Withington Pub Quiz League - Quizbiz 01/11/23

Clean sweep for the away teams this week leaving 6 of our 9 contenders on 6 points at the top of the table - and with Ethel Rodin just ahead on score difference

Electric Pigs lost to Albert

History Men lost to Bards

KFD lost to Opsimaths

Prodigals lost to Charabancs

Electric Pigs lost to Albert

A hefty victory for Albert who become the first to top the 50 mark this season

Mick provides the allusions

Obviously a good quiz for the Albert although I think we were helped by losing the toss.

My favourite question was the 'Danny Boy' reference even though the first time round I didn't understand the premise of the question so conferred and had to have it explained to me. This should prove to question setters that it is possible to fool some of the people all of the time.

Round 7 turned out to be a strange affair; Albert won it 7-0 but all 7 of our points were from steals and conferrals, Eveline being most bemused by the fact that her answer of 'Jimmy Riddle' to the urination question was incorrect. I feel that taking the Mick will produce a rich store of allusions in the future.

A Nobel daughter

(R2/Q6)

History Men lost to Bards

History Men sink to the foot with another defeat

Ivor muses as he waits for Anne's return from her hols

Despite being pointless after our first three games (but still only third worst on goal difference) we felt optimistic in our battle with fellow strugglers (and former titans of this league) the Bards. We had home advantage, we got our lucky seats, we won the toss, elected to go first, and even won the first round. Then the black bile descended on us like a miasma (I assume it can aerosolise) with the realisation that the Parrswood is also the home of the Bards, that our lucky seats have lost their lustre, that winning the toss merely allows the captain to inadvertently pick the question set that doesn't suit his players’ strengths or seating positions, and that winning the first round leaves seven rounds for the opposition to mete out punishment.

Glutton

(R1/Q1)

And so they did. Round 3 (3-8) and Round 7 (1-8) saw the wheels fall off. The Bards were worthy winners and outplayed us in steals (4-6) and twos (7-9). With our next games against KFD and the Albert it is hard to see where our first league points will come from. Maybe Anne will give us a pep talk when she is back from holiday - though it is more likely to be a Ferguson hairdryer than a Bradley Walsh “I think you are a better player than that”.

Herr Dumpidump

(R8/Q4)

We had Roddy in the QM seat and he presided over a very pleasant evening. He thought our combined score was higher than the setters had anticipated. We do not mind hard quizzes anyway so long as they are interesting - and tonight’s was indeed very well-crafted and covered most fields of knowledge.

As for me though, I was weighed in the balance and found wanting. My net score contribution of 2 points was even worse than last week. I see there is a study suggesting that the brain power of the over 50s has dropped as a result of the pandemic, which does not augur well, especially as we hardly have anyone under 50 in our league.

Ali G's hairdresser

(R5/Q4)

The end of Man

(R5/Q8)

KFD lost to Opsimaths

KFD slip up against visiting Opsimaths

Mike braves the storm to report back

Down in Heaton Mersey Storm Ciarán proved to be a bit of a damp squib as a quartet of West Didsbury's finest (Howell, Nick, Charlotte and myself) becalmed the winds of KFD (Martin, David, Tom and skipper Stormzy himself).

The first 2 rounds were nip and tuck but then when the 'Funny Punny' round came the Opsis seemed perfectly tuned in to the awfulness of the puns whereas KFD's Tom got landed with the Reg Smythe question which, because of his tender years (and fine upbringing no doubt), meant he was the only person in the room (and possibly the whole pub) who didn't know the answer. From this round on the Opsis surged ahead to finish 11 points to the good.

It was (of course) an excellent evening's entertainment ably overseen by Bob the Hat with relationships as warm as ever. And talking of old hat, Bob has the most endearing habit of giving a mini speech of welcome to all the competitors following the opening of the envelope. A nice warm formal start to the quizzing which other QMs might do well to emulate.

Other highlights? Well, it seems Charlotte the Opsi newbie turns out to know the full range of Mr Men characters in any tongue you wish to mention; Nick was firing on all cylinders; and I was particularly pleased to be able to dredge up the Point of Ayre from my days of memorising everything of note on the map - as well as remembering from my interpersonal skills training days that black bile was thought by the ancients to lead to melancholy (though these days if you're short of black bile there's always a trip to Old Trafford).

