In the News

In the News

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

Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet

Gordon Honeycombe

Hugh Scully

Pauline Cafferkey

Lord Stuart Rose

Shridar Chillal

Lord Adonis

No Villain

Monsignor Kryzstof Claramso

Golden Horn

The Smurfs

John Guillermin

Ched Evans

Ivan Basso

Taaki Kajita and Arthur McDOnald

Nadiya Hussain

Peter Ball

Thomas Lindahl – Paul Modrich – Aziz Sancar

Eastern New York Correctional Facilifty

Svetlana Alexievitch of Belarus

Riley Millington

Ivo Karlovic

Clayton Williams

Issa Hayatou

In Other News

An auction of 120 statues of whom from Bristol have raised £1m for charity?

Who missed a show following a fall at his home?

What are Waterstones removing from their shelves due to falling sales?

What was the qualifying group match score between England and Estonia?

Who is the new manager of Sunderland?

Who was sacked as Liverpool manager, and who replaced him?

How long did it take for tickets for Glastonbury to sell out?

Who is ITVs new political editor?

2 former chancellors of the exchequer passed away. Name them

What was the result in the American football match at Wembley?

RWC – Ireland v Italy?

Arsenal v Man Utd?

Who was the first celebrity out of Strictly?

Which city is applying a sugar tax to soft drinks, supposedly?

Where did the awful murder of PC David Phillips take place?

What is the England carrier bag charge?

Which famous detective author passed away?

Which team won the ladies English football premier title?

Which Italian great was ruled out of RWC through injury?

Which food group were accused of breaking their pledge on sustainability?

Which drink had an internet advert banned for suggesting that alcohol is more important than relationships?

Who left the UK to return to live in Israel?

What was used to deliver a petition to the European Commission?

Which crashed WWII plane was partially recovered in Holme, Cambs?

What happened in the South Sudan’s first ever world cup qualifier against Mauritania?

Which two teams reached the RL Grand Final?

Who equaled Jonah Lomu’s record of 15 RWC tries?

Who could not attend last week’s Privy Council Meeting?

What has been removed from vintage post boxes in Hong Kong?

Which former cricketer is on trial for perjury over match fixing?

Name the president and vice president of FIFA suspended for 90s days

Who apologized for saying that Obama is not a real black president?

Euro qualifying matches – what was the score between Northern Ireland and Greece?

– and Republic of Ireland and Germany?

– and Poland and Scotland?

Who has been charged with tax fraud in Spain?

Where is a no fly zone to be established in Britain?

University Challenge: Round One: Match 13

Queen Mary London v. Nuffield, Oxford

QML were represented by our first all female team of this series, Kate Lynes, Stephanie Howard-Smith, Yolanda Lovelady and captain Verity Williams. Nuffield, making what JP said was their debut in UC, were represented by Spencer Smith, Alexander Sayer Gard-Murray, Daniel Kaliski and Mathias Ormestad Frendem.

The first question asked for the US Sitcom title which features in the name of a place of worship for Quakers, and it was Kate Lynes who answered first with Friends. Two bonuses on fictional farms followed. Yolanda Lovelady recognized a quote from the late Maya Angelou for the next starter. This time the bonuses were on the number 8 , and they took a full house. Believe it or not I heard the words X-Ray Diffraction technology and I said ‘Rosalind Franklin” – it was a little while before Daniel Kaliski buzzed in with the same correct answer. Once I’d finished the lap around the sofa Nuffield managed one bonus on precipitation. The next starter was a UC special picture starter where we saw the title of a book written in international phonetic alphabet. It was Treasure Island, which Mathias Ormestad Frendem was the first to work out. This won a set of more of the same, and took a full set. Mr. Gard-Murray knew that the word legend comes from a gerundive of the latin for – to read. Contemporary works based on a classical poem brought them two correct answers. All of which meant that after a bright and breezy opening in which both teams showed some useful buzzer work , Nuffield led 60 – 45.

