Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 12/02/20

Ethel make it a 3-way thing at the top by beating the Prods - while the Shrimps stay at the very top on points difference despite losing to the Opsis at the Club

Bards lost to Albert

Ethel Rodin beat Prodigals

Opsimaths beat Mantis Shrimp

Electric Pigs lost to KFD

Turing Testers lost to Charabancs

Ethel Rodin beat Prodigals

Victory for Ethel puts them well and truly in the race for the title

James has a smile on his face...

A close match all the way through, with both teams leading by a couple of points at various stages. But Ethel slowly crept ahead in the last few rounds, and pretty much full marks from everybody on the fruit round didn’t leave any space for the Prodigals to make up the difference. We seem to be punching above our weight at the moment with a sequence of close wins. I suspect in doing the double over the Prodigals we have opened the path for the Mantis Shrimps to win the league comfortably.

For the answer to the one about the bloke whose ashes are in his invention, we offered the slightly unlikely 'Pringles'. Roddy had steered us away from the correct answer, because apparently he’d read that the inventor of Pringles, (which to be fair might have been called 'Pluto Thingies') did apparently end up in a Pringles tube, with the only debate being what flavour it should be labelled. I do hope that’s a true story and not simply from Roddy’s imagination!

(News has just got through that Roddy was indeed correct; the ashes of Frederic Baur, the inventor of Pringles, were buried in a Pringles can; Roddy is not deluded after all).

Oh, and much credit to Roddy for (surprisingly) getting Billie Eilish for two.

Ming's would-be fling

(R1/Q1)

...and defeated Dave adds this..

An entertaining night at the Red Lion, but we just fell short against title challengers, Ethel Rodin. This is a hungry tight team whose combined common sense conferring, matched with brave individual decision-making on the twos, was enough to overcome us in the end. We had our chances. Mountain ash and spider could have made the difference, but well done to Ethel Rodin and their erudite QM Liz, who is pretty firm on Tony Blair’s legacy. Some tough matches to come, but this title is definitely up for grabs.

Opsimaths beat Mantis Shrimp

Shrimps cling on at the top despite the Opsis completing the double over them

Mike B oversaw this one...

The QM seat for me this week, so sadly I missed out on the delicious whole round on Scottish islands set by Tim. No matter the Opsis without me were on cracking form and yet again confounded the odds by beating the league leaders. That's two weeks running we've done this, but this time the fact that the Prodigals lost to Ethel and the Shrimps have a better points difference than Ethel, means that Rachael's team stay top. But isn't it getting interesting? Could Ethel nick it at the death?

Sussex's Pleiades

(R2/Q5)

This wasn't as obviously a 'senior citizen's paper' as some we've had this year but it did contain quite a lot of yesteryear stuff. Starting with the 'Carry On' theme was a strong nod in that direction although, as Tom commented to me, knowledge of the theme didn't really play too big a part in that round. Incidentally I was asked by the Shrimps which Carry on film was the best (or should I say the least bad) and I suggested the first of the series Carry on Sergeant which I can just about remember actually made the 11-year old me laugh back in Burgess Hill, Sussex in 1958.

With the best-mannered team in the league on hand (no, not the Opsimaths) conviviality and mutual respect abounded. With Tom, Adam, James and Rachael (and Richard spectating in the wings) I had the chance to get some personal coaching on how a QM should hurry things along in true 'Paxo-style'. I fear my gruffness doesn't really cut it - although we did manage to finish in good time for a bit of a post-match natter.

Of course I want the Opsimaths to win the league this year - and I wouldn't mind if our fellow Albert Club team, the Prodigals, made it two years in a row - and it would be great to have Ethel as a new name on the shield - but in my heart most of all I hope the Shrimps go one better than last year. They really do deserve it.

And finally a shout out for Howell who got 6 twos and would have had more if he hadn't opted for a tactical confer on Ms Cherry. What's more he knew the name of Ted Evetts, the first PDO World Championship player to be bested by a dartess. Andrew, I think Fallon deserves a statue. Get to it!

Harold Jenkins

(R2/Q7)

Turing Testers lost to Charabancs

The Charas win to keep themselves off the bottom of the table

Damian rejoices...

In our first ever visit to the Greenfinch (for a quiz that is), we notched up our second victory of the new decade by beating new boys, the Turing Testers, on their home turf. Thus we returned the compliment after they notched up their maiden victory by beating us in the Albert at the start of the season.

