York v. Somerville, Oxford
The first of the second round matches pitted high scoring York against Somerville Oxford, who also scored highly in the first round. This was a difficult match to call on paper. I have to say that I liked the look of the width of knowledge and experience of the Somerville team, but then York had been impressive, and scored a fine bonus conversion rate in their first round heat. York were represented by Greg Carrick, Brian Morley, Laura Kemp, and captain Jeremy Harris, and they had already defeated Bath 270 to 70. Somerville were Hasneen Karbalai, Zach Vermeer, Chris Beer and their skipper Michael Davies, and they defeated Pembroke, Cambridge by 255 to 145 in their heat. Enough of that, and on with the show.
The Somerville skipper took the first starter on a set of definitions of the word minim. Polemics was not a subject category guaranteed to fill me with anticipation for the bonuses. I had just the one, Milton, but Somerville took two. Asked about a massively long fish that feeds on plankton Greg Carrick went for it, but zigged with basking shark, allowing Hasneen Karbalai in to zag with whale shark. It’s just one of those things. You dwell on the buzzer you lose the race, you come in too early and you miss the key piece of info in the question. Now , the set of bonuses on significant messages might have sounded rather familiar to anyone who’s a devotee of Only Connect, since they formed a connection set only a couple of weeks ago. This show was doubtless recorded before that one was broadcast, and so Somerville only managed the first. A real UC special starter followed. Take the word machine – discount letters that are not roman numerals, and what number is represented by the letters that remain? Hasneen Karbalai had it correctly with 1101. Eponymous shapes – me neither – followed, and Somerville took one. Michael Davies was in for the next starter, correctly identifying a quote about the work of Edgar Degas. Didn’t Dustin Hoffman play him in Papillon? I digress. People or other things with the nickname Babe brought just the one correct answer this time. For the picture starter I was happy to identify the county of Fermanagh highlighted on a map of Northern Ireland. Brian Morley opened his team’s account by buzzing in first with the answer. This gave York the chance to try a set of bonuses on three more Northern Ireland districts which share their names with the larger counties. They had all of them. SO York were on the move, and it looked like they would be moving even closer to Somerville when Jeremy Harris buzzed in on the next starter. Asked for two of the world’s six largest landlocked countries, which can be found in Africa , he supplied one of them, Mali, but not another. Michael Davies couldn’t capitalise, for he offered Chad correctly, but Sudan incorrectly. This brought us rather neatly to the 10 minute mark. The advantage was very much with Somerville, who led with 70 to York’s 20.
Zach Vermeer opened his own starter account with the next, recognising Dr. Johnson’s definition of a tory – whoops, bit political there. A nice set of bonuses on the name Arden in literature only yielded a single correct answer, but it doesn’t matter if you’re only getting one bonus a time if you’re winning the buzzer race. Zach Vermeer took his second starter in a row with the German author Hans Fallada. The set of bonuses on parasites surprised me by giving me a full set. That was a fluke, but ironically the fluke was the only one that Somerville didn’t get. Chris Beer was close with his early buzz to put the current best guess of the age of the universe as 13 billion years, but he lost 5 and Greg Carrick came in with the correct answer of 14 billion. York’s bonuses on Maeterlinck provided just the one bonus. On to the music starter. We were given about half a bar of an opera when Zach Vermeer buzzed in to correctly identify that it was from La Traviata. Impressive buzz, that. It was the drinking song, apparently, and three more alcohol fuelled arias followed. It shows my age and also my lack of culture when I have tell you that I still have to remind myself that the Drink, drink, drink one is from the Student Prince, and NOT an advert for Heineken lager ( it actually was once when I was at a young and impressionable age.) Somerville recognised the first two, but don Giovanni passed them by. When you add the number of vertices to the number of faces of a cube or hexahedron, then subtract the number of edges, what number are you left with? I didn’t know, but this sort of thing is meat and drink to good UC teams, and Greg Carrick was first in with 2. Bonuses on the Scottish Hamilton family brought York's score up to 55. They were still a long way behind, but it was early enough for a successful fightback, if they could start to impose themselves on the buzzer with more regularity. They couldn’t with the next starter, as Michael Davies knew about the festival of Kwanzaa. Physicists born on 5th December. Like Somerville the only one that I answered correctly was Heisenberg. Hasneen Karbalai took the next starter for his team, knowing all about a type A personality. The US Presidential elections in 1912 offered a full set, which they were glad to take. So right on the 20 minute mark Somerville had established a triple figure lead, with 160 to York’s 55.
Brian Morley knew that Virginia Woolf’s long lived fictional poet was Orlando. A good UC set on the names of island nations pulled back another ten points of Somerville’s lead. Brian Morley took his second starter in a row by identifying a picture of Niccolo Macchiavelli. Pictures of more figures from the Italian Renaissance brought them two more correct answers. The gap now stood at 65 points. Who else should buzz early to correctly identify St. Louis as the home of the Gateway Arch? Brian Morley, to make his hattrick. A set of bonuses on female Labour Party figures of the 70s saw them once again answer two correctly. Now the gap was down to 45. I was a little surprised that nobody managed to identify the two Geological periods either side of the K-T boundary, when dinosaurs disappeared as the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Showed It was a good contest, mind you, that so little had gone begging up to this point. Once again, I was a little surprised that nobody knew that the element that takes its name from another name for the Goddess Athena is Palladium. The third starter in a row to go begging asked the teams to identify the Tamil word pariah. “Here’s France and Burgundy, my noble Lord.” Who says that line in Shakespeare. That wasn’t actually the question, and it’s one which is difficult to answer since different characters say that line in different editions of the play. Which play? Now that actually was the question, and it was Zach Vermeer who knew the answer. Physics bonuses followed to give Somerville back a lead of 70 points. The PP logo at the start of relevant TV programmes identifies product placement. I didn’t know that, but Laura Kemp did. Lists of host cities of international organisations provided York with two correct answers. This took the gap down to 50, but Time’s winged chariot was busily hurrying near. Chris Beer knew that if you add the number of books in both the Narnia and Harry Potter series you get 14 – 7 apiece. Which reminded me of a set on Only Connect this series as well. Fictitious US states brought 2 bonuses, and pretty much hammered the nail into York’s coffin. Nobody knew the new Master of the Rolls. Michael Davies knew that the Romance language with the most speakers after French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese is Romanian. Suffixes in medical terminology surprised me by giving me a full set. Two of them fell to Somerville. Michael Davies recognised a definition of the word fiasco fir the next starter. Surely there wouldn’t be time for a full set of bonuses, I thought. I was right. The gong allowed JP to introduce a set on the Cannes film festival, but not to ask any of the questions. The final score was 240 to 135 in favour of Somerville. Somerville looked good value for their win. However spare a thought for York. They had a day when they just couldn’t buzz themselves into the match, but they’re no mugs, as could be seen by the way they dealt with the bonuses that they did get, and nothing was cut and dried until the last few minutes.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Our non-voting hero paid tribute to the Somerville team’s prowess in Greek for working out that a chalk lover would be a gypsophile, while not being prepared to allow it as an answer for gypsophila.
On the landlocked countries question when Jeremy Harris supplied one answer he gave him an old fashioned look and said “TWO of them”. He does so hate it when they don’t listen to the question. Being a teacher, I know how he feels.
On the set of Physicists bonuses, when Somerville offered “Rutherford” JP seemed most amused, which seemed a little strange.
His jocularity continued when he described Somerville as “You type A’s over there” after Hasneen Karbalai answered the type A starter correctly. Oh, how we laughed.
Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week
San Andreas and Albany are fictitious states in Grand Theft Auto
Friday, 8 November 2013
Answers to News Questions
In The News
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Bernardo Hees
2. Augusto Odone
3. Elephant
4. Conrad Murray
5. Sam Burgess
6. Theresa Villiers
7. Tony Cocker
8. David Smith
9. Sharon Shoesmith
10. Domenica Cemartan
11. Graham Stark
12. Molly Robson and Rosie Hargreaves
13. Vélo d’Or
14. Dell Latitude 6430u
15. Undisputed Truth
16. Overgrown
17. Blurred Lines
18. Michelle Young
19. Joel Tomkins
In Other News
1. In a survey, who was voted America’s favourite ever British actor?
2. Lou Reed passed away aged 71. What was his only UK number 1?
3. Whose trial began in the Old Bailey?
4. Which world landmark celebrated its 40th anniversary last week?
5. Who won the WTA championship final?
6. Who won the Indian GP
7. What was the score between Chelsea and Man City?
8. – and Sunderland and Newcastle?
9. Which teams contested this season’s second NFL match at Wembley?
10. Which veteran British actor passed away aged 85?
11. Which magazine was accused of bad taste last week?
12. Susan Boyle will be releasing a Christmas single – a version of O Come All Ye Faithful which will be a duet with whom?
13. Plans for installing a cable car where came under fire last week?
14. What was the score in the Rugby League world cup between Australia and England?
15. Who signed a 6 year deal with Spurs?
16. Mike Phillips reportedly began legal action against which club?
17. What will be the new maximum prison sentence for owners whose dogs take lives?
18. In the Capital One Cup, what was the score between Chelsea and Arsenal?
19. – and Man Utd and Norwich?
20. – and Leicester and Fulham?
21. – and West Ham and Burnley?
22. – and Man City and Newcastle?
23. – and what was the outcome of Spurs v. Hull City?
24. Which former Sport Minister was fined for jumping a red light?
25. Who will be playing Seb Coe in a new film?
26. At which position did David Cameron make the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people?
27. Which club did UEFA sanction for its fans’ racist behaviour?
28. Which current MP called himself an ‘ex-politician’?
29. Who admitted an affair with the co-star on the US version of his show?
30. Who, called ‘ the best friend America ever had’ had a bust unveiled in the US Capitol building?
31. Which Welsh venue will host the next NATO summit?
32. Which animated character is being revived through a crowdfunding effort?
33. New grades for GCSEs were announced this week. What are they?
34. Which team beat which in the World Series?
35. Monty Panassar signed a two year deal with which county?
36. Which former international retired from his position with the FA?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. New CEO of Heinz
2. Inventor of Lorenzo’s Oil – passed away
3. Album by the White Stripes voted the Mojo Magazine best album of the last 20 years
4. Michael Jackson’s doctor – released from prison this week
5. England rugby league player suspended after high tackle in match v. Australia
6. Northern Ireland secretary to whom letter bomb was addressed
7. Only Energy chief to appear in the Commons Select Committee
8. Supposed former BBC driver with 22 convictions – found dead.
9. Former head of Children’s services at Haringey Council, awarded a 6 figure payout
10. Dancer aboard the Costa Concordia who admitted that she’d had an affair with the captain
11. 91 year old British film actor – friend and best man of Peter Sellers 4 times – passed away
12. Schoolgirls who won the competition to design the Royal Mail Christmas stamps
13. Prize for the year’s top cyclist, awarded to Chris Froome
14. Owners have complained that the devices give out a smell reminiscent of cats’ pee
15. Title of Mike Tyson’s Autobiography
16. James Blake’s album that won the Mercury Music Prize
17. Song by Robin Thicke, which has led to accusations that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up, and a possible lawsuit from Marvin Gaye’s family
18. Estranged wife of tycoon who says that she is prepared to ‘settle for £300million’ in a divorce
19. New England scrum half to face Australia
In Other News
1. Sean Connery
2. The Children in Need version of Perfect Day
3. Rebekah Wade and Andy Coulson
4. Sydney Opera House
5. Serena Williams
6. Sebastian Vettel
7. 2 – 1 to Chelsea
8. 2 – 1 to Sunderland
9. San Francisco 49ers bt Jacksonville Jaguars
10. Nigel Davenport
11. Private Eye following their Rebekah Wade and Andy Coulson cover
12. Elvis Presley
13. Cheddar Gorge
14. 28 – 20 to Australia
15. Kyle Walker
16. Bayonne
17. 14 years
18. 2 – 0 Chelsea
19. 4 – 0 Man Utd
20. 4 – 3 Leicester
21. 2 – 0 West Ham
22. 2 – 0 Man City
23. Spurs won on penalties after the match finished 2 – 2
24. Kate Hoey
25. Daniel Radcliffe
26. 11th
27. CSKA Moscow
28. Gordon Brown
29. Paul Hollywood
30. Winston Churchill
31. The Celtic Manor Resort
32. Morph
33. 1 to 9
34. Boston Red Sox beat St. Louis Cardinals
35. Essex
36. Ray Clemence
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Bernardo Hees
2. Augusto Odone
3. Elephant
4. Conrad Murray
5. Sam Burgess
6. Theresa Villiers
7. Tony Cocker
8. David Smith
9. Sharon Shoesmith
10. Domenica Cemartan
11. Graham Stark
12. Molly Robson and Rosie Hargreaves
13. Vélo d’Or
14. Dell Latitude 6430u
15. Undisputed Truth
16. Overgrown
17. Blurred Lines
18. Michelle Young
19. Joel Tomkins
In Other News
1. In a survey, who was voted America’s favourite ever British actor?
2. Lou Reed passed away aged 71. What was his only UK number 1?
3. Whose trial began in the Old Bailey?
4. Which world landmark celebrated its 40th anniversary last week?
5. Who won the WTA championship final?
6. Who won the Indian GP
7. What was the score between Chelsea and Man City?
8. – and Sunderland and Newcastle?
9. Which teams contested this season’s second NFL match at Wembley?
10. Which veteran British actor passed away aged 85?
11. Which magazine was accused of bad taste last week?
12. Susan Boyle will be releasing a Christmas single – a version of O Come All Ye Faithful which will be a duet with whom?
13. Plans for installing a cable car where came under fire last week?
14. What was the score in the Rugby League world cup between Australia and England?
15. Who signed a 6 year deal with Spurs?
16. Mike Phillips reportedly began legal action against which club?
17. What will be the new maximum prison sentence for owners whose dogs take lives?
18. In the Capital One Cup, what was the score between Chelsea and Arsenal?
19. – and Man Utd and Norwich?
20. – and Leicester and Fulham?
21. – and West Ham and Burnley?
22. – and Man City and Newcastle?
23. – and what was the outcome of Spurs v. Hull City?
24. Which former Sport Minister was fined for jumping a red light?
25. Who will be playing Seb Coe in a new film?
26. At which position did David Cameron make the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people?
27. Which club did UEFA sanction for its fans’ racist behaviour?
28. Which current MP called himself an ‘ex-politician’?
29. Who admitted an affair with the co-star on the US version of his show?
30. Who, called ‘ the best friend America ever had’ had a bust unveiled in the US Capitol building?
31. Which Welsh venue will host the next NATO summit?
32. Which animated character is being revived through a crowdfunding effort?
33. New grades for GCSEs were announced this week. What are they?
34. Which team beat which in the World Series?
35. Monty Panassar signed a two year deal with which county?
36. Which former international retired from his position with the FA?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. New CEO of Heinz
