Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 09/05/18

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9th May 2018

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Results & Match Reports

Val Draper Cup Round 2:

Bards lost to Charabancs

Prodigals beat Mantis Shrimp

Opsimaths beat Electric Pigs

Dunkin' Dönitz lost to Albert

Val Draper Cup Round 2:

As per usual at this time of year, when Val Draper's name is being bandied about, The Charabancs of Fire perk up and start winning - this time against The Bards of Didsbury. Damian sends this report of the match from the opulence of the Parrswood Hotel....

"Oh the shame! Oh the shame! But enough about me (more on that later). Before proceedings got under way tonight we drank a toast in honour of Chara Graham's recently deceased father Les Wiggins, a former cinematographer who worked on many films including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and one which was the subject of a quiz question tonight (Graham remembered the answer just too late but I'm sure his late dad will forgive him). After this, the spirit of Val descended upon us shaking off the rust of not having played for 3 whole weeks and seeing us safely through to yet another semi-final in her honour. We led right from the start and never looked like forfeiting the comfortable lead we had established. Charas Gerry and Graham swapped places at half time but both contributed in full measure to the margin of victory!

As for the aforementioned shame, that belonged to Yours Truly who was the only one of our team tonight not to score a two (and I suspect the only one who has not done so since this rule was initiated). However, Father Meggers was in an unusually benevolent and forgiving mood and solemnly bestowed his absolution on me (I must check and see if what I paid is the going rate for benevolence these days) - so, who knows, I may get to play next week after all. Lucky me!"

....whilst Mike H (who QMed the match) sends this....

"Tony struggled to get a team together but succeeded. Winning the toss and choosing to go first (rather than their tradition of opting to go second) proved unkind to the Bards as they only won two of the rounds. They lost on twos (4-6), ones (14-23) but cornered the market on unanswereds getting 11 to the Charas four. Surprisingly neither team got the Meghan Markle answer."

In a surge of late season form The Prodigals beat Compulsory Mantis Shrimp convincingly by 17 points (or 11 before handicaps were applied). The Shrimps scored 26 points (after handicapping) making them the second lowest scoring team of the evening behind the Bards on 25 points. However since the Bards set last week's paper I'm going to use my unelected powers and decree that the Shrimps should set next week's paper.

The Opsimaths beat The Electric Pigs to edge themselves into the Val Draper semis next week. Like Kieran and David (see below) I forsook quizzing to bid farewell to Yaya at the Etihad so the first of our two match reports comes from Howell....

"The start of the match was embroiled in some shambolic scenes as the Prodigals (playing the 'we were here first' card) camped in the back room, leaving the Opsimaths and Pigs to slug it out in the middle of the main room. All were amazed that the police had allowed two major Quarter Finals to take place in the same location.

The quiz survived a very sticky start - just avoiding a riot - when Saint Jezza was insulted in the very first question - but it did help the Pigs to gain some early Momentum (boom! boom!). The Opsimaths lost the first two rounds to slip 9 points behind as the Pigs made the most of their 6 point handicap. From then on the home team moved inexorably closer so that scores were level at 32 apiece at the end of Round 7. The much loved gem known as the Bingo Round proved a round too far for the Pigs, who succumbed to an 8 point defeat. They were unfortunate with the unanswerables which split 8-4 against them - and this bad luck was topped off by some unlucky Bingo number selections in Round 8 leaving them with another two unanswered questions.

Ivor commanded the arena imperiously as Guest QM ruling against the answer 'The Hunt of the Royal Sun' which had him doing a Roy Walker impression of the 'It's good, but it's not right' catchphrase."

....whilst the second report comes from Guest QM and question-setter Ivor....

"Two matches at the Albert Club tonight. The Prodigals and the Mantis Shrimp arrived earlier and bagged the usual anteroom so the Opsis and the Pigs made do with the main lounge. They had me as QM in stentorian mode, though to be fair to the tennis-playing ladies relaxing post game, they made rather less noise than the three Italian ladies in the Red Lion snug last week.

