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"Can't sing & Can't
dance" song and dance team hear about the Charas
(R1/Q3)
Bards beat
Ethel Rodin
In the end a comfortable victory for the Bards as Ethel takes a
tumble
 Tony
hands down his judgment...
Dennis was our QM tonight and, although he is on a learning curve,
he
performed the demanding duties of his office very well. We managed to
keep him on the straight and narrow and there were no embarrassing
moments from our rookie QM.
Ethel were without James tonight and so I
was designated rapporteur for the evening. It was an
interesting paper which took us through many far off lands and
strange oriental names, and gave us a very evenly matched quiz until
Round 8. The score after Round 2 was 8-8, after Round 3 it
was 12-12, after Round 4 it was 16-16 and Round 5, 21-21. In the
Run-on Round Robin and Jim managed a couple of two's so we gained a
slight lead. We managed a couple more twos in Round 7 against Greg's
two for knowing that Taft also served as Chief Justice. In the final round
we scored 3 twos and a bonus to run out winners of that round 10-2
and thus win the match.
Manchester Uni's
royal dresser's model
(R2/Q4)
 Bard
John adds...
When these 2 teams met at the Ladybarn Club in December it was a close
affair with Ethel stealing victory on the last question.
Last night’s contest looked to be heading for a similarly tight
ending with the scores level at half time. However, in the second
half, inspired by Tony’s half time pep talk (a mixture of
Churchill, Sir Alex and David Brent) the Bards moved into overdrive
and romped home by 11 points. In truth, the scoreline did not
reflect a tight contest which only swung the way of the Bards in the
last two rounds. Ethel were dogged opponents with Greg scoring an
impressive 5 two pointers by my count. In the end, their in-depth
knowledge of foreign language films, Alanis Morrisette and marsupial
faeces gave the Bards the advantage.
QM Dennis coped manfully with a wordy set of questions and some
tricky pronunciations in a quiz which didn’t end until 10.45.
Next week, we’re 'up for the cup' with a match against local rivals,
The History Men, in the Parrswood Classico - a local derby which
makes the Old Firm game look like a vicar’s tea party!
Soap opera
(R6/Q2)
Albert
beat
History Men
Albert bounce back after last week's drubbing
 Mike
O'B is thrilled...
First of all, I must announce thrilling news. When I got home last
night I learnt that I had won the Turner Prize for my life-sized
statue of Boris Johnson carved from wombat cubed turds. It is a very
tactile substance although a bit whiffy. Apparently, Chris Ofili is
very envious and feels he has wasted his best years chucking
elephant dung at walls. It's just amazing, therefore, that there was a question about wombat crap
on last night's paper - and so this is my favourite question of the
night.
For some reason we were moved to a different part of The Didsbury
where the benches were so high that some of our group complained
that their feet could
not touch the floor.
Toy inventor
discovers electricity by accident
(R7/Q6)
 Ivor
'All or Nothing' Cartmill sums up ...
Never let it be said that the Historymen are Laodiceans (how’s that
for a highbrow cultural reference?). We are either very hot (a 12
point victory last week) or very cold (a 12 point defeat tonight). Not
for us KFD’s four victories this season to date (four!) by a single
point as well as a tie. If this happened to the Historymen we would
need to travel with photo finish equipment and probably a
defibrillator as well. Not to mention extra rounds
(drinks not questions) to steady the nerves.
Manchester Uni's
Marathon woman
(R2/Q6)
We won the toss and batted first. As is usual we were ahead after
two rounds but then the game drifted away. Though some of this was
accounted for by the 6 to 2 split in the allocation of the unanswereds, the main cause was
Albert’s superior two rate (16 to our 10). It was notable that the younger
players for the Albert (Stephen and Ashton) got 6 twos each, as did Our
Vanessa. This is first time Vanessa has scored 6 twos in a game and it is not often
that
one’s individual success is overshadowed by a terrible team
performance. We Oldies in Seats 3 and 4 (Jeremy, Anne, Eveline and
me) were somewhat adrift. Even Anne in Seat 4 ('the seat that
always gets the easy questions') could only muster a single two. We
did wonder if this was due to our ageing brains, or if it merely
reflects the fact that we have not learnt much in the third millennium ("haven’t
seen an art house film since 2003", “never heard of these American
caterwauling musicians”, “economic political science is not a proper
science”). Our only consolation is that we are still likely to
qualify for 'Europe' next season barring a Herculean effort by the
Charabancs in their remaining matches.