2. Inventor of Lorenzo’s Oil – passed away
3. Album by the White Stripes voted the Mojo Magazine best album of the last 20 years
4. Michael Jackson’s doctor – released from prison this week
5. England rugby league player suspended after high tackle in match v. Australia
6. Northern Ireland secretary to whom letter bomb was addressed
7. Only Energy chief to appear in the Commons Select Committee
8. Supposed former BBC driver with 22 convictions – found dead.
9. Former head of Children’s services at Haringey Council, awarded a 6 figure payout
10. Dancer aboard the Costa Concordia who admitted that she’d had an affair with the captain
11. 91 year old British film actor – friend and best man of Peter Sellers 4 times – passed away
12. Schoolgirls who won the competition to design the Royal Mail Christmas stamps
13. Prize for the year’s top cyclist, awarded to Chris Froome
14. Owners have complained that the devices give out a smell reminiscent of cats’ pee
15. Title of Mike Tyson’s Autobiography
16. James Blake’s album that won the Mercury Music Prize
17. Song by Robin Thicke, which has led to accusations that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up, and a possible lawsuit from Marvin Gaye’s family
18. Estranged wife of tycoon who says that she is prepared to ‘settle for £300million’ in a divorce
19. New England scrum half to face Australia
In Other News
1. Sean Connery
2. The Children in Need version of Perfect Day
3. Rebekah Wade and Andy Coulson
4. Sydney Opera House
5. Serena Williams
6. Sebastian Vettel
7. 2 – 1 to Chelsea
8. 2 – 1 to Sunderland
9. San Francisco 49ers bt Jacksonville Jaguars
10. Nigel Davenport
11. Private Eye following their Rebekah Wade and Andy Coulson cover
12. Elvis Presley
13. Cheddar Gorge
14. 28 – 20 to Australia
15. Kyle Walker
16. Bayonne
17. 14 years
18. 2 – 0 Chelsea
19. 4 – 0 Man Utd
20. 4 – 3 Leicester
21. 2 – 0 West Ham
22. 2 – 0 Man City
23. Spurs won on penalties after the match finished 2 – 2
24. Kate Hoey
25. Daniel Radcliffe
26. 11th
27. CSKA Moscow
28. Gordon Brown
29. Paul Hollywood
30. Winston Churchill
31. The Celtic Manor Resort
32. Morph
33. 1 to 9
34. Boston Red Sox beat St. Louis Cardinals
35. Essex
36. Ray Clemence
Sunday, 3 November 2013
My First Pub Quiz
Do you remember the day that you became a quizzer? Can you pinpoint that first moment when you realized that a quiz was more than just a set of questions and answers? I invite you to share your reminiscences, and to start the ball rolling, I’ll kick off.
I guess that the seeds were sown for me by television when I was a child. We were a household where the television was always on, and we weren’t the most discerning of viewers. Well, there were only 3 channels in those days. Whenever a quiz show was on – and we watched everything from University Challenge – and when it started, Mastermind – to Sale of the Century. The unwritten rule in the house was that if you knew the answer then you tried to be the first to shout it out. You could only claim it if you answered before anyone else, and especially, before the team or contestant in the studio. The first quiz competition I ever participated in was the Elthorne High School Sixth Form Mastermind competition in 1981, which is a little ironic. However that was just another seed sown. The quiz which made me into a quizzer happened 7 years later, in 1988.
A couple of days after my son was born in January of 1988 a friend of Mary’s family, called Neville, unexpectedly popped around to take me out to wet the baby’s head, and he took me to the quiz night in the Railway Club in Port Talbot – not to be confused with the old Rail and Transport Club. The night actually consisted of two quizzes. The first was open to the whole bar, and the question master, Noel, just shouted out questions, with anybody being able to put up their hand and try to answer. The prize was a ticket which enabled you to something like 30p off a pint, and once you had 3 tickets, that was your lot.
Now, that was fun in itself, but the second quiz was a lot better. In this Neville and I joined the question master from the first quiz, Noel, and two other guys I got to know quite well over the next few years, Bertie and Donald. Bertie knew a lot of answers, but not to the questions being asked unfortunately. Donald knew one answer – Danny Blanchflower – and he trotted this out religiously until one day he was asked who the captain of the 1961 Spurs Double winning team was. He answered Dave Mackay, I think. The five of us made up a team and played against another five guys from the club, with a set of questions asked by a guy called Nigel. The format and standard was that of a good league quiz. I loved it, possibly because we won, but I think I’d have enjoyed it almost as much if we’d lost. On the way home I told Nev that I would be available next week if needed. I suppose you could say I’ve been available ever since.
It was probably just pure good luck that took me to that quiz at that time. For one thing, going to that particular quiz taught me several things. Firstly, that I was quite good at quizzes already. Secondly, it taught me that other people were better. More importantly it showed me just how much I was going to enjoy playing in quizzes. Even more importantly than that it brought me some great friends. Noel was the first very good quizzer I met. He invited me to play for the Railway Club in the resurrected Port Talbot Quiz League a few weeks after my debut, and that’s when I first played with Allan Coombs, one of the finest, and nicest quizzers South Wales has ever produced.
Playing in the Port Talbot League for a couple of years until it folded, and in other single quizzes and quiz competitions with Allan, Noel, Nev, Barry, Bob and later on, John, was the best quiz education I would have ever hoped for, and if anybody were ever to turn around and say that they’ve learned something about quizzing from playing in the same team with me now, then it would make me a very happy man. Sadly both Nev and Allan have passed away in the last few years. Noel moved away and we lost contact, and if I’ve seen Bob twice in the last ten years, then I certainly haven’t seen him more. Barry and I went to Newport together most Mondays between last Bridgend league season ending and this one starting, and of course if John and I don’t go to at least one quiz together then it’s a bad week. So it’s nice that, even if I never go to the Railway Club any more – and I’ll be honest, I don’t know if they ever do a quiz any more anyway – there is that kind of continuity with my quizzing roots.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that’s my first pub quiz. Maybe your first experience of quizzing was something similar – or maybe not. If you’ve an interesting ( alright, even if it’s not very interesting) story to tell, why not share it here?
I guess that the seeds were sown for me by television when I was a child. We were a household where the television was always on, and we weren’t the most discerning of viewers. Well, there were only 3 channels in those days. Whenever a quiz show was on – and we watched everything from University Challenge – and when it started, Mastermind – to Sale of the Century. The unwritten rule in the house was that if you knew the answer then you tried to be the first to shout it out. You could only claim it if you answered before anyone else, and especially, before the team or contestant in the studio. The first quiz competition I ever participated in was the Elthorne High School Sixth Form Mastermind competition in 1981, which is a little ironic. However that was just another seed sown. The quiz which made me into a quizzer happened 7 years later, in 1988.
A couple of days after my son was born in January of 1988 a friend of Mary’s family, called Neville, unexpectedly popped around to take me out to wet the baby’s head, and he took me to the quiz night in the Railway Club in Port Talbot – not to be confused with the old Rail and Transport Club. The night actually consisted of two quizzes. The first was open to the whole bar, and the question master, Noel, just shouted out questions, with anybody being able to put up their hand and try to answer. The prize was a ticket which enabled you to something like 30p off a pint, and once you had 3 tickets, that was your lot.
Now, that was fun in itself, but the second quiz was a lot better. In this Neville and I joined the question master from the first quiz, Noel, and two other guys I got to know quite well over the next few years, Bertie and Donald. Bertie knew a lot of answers, but not to the questions being asked unfortunately. Donald knew one answer – Danny Blanchflower – and he trotted this out religiously until one day he was asked who the captain of the 1961 Spurs Double winning team was. He answered Dave Mackay, I think. The five of us made up a team and played against another five guys from the club, with a set of questions asked by a guy called Nigel. The format and standard was that of a good league quiz. I loved it, possibly because we won, but I think I’d have enjoyed it almost as much if we’d lost. On the way home I told Nev that I would be available next week if needed. I suppose you could say I’ve been available ever since.
It was probably just pure good luck that took me to that quiz at that time. For one thing, going to that particular quiz taught me several things. Firstly, that I was quite good at quizzes already. Secondly, it taught me that other people were better. More importantly it showed me just how much I was going to enjoy playing in quizzes. Even more importantly than that it brought me some great friends. Noel was the first very good quizzer I met. He invited me to play for the Railway Club in the resurrected Port Talbot Quiz League a few weeks after my debut, and that’s when I first played with Allan Coombs, one of the finest, and nicest quizzers South Wales has ever produced.