The Pigs started with a 6 point handicap advantage and in the first half held on so that they were still 6 points ahead at half time. The second half saw their lead eroded - and going into the last round it was 32 all. This was the lucky dip round and sadly Lady Luck was not on the side of the Pigs as they lost the round 0-8. Luckily for them the Mantis Shrimp were imploding even more next door so the Pigs will not have to set next week and might even earn a place in the Plate competition (Ed: Indeed they have). There were 12 unanswereds in the first 7 rounds and these broke 8-4 against the Pigs. As a setter I always find it difficult to balance questions because, by definition, all the answers are known to the setter and so evaluation of what is difficult is therefore very blunted. And what is a hard question anyway? The Cartwright Hall is not that well known but it fell to Nick whose school was opposite the gallery. And had he blurted a wrong answer Dave on the Pigs was also Bradford-born and was waiting like a coiled spring for the steal that never came.

Dave (Pigs), and Howell and Nick (Opsis) each got 5 twos. Not such a good night for Young Tom and Old Tom of the Pigs - 7 unanswerable questions between them plus a blurt each. That’s quizzing for you. But next week? A week is a long time in quizzing, they say."

Many will blame Yaya Touré for the result at the Griffin this week with League Champions Dunkin' Dönitz (shorn of Kieran and David who were at the Etihad saying farewell to YT) capitulating to the marauding mob from the Fletcher Moss they call Albert. But some know better. After all it is not the first time this season that DD have been done over by Mike O'Brien's team. Mike himself tells us more....

"Oh how we brayed in triumph tonight. The fact that our opponents were giving us 8 points on the handicap system and that there were only 2 of them clearly played no part in the result. Next week we might have an even greater triumph if none of the opposing team turn up. Later we streamed out of the Griffin looking for a bus to set alight and use as a barricade. The last we saw of Eveline was her standing on the roof of a police car directing a stream of foul-mouthed abuse at some nervous looking constables. I do hope our cup run won't be derailed by a string of court appearances. Perhaps the rest of the Quiz League would like to set up a fund to help with Eveline's legal costs."

Quiz Paper Verdict

This week the paper was set by The History Men

The average aggregate was 67.0

An unenviable task when we come round to the end of season is being the setters for one of the Cup evenings when the rules of choosing who sets turn on the results of the previous week leaving just 7 days for the setters to marshal 64 questions. So full marks to the History Men for getting a goodly paper off the production line for this week's quizzing.

Here's some of the feedback....

....from Damian at the Parrswood....

"We thoroughly enjoyed tonight's paper from the History Men. They crafted a set of questions that suited us down to the ground, enabling us to make constructive guesses even when uncertain about the answer. We were especially moved by the tribute round to recently deceased former Historyman, Peter Morgan, even though it wasn't one of the highest scoring rounds of the night. Memories of dear Peter nodding off in mid-question but waking up in time to hear the answer will never leave us. He may have been a tired old pro but he was always a pro. RIP Peter!"

....from Howell at the Albert Club....

"The first half of the paper was judged 'pretty hard' with only 28 points scored (as against 38 in the second half). Favourite questions were Round 3 Question 8's marathon runners' pick-me-up and Round 8 Question 2's Beatles-inspired fanzine."

....from Mike O'B at the Griffin....

"As for the paper it was fair enough - the unanswered questions broke 5 each. We sympathise with the History Men because it is a genuine pain having to come up with a paper at such short notice. We think they did pretty well in the circumstances."

....and finally some reflections from chief setter Ivor....

"The Historymen had to set this week and, for a rush job, seemed to have created a paper that was received reasonably well by the Opsis and Pigs (perhaps they are too polite). It may well be that we are showing our age by including little of contemporary interest in our papers these days but - in the Grand National Round - I challenge anyone to find a question with Numbersixvalverde or Neptune Collonges in the answer!"

....and the Dave Barras Question of the Week award this week has been nominated by The Opsimaths and goes to Round 8 Question 2:

What is the name of Blackburn Rovers fanzine which was relaunched in September 2017 after a four year dormancy?

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

.... and also

Setters for next week's semi final paper will be the Compulsory Mantis Shrimp team. Rachael can you please confirm with me that this OK?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we approach the end of season can I remind those that are in possession of trophies that they need to ensure that all engraving is up-to-date with last year's winners' names. Recently all our engraving has been carried out at very reasonable prices by....

Manchester Trophy Market, 287 Palatine Rd, Northenden, Manchester M22 4ET (Tel: 0161 946 9200).

Once all engraving is up-to-date then please get the trophies back to me ready for the presentation evening on May 30th (perhaps by leaving them behind the bar at the Albert Club accompanied by a message with my name on). Thanks.

