The History Men beat Ethel Rodin on the tie break question in a thriller at the Red Lion.  Ivor reports on the night....

"Ethel had the moral victory as they started 4 points behind on handicap and would have won 32-36 on a level playing field.  However it must be said the handicap system is turning out very well as Ethel themselves defeated Dunkin Dönitz two weeks' ago on a tie breaker.  It might have been a different story had Danny Glennon not been available to be our QM tonight.  Hats off to setters who run the gauntlet of potential opprobrium by bailing out home teams who are short on the night.

We started well but Round 5 went 8-1 to Ethel and the match was on a knife edge with 3 questions left.  For once the 'Choose Your Own Subject' Round came to the rescue to square the scores.  A lucky punt at 11, 800 miles on the tiebreak question was enough for us to reach our second cup final this season.

Meanwhile QM and setter, Danny Glennon has this to say....

Albert lost to The Charabancs of Fire at the Fletcher Moss.  For once The Charas would have won even without their handicap advantage - as Gerry commented afterwards: "Ah well, at least the Charas have maintained their record of only coming out of hibernation for the Cup."

As far as Mike O'B was concerned....

"We lost a most enjoyable encounter to the Charas.  It was very competitive until a disastrous Round 6 where we were outscored 9 to 1.  For the Charas a march to potential glory, for us an uncomfortable interview with the paddle."

The Opsimaths beat The Electric Pigs by a single point in a closely fought match ably QMed by Opsimath Clare at the Albert Club.

Just as James showed his allegiance to WithQuiz by turning out for Ethel at the Red, despite being in the middle of the General Election maelstrom at home, so Andrew forsook all last minute canvassing duties in Didsbury East to play for the Pigs.  By all accounts Andrew has been an excellent representative on Manchester City Council for the people of Didsbury these last few years and should get back in.  His main opponent, the Liberal Democrat candidate, Dominic Hardwick, is also a great local quizzer, turning out regularly over the years for the Know Nowts team in the twice monthly Albert Club quizzes.  Are we perhaps moving to a situation where quizzers hold the reins of power?  I'm going to use the summer break to carve a stone containing all the quiz-related pledges I'd like honoured over the next 5 years......

Anyway back to the match.....The Pigs flew into a commanding lead in the first round which gradually got whittled down until the final pair of questions in Round 8 by which time the home team had just nosed ahead by a single point.  In 'Chair 7' I chose the Trivia Test Match question and, after conferring for what seemed like an age, we came up with Adam Gilchrist (wrong).  The Pigs tried Ian Healey (wrong).  This set up the stage for the result of the evening's contest to rest in the hands of Pig Dave.  Dave chose the 'Big Break' question which turned out to be about opera.  Well, a mere 9 years ago the same back lounge at the Albert Club played host to one of WithQuiz's most memorable moments in the 2006 Val Draper final when Dave and an opera question was all that lay between the Pigs and defeat.  Here's how this was reported at the time:

"Oh my Lordi what a Finnish - and at the same Albert Club that only days before had sat mesmerised as the melodrama of the Eurovision Song Contest unfolded on the big screen.  In a pulsating match that went with the Pigs then swung violently to FCEK, the Pigs just managed to edge back in the final 2 rounds so that, with the last question falling to Pig Dave, it was 2 points to tie.  After what seemed a lifetime Dave muttered 'Tosca' and miraculously he had earned the Pigs the right to extra time.  With great foresight Ethel had provided a tie-breaker question for just such an eventuality.  Both teams were asked to guess the 1952 Eskimo population of Greenland (what!!!!).  The Pigs guessed nearest and walked off with the Val Draper prize.  Hard luck FCEK you wus robbed - but was there ever such a final?  So the Pigs are our Cup winners and FCEK the season's everywhere runners up.  Thanks to both teams for such an enjoyable evening."

This week the paper was set by The Prodigals.

This was on the tough side compared to some recent papers with an average aggregate of 69 points (disregarding the handicaps).  Nevertheless it was full of interesting material, not surprisingly using the General Election as a kicking off point for a number of rounds (indeed the first 4).  At the Albert Club a quick poll of both teams after the booths had shut (on the dot of 11pm, as it happened) revealed that....

'....all had enjoyed the campaign but found the final result too close to call.  Hard working quizzers had had a number of difficult decisions to make along the way but felt they had made the right judgement for the sake of their Team.  There will be no thought of a tie break situation as everyone is aiming for an outright victory.'

....but what did Ivor think....

"The Prodigals produced a very entertaining quiz and just the right level of difficulty.  With the handicap system a quiz that is too easy favours the team with the handicap advantage whilst one too hard favours the stronger team with the handicap deficit.  The themes largely caught the Historymen (but not Ethel Rodin) out.  Who would know shadow cabinet members except James (though it might well be they are better known after tomorrow)?  And even though Trumpton is in the era of most quizzers some of the minor characters were, well, minor.  Round of the week was definitely the headless countries round."

....and Gerry....

"I thought the politics (though a good idea for the eve of an election) outstayed its welcome by about two rounds. The headless countries were excellent. The Bingo rounds had a really good premise but were marred by some wilfully obscure questions."

....and Mike O'B....

"No complaints about the paper which was always interesting and well balanced."

This week everyone liked Round 6 and its clever 'headless' theme.  I have selected Question 2: 

Which film’s closing text explains that the two leading gang members go off to Rio de Janeiro, have 17 children and start a leper colony, and Ken, having lost his speech impediment, becomes Master of Ceremonies at London’s Sea World while the immoral Otto becomes Minister of Justice in (the then apartheid) South Africa?

Many thanks.

As in past years we will ask the 4 teams involved in the finals to cast their votes for the team that has produced the most entertaining round of the finals and this team will win a bottle of wine at the End of Season Presentation evening on May 27th.