Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 15/03/17

Dave Barras Funeral arrangements

Dave's funeral will take place at Macclesfield Crematorium at 2.40pm next Wednesday March 22nd.

Dave Barras

This week most sadly, and completely unexpectedly, we say goodbye to someone who has been right at the heart of WithQuiz for the past few years. Dave Barras died last Saturday on a train home from Manchester to his beloved Derbyshire.

Dave was the founder member of The Men They Couldn't Hang, the team that joined the league at the start of the 2007/8 season - not just founder member, if one's honest, but the life and soul of TMTCH.

As well as marshalling The Men 'on the pitch' with his trusty pencil tin Dave was the brain and the craftsman behind each paper on the occasions that TMTCH were cast as setters. And what papers these were! Focused on his many and varied enthusiasms they were perfectly crafted to coax the unwitting quizzer into sharing his own love of trains, boats, planes, tanks, comic strips, non-league football (especially if the clubs concerned were based in the north east), mountains, Scotland, the Lake District, Darlington - and, to my own eternal gratitude at the end of last week's excellent paper (as you can see from last week's QuizBiz), Derbyshire. Though there were the occasional grumbles that WWII tanks, battleships, etc. weren't everyone's cup of tea, Dave delivered his questions in such a way that even if you knew nothing about his main subject the question was peppered with clues which gave players an alternative way to discover the answer.

Above all Dave was an optimistic enthusiast anxious to share the joy he took in his passions with all his many friends - of whom all 50+ WithQuizzers must be counted. He will be sorely missed in the pubs and clubs of South Manchester on a winter Wednesday.

At this sad time our thoughts are with his wife, Gilly. I will keep you all posted as more details become available.

Dunkin' Donitz deservedly clinch the league title in what has been a very doleful Wednesday evening for all of us

The Results

Dunkin' Dönitz beat Ethel Rodin - and in so doing become the WithQuiz league champions for the 2016/17 season. A thoroughly deserved victory for the Dunkers in a season where it took until January 25th for any of the rest of us to get the better of them (and then it was the Bards who did it having bombed for most of the rest of the season!). Strong tactical quizzing throughout from Barry, David, Martin, super-sub Simon and, of course, skipper Kieran.

After the match Greg who plays for Ethel in our league but has also quizzed with Dave Barras in the Sett Valley league took time out to send me this tribute....

"Dave was one of the friendliest and most jovial people in the league, and it was fun to play both against him and with him. In addition to playing against him in WithQuiz, he invited me to play for his team - Chalkers - in the Sett Valley League and made me feel very welcome. I can report that his trademark box of pens graced the tables of both leagues. We have lost a genuinely warm, funny and witty person, and I will miss him.

Here are some comments that have been posted on the Sett Valley League message board.

'He was the driving force behind us putting up a team for the 3-way clash between Stockport, Withington and SVQL Leagues.'

'A larger than life character who will be greatly missed. Thursday nights won't be same without him.'

'Sad. Always made me laugh. Lovely chap.'

'Very sad news and a really nice guy.'

'Awful news, such a funny dry wit - one of the first players I remember from when I joined the league 20+ years ago.'

'A great loss to the quizzing community.'

Kieran's match report is uncharacteristically sombre but reflects the deep regard he and his colleagues had for Dave....

"We played tonight's match in the Parrs Wood (because of TV football in The Griffin) in the raised area on the right as you go in where TMTCH usually play their home fixtures. Hope you don't mind us borrowing it for the evening.

You don't really want to hear from me tonight so with no disrespect to Ethel or the Pigs and their good paper - which appropriately included Derbyshire villages and North Eastern railways - I'm not writing anything further and will leave the QuizBiz space for tributes and memories.

Dave, thank you for so many fantastically enjoyable evenings over the the last ten seasons both in your company and when we played your superb papers. Barry, Martin, David and I are so glad we met and knew you. It was always a huge pleasure to meet and talk with you and just to be in your company. Godspeed a great, generous, funny and unforgettable spirit."

Albert kept themselves in a good position to clinch a top four league place by beating The Prodigals at the Fletcher Moss. Mike O'B reports and puts forward an excellent idea....

"The result seems as if it was one-sided. In fact 7 of the rounds were close but Round 3 broke 9 to 0 to The Albert and The Prodigals didn't recover from that. Some of the questions did seem to resonate with Dave's outlook on life with references to Derbyshire towns and Durham railways. The high point of the evening was the Manchester City question falling to Prodigal Dave. It ended up by being passed over to us but whether this was from ignorance or contempt will remain a mystery forever.

