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History Men beat Albert
Hard fought home win for the History Men over
high-flying Albert
 Ivor's
Christmas jumper pays off
Another home game for us at the Parrswood. The
run-up to Christmas in the secular world seems to
last longer than in the Christian world (and that is
already of some duration as it starts on Advent
Sunday which was 30th November this year).
Luckily the Parrswood can accommodate large numbers
of celebrating folk who, unlike some revellers
elsewhere, are unfailingly polite and much less
rowdy than some quiz teams I could mention (i.e.
us). So although we were billeted in the
second snug (the one with the deep armchairs where
it is impossible to get up to buy one’s round) QM
Guy did not have to raise his voice (too often).
There was not much homage to Christmas-tide bar my
woolly jumper with reindeer and snowflake motifs.
Unless you count Jeremy’s white shirt and red
corduroy trousers which gave the impression of a
Santa Claus in evolution (only a white beard and six
extra stones required).
The Albert are in great form this season so tonight
was always going to be a challenge - especially as
they had two former Mastermind semi-finalists
(Ashton and Ian) in their team. We were four
points behind after the first round but made steady
progress thereafter. We were three points
ahead going into the last 'Seconds' round and for
once did not squander the lead to finish second.
A high scoring quiz with only four unanswereds and
27 twos (16-11) scored. Seat 1 was the unlucky
seat for both teams (at least in our game).
Maybe in another universe even those questions were
easy.
Local hero 1: Old Moat
schoolboy and Fletcher Moss Ranger
(R2/Q5)
Local hero 2: Wythenshawe
schoolboy and Newall Park Junior
(R2/Q6)
Ethel Rodin lost to Opsimaths
Low-scoring match ends with a visitor victory and
plenty of political chat
 Mike's
Marvellous Murk trip
Howell, Brian, Paul and Mike (incidentally the first
Opsis all-male line up for a while) started
well and just kept their noses in front to the end
to win by 3 points.
The match started in the traditional spot upstairs
but the noise of the adjacent TV-watching snooker
players which reached a crescendo as City edged
ahead at the Bernabeu, made Roddy's QMing task
almost impossible, so, after a lengthy Round 1
("sorry, Roddy, could you just repeat that -
again!") we adjourned to the relative peace of the
Committee Room opposite the Gents. Whereas the
remainder of the former White Swan ('The Stadium of
Murk' as Father Megson amusingly dubbed it) is
tastefully done up and attractive for a 2025
clientele, the committee room is a reminder of the
20th century mess the whole place was a few years
back. No matter; we could hear Roddy and he
could hear us. New boy, Paul, shone (he's
certainly getting into his stride) as did Brian and
skipper Howell. I blurted unforgivably yet
again (Old Kent Road when it should have been Brick
Lane) but wasn't totally useless for the rest of the
quiz. Ethel kept looking like they'd catch us
and overtake but never quite made it.
Halloween plus one
(R4/Q8)
For me this was a near perfect evening: a rare Opsis
victory; a treasured City win in far-off Madrid; and
plenty of insightful political chat informed by
insiders James and Rob. The post-match
chinwaggery was conducted back in the usual quizzing
area - the snooker players had drifted off into the
night cheered by City's spoils in Spain.
Recently I interviewed a staunch local Labour man
who described Keir as a wet lettuce (and he should
know - he has spent much of his life running a
fruit and veg barrow in Ancoats). The
passionate Labour supporters at the Ladybarn Club
last night aired the same thoughts exasperated at
the feeble performance of our current regime - or at
least their feeble inability to communicate anything
inspiring to the electorate. 'Things can only
get slightly better, perhaps, but I leave it to you
to judge' and as to where it's all meant to be
heading and what type of nation we're aiming for,
well who knows? It seems not to be the Labour
government.
Poppy-selling spot
(R2/Q1)
 Howell
adds his take on the match ...
Last time we had an 'all men's team' was in Feb 2023
when we lost 43-44 to Ethel (the difference being
Paul in place of Nick). It was also the first
time for over 2 seasons when all 4 players have
scored 2 or more 2-pointers! The 10
unanswered questions split 5-5 and it was a very
close match - the scores were never more than 4
points apart.
Lovely spot
(R2/Q2)
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London's Theatreland in 1949
(R5/Q4)
Prodigals tied with CKC
A
classic between, arguably, WithQuiz's greatest teams
of all time
 Kieran
'McGonagall' Dillon effuses
"Oh, what a
night,
Mid December 2025,
What a special time
to be alive,
Oh, I'll remember,
what a night,
Oh, what a night.