Stephanie Howard-Smith worked out that it is Henry VII whose tomb is topped with an effigy by Torrigiani. A full house of bonuses on events of the Noughties put Queen Mary back on top. Kate Lynes won the buzzer race to say that you can grow bacterial cultures in a petri dish. Two bonuses on organic chemistry followed, and you have to say that Queen Mary were looking a very useful outfit at this stage. Now, for the music starter we heard the song Lilac Wine. I’ve only ever heard Elkie Brooks’ version, but one of my very favourite singers of all time is Nina Simone, and I was sure it was her singing this one. So it was. Nobody else recognized her. A very long winded starter next eventually contained the words Pablo Picasso – and – artistic style – which seemed to beg the answer Cubism. Mr. Gard-Murray obviously thought so, and he earned the music bonuses for saying it. Each one was one of the first tracks recorded in a particular format, and Nuffield took one of them. Now, I’ll bet that I wasn’t the only one who shouted “Smithsonian!” at the telly when JP mentioned the words “Bequest. . . English mineralogist . .. “ but Mr. Gard-Murray went for the Royal Society, which allowed Stephanie Howard-Smith in with the correct answer for Queen Mary. Two bonuses on Bertold Brecht took them to 110. It was Nuffield’s best buzzer, Alexander Gard-Murray who buzzed in first to say that an allen key has a hexagonal cross section. Only one bonus of a gettable set on people born in the Polish city of Lodz was taken. So right on the cusp of the 20 minute mark the score was 110 to 85, but it still looked like either side could win.

Mathias Ormestad Frendem recognized the work of Van Gogh for the second picture starter. Shown three other paintings of the outskirts of Paris Nuffield took a good full set to draw level with Queen Mary. Verity Williams buzzed too early and offered fructose for the next starter, when Pectin was required, as duly supplied by Alexander Gard-Murray. They took two on the age of exploration, but received a hard but fair adjudication on the last. Asked for the name given to the westernmost part of Africa, they were kind of right with Green Cape, but JP had wanted the proper name Cabo Verde, so no cigar there. A cracking good buzz from Alexander Gard-Murray saw him answer that Nine Provinces – Four Provinces – Northern Sea Circuit and Main Island are direct translations of the names of the major islands of Japan. One bonus on volcanoes was still enough to ensure that the gap was more than a full set, with only 3 and a bit minutes to go in the competition. Verity Williams knew that the cranberry is efficacious in the treatment of urinary tract infections. The bonus set on computer languages really didn’t help. Daniel Kaliski recognized a quotation from Malthus. A couple of bonuses on deserts, and the match was as good as over. Fair play, Verity Williams knew that proximal is the opposite term to distal. There was time for them to take one bonus, and then the gong. Nuffield were worthy winners on 165, but JP expressed the hope that Queen Mary might make it back on 130, and I hope so too. Well played both, a good match.

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Both teams managed to get the sex of the singer of Lilac wine wrong. When Yolanda Lovelady suggested Stevie Wonder there was a big pause – and I could sense the internal battle going on within JP. You see the thing is that he often seems to take something of a shine to all female teams, and is often on his best behaviour with them. So he made do with the pause, and kept the comments and the old fashioned looks to himself for now.

Then, in a way, he paid a compliment to the men of Nuffield. When they spent a while arguing over whether the first music bonus was Kate Bush – it was actually ABBA – he said ‘it’s very rewarding to see some of the finest minds in the world deliberating over this.’ What, sarcasm? Surely not.

Daniel Kaliski recognized a quotation from Thomas Malthus. “Yes . . . Actually Malthus is all I was looking for “ replied JP. So bleedin’ what? That was Malthus’ christian name, so what the hell did it matter?

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

Nine Provinces – Four Provinces – Northern Sea Circuit and Main Island are direct translations of the names of the major islands of Japan.