Although the Testers outdid us 8 to 5 on scoring twos, we managed to confer in a more disciplined manner than we have shown of late and this helped carry us through, aided by the fact that we grabbed the lion's share of the steals, 11 to 5.

Next week we set and enjoy a 2-week break given we no longer play any part in affairs south of the Mersey. Let's hope the rest will help rejuvenate our brains before we are plunged into the hurly burly of quizzing again.

Inch Kenneth where Unity spent her last 9 years with a bullet lodged in her brain

(R3/Q2)

Cupid the polymath

(R4/Q1)

Electric Pigs lost to KFD

KFD continue their recovery

Kieran is never lost for words...

Our 17th game of the season so obviously our 8th different line up was in order. Conferred was in Seat One and frankly had a pretty ordinary night: 4 questions answered and 4 blanks out of which the Pigs picked up a couple of bonuses. A marginally more impressive performance than Joe Biden, who will be looking for something to do in a couple of weeks time, and has already had his application to join KFD rejected in the firmest terms. Imagine having a player who out of the blue might call the QM "a lying, dog-faced pony soldier". Imagine doing that to Bob the Hat, you'd be unlikely to make it anywhere near Nevada, certainly not in any fit state to caucus.

Two more that fit the bill

(R6/Q3)

Whether 'Conferred' makes another appearance at the club next week has been complicated by storm Ciara, the Premier League and Barry's neurologist. Every quiz player should have (and probably needs) a personal neurologist and our man in the Barbour jacket is pointing the way ahead for all South Manchester's finest brains.

Weirdly, having only scored half the available points in Seat One, the three constituent parts of 'Conferred' rattled home fifteen twos between them which was the major reason for the victory. A pretty clear case of the individual parts being far greater than their sum. Were I to put my Pep hat on my head I would most likely explode (as his threatens to do every other game) and Bob would be mightily put out.

Ivor and the former 'Young David' jointly QM'd and will have been pleased by the favourable reception for the paper. At the end of the evening 'Young David' announced that he was off to the far east to catch some unspeakable disease. Wisely he spoke no further as the rest of us had 'too much information' seared into our retinas.

Having top-scored in the league for the first time this season, next week we're off to resume battle with the giant-killing Opsimaths. A long time since either of us could truthfully be called giants but it will be fun anyway. Or maybe 'keenly contested' would be nearer the mark than 'fun'. No idea who will be representing KFD, other than that Sleepy Joe will be several thousand miles away, but we'll do what we can and odd things do happen when these teams clash. I'd better find out how Jadon has got on with his bonds and valencies, he's got the best win percentage of any of us.

The Louisiana Purchase questions unpacked

(R4/Q7&8)

Bards lost to Albert

Ever so close but Albert nick it to stay in contention for league honours

Following his recent name change Eno reports...

As the score suggests this was a tough quiz. We suffered most in the Scottish Islands round while the 3-handed Bards had Tony who knows quite a lot about Scottish Islands. We won because we had a better second half, especially Round 7, enabling us to overcome a six-point deficit. We also suffered from our usual tendency to not just shoot ourselves in the foot, but empty the entire magazine into it. Jeremy says there is a legal term 'timorously' and that is our defining quality.

Along with my new look posterior I now know who I am. I saw a notice on the side of the Catholic Chaplaincy on Oxford Road informing me that:

YOU

ARE

ENO

UGH

Amazing! Now I'm Eno Ugh, but of course Mrs Ugh is less than enthralled by the name change and as for the little Ughs… Perhaps I'm related to those jive-talking 1940s comediennes the Ugh sisters ('Dig me daddy on the salad side' or maybe in Quiz League terms, 'Dig me daddy on the Bathy side'). A whole new world has opened up for me.

Beware if Roddy offers you one of these and it looks a bit crumbly

(R5/Q1)

...to which QM Mike adds...

The Bards were at a disadvantage as one of their team didn't turn up so it was a '3 v 4' match. Having said that, it was very close most of way. The Bards' downfall was Round 7 which they lost 0-7. Prior to that they were six points up - not least because only Tony seemed to know anything about Scottish islands (which makes me wonder why my distinguished colleague and leader Ivor preferred to use Tim's islands but exclude any of my film and music questions).