The Bernabéu and the
Boys in Blue,
It was every crazy
dream come true,
What a classic, what
a night."
Sorry you want a report on the Prodigals v CKC game?
See above, substituting the Albert Club for the
Bernabéu. It is always, always like
this when the Russki mutts and the Prodigals meet;
an extra crackle in the air, a heightened sense of
anticipation and it never, ever disappoints.
We rarely come out winners against the Prods but our
games are the most enjoyable we have all season; the
ones we look forward to more than any other.
They're a brilliant quiz team; they're also the
most fair-minded and the best company imaginable
during and after the game. At this point I have to
acknowledge the extraordinary generosity and 'fair
play' spirit of Jimmy and co. (backed up by Andrew
Pig, subbing as QM) in allowing us the points for 'Horus'
without really being close enough to the second part
of the answer. Andrew said the Pigs had debated
long and hard over whether both parts of the answer
should be required and I think his feeling was that
it was asking too much. So Barry, in his last
appearance (honest it really is true this time; he's
leaving Manchester next Tuesday) as a regular space
dog got the two points and, at the end of the game,
that made all the difference.
"ScotRail apologises to all
its customers for the delay; a boat replacement
service should enable you to complete your journey"
(R7/Q7)
Barry, fittingly, was our MVP (God knows what we'll
do without him) but the night's overall honours went
to Richard with six twos. There's no weakness
I can see in the Prodigals; they all score twos for
fun and all chip in with assists and cover almost
all subjects between them, except maybe horse
racing. By the way Mr Donely, just what do you
think is the sixth English classic? There are
five and, glory be, the Prodigals didn't know enough
about them.
The Prodigals had four unanswereds to none for us
but it was in no way an unbalanced paper; there were
many instances when both teams had either/or answers
and both chose the wrong one, even on the pass
over. There was one marvellous moment when we
almost answered Kerry Catatonia as the missing
member of the all-girl band. Only WithQuiz can
do this. We even sort of liked the Albert Club
tonight and we didn't have to buy a winners' round.
Martin, quite rightly, told me off for seeming to
indicate that I was certain of the answer 'Trigger' when
in fact I just thought it couldn't possibly be any
other character, which was also exactly what Martin
was thinking. If I hadn't stuck out five fingers
he'd have gone for 'Trigger' and scored a
two instead of one. My apologies Martin and
I'll have to refine my hand signals to ensure
there's no repeat.
NZ DNA Nobel Laureate
(R4/Q3)
The game was nip and tuck all the way through except
at the end of Round 3 when the Prodigals led by six.
Somehow we clung on, just, and arrived at the last
pair with the scores level. The Prodigals duly
netted another maximum and so I was faced with seat
four's most hated (or most desired) situation: two
needed for a draw, absolutely no point in
conferring, death or glory. The last time we
won the league, in the 2022/23 season, I couldn't
get the two on the final question for the draw and
the Prodigals won the night but not the season.
Tonight was gloriously different. I have a mild
interest in spooks so I knew that there were two
British women in senior positions in the
intelligence community in the last thirty years or
so and neither of them were Judi Dench. Sweet
exorcism! I chose Eliza Manningham-Buller and
not Pauline Neville-Jones (who was chair of the
Joint Intelligence Committee ten years before Eliza
became chief counter spy). Then I punched the
TV screen above my head harder than I had done when
robot boy scored his penalty winner and I basked in
the adulation of Belka, Strelka and their doggie
friends.
Ms Catatonia
(R4/Q1)
In April 2018 we played the only other 44-all draw
that I can remember which was also the greatest quiz
game in which we have ever taken part. The
draw meant we won the league over our opponents that
night, the Shrimp, who had 'now Prodigal' Richard in
their line up. Post game we reminded Richard
of that occasion and he thanked us profusely for
reigniting the PTSD he's been struggling with for
the past seven and a half years.
Jimmy, Michael, Richard and John you are just superb
opponents and rivals.
Barry, for the last time (for now), you're a
fantastic quiz player and a man of decency,
integrity and principle, the like of whom I've
rarely, if ever, met. I really don't have the words
to express what knowing you and counting you as a
friend for forty years has meant to me.
Pep, you bald Catalunyan fraud, I love you.
Oh what a night!