Spread-spectrum and
frequency-hopping Delilah
(R7/Q1)
Despite our poor result we did enjoy the quiz. We had to play in the
main bar competing with Muzak and background chatter as well as the
mutterings of colleagues. Anne insisted I was only allowed to ask
for the question to be repeated a maximum of three times (that’s
three times in the entire quiz - a bit like appeals reviews in
cricket). Mike O’B in the QM chair is not stentorian but he tempers
authority with compassion (I am sounding like Meghan Markle now) and
so this rule was broken several times (mainly because I couldn’t
believe the question being asked).
...whose
Who's companion
(R2/Q1)
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Opsimaths
lost to KFD
Just when defeat was beckoning KFD find that extra zip
 Kieran
feels good...
This was good. This felt like a return to seasons not that far in
the past when matches between the Opsis and whatever we were called
at the time were always nip and tuck right up to the end and
frequently decided the destination of the title. The Opsis fielded
their multi-title-winning line up from back in the day and we put up
our classic foursome. Except, and I'm getting almost as bored
repeating, as you must be reading, that yet again our man doing
balloons in his personal Faraday cage was the reason we left West Didsbury with two points. Sure Martin and I got our acts together in
the last two or three rounds and helped out but Barry, or 'Jos
Buttler on one' as we now think of him, had kept us in the game until
the cavalry appeared at the top of the hill at the start of Round
6.
Hirst's seaside
Verity
(R3/Q7)
Okay the maps round was a gift to our geographer in chief; the rest
of us simply handed the pictures over to him as they arrived and let
him do his thing. That's just an easy pull through mid wicket for
the master blaster. But he dredged up Superman from
God
knows where and then convinced us that the Prodigals were cute
enough to set a question to which the answer was Superman and
Superman...and as for that balloon Faraday, with the whole
panoply of SI endowed physicists to go at...we'd just about ruled out
Newton for being too early and were toying with Joule...and then
Barry had a half remembered inkling and when he's on this sort of
form you'd be crazy to ignore any suggestion from him.
Manchester Uni's Bang flopper
(R2/Q7)
So
we're tied with the Prodigals at the top of the table though we're light
years behind on points difference. It's starting to look like a two-horse race, and that maybe our
match four weeks from now will decide
the title. But we have the Charas before then and also the Albert
who aren't out of it yet. And next week the Prodigals come like
pillaging Vikings to Heaton Mersey yet again, this time in the WIST
semi final. It'll have as much bearing on the League title as City
beating Arsenal last Friday will, but we'll try our best to end our
four or five year losing streak. Don't quite see Barry as Nathan Aké somehow; he's much more Erling Haaland Marcus Rashford
(just this one time Baz, just once, because you earned it tonight).
And
Bob will be back next week - hope he brings a bottle.
Muir's
seaside bear
(R3/Q8)
..and Mike from the former champions adds this...
Flattery and
deception are the key words for me. KFD deceive to flatter and
the Opsis do the opposite - at least this season. KFD were
trailing for much of the match - at one point by as much as 6 points
(I think) but in their inimitable way they powered back to pip us at
the close. They just keep winning the matches that go to the
wire. In contrast we do the opposite and blow it at the end.
In straight 'mastery of knowledge' terms we are very well matched;
it's just that extra piece of quizzing guile that lets us down.
So, it was a very
jolly affair this week presided over by Hilary as an impeccable QM.
When Hilary's in charge everything's sunny and she certainly
brightened up our evening. Her highlight turn was to deliver
the rubric at the start of a round and then turn to quizzer number
one (it happened to be Howell last night) demanding an answer.
"Well what's the question?", replied Howell. "I've just told
you", replied Hilary. "No, you haven't", said Howell, "you've
just told me what the round's about! What's
the first
question?". "Whoops!" said Hilary.
David's finishing feast
(R8/Q7)
My own post match
chat was all about music and politics. Music with Martin who
had kindly saved up an excellent recommendation for me (after all
these years he's well tuned into my musical tastes) - it was Herbert
Howells' Hymnus Paradisi (thanks, Martin - I had a listen
when I got home last night). In return I was able
to pass on my new-found liking for the music of Janelle Monàe.