As QM, it is extremely frustrating when you hear a team give the right answer more than once in their conferring, and then see them come up with a totally different answer, or when you hear the right answer muttered by the person to whom the question is aimed only to see them confer (easily done I know, I have been guilty myself). The Bards lost two points in this way on the last two questions of Round 2.

One for all our C&W arachnophiles

(R5/Q2)

Quiz paper set by...

...History Men

Average Aggregate score 72.4

A good paper that just missed it's 'hostage to fortune' ambition of an overall 75 point average. So well done History Men - not least for having the nerve to set and declare a target tally.

No real problems at the Club - even the Al Gore glitch didn't detract since the required answer to that question was achieved successfully with little comment.

Oh, and BTW, I'm not sure I'd describe Kenny Everett and Rik Mayall as polymaths. Comic certainly, but polymath?

Roundest and squarest lands on earth

(R5/Q3&4)

Setter-in-chief, Ivor, gets his defence in first...

"As no doubt many will comment there was an error in the 'Missing from the list' Round (Round 7) with Al Gore being included as a President who won a Nobel Peace Prize since he was only ever a Vice President. David and I were QMing at the Pigs v KFD game and when David spotted my error we voided the question and took a spare. Had the question used the wording 'Presidents or Vice Presidents' it would still have failed since Charles Dawes would need to have been included in the list too.

The combined score of the teams in the Pigs/KFD match was 74. The unanswereds totalled 13 (rather more than we had expected) but at least they broke evenly (7-6). The 3-man KFD team scored 15 twos between them and got 9 steals to earn a decisive win."

...and this from MOBO...

"A pair of questions about Islands would have been fair but a whole round is over-specialised."

No Bully he!

(R5/Q5)

...and from Dave...

"Good effort on the whole from The History Men. I agree with a lot of the sentiments cunningly hidden in the paper. The tough Scottish islands round backed up by an imaginative Welsh-themed round outlined dismay with the places missed by the HS2 project. Also President Gore has a nice ring to it; a much better outcome than the actual 2000 election result."

...and from Mike H...

"Once again a little quibble...sorry but I will never get along with asking one team for four answers and then following it by asking their opponents for just two answers.

However I must thank Ivor for a very witty intro to tonight's paper."

...and from James W...

"Overall a good quiz with several interesting rounds and pairs. The Carillons are generally ringing!

But....from the lofty peaks of a 15-point fruit salad round there were some barren lowlands in the challenging Scottish Islands round; I’m afraid there was some Rhum Muck in that round.

One of the unwritten rules of the quiz, (perhaps?) is that even if you don’t know the answer, and even if no points are scored on a question, then at least someone in the team has to have heard of the answer. Five of the islands were new to all of us - but not in a way that any of us will usefully remember for next time. Meanwhile Hoy was an incongruously easy odd one out.

Had the Opsimaths been playing the Bards, we surmised that Tony and Mike would have scored heavily on Scottish islands and slugged away at each other like Highland Games strongmen. Alas I suspect it will have ended up being a bit lopsided in the games where they were playing."

...and Kieran liked it a lot...

"Quite the best paper of 2020 so far and a return to form from the Historymen whose papers haven't impressed us that much recently. Despite 13 unanswereds (split 7-6 marginally against the Pigs) there were myriad opportunities for twos and plenty of interest to spark discussion and arrive at the correct answer, so long as we kept 'Conferred' out of it of course. One such debate concerned which Steve Wright had done the greater damage to humanity. Well in truth not that much discussion, you don't have to think about it too long and, not at all, if any part of you still cherishes the BBC."

"There's only two..."

(R6/Q8)

...finally Damian has his say...

"Tonight's paper from the History Men was a familiar mixture of the old and the new with their trademark geographical round which is often culled from somebody's most recent holiday. I wonder which one of them has been sojourning around the Scottish islands lately? We found one or two of the hidden themes a bit tricky to guess but at least that didn't hamper us too much in arriving at the answers. Naturally the older style questions tended to favour us whilst our more youthful opponents came to life on the more recent stuff. Fortunately for us, and unluckily for them, the older stuff tended to prevail. All in all a good effort from the Red Lion stalwarts."

Softly, softly DS

(R1/Q5)

Question of the Week

This week I've made the choice and gone for Round 1 (with the Carry On actors' theme) Question 7...

Gustav Mahler used the melody of which popular children’s song (albeit in a minor rather than a major key) in the third movement of his First Symphony?

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