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Drama up and down
Didsbury as the top two teams flounder - the Bards lose to the
Charas and the Fairies to the Opsimaths; and next week the Fairies
play the Bards at Fortress Griffin!! |
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Results & Match Reports |
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 Albert lost to
TMTCH.
A delighted Graham purrs.....
The Hangers achieved their
second victory of the season in a good natured quiz at the
Fletcher Moss. Once again the Men went into a half-time
lead. Nerve ends were fraying when Albert came back to
lead 21-20 after the 'dreaded Round 6' (as Dave put it).
However, the nervousness was unfounded as the Hangers cruised to
victory. It just goes to show that Saturday afternoons
watching the 'buffoon McCririck' on Channel 4 Racing didn't go
entirely to waste with my knowledge of tic-tac and betting slang
for the odds (never made me any money though).
The Historymen stormed home against
the Electric Pigs. Ivor reports:
I was in the QM seat tonight and so was in the happy position
of knowing all the answers even before the questions were
finished which would not have been the case if I had been in my
usual seat. I predicted that it would be a quiz with a combined
score of under 60 at the outset and was not wrong (unlike the
answers of many of the participants). The Historymen had a
very bad start. After 2 rounds they had a single point and
only reached double figures halfway through round 5. Then
(in the words of Paxman) they woke up (in Peter’s case
literally) to storm ahead.
 The Opsimaths
played right into the Bards' hands by beating the Smoke
Fairies at the Club. On, what was almost the anniversary
of the famous Tooting Bec answer that presaged the Fairies
demise in last year's competition, Opsimath Hilary (subbing for
Nick) with the Irish Potato Famine and an inspired Howell (has
anyone else heard of Peter Fox the Stoke goalie?) just edged the
Fairies into runners up slot in the last round after they'd been
ahead in all the previous rounds.
The Bards came to the end
of an awesome run of success losing at home to the soaraway Charabancs. This opens up the competition with a real chance that the
Fairies - or even the Opsimaths or Charas might catch them over the coming weeks. Damian tells us what happened:
The Charas maintained a narrow lead until Round 7. So
it was all to play for in Round 8 and just on cue Lady Fortune
swung back in our favour to give us a narrow 3-point victory.
It's testament to the high standard the Bards have been setting
that their score of 32 was actually the lowest they had scored
so far this season.
..and what says the defeated Superbard?
I daresay Damian has been in touch - no doubt he is still
pinching himself and having a snifter of Megson's Communion
Wine. Gerry did mutter something about Drambuie and
Lucozade, so maybe I have let the cat out of the bag. In
the quiz, like the Historymen, we had a disastrous start giving
away a 12 point lead. We gradually clawed it back, going
into the last round just ahead. Then we blew a gasket.
This may not be unrelated to muttering about there being too
many bloody terriers. Certainly we were put off answering
'fibula' for the Latin and Greek brooch question because Steve
got lost trying to work out what perineal meant. When it
came to my (last) question, Yorktown popped into my head and I
saw the chance of glory - especially as Roisin was beginning to
panic that all would turn on her last question - and I forgot
all about the Boston Tea Party. It felt like I'd been
bitten by a pack of Jack Russells - well not quite. After
all, as Graham says: "It's only a quiz." BTW every time
somebody says we can't be beaten we prove them wrong.
Maybe this week's comments will provide us with the incentive to
have a real pop at the Smoke Fairies.
Compulsory Meat Raffle's
number just didn't come up against the Prodigals at "what
is fast becoming
the league's favourite venue, The Turnpike" (according to
Anne-Marie). |
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Quiz Paper Verdict |
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 This week the
paper was set by Ethel Rodin.
An
excellent effort delivered in the Albert Club by the product of
Ethel's youth policy, James. Great themes and a general
tip-of-the-tonguery that made for a most enjoyable evening.
Howell tells me that there are quite a few more types of terrier
on the Wikipedia page that lists such matters so we should be
alright for a few more rounds on this theme over the coming
weeks. Perhaps setters (ho! ho!) should just state up
front which round is the terrier round. Favourite moment
of the evening (apart, of course, from the declaration of the
final score) was the Fairies suggestion in Round 2 that "A large
potato yellow within and without, and used for feeding
livestock" might have been Eric Pickles.
Ethel get plaudits from Gary Pig
as well. His reasoning relates to the QotW (see
below)......Connections get the grey matter working, when for
a straight up and down, common or garden question, if you don't
know the answer that's it.
Ivor's assessment from the Red:
Roddy and his setting
colleague were in attendance and although the quiz was hard
there were lots of interesting teasers (though we hope we have
now exhausted all possible questions about Warlock/Heseltine).
There was an awful lot of cogitation and, as our QM is too
gentlemanly to hurry people, we had a late finish.
Wrong answer of the evening?
The Historymen’s combined reply to the 1900 music hall song
question (when body parts were still thought to be the
theme).......Fanny By Gaslight.
 .......and Anne-Marie's
verdict?
A thoroughly enjoyable
evening. A great quiz with lots of twists and turns and
some very clever trickery. Really loved the tic-tac round.
The delight on Danny’s face when he discovered the theme on
question 7 - and then the pain etched on his face when wracking
his brain to work out the names of the odds. Danny – Dad
would have been very proud of your betting knowledge!
Hangman Dave loved the paper -
but:
May I just add that while it
was a hugely enjoyable evening I was personally disappointed to
discover that Megson of the Maquis was not a revered Resistance
leader, and The Briton's Protection is not a variety of potato.
Damian gives the Charas take on
the paper:
Plenty of themes on offer
which we mostly managed to work out although some of them were
cleverly disguised, a bit too heavily for our comfort.
Mention of dreadnoughts soon sent QM Eric off into another spate
of wartime reveries. Did any man ever enjoy a war as much as
Eric? Not content with that he informed us that he was the
only man to ride a horse from one end of the Falkland Islands to
the other without even bothering to stop in Port Stanley! It's
no bloody wonder the Argies were provoked into invading!!
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The Question
of the Week |
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 This week
by popular acclaim the
vote goes to Round 5 Question 2:
What links the plant Anagallis Arvensis with the
combined names of the 2006 and 1969 Derby winners?
For the answer to this and all the week's questions click
here
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Chatterbox |
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Eric's been at it again recording
the visitors. This week the Charabancs of Fire....
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