As for politics I think it's fair to say Barry and Kieran are no
great fans of Keir Starmer and the current Labour regime. I
understand - my own family have grave misgivings - but how on earth
- democratically -
are we going to get rid of this current bunch of
crooks, incompetents and wombat turds?
And finally a shout
out for KFD's David who spent a number of weeks last autumn slogging
his way through 500 miles of Northern Spain on the Camino as part of
his close season WithQuiz training, only to miss out when the first
Camino question of the season's quiz papers came up (R8/Q7).
The Window of 'same old, same old'
(R3/Q3)
Charabancs
beat Electric Pigs
At last! Everyone rejoices as the Charas rejoin the hunt
 The
Blessed Damian is full of joy...
Yes, The Blessed Sam (Mr Beckett that is) finally smiled on us and
made us fail so well that we actually managed a win for the
first time this season (other than in a pre-Christmas Stockport fixture
against a 3-man team)! Maybe I just dreamed it? Nope!
Been pinching
myself black and blue but still haven't woken up so it must be true!
From initially being a team member short and so forced to go cap
in hand to the Prodigals for a QM, I suddenly found myself with a
glut of players eager to turn the tide for their beleaguered team.
Graham even cancelled his holiday in the Caribbean, and Bernard flew
straight in from Benidorm (well straightish). So they shared
quizzing duties, swapping places at half-time. Our former captain Gerry
answered my distress call and dashed in from the wilds of Stockport
to come to the aid of his old team mates. It was a heart-warming
experience and made for a truly memorable evening!
Nevertheless it was a
close run thing. We trailed the Pigs for almost the whole quiz but
gradually snuck up on them round by round until finally we squeezed
a head in R7 and held on throughout R8.
Unfortunate 'Blurter of the Week' was Piggy Mike (apologies if I got
his name wrong) who blurted "The Floss on the Mill" instead of "The
Mill on the Floss" in the round with answers containing the
letters 'ill'. Had he
got it the right way round we would have ended up with a draw. Hey, ho!
The Law of diminishing returns
(R3/Q4)
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Quiz
paper
set by...
...The
Prodigals
Average Aggregate score
77.5
I met Anne-Marie on
Monday and she grimaced at me saying she feared the paper they had
set this week was far too hard. Not at all! The average
aggregate was almost spot on the season's average and the diversity
and interest factors of the question subjects seemed pretty high to
me (even though - judging from his comments below - I don't think Tony
agrees with this verdict, but there we are).
At the Club Barry and
I found the Pictures Round particularly well thought out. At
half time debating this round had us comparing the
merits of the daily internet-based 'map challenge games', Worldle
and Globle. If you haven't tried them on your phone, give them
a whirl. Ethel's James put me onto Worldle a few months back -
and Barry swears by Globle. Whatever, both daily mental
exercises help to spotlight what Barry and I agree is an area of
knowledge that is in woeful decline. As youngsters we both had
maps of the world on our bedroom walls and could identify every land
on the globe as well as knowing in quite some detail the places and
subdivisions of Great Britain. In contrast a quartet of
grinning imbeciles from University College Oxford on University
Challenge earlier this week laughed sneeringly at the thought
that any of them might be expected to know the identity of a trio of well
described Scottish counties. What's the point of being a
clever clogs on nuclear physics (say) if you don't know the first
thing about the place you come from and therefore by extension who
you are? Rant over.
Lance the
Detectorist
(R2/Q8)
...so what were Tony's views?...
Not
the most interesting of quizzes with a tad too much on matters
geographical and oriental. The question "Which
European Empire leased Shantung?" rather telegraphed the answer, but,
having said that,
it was no curate's egg of a quiz.
...and Mike O'B's
views?...
The paper was well
received in general and contained some interesting variations
including the round of alliterative film titles. The high aggregate score
suggests that both teams found the paper accessible, especially
Stephen who scored 6 twos as well as several assists.
...and Ivor's
views...
A proper pot pourri of questions and themes. Young David was in his
element with the country outlines and East Asian questions. If only
he could have had all of them as an individual we might have got
closer to a win.
