In this week's show: -
TV Questions
Talking points on Christmas quizzes, being forced out of a pub quiz, Mastermind, UC and OC
Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember
Answers to last week's questions
Sunday, 14 December 2014
Saturday, 13 December 2014
In The News
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they
been in the news in December?
Darren
Wilson
Marussia
These
Days
Cressida
Dick
It
for Others
Stephanie
Roche
Massimo
Cellino
Myles
Bradbury
Olivia
Smart and Joe Buckland
Louise
Burns
Girl
Online
Overgate
Centre, Dundee
Stegosaurus
Sterops
Adam
Peaty
Mark
Pritchard
Spectre
Daniel
Anrig
Davy
Russell and Phillip Enright
Richard
Hollingworth
Gordon
Zoe
Suggs
Sky
Swing
Mohammad
Hafeez
Nigel
Mills
Baroness
Jenkin
Ross
Taylor
Jeannette
Traverso
Heather
Cho
Roger
Bird
Kailash
Satyarthi
Paul
Rosalie
Scot
Young
In Other News
Who
said she had delivered s House of Commons speech loaded with smutty innuendo
for a dare?
Where
was the world’s largest Christmas tree unveiled?
Who
will provide the voice of Colonel K in the new Danger Mouse?
Which
former African leader was cleared of all charges?
What
was the score in the Autumn RU international between Australia and England?
And
Wales and South Africa?
Who
is the British Heavyweight champion?
Who
much did shoppers spend in the UK on Black Friday?
What
is the most popular boy’s name in the UK for newborn babies?
–
and for girls?
Who
announced he will stand down at the next election?
Which
city was given the UNESCO city of Design award?
Which
3 players were shortlisted for FIFA world player of the year?
Who
is to appear in a one off Downton Abbey sketch
Whose
term as President of the European Council is coming to an end?
Who
was investigated by the FA for an alleged anti semitic tweet?
Name
the captain of the Costa Concordia on trial for manslaughter?
Chris
Froome announced what last week?
Which
Lego set will not be available in shops until January?
Which
actor turned up drunk and obscene for a Holocaust Poetry Recital?
Who
lost their appeals over their convictions for the murder of Lee Rigby?
Planning
permission has been granted for what over the Thames?
Which
former party leader passed away aged 85?
There
have been allegations on German Tv over a systematic athletics doping programme
in which country?
Why
was Alastair Cook banned for one match following the 3rd ODI?
Where
did the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit?
Which
bridge celebrated its 150th anniversary?
Where
was a video of the making of the Band Aid 30th anniversary single
projected?
Nigel
Farage used which excuse for being two hours late for an appointment in Wales?
What
was the score between Stoke and Arsenal?
–
and in the final of the UK Snooker championship?
Which
‘funny’ Christmas card did Clinton’s withdraw from their stores?
Why
was the Shrien Dewani murder case dismissed?
Why
were Gambian Diplomats jailed in the UK last week?
What
was the score between Man Utd and Southampton?
Which
actress celebrated her 80th birthday last week?
Who
posted Daily Mail journalist Neil Sear’s phone number on Twitter?
Which
DJ was rrested over alleged sexual assaults
Who
fell off his chair during the Royal Albert Hall tennis exhibitions?
Which
institution obtained memorabilia from the estate of Sir Patrick Moore?
Who
bought James Watson’s nobel Prize medal so that he could give it back to him?
Which
famous illustration sold for £300,000?
Which
Hollywood couple confirmed they have split?
What
was the Champs league score between Liverpool and Basel?
–
and Arsenal and Galatasaray?
–
and Man City and Roma?
–
and Chelsea and Sporting Lisbon?
Who
joined Ospreys from racing Metro?
Who
did Angeszka Radwanska appoint her coach?
Who
is to have a Lifetime Achievement award in SPOTY?
Why
has the Brighton beach Christmas Day swim been officially cancelled?
Who
was suspended for verbally abusing Leicester’s Richard Cockerill?
Who
or what are Time Magazine’s Person of the Year?
Which
area of London has been dubbed Britain’s most normal place?
Who
stood down from attempt to become UKIP candidate
Which
organization apologized for abuse of children during their time in the
movement?
Which
club were suspended from all football activity by the FA over ownership
problems?
