So, the second match of the new series of Only Connect. Playing on Monday night were the Polyglots, Dan Shane, Vicki Sunter and Lyndsay Coo, and the Yorkers, Jack Johannes Alexander, Alasdair Middleton and Joe Crowther. Some of you may remember the Yorkers as three-quarters of last year's York University team on UC; they narrowly defeated Corpus Christi College Cambridge in the first round, and were unlucky to draw Durham and lose in the second round. How would they fare against the Polyglots tonight?
Well, the Yorkers kicked off the first round with Two Reeds, and got the music round straight away: the only piece of the four I recognised was Frank Sinatra's 'You make me feel so young'; the Yorkers didn't recognise any of them, and thus didn't get it. The Polyglots knew that the songs all began 'You make me feel...', and thus earned a bonus. They chose Eye of Horus for themselves: 'Lying next to Venus (Titian)', 'Watching bathers (Seurat)', 'Killing deer (Courbet)' and finally 'Playing poker (Coolidge)'. The final clue gave it to them: it's what dogs are doing in paintings by the artists in brackets. Good question. The Yorkers chose Twisted Flax: 'Monstroso', 'Any Human Heart', 'Birdsong', and at this point they tried 'books set in hospitals'; not correct, I'm afraid. The Polyglots saw the final clue, 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', but couldn't come up with anything. On being told Monstroso was by Charlie Higson, they saw it: they are books by people who have also written James Bond novels. (Ian Fleming writing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a classic old quiz chestnut) The Polyglots chose Lion: 'South Korea: Naver', 'Russia: Yandex', and at this point they risked 'financial indexes'; not correct, unfortunately. The Yorkers saw 'Japan: Yahoo!' and 'China: Baidu', and offered 'the most popular search engines in those countries'; correct for a bonus point. For their own questions, the Yorkers chose the Horned Viper: (apologies in advance for missing the accents on some of these) 'Regndraber drypper i mit har', 'Gocce di pioggia su di me', 'Regen fallt heute auf die Welt', and finally 'Toute la pluie tombe sur moi'. It was obviously the same phrase written in different languages; they tried 'Why does it always rain on me?', but were wrong. The Polyglots knew it was 'Raindrops keep fallin' on my head', and took a bonus. Left with Water, and the picture round, the Polyglots saw a rooster, then a dog, then some purple flowers and finally Rhod Gilbert. They offered that they all begin with 'Rho', and were close enough, the first three having been a Rhode Island Red, a Rhodesian ridgeback and some rhododendrons. At the end of the first round, the Polyglots led 4-1.
On to the second round, the Sequences round. The Yorkers went first again, and chose Water first: 'Azinger', then 'Montgomerie', and at this point, they offered 'McGinley' and were correct for three much needed points; they are successive captains of Ryder Cup winning teams. The Polyglots chose Twisted Flax: 'Monday: met', 'Tuesday: went for drink' and 'Wednesday: made love'; they knew it was a song by Craig David, and tried to work out what was next. They offered 'Thursday: made love', and were correct, the song being David's 'Seven Days'. The Yorkers chose Lion: 'Paul Volcker', 'Alan Greenspan' and they buzzed and offered 'Janet Yellen'; correct for another three points, the link being successive chairs of the US Federal Reserve. The Polyglots chose Eye of Horus next: 'French head', then 'Thierry Henry', then 'Dorothy's terrier'; they offered 'Desmond Tutu', and, after a slight rewording to 'Cape Town Archbishop', it was accepted. The sequence is 'Tete', 'Titi', 'Toto' and so on. For their final question, the Yorkers chose Two Reeds: 'Valerie Singleton', 'Konnie Huq' and 'Peter Purves', with the text getting bigger each time. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents. They both knew it was the longest serving Blue Peter presenters, but didn't identify 'John Noakes' as the longest server. The Polyglots were left with the Horned Viper, and the picture round: we saw a silhouette of a bowler, then a gentleman neither they nor me recognised, and then a silhouette of a batter. They didn't know it, but the Yorkers did: 'the Bowler's Holding, the Batman's Willey', the legendary cricket commentary quote, so the second gentleman was Michael Holding, and Peter Willey would come fourth. Great question well worked out for a bonus. At the end of the second round, the teams were tied, 8-all.
On to the Walls, and that podium. The Polyglots chose to tackle the Lion wall. They quickly spotted a group of pastries, and eventually isolated 'Baklava', 'Berliner', 'Profiterole' and 'Palmier'. They also quickly isolated 'Calman', 'Osho', 'Perkins' and 'Eclair', which are all surnames of female comedians. They quickly looked at the other groups, and isolated them: 'Tate', 'Hayward', 'Ikon' and 'Baltic', which are all art galleries, and 'Roller', 'Louvre', 'Venetian' and 'Roman', all types of blind. Well worked out, and a full ten points.
The Yorkers were left with the Water wall to untangle. They quickly spotted some connections, and quickly isolated two groups: 'Pounce', 'Massacre', 'Smile' and 'Pinch', which are words that end with imperial measurements (classic OC link that), and 'Jam', 'Pickle', 'Dilemma' and 'Fix', which are slang terms for awkward situations. In no time at all, the final two groups slotted in too: 'Treacle', 'Bakewell', 'Neenish' and 'Manchester' are all tarts, while 'Alfie', 'The Fear', 'LDN' and '22' are all songs by Lily Allen. Another full ten points. So, going into the final round, the teams were still tied, 18-all.
So, Missing Vowels would decide the game. 'Enid Blyton books' went to the Yorkers 2-1 after an unlucky miss by the Polyglots. 'Cliches a boss might use' was a 1-1 draw after another unlucky miss by the Polyglots. And that was time. At the end of a good close match, the Yorkers just emerged on top, 21-20.
Another fine half hour of quizzing. Unlucky Polyglots, who were unlucky in the final round, but we will see them again in their eliminator. Well done Yorkers, and we'll see them in their qualifier!
Next week's match: Spaghetti Westerners vs Mixologists (and some more familiar faces return)
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