Answers to News Questions

In the News

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

Writing’s on the wall

Chris Harper-Mercer

Brian Friel

Arnold Palmer

Kim Davis

Prue Leith

Shaker Aamer

Dismaland

Astro-Sat

Tom Brady

Mazher Mahmood

Sarah Sands

China Eden

Aidan Coleman

Lord Burns

Didymoon

Johanna Konta

Max Verstappen

Umpqua Community College, Oregon

The Road to Little Dribbling

In Other News

Which train company have announced that they will give instant refunds for delays in some circumstances?

The Royal Mail are to charge which fee for insufficient postage?

What caused the moon to turn red last week?

What happened to the Baital Futuh Mosque in Morden?

What was the Rugby World Cup score between Scotland and the USA?

– and Ireland and Romania?

– and Australia and Uruguay?

– and England and Wales? (sob)

– and England and Australia (waaahhhhh)

Which Brit won the cycling world road race championship?

What was the score between Spurs and Man City?

Who won the Japanese GP?

Which former great English bowler passed away?

Which book won the WH Smiths readers favourite book poll?

How much money did the Beatles’ original contract fetch at Sotherbys?

London announced it will not be hosting what?

What was the Champions League score between Chelsea and Porto?

And Arsenal and Olymiakos?

And Man Utd and Wolfsburg?

And Man City and Borussia Moenchengladbach?

Which team will Mark Cavendish be joining?

Jerry Adams will not face charges involved in the death of whom?

What have the BBC decided about the Eurovision Song Contest?

Which company announced an end to arctic oil drilling?

Whose fight with Tyson Fury has been postponed for a few weeks?

What was announced by the Girl Guide movement last week?

County Cricket championship – who had the highest batting average?

And the highest total runs?

And the best bowling average?

And the most wickets?

Which team won the cricket 2^nd division?

And which team are also promoted?

Who are to buy a controlling stake in the Lotus F1 team?

Whose flag was raised at the UN for the first time?

What did Jeremy Corbyn anger front bench colleagues by saying he wouldn’t do?

Channel Four got what last week?

Who are taking over coverage of the British Open a year early?

Alcohol sales are to be allowed in which famous village for the first time?

For what would David Cameron not apologise in Jamaica?

Rugby World Cup – score between Wales and Fiji?

Who was it announced will star in the latest Meerkat advert?

A case of which animal disease was reported in Wales?

Which became the 3^rd to legalise Marijuana?

In which town did a giant sinkhole appear?

The Australian cricket team postponed a tour to where over security concerns?

In the Europa League what was the score between Liverpool and Sion?

And Spurs and Monaco

And Celtic and Fehnerbahce?

Who has a new contract with McLaren

Who announced his engagement to Lance Black?

Answers

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

Sam Smith song – the first ever Bond theme to get to number 1 in UK chart

US college gunman – he had a British father

Irish playwright – passed away

Legendary golfer applied to build his first ever course in Scotland

US registrar who refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple – she got to meet the pope this week.

Celebrity food writer – said that her career had probably been helped by having an affair with a married man when she was young – they were later married.

Last Brit in Guantanmo Bay, who is to be released into British custody

Banksy’s theme park, being sent to Calais to be a shelter for Migrants

Indian space telescope launched

Threw his 400^th career touchdown pass

‘Fake Sheikh’ charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice

Jailed for murdering convicted paedophile

Deal for the Eden Project to build a centre in China

Jockey who was assaulted in the changing rooms by members of the public at Southwell

Made to step down as chairman of Channel 4

A small asteroid which scientists will attempt to nudge off course with a satellite