Who
signed a new 1 year contract with McLaren F1
Who
gave birth to twins Gabrielle and Jacques?
What
was the score between Spurs and Besiktas?
And
Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic?
And
Everton and Krasnodar?
The
wife of which politician will be a Booker Prize judge next year?
Whose
statue was reinstalled in Morecambe Bay?
Which
bird was found to be closest relative to dinosaurs?
What
was the score in the Varsity rugby match?
Who
became Asia’s first ever world number 1 snooker player?
Only Connect - Qualification Match
Linguists
v. Gallifreyans
Another winners match last Monday saw the
Linguists, Virginia
Fassnidge, Gail La Carbonara and skipper Tom Fassnidge, who had taken the
considerable scalp of the Chessmen in a tight and absorbing contest, take on John
Dorney, Stuart Wildig and skipper Giles Sparrow, the Gallifreyans. The
Gallifreyans had overcome the Wandering Minstrels rather comfortably if truth
be told. On paper I couldn’t pick a favourite.
Round One – What’s the Connection?
The Linguists kicked off by
putting the Gals into bat. They picked eye of Horus, and received Il Cantante
(Mick Hucknall). I couldn’t quite get a handle on it at this stage. The second
clue was Adega do Cantor (Cliff Richard) – which looked like Portuguese to me.
Third was Inglenook (Francis Ford Coppola).That rang a bell, and going on the
fact that Coppola’s inclusion meant we weren’t looking at singers, despite the
first two , I plumped for wine brands made by the people in brackets. Actually
it was vineyards, as it looked like Stuart supplied. Two Reeds provided the
Linguists with a picture set. The first looked to me like Wells Cathedral –
which made me idly think of Olympic 100m champions. I couldn’t recognise either
of the people who came next, but the 4th picture was clearly a bolt.
So my hunch was correct, neither team seeing it themselves. The singer was Tony
Christie and the third picture David Bailey. The Lings took the music set next
behind Lion, and although I didn’t recognise the first, I did recognise the overture
to Die Fledermaus, and the theme to the Michael Keaton Batman film. So bats,
then. I wasn’t sure what would be next, but Bat out of Hell certainly made
sense. God enough for a point for the Gals. Water gave the Lings Formal Royal
Ceremonies – When Including a Religious Service – huh? – Live Parliamentary
proceedings less than 30 mins and then Children's less than 30 mins escaped both them and me. However the Gals were able to pick up a bonus, knowing that these were all types of television programmes where there can be no advertising breaks. Now, Twisted Flax
showed just what can happen when you have the courage of your convictions. The
first clue was Nicholas Cage Magician Film (2007). As it happened we all knew that this was
called Next. However I was off about clothing retailers while the Gals decided
that actually the connection could well be just as simple as ‘next’ and so they
went for it. Five points in the bag, and a good lead became a commanding one.
Left with Horned Viper Ling skipper Tom added to his own team’s problems by not
voicing the second vowel. A rat – zombies – a paternity dispute and racism
looked unpromising until Captain Tom went for Michael Jackson songs right at
the death. What a good set – gettable after 2, no doubt about that, even though
I didn’t. At least this put a point on the board for the Lings, but the Gals
had an ominous lead of 9 – 1.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Gals, who had yet to
receive a really nasty set, picked Eye of Horus, and a picture set. The first
picture showed 5p, 2p and 1p pieces. Small change? Second picture showed the
same three coins together with a 10p piece. The temptation now was to go for 4th
picture – 1p – 2p – 5p – 10p – 20- 50p - – but surely that was too obvious? Well, the 3rd
picture was right if that was the sequence. I wasn’t wrong, but the important
thing, as the Gals said, was that the 50p went in the right place to make up
the Royal Shield, which is on the back of the coins. Lings chose Lion, and
began with Venus, 5,832. OK – what did that mean? Next came Mercury: 1408. – I
had a brainwave. Venus has a day that lasts longer than it’s year. So I guessed
that earth: 24 would be the answer, the sequence being the bumber of hours it
takes to make a full rotation. After that we were given Mars – 24.62- which
looked promising. It looked like Tom who figured it out. Victoria took far too
long to explain the concept, although she gained brownie points from me for
using a bourbon biscuit to represent Venus. Captain Giles of the Gals showed just why his
team were doing so well by giving us Hornèd Viper as his next choice. Epsilon
and Eta – then – iota – Omicron. I hazarded a guess with upsilon , since it
also started with a vowel in the latin alphabet, and so did the Gals. Correct. Left
with Twisted Flax the Lings kicked off with 6 in Africa. Hm – no idea off the
top of my head. 7 in Europe followed, then 9 in North America. Neither team
knew it was 12 in Asia. Me neither, but then I’ve never played Risk. It’s
continental territories. The Gals’ last choice was Water, which they began with
Ball – Cox – Moyles. The last made it totally clear – being Radio 1 breakfast
show presenters, so the last would be Grimshaw. The Gals knew the connection,
but not the name, ceding a bonus to the Lings, who gratefully accepted. This
left two reeds for the Lings, who started with O’Brien squeezing an udder. Fair
enough. Then Bracknell Twerking – then Lucan Vaulting. At this point the idea
of a Lord Leaping, following a lady dancing came to mind for all of us. I
suggested the idea of Pepper Picker playing a wind instrument. Neither team
could suggest anything. This meant that the Gals still had a commanding lead,
with 13 to 4.
