Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 11/04/18

Results & Match Reports		Prodigals beat Bards Electric Pigs lost to Dunkin' Dönitz Charabancs beat Opsimaths Ethel Rodin beat Albert
The Prodigals recorded the highest score of the evening (a massive 48 points) on their way to defeating The Bards of Didsbury. Anne-Marie comments.... "Done and dusted by 10pm. I guess we got the 'rub of the green' but a great team effort and a quiz which played to our strengths. A fun evening in the back room with The Bards, QM'd by Stella who was on top form in the chair." The Electric Pigs duly paid their respects to this season's form book and lost to Dunkin' Dönitz at the Fletcher Moss. Everything is now neatly set up for next week's final round of league matches when the Shrimps and the Dunkers go head to head at the Turnpike. The Shrimps need a victory by 4 points or more to hoist the league title. A victory by 3 points or fewer will leave the Dunkers champions. Kieran reports.... "Well we've done all we can. Any result up to a three point defeat next Wednesday will see us retain the title for the first time in eight seasons. Despite the odds seeming to favour us I don't feel at all confident and neither does Shrimp Richard who splendidly delivered his team's excellent paper in the Fletcher Moss. Maybe it will be a nil-nil draw next week - park the bus, that'll do us. The Pigs were great hosts and opponents, and pushed us all the way to the last round which was pretty good training for next week's decider. So it's all set up for next week's head-to-head to end all head-to-heads. With the title on the line and the 'miserable bastard who owns the place' hoping desperately to be able to do a Michael Oliver at the slightest suggestion of a vape. Whatever happens it will be a memorable night which will be talked about long after we, though probably not the Shrimp, have departed the quizzing scene for good. The season comes down to these moments, the Donutz and the Shrimp are still alive here....... McNorton.............................. DELAHUNTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I can dream for a week can't I? Bring it on." The Charabancs of Fire did the one thing they always seem to do these days and that was beat The Opsimaths - and this time by some way. The last time the Opsis won this fixture was 23rd March 2016. Of course we don't like being on the losing side - ever - but if anyone has to hold the hex over us then it couldn't be a nicer bunch. As the season comes to a close the Opsimaths ranks have been somewhat depleted; Nick is away in Edinburgh, Clare is doing her junior University Challenge thing in Glasgow and Hilary is holed up in Northenden with a new knee. Step forward my grandson, Joe, to make a welcome guest appearance. On the other side of the table it was a 'Chara Classic' line up with Roisin on the bench in the first half swapping for Graham in the second half. Jane was as ever an excellent QM, clear, patient and humorous. Although the Charas were good value for their win we all agreed that the best thing Megson did all night was win the toss and choose to go first. Of the 11 unanswered questions, 8 fell to the Opsimaths with quite a few of the pairings seemingly skewed towards the home team. Following the match we made the draw for the Val Draper Cup (see the '....and also' section below and the Fixtures page for details) and nattered about things quizzical including a gift Father Megson has generously made to the league. You may recall the bottle of 'Sour Aul Cleric' he wrote about a few weeks ago, well it's still unopened so Meggers has decided it should be named the 'Father Megson Trophy' and awarded on an annual basis to the team that finishes bottom of the league. I took it home with me and - providing it doesn't explode in the interim - I will bring it along to the end of season evening on May 30th. Ethel Rodin managed the second highest score of the evening (46 points) beating their rivals Albert down in Ladybarn. James reports.... "Rather like Manchester City last night, Albert ran off to an early lead but then went through something of a barren spell before a final score that was perhaps unduly harsh on them. The unanswered questions broke pretty evenly 5-6, but otherwise the questions fell pretty well for Ethel - and Roddy even got a popular music question right on his own." ....and from the losing side Mike O'B sends this.... "Carrying on from my last posting, I repeat the Albert will not lose 79 times in a row. To ameliorate the pain I have taken refuge in the philosophy of Boethius: It's my belief that history is a wheel. 'Inconstancy is my nature ' says the wheel, 'rise up on my spokes if you like but the don't complain when you are cast down into the depths'. I think the lad is trying to tell the Albert that each defeat moves the team closer to its next victory. This is true but in the small print each defeat also moves the team closer to its next disaster."
