Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 09/03/16

Albert keep up the title chase with a confident home win whilst elsewhere the Shrimps, the Opsimaths, the Prodigals and Ethel all gain victories

Results & Match Reports

The Prodigals (or should we be calling them 'The New Prodigals' since their post-Bassett makeover?) scored a convincing win over The Electric Pigs at the Albert Club. Danny who was sitting out for the evening to act as QM reports....

"View from the QM chair....A comfortable win for the Prodigals after a dismal run of form. This was helped by the addition of two new recruits who have settled in well to the ways of WithQuiz. The Prodigals got into an early lead and it was always going to be difficult for the Pigs to pull it back. As ever with the EPs it was a most convivial evening..Convivial I tell you!"

Compulsory Mantis Shrimp scored a rousing triumph over Dunkin' Dönitz at the Turnpike. The Shrimps are fast becoming WithQuiz's 'Jokers in the pack', slumping to a string of depressing defeats then walloping a top team with no rhyme nor reason behind their violent swing in form. Shrimp David sums up using the obligatory 'convivial'....

"A convivial evening all round at the Turnpike with a surprising win (no other kind for us!) over the charming lot from the Griffin."

The Men They Couldn't Hang just squeaked a defeat out of what could easily have been a victory against The Opsimaths at the magnificent, no-expense-spared, gastro, 'heart of the Cheshire countryside' pub that is Burnage's very own Parr's Wood Hotel . The lavish external seating, protected from the early March Manchester drizzle by vast parasols fitted with energy-sapping heaters, and surrounded by astroturf that would have done Boundary Park proud, was empty but for a couple of desperate puffers. Inside the great hall, full of tables heaving with menus and containers for the condiments (including HP sauce I'm pleased to say), was occupied by a dozen or so desultory drinkers munching crisps and glued to the large TV screens as Chelsea slumped to a Particularly Severe Going-over. Has John Willy Lees' accountant really got his sums right?

As so often The Men looked set for victory only to slip at the final hurdle. They really are a good standard WithQuiz team who just have the unfortunate knack of losing much more often than they win. Gilly having returned from her trip around Norway with Dave was showing no obvious signs of pining for the fjords as she filled her customary QM perch. She did seem uncharacteristically loath to criticise the evening's paper however - but then guest spectator, Tony, was sitting at her right hand ready to defend Bardic honour should the need arise. For the Opsimaths Nick was having a week off (note, not an off-week) but his shoes were ably filled by Howell just back from three weeks in South Africa looking tanned and ready for the sun-filled Manchester spring and summer that we surely must enjoy this year.

The History Men lost to Ethel Rodin at the Red Lion. For the winners James sums up with this....

"Good quiz. Close all the way through - but 3 unanswereds in the final round scuppered it for the Historymen."

....whilst for the losers, and very much present, Ivor sends in this account....

"The second best WithQuiz team of all time has another match where we are second best. We were still in with a chance going into the last round but had three consecutive unanswereds and it was only getting two steals in this round that saved us from humiliation (though some would regard Young David’s remembering of Man Utd’s No 1 hit humiliating in its own right - though it did make up for his blurt on the Andrea True Connection song Na Na Na Na Na Na Na (not).

Under pressure from Anne I took seat three tonight (“seat four gets all the easy questions”) and so it proved with Anne and counterpart Greg getting four each (and yours truly copping it for 3 of the night’s unanswerables."

Albert beat The Charabancs of Fire at the Fletcher Moss. Damian, who is none too well at present, arose from his sick bed to help out his team mates and he sends these observations....

"With the Reverend Meggers off for the next 2 weeks sampling the ecclesiastical delights of Madrid (or more probably just sampling the delights), our resident QM Jane graciously filled in to help us try to reduce this week's deficit against that paddle-wielding crew known as The Albert. Yours Truly bravely rose from his sickbed hoping to intimidate the opposition by exposing the shingle-ravaged side of his face in the vain hope of terrifying them into some sort of collective amnesia. But the Albert mob are evidently a hardened bunch who've seen it all before. Even the attempt to assure Eveline that my condition is dangerously contagious failed to elicit more than a patronising smirk accompanied by "You're going to have to do a lot better than that, son, if you want to deter me!" So that's yet another lady not for turning, then. In the end, we just had to rely on that old, familiar technique of trying to answer more questions correctly than the opposition. Alas, it's a technique that has not served us very well lately and tonight proved to be no exception!

We were, as usual, outplayed by our worthier opponents. Not managing to score a single point in the final round ensured that a gap we had been steadily narrowing in the second half was left gaping wide again by the end. Next week back to the Fletcher Moss again to face The Piggies. Now I wonder if they are of a more nervous disposition than the Albert?"

Quiz Paper Verdict

This week the questions were set by The Bards of Didsbury.