Round Three – Connecting Walls
The Lings chose the Lion
wall, and took out rose – sash – electric and picture windows in fairly short
order. They could see a set of Sherlock Holmes stories characters, but not
isolate them.Hung – Flew – Smelt and Spoke – a set of past participles fell
next. With a little jiggery pokerey, Adler – Hudson – Moran and Bradstreet separated
into one line, then Watson – Deep Blue – Dr. Fill and Chinook were the other. I
felt Victoria was a little mean not to allow Chess computers for Watson and the
others , but there we are, she didn’t. They are all computers that play
different games. This meant that they earned 7 points, and were rather
unfortunate not to have a full house of 10.
An abortive attempt at Agatha
Christie characters produced nothing at first so then the Gals switched to
something, anything else. Tow thirds of the time had gone, with nothing being
produced, and John produced a heartfelt sigh of – This is NOT our wall! Club –
electric – high and easy fell to a random selection, but at first they couldn’t
see they were all chairs. They didn’t solve any of the other lines, but Stuart at
least salvaged another point by getting chair right at the death. When the wall
was resolved the other lines were – Hastings – Race – Oliver – Lemon – which were
the Poirot characters – then – Nobe,l Carver – Japp and Franklin. They were all
chemists, so no point for inventors. The last line was Bath – Curtain – Pension
– Picture. John could see that these are all things you can draw – a good
shout, that. So they finished with 4, and had somewhat fortuitously only
concede three points. They led by 17 to 11.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
University Challenge - Round Two - Match 5
London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine v. Bristol
The LSHTM team of Andy Taylor, Rebecca Glover, Anjaneya Bapat,
and their captain Sarah Legrand defeated fellow London University team, the LSE
in the first round, by just one starter. Monday’s opponents, Bristol, had a
rather more easy time in their own first match, when the team of Lewis Rendell,
Benjamin Moon, Miles Coleman and their captain, Anastasia Reynolds comfortably
saw off the Courtauld Institute of Art. Let’s get on with the show.
It to0o0k a while for the first starter to get
to the point, but when it did, it was Sarah Legrand who buzzed in first with
the Blair quote – Educationx3. Three questions on the Minoan civilization
followed – ah yes, a small thing, but Minoan. 1 was taken. Right, surgical
instrument and window were not enough to provoke a buzz, but the addition of
the word journal gave Sarah Legrand her second starter with The Lancet. A UC
special set of pairs of words beginning with the same 4 letters – eg – protozoa
and proton – provided two bonuses. Neither team could quite dredge up the name
of the Leeds and Liverpool canal – home to Wigan Pier. This was only delaying
Sarah Legrand’s hattrick of starters, as she knew next that Marc Chagall
painted sad clowns etc. The music bonuses that followed asked for names linked
by a word or words – for example – Ode to Joy and Joy Division. A full set of
these followed. I was a little surprised that nobody took the picture starter
which marked the site of the Battle of Monte Cassino on a map of Italy. Sarah
Legrand was rather unfortunate to buzz early on the latin name passer
domesticus with sparrow. The question specifically asked for a two word name,
although this wasn’t obvious until after she had buzzed. This allowed Benjamin
Moon in with House sparrow. This brought them the picture bonuses on locations
of other battles in the Mediterranean during world war II. 2 bonuses made a
dent in the lead, which stood at 55 – 20 at the 10 minute mark.
