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(sorry it's a little late this week -
life got in the way!)
Both the Champions and the
Runners up lose;
Albert slip down to 6th losing
to KFD;
The Charas get a winning boost
but not sufficient to escape the wooden spoon |
Albert lost to KFD
Prodigals beat Ethel Rodin
Bards lost to History Men
Charabancs beat Opsimaths |
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Albert lost to KFD
A confident victory moves KFD up to 4th and
pushes Albert down to 6th
 Kieran
would rather be Wolves
I have been here before.
I had been there before; more than twenty years ago
on a cloudy day in November when the air was heavy
with Pomfret rancour. Enough of pretending to be
well read. We ended the season with a winning
record (a former KFD now in exile recently compared
us to Wolves which was wounding but on the money).
It was all a bit too little, too late, as far as
league points go but it does give us some confidence
going into the cups. Thomas was in the
ever-revolving seat three this week and he acquitted
himself reasonably well so, in a Southgatesque move,
he'll be benched in two weeks and David will take on
the reinvigorated Prodigals in the cup.
No wonder he went to
Bayern!
(R1/Q8)
Nothing was more predictable than that this Pigs
quiz would have a whole round on Coventry City.
We scored pretty well on that largely because we
didn't have to know anything about the fake sky
blues to be able to garner points. Gary's (I
presume it was him) swipe at David Seaman was cruel
but sadly true in respect of his waning ability; I
blame Ronaldinho.
When you're eleven points up with only two rounds to
go it's very handy to have eight questions on
obscure local transport minutiae on which it's all
but impossible to score points - so thank you
Councillor Simcock (that must have been his
contribution to the paper).
The Albert have had a similar 'up and down' season
to ours and the number of sport questions last night
did them no favours. I'm expecting at least one
reference to the Paddle of Rebuke when our excellent
QM reports on the mangling of the name of a famous
racehorse in the 'Military Ranks' round. I'm
not naming names but she knows who she is.
Olly's folly
(R5/Q3)
Humphrey Smith didn't put in an appearance but the
Historymen were a safe distance away in the
Parrswood in any case - and even Anne's voice can't
carry that far. There was a tense moment right
at the start of the evening when none of us had any
coins for the toss so I had to use the app on my
phone, but I got away with it. Strangely enough the
barman had no problem engaging with the digital
world when it came to paying for the round; you have
to admire a bullying, despotic owner with very
flexible principles.
We end the season as the second highest points
scorers but also with the second worst points
against record. All very odd and I'm not sure we
could have done much about the latter. It's
left us marooned in all but mid-table but just
clinging on to the last place for next season's WIST
should it take place. I think that probably makes
us Villa or Spurs (Christ no, not them) and all in
all I'd rather be Wolves.
Classic Cliff
(R2/Q8)
 Mike
O'B opens his Von Trapp
Another fixture another defeat. We appear to have
fallen into a pattern of 3 good rounds, 3 adequate
rounds and 2 rounds so disastrous that we never
catch up. The quiz was perfectly reasonable
except that as QM I found myself losing the thread
as I drowned in information - but at least I know
now all about Barry Scott.
My attention was caught by a question about
Whitehead because I give talks about the naval
career of Captain Von Trapp, and Whitehead was the
Grandfather of Von Trapp's first wife, the mother of
most of the little Trapps. This was to lead to
a somewhat scandalous incident during a talk to the
Women's Institute. I am going to relate the
incident in the Comments section of the WithQuiz
site because I know that many of the readers of this
match reports page are serious quizzers who would be
outraged at any details concerning salacious trivia.
I intend to post later today when I have come to
terms with the trauma of the incident, but please do
not look at this section if you have any regard for
the integrity of the quiz League.
"Come up and see me
..."
(R1/Q3)
Prodigals beat Ethel Rodin
No sooner Champions-elect than a humbling defeat
for Ethel
 Anne-Marie
tells how a Prodigal tiro makes a notable debut
A huge thanks to Ethel for supplying us with a QM.
We were down to our bare bones teamwise, with Jimmy
away, Kate on sister duty and our usual QM Stella at
the book group. Liz stepped in and did a very
able job.
We blooded a new player, my friend Claire, who had a
great game. Little does she know she is now a
confirmed member of the Prodigal squad - it's never
a one off with WithQuiz.
A lovely evening had by all as the result didn't
really matter, our visitors having already won the
league. It was a quiz which really suited us
and for once we happened to be in the right seats.
John's incredible knowledge of Coventry City
players old and new was a great help, as well as his
Shakespeare which got us over the line.
I guess we have a small bragging right in that we
have done the double on Ethel this season - and
beaten them in the cup. Having said this they
are a great team, play really well together and are
deserved winners of the League. Roll on next
season....
An old Wolf who was
first to 100
(R6/Q8)
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Looks like Princess
Nut Nuts has got 'em
(R3/Q7)
Bards lost to History Men
The History Men hoist themselves up to 5th place
at the Bards' expense
 Ivor
reports on a family affair
A very satisfying victory sees us rise to a final
fifth place in the league. If only we had not
started our season with six consecutive losses!
