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15th January 2025

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No change in the table as the Prods power on winning the Club derby; KFD, Albert and the Bards keep up the chase with home wins

Bards beat Electric Pigs

Albert beat Charabancs

Prodigals beat Opsimaths

KFD beat Ethel Rodin

Latest WithQuiz League Table

Bards beat Electric Pigs

The Bards just get the better of the Pigs to keep their 4th place

Without his reading glasses, Tony just had to play ...

Tonight's game, as ever when we play the Pigs at the Parrswood, was nip and tuck throughout.  I should have been QM but forgot my reading glasses and couldn't read a word of the paper, so Robin volunteered to QM and I had to play.  I suspect that this is the reason for the closeness of the result, although it is churlish of me to suggest this, since the Pigs played extremely well with many two-point answers.  I would have been happier to have been QM especially as we had to endure (were subjected to) yet another Blockbuster Round.

I liked the round on weather conditions, although my answer of Storm Hunter was not acceptable to the QM, and I was slow to spot the members of the Supreme Court, though two of them are personal friends of mine.


A French saint and a British Admiral keep an eye on each other

(R1/Q4)


Albert beat Charabancs

Albert sail on in 3rd place

Mike organises a bit of Denton-based train-spotting for his wards

At last a win.  God knows I did my bit.  At our winter training camp I confiscated their comics and small bags of white powder, and before the fixture threatened Damian with extreme violence if his team tried to win.  Consequently, I am heartened by the response. 

As a reward I have promised the team an outing to Denton Railway Station where they should be free from any distractions.  This is how I reveal my softer, caring side.


Mike and his team on a day out at Denton

(R8/Q1)


Damian and the Charas come down to earth with a bump

Our pre-Christmas euphoria was soon brought back down to earth with a bang in our first match of the New Year.  Last time we played the Albert we managed an honourable draw.  This time QM Mike fixed me with a steely glare and promised me his team would crush us like ants and so it proved.  He always means what he says does Mike.  We led in only one round (R5) but were on the back foot in every other round.  Albert scored twelve twos against our eight and grabbed seven steals to our two.  Small wonder the result went their way.  

Once upon a time we used to do well on the Historymen's questions but, alas, no longer.  These days they never seem to play to our strengths.


No drink down under

(R8/Q4)


A Friendly nose job - before and after

(R6/Q6)


Prodigals beat Opsimaths

Another pounding victory for the Prods

Mike recalls happier derby days for the Opsis

Kate, John, Anne-Marie and Jimmy were (as ever) peerless; Brian, Tehmeena, Hilary and Mike were just less.  OK, we knew less than the Prods but what made it even more frustrating was that when we did know the answer we often fluffed our lines.  Inexplicably I confused myself into thinking that the darts commentator was Sid Weddell and the Antarctic sea was the Wedell Sea (thinking I had chosen an 'added letter' question; when we had Cuba as an answer we talked ourselves out of it; and Brian was not so far out with Farfaraway in Round 4.

Stella QMed nobly in the midst of a fairly noisy club, so many thanks to her.

The days of the Opsimaths going into the Club derby as nailed-on favourites are far away in another universe just like 2018 AG37 - but even then I don't think we matched the excellence of the present-day Prods.  Nine played; nine won.  Say no more.


The Earps

(R4&5/Q11)


KFD beat Ethel Rodin

KFD keep their 2nd spot with a traditional 5 point margin over Ethel

Kieran tells how the moon shines bright at the Griffin

The start of Barry's goodbye to all this and that, and a right on point chewy offering from the History Men.  Twos available but not offered on a plate; on the other hand only 8 unanswereds (5-3 to Ethel's detriment).   We got them in ones, literally in the last round when a 6 point lead at the start meant we knew four ones would see us home so that was exactly what we got.

The evening didn't start too promisingly when Ethel forgot to collect the paper from the Fletcher Moss.  Well they've only been at this quizzing lark for thirty odd years, it takes time to get the hang of things.  The paper was duly retrieved and Bob was poised to ask the first question when a random punter appeared in the doorway of the Griffin's 'Living Room'.  "What's going on here?" she asked, "a quiz" chorused the nine of us.  "Oh a quiz, fantastic" she beamed.  "It's not a public quiz" rebuffed our man glowering on the door of the exclusive club you're not getting into at any price.  She slunk away, totally crushed.  I believe once he's retired and decamped, Barry is planning to volunteer as a greeter at Norwich cathedral's visitor centre; he'll wow the tourists.


Just off to Tony's Fancy Dress Ball

(R3/Q6)


I don't think Greg has ever been outscored on twos in all our contests with Ethel, but tonight he was at least equalled on three maximums by fellow Rodinista James, and also by Thomas and yours truly.  The game that these days is always decided by five points was decided by five points for the third time in the last four contests (the other being a one point game of course).

Next week the Prodigals are at the club and it's a last chance to keep them honest for the rest of the season.  Meanwhile City at the considerably less glamorous Parc des Princes could end up as anything but.  They'll probably be a lot of fun along the way.

At the end of the evening, as we crossed the Griffin's car park, our man steering the Lovell Telescope pointed out both Jupiter and Mars shining brightly in the cloudless sky above Heaton Mersey - also the moon, which we'd spotted for ourselves.  I'm going to miss moments like that a lot. 


Quiz paper set by...

... History Men

Average Aggregate score 73.0


A good start to the New Year with a paper that notched just a tad short of the 75 point target aggregate the setters had aimed for.

A good all round spread of topics and plenty of variety in the question types deployed.

At the Club we ran into trouble at the start of the composite Round 4/5.  Trying to pack 5 different question types into one round freaked us out and it took a while for the Opsis to settle down and be clear on what was going on.  As it turned out the questions in that double round were well crafted and the modus operandi not too difficult to deal with once we'd got the hang of things.  However it seems to me it would be less stressful (especially for the QM) if we restrict ourselves to just one type of question per round in future.


Post Vine

(R3/Q3)


... and this was Tony's verdict ...

There was approval all round for tonight's Historymen paper.  No-one felt able to nominate a question of the week and, considering the paper as a whole, neither can I.


... and this was Mike O'B's verdict ...

The quiz was part of what has become a pretty high standard of paper this season, full of interesting facts such as Chris Gayle's scoring feats.  The pairings were reasonably well balanced apart from the odd stinker-wenge wood!  In fairness I have to admit that most of these seemed to end up with the Charas. 


Our Friend from Norfolk

(R1/Q6)


... and this was Damian's verdict ...

We can't fault the variety and novelty of the Historymen's papers generally,  especially their  themes and their use of the Bingo format, but this paper, in particular, was a tad too reliant on obscure sport and Indie pop group stuff, which never sits well with us old fogies. Not a very enjoyable experience for us but there it is. 


Question of the Week

This week I've chosen the Runalong 3 question in Rounds 4/5 ...

Monty Python characters who were very fond of shrubberies especially ones with a little path running down the middle,

&

a gritty film drama starring Leila Morse, Kathy Burke and Ray Winstone about a dysfunctional London family struggling to survive, while alcohol, drugs and violence get in their way.

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


Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken

(R7/Q2)