British tennis player beat world number 2 Simona Halep in Wuhan Open

F1 driver who passed his driving test on his 18^th birthday last week

Scene of USA college shooting

New Bill Bryson book

In Other News

Virgin

£1.50

Supermoon Eclipse

Subject to an arson attack

39 – 16 Scotland

44 – 10 Ireland

65 – 3 Australia

28 – 25 Wales

33 – 13 Australia

Lizzie Armitstead

4 – 1 Spurs

Lewis Hamilton

Frank Tyson

To Kill A Mockingbird

£365,000

The Grande Depart of the 2017 Tour de France

2 – 1 Porto

3 – 2 Olympiakos

2 – 1 Man Utd

2 – 1 Man City

MTN Qubeka

Jean McConville

They will resurrect A Song For Europe and public voting

Shell

Vladimir Klitschko

Leaders will no longer have to retire at 65

Johnny Bairstow

Ashwell Prince

Ryan Sidebottom

C. Rushworth

Surrey

Lancashire

Renault

Palestine

Push the nuclear button

A new logo

Sky

Bourneville

Britain’s role in the Slave Trade

23 – 13

Nicole Kidman

BSE

Oregon

St Albans

Bangladesh

1 – 1

1 – 1

2 – 2

Jenson Button

Tom Daley

Mastermind: Round One: Heat Ten

The first of last night’s contenders was, I think, a Mastermind virgin. I say I think, for I do actually have a John Ross on the database as a former contender, but that was back in 1991 and 1998, and with all due respect to last night’s John, he looked a little young to have been of Mastermind age in 1991. His subject was the films of Kevin Smith, a subject which I soon proved to my own satisfaction that I knew absolutely nothing about. John scored 8. That’s not a bad score, it’s maybe not a brilliant one, but it’s a decent return. However in this era of the show it’s a score which is going to leave you with too much to do in the GK round, unless something very unusual happens.

Frances Chant made her own first appearance on Mastermind back in Gary’s 2012 series. Back then she answered on The Sandman Graphic Novels of Neil Gaiman. Last night she answered on The Novels of Neil Gaiman. Well, I for one don’t have any axe to grind about that, the seeming similarity between the subjects. Good luck to her -  Neil Gaiman is a very popular writer, who is becoming more popular all the time, so I can understand the appeal. The thing about doing a set of a writer’s works is – or a filmmaker’s for that matter – is that you really have to know them inside out. It’s pretty much a given that some of the questions are going to focus on small details, and in Mastermind you cannot allow any potential source of points to go by. I have no doubt that Frances knows all of these books very well, but like John she managed 8, and you always sensed that this was not going to be enough to give her a chance in the last round.

Like Frances, Jim Maginnis has appeared on Mastermind before. Way, way back in 1991 – that’s Stephen Allen’s series – way back then he reached the semi finals. Now, I’m afraid that I don’t have any records of his subjects, or his scores in heat or semi back then. Last night, though, he was answering on Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris, and this was as good a specialist round as we’ve seen for the whole series. Jim was asked 14 questions, and gave 14 perfect answers with no hesitation, and each answer snapped out as quickly as I could imagine they could be given. I do not believe that there was any way another question could possibly have been squeezed out of that round. So I’ll be interested to see if anyone gets a score of more than 14 in the first round for the rest of the series. We have already seen a 15. With one fell swoop, then, Jim took both John and Frances out of the running, and only Nick Downes, yet to come, could it seem bar his progress to a second semi.

I don’t know much about Chess Records. That much became obvious as Nick Downes’ round progressed. Nick obviously did. I like to see a contender get into double figures, which I feel is a good reward for all of the time and effort which you have to put in to learning for your specialist. I don’t particularly want to go on about this, but I’m of the school of – if you’ve got 6 weeks to learn for it, then you use all 6 weeks – if you’ve got 10, then you use all 10. Nick managed 11 points. Did that give him a realistic chance? Not really. Let me explain – so far in this series we have only once seen a contender who is not either in the lead or joint lead after the specialist round come through to win. That was Christine Harrison last week, and she was only 1 point behind. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t seen any great performers on GK, but it does mean that the best performers on GK have also done very well on their specialists.

