either. When Elizabeth Mitchell quickly identified the dulcet tones of Colin Firth in Mamma Mia he replied, “You’re obviously a fan. . . Don’t know why – he just about made it through unscathed, I thought.” I don’t know, can you see JP dancing in the aisles of his local fleapit during the late showing of Mamma Mia?
We did get to see a glimpse of the iron fist within the velvet glove when Brasenose offered Sally for Sally Bowles. “I need more, “ said our hero, then “and I need it now!”
The sledgehammer of his sarcasm descended when the Manchester team offered the Mastersinger of Nuremburg as the opera about a song contest in Wartburg ( then again, maybe it WAS that Wagner) . “No . . . That’s obviously in Nuremberg!!!”
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
The term slush fund originated from the practice of cooks collecting money from the sale of fat, grease and watery food.
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