Withington Pub Quiz League

Albert take the Val Draper Cup for the first time in 26 years;

The Bards capture the WithQuiz Plate for the very first time

Val Draper Cup - Final

Prodigals lost to Albert

Plate - Final

History Men lost to Bards

Final WithQuiz League Table

Val Draper Cup - Final

Prodigals lost to Albert

Helped by the handicap Albert upend the league placings to win the Cup

MOBO describes how Albert paddled home ahead

The last time we won this competition I was young and charismatic; my voice was smooth like a tub of really cheap margerine - a brand so cheap that all that was printed on the lid was the word 'Margerine'. But times have changed, the team no longer hang on my every word of wise advice. Their faces are blanker than the membership list of a Mandelson fan club.

Old Big Head

(R3/Sp)

Like any product from a committee the paper reflected a wide range of styles and this did produce some imbalances. It looked as if it was better to go first which the Albert did. It also seemed as if the handicap was about right; Albert won by 3 but would have lost by one if there had been no handicap. The Albert liked the first half of the quiz and at one point had a lead of 11 points which was gradually whittled away by the Prods in the second half. My personal favourite was the Tony Blair question. In the end we won because Ian turned in an outstanding performance and because the famous Albert Paddle paid a state visit in my attempt to put some backbone into the shirkers.

Leo 'MOBO' Sayer leading from the rear

Michael tells of Albert taking a Wrecking Ball to the Prods

And so the Prodigals, howling and screaming, fell at the last, denied the double by a deserving Albert. They deployed all their wizened tricks to beat us: there was some stern paddling, inconveniently they knew more of the answers, and at one stage MOBO sported a distracting perm wig, transforming himself into a young Leo Sayer.

We started four down under the handicap and the Albert soon extended that to 11. So, while we clawed a few back in the second half, we were never really in the running, and certainly not with Ian - to his immense (dis)credit - knowing a Miley Cyrus song other than Wrecking Ball.

... and a message from Greg ...

"With Albert's win last night, Ashton achieved a cup double and a treble. He and I play for the Cotton Tree in the Macclesfield League. We won that league and, on Tuesday, we also won the Macclesfield cup. What's more Ashton won Macclesfield league's Individual trophy. On the 6th May we face up against each other in the final of the WIST Cup, so he could win even more silverware."

Well done Ashton - couldn't happen to a nicer quizzer!

Caine provides the WithQuiz mantra:

"Not a lot of people know that"

(Round 7)

First draft Ophelia with vole

(R8/Q8)

Plate - Final

History Men lost to Bards

Bards win their first ever Plate

Tony gets the Royal Oak bragging rights

As quizzes go, last night was as enjoyable as any that has gone before. No one was sure where the points went when I answered "Ophelia in the Bulrushes" to the question that asked which Shakespeare character is depicted in a painting by either Millais or Waterhouse (I can't remember which of the two). It was almost a 'Potteries Motor Traction' moment but by then we were too far ahead to care who got the point.

The evening passed in an end of term atmosphere encouraged by the extremely affable Lord Bath in the QM's chair. Everyone managed at some point to dredge up a piece of esoterica to the surprise and admiration of everyone else.

I was surprised to learn that the Plate is no longer one produced in Stoke-on-Trent via the Albert Club kitchen but is one that costs an arm and a leg to get engraved. That I suppose is the price of not being the lowest scoring loser in Round One of the Val Draper and gaining bragging rights on Friday at the Royal Oak when Ivor and I shall meet for our weekly post mortem on this week's stupidities of Donald. I thought I heard a sotto voce comment which sounded like "Take your hand off one's knee" in the inevitable Oval Office line up, but then it might just have been wishful thinking.

Late night at Phillies

(R8/Q1)

Ivor tells a sorry tale of zigging when zagging was needed

A quick check on the Honours Board on the website before our match tonight confirmed we have won the Plate on four occasions and been runners-up three times. With tidiness not seen since World War battle lines were 'straightened' by retreating armies, we have now a visually pleasing 4-4 win/loss ratio. But do not mention ratios again. The 'constipater' maths pair on calculating odds in Round 4, although successfully solved, came close to triggering unease last felt 50 years ago in A-level maths exams.