First back, then was John Ross. I have to pay tribute to John here. He’d have been forgiven for letting his head drop a little after ending with a specialist score which put him an unbridgeable distance behind the leader, but he kept a smile on his face, and did seem to be still enjoying his Mastermind experience. This continued even though a lot of the GK questions eluded him. In the end he had taken his score to 15. As for Frances, well, last time out she had scored a useful 12 on GK – albeit at a time when GK scores in the teens were quite a bit more common. This time, though, it just didn’t come off for her, and she too finished with 15. There’s not a lot I can say in the way of consolation to either Frances or John, other than sometimes it just isn’t your night, and try not to let it get you down.

Nick Downes had to try to set the highest total for Jim to chase that he possibly could. You never really know how well your fellow contenders can do on GK, and so if you can put on a good score yourself you can at least put them into the corridor of doubt. Also there was just the outside chance that if Nick had a blinder, then he could maybe put himself in line for a repechage slot. The first minute or so did for Nick’s chances of that, however to his credit he did pick up momentum from about the minute mark , and started to accrue some good answers. In the end he finished with 13. This gave him a total of 24, which meant that Jim needed 11 to win outright. That’s doable, but it is by no means a given.

To be fair, though, Jim always looked fairly comfortable. For all that he passed a few, and dropped a few more, he always looked good for a total of 25 or 26, and in the end he answered 12 correctly to finish on 26. A fearsome performance on specialist, and a very competent GK performance made him a clear winner on the night, and a worthy one as well. Well played sir.

The Details

John Ross	Films of Kevin Smith	8	2	7	2	15	4
Frances Chant	Novels of Neil Gaiman	8	1	7	2	15	3
Jim Maginnis	Sir Arthur Bomber Harris	14	0	12	4	26	4
Nick Downes	Chess Records	11	0	13	4	24	4

In the News

In the News

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

Writing’s on the wall

Chris Harper-Mercer

Brian Friel

Arnold Palmer

Kim Davis

Prue Leith

Shaker Aamer

Dismaland

Astro-Sat

Tom Brady

Mazher Mahmood

Sarah Sands

China Eden

Aidan Coleman

Lord Burns

Didymoon

Johanna Konta

Max Verstappen

Umpqua Community College, Oregon

The Road to Little Dribbling

In Other News

Which train company have announced that they will give instant refunds for delays in some circumstances?

The Royal Mail are to charge which fee for insufficient postage?

What caused the moon to turn red last week?

What happened to the Baital Futuh Mosque in Morden?

What was the Rugby World Cup score between Scotland and the USA?

– and Ireland and Romania?

– and Australia and Uruguay?

– and England and Wales? (sob)

– and England and Australia (waaahhhhh)

Which Brit won the cycling world road race championship?

What was the score between Spurs and Man City?

Who won the Japanese GP?

Which former great English bowler passed away?

Which book won the WH Smiths readers favourite book poll?

How much money did the Beatles’ original contract fetch at Sotherbys?

London announced it will not be hosting what?

What was the Champions League score between Chelsea and Porto?

And Arsenal and Olymiakos?

And Man Utd and Wolfsburg?

And Man City and Borussia Moenchengladbach?

Which team will Mark Cavendish be joining?

Jerry Adams will not face charges involved in the death of whom?

What have the BBC decided about the Eurovision Song Contest?

Which company announced an end to arctic oil drilling?

Whose fight with Tyson Fury has been postponed for a few weeks?

What was announced by the Girl Guide movement last week?

County Cricket championship – who had the highest batting average?

And the highest total runs?

And the best bowling average?

And the most wickets?

Which team won the cricket 2^nd division?

And which team are also promoted?

Who are to buy a controlling stake in the Lotus F1 team?

Whose flag was raised at the UN for the first time?

What did Jeremy Corbyn anger front bench colleagues by saying he wouldn’t do?

Channel Four got what last week?

Who are taking over coverage of the British Open a year early?

Alcohol sales are to be allowed in which famous village for the first time?

For what would David Cameron not apologise in Jamaica?

Rugby World Cup – score between Wales and Fiji?

Who was it announced will star in the latest Meerkat advert?

