Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 16/11/11

High scoring all round as the Bards keep going undefeated

Results & Match Reports

Albert beat Comp Meat Raffle in a match which got tighter as it progressed (Ed: Well what do you expect from a pub quiz?). Despite being, by some way, the youngest team in the league the Meat Rafflers had no difficulty with pre-decimal coinage, according to Mary.

Ethel Rodin lost to the Bards. James reports:

"It was not the rout Ethel feared, and could have been much closer. The Bards are a very strong team all round, and I can't really see them being beaten this season."

Watched over by a band of Opsimathic setters the Charabancs lost to the Prodigals in a close game in the serene mid '50s atmosphere of the The Turnpike.

Smoke Fairies beat the 3-legged Pigs who kept in touch until the Fairies pranced away in Round 6.

Historymen beat TMTCH. Ivor reports:

"A very pleasant evening in the Red Lion. The world is a much more civilised place when 'important' soccer friendlies lead to a cessation of midweek domestic or European televised hostilities. TMTCH (batting first) had a terrific start with all their members getting 2s in the first round. HM only caught up with them by the end of round 3. The high winning margin was largely due to round 7 which ended 8-0 in HM’s favour. History Men is once again a misnomer as we played with the two Annes."

Quiz Paper Verdict

This week's paper was set by The Opsimaths. Well really it was Brian. A month and a bit ago at a secret location in West Didsbury the Opsimaths gathered to trial a new McClintock creation. It passed muster with the Opsimaths and it seems to have passed muster with you. There were 9 unanswered questions at the Red as well as at the Turnpike but the average aggregate of 77.4 was by some way the highest of the season so far, beating last week's tally from the Charabancs' paper. Most importantly the qualitative analysis from the trusted WithQuiz correspondents network was extremely warm. For instance Anne-Marie from the Proddies:

"Just a note to say we thought last night’s quiz was lovely, well-crafted, balanced and fun. Big congrats to Brian for putting it together. No pressure for us setting next week then!"

...and the normally restrained (??) Kieran:

"Excellent Opsimaths paper. Loads of points on offer and a pretty close game until the last couple of rounds. All done and dusted in an hour and a half which is always a good sign. And of course very agreeable company in our herd of opponents. Superbly crafted themed round on Captain Scarlet - misleading to begin with - then the 'in your face' Scarlett Johansson answer and the whole round related to music. Very well done indeed.

Question of the week was the Hamlet connection in the Shakespeare round. Answer of the week was David's superb Balotelliesque "Avon Lady" from out of nowhere in the same round. Surprising fact of the week, which is why we go to quizzes to learn these things, is that Ross Brawn started off in one of the most deprived areas of the country if not Europe. It's a mighty long way from the Liverpool docks to the Hollywood Bowl and it's even further from Beswick to Monte Carlo. Beswick! And they named him Ross? Inspirational!"

....and James:

"We thought it was a very good quiz. As regards QotW, Avon ladies and Tripoli were both unanswered, yet in both cases, the team who'd passed/got it wrong, worked out the answers before the second team also passed. Tripoli gets my vote by a Sh'rt h'r. No controversies, sound themes, very few giveaways/unmatched pairs. If I had one criticism, it would be that for a team with a lot to do in the final round, round 8 offered no hope of a reprieve, but to be fair, Ethel were already in the realms of mathematical improbability by then."

...and Ivor:

""Quiz itself was very well received. At first it seemed it was too easy - though a welcome change from the hard slogs of recent weeks - but then it slowly and inexorably was brought up to the boil with some real brain teasers in the second half. With its rounds on Captain Scarlet and animated characters it really was designed to appeal to us 40/50 year olds (that was most of us in our match). Single person set quizzes can sometimes misfire but Brian’s efforts tonight shows that his experience of 30 years of quiz answering can translate into a little setting gem."

...and finally Tony from his lofty perch:

"It was a well structured quiz and there were few moabs, in fact none. QotW was the Tripoli question which we all agreed we ought to have been able to work out but none of us did."

The Question of the Week

The vote (from the Prodigals and the Charabancs) goes to Round 3 Question 7:

In 1886, David McConnell hired Mrs. Persus Foster Eames Albee to become the first what?

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