Results & Match Reports		Val Draper Cup Round 2: Bards lost to Charabancs Prodigals beat Mantis Shrimp Opsimaths beat Electric Pigs Dunkin' Dönitz lost to Albert
Val Draper Cup Round 2: As per usual at this time of year, when Val Draper's name is being bandied about, The Charabancs of Fire perk up and start winning - this time against The Bards of Didsbury. Damian sends this report of the match from the opulence of the Parrswood Hotel.... "Oh the shame! Oh the shame! But enough about me (more on that later). Before proceedings got under way tonight we drank a toast in honour of Chara Graham's recently deceased father Les Wiggins, a former cinematographer who worked on many films including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and one which was the subject of a quiz question tonight (Graham remembered the answer just too late but I'm sure his late dad will forgive him). After this, the spirit of Val descended upon us shaking off the rust of not having played for 3 whole weeks and seeing us safely through to yet another semi-final in her honour. We led right from the start and never looked like forfeiting the comfortable lead we had established. Charas Gerry and Graham swapped places at half time but both contributed in full measure to the margin of victory! As for the aforementioned shame, that belonged to Yours Truly who was the only one of our team tonight not to score a two (and I suspect the only one who has not done so since this rule was initiated). However, Father Meggers was in an unusually benevolent and forgiving mood and solemnly bestowed his absolution on me (I must check and see if what I paid is the going rate for benevolence these days) - so, who knows, I may get to play next week after all. Lucky me!" ....whilst Mike H (who QMed the match) sends this.... "Tony struggled to get a team together but succeeded. Winning the toss and choosing to go first (rather than their tradition of opting to go second) proved unkind to the Bards as they only won two of the rounds. They lost on twos (4-6), ones (14-23) but cornered the market on unanswereds getting 11 to the Charas four. Surprisingly neither team got the Meghan Markle answer." In a surge of late season form The Prodigals beat Compulsory Mantis Shrimp convincingly by 17 points (or 11 before handicaps were applied). The Shrimps scored 26 points (after handicapping) making them the second lowest scoring team of the evening behind the Bards on 25 points. However since the Bards set last week's paper I'm going to use my unelected powers and decree that the Shrimps should set next week's paper. The Opsimaths beat The Electric Pigs to edge themselves into the Val Draper semis next week. Like Kieran and David (see below) I forsook quizzing to bid farewell to Yaya at the Etihad so the first of our two match reports comes from Howell.... "The start of the match was embroiled in some shambolic scenes as the Prodigals (playing the 'we were here first' card) camped in the back room, leaving the Opsimaths and Pigs to slug it out in the middle of the main room. All were amazed that the police had allowed two major Quarter Finals to take place in the same location. The quiz survived a very sticky start - just avoiding a riot - when Saint Jezza was insulted in the very first question - but it did help the Pigs to gain some early Momentum (boom! boom!). The Opsimaths lost the first two rounds to slip 9 points behind as the Pigs made the most of their 6 point handicap. From then on the home team moved inexorably closer so that scores were level at 32 apiece at the end of Round 7. The much loved gem known as the Bingo Round proved a round too far for the Pigs, who succumbed to an 8 point defeat. They were unfortunate with the unanswerables which split 8-4 against them - and this bad luck was topped off by some unlucky Bingo number selections in Round 8 leaving them with another two unanswered questions. Ivor commanded the arena imperiously as Guest QM ruling against the answer 'The Hunt of the Royal Sun' which had him doing a Roy Walker impression of the 'It's good, but it's not right' catchphrase." ....whilst the second report comes from Guest QM and question-setter Ivor.... "Two matches at the Albert Club tonight. The Prodigals and the Mantis Shrimp arrived earlier and bagged the usual anteroom so the Opsis and the Pigs made do with the main lounge. They had me as QM in stentorian mode, though to be fair to the tennis-playing ladies relaxing post game, they made rather less noise than the three Italian ladies in the Red Lion snug last week. The Pigs started with a 6 point handicap advantage and in the first half held on so that they were still 6 points ahead at half time. The second half saw their lead eroded - and going into the last round it was 32 all. This was the lucky dip round and sadly Lady Luck was not on the side of the Pigs as they lost the round 0-8. Luckily for them the Mantis Shrimp were imploding even more next door so the Pigs will not have to set next week and might even earn a place in the Plate competition (Ed: Indeed they have). There were 12 unanswereds