A case of which animal disease was reported in Wales?

Which became the 3^rd to legalise Marijuana?

In which town did a giant sinkhole appear?

The Australian cricket team postponed a tour to where over security concerns?

In the Europa League what was the score between Liverpool and Sion?

And Spurs and Monaco

And Celtic and Fehnerbahce?

Who has a new contract with McLaren

Who announced his engagement to Lance Black?

Only Connect: Series Eleven: Elimination Match

Road Trippers v. Builders

The Road Trippers - Chris Pendleton, Nick Patterson and skipper Ned Pendleton, were fairly comfortably defeated by the Athenians last time out. As for the Builders, Robin Whelan, Max Esperson, and captain Ian Orris, well, they had a bit of a ‘mare against the Scientists, and must have at least drawn comfort from the thought that things surely wouldn’t work out so badly for them second time out, lightning never striking the same place twice.

Round One – What’s the Connection?

The Builds kicked off with Two Reeds, and had some horrible mathsy thing. It began with approximately 10m X π – ((365X3)+366)X21,600) . That helped a little, since sxs65 and 366 suggested 3 years and a leap year – but what about them? 365.25 x 82,400 saw Ian somewhat inexplicably deduce it was the time it takes Halleys Comet to come round the sun again. Well, that’s 76 years, so obviously wrong. I had already plumped for various formulae for the number of seconds in a year – which the last clue – 365.25X24X60X60 seemed to confirm. Given an open goal the Trips contrived to send the ball into row Z, just giving a year as the answer. Come on chaps, you can do better than this. Lion gave the Trips seven consonants. Two vowels made it click – there are seven consonants in the word consonants, and two vowels in the word vowels. This was confirmed by three syllables, and seven letters. The Trips had no idea, and neither did the Builds. They picked Twisted flax, which was the music set. I didn’t have the first two, but recognized ‘I’m gonna wash that man right outta my hair’ from South Pacific. Long haired lover from Liverpool – they don’t make em like that any more thank goodness – proved hair was the link. At last one of the teams got a point, as the Builds saw it too. The Trips took Water, and a picture set. The first was the great Gordon Banks. The second I didn’t know. The third – Britney Spears. Hmm – present tense indicative singular verbs, I suggested. The last clue Jeremy Irons fit the pattern. Mind you it also fitted plural nouns, which was the answer given by the Trips – I’m glad they accepted that answer for frankly rather a weakfish set in my opinion. The Builds asked for an unstressed Horned Viper which gave them club sandwich – iPod – and I was floundering at this point – Billy Bookcase – and I was actually sinking at this point – Big Mac. Nope – I just didn’t have it at all. Neither did the teams. Apparently these are all things used as financial indices – to compare the buying power of different currencies. Alright, I will admit that the words – American Municipal Bankruptcies – did flash briefly through my mind – but I’m not a financier and for all I know these things are well known as such. My initial thought, though, was that this was unnecessarily obscure. Eye of Horus gave the Trips – Rut – Loam – and there was something nagging at the back of my mind – and Barset which made it crystal – fictional counties. It was clear for the Trips too, but they took Borset to be sure. All of which meant that at the end of the round the score was 2 – 1 to the Trips.

Round Two – What Comes Fourth?