Playing in the Port Talbot League for a couple of years until it folded, and in other single quizzes and quiz competitions with Allan, Noel, Nev, Barry, Bob and later on, John, was the best quiz education I would have ever hoped for, and if anybody were ever to turn around and say that they’ve learned something about quizzing from playing in the same team with me now, then it would make me a very happy man. Sadly both Nev and Allan have passed away in the last few years. Noel moved away and we lost contact, and if I’ve seen Bob twice in the last ten years, then I certainly haven’t seen him more. Barry and I went to Newport together most Mondays between last Bridgend league season ending and this one starting, and of course if John and I don’t go to at least one quiz together then it’s a bad week. So it’s nice that, even if I never go to the Railway Club any more – and I’ll be honest, I don’t know if they ever do a quiz any more anyway – there is that kind of continuity with my quizzing roots.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that’s my first pub quiz. Maybe your first experience of quizzing was something similar – or maybe not. If you’ve an interesting ( alright, even if it’s not very interesting) story to tell, why not share it here?
Friday, 1 November 2013
In The News
In The News
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Bernardo Hees
2. Augusto Odone
3. Elephant
4. Conrad Murray
5. Sam Burgess
6. Theresa Villiers
7. Tony Cocker
8. David Smith
9. Sharon Shoesmith
10. Domenica Cemartan
11. Graham Stark
12. Molly Robson and Rosie Hargreaves
13. Vélo d’Or
14. Dell Latitude 6430u
15. Undisputed Truth
16. Overgrown
17. Blurred Lines
18. Michelle Young
19. Joel Tomkins
In Other News
1. In a survey, who was voted America’s favourite ever British actor?
2. Lou Reed passed away aged 71. What was his only UK number 1?
3. Whose trial began in the Old Bailey?
4. Which world landmark celebrated its 40th anniversary last week?
5. Who won the WTA championship final?
6. Who won the Indian GP
7. What was the score between Chelsea and Man City?
8. – and Sunderland and Newcastle?
9. Which teams contested this season’s second NFL match at Wembley?
10. Which veteran British actor passed away aged 85?
11. Which magazine was accused of bad taste last week?
12. Susan Boyle will be releasing a Christmas single – a version of O Come All Ye Faithful which will be a duet with whom?
13. Plans for installing a cable car where came under fire last week?
14. What was the score in the Rugby League world cup between Australia and England?
15. Who signed a 6 year deal with Spurs?
16. Mike Phillips reportedly began legal action against which club?
17. What will be the new maximum prison sentence for owners whose dogs take lives?
18. In the Capital One Cup, what was the score between Chelsea and Arsenal?
19. – and Man Utd and Norwich?
20. – and Leicester and Fulham?
21. – and West Ham and Burnley?
22. – and Man City and Newcastle?
23. – and what was the outcome of Spurs v. Hull City?
24. Which former Sport Minister was fined for jumping a red light?
25. Who will be playing Seb Coe in a new film?
26. At which position did David Cameron make the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people?
27. Which club did UEFA sanction for its fans’ racist behaviour?
28. Which current MP called himself an ‘ex-politician’?
29. Who admitted an affair with the co-star on the US version of his show?
30. Who, called ‘ the best friend America ever had’ had a bust unveiled in the US Capitol building?
31. Which Welsh venue will host the next NATO summit?
32. Which animated character is being revived through a crowdfunding effort?
33. New grades for GCSEs were announced this week. What are they?
34. Which team beat which in the World Series?
35. Monty Panassar signed a two year deal with which county?
36. Which former international retired from his position with the FA?
Who or what are the following, and why have they been in the news?
1. Bernardo Hees
2. Augusto Odone
3. Elephant
4. Conrad Murray
5. Sam Burgess
6. Theresa Villiers
7. Tony Cocker
8. David Smith
9. Sharon Shoesmith
10. Domenica Cemartan
11. Graham Stark
12. Molly Robson and Rosie Hargreaves
13. Vélo d’Or
14. Dell Latitude 6430u
15. Undisputed Truth
16. Overgrown
17. Blurred Lines
18. Michelle Young
19. Joel Tomkins
In Other News
1. In a survey, who was voted America’s favourite ever British actor?
2. Lou Reed passed away aged 71. What was his only UK number 1?
3. Whose trial began in the Old Bailey?
4. Which world landmark celebrated its 40th anniversary last week?
5. Who won the WTA championship final?
6. Who won the Indian GP
7. What was the score between Chelsea and Man City?
8. – and Sunderland and Newcastle?
9. Which teams contested this season’s second NFL match at Wembley?
10. Which veteran British actor passed away aged 85?
11. Which magazine was accused of bad taste last week?
12. Susan Boyle will be releasing a Christmas single – a version of O Come All Ye Faithful which will be a duet with whom?
13. Plans for installing a cable car where came under fire last week?
14. What was the score in the Rugby League world cup between Australia and England?
15. Who signed a 6 year deal with Spurs?
16. Mike Phillips reportedly began legal action against which club?
17. What will be the new maximum prison sentence for owners whose dogs take lives?
18. In the Capital One Cup, what was the score between Chelsea and Arsenal?
19. – and Man Utd and Norwich?
20. – and Leicester and Fulham?
21. – and West Ham and Burnley?
22. – and Man City and Newcastle?
23. – and what was the outcome of Spurs v. Hull City?
24. Which former Sport Minister was fined for jumping a red light?
25. Who will be playing Seb Coe in a new film?
26. At which position did David Cameron make the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people?
27. Which club did UEFA sanction for its fans’ racist behaviour?
28. Which current MP called himself an ‘ex-politician’?
29. Who admitted an affair with the co-star on the US version of his show?
30. Who, called ‘ the best friend America ever had’ had a bust unveiled in the US Capitol building?
31. Which Welsh venue will host the next NATO summit?
32. Which animated character is being revived through a crowdfunding effort?
33. New grades for GCSEs were announced this week. What are they?
34. Which team beat which in the World Series?
35. Monty Panassar signed a two year deal with which county?
36. Which former international retired from his position with the FA?
Answers to News Questions
In The News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jovanka Broz
2. Felix Dexter
3. Leonardo Dibrani
4. Alex Lowes
5. Tom Sykes
6. Maria
7. Sean Hardeley
8. Samuel Eto’o
9. Dean Acadmey, Forest of Dean
10. Frances Quinn
11. Noel Harrison
12. Gareth Hock
13. Richard Hughes
14. Hex Factor
15. Franz Peter Tebarz-Van Elst
16. St. Jude Storm
17. Sir Anthony Caro
18. Dmitri Galitzine
19. Mark de Rond and Anton Wright
20. Sasha and Atanas Rusev
In other news
1. Which building in Swansea has topped the list of the Victorian Society’s most endangered buildings list?
2. Which veteran film actor was made a fellow of the BFI last week?
3. Which island was struck by a miniature tornado last week?
4. what was the score in the rugby league match between England and Italy?
5. Which british rider became world champion in the Omnium at the world cycling championships?
6. Who was the third celebrity to leave Strictly?
7. Which Hurricane devastated the Atlantic coast of Mexico?
8. Whose reign as manager of Middlesbrough came to an end?
9. Which chef tweeted the winner of the Great British bake Off early – and got it wrong?
10. Who was asked to leave the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque last week?
11. Which teams are in England’s rugby league world cup group?
12. – and Scotland’s?
13. – and Wales’ ?
14. Which welsh international rugby player allegedly turned up to a training session in Bayonne the worse for wear for alcohol?
15. Who announced he is quitting his long running quiz show?
16. Who called for a one off energy windfall tax?
17. Which Asian country announced it will be enforcing sharia law from 2014?
18. Who paid Lord McAlpine a reported £15,000 over a tweet?
19. What was the score between Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund?
20. – and Celtic and Ajax?
