WITHQUIZ

The Withington Pub Quiz League

QUIZBIZ

1st March 2023

Home

WQ Fixtures, Results & Table

WQ Teams

WQ Archive Comments Question papers

Clean sweep for the home teams meaning the Prods edge back into top place on 'points scored' difference and Ethel sneak back above Albert into third place

Electric Pigs beat History Men

Ethel Rodin beat Charabancs

Prodigals beat KFD

Bards beat Albert

Electric Pigs beat History Men

Pigs beat this season's 'yo-yo' team in a fun game at the Moss

Ivor reports on a  game of two halves...

St David’s Day already and the birthday of our Zambian-born Welshman, Young David.  I know I said last year on his milestone birthday we would drop the epithet 'Young' in reports, but at 51 David is by some years the youngest Historyman.  As commented on by our esteemed opponents we, like themselves, and possibly most of our teams, have an average age that creeps up by one year EVERY YEAR!  However we do appreciate constancy in this changing world; certainly the two teams would have looked more or less similar 15 years ago.  As would the genial QM for the evening, none other than Lord Bath himself, whose mellifluous tones, longevity and bi-monthly performances at the Albert Club quizzes have earned him the title 'Doyen of QMs' (I shall stop now as this resembles an Hello! article on a minor European Royal).

An alternative view of our match is that it was a 'dead rubber'.  Neither team will finish bottom and neither will gain a spot in the Champions league.  However we do like the thrill of the game even if the only reward is a sense of satisfaction and temporary elation.  The best quizzes are like that: think Only Connect (no prize), University Challenge (a glass shield) and Mastermind (a glass bowl).  Compare these with the tawdry affairs of celebrity game shows and 'big' money.


Where Stockport goes today, the world goes tomorrow

(R3/Q2)


We had a most convivial evening and the result was that the Pigs have done the double over us this season.  Maybe we will get Cup revenge. 

We were missing Anne tonight but we did seem to roll out our typical performance i.e. four points ahead at half time and then four points behind at the end.  Rounds 5 and 7 were the swing rounds against us.  Stats-wise there were 10 unanswereds (4 to the Pigs and 6 to us), 20 twos (12-8) and seven steals (3-4).  It was a slow start for scoring for both teams only reaching double figures (10-11) at the end of Round 3.  Indeed it was a slow start to the match itself as Vanessa went to the Parrswood by mistake.  Regular readers will know catastrophic 'fallaway' in the closing rounds is not uncommon for us, but on this occasion it was not lack of focus but a much better performance by the Pigs - especially in going for twos.  So in other words it was 'a game of two halves, Brian'.


"Evening all"

(R6/Q8)


Guest QM, Mike, reports from the Fletcher Moss...

An unearthly quiet descended on the Moss last night once the United match had finished (and to be honest there wasn't much noise before United had done their bit).  Gary, Guy, Tom and Andrew were arrayed against Ivor, Vanessa, Alison and David in what turned out to be a most enjoyable evening.

Of course it was St David's Day and so History Man David used the evening to celebrate his 51st birthday.  Having answered the somewhat easy preliminary question of "why did they call you David?" he proceeded to surprise us with the information that in fact he was born in Zambia all those 51 years ago.  I can tell you that on March 1st 1972 Nilsson topped the UK charts with Without You whilst Juan María Bordaberry was sworn in as the President of Uruguay.  Happy birthday, David!

Back to the match... The History Men were their usual mercurial selves losing to the 8th placed team this week having defeated the high-flying Prods on their last outing.  You never know what to expect next with Ivor and co.  Over on the other side the Pigs were good value for their win despite the occasional animated and amusing exchange in their lengthy conferences on the way to the wrong answer.

Final fact of the evening: Alison was awarded her graduation certificate by Sir Peter Scott all those years ago in Birmingham.  Her wild life has been conserved ever since (according to Ivor).


The Three Ages of Evil

(R8/Q1)


Haile thought of in Ethiopia

(R3/Q6)


Prodigals beat KFD

Prods win this crucial head-to-head by 6 points - but we'll always have Grimsby

Michael celebrates the Prods '10 in a row'...

Manchester City don't play Arsenal until late April so, until then, last night's match will have to do.  If KFD had won, the league would have been all over bar the shouting.  Yet somehow we kept our remarkable run against them going: 10 in a row, apparently.


1970s suicide note from Manchester

(R1/Q8)


We had feared a long and turbulent night as KFD eked out an 8-7 lead after two rounds, but the scoring thereafter was giddy.  Steals were few and far between and it was sheer luck that I have just finished writing a book in which Richard (not Robert) Owen plays a prominent role; less proudly, I also have the Oasis album featuring Let There Be Love.  Another fair and good-spirited match with our opponents, for whom Grimsby's march into the FA Cup Quarters might figure as consolation. 


