Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 28/09/17

Welcome to the 40th season of the Withington and District Quiz League (WithQuiz)

.....which kicks off with a decisive victory by The Stockport League over WithQuiz in the annual WIST Cup friendly challenge

The Results - WIST Pre-season Friendly Challenge

The WithQuiz League were trailing from early in Round 1 and never managed to get back within touching distance of their opponents in the season's opener against The Stockport League.

By the end of the Stockport format questions (Rounds 1 and 2) Stockport had a 9 point lead and, despite a late rally by WithQuiz in the final round (won 6-1) Stockport kept their lead intact running out winners 60 to 51.

We only managed to field a team of 5 (Nick, Damian, Mike H, James and Tony) in this 6-a-side match whilst Stockport had the full complement (including Roddy of Ethel Rodin fame who moonlights each Thursday for Smart Italics over in Stockport). I suspect Thursday evenings for many WithQuizzers are reserved for other activities whereas in Stockport Thursday is the traditional quiz night. Of course the same logic works against Stockport when a Wednesday is chosen for our inter-league matches (as in the WIST Champions and Lowly Grail competitions).

The atmosphere was - as the match title suggests - very friendly with plenty of sportsmanship (particularly when, as QM, I blurted the answer to one of the questions before offering it to Stockport for a bonus; the Stockport team admitted they wouldn't have known and let the QM error pass).

Suitably the Round 1 Stockport plaque question (Q11) went to the Stockport team and the Pennington Flash colliery Round 4 question went to Tony who was born and brought up pretty well on top of the pit in question. Surprisingly no-one knew what the plaque at 86 Palatine Road (just a few hundred yards away from the Albert Club) celebrated (Round 1 Question 26).

The Paper

This week the paper was set jointly by Mike Wagstaffe of The Stockport League and Mike Bath of WithQuiz.

As was the case last year Mike Wagstaffe and myself made full use of the TV screen in the Albert Club's back lounge displaying pictures and scoreboards as the evening progressed.

Indeed Mike W (who set the 4 WithQuiz-style rounds) had a picture to support every one of the 60 questions he had compiled. In some they were essential to the question; in others helpful clues to the answers; and in many just a bit of relevant colour to the subject being covered in the question. Whichever they were much appreciated and added significantly to the entertainment for both teams.

The Dave Barras 'Question of the Week'

This week the vote goes to the 'Anchorage' question in Round 6 which had everybody scratching their heads over plausible contenders for the US State required in the answer:

Around 40% of the residents of Alaska live in its largest city, Anchorage. Which is the only US state in which a higher proportion of the state’s inhabitants (approximately 43%) live in its most populous city?

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

....and also

With two teams 'on the bench' each week this season Opsimath Howell has suggested we try a 'Sitters v Setters' subsidiary competition alongside the main show with the two teams not involved in league matches that week playing each other with a question paper obtained from another league. With Anne-Marie's agreement next week's Setters (The Opsimaths) will play next week's Sitters (The Prodigals) at the Albert Club. We'll see how things progress over the first few weeks of the season and publish results and feedback on the Home page. Watch this space.

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Got home last Monday after the regular 'Last Monday of the Month' Albert Club quiz to watch the edition of Eggheads that had been broadcast earlier in the evening. Oh my word! Rachael and her Shrimp soldiers well and truly dipped themselves into the Eggheads. Only Adam failed to reach the final round which pitted Shrimps Rachael, James, Mike and Paul against Eggheads Dave (of this parish) and Lisa. Needless to say the Shrimps won and picked up £2,000 prize money. Special mention to Mike who, en route to the final, vanquished Egghead Kevin who has recently been crowned World Quiz Champion for the sixth time.

40 Years On......

It seems we are not the only ones celebrating a 40th birthday at this time; The Antiques Roadshow has just hit the same mark.

So, I thought it would be worth rummaging through the memories at the back of your minds to see if any priceless gems were lurking ready for a second airing. I'll kick off with one of my own......

......Opsimaths poised like coiled springs, ears agape as Jitka intoned in her usual stern manner "Who won the Men's Boom in the Mexico Olympics?". Time passed; we conferred; we scavenged for a plausible guess. Could it be some lesser known yachting event? Perhaps a competition that has subsequently been dropped. Finally we gave up. Over to the visitors (I've forgotten our opponents that night; could it have been the Pigs?). More head-scratching; more furrowed brows. "OK we give in."

"Oh, maybe it's the Men's 800m." says Jitka.

Any treasured WithQuiz memories you'd like to share?