21. – and Chelsea and Schalke?
22. What was the venue for the christening of Prince George of Cambridge?
23. The Vatican announced that it is forming its own team to play which sport? 24. Who said that Sir Alex Ferguson does not know the meaning of the word loyalty?
25. For what did Sir John Major publically apologise last week?
26. What was the score between Man Utd and Real Sociedad?
27. Russia have dropped charges of piracy against the crew of the Arctic Sunrise in favour of which charge?
28. Ian Holloway quit as manager of which club?
29. In which city will the 2014 Tour De France start?
30. What was the score between Man City and CSKA Moscow ?
31. Who is the new manager of Sheffield United?
32. Who is the only member of the Royal Family to become one of Prince George’s godparents?
33. The horrific Facebook decapitation video originated in which country?
34. Name all 11 players on the Wisden all time Test World XI
35. Which former Education Minister criticized Michael Gove?
36. What was the score between Swansea and Kuban Krasnodar?
37. – and Spurs and Sheriff Tiraspol
38. and Wigan and Rubin Kazan?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Widow of Marshal Tito, former leader of Yugoslavia, passed away
2. Actor comedian passed away - 52
3. Roma girl, deported from France, then allowed to return, but her family weren’t
4. Became British Superbike Champion
5. Became World Superbike Champion
6. 4 year old found in Greek Roma camp, and DNA tests showed that the couple she was with were not her biological parents
7. Won a teaching ‘oscar’ for sending a teddy bear into space on a high altitude weather balloon
8. He controversially kicked the ball away from Cardiff keeper David Marshall and went on to score a goal, which was allowed to stand.
9. School closed due to an infestation of venomous false widow spiders, to allow it to be fumigated
10. Winner of the Great British Bake Off
11. Singer – famous for Windmills of Your Mind – passed away
12. Rugby League player kicked out of England camp for missing curfew
13. The first jockey to ride 200 winners in a season since Kieran Fallon in 2003
14. The official competition to find a new Witch of Wookey Hole
15. Bishop of Limburg – the so-called German Bishop of Bling, censured by the pope for excessive and unnecessary spending
16. 90mph storm reported heading for the UK
17. British sculptor who died aged 83
18. Man who sailed across the Solent in a motorized hollowed out pumpkin ( honestly)
19. First rowers to row the full length of the Amazon
20. Bulgarian couple who claim that “Maria” is their daughter
In other news
1. Palace Theatre
2. Sir Christopher Lee
3. Hayling Island
4. 15 – 14 to Italy
5. Laura Trott
6. Julien McDonald
7. Hurricane Raymond
8. Tony Mowbray
9. Raymond Blanc
10. Rihanna
11. Australia – Fiji - Ireland
12. Tonga and Italy
13. USA and Cook Islands
14. Mike Phillips
15. Chris Tarrant
16. Sir John Major
17. Brunei
18. Sally Bercow
19. 2 – 1 Dortmund
20. 2 – 1 Celtic
21. 3 – 0 Chelsea
22. Chapel Royal, St. James’ Palace
23. Cricket
24. Roy Keane
25. Not ordering an inquiry into the Hillsborough Disaster
26. 1 – 0 Man Utd.
27. Hooliganism
28. Crystal Palace
29. Leeds
30. 2 – 1 Man City
31. Nigel Clough
32. Zara Tindall
33. Mexico 34. Captain – Sir Donald Bradman – Sir Jack Hobbs – Dr. W.G. Grace – Sachin Tendulkar - Sir Viv Richards – Sir Gary Sobers – Alan Knott – Wasim Akram – Shane Warne – Malcolm Marshall – Sydney Barnes
35. Kenneth Baker
36. 1 – 1>br> 37. 2 – 0
38. 1 – 1
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Jovanka Broz
2. Felix Dexter
3. Leonardo Dibrani
4. Alex Lowes
5. Tom Sykes
6. Maria
7. Sean Hardeley
8. Samuel Eto’o
9. Dean Acadmey, Forest of Dean
10. Frances Quinn
11. Noel Harrison
12. Gareth Hock
13. Richard Hughes
14. Hex Factor
15. Franz Peter Tebarz-Van Elst
16. St. Jude Storm
17. Sir Anthony Caro
18. Dmitri Galitzine
19. Mark de Rond and Anton Wright
20. Sasha and Atanas Rusev
In other news
1. Which building in Swansea has topped the list of the Victorian Society’s most endangered buildings list?
2. Which veteran film actor was made a fellow of the BFI last week?
3. Which island was struck by a miniature tornado last week?
4. what was the score in the rugby league match between England and Italy?
5. Which british rider became world champion in the Omnium at the world cycling championships?
6. Who was the third celebrity to leave Strictly?
7. Which Hurricane devastated the Atlantic coast of Mexico?
8. Whose reign as manager of Middlesbrough came to an end?
9. Which chef tweeted the winner of the Great British bake Off early – and got it wrong?
10. Who was asked to leave the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque last week?
11. Which teams are in England’s rugby league world cup group?
12. – and Scotland’s?
13. – and Wales’ ?
14. Which welsh international rugby player allegedly turned up to a training session in Bayonne the worse for wear for alcohol?
15. Who announced he is quitting his long running quiz show?
16. Who called for a one off energy windfall tax?
17. Which Asian country announced it will be enforcing sharia law from 2014?
18. Who paid Lord McAlpine a reported £15,000 over a tweet?
19. What was the score between Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund?
20. – and Celtic and Ajax?
21. – and Chelsea and Schalke?
22. What was the venue for the christening of Prince George of Cambridge?
23. The Vatican announced that it is forming its own team to play which sport? 24. Who said that Sir Alex Ferguson does not know the meaning of the word loyalty?
25. For what did Sir John Major publically apologise last week?
26. What was the score between Man Utd and Real Sociedad?
27. Russia have dropped charges of piracy against the crew of the Arctic Sunrise in favour of which charge?
28. Ian Holloway quit as manager of which club?
29. In which city will the 2014 Tour De France start?
30. What was the score between Man City and CSKA Moscow ?
31. Who is the new manager of Sheffield United?
32. Who is the only member of the Royal Family to become one of Prince George’s godparents?
33. The horrific Facebook decapitation video originated in which country?
34. Name all 11 players on the Wisden all time Test World XI
35. Which former Education Minister criticized Michael Gove?
36. What was the score between Swansea and Kuban Krasnodar?
37. – and Spurs and Sheriff Tiraspol
38. and Wigan and Rubin Kazan?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1. Widow of Marshal Tito, former leader of Yugoslavia, passed away
2. Actor comedian passed away - 52
3. Roma girl, deported from France, then allowed to return, but her family weren’t
4. Became British Superbike Champion
5. Became World Superbike Champion
6. 4 year old found in Greek Roma camp, and DNA tests showed that the couple she was with were not her biological parents
7. Won a teaching ‘oscar’ for sending a teddy bear into space on a high altitude weather balloon
8. He controversially kicked the ball away from Cardiff keeper David Marshall and went on to score a goal, which was allowed to stand.