Now, I didn’t know Chebyshev, but Lewis Rendell
of Bristol did, and that brought them the next starter. Last words in poetry
provided an interesting set of bonuses, and Bristol were slightly unlucky not
to get. Asked for the full name of the academy of drama whose acronym resembles
a Greek letter minus one letter, Miles Coleman eventually gave us the London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Meteorology offered me little although I did
get Indian Summer. Bristol had that and another and now trailed by 10.
Anastasia Reynolds showed some nifty buzzer work on the next starter. Asked for
an English King, as soon as she heard ‘born in Pembroke Castle’ she went for it
and gave the correct answer of Henry VII.Bonuses on British monarchs since
1600, in the words of Walter Bagehot. 2 correct answers gave them a lead of 15.
For the music starter the teams were asked to name the composer of the theme of
Dances with Wolves. Nobody knew John Barry. A splendid speculative buzz from
Sarah Legrand on The Well of Loneliness dragged LSHTM back into the match following a fallow period of a few
minutes. This brought the dubious blessing of the music bonuses. Three more
winners of the Oscar for best original film score brought ten more points, the
only one missed being the only one I got, Giorgio Moroder. Now, I got the
geometry starter, don’t ask me how, but basically if you take all the internal
angles of a 100 sided polygon and divide by 98, what you’re left with is 180 degrees.
Only just behind me was Lewis Rendell. The judiciary provided two bonuses and
the points to take the lead again. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark they led
by 90 – 75.
Miles Coleman extended this lead knowing that
the OPCW is dedicated to the eradication of Chemical weapons. For bonuses T H
Huxley provided two more bonuses. The picture starter showed a University
building. Andy Taylor took a punt that it was in Mexico and earned a heart felt
Paxman ‘well done’. The bonuses were UNESCO world heritage sites that have
housed educational institutions. I managed the same two that LSHTM managed.
Now, if you’re asked for a French wine growing region, Burgubndy is always
worth a shout. Especially if the question mentions Dijon. Rebecca Glover took
that one.They took two bonuses which put them 5 points ahead, which moved JP to
erroneously say ’10 points from this starter and you’ll be ahead.’ Already
there Jez. Whatever the case, Sarah Legrand made sure of it by buzzing early
for the next starter on smelting. The bonuses on number theory did nothing for
me, but LSHTM took two of them, and with 3 minutes left they led by one full
set. Asked for the two countries involved in the Chaco War, Miles Coleman
supplied Bolivia and Paraguay to keep Bristol just 15 points off the lead. They
duly obliged with a full set on forms of the verb avoir. All square, and what a
good contest these two teams were serving up for our delectation. A crucial,
and ironically appropriate buzz from Benjamin Moon saw him identify the IAU as
the International Astronomical Union. Bonuses on sausages saw Bristol guess the
name of a French city, any city, linked with a sausage. They came up with
Toulouse, and that correct guess ensured a full set, and looked to be a crucial
one. Quite simply, LSHTM needed a correct buzz on the next starter, or game
over.Neither team recognised lines penned by A E Houseman. Neither did I. Was
there time for a full set? Agaricae might have given either of the teams the
idea of mushrooms – but it didn’t. Surely not enough time left for an LSHTM
come back now? Indeed not. Bristol ran out winners by 160 – 135. Full marks to
Bristol for holding their nerve after the LSHTM went off to their blitz start,
and especially after being given the kiss of death encouragement from JP.
Jeremy Paxman Watch
Oh dear. We hadn’t even reached the ten minute
mark and our hero was already issuing the dreaded ‘Plenty of time to come back’
kiss of death to Bristol.
Later on , when asked for the name which
appears at the end of last lines of a specific poem, he wouldn’t accept Lady of
Shalott when only Shalott was wanted. His explanation “It’s harsh, I know, but
it’s the only way to play this game.” Very true – just so long as the same
harshness is applied to ALL teams – and there are some times it doesn’t seem to
be.
