Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 29/02/12

Top three all win - yet again the Meat Raffle get the thin end of a very close run result

Results & Match Reports

A 3-headed Albert couldn't quite keep up with the Opsimaths in a low-scoring match at the Fletcher Moss.

Before the match started I was happily chatting to Eveline, with her usual VAT, and Mary with her traditional pint, when in breezed the young O'Briens looking for all the world as if they'd just cycled through the lanes and alleyways of some great university city hurrying from a late finishing History lecture anxious not to miss the University Challenge rehearsal. Once they'd offloaded their scarves and duffle coats, and Mike had been despatched to the bar, Mary opened her bag and pulled out..........'Mr Britvic'. Mr Britvic goes everywhere with the Albert team - he is the team mascot. He was carefully placed on the edge of the Albert team's communal table to spend the evening glowering at the opposition. By 10.30pm having singularly failed in his duties he was popped back into Mary's bag and carted off to the O'Brien digs where, no doubt, he'll undergo a stiff talking to before being wheeled out next Wednesday.

The Smoke Fairies keep their 'Runners up' status intact with a home victory over the Charabancs. Damian offers his observations:

The Charas fall back to Earth with a bump after their recent run of good form. Two successive losses for us now. At every stage we tried to play catch-up with the Fairies but could never quite make it. They just proved to be much more experienced scandalmongers and gossips than we could ever hope to be. I will be rushing out to order my subscription for Heat Magazine first thing in the morning!

The Bards confirmed their 'Champions' status with a comfortable home victory over Ethel Rodin. Tony reports from the celebratory Cricket Club:

Apologies for the late match report but it took some time to recover from the mass celebration caused by the Bards finally attaining a mathematically unassailable lead at the top of the table. It was a funny old quiz. Although we thrived on gossip we suffered at least one round where we didn't score a point. The lead swung about a bit but by half time we were 18-10 up. The second half was a repeat of the first scorewise hence the final score of 36-20. There was a lot to discuss in every question, or so it seemed, so Steve and Jim had to sprint for their bus almost before the finish denying us the opportunity of a quickfire round of Merseyside questions. Those that stayed on enjoyed some pleasant exchanges of view on a variety of topics over a convivial pint or three before we had to pour Eric into his carriage complete with team photos of Ethel to add to his rogues' gallery of Quizzers. BTW we did enjoy the pick your own quiz team round. There is probably a book to be written why each of us chose the team we did. I went for the Fairies and was rewarded with yet another bloody elf.

The Historymen just got the better of the Compulsory Meat Raffle. Ivor sums up:

Another near miss for CMR who have been improving all season. Although we were never behind, we never got more than two points ahead so this was one of the most competitive games of the season. Of course it was a 'must win' game for the HM as it's our last of the league campaign and it sets things up nicely for the struggle for fourth place and the chance to get into 'Europe' next season. I was in the QM seat tonight but it's hard to remain disinterested when one’s team seem to plump for the wrong answer from a choice of two (I can now empathise with Jitka and her reaction when one of the Opsimaths blurts).

TMTCH lost at home to the Electric Pigs. Andrew reports:

A really enjoyable evening against the league's most sporting team. A standout moment came when - with the scores delicately poised - Dave allowed the Pigs 2 points for their Scandinavian version of Frigga.

whilst Hangman Graham comments.....

Against the background of the England v Holland game (no sound I hasten to add, unusual for a Wednesday at the Parrswood), The Men They Couldn't Hang were dealt a knockout blow every bit as shocking as the one suffered by Chris Smalling. There was jovial entertainment all around - although we thought, having lost the toss, we were denied the better pictures. I bet that thirteen year old David Jones never thought he'd end up with Imam. Frigga Hell! P.S. Hopefully the Bards will be so drunk with their own success that we'll give them a thrashing next Wednesday.

Quiz Paper Verdict

This week the paper was set by The Prodigals. A paper packed full of variety and invention: themed rounds, 'pick your own subject' rounds, paired rounds, a round of questions linked to WithQuiz team names where you could pick your own team, and then, to cap it all, a paired and themed picture round.

At the Fletcher Moss we struggled a little and our aggregate score of 54 was on the low side with 19 questions out of the 64 going unanswered. In the picture round I was first to spot how the theme and pairs worked but then lost confidence as the pairing appeared to be scattered across the round rather than in a predictable pattern (i.e. adjacent questions, or question 1 paired with 8, 2 with 7, and so on). And one quibble/query....in Round 4/5 Question 9 (Music) is the name of the plane in which Buddy Holly died really as given in the answer? I have never heard this before and the internet gives no hint of the fact that I can find (although, of course, it confirms that the song concerned is all about the day that Buddy Holly died).

Kieran offers his verdict from the Griffin encounter:

Well certainly the antidote to last week's unrestrained 'shoot on sight frolic' - and not in a good way. We enjoyed the celebrity couples round, but where, oh where, were the world's sweethearts, Shane and Liz?
Aside from that we scored 10 points in round 2, and 22 in the other seven rounds. Not really our sort of quiz but we're happy with the win and, as ever, the Charas were convivial company. Our thanks to Carmel for for acting as QM, thereby allowing Bob to play and start our second round points haul by instantly recognising the young David Bowie.

.....and Damian sums up for the other side in the Griffin:

A fair enough assortment of pretty nearly anything you could ask a question about - although after winning the toss we elected to go second which may have boomeranged badly for us as I have the impression we could answer more of their questions than we could ours. Our QotW? The one about which entertainer based their stage name on a childhood tendency for flatulence (or words to that effect).

......and finally Ivor rounds up for what the Historymen found to be a very long evening:

The first round proved to be hard going for both teams though things speeded up to Electric Pigs pace thereafter. For us the Question of the Week was the one about the Buddy Holly plane. The hapless CMR worked their way through the entire lyric of American Pie unable to find a likely answer and then ceded to the HM for whom Anne decided to have a wild stab and got the correct answer.
Embarrassment of the night was retired orthopaedic surgeon Tim being caught out by the number of bones in a new-born (but he was an adult orthopaedic surgeon and the number is variable). CMR did struggle with Cecil Parkinson (a cabinet minister before they were born) and I was very amused by a question called 'Modern History' set in 1980 which I would almost regard as current affairs.

The Question of the Week

This week the Electric Pigs vote goes for Round 3 Question 7:

Who allegedly stated during World War I that he tried to avoid sharing military secrets with the cabinet as they would all tell their wives, apart from Lloyd George "who would tell someone else's wife"?

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