We did have hopes of victory before the match. We had bagged the snug for our game and Lord Bath as QM. We even had our lucky seats. Compared with the Albert Club the funereal hush was palpable.

Neo-soul Diva

(R5/Q8)

The Bards (Tony, John, Robin and Jim) did not even need the benefit of the handicap to score a decisive and well deserved victory. We were never ahead and the Bards outscored us in twos scored (10-9) and in steals (6-3). There were seven unanswered with the Bards getting four to our three. Robin was the Bards’ MVP with five twos and unusually he was also the Jonah with two unanswereds. Our star player was Steve also with five twos and great saves for us with his knowledge of Stoppard plays and ancient football results. Steve was off the bench (with Ray) to replace the absent Young Dave (wedding in Greece - his niece’s not his) and the absent Anne (in Ibiza with Guy). Sadly the brilliance of our sub was not matched by his unlucky team-mates (me, Ray and Vanessa). We either didn't know, blurted or zigged when we should have zagged.

Some good confounders in the questions this week: who would have known KC and the Sunshine Band had several stuttering options? But that's the way ha-ha we like it in the quizzing world. So it will be Tony’s task to keep the Plate well polished and try hard not to dislodge the atom-thick layer of silver (or silver substitute). For us there is still the possibility of something for the mantelpiece with the 'Question of the Year' award and the 'End of Season Jamboree Table Top Quiz' prize to be decided.

This week's Quiz paper set by...

... Knocked Out United

Average Aggregate score 81.5

Knocked Out United knocked up a pretty good aggregate this year exceeding the season's average aggregate by a good 6 points.

As is the usual practice we asked the 4 competing teams which were their favourite rounds of the final and the plaudits went to ...

Round 6 - 'Stuttering Songs' set by The Opsimaths which got voted top by 3 of the 4 teams,

followed by

Round 3 - the 'ough' themed Round set by The Charabancs which was mentioned as second or third favourite by 3 of the 4 teams.

A bottle of wine awaits the Opsis at the End of Season evening in a fortnight's time.

"... many episodes of extraordinary incompetence ..."

(R1/Q5)

... and what did Tony make of it ....

There were no moans or adverse comments about the paper or any particular bit of it, but then Kieran wasn't playing and Mike Heale is no longer with us.

... and Michael's thoughts? ....

As for the quiz itself, some stuff suited us and some did not. C'est la vie. We can't really complain when we grossed 44 points.

Shared Middle note

(R2/Q6)

... and Ivor's verdict? ....

The combined paper did not disappoint and, if any team had to rush in setting, it was not apparent since the questions were as well constructed as usual. If Mike B had done much moderating at all it had achieved the aim of balance between the teams. Everyone got at least one two.

We enjoyed the '-ough' round (th-ough it was t-ough) and the cross tick round ticked our cross, but we gave our douze points to the stuttering song round. Admittedly some of us were rather sketchy on Miley Cyrus’s songbook and, indeed, some of us had not even heard of the performers (I always like to use the line “A popular beat combo, Your Honour” to my opposing captain). Sadly we did not know enough forests to help in the hidden wooded theme round, and Michael Caine’s oeuvre is so vast that almost any word in the English language might fit an answer. Luckily it did not include the very many 'turkeys' he has made of which my favourite is The Swarm where he saves Texas from killer bees.

'The Greatest Showman on Earth'

(R2/Q7)

Question of the Week

This week I've listened to the 'eminence grise' of the Albert outfit, the Venerable MOBO. He watched on from the Manager's bench at the Parrswood nodding and winking at his young charges as they scampered around the pitch. His own favourite question of the evening was penned by Fr Megson on behalf of the Charas. It was Round 3 Question 6 ...

What nine-word political slogan was first used in a 1993 speech by the then Shadow Home Secretary and future party leader Tony Blair to the Labour party conference? It was essentially a mantra stolen from the Tories, yet it did much to ensure a landslide victory for New Labour in the General Election four years later.

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

Combined lack of thiamine

(R8/Q7)

... and also

Next week the WIST Champions Cup final will take place at the Sun in September between ...

Albert & Smart Alex

This year the paper has been set by CKC. Do get along if you can and see which league gets the South Manchester quiz bragging rights for the next 12 months.