Of course little has changed; we are mostly the same
players in mostly the same seats playing mostly the
same opposition. Which means that the randomness of
Lady Luck might make us equally likely to finish
next season, either near the top, or near the
bottom.
Still we enjoy what little pleasures we can achieve
and, being the best of the lower ranking teams, is
reward enough. Not that tonight’s game was
easy with the lead swinging back and forth,
especially in the first half.
It was very much a family game as the Bards had Tony
and his grandson Tom, and Robin with his father Mike
as a guest player; and the Historymen had Anne and
her niece Vanessa. Only Young David and I are
unrelated (I can confirm I was never in Zambia when
I was 13).
Carrying on the
longest
(R6/Q1)
Andrew from the Pigs was in the QM chair (we do get
a good service from our local councillor) and was
left with the crucial tasks of keeping the
exuberance of certain players in check, as well as
defending the paper. Success in both of these can
often be measured with the Historymen’s 'Expletive’s
Index' and in the modern day world of text acronyms…
well let’s just say Andrew did his best.
The GM travel round was rather difficult (5
unanswereds), and Andrew’s defence that it
highlights our dependence on cars rather than public
transport was delivered with the earnestness but
ultimate futility of a Cabinet minister defending
the Rwanda policy, or pension inequality.
However it is nice to know that the 42C goes to
Handforth Dean. I have never been on the 42C,
but the 42 is iconic and there can be few Manchester
residents or students who have not been on it.
Indeed it is so iconic that there is a painting of
the 42 in a night street scene with all the
passengers and bystanders as cats. It's in one
of the art galleries (I think it's the Manchester
Art Gallery rather than the Whitworth) .
Jilted John prepares
to blurt
(R3/Q2)
Charabancs beat Opsimaths
Victory for the table-footers against the league
runners up
 Damian
is jubilant anticipating riches next season
What better way to finish the season proper than
with a handsome win over the league runners-up
following a narrow loss to the league champions the
week before? The margin of victory was the
biggest of any of our 4 victories this season and
continues to give us hope that, if we can only apply
ourselves with the same amount of discipline we
managed to show tonight, we can one day lift
ourselves off the bottom of the league table and
become contenders once more. Of course it
means actually knowing more answers to the questions
as well, a small detail that we will also have to
work on with the same due diligence. But we
trust in Sam and tonight we did him proud by failing
so well we actually managed to win!
We led in every single round and, although each team
scored 7 twos, our greater number of steals (6 to
the Opsis' 2) is what helped us over the line.
Chara Graham was the star of the show for us with
many successful contributions to the conferred
questions. We also had the benefit of a
welcome appearance from our former captain Gerry and
that raised morale sufficiently to seal the deal!
"Crash the economy?
What a laugh!"
(R3/Q8)
 Mike
compares WithQuiz to local government
No two ways about it this week, the Charas were
simply the better team on the night. Damian,
John, Gerry (great to see him back) and Graham just
knew more than us. Apart from the first two
rounds when the Charas engineered a 6-point lead
pretty well every other round was drawn. Our
line up (Nick, Hilary, Brian and myself) got a fair
number of twos and quite a few steals but the Charas
just stole more!
The paper was OK-ish, although Nick wasn't a great
fan. Not surprisingly the Charas liked it more
than we did. There was a groan from us when
the inevitable Gary Donely 'Coventry City themed'
round came up - but actually this was one of the
better rounds with each answer quite gettable
without any intimate knowledge of City's cup runs;
the 'John Sillett/Cillit Bang' question particularly
tickled our fancy.
The question with the BRITS/BAFTA mistake (R5/Q4)
came our way and we pondered for a while knowing
that Raye had won 6 BRITS recently but ended up
saying "Billie Eilish" who won a BAFTA for her song
in the film Barbie. When it went across
to the Charas, John gave the correct answer though
admitted straightaway that it was the BRITS Raye had
won. After some debate we all agreed on this
question being nullified and a spare being offered
to the Opsis.
Football firsts
(R3/Sp1&2)
As for laughs of the evening there were a quite a
number, but best for me was Damian surmising after
the John Singer Sargent answer: "Wasn't he the one
that did Whistler's mother?". Eat your heart
out Oscar Wilde!
Finally a happy reflection that this season - more
than in any recent seasons I can recall - it seems
that any WithQuiz team can be expected to beat any
other WithQuiz team on the night. The Charas
proved that tonight. Unlike Manchester City
Council WithQuiz is NOT a one-party state.
Madame X
(R4/Q6)
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Quiz paper set by...
... The Electric Pigs
Average Aggregate score 80.5
Excellent average aggregate so no complaints there
with plenty of opportunities for twos. Hidden
themes too which were very gettable and helped the
teams along the way as those rounds progressed.
Perhaps a little too much current affairs that might
have been culled from the newspapers of the past few
weeks which not all of us had read (Nick has been
out in Egypt poking around the pyramids for
instance). But - all in all - a pretty good
way to end the league season. Many thanks,
Pigs.
"Look what it's done
to me"
An acting Casualty
(R1/Q2)
..
and this is how Damian saw the
paper ...