Ah, at last a flash of spirit from the great
man. When Miles Coleman suggested that the composer of the film theme ‘could be
Purcell’ he gave him a splendidly old fashioned look and replied in high
dudgeon, “No it couldn’t! It’s not a bit like Purcell!’
Having said all this, our JP is still taking
his happy pills, as he hailed the gallant runners up as being ‘certainly the
giggliest team we’ve ever had’ but also as being ‘very, very good.’ Well said.
Interesting Fact Of The Week That I Didn’t Already Know
The word chipolata originally denoted an onion
stew.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Mastermind - Round One - Heat 17
I allowed myself a little chuckle as last night’s first contender,
Carys Logan, settled into the chair, when I thought that she said that her
specialist subject was the Life and Films of Gary Grant. Now, my erstwhile
skipper is a man of many talents, but I didn’t know he’d branched out into
acting. But no, it was in fact Cary Grant. As usual with an actor round there
were a few gimmes – I’d never have had any right otherwise, but enough tough
ones to almost stop Carys in her tracks once or twice, and so bearing that in
mind she did rather well to rally enough to make 9.
Former semi finalists really haven’t been in short supply this year,
and David Sutherland was just the latest to make a reappearance. Back in Jesse’s
2010 series he won his heat, but didn’t have the happiest of times in his semi.
Last night he was offering us the C.S.S. Alabama. The Confederate warship is
one of those subjects which you feel that a contender would only take if they
have a special interest in the subject, and feel confident that they are
unlikely to be caught out. David’s round of 11 was certainly a perfectly good
one, but it wasn’t perfect, and it did allow just a little bit of room for
another contender to head him at the turn.
Ewen McPherson was our second recidivist last night. His subject was
the Masters of Rome novels of Colleen McCullough. Now, I will be honest, if you
are going to take a series of novels as your specialist subject you have to
know them inside out. I’m not saying that Ewen had not worked hard on preparing
for his round, and I’m not saying that he does not have a deep knowledge of
them. Not having read them myself I’m not in any position to comment on the
difficulty and/or fairness of the questions. However the fact is that Ewen
failed to answer as many correctly as he succeeded in answering, and he scored
7.
The man with the famous name, Rod Laver, finished off the specialist
round with Marc Almond and Soft Cell. What a round it was. Rod had time to pass
on one question, and still answer 16 questions correctly. It proves that it can
be done this series, and would have put him in a good position in any heat. In
this one it gave him a 5 point lead at the turn, and we were going to have to
see something extraordinary if he wasn’t going to win.
Ewen’s GK round was a good demonstration of how frustrating a
Mastermind appearance can be. Ewen’s answers showed that he is a good general
knowledge quizzer, and he comfortably accrued 12 points to push him up to 19. Unfortunately
though it still meant that he only led Rod by 4 points – a case of shutting the
stable door, if you like. Carys was unable to match this in her round. She
actually started very well, but there was a string of wrong answers and passes
during the second minute, which took away all of her momentum, and meant that
she was only able to equal Ewen’s overall score of 19. She still managed double
figures on GK though.
David had the opportunity to make a second semi final, but being
realistic it was either going to need a brilliant GK round to set a high enough
score to give him a chance of a repechage slot, or a good enough one to at
least put Rod into the corridor of doubt. It wasn’t a bad round at all, when
you got right down to it. There were good answers throughout the round, but a
few guessables which went begging as well. This meant that David levelled out
at 11, which I thought just wouldn’t quite be enough to put Rod into the
corridor of doubt. Which goes to show how little I know . . .
There was little or no hint that Rod would struggle to find the 8 points
he needed to win outright, and the first couple of questions provided him with
a couple straight away. After that, though, the nerves really set in, and what
followed was actually a grim old struggle, with points being clawed in singly.
It was tortuous at times, and as a viewer you genuinely started to fear that
maybe Rod wouldn’t do it. He reached 22. Then one more answer followed, and he
was through with hardly any time to spare. Congratulations Rod – you were made
to suffer for your place in that semi – and best of luck.