Lee Todd sees f**king red

(R2/Sp1)


Bards beat Albert

Tony's troupe edge closer to Albert in the table by beating them at the Parrswood

Mike pleads for more obscenity and less ignorance...

We were beaten by a 3-handed Bards team.  This was clearly a cunning plan by our opponents to have one person less not to know things whereas we had an extra source of ignorance to draw on.  Our spirits were raised briefly when the question on obscene rock climbing surfaced but alas the racy tone was not sustained.  Surely there should be a place in the Olympics for a sport in which obscenity is a vital part. 


Rude food dude

(R5/Q1)


Triumphant Tony is pleased with his QM...

We played three-handed so the Bards' win was particularly pleasing.  Opsimath Brian acted as a brilliant quizmaster.  Many thanks!


Ethel Rodin beat Charabancs

Ethel leapfrog Albert into third place with a win down in Ladybarn


...in Berlin and Rome

(R4/Q6)


Quiz paper set by...

...The Opsimaths

Average Aggregate score 81.3


No verdict from me this week as the Opsimaths  were the setters (well, Brian, to be honest).  Just the observation that the aggregate average was 3 points above the mean for the season and that most teams seemed to enjoy themselves.  Only barren patch in the Fletcher Moss match (where I QMed) was the Sports Round (Round 2) where the scoring was pretty low (though the information on display was nonetheless quite interesting).


...this was James's view...

A good set of questions last night though the Sports round was a low-scoring affair.


...and Tony adds...

We thought the quiz was well-constructed and most enjoyable.


...and Mike O'B feels that...

As usual with Opsi quizzes the themes were interesting, e.g. the film titles round - and many of the individual questions were finely crafted.  However it would be interesting to know how many teams going second managed to win since we felt that there was somewhat of an imbalance in the questions. 


...and Michael T is almost happy...

I thought 7/8ths of the paper was very good.  The first round was difficult, but fair and interesting, while the last six were feasts of points.  However, I will reserve a special place in Room 101 for non-sporting sports.


....finally Ivor sums up...

The paper was reported to be another 'single author' compilation by Brian McLintock.  Although we might grumble over perceived injustices (that is getting a question one does not know the answer to, and worse, one’s opponent getting the 'easy' question one does know the answer to), it was an excellent demonstration of the setter’s craft exemplified by the famous Opsimath’s logo on the front page, each round separated and appearing on a single page, and  a Q and A grid system which allowed easy reading for the QM as well as sufficient space for incidental information and anecdote. The Romans had bread and circuses, we have beer and quizzes. 

The theme rounds of all types were well developed and maintained.  Anne always complains that her attempts at a theme round fade out/grind to a halt at question 4.  Not the case here; indeed even in the theatre/cinema round we were still thinking of Roxys and Lyceums for cafes and wrongly suspected Italian schools.  We did worry about the last round on the Hebrew alphabet; the Historymen have little Latin, less Greek and no Hebrew at all.  We need not have worried; the first rule of quizzing is 'Just answer the question!'


Weatherfield's rising sex symbol

(R1/Q6)


Question of the Week

Reminding him of a misspent youth this week Gary chose Round 7 (the Run Ons round) Question 5...

In 1967, The Yardbirds reworked a song by US singer-songwriter Jake Holmes, and it became a centrepiece of their tours.  Jimmy Page took it with him to Led Zeppelin.  With new lyrics and vocal line for their debut album, what became a signature song for the group?

&

Based in Cardiff, which financial services comparison website launched in 2001, becoming the UK’s first car insurance comparison site?

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


"Good Golly, Where's Olly?"

(R7/Q4)


...and also

Next Wednesday following the Opsimaths match at the Griffin against the Charabancs we'll make the draw for the Val Draper Cup Round 1 and 2 matches.

As last year there'll be just a single match in Round 1 in order to reduce the number of competitors from 9 to 8 for Round 2.  To be fair I've decided to ensure that neither of last season's Round 1 cup competitors have to compete in Round 1 this year so both Ethel Rodin and KFD will get a bye straight into the Round 2 draw.  I suggest we adopt this practice for Round 1 cup draws from hereon.  Hope you're all fine with this.

Oh, and if you're new to the league this season, do note that the handicap scores shown on the league table, as at the end of the final round of league matches on March 15th, will be applied to all cup match scores.  If you're not doing so well in the league at present maybe this is an incentive to lose your last 2/3 matches as heavily as possible?


2012: Cricket moves east from Lords

(R2/Q1)