So, beating KFD is a rare achievement for us these days, and - who knows - might it presage a golden season? Home against the mighty Charas next week who return to the Club just 7 days after their epic victory over the Prods. Bring it on!

"Passport please!"

(R8/Q6)

Prodigals lost to Charabancs

Epic victory for last season's wooden-spoonists

At last Damian's smile rings true as he gives the lowdown

Scores like this always remind me of Sam Beckett's advice to keep trying and failing better. In our last quiz we failed by just one point. This time we failed even better and actually won. That quote really must become our team motto although I'm not sure yet whether to use executive privilege and just impose it or be a good democrat and canvas a show of hands from the rest of the team. Maybe I'll bide my time and see how they behave towards me as the season progresses.

America's Supreme lawyer

(R2/Q1)

In any event, we notched up our first victory of the season against one of the perennial contenders for the league title. This match also provided an auspicious debut for our newest team member, Bill (John's neighbour). He was so thrilled at the win that he promptly decided to celebrate by going on holiday next week. Hopefully this will now motivate him to join us on a permanent basis whenever he's around to do so.

However, it was a near-run thing as we led in only three rounds and had to overcome an ominously widening deficit at the start of the second half. The last two rounds swung it for us with a combination of more favourable questions and a disciplined team performance (well, mostly) finally getting us over the finishing line.

A model member

(R2/Q2)

Quiz paper set by...

...Ethel Rodin

Average Aggregate score 75.3

Another good average aggregate with plenty of variety. There was a welcome reappearance of the 'Funny Punny' format in Round 3 and a delightful Hidden Theme in Round 5. Perhaps more political stuff than usual - but, hey, Ethel's got James in the team!

Only real criticism was the length of some of the questions which included a fair bit of knowledge extraneous to the route needed to be taken to get to the answer. The prime candidate here was Round 2 Question 6 which wittered on for quite a while about the answer's daughter without revealing anything vaguely connected to the mother. As a result half the competitors at the Griffin thought it was the daughter's name that was required (even though that had been given in the first line of the question).

Anyway this is a minor complaint from a Michael who is dismayed to learn for the first time in his 76 years that his name is nothing but a toilet joke.

As for QotW I rather agree with Mike O'Brien's choice of the 'Danny Boy' question.

Thanks, Ethel - it was a fine quiz.

"Pppppeach"

(R3/Q5)

... and this is what Damian thought ...

Ethel's paper was so marvellously eclectic that it left us quite stunned. Who would have thought that their usual fare of science and history would include questions on modern rap and Marvel comic heroes? We're still trying to figure out who the rap fan is in that team - but we decided to rule out Roddy. The hidden themes were mostly gettable and we particularly liked the announced theme of male best actor Oscar winners (well, I did anyway) although including first names in the answers made it a bit tougher. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable paper that proved particularly fortunate for us.

... and Mike O'B ...

On the whole this was a very entertaining quiz with relatively few unanswered questions.

A jigger, buzz, flagging iron, shaver, adze and mallet using actor?

(R6/Q7)

... and finally Ivor gives his view ...

The modern questions passed me by (I would sympathise with any judge who might say "who are the X-Men?"), but massive swings against Labour, deceased monarchs and Russian composers were more my cup of tea. My most annoying failure tonight was not remembering archaic lengths as we all knew these for the eleven-plus exam we used to take in the sixties. I remembered perch and pole but not the other one.

Special mention to Gregg for his punning round; the third time this format has appeared. It must be very hard to compile, but very enjoyable. I note there is a hint that the 41 Mr Men and Little Misses in over 20 languages could inspire endless rounds in the future to which the only sensible feedback is: DON’T!

Monsieur Chatouille

(R8/Q3)

Question of the Week

This week Mike O'Brien was much tickled by the 'Funny Punny' Round 3 from which he chose Question 2 ...

What is the title of the tune to which the song Danny Boy is set?

It could be a French person's description of an Eastender's bottom, for example.

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

...and also

I'm delighted to announce that the paper for the WIST ties later this month is being set by Father Megson himself. He's recently returned from a trip to Greece and Thessaloniki in particular and is fired up with plenty of new knowledge.