Two reeds gave the builds the word endangered on a yellow background. I fancied a shy at a five pointer and gave the word extinct in white on a black background. They took a second clue – critically endangered on a red background. Robin, I think, had the right answer at this point, but they opted to take Extinct in the Wild on a blue background before giving the right answer. Well, that was a better set. Twisted flax gave the Trips Act of Settlement. Hmm – no idea. First GB Census though was in 1801, so if we were going 1701 onwards, then attack on the world trade centre would do for 2001. Ned had it worked out at this point too, but took Death of Queen Victoria to prove it. He gave the example of Goran Ivanesevic which was perfectly acceptable. The Builds took eye of Horus and received pictures. What we had were feet in ballet shoes in various positions starting with 4^th and working backwards. So if you knew that 1st position was a pair of feet with the heels touching, you could have a 5 pointer. If you didn’t, then you weren’t even going to get a one pointer. Which makes it a less than great set, as I would argue that for most people clues 2 and 3 do not make it any easier than clue 1. Neither team had it. Water gave the Trips Death Valley. Now that had possibilities – being possibly the driest place in North America, and certainly the lowest below sea level in North America. Laguna del Carbon sounded appropriately South American, and so if we were going for lowest points of continents, then the Dead Sea for Asia seemed to fit the bill. The Trips thought about depressions and Dead Sea, but actually suffered a depression after going for driest places with the Atacama Desert. The Builds took a bonus. Lion gave the Builds Conforms to EU safety standards. Then Compare. Well that was CE followed by CF, so the answer would be eg international car registration for Switzerland. Which was exactly the answer that the Builds also came up with. Now THAT’S a nice set. Horned Viper – conventionally voiced by Victoria as always – gave the Trips 2002: Cafu. So – world cup winning captains. 2014: Lahm, 5 points thank you very much. Well, not for the Trips, though. They didn’t know it was Philip Lahm. As for the Builds, well, they either couldn’t believe their luck that they were given such an easy steal, or couldn’t believe their bad luck that they didn’t pick such a plum for themselves. This gave the Builds a lead of 8 – 4.

Round Three – The Connecting Walls

Lion kicked off the round for the Trips. It took a while, but they eventually resolved a set of black and white creatures – orca – skunk – zebra and giant panda. Words which can follow honey did just that, that is, they followed – badger – trap – monster – bun. A little bit of thought, and a conference, and they solved the last two lines. Brother – Remington Mandvi and Adler are typewriter manufacturers, which left Bee – Mandvi – Colbert and Oliver, which I didn’t know, all correspondents on The Daily Show. 10 out of 10, and much needed.

Water gave the Builds a bit to think of. They tried a set of heels first, then gave it up and went for orchestral conductors, then gave it up and isolated a set of Danger Mouse characters – Stiletto – Baron Greenback – Agent 57 – Penfold. Then immediately after that the conductors – Solti – Toscanini – Rattle and Beecham followed. Kitten – Cuban – wedge and cone were the heels, which left golf clubs – hybrid – wood – iron and putter. Again, 10 from 10. So going into the final round the Builds had a useful but not decisive lead of 18 – 14.

Round Four – Missing Vowels

Charity singles, the first category, went two apiece, which helped the Builds more than it helped the Trips. A 4-0 shut out on musicians and their instruments for the Builds meant pretty much game over. 3 – 1 on things you might see on a pay slip increased the lead, and there was just time for one apiece on the buildings on the heritage at risk register before the time was up. The final score was 28 – 18. A comfortable win for the Builders in the end. 

University Challenge: Round One: Match 12

Clare, Cambridge v. Warwick

Another Cambridge college then tried to follow in the footsteps of last week’s winners, St. Cats. Clare College were represented by David  Tremain, Sarah Binney, Ellie Warner and skipper Olivier Grouille. Their opposition, from Warwick, were Hugh Osborn, Emily Stevenson, James Leahy and captain Ashley Page.

Claire Warner recognized that the first question was driving towards Jan De Groot – or John O’Groats, the name of which allegedly commemorates him. Two bonuses on the Wallace Collection were duly taken. As soon as David Tremain heard the title “The Deserted Village” he knew we were dealing with Oliver Goldsmith. Two bonuses on birds in poetry brought them to 40 points. The Warwick skipper knew that the Cowper glands are found beneath the prostate. Fair enough. Fungal diseases of trees brought us our old friends Ash dieback and Dutch Elm disease, but Sudden Oak Death was a new one on me as much as it was a new one on Warwick as well. No prizes to either team for not picking up the chestnut that Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas – with him being probably the original of the old poem There was a young man from Caracas. The next starter was one of those where you just had to wait and wait until it became obvious. Ashley Page’s nerve broke first and he gave away five. When the words Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project were finally spoken, Olivier Grouille correctly supplied the answer of Robert Oppenheimer. Bonuses on 11^th century kings proved too difficult for Clare, and they failed to add to their score from this visit to the table. For the first picture starter we saw the flag bearing St. Piran’s cross, and it fell to Ashley Page to tell us that it was the county flag of Cornwall. More county flags followed, and Warwick recognized one of them. This meant that at the 10 minute mark Clare led 50 – 30.