Tonight's paper from the Electric Pigs covered a
wide range of subjects with something for everybody.
It was easy to suss the hidden themes - although, in
my case, there was another example of a theme
hindering me from scoring a two - which I
would have done if there hadn't been a theme and I
hadn't had to bother that the answer in mind didn't
seem to fit the theme. Maybe it's just me but I
often find a theme to be a two-edged sword.
There was controversy over the question of the
singer who had apparently won six BAFTAs when it
should have been six BRIT awards. We all
agreed to offer a spare to the Opsimaths to
compensate for the misleading nature of that
question.
Some raucous amusement was caused when the subject
of John Singer Sargent came up in the 'Military
Titles' round and I innocently commented that he was
the guy who did Whistler's mother. I
can't imagine what could have caused this response
but I feel sure that Mrs Whistler found the whole
thing a very satisfying experience!
For Round of the Week we voted for the final round
on the Shakespeare characters. I was pleased
to see that my A-Level English course on Measure
for Measure finally came to my aid in helping me
come up with the name of the comic sergeant who
appeared in that play. Shame my knowledge of
Gilbert and Sullivan characters didn't come up to
scratch in quite the same way!
Acting in tandem
(R2/Q5)
..
and this was Ivor's view ...
The quiz paper was, despite grumblings, a good test
both of old and new knowledge. Quizzers are
not usually caught out by Eurovision but Olly
Alexander’s current hit did just that and was one of
only two unanswereds (not counting the Transport
round). Perhaps we will remember it next year when
it either joins the ranks of the wooden-spoonists or
the 'nul pointes' brigade (or both). The other
unanswered was the first '100 international game'
footballer; we are embarrassed to admit that had the
question been “who was married to Joy Beverley?” it
would have been a two pointer. The Shakespeare
round worked very well with the second part of the
question giving the opportunity to spot the answer.
There are so many characters to choose from that
this is a theme which could provide many rounds.
It might even work for Charles Dickens characters
(but please don’t).
QotW was the long conversation between subject and
songwriter (R6/Q4). Joe DiMaggio (like most US
sport’s stars) is less iconic in the UK and not to
be confused with Jack de Manio (when young I did
wonder why Marilyn Monroe was married to a radio
presenter and then a playwright). I also
recall there was an urban legend that when DiMaggio
married Marilyn the then Pope (the Venerable Pius
XII) excommunicated Joe as a wedding present
(because Joe had divorced his first wife) -
but perhaps this is just an early example of Ulster
Protestant fake news.
Graduation
(R6/Q4)
Question
of the Week
This week Ivor and the History Men vote for Round
6 Question 4 ...
A real conversation between an American national
icon and a songwriter who had referenced him in his
hit 1960’s song a few years before went like this
...
NATIONAL ICON: "What I don’t understand is why
you ask where I’ve gone. I just did a Mister
Coffee commercial. I’m a spokesman for the
Bowery Savings Bank & I haven’t gone anywhere!"
SONGWRITER: "I didn’t mean the lines literally.
I thought of you as an American hero and that
genuine heroes are in short supply."
To which 1960’s hit song does this conversation
refer?
For the answer to this and all the week's other
questions click
here.
... and
also
As in
the WithQuiz league, Easter is the time of year when
traditionally the broadcast quiz shows are moving
towards their conclusions. University
Challenge has two matches to go. Only
Connect has completed this season's matches and
is replaying its greatest hits. Mastermind
has a final next week and over on Radio 4 the best
(and longest-lasting) of the lot, Round Britain
Quiz, is well underway with Northern Ireland and
Paddy Duffy (ex-Opsimath) in fine form reigning
supreme.
So,
why mention all this?
Well,
wherever you look on these shows there are echoes of
WithQuiz. The ever excellent University
Challenge is produced by (ex-Opsimath) Clare
Parody, ably assisted by (Prodigal and past UC
winner) Richard Gilbert. On the same UC
show Tom Benson (former Shrimp, and the most
accomplished question editor in the business) is
ensuring that not a syllable is wrongly-placed in
the text placed before Amol Rajan. And of
course, as mentioned above, Paddy Duffy is easily
the most entertaining and sure-footed contestant on
RBQ. This list would not be complete
without a mention for (ex-Prodigal) the late, great
Egghead Dave Rainford.
Meanwhile away from quizzing I keep coming across
learned references to (ex-Prodigal and past UC
winner) Michael Taylor's book The Interest
which provides the authoritative version of the
slave trade and Britain's role in exploiting it and
then ending it. If you haven't read it yet
then I urge you to do so.
All
of the characters referenced above have enjoyed
their time as WithQuiz competitors over the past
decade or so and just as they've enhanced our
competition so - I like to think - they've learned a
thing or two as well.
As we
come to the end of the 45th WithQuiz season it's
good to know that all the work that goes into
organising the competition, setting the papers, and
documenting the results and the matches, has been
well worthwhile and maybe a tad influential
elsewhere.
WithQuiz on air:
Paddy, Michael,
Richard, Dave, Tom and Clare
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