With an average aggregate 7 points below the season's overall average of 73.2 this paper was a tad on the hard side but full of variety and interest. The hidden themes were quite accessible and well-used. There did seem to be a lot of politics. Great, as far as I'm concerned, but we should be mindful that some of our WithQuiz number had not yet been born when the lesser lights of the Thatcher administration were wreaking their havoc. One problem that arose in our match at The Parr's Wood was how the QM should react to answers that were three-quarters right - for instance 'Summoner's Tales' rather than 'Ten Summoner's Tales'. If you give the answerer the chance to elaborate then you have let the other side know that the answer given is almost right should it come across. In the end we resolved this situation amicably but it is tricky for our QMs to handle and keep everyone onside.

Other reactions?

Damian....

"Tonight's paper from the Bards (personally handed to me in the Red Lion by Tony, no less) was the usual assortment of themes and pairs which seems to be the staple fare of most of the quiz offerings lately. We generally liked the ideas behind the themes especially the 'Shared surnames' round and the one where the answers contained the number of the question. Some of the pairs were a tad uneven (a common failing for this kind of round) and the questions in general seemed to us to be a bit top heavy on politicians, familiar and obscure - some (the more obscure ones) even finding their way into questions about films! Is there a political agent on the Bards squad or something?"

Ivor....

"The 1966 World Cup footballers eluded us for some time (how quickly the non-finalists in the squad get forgotten) and the Canterbury Tales theme deceived us for a few questions. The 'Harrovians PM' question was deemed a bit on the sneaky ticket, though if it had been stated it was not a British PM it would still have been tricky. No one remembered that TGI Friday dished out the first £1M TV prize. One would have thought the winner would still be well-known - perhaps they were too normal to feature in the popular press. In my view the best winners of such prizes fall into two categories:

1) I'm going to put it all up my nose, buy over-priced sports cars and support my forty friends who've told me "you’re the man” - and in 2 years I'm going to be bankrupt or....

2) Chris: "How will winning £1M change your life?" Contestant: "Well actually not very much at all as I already own an eight bedroom house in Wilmslow and a debenture for the Wimbledon finals"."

James....

"Sad man that I am, I was in a pub quiz on Tuesday night where one of the questions was 'Which team had a number 5 hit in February 1972 with Blue is the Colour?'

So Leeds United, from later that same year was the second, not the first, football club top ten hit. Fortunately it didn't make any difference to the result. We also felt the questions broke a bit harshly for the History Men with two 'nearly' answers which led to steals for us: 'Summoner's Tale' needed a 'Ten' in front of it (which we provided), and 'Steve Reeve' (which we corrected to 'Simon Reeve').

We were all caught out by Nehru. Perhaps there should have been a further indication in the question for this one? And the 'Don't Forget Your Toothbrush' pairing with TFI was perhaps a little easier for the second player (me). But overall some interesting facts and a good night."

Mike O'B....

"Toughish quiz with a lot of MPs on the loose. The themes were straightforward enough. We thought the linked surname theme was interesting even though we did badly on it. Eveline decided that she hadn't been given sufficient praise for getting a football question right a couple of weeks ago and that the Paddle, the rat and the Icelandic sheep were creating an atmosphere of fear. Consequently, she has made a positive symbol of praise in the form of a jubilant Claudio Ranieri to be shown to any team member doing well (should that ever happen)."

David....

"Luckily, Rachael's absence didn't handicap us too much as the paper was short on obscure music but incredibly long on obscure ministers. Glad to see my obsessive hatred of Amber Rudd is useful for more than just a complex!"

and finally Danny....

"A mixed bag tonight which suited the Prodigals who were lucky enough to lose the toss and go second. There were one or two questions which were impossible to work out. Did anybody know the Katy Perry lyrics? Did anybody know the Congress Party of India? Or Gladys Knight singing to Utah policemen? Furthermore I would argue that the 'Xaverian' question is not general knowledge."

Interestingly, after the above comments on the Bards' paper had been published, James texted me further feedback on the issue of how to deal with almost correct answers....

"Our take on the 'Summoner's Tales' issue - or similar ambiguities - is this:

If team A gets it nearly right but then team B gets it completely right without any delay in answering - the points should go to team B (i.e. don't leave another 2 minutes to confer). If however team B didn't add any more information to an 80% correct answer then team A should get the point. This is perhaps more clear cut with an album title than with most other types of answer. However we do need some formal guidance on whether second AND first names of people are required for the point. Probably this needs to be at the setter's discretion rather than a league rule because answers like 'Rachmaninov' would be acceptable without 'Sergei' - but 'Jones' needs to be qualified with a 'Tom'."

The Question of the Week

Although receiving some criticism for being a bit tricksy, a number of you thought the standout question of the paper was Round 1 Question 7:

Eight Old Harrovians have held the office of Prime Minister. Of these six were Tories (or Conservatives) and one, Lord Palmerston, was a Whig (or Liberal). To what party did the eighth belong?

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