Withington Pub Quiz League - Quizbiz 21/02/07

Weirdly all the away teams won tonight - and 2 of them (the Girls and the Park) won with identical scores for and against (and before you ask, the winning team went first in both cases).

Pleasingly the results this evening saw the Pigs and the Park climb up from their undeservedly humble slots, whilst (thanks to my own hapless Opsimaths) the Girls marched on at the top.

A couple of added comments from the editor's chair:

Next Monday (26th) is the monthly Albert Club Quiz night - lots of pictures, music, themes and prizes (including the regular Brainbreaker spot prize which now stands at £30) - 8.15pm start and all welcome (teams or individuals)
Wouldn't Sheila be safer inside the White Swan rather than waiting outside in the car? (see below)

The Results

Ethel Rodin were stoutly defeated at the Stadium of Murk by the Electric Pigs

Opsimaths collapsed at home to the untouchables that are the Napier Girls

Snoopy's Friends got fecked at the Didsbury by the 2 FCEKs

X-Pats were overwhelmed by Albert Park who surged through the last round to record a rare away victory

The Paper

History Men set this week. A toughie with average scores on the low side but by no means the lowest of the season. My take was a pretty challenging set of questions, but the challenge was fun and, by and large, accepted. When it came to nominate a QotW there was no shortage of debate. I have to say I was miffed by the themed Round 5 (which we bothered about but never worked out). Why not tell us the theme up front? Having said this, I think the others (apart from Brian who hates being the disadvantaged first person into a theme, week after week) were OK with this round. The picture round was bob on - full marks to David for the quality of the pictures.

Question of the Week

The Pigs went for the one-way "bumerang" question (Round 6 Question 1) but both the Girls and the 2 FCEKs went for Round 2 Question 6:

Who is Queen Victoria's eldest surviving great great grandchild and currently 465th in line to the throne?

Click here to see the answers to this and the rest of the week's questions and answers.

Withquiz Venues

(With Fr M away I am using his "tailpiece space" to let Howell, this season's Opsimath's Youth Policy product, air his initial views of our hallowed venues)

Following my debut last October, I have now had chance to visit all of the venues. Here's a light-hearted review from a 52 year old new boy.

Venues are ranked 1 - 5 (1 is low) according to the following criteria:

Ambience - is this a nice friendly location to while away a Wednesday night

Quiz Facilities - is the actual location for the quiz suitable for a group of people to exercise their memories and drag from the depths obscure knowledge they learnt some years ago

Oddball - an important factor reflecting the strangeness of the location

Sheila Friendly - would my wife like it if I took her for a drink in this location

So then - on to the results (in alphabetical order)...

The Albert Club:

Ambience 2 (it might score higher if there was anyone else in it)

Quiz Facilities 4 (pretty good)

Oddball 2 (nothing particularly unusual to comment upon)

Sheila Friendly 2 ("it's OK but I'm glad I haven't worn anything nice")

TOTAL = 10

The Didsbury:

Ambience 1 (great if you like table numbers so you can remember where you were sitting though)

Quiz Facilities 5 (your own little area cordoned off indeed)

Oddball 1 (nothing at all odd - not even Snoopy's Friends!)

Sheila Friendly 1 ("why have you brought me here?")

TOTAL = 8

Fletcher Moss:

Ambience 4 (this has the feel of a nice friendly local)

Quiz Facilities 2 (nice little room but one that tends to get a bit noisy as the night progresses)

Oddball 1 (nothing odd here either)

Sheila Friendly 3 ("this is OK for a drink on the way to Jem & I")

TOTAL = 10

Griffin:

Ambience 3 (a pleasant location with a nice bar)

Quiz Facilities 5 (nice acoustics in your own room)

Oddball 2 (all Holt's pubs automatically get an extra point for being a bit odd)

Sheila Friendly 1 ("can we go yet")

TOTAL = 11

Red Lion:

Ambience 4 (great for a buzzing atmosphere with plenty of TV watching opportunities)

Quiz Facilities 1 (the buzzing atmosphere puts paid to concentration!)

Oddball 1 (this is a very sensible location)

Sheila Friendly 3 ("Speak up a bit if you want to talk to me")

TOTAL = 9

Sun in September

Ambience 3 (friendly but very quiet without music)

Quiz Facilities 5 (a nice little area all to ourselves)

Oddball 3 (it does have the feel of being in someone's living room)

Sheila Friendly 2 ("Shall we just stop for the one")

TOTAL = 13

White Swan

Ambience 3 (quite cultural on the jazz nights, otherwise football lover paradise)

Quiz Facilities 3 (On your own yes, but in a dimly lit barn)

Oddball 5 (Keep your steel tipped shoes to yourselves etc etc)

Sheila Friendly 0 ("I'll stay in the car")

TOTAL = 11