9. School closed due to an infestation of venomous false widow spiders, to allow it to be fumigated
10. Winner of the Great British Bake Off
11. Singer – famous for Windmills of Your Mind – passed away
12. Rugby League player kicked out of England camp for missing curfew
13. The first jockey to ride 200 winners in a season since Kieran Fallon in 2003
14. The official competition to find a new Witch of Wookey Hole
15. Bishop of Limburg – the so-called German Bishop of Bling, censured by the pope for excessive and unnecessary spending
16. 90mph storm reported heading for the UK
17. British sculptor who died aged 83
18. Man who sailed across the Solent in a motorized hollowed out pumpkin ( honestly)
19. First rowers to row the full length of the Amazon
20. Bulgarian couple who claim that “Maria” is their daughter
In other news
1. Palace Theatre
2. Sir Christopher Lee
3. Hayling Island
4. 15 – 14 to Italy
5. Laura Trott
6. Julien McDonald
7. Hurricane Raymond
8. Tony Mowbray
9. Raymond Blanc
10. Rihanna
11. Australia – Fiji - Ireland
12. Tonga and Italy
13. USA and Cook Islands
14. Mike Phillips
15. Chris Tarrant
16. Sir John Major
17. Brunei
18. Sally Bercow
19. 2 – 1 Dortmund
20. 2 – 1 Celtic
21. 3 – 0 Chelsea
22. Chapel Royal, St. James’ Palace
23. Cricket
24. Roy Keane
25. Not ordering an inquiry into the Hillsborough Disaster
26. 1 – 0 Man Utd.
27. Hooliganism
28. Crystal Palace
29. Leeds
30. 2 – 1 Man City
31. Nigel Clough
32. Zara Tindall
33. Mexico 34. Captain – Sir Donald Bradman – Sir Jack Hobbs – Dr. W.G. Grace – Sachin Tendulkar - Sir Viv Richards – Sir Gary Sobers – Alan Knott – Wasim Akram – Shane Warne – Malcolm Marshall – Sydney Barnes
35. Kenneth Baker
36. 1 – 1>br> 37. 2 – 0
38. 1 – 1
Get Connected - Get Quizzical Evening
Last night was the GetConnected Get Quizzical event in aid of the GetConnected Charity. Every year I give thanks to the Quiz Gods for my Mastermind win, since it resulted in my original invitation to take part in this fantastic event.
It being Half Term ( yay – Half Term!) I was able to stay overnight , and so this was the plan. Part one – drive to London from South Wales. Now as regards the actual driving part, that’s easy enough. Given fair road conditions I can drive comfortably from home to London in less than 4 hours, and that’s allowing for at least one generous stop on the way. However, the problems only really start when you get to London. These are a) driving in London is horrible ( just my opinion, and as always , feel free to disagree) and b) you have to find somewhere to park and that ain’t easy. So my plan was to use a little local knowledge. I’ve mentioned before that although I’ve lived in wales for a little over 27 years I was born and grew up in West London. So I thought that I should be able to park in one of the back streets not that far from Boston Manor tube station. Which is essentially just what happened.
The London version of Park and Ride.
Boston Manor tube, from the platform, has the air of a quiet and sleepy country station – nice to know that at least some things don’t change.
The hotel the charity had very kindly put me up at was a few hundred yards from Lancaster Gate tube. The quickest way I could do it was changing from the Piccadilly to the Hammersmith and City by crossing the road from the one Hammersmith station to the other. It was on the train from Hammersmith to White City I had the first surreal experience of the trip. I was reading the story about the Rebekah Brooks/Andy Coulson trial, and a lady came and sat next to me. She was, how should I put it, a lady of more mature years, let’s say in her late 60s or early 70s, very smartly dressed, and to all outward experiences quite prim and proper. She leaned across me, tapped the story in the paper, and uttered one word.
“B*st*rds!”
I’ll be honest, I was so surprised that all I could do was just nod once, and we didn’t exchange any more communication until I left the train at Wood Green to walk up the road to White City to catch the Central Line to Lancaster Gate.
The hotel room, wasn’t a room – it was actually 3 rooms. In fact, an apartment in the Lower Ground Floor. I’ll be honest, for a supposedly intelligent person I can be pretty dull sometimes, and it took me quite a while to figure out that Lower Ground Floor is actually hotel speak for Basement, and you have to push the big B in the lift.
A room with a view – I told you the Lower Ground Floor is actually the Below Ground Floor.
Don't take the impression from this that it wasn't a nice room, well, set of rooms. It was actually exrtemely nice and comfortable.
I had a little while before I was due at the venue, so I took the Tube to Oxford Circus so that I could walk down Regent Street and see the lights – which I just about managed though they haven’t been switched on yet.
Verdict? – Could do better
From there I walked down to the Embankment. You see, I think I might have mentioned before that I have a thing about bridges. Just love ‘em. The fact is that the only bridge open to pedestrians across the Thames in London which I’d never walked across are the Golden Jubilee Bridges, so it was an opportunity to put that state of affairs right.
Thence to Floridita on Wardour Street, the venue for the evening. Many of the same stalwarts from last year were there again, my pal Dave Rainford from Eggheads, Erin and Anton from Strictly (more about that later) Phil Tufnell, Ronnie Irani,and Ray Parlour, to name but a few. Oh, and Aleksander Orlov, the meerkat aswell, although I didn’t actually see him myself.Host for the evening was Rory McGrath.
Me with Rory McGrath – top man.
I tend to say this a lot when I’m writing about these events, but what a nice guy. I did think I might catch a little bit of stick from Rory when Dave kindly informed him of my allegiance to Tottenham Hotspur, but not a bit of it. A very, very nice guy in my opinion, and very funny too.
Right – you heard it here first. As they did last year, Anton and Erin did a demonstration dance – this year the Tango – which was quite remarkable given the tiny amount of space that they had to work in. Now, if you’re a devotee of the show – and why not? – then you might have been wondering why Erin hasn’t been taking part in this year’s series. Well, I asked her , and the reason is that she’s expecting. Many congratulations to her and her partner !
Anton and Erin – Erin now dancing for two.
The quiz itself was as much fun as ever. I was grateful to attract bids for each of the 4 rounds for which I was available, as did Dave, and Tuffers, and , well, everyone. I was 20 for 20 after the first two rounds, but started dropping a couple of points in sport, and as for Entertainment, well, let’s draw a kindly veil over that. All I can say to team 2 who bid for me is that I am very sorry.
Normally I have to rush away after the quiz, but since it’s half term I could stay in until about midnight. The lovely Alex, who first got me involved in the event, and thankfully has kept me involved ever since, had arranged for taxis to pick up Dave and me at midnight. The problem was that Wardour Street was closed by this time. So Alex checked her phone, and found she had a number of missed messages from the taxi. She rang them, and asked which street mine was parked in. First she couldn’t understand which it was, then she asked the driver to spell it, and then she asked the driver to text it to her. There was five seconds silence, followed by the sound of Alex’s voice, raised in frustration and desperation, saying,
“What do you mean you don’t know how to text!?”
That finished me off. I was still laughing by the time I got in the cab about ten minutes later.
The only thing I was really worried about today was whether I the car would still be there when I got back to Boston manor this morning. There was no reason why it shouldn’t have been, after all I checked and double checked the road where I’d parked it to make sure that there were no restrictions there, but you know how it is. When there’s nothing to worry about you have to manufacture something. It was there, and it did start . . . eventually. Three and a half hours later, that was that. Back home safe and sound.
What can I say? I know how fortunate I am to be invited to do things like this, and I loved it. A fantastic evening, which raised more than £76,000 for the charity. Everyone’s a winner.
It being Half Term ( yay – Half Term!) I was able to stay overnight , and so this was the plan. Part one – drive to London from South Wales. Now as regards the actual driving part, that’s easy enough. Given fair road conditions I can drive comfortably from home to London in less than 4 hours, and that’s allowing for at least one generous stop on the way. However, the problems only really start when you get to London. These are a) driving in London is horrible ( just my opinion, and as always , feel free to disagree) and b) you have to find somewhere to park and that ain’t easy. So my plan was to use a little local knowledge. I’ve mentioned before that although I’ve lived in wales for a little over 27 years I was born and grew up in West London. So I thought that I should be able to park in one of the back streets not that far from Boston Manor tube station. Which is essentially just what happened.
The London version of Park and Ride.
Boston Manor tube, from the platform, has the air of a quiet and sleepy country station – nice to know that at least some things don’t change.
