WITHQUIZ

The Withington Pub Quiz League

QUIZBIZ

21st November 2018

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The Shrimps and the Dunkers come storming back after difficult starts to the season - but the Prods stay on top

Dunkin' Dönitz beat Charabancs

Prodigals beat Electric Pigs

Mantis Shrimp beat History Men

Bards lost to Opsimaths

Dunkin' Dönitz beat Charabancs

A return to traditional form for last season's champions but (as yet) no report from Kieran (email problems) apart from a text with this picture...

and these words...

"President Bob had had a special manicure for the occasion.

OK, it's my daughter Elizabeth filling in for the great man who is who knows where."

No problem with Damian's email however

My evening began inauspiciously when I had the bright idea of spending an extra 50p to catch a bus that would convey me to within a few yards of the Griffin. Unfortunately, said bus broke down outside the Didsbury Pub and I ended up walking the rest of the way anyway so that was one 50p wasted and the rest of the evening didn't exactly improve much from there.

We managed to run the Dunkers close in the first half but were always just behind in every round.  In the second half the gap steadily widened not helped by us scoring just one point in the 'Castle' themed round (if I had managed to suss the theme I might have dredged up the correct answer to Eliza Doolittle's horse instead of blurting "Rover" which, as Roisin reasonably pointed out, would have been more appropriate if she had been watching dog racing rather than attending Royal Ascot - but, in my defence, who would have guessed that Bolsover was a castle?).

...and email now repaired Kieran reports

A return to the Griffin, beer on form for once, and a return to what was formerly our winning habit. The Charas, good company of course, were always in the game but faded in the last couple of rounds when we extended a marginal lead into something that made us confident of victory.  

The Charas got the rough end of the unaswereds, 7 to our 1, with our guests going second.  Given that we won by 9 this clearly made some difference though maybe not enough to have swung the result the other way.

The Griffin provided a floor show of sorts, of the 'you're no lady', 'well you're a liar, go away', variety - and that was just Damian and me.  It's trying to up its game but still falling short of the level of The Travellers.

Next week we welcome the Opsimaths for the season's first Classico and presumably also hordes of stray fans of the Champions elect who, for some reason, will choose an overwhelmingly blue pub in Heaton Mersey to follow their team's progress (or otherwise with any luck) in Paris.  So we'll almost certainly be in the middle room without a screen, denying Mike and co. the opportunity to unsettle us by doing a Prodigals and nicking our bench. The Opsis game is always one to look forward to and usually incredibly competitive.  It probably will be again but, given our form this season, it may not have the same effect on the ultimate destination of the league title as it once did.  Maybe I should think of it as Everton vs. Liverpool.  And President Bob will be restored to his rightful place ensuring fair play, harmony and peace, love and understanding.

Danny reports from the Club

A baby geep

(R5/Q2)

The Shrimps power back from their poor start to the season with a resounding victory

Rachael reports

We had a most enjoyable evening at the Woodstock entertaining the delightful History Men.  As for the contest - well we took a slight lead in Round 1 which we  gradually extended so that at the end we were a pleasing 17 points ahead."

...and Ivor sends his take...

We lost the toss, batted second and lost by quite a distance.  It was not that we did not try, or that we were playing three-handed like last week; it was just that the Shrimps were better than us tonight. We had fewer unanswered questions (one to their four) but conceded 8 steals to them, getting none in return.  Of the 22 twos the Shrimps had 13.  Wrong seat syndrome played a small part in what is now three losses in a row (which mirrors our three victories at the start of the season).

Nevertheless it was a fun evening in the grand surroundings of what is likely to be the most expensive drinking venue of our quiz circuit - there is even a car parking charge unless you check in at the bar.  It is not often I pay with a debit card because I have insufficient folding money to hand.  Still I suppose we are paying for the leisure experience as well as the beer.

This was a most enjoyable paper.

With a few exceptions the questions were straightforward so that (at the Parrswood at least) we were done and dusted by 10.15pm.  There were plenty of points on offer and very few unanswered questions (for us none in the first half and just 3 or 4 after the break).

The themes were OKish (I liked the 'Light ....' one but everybody groaned at the answer).  The range of knowledge required to tackle the questions was high (which is good) and although there was some imbalance in the pairing (Die Frau ohne Schatten and Die Forelle come to mind) overall this seemed to even out.  Perhaps the first round's theme was more of a loose  link than a theme, but never mind that the questions in this round were all very accessible without a theme to guide the competitors.

So all in all well done, Ethel, and many thanks.

Rachael sums up the paper thus...

"The paper was challenging, varied and generally interesting, though there were a few quibbles due to the phrasing of some of the questions."

...and Ivor...

"Ex-Opsimath Clare was in the QM chair tonight and managed to navigate the commas and unusual capitalisations without error.

We particularly liked the namesake round.  The Pizzly caught us out (though not the Shrimps) as we couldn't dismiss Thomas Hardy's 'pizzle' from our minds ('so we are agreed it is a pig’s cock').  Sadly my 'O' level German was insufficient for the Richard Strauss question as we didn't learn the word for 'shadow' in our syllabus.  Wrong answer of the night was Rachael's suggestion of the Sabre Dance as the tune associated with the Royal Marines which did at least fit in with the 'light' theme.

Danny's review...

"I thought it was a tough paper but there were some nice nuggets.   Overall we had 11 unanswered questions which broke 7-4 against the Prodigals and only 12 twos all night.

I particularly liked the Tractor Boys question in Round 6.  It was a nice play on words.

Oh, and a quick point of order relating to Round 5 Question 4... it is 17 points in Scrabble for 'facepalm' not 16 as the question states."

...and Damian 's...

Moans and quibbles aside, we thought Ethel's paper was a generally well constructed affair with lots of variety and reasonably accessible questions. I counted only about half a dozen unanswerables which seemed, by my reckoning, to have fallen mostly to us.  But in short we were just up against the better team on the night which is not exactly an unfamiliar experience for us when playing against the perennial league champions.

...and finally Kieran's...

"A big thumbs up to Ethel for setting a quiz with little controversy that was done with by 10.15pm."

Question of the Week

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

Although Albert were sitting out this week MOBO felt it important to get in touch...

"Since the Albert is not in action tonight I am sharing the good news that after my appeal for donations for the Spanx faux leather leggings Eveline has informed me that contributions flooded in - and very nice the leggings look on me too.

Of course I am fortunate in possessing a posterior as noble as that to be found on Michelangelo's 'David' and I realise that very few are so fortunate.  Eveline also reports that there was some money left over and, knowing that you would not object, has treated herself to a brand new Louisville Slugger - the old one having been worn out on the skulls of the rest of the Albert team."