CKC, KFD, Dunkin' Dönitz, I've
Never Been to One, I Blame Smoke Fairies, SPW,
Napier Girls, Three Mad Dogs, Fifth Finger, Griffin
Braggarts, Sporting Braggarts, Young Boys Burnage,
Griffin 'B', Borussia, Not Not, Not the Rest of the
World ... after all these years
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Charabancs beat Bards
The Charas back in the groove nicked it against the
Bards
 Damian's
cheerful again
Safely ensconced away, more or less, from the
raucous hurly burly of Man City vs Real Madrid, at
long last we managed to return to winning ways
following a depressing trail of four successive
defeats after winning our first two matches of the
season.
It was perhaps our most surprising victory so far
as, having led in the opening two rounds, we then
trailed the Bards all through the rest of the paper
and were four points behind at the end of Round 7.
Then came Round 8 with its famous seconds theme
which turned the tide for us magnificently. We
scored 10 points against a mere two for the Bards.
Given that the Bards won more rounds (4 to 3) than
us with the other one a draw it would seem almost
counter-intuitive that they could end up losing.
What swung it for us was our greater number of twos
(14 to 10). We each had four steals and I
counted just five unanswereds which fell 3-2 to us.
Quiz paper set by...
... Electric Pigs
Average Aggregate score 81.5
Another cracking paper - this time from the Pigs.
Loads of points on offer and plenty of themes, links
and connections to provide alternative ways into the
answer.
Only
minor gripe at the Ladybarn Club was the chained
letters in Round 7 where we decided to give the
final letter of the answer to Question 8 to the
person who fielded Question 1 (Greg as it happened)
but of course this left the person who got Question
8 (me as it happened) the advantage of knowing the
first AND last letters of the answer. This
round format doesn't quite work .
The concept is fine but is there a way we can even
things up more successfully?
Favourite rounds for me were the ones with hidden
themes related to Queen and a Hardy little SW
county.
The Andys - Making their
second WithQuiz appearance in 2 weeks
(R8/Q1&3)
...
so what were Damian's views ...
This was another high scoring affair with a combined
total of 80 points - well above the season's
average. The paper was full of varied themes,
announced and hidden, and was generally accessible.
We could only admire the sheer eclectic nature of
the questions which gave us sport, history,
locations, politics, Egyptology and pop music
(albeit maybe a little top heavy with the last of
these). I was particularly proud of correctly
guessing the lyrics to Walk On By sung by
Dionne Warwick way back in 1964. It was one of
my favourite records back then and remains one of my
favourite songs to this day. So, all in all,
what was not to like about this paper? A good
effort by the Pigs.
Our vote for QotW?
I personally liked the one about which British prime
minister said "You could always tell a politician
was lying because his lips were moving" (or
something to that effect). The answer (which we
guessed wrong) was surprising.
Talking Head Tina
(R5/Q5)
...
and Ivor's ...
It is a feature of our league’s setting abilities
that there is seldom a paper these days that is not
enjoyable, and that prods and tweaks our buried
memories to elicit that satisfying response (if the
answer is correct of course). Probably
something similar to endorphin release, and
healthier than the satisfaction of eating two mini
Mars bars in a row. The Electric Pigs did not
disappoint; the themes and formats were well
organised and paired.
We did not spot the betting theme but the Golden
Anniversary theme was cracked before the first
question. There were some good zig or zag
teasers along the way: Bush Senior or Junior; Meir
or Gandhi; Blenheim or Blandford? As per usual
the 'old stuff' went down well with us (even the old
song lyrics). We had forgotten though that “a
politician is lying because his lips are moving” was
spoken by that most discreet of all PM adulterers.
The only question that was deemed dodgy was the one
about the reason for the eye of Horus being on a
sarcophagus - but, who knows, maybe it does work.
Anne was delighted to get the second female MI5
Director General correct (having resisted Dame Judi
Dench which would have been definitely wrong as she
was MI6). Interestingly that DG’s father was a
Tory barrister and Lord Chancellor nicknamed
'Bullying Manner' whose greatest claim to fame was
getting Doctor Bodkin Adams acquitted.
Terry meets Julie
(R7/Q1)
...
and finally Kieran's ...
The paper was an absolute banger from the Pigs
producing a huge 88 point aggregate and a contest
that went to the wire.
PM with his mouth firmly shut
(R6/Q3)
Question of the Week
This week Damian and the Charas really liked the one
about lying politicians at Round 6 Question 3 ...
"I mean, if you have ever found a politician who
says, 'No, no, I would do everything exactly as I
did,' then you can tell when he is lying because his
lips are moving" These are the words of which
twentieth century Prime Minister?
For the answer to this and all the week's other
questions click
here.
All the 'Tonys'
(R7/Sp3)
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