The Charas lift the Val Draper Cup for the third year in succession;

The History Men lost to The Charabancs of Fire in a tense match that dominated the back lounge of the Albert Club from 8.45 to 11pm.  As in the Plate final (see below) the lead went decisively to the team going first in the first half (the Charas) and stayed there - albeit on a diminishing basis - until half time when it was all square.  The Charas edged the second half winning by 4 points.  Gerry and his team-mates were keen to stress that they would have won even if they hadn't enjoyed the two point advantage given them by the handicap system (as, indeed, has been the case for the Charas in the previous two Cup rounds).

From the Runners Up Enclosure Ivor has these observations....

"The vagaries of the handicap system!  Despite the Charas winning both our league fixtures by a handsome margin they started the game tonight with a two point advantage.  Even without this, however, they would have won 36-34, so three cheers for the first team (I think) to win three consecutive Val Draper Cups.  Much fun in the Albert Club tonight!  The Opsimaths kindly granted us the better room downstairs whilst they and the Dunkin Dönitz quartet retreated to the table tennis room to contest the 'junior' title. 

Once again 'Knocked Out United' had provided an eclectic and challenging set of questions very well edited by Dave Barras.  Of course it didn't stop us complaining, especially if we felt we were bowled a bouncer (oh, please don't mention cricket to Roisin or Gerry!).  Being in seat 4 was especially challenging tonight and with the History Men going second my net team contribution was 1 point.  We had a shocking start but the game was all square at half time.

Anne was the individual star, starting off with 5 consecutive twos and getting us all excited that the 147 equivalent was on.  It certainly made up for some feeble performances elsewhere - including the blurt of 'Waverley' (when the author had already been dead for half a century) and 'Cornwallis' (years before he achieved any military seniority)."

This week the paper was set by 'Knocked Out United' (i.e. 6 of the 7 teams not taking part in one of the evening's finals) and skillfully edited by Dave Barras who - as ever - decorated the envelopes containing the papers with appropriate sketches based (as it happens) on the names of the two winning teams, Dunkin' Dönitz and The Charabancs of Fire (reproduced above).

Before the matches got underway Dave had indicated he thought we were all in for a tough, low-scoring paper.  Not so!  With an average aggregate of 71.5 this was just above the season's average of 70.5 and full of delightful facts and contrivances.  The 3 most popular rounds are listed below but each of the 8 rounds enjoyed some praise.  As Ivor says above, it does seem that a composite paper as the final hurrah of the season is a cracking good idea (plaudits to Father Megson who came up with the wheeze a few years ago).

"Subject matter generally well received.  Dave, the compiler, thought this might turn out to be a 60-pointer but our combined score (removing the handicap) was 70 which is about the right difficulty level.  Rounds which tickled our fancy included the 'Poisons' round, the Ship theme and the Bells.  So many good confounders and tip of the tongue answers tonight.  The question requiring most time - both to ask and to answer - was the two word anagram with a pig connection.  The History Men decided that 'unattractive on a beach' was either 'beer-belly' or 'lard-arse' but the Charas got it right when it was passed over."

After the matches each of the 4 finalists voted for their 3 favourite rounds of the evening - putting them in a 1/2/3 order.  The aggregated results of this were:

So TMTCH are conclusively the prize fighters from the 'Knocked Out' corner.  Many thanks and well done Dave - and all who sail in her!

This week it was a bit of a rush to get any nominations what with the late finishes and all the voting for the 'Round of the Evening' (see above).  Nevertheless I did get one suggestion from Gerry.......

It drove all 4 teams mad and threatened to bring both matches to a grinding halt, but despite this (or perhaps because of this) the final Round 4 'Pig' question was memorable.  In the Opsimaths match we gave up trying to work out the anagram after about 5 minutes and just blurted out the only type of pig we had left on our candidate list.  Bloody hell, we got it right!!  See if you can puzzle out these clues to an anagram of the answer: 

Find two words from the definition clues given and then solve the anagram of these two words to get an answer in tune with theme and hinted at by the third clue....

Definition 1 clue: Moral defect in an otherwise good character

Definition 2 clue: Sharp shrill cry

Overall answer clue: Too unsightly on the beach?

There is no quizzing next Wednesday - but Wednesday fortnight (May 27th) we have the End of Season Presentation evening at The Albert Club (8.30pm onwards).

James (from the Ethel Rodin team) will be setting, and QMing, the evening's quiz.  At the mid evening 'beer break' we'll have the usual presentation of the season's cups, etc.

I've been updating all our trophies, getting them engraved with the names of the winning teams from years gone by (virtually no engraving has happened for the past ten years or so).  I'll be asking you each to make a contribution on the night (probably £5 a head) to defray the costs of the engraving as well as pay for the bottles of wine that will be awarded as prizes.  Hope you are all OK with this.