St. Louis de Ha! Ha! Is not a place that I’ve ever heard of before, but somehow I doubt that it could possibly live up to its name, claiming, as it does, to be the only place with two exclamation marks in its name. James Leahy was first in for that one. This earned his team a set of bonuses on Roman remains in North Africa, but they failed to score. The word intrusive brought Ashley Page another starter, and another five points were accrued from a set of bonuses on Bartok. I was very pleased with myself for getting Zuleika Dobson for the next starter. Didn’t she play Angie in Eastenders? Neither team had it. A set of people who all formed partnerships with Lewises brought Ashley Page another starter, which suggested that he had really found his buzzer range, and Clare were finding it difficult to edge their way back into the contest. American Geography provided one bonus. The music starter saw David Tremain buzz in too early and lose 5 points. Still, he was doing the right thing, trying to get his team going again. This gave Warwick a clear run at Rossini’s Barber of Seville, but they didn’t know it any more than I did. Now, in a quiz, if you hear the name Edward Hopper, then you hit the buzzer and say ‘Nighthawks’. That’s what Ashley Page did. The opera bonuses didn’t work out for them, but when you’re comprehensively winning the buzzer race it doesn’t matter so much, as long as you keep winning it. It was James Leahy who guessed that Henning Mankell is Ingmar Bergman’s son in law. Two bonuses on moons put them on the cusp of triple figures. Nobody knew the one about electronic circuits, neither did I. David Tremain knew about the birth of psychology, and at last Clare were moving again. They were unable to take any bonuses on the Council of Constance. This meant that on almost the 20 minute mark they still trailed by 60 to Warwick’s 95.

Sarah Binney certainly knew her Studio Ghibli films, as she took the starter on Spirited Away and a full set of bonuses on the same, which put Clare right back in the game. What price all of those missed bonuses for Warwick now? A sequence of mothers of consecutive British monarchs was completed with Mary of Teck by Emily Stevenson. This enabled Warwick to score their own full set on chemical elements. In graph theory there are 7 features in the theoretical Bridges of Konigsberg. I didn’t know that but Ashley Page did. 2 bonuses on the Wakhan Corridor took them closer to the event horizon. James Leahy kept his foot to the floor and answered correctly that the Troodos Mountains are in Cyrpus. One bonus on roman history followed, but with the gap at 75 Warwick appeared to have done the job. Sarah Binney knew that the writer of Foundation and Empire had the given name Isaac. A bonus on political figures and literature brought them up to 100 points. A list of 20^th century foreign secretaries passed both teams by. James Leahy knew the film making term auteur. A bonus on neo- terms pushed the further ahead. Emily Stevenson knew that the Willow Tea Rooms were the work of architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Warwick just had time to take one bonus on European airports before the gong, which completed a fairly comfortable 195 – 100 win.

Well played Warwick, hard luck Clare. I fancy Warwick will have to be a little less profligate with their bonuses next time round, but hey, what do I know?

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Our Jez said nothing worthy of particular comment before Ashley Page offered ‘intrusion’ rather than intrusive. He accepted it eventually, but pulled a face which suggested allowing it to pass was akin to having a wisdom tooth pulled.

Rather ungallantly when Sarah Binney pulled a despairing face and offered a guess at an answer to the electronic circuit starter he suggested that ‘you seemed to be in pain a moment ago.”

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

Henning Mankell is the son in law of Ingmar Bergman.