The hotel the charity had very kindly put me up at was a few hundred yards from Lancaster Gate tube. The quickest way I could do it was changing from the Piccadilly to the Hammersmith and City by crossing the road from the one Hammersmith station to the other. It was on the train from Hammersmith to White City I had the first surreal experience of the trip. I was reading the story about the Rebekah Brooks/Andy Coulson trial, and a lady came and sat next to me. She was, how should I put it, a lady of more mature years, let’s say in her late 60s or early 70s, very smartly dressed, and to all outward experiences quite prim and proper. She leaned across me, tapped the story in the paper, and uttered one word.
“B*st*rds!”
I’ll be honest, I was so surprised that all I could do was just nod once, and we didn’t exchange any more communication until I left the train at Wood Green to walk up the road to White City to catch the Central Line to Lancaster Gate.
The hotel room, wasn’t a room – it was actually 3 rooms. In fact, an apartment in the Lower Ground Floor. I’ll be honest, for a supposedly intelligent person I can be pretty dull sometimes, and it took me quite a while to figure out that Lower Ground Floor is actually hotel speak for Basement, and you have to push the big B in the lift.
A room with a view – I told you the Lower Ground Floor is actually the Below Ground Floor.
Don't take the impression from this that it wasn't a nice room, well, set of rooms. It was actually exrtemely nice and comfortable.
I had a little while before I was due at the venue, so I took the Tube to Oxford Circus so that I could walk down Regent Street and see the lights – which I just about managed though they haven’t been switched on yet.
Verdict? – Could do better
From there I walked down to the Embankment. You see, I think I might have mentioned before that I have a thing about bridges. Just love ‘em. The fact is that the only bridge open to pedestrians across the Thames in London which I’d never walked across are the Golden Jubilee Bridges, so it was an opportunity to put that state of affairs right.
Thence to Floridita on Wardour Street, the venue for the evening. Many of the same stalwarts from last year were there again, my pal Dave Rainford from Eggheads, Erin and Anton from Strictly (more about that later) Phil Tufnell, Ronnie Irani,and Ray Parlour, to name but a few. Oh, and Aleksander Orlov, the meerkat aswell, although I didn’t actually see him myself.Host for the evening was Rory McGrath.
Me with Rory McGrath – top man.
I tend to say this a lot when I’m writing about these events, but what a nice guy. I did think I might catch a little bit of stick from Rory when Dave kindly informed him of my allegiance to Tottenham Hotspur, but not a bit of it. A very, very nice guy in my opinion, and very funny too.
Right – you heard it here first. As they did last year, Anton and Erin did a demonstration dance – this year the Tango – which was quite remarkable given the tiny amount of space that they had to work in. Now, if you’re a devotee of the show – and why not? – then you might have been wondering why Erin hasn’t been taking part in this year’s series. Well, I asked her , and the reason is that she’s expecting. Many congratulations to her and her partner !
Anton and Erin – Erin now dancing for two.
The quiz itself was as much fun as ever. I was grateful to attract bids for each of the 4 rounds for which I was available, as did Dave, and Tuffers, and , well, everyone. I was 20 for 20 after the first two rounds, but started dropping a couple of points in sport, and as for Entertainment, well, let’s draw a kindly veil over that. All I can say to team 2 who bid for me is that I am very sorry.
Normally I have to rush away after the quiz, but since it’s half term I could stay in until about midnight. The lovely Alex, who first got me involved in the event, and thankfully has kept me involved ever since, had arranged for taxis to pick up Dave and me at midnight. The problem was that Wardour Street was closed by this time. So Alex checked her phone, and found she had a number of missed messages from the taxi. She rang them, and asked which street mine was parked in. First she couldn’t understand which it was, then she asked the driver to spell it, and then she asked the driver to text it to her. There was five seconds silence, followed by the sound of Alex’s voice, raised in frustration and desperation, saying,
“What do you mean you don’t know how to text!?”
That finished me off. I was still laughing by the time I got in the cab about ten minutes later.
The only thing I was really worried about today was whether I the car would still be there when I got back to Boston manor this morning. There was no reason why it shouldn’t have been, after all I checked and double checked the road where I’d parked it to make sure that there were no restrictions there, but you know how it is. When there’s nothing to worry about you have to manufacture something. It was there, and it did start . . . eventually. Three and a half hours later, that was that. Back home safe and sound.
What can I say? I know how fortunate I am to be invited to do things like this, and I loved it. A fantastic evening, which raised more than £76,000 for the charity. Everyone’s a winner.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Only Connect - Round One - Elimination Match 2
The Science Editors v. The Press Gang
The Press Gang, Emily Phillips, Richard Colfer, and Robin Seavill, looked good value for money losing to the Bakers by 24 – 22 in their first round match. In this second show they were fighting for survival against the Science Editors, Andrew Cosgrove, Shreeya Nanda, and captain Kester Jarvis, who lost 28 – 10 to the Oenophiles. Well, that’s a quite heavy defeat, but on the other hand they were playing against a team widely reckoned to be the strongest in this year’s competition. Captain kester announced a change of tactics for the show – picking the right heiroglyphs. Worth a try.
Round One – What’s the Connection?
The Eds won the toss and chose Lion, for the music set. They needed all 4 tunes, but couldn’t get it any more than I could. The Gang went with Dickens characters, but were led up the garden path. The titles were pause – play – rewind and st0op. Now that’s a good set – and I didn’t have a Scooby. The first set for the Gang were the dreaded cookery category. Frozen Mashed potato – Omelette Pans – Vegetable Bouillon Powder and Cranberries foxed them as much as they foxed me and the Eds. The connection is that they have all been boosted by the Delia Effect – yep, if our Delia uses you in a recipe, you’ve cracked it. Two Reeds gave the Eds pictures of Sausages – One Man Mowing ( I had it here ) – a monkey jumping on the bed, and one green bottle. They knew that these were counting songs, even though Victoria made them work for their point. Twisted Flax gave the Gang 1992 – Merry Christmas, 1897 Are You ready ? – and here my guess would have been right – 1944 – What Hath God Wrought and 2oor – just setting up my twittr. This was easy enough to work out, but not to explain, but eventually the Gang had first communications on different media. 1 point. The Eds took water, and I’m sorry but I am sure that I would have had a 5 pointer in the studio. Given P _ _ _ THER – I said – they are all creatures with the words for other creatures missing from the names. I am sure that the Eds had it early too, but they took CRO _ _ _ DILE and WILDE _ _ _ ST to be sure. The Gang finished with the viper, and Winona Ryder – Dame Nellie Melba – Flo Rida – and here I had it – and - Florence Nightingale which confirmed that these people were all named after the place where they were born. So the score then was 3 – 2 to the Eds.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Eds began with 4th: Chris Chattaway. This time I wasn’t that sure I would have gone for it in the studio – oh, who am I kidding, I would have done. I reckoned these were people who broke the 4 minute mile, and so 1: (Sir) Roger Bannister would be the answer. The Eds took 3rd: Laslo Tabori and 2nd: John Landy before they answered, but it went for a bonus to the Gang. Lion gave pictures to the Gang, and we saw Monica Lweinsky – Erica Roe – and Rita Hayworth. Robin called for a 4th – don’t blame him. They ran out of time. The Eds didn’t know it either. It’s actually a good set – a little bit of Monica – etc. – they were successive girl’s names in Mambo number 5 – and the next would be Tina. Twisted Flax was gettable. Australian Table -= 20 – Table = 15 – Dessert = 10 begged the answer Tea = 5, which is what the Eds supplied, knowing these are spoon sizes. Eye of Horus brought the Gang Millie Bush – Buddy Clinton. Now, I knew these were presidential pets, and I knew that Barack Obama has a Portuguese water dog. But I don’t know it’s name! Well, I didn’t. Neither did the teams. It’s Bo Obama. Two Reeds gave the eds 4th A Feast for Crows – 3rd – A Storm of Swords. Now I didn’t have it, but then I’ve never read the A Game Of Thrones books, but someone on the Eds has, since they had it on two. Only the viper remained for the Gang. They had Galactic Centre – Sun – Earth. I’ll be honest the answer is more clever than it looks. Neither team had the moon – each one orbits the previous. Clever set. At the end of the round the Gang had 3, but the eds had stretched the gap, with 8.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
After a moment or two the Gang resolved a line of types of cricket – T20 – French – Test – Kwik, They followed this with a set of screen horses – Silver – Topper – Trigger – Champion. They wasted little time in sorting out the next two lines. With Havoc – Les Miserables – Bride Wars and One Day – they knew they had a set of Anne Hathaway films. This left First class – A-1 – Copacetic and Boffo, which are all terms for something excellent. 10 points, and well they needed them too.