The only time The Albert ever managed to rile Dave Barras with a question was was when we described Glossop North End as a Greater Manchester football team. This enraged him no end as an independent. That's what he was like - passionate and enthusiastic about everything from steam engines to Airfix kits but always with a generous spirit.

It struck me, as it has probably occurred to others, that altering the bland name of the A-Trophy to honour Dave would be one way to mark his importance to the League."

The History Men lost to The Bards of Didsbury. Ivor shares his thoughts....

"Our unbeaten run grinds to a halt tonight. Fortunately both teams had already qualified for 'Europe' (albeit in the Europa league equivalent) but neither of these former colossi of the quiz league wish to rest on their laurels and the tussle for seventh place in the league continues. The match was re-located to the Cricket Club from the Red Lion to avoid the exuberance of Man City supporters (well, anticipated exuberance). Sadly we lost the toss and were put into bat and got 10 of the 14 unanswered questions tonight.

The match was overshadowed, of course, by the news of Dave Barras’s untimely death at the weekend and there were many happy reminiscences to share from the 10 years that Dave and his Hangmen have graced our league. His setting ability raised quizzing by more than a few notches and when Dave was in full flow the rest of us could only aspire to be the second best setters in the league. He was amusing and companionable and filled a room - literally in the Red Lion snug whose 18th century ceilings were not made for giant Geordies. Wednesdays were always enjoyable in his company. We are all better off for having known Dave. Our condolences to Gilly on her loss. Rest in peace."

...and Mike H adds this:

"An enjoyable quiz - possibly slightly favouring the team starting second - with great company, good chat and Anne of The History Men in particular providing great company (as she always does). I QM'd the second half and really thought Ivor would get the Dartford Tunnel question - as it happens, no-one did. The crossword round contained a couple of errors in spacing and in spelling, leading quite reasonably to the answer 'Regan' rather than 'Edgar' being given.

Dave Barras was remembered both before and afterwards - so sad (please convey our deep and sincere thoughts to his family)."

For the best - and worst - of reasons The Men They Couldn't Hang were unable to field a team this week. Nevertheless The Opsimaths gathered at the Club to chat about Dave and his contribution to our quizzing over the past 10 years. Before we ran through the evening's paper we discussed how best to deal with the 'result'. After considering all the options we really didn't want to register a walkover so we agreed to treat the match as 'abandoned' with no points scored by either The Men or ourselves in the league reckonings. I hope all the other teams are OK with this. As it turned out this means the Dunkers have clinched the title. Each and every Opsimath send their warmest congratulations up the road to Heaton Mersey.

Compulsory Mantis Shrimp beat The Charabancs of Fire in the Turnpike derby. Damian sends these words....

"Along with everyone else in the league, we came into tonight's match full of shock and sadness at the unexpected loss of Dave Barras. It's so hard to believe it's been only a week since he last set one of his well-crafted quizzes, and so hard to believe we won't ever come up against him again at any of the WithQuiz venues. At such a moment our thoughts can only be with his wife Gilly and his family and, of course, with his fellow team-mates from The Men They Couldn't Hang. Rest In Peace, Dave! Rest assured you will not be forgotten so long as WithQuizzers continue to assemble each Wednesday evening to indulge in your, and our, favourite pastime in our favourite locations.

In light of all this, it seems churlish to comment on anything else at this moment but I'm sure Dave himself would be the first to insist that the show must go on. Suffice it to say that we ageing former lions of yesteryear were well beaten tonight by the rising young tigers known as Mantis Shrimp. We fell behind from the start and the gap only increased, apart from a brief fight back in Round 6. For the first time in a long while (I think) we failed to make it to 30 points. No doubt our reverend captain will have us all don our fatigues and order us on an immediate 6 mile early morning route march around the dense jungle of Fog Lane Park as soon as he returns from his annual missionary visit to the sunnier parts of Europe."

Finally a note from our friends in the Stockport League courtesy of Mike Wagstaffe....

"Just a brief note to offer the condolences of your friends and neighbours in the Stockport League following the tragic news about Dave. He was always prominent in the competitions between our respective leagues, and also in the three-way friendly involving Sett Valley a few years ago. I remember too how he helped get us out of a hole by setting a WIST paper at short notice when we failed to come up with a volunteer! I will leave detailed comments on his quiz-setting prowess to those in WithQuiz who knew him better, but would simply say that we have thoroughly enjoyed his papers over the years.