The highbrow/lowbrow round was a great twist on the
'Run-on' style. How many of us confessed to knowing the lowbrow but
struggled on the highbrow? My favourite question of the
evening was the dress
designer of Princess Catherine’s wedding dress - which is the only
fashion question I have ever known the answer to. Sarah Burton was
an alumna of Withington Girls School before her meteoric career with
Alexander McQueen.
Left back Blue
(R8/Q5)
...and finally
Damian's concluding verdict...
Although clearly well put together with a map picture round thrown
in for good measure we found tonight's paper a bit of a toughie. I
counted 15 unanswereds which split almost equally (8
to us, 7 to the Pigs). Many of our answers were guesses, lucky or
otherwise, and a great deal of conferring was required by both teams
which made proceedings drag on until quite late
We particularly
enjoyed the Run-ons (sorry Mike but we just like them), the geography map round
and the final 'a bit ill' round. Fortunately we finished just in
time for last orders and managed the rare experience (nowadays) of
buying a round for our gallant opponents. Now that's an
experience we can happily relive a few more times before the season
ends.
Down under
droppings
(R3/Q5)
Question of the Week
This week the vote goes to Round 3 Question 5 which certainly
sourced a few guffaws at the Albert Club match. The question
went to KFD who in their typically well-drilled way deferred to
Barry. Over the decades that KFD have been playing this quiz
thing they have developed strict understandings as to which team
member is to be the most trusted on every one of the thousands of
categories of questions that come up. Barry knows about sewers
it seems (indeed some refer to him as 'The Turd Man') and so it was
that this question fell into his lap with all the other 7 quizzing
pairs of eyes fixed on him. "Koala" he spake with some degree
of authority. Oh no, Barry, your down under droppings
knowledge is at fault. However over in the Opsimaths camp a
grinning Nick (our 'go-to' cube-shaped droppings guru) slamdunked
the right answer and sat back flushed with success.
Oh yes, and here's the question in question...
Which marsupial produces 100 cube-shaped turds on the average
day?
For the answer to this and all the week's other
questions click
here.
But that is not
all...
In an unusual
departure this week there is another QotW to herald. This time
Round 2 Spare 2 which celebrated one of the greatest alumni
of the University of Manchester. Forget Steve Coogan, forget
Ludwig Wittgenstein, forget James Chadwick, forget even Anna Ford
(though I'd rather not), we give you a scientist who simply saves
the world every day he goes to work. Schooled at Manchester University,
finished off by WithQuiz and put to work in Vienna, I give
you.....(see
here
in the Fr Megson column
for more details) - and the question...
Formally of this parish, this expert in nuclear power graduated
with a degree in Physics in 1980 from the University of Manchester. He is currently residing in Vienna and working ridiculously long
hours saving the world from nuclear destruction. Who is he?
...surely that's worth a pint, Mark, next time you're passing this
way?
WithQuiz saves the
world
(R2/Sp2)
...and also
Next week we leave the League competition alone for a week and play
the WIST/Lowly Grail Cup semi finals. Since the 2 Albert
Club teams are both scheduled to be playing their Cup matches away
against the 2 Griffin teams, Damian and I have agreed to switch the
venue of the Charas v Opsis match from the Griffin to the Albert
Club.
What's more I understand Smart Alex (in the guise of Greg Spiller)
have offered to compile the paper on behalf of the Stockport League
so it should be a cracker (no pressure then, Greg!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week I forgot to mention the outcome of the Countdown
Champion of Champions final featuring our good friend James
Haughton.
James was the runner up - but only after an epic tussle which saw
him behind, then in front, and finally pipped by the Countdown
Conundrum.
A brilliant performance all round and no shame in being widely
recognised as the second best Countdown Champion of modern
times. Well done James!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, like a number of you I guess, I received a flyer from
Mastermind seeking contestants for the next competition.
Here's the email message followed by the flyer...
Hi there!
BBC Two’s Mastermind is
currently scouring the UK to find contenders for the next series!
To apply, please
click:
https://eu.castitreach.com/ag/hattrick
/mastermind21/welcome.html, or
email mastermind.hth@hattrick.com (the
application takes just 10 minutes to complete).
Entry is open to
UK residents (including Channel Islands & the Isle of Man) who are
aged 18+.
Stephen Parker, Casting Researcher,
E:
StephenP.HTH@hattrick.com
What's more, a little birdie tells me one of our number might be
taking part!
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