Working on the water wall it took the Eds a while to find Wallace and Gromit characters – Feathers McGraw – Wendolene – Gromit and Shaun. They quickly worked out a set of words which can be preceded by dead – bolt – reckoning – shot and heat. The three strikes and you’re out rule froze them out after three more attempts. When the lines were resolved they saw that Burrell – Wallace – Peggy Guggenheim and Frick were all galleries. This left Powell – Lewis – Greene and Bailey. Lenient Victoria allowed sprinters, but strictly speaking they were all 100m world record holders. Asafa Powell never won the Olympics. 6 points then meant that they still led, but by 1 point, 14 to 13.
Round Four – The Missing Vowels
Either team could win. The first set – cleaning products went 3 – 1 to the Eds. The gap was 3 points. Sight impediments fell 2 – 1 to the Eds, but they lost a point on hypermetropia. The gap remained at 3. US Sitcoms and their settings saw the jittery Eds lose 2 points and pick up one, while the Gang picked up 2. Which the mathematically gifted among us will work out to jmean that we had that rara avis, a tie. You know the rules for this. One more phrase, no clues as to the category. Only captains can answer. Get it right on the buzz and you win the show. Get it wrong on the buzz and you lose the show. Simple. Captain Kester was first to buzz in with slow and steady wins the race, and that’s exactly what he did for the Eds. Well played. Bad luck Press Gang – another good team who have nothing to be ashamed about.
The Press Gang, Emily Phillips, Richard Colfer, and Robin Seavill, looked good value for money losing to the Bakers by 24 – 22 in their first round match. In this second show they were fighting for survival against the Science Editors, Andrew Cosgrove, Shreeya Nanda, and captain Kester Jarvis, who lost 28 – 10 to the Oenophiles. Well, that’s a quite heavy defeat, but on the other hand they were playing against a team widely reckoned to be the strongest in this year’s competition. Captain kester announced a change of tactics for the show – picking the right heiroglyphs. Worth a try.
Round One – What’s the Connection?
The Eds won the toss and chose Lion, for the music set. They needed all 4 tunes, but couldn’t get it any more than I could. The Gang went with Dickens characters, but were led up the garden path. The titles were pause – play – rewind and st0op. Now that’s a good set – and I didn’t have a Scooby. The first set for the Gang were the dreaded cookery category. Frozen Mashed potato – Omelette Pans – Vegetable Bouillon Powder and Cranberries foxed them as much as they foxed me and the Eds. The connection is that they have all been boosted by the Delia Effect – yep, if our Delia uses you in a recipe, you’ve cracked it. Two Reeds gave the Eds pictures of Sausages – One Man Mowing ( I had it here ) – a monkey jumping on the bed, and one green bottle. They knew that these were counting songs, even though Victoria made them work for their point. Twisted Flax gave the Gang 1992 – Merry Christmas, 1897 Are You ready ? – and here my guess would have been right – 1944 – What Hath God Wrought and 2oor – just setting up my twittr. This was easy enough to work out, but not to explain, but eventually the Gang had first communications on different media. 1 point. The Eds took water, and I’m sorry but I am sure that I would have had a 5 pointer in the studio. Given P _ _ _ THER – I said – they are all creatures with the words for other creatures missing from the names. I am sure that the Eds had it early too, but they took CRO _ _ _ DILE and WILDE _ _ _ ST to be sure. The Gang finished with the viper, and Winona Ryder – Dame Nellie Melba – Flo Rida – and here I had it – and - Florence Nightingale which confirmed that these people were all named after the place where they were born. So the score then was 3 – 2 to the Eds.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Eds began with 4th: Chris Chattaway. This time I wasn’t that sure I would have gone for it in the studio – oh, who am I kidding, I would have done. I reckoned these were people who broke the 4 minute mile, and so 1: (Sir) Roger Bannister would be the answer. The Eds took 3rd: Laslo Tabori and 2nd: John Landy before they answered, but it went for a bonus to the Gang. Lion gave pictures to the Gang, and we saw Monica Lweinsky – Erica Roe – and Rita Hayworth. Robin called for a 4th – don’t blame him. They ran out of time. The Eds didn’t know it either. It’s actually a good set – a little bit of Monica – etc. – they were successive girl’s names in Mambo number 5 – and the next would be Tina. Twisted Flax was gettable. Australian Table -= 20 – Table = 15 – Dessert = 10 begged the answer Tea = 5, which is what the Eds supplied, knowing these are spoon sizes. Eye of Horus brought the Gang Millie Bush – Buddy Clinton. Now, I knew these were presidential pets, and I knew that Barack Obama has a Portuguese water dog. But I don’t know it’s name! Well, I didn’t. Neither did the teams. It’s Bo Obama. Two Reeds gave the eds 4th A Feast for Crows – 3rd – A Storm of Swords. Now I didn’t have it, but then I’ve never read the A Game Of Thrones books, but someone on the Eds has, since they had it on two. Only the viper remained for the Gang. They had Galactic Centre – Sun – Earth. I’ll be honest the answer is more clever than it looks. Neither team had the moon – each one orbits the previous. Clever set. At the end of the round the Gang had 3, but the eds had stretched the gap, with 8.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
After a moment or two the Gang resolved a line of types of cricket – T20 – French – Test – Kwik, They followed this with a set of screen horses – Silver – Topper – Trigger – Champion. They wasted little time in sorting out the next two lines. With Havoc – Les Miserables – Bride Wars and One Day – they knew they had a set of Anne Hathaway films. This left First class – A-1 – Copacetic and Boffo, which are all terms for something excellent. 10 points, and well they needed them too.
Working on the water wall it took the Eds a while to find Wallace and Gromit characters – Feathers McGraw – Wendolene – Gromit and Shaun. They quickly worked out a set of words which can be preceded by dead – bolt – reckoning – shot and heat. The three strikes and you’re out rule froze them out after three more attempts. When the lines were resolved they saw that Burrell – Wallace – Peggy Guggenheim and Frick were all galleries. This left Powell – Lewis – Greene and Bailey. Lenient Victoria allowed sprinters, but strictly speaking they were all 100m world record holders. Asafa Powell never won the Olympics. 6 points then meant that they still led, but by 1 point, 14 to 13.
Round Four – The Missing Vowels
Either team could win. The first set – cleaning products went 3 – 1 to the Eds. The gap was 3 points. Sight impediments fell 2 – 1 to the Eds, but they lost a point on hypermetropia. The gap remained at 3. US Sitcoms and their settings saw the jittery Eds lose 2 points and pick up one, while the Gang picked up 2. Which the mathematically gifted among us will work out to jmean that we had that rara avis, a tie. You know the rules for this. One more phrase, no clues as to the category. Only captains can answer. Get it right on the buzz and you win the show. Get it wrong on the buzz and you lose the show. Simple. Captain Kester was first to buzz in with slow and steady wins the race, and that’s exactly what he did for the Eds. Well played. Bad luck Press Gang – another good team who have nothing to be ashamed about.
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