The Stockport League wondered whether you would like to re-name the trophy that we contest in the annual pre-season friendly in Dave’s honour? I’ve just noticed that re-naming the A-Trophy has been suggested on your website and we’d also be happy with that, but maybe the pre-season trophy would be more appropriate as it ‘applies’ to the whole of both leagues rather than just four teams from each in any one season?"

The Paper

This week the paper was set by The Electric Pigs.

All round the league the mood was sombre and reflective - and this was perfectly summed up by the dedication at the top of this evening's paper. It read:

"Dedicated to Dave Barras. A genial giant and a master quiz setter. With grateful thanks for the many hours of enjoyment your quizzes and your company have afforded us."

At the club we ran through the Pigs' paper in an informal Opsimath v Opsimath manner. When we got to the Round 7 Spare question I couldn't help thinking that the Pigs had come up with a perfect Dave Barras offering: "What was a Humber Pig, which was used extensively in the 1950s and 1960s?"

Ivor sends these observations on the Pigs' paper....

"Hard quiz for us and the Bards. Much controversy over the crossword grid - I had the 'Oedipus' question but luckily QM Eric said it was 7 letters despite the 6 spaces in the grid. Sadly Tony got the last question on 'Edgar' and having put the 'e' of 'Oedipus' in the second space rather than the 'd', he went for the answer 'Regan'. We took the steal to end the first half 17-17. Hubris followed in the second half!"

...and Damian submits these thoughts....

"We all enjoyed tonight's offering from the Pigs so movingly dedicated to our departed friend. There were themes, bingo and even a cryptic crossword on offer. Lots of variety and interest even if our relative lack of youth left us at our usual disadvantage with some of the more youth-oriented questions e.g. in Round 2 - predictably our lowest scoring round of the night (we did manage to get one point in this round but I can't recall if we knew the answer or just came up with a lucky guess).

Round of the Night: I'll stick my neck out and vote for the Cryptic Crossword Round which I think we all enjoyed even if there was a slight boo-boo with a square missing in one of the questions. I'm sure dear Dave would have been moved to crack a few humorously sardonic comments about that if he'd being playing tonight!"

The very best of the Master Sett Valley Setter.....

This week I've scoured the archives and chosen my favourite Dave Barras questions from a variety of papers between 2010 and 2016.

From 26/01/11 Round 8 Question 6:

Which Gordonstoun-educated archaeologist has had the recently completed section of the Derby ring road that connects Burton Road to Normanton Road named in her honour?

From 13/03/13 Round 6 Question 7:

Members of which subversive organisation, having stolen a Scorpion tank with which to invade the Houses of Parliament, ended up seeing the father of their leader’s girlfriend accidently spray his suburban garden with heavy machine gun fire wiping out his entire gnomery in the process?

From 13/10/13 Round 6 Question 7:

Who threw a dinner party for Sir Isaac Newton and Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise with roast Grasshopper and Ladybird sauce on the menu, although Ptolemy, a vegetarian, had to bring his own salad?

From 29/01/14 Round 4 Question 4:

In France they use the word 'ouistiti' which translates into English as 'marmoset'; in Bulgaria it is the word 'zele' which translates as 'cabbage'; in Korea it is 'Kimchi', a traditional vegetarian dish, whilst in India it is 'paneer'. What word do we use in English?

From 02/04/14 Round 8 Question 8:

Which honorary Member of the British Empire’s record breaking day of the 28th of September 1996 started on Wall St and ended with spectacular leap off Fujiyama Crest shortly after 17.35?

From 17/12/14 Round 1 Question 7:

According to TV comedy scriptwriter Jimmy Perry's memoirs, published in 2002, what did his father say to him at the age of 16 when he said he wanted to become an actor or a comedian?

From 11/11/15 Round 2 Question 5:

You happen to find yourself on the 12.05 Central Time train that leaves Winnipeg next Sunday. Assuming you don't get off and the train runs on time, where will you find yourself at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning in the same time zone when you arrive at the train's final station stop?

From 01/04/15 Round 6 Question 2:

Which Merseyside poet wrote the lines “Out of work, divorced, usually pissed; he aimed low in life and missed”?

Amen.

However for all this week's questions and answers click here.