Withington Pub Quiz League - QuizBiz 08/01/20

KFD lost to Ethel Rodin

Ethel sneak up to second with a narrow win

Kieran reflects ...

Fear and loathing in La Parrs Wood

So Ethel deserved the win, no question - but it was the kind of game we always have with them. Four points behind after Round 1 we whittled away at the lead until it was one point at the end of Round 7 and 36 points each come the last pair. Of course it was; it always is! And then I went for Robespierre rather than Charlotte Corday because my knowledge of the French Revolution is not all that good and the moment was gone with Greg having the luxury of conferring with Nottingham lad Geoff for Raleigh and the point that made victory certain. James in particular gave a heroic performance as he tried not to get totally distracted by Villa's efforts at the King Power and managed somehow to contribute twos and lots on conferred questions.

We liked the family connections round a lot. I never knew about the Darwin / Vaughan Williams family, nor the Elizabeth Garett Anderson / Millicent Fawcett connection (Farah was a bit of a desperate throw on that one).

BUT EIBAR! I mean who doesn't know about Eibar? Apart from someone who's Googled 'Never relegated from La Liga', seen the three clubs and thought "yeah that's it". And of course we had Bilbao written down (I'm sometimes Bielsa remember?). But I was trying to be clever. Clever or not, I knew absolutely that Eibar have never been relegated since being promoted to La Liga in 2014, finishing 18th (Elche getting relegated instead for doing a Leeds, Portsmouth, Birmingham, PSG enter your club of choice NOT City) then 14th, 10th, 9th and 12th and currently lying an inglorious 16th. But still NEVER relegated. Ho, hum, Ethel would still have won but that sort of thing is irritating.

I'm told The Griffin is about to undergo one of its periodic refurbishments and may be closed for some weeks. Watch this space for news of where we will play quiz games during that time. More importantly where am I going to watch City away games? Even more importantly where will I be able to indulge my passion for Eibar?

Snapped up for $250M

(R2/Q5)

Electric Pigs beat Albert

The Pigs just come out on top in the Fletcher Moss derby

QM Andrew witnessed a very sporting affair...

I don’t often provide feedback on the quiz but tonight merited it. I was QM and saw at first hand the sporting nature of The Albert team. This ultimately led them to lose rather than tie the quiz.

The Electric Pigs deliberated long and hard on the Vietnam War book question (in Round 7) before coming up with ‘The Brightest and the Best’. I passed it across to The Albert who were wide of the mark with their answer. I then revealed the right answer and invited The Albert to award the mark to The Pigs which they duly did. Top quiz behaviour!

Finally is it time to reconsider starting the quiz at 8.00pm rather than 8.30pm to ensure that matches finish in time for the losers to secure their pints?

..and gallant losing captain Mike reports...

What an exciting quiz - decided on the very last question when any of the three results was still possible.

QM Andrew was interested in my approach to the team. He is clearly unused to the heavy sarcasm which permeates all Albert interactions. He doesn't understand that these people have to be driven since they are by nature resentful and rebellious. I am forced to behave like a Plantagenet monarch ever alert to murderous plots. I have always been attracted to the procedures in the Tsar's army where the equivalent of 'Yes sir' was replaced by 'Happy to be asked to try Sir' and NCOs enforced compliance with the aid of a thick rope covered in hardened tar. Yet the fate of the Tsars tells us that even this was too liberal.

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more.”

(R5/Q2)

Mantis Shrimps lost to Prodigals

A massive 52 points means the Prods go top of the table

History Men lost to Turing Testers

The Testers get the better of a high-scoring contest

Ivor a tale to tell...

We first met the Turing Testers on the eve of the General Election and had an even more comfortable victory then than Boris had the next day. But if a week is a long time in politics a month is a long time in quizzing. The Turing Testers leapt to a five point lead after the first round and although we were level after Round 5, the last three rounds saw their lead restored. Like their more senior student quizzers, the Mantis Shrimp, they already have knowledge in breadth and depth. Perhaps Michael Gove’s tenure in Education and Joe Johnson’s tenure as University Minister has not been in vain (I might get lynched by Anne…).

Champion European Champion

(R3/Q4)

Can we blame going first after winning the toss? Can we blame sitting in the wrong seats? Can we blame our lack of knowledge? A bit of all of these. We even started the game with a '0' question so our New Year’s Resolution of trying harder has failed at the first step.

Blurt of the evening: David’s confident identification of Tenzin Gyatsu as Sherpa Norgay Tenzing rather than the Dalai Lama. He then told us he was once photographed standing between the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela which did impress us for a bit until it was revealed this was at a waxworks museum.

“…the majesty and grandeur of the English language; it’s the greatest possession we have.”

(R5/Q1)

to which Mike H adds...

Very enjoyable as ever, even though the History Men lost to the new student team - and even though I allowed Ivor's 'Brightest & Best' instead of the reverse (my excuse was that I thought Paxman would have allowed it). Two very good and very likeable teams, and a high-scoring Bards quiz (even if that sounds like a contradiction in terms). And thanks to Tony for including four of my own questions. I think my vote for QotW goes to Round 4 Question 8 about the former City player with the record number of red cards and own goals in the Premiership era.

Lending a hand to the Addams'

(R2/Q2)

Opsimaths beat Charabancs

The Opsis start the New Year firing on all cylinders

Mike Bath was there...

Both these veteran teams of WithQuiz-land slipped back into quiz mode as if they were trying on a pair of gloves that that old aunt always gives you for Christmas; comfortable, warming and exactly the same as the pair she gave you last year.

Brian was QMing with his carer, Jitka, at his side. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the evening for me was getting hints from the QM combo on how to handle gout. But the Opsimathic performance ran it a close second. Nick and I prospered with 4 twos a-piece with Howell just behind. Poor old Hilary kept getting the football questions - or so it seemed. Nevertheless we ran out comfortable victors over the ever cheery Charas. Alas for Graham both the racing questions came up as spares.

As in the Fletcher Moss match the Charas very sportingly allowed us points for 'Brightest and Best' (rather than 'Best and Brightest') in Round 4. Many thanks to them.