The Details
| Carys Logan | The Life and Films of Cary Grant | 9 - 3 | 10 - 4 | 19 - 7 |
| David Sutherland | The C.S.S.Alabama | 11 - 2 | 11 - 5 | 22 - 7 |
| Ewen McPherson | Masters of Rome novels by Colleen McCullough | 7 - 1 | 12 - 2 | 19 - 3 |
| Rod Laver | Marc Almond and Soft Cell | 16 - 1 | 7 - 5 | 23 - 6 |
Sunday, 7 December 2014
LAM Podcast 22
In this week's show: -
Connections/News headline questions
Talking points - positive discrimination - favourite shows
Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember
Answers to Last week's questions
Connections/News headline questions
Talking points - positive discrimination - favourite shows
Court of Public Opinion
Do You Remember
Answers to Last week's questions
Only Connect - Match 14
The
History Boys v. The Felinophiles
On paper a very serious contest between Rob Hannah,
Gareth Kingston and Craig Element,
the History Boys who comfortably beat the Oxonians in the first match, and the
Felinophiles. Simon
Turmaine, Helen Lippell and Simon Koppel also scored a ten point win in
their first match against the politicos. Knowing Rob, Gareth and Craig I
fancied the Hists to go straight through after this one, but then the Clark tip
has been fatal to many a team in the past. Let’s see what actually happened.
Round One – What’s the Connection?
The History Boys chose Lion first and kicked
off with Oswald Mosley Group, 1934. I idly toyed with blackshirts, and British
Union of Fascists as did the Hists. The second was Polish rebellion 1863.
Wisely I think the Hists took the third – number 1 single for Pilot 1975. Now
that I knew for a fact could only be January – which the Hists knew full well. I
stuck on January, while the Hists twisted and took the final clue – Betty Draper
2007. Betty Draper was played by January Jones in Mad Men – apparently. Never
mind – much better to make sure of the point. After being told off by Victoria
for being Felinophiles rather than the probably more correct ailurophiles the
Fels opted for Twisted Flax, and GB1331655:Flying Saucer. Huh? The second – GB1426698:
Cat flp/Peace keeping bomb shed a little more light. This looked like patents .
The third – GB1333548 – Exploding nail was enough to convince the Fels, and
they took the two points. Opting for Eye of Horus the Hists received Meher
Baba. Nope – didn’t know him. Cuzco, Peru for the second clue was the capital
of the Incan Empire. The boys toyed with going for capitals of ancient empires –
just as well they took the next clue, for this one was Peace. Did they all have
roses named after them? I mused. Stumped, they opted for the final clue – LGBT Community.
All I could come up with were rainbow flags – which the History Boys went for
as well – and was correct. So far the Hists had come up with the harder sets.
The Fels now took full advantage of being ahead, and opted for all the
blessings upon their houses that pro0nouncing Hornèd Viper doubtlessly brings.
Lara Croft:Tomb Raider suggested possibly Angelina Jolie films, but that was
surely too straightforward. Wall Street, the second clue, was a film, but I
didn’t think that Angelina Jolie had been in it. The Pursuit of Happyness came
third and I had an inkling. Angelina Jolie – star of the first, has a film star
Dad, as does Michael Douglas, star of the second, as does Jaden Smith, star of
the third. The Fels were in with this idea as well and pointed out that Will Smith
was also in the third. So did their Dads all appear in their film with them? On
Golden Pond, the last clue, fitted that very well. A bit mean the adjudication.
When they gave a general answer the Fels were asked for more. They went for
fathers and sosn – not correct. The Hists went for fathers and daughters – not correct.
Fathers and children PLAYING fathers and children was the answer. Fair enough. The Hists took their last clue of the round
with Two Reeds and the Music set. The immortal Hayzi Fantayzee with John Wayne
is Big Leggy kicked off, followed by Scritti Politti which suggested groups/artists
with rhyming names. The Hists needed Milli Vanilli to get there. This left the
Fels with Water and pictures. The first was a ladder in a lady’s tights, with a
big red circle and diagonal bar across them. No ladders then. Huh? Next a silhouette
of a family with a small dog, and the circle and bar through the dog. So no
dogs. Huh? Simon had it at this point. It wasn’t a ladder – it was a run. Dog
was too specific – it was a pet. No running – no petting – surely they weren’t
going to also include no peeing in the shallow end? No, thankfully – the missing
ones were ducking and bombing. That was a timely answer off two for the Fels,
as it meant that they had a lead of 5 to 4.
Round Two – What Comes Fourth?