in the first 7 rounds and these broke 8-4 against the Pigs. As a setter I always find it difficult to balance questions because, by definition, all the answers are known to the setter and so evaluation of what is difficult is therefore very blunted. And what is a hard question anyway? The Cartwright Hall is not that well known but it fell to Nick whose school was opposite the gallery. And had he blurted a wrong answer Dave on the Pigs was also Bradford-born and was waiting like a coiled spring for the steal that never came. Dave (Pigs), and Howell and Nick (Opsis) each got 5 twos. Not such a good night for Young Tom and Old Tom of the Pigs - 7 unanswerable questions between them plus a blurt each. That’s quizzing for you. But next week? A week is a long time in quizzing, they say." Many will blame Yaya Touré for the result at the Griffin this week with League Champions Dunkin' Dönitz (shorn of Kieran and David who were at the Etihad saying farewell to YT) capitulating to the marauding mob from the Fletcher Moss they call Albert. But some know better. After all it is not the first time this season that DD have been done over by Mike O'Brien's team. Mike himself tells us more.... "Oh how we brayed in triumph tonight. The fact that our opponents were giving us 8 points on the handicap system and that there were only 2 of them clearly played no part in the result. Next week we might have an even greater triumph if none of the opposing team turn up. Later we streamed out of the Griffin looking for a bus to set alight and use as a barricade. The last we saw of Eveline was her standing on the roof of a police car directing a stream of foul-mouthed abuse at some nervous looking constables. I do hope our cup run won't be derailed by a string of court appearances. Perhaps the rest of the Quiz League would like to set up a fund to help with Eveline's legal costs."
Quiz Paper Verdict		This week the paper was set by The History Men The average aggregate was 67.0
An unenviable task when we come round to the end of season is being the setters for one of the Cup evenings when the rules of choosing who sets turn on the results of the previous week leaving just 7 days for the setters to marshal 64 questions. So full marks to the History Men for getting a goodly paper off the production line for this week's quizzing. Here's some of the feedback.... ....from Damian at the Parrswood.... "We thoroughly enjoyed tonight's paper from the History Men. They crafted a set of questions that suited us down to the ground, enabling us to make constructive guesses even when uncertain about the answer. We were especially moved by the tribute round to recently deceased former Historyman, Peter Morgan, even though it wasn't one of the highest scoring rounds of the night. Memories of dear Peter nodding off in mid-question but waking up in time to hear the answer will never leave us. He may have been a tired old pro but he was always a pro. RIP Peter!" ....from Howell at the Albert Club.... "The first half of the paper was judged 'pretty hard' with only 28 points scored (as against 38 in the second half). Favourite questions were Round 3 Question 8's marathon runners' pick-me-up and Round 8 Question 2's Beatles-inspired fanzine." ....from Mike O'B at the Griffin.... "As for the paper it was fair enough - the unanswered questions broke 5 each. We sympathise with the History Men because it is a genuine pain having to come up with a paper at such short notice. We think they did pretty well in the circumstances." ....and finally some reflections from chief setter Ivor.... "The Historymen had to set this week and, for a rush job, seemed to have created a paper that was received reasonably well by the Opsis and Pigs (perhaps they are too polite). It may well be that we are showing our age by including little of contemporary interest in our papers these days but - in the Grand National Round - I challenge anyone to find a question with Numbersixvalverde or Neptune Collonges in the answer!"
....and the Dave Barras Question of the Week award this week has been nominated by The Opsimaths and goes to Round 8 Question 2: What is the name of Blackburn Rovers fanzine which was relaunched in September 2017 after a four year dormancy? For the answer to this and all the week's other questions click here.
.... and also
Setters for next week's semi final paper will be the Compulsory Mantis Shrimp team. Rachael can you please confirm with me that this OK? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As we approach the end of season can I remind those that are in possession of trophies that they need to ensure that all engraving is up-to-date with last year's winners' names. Recently all our engraving has been carried out at very reasonable prices by.... Manchester Trophy Market, 287 Palatine Rd, Northenden, Manchester M22 4ET (Tel: 0161 946 9200). Once all engraving is up-to-date then please get the trophies back to me ready for the presentation evening on May 30th (perhaps by leaving them behind the bar at the Albert Club accompanied by a message with my name on). Thanks.