The Results

Ethel Rodin and Snoopy's Friends had to call off their fixture due to illness and a consequent shortage of players - I await news as to whether there will be a rematch or a walkover

SPW kept their unbeaten run intact with a home victory over the Electric Pigs

Albert lost at home to the high-flying Charabancs of Fire

Getaways completed their very first home match of the season with a win over TMTCH

History Men fell foul of the X-Pats in a lengthy and low-scoring game at the Red

Opsimaths set this week.  I was at the Gateway where the Getaways and TMTCH had a most enjoyable - but pretty lengthy evening's quizzing.  The scores were on the low side of average.  Elsewhere opinions varied.

From the Griffin Kieran writes:

"Cracking quiz - much closer all the way through than the final result suggests. Very well balanced, plenty to get your teeth into and as ever very good company in Andrew, Paul, Dave, Guy and Gary (no they weren't playing with five!).

One gripe - bum question of the year - the French Nobel laureate.  OK he's a Nobel winner but really who's ever heard of him (be quiet Mark Bassett) or could remember his name now without looking at the question paper?"

but from the Red Ivor's comments were not so enthusiastic:

"The quiz concluded at 11.15 - goodness knows when the SPW v Electric Pigs match ended (both teams being renowned for their cogitation time).

 I was in the best seat tonight (QM) but with 17 unanswered questions the general conclusion was that the difficulty bar had been set too high.  Ann thought the quiz had been set by Snoopy’s for most of the match and still found it hard to believe the setters were Opsimaths because of the dearth of her bête noir 'rivers and lakes' questions.  The '7s' round was thought to be especially obtuse and having Four Seasons and Three Sisters as answers was verging on the perverse (even if it added up to seven) and I suspect that the seven sages of Athens have not appeared as a link in a quiz since Plato’s end of term fun quiz at the Academy in 380 BC.

The Olympics pair was quite cunning and is our recommendation for QotW.  Best wrong answer was Ann’s to the spare question on the connection between 'Scouts, herpes, syphilis, lepers, England and Netherlands' .  She volunteered “well travelled British Airways cabin crew”

and from the Fletcher Moss Damian's conclusions:

"It seemed to us to be a reasonable quiz with a minimum degree of controversy.  The themes were fairly straightforward although the 'Sevens Round' did seem a tad vague on occasion (eg. 'Seven SEASons'  & 'Seven Sacraments'  (which must have proved a bit baffling to all the non-Catholics amongst us - the Proddies believe there are only 2!!).

 

We found it a good, reasonably well-balanced paper, albeit not as stimulating and thought-provoking as past Opsimaths papers have often proved to be!"

'Question of the Week'

This week the Getaways voted for Round 8 Question 2:

What piece of sports equipment conforms to these dimensions: overall length 10.95cm, length of barrel 5.40cm, longer spigot 3.49cm, shorter spigot 2.06cm?

For the answer to this and all the week's questions click here.

Chatterbox

Any of you out there looking to strengthen your team?  I've had an email this week from an old friend of the league, Anne-Marie Glennon.  Anne-Marie used to play for the great Ebony & Ivory team of the 1990s led by the one that got away, Dave Rainford.

Anne-Marie writes:

"I was wondering if any of the teams in the Withington quiz league are looking for any new players or a sub.  I used to play years ago with Dave Rainford in Ebony and Ivory until the Champion’s League fixtures got in the way of the Wednesday night quizzes for Dave.  I would love to play again.  I am a good all rounder in general knowledge and particularly good at sport, although not in the same league as Dave.  Could you please let me know if anyone is looking?"

Anne-Marie has given me her contact details so if any of you need to get in touch with her let me know.

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Glad to see Fr. M back again this week.  A short bulletin this time - it seems his mission to the Balkans was not without sacrifice.  And while we're on about Fr M I was talking to Dave Rainford last night.

As you probably know Dave moves in august circles these days, mixing with the stars of the TV quiz circuit.  It seems that WithQuiz has quite a few fans out there and, indeed, Fr M is read far and wide.

I don't know if you'd noticed lately but the number of hits on our 'Home' page is climbing pretty steadily.  By my reckoning we have had an average of 2 hits every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since March last year.  What's more the site now contains an archive of over 18,000 past questions.  If any of our readers outside the South Manchester quiz fraternity would care to write in via the 'Contact Us' page or by email to myself, Mike Bath (see the 'Team Details' page for my contact details) I'd be happy to include your feedback in this space.

Megson's Pulpit

Fr Megson is long back from the Balkans but is still far too jaded to put pen to paper.  Suffice to say that he managed to pick up a very sore bum (nothing more sinister than severe stress being applied to his glutimus maximus by cruelly hard Balkan train seats) and a mysterious dose of Macedonian belly which refuses to go away.  All in all Fr. Megson is feeling a bit of a wimp and it may well be that his future peregrinations will have to be curtailed.   Two weeks in Lytham St. Annes sounds a distinct possibility for his next great trek......

In the meantime,here is some music.......sorry we don't seem to have any music.....I know, let's have a bit of vintage CALL MY BLUFF.

This week Withquiz is offering you the chance to win an all expenses paid (beer and tomato juice excluded) weekend for two in the luxurious White Swan hostelry in leafy Ladybarn.  All you have to do is select the most appropriate definition for this well known phrase or quiz team. This week's teaser has been sent in by a Mr R. Robinson, a retired  buffoon from Surbiton.  Let's have a round of applause for Mr Robinson and a milk token is winging its way towards him even as we cringe.

Tonight's phrase is THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG.

Is it: 

1. A multiple botch up in a sex change surgery

2. A youthful quiz team specialising in twentieth century punk ephemera

3. A group of Gestapo officers enjoying an extended Vatican sponsored sojourn in Paraguay

 If this game proves popular, we could play it every Wednesday night and thus avoid having to visit draughty pubs in bleak midwinter.

What do you think?

Fr M