The Hists started again with Lion. 3:
Connecticut didn’t look very helpful to me. They ingeniously came up with the
fact that there are 3 Cs in Connecticut. The second – 2: Florida didn’t help
that hypothesis. However 1. Maine did help . They worked out that it’s borders
with other states, and knew that they could go with 0: Hawaii or Alaska. That
was a well worked out set. 2 reeds gave the Fels pictures – the first of which
looked like an Alsatian or German Shepherd dog, the second a springer spaniel
and the third a cocker spaniel. I reckoned that these were most popular breeds
in the UK, the 4th of which ahd to be a Labrador. The Fels didn’t
get it going with poodle, and the Hists aren’t going to turn their noses up at
that kind of bonus. Gareth too offered Hornèd for the Viper, and this gave the
Hists Battery LR8D425 – Highest credit rating. Well, the highest credit rating
is Triple A, presumably the battery was a quadruple A – so what we were looking
for was something A – eg. - highest mark
in an exam. That’s what the Hists went for, correctly so. Up against it the
Fels opted for water, and immediately encountered Count Dooku. OK – so we had a
dark lord of the Sith from Star Wars – but where would that lead? Next was
Qui-Gon Jin. Right – I reckoned it might be that he trained Obi Wan. Which gave
us a problem – since to some extent Obi Wan trained both Anakin/Darth Vader and
Luke Skywalker. Mind you – Yoda also trained Luke – and Anakin was his official
apprentice, so that was what I went for. The Fels went for Luke and were
denied,since Luke was not Obi Wan’s Padawan. There you go. Bonus for the Hists.
Eye of Horus gave them a musical sequence, and Hit the Road Jack, by Ray
Charles, The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel, and In the Hall of the
Mountain King by Grieg were a lovely little sequence. I predicted Ace of Spades
by Motorhead. The Hists just didn’t see it. The Fels went for Ace of Spades,
which was indeed the example. A much needed bonus there, and they finished the
round with Twisted Flax. The first clue – E:13.6.10 meant nowt to me. S:17.3.19
didn’t help. The Fels were thinking about compass points, and the next was W:
8.11.14 didn’t discount this. I had no idea nor, really, did either team. The
answer – N:5.20.1 came from the sections of a dartboard. Fair set – it just
didn’t click with me. Ironically I think that the letters on each really didn’t
help. Well, it’s often said that the second round is the one which seperates
the really good from the nearly good, and plain fact was that the Hists now led
by 11 – 6.
Round Three – The Connecting Walls
The Fels opted for Water. Extremely quickly
they sorted out Help The Aged – Common People – Disco 2000 and Mis-Shapes, all
linked by Jarvis Cocker/Pulp. Mencap – Scope – Save the Children and Refuge
fell very quickly as well, as a set of charity organisations. I could see Agony
Aunts and TV cops in the other sets – Ironside – Proops – Sanders and Rayner
being the Agony Aunts, which left them Drebin – McNulty – Mcmillan and Lacey. Think the key was getting the songs first –
that helped make the wall – which wasn’t easy – look easy.
So the Hists needed a full house to preserve a
serious lead. Lion wall offered them Muse rather than Pulp songs, but they
still found them quickly – Starlight – Hysteria – Uprising and Knights of
Cydonia. There looked to be Expresses, Bears and heaven alone knew what.
Shanghai – Pineapple – Midnight and Von Ryan’s were the Expresses. Left with
two lines to solve they worked out that there was also a set of words with
numbers spelled out in them. Bingo. Quinine – Weighty – Network and Honey left
bear – Polar – Cinnamon – Spectacled and Brown. A full house asked for, and a
full house supplied.
Round Four – Missing Vowels
So, at 21 – 16 it wasn’t over, and we’ve seen
bigger turnarounds. It was asking quite a bit though. The first set were all domestic
assistants, and they fell 2 apiece. I thought that Gareth might do well on
former English football league grounds, but the Fels also managed 1 to 3 for
the Hists. Chemical elements and symbols seemed made for the Hists as well,
being good old standard quiz stuff. Again these fell 3 – 1 and the game was as
good as over. Actually, come to that, it really was over. Winners by 29 – 20 were
the Hists – when you got right down to it they just had too much all round
knowledge for the Fels. Don’t count the Fels out yet though – if they win their
own next match, then they also go through. Well done boys – good performance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