Quiz Paper Verdict		This week the paper was set by Compulsory Mantis Shrimp The average aggregate was 72.3
This week the Shrimps seemed to have hit the season's average on the nail being a mere 0.3 points below it with their paper last night. So plenty of points on offer and for most of you a well-liked set of questions. Sounds like there's a 'but' coming....well there is. At the Turnpike (and judging by the scores and comments from elsewhere) the paper was heavily skewed in favour of the team going first in the first half. And also from a Grumpy Old Man who has never heard of Tiny Timbuk3 and Sandy Thom, is there a contestant anywhere who has never heard of Beethoven and Gounod? I know trivia is our middle name but..... Kieran certainly liked it however.... "And the Shrimp nobly resisted any temptation to set the entire quiz on Dickens and Preston North End, though Tom Finney made a welcome appearance and Jane bloody Austen (has anyone in any field ever been more overrated?) a much less pleasing one. As a result we found it one of the best papers of the season with loads of variety and answers accessible from many routes. We particularly liked having to know the three colours and then work out which flag they constituted, yes we got both right. Barry's spectacular 'useful' for the Edward Gibbon question was dragged from God knows where and I just pray that that kind of form lasts for another week. We even had time to weep along with Gigi and tut at the pedantry of Michael Oliver, but then like many others of his calling he's a bit 'special'." ....as did James.... "Of all the centuries with 70s decades, and all the possible questions about them, we were struggling to find the inspiration behind the Gibbons quote question. Apart from that though, a well constructed quiz. Plenty of interest and opportunities for logical guesses." ....whilst Mike H wasn't so sure.... "Such a one-sided game, I would say 'unbalanced', definitely favouring whoever went first. It finished earlier than usual, at about 10.15, as there was little opportunity for conferring."
....and the Dave Barras Question of the Week award this week has been nominated by Dunkin' Dönitz and goes to Round 1 Question 4: What country's national flag can be made by arranging the colours found in the answers to these three clues (in the order in which they are given) in three horizontal bands from top to bottom? The only Major League Baseball team based in Canada (as of 2018) The sea known historically as the Euxine Sea A Jack London novel of 1906 - a companion piece to The Call of the Wild For the answer to this and all the week's other questions click here.
.... and also
First off a big cheer for Prodigal Michael for his excellent run on Mastermind finishing in third place in the final broadcast just before Easter. He has been superb throughout only just missing out to a truly awesome winner. We're all pleased he's back here in the North West after his brief sojourn down in Oxbridge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the League season nears its close it's time to prepare for the Val Draper Cup and the Plate competitions. So this week at the end of the Charas v Opsimaths match in the Turnpike we made the draw which dictates who plays who in Round 1 of the Val Draper Cup and who gets a bye straight through to Round 2 - and thereby who will set the question paper for Round 1. I am using the same formula for these competitions as has been used for a few seasons now including the same handicap system (fed by the Cup handicap score shown against each team on the League table at the end of the final round of league matches next week). Details of the resultant fixtures are all now up on the Fixtures page. Please note that the setters for Round 1 played on May 2nd will be The Bards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just a reminder that the Guest setter next week will be Mike Wagstaffe from the Alex team in the Stockport League, and the setter for the WIST and Lowly Grail Finals the week after will be Greg Spiller. Many thanks to both of them for stepping up to the plate. You'll also be pleased to hear that James from Ethel Rodin has accepted my invitation to prepare the quiz for the end of season evening on May 30th. I've been to a few local Labour Party Quiz evenings where he's set the questions and they've been, without exception, great fun (which is more than can be said for the political chat that accompanied them!). Many thanks, James. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally all the bills for the 40th Anniversary Celebration evening just before Easter have now been settled. As agreed way back these costs are to be shared amongst the current 10 league teams with all guests being entertained at our collective expense. The result is that I am asking each team to pay £60. I will email each team captain with payment details.