Tuesday 24 November 2015

Only Connect Series 11: Play-Off 3: Wayfarers vs Builders

OK, time for this week's Only Connect. Playing for the penultimate place in the knockout stage were the Wayfarers, Barbara Thompson, Gerard Mackay and Matt Beatson, who beat the Bookworms but lost to the String Section, and the Builders, Robin Whelan, Ian Orriss and Max Espensen, who lost to the Scientists but won out over the Road Trippers.

Round 1. The Builders kicked the match off with Two Reeds, and the picture set: we saw Patsy Kensit in Holby City, then a chap examining a car, then a woman with two kids, one of them holding a football, and finally a white van man. They ran out of time before they could offer something, and their opponents were clueless. They are pseudo-demographic categories (Holy City Woman, Mondeo Man, Soccer Mum, White Van Man). The Wayfarers opened their account with Twisted Flax: 'Medelsvensson (Sweden)', then 'Max Mustermann (Germany)', then 'Jan Modaal (Netherlands)' and finally 'Joe Blow (Australia)'. They suggested that they are that nations generic name for an everyman (ie Joe Bloggs in Britain), and were correct for a point. The Builders chose Lion next, and got the music question: we heard Walk This Way by Aerosmith, then 'Fame (I'm Gonna Live Forever)' and then two I didn't recognise. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents. They are all songs set in school. Pretty simple for this stage of the contest. The Wayfarers chose Eye of Horus next: 'Darcey Bussell by Sir Bruce Forsyth', then 'Cesar Azpilicueta by his Chelsea team-mates', then 'Rodney by Trigger'; they offered that they have all been called 'Dave', which was correct for two points! ('UKTV G2 since 2007' was the clue they didn't see!) The Builders chose Horned Viper next: 'Aldous Huxley dies', then 'CS Lewis dies'; they offered '22nd November 1963', which was correct for three points. (JFK's death being one of the clues they didn't see) Left with Water, the Wayfarers saw 'Turkey' (in turquoise writing), then 'Spain' (in red writing), then 'Italy' in pink writing; they suggested that the names of the colours came from the country's language. Not right. The Builders saw 'France' in yellow writing, but were none the wiser. They are the leaders jerseys in that country's cycle race. At the end of the first round, the teams were tied 3-each.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Builders kicked the round off with Eye of Horus: 'Your second cousin, once removed', then 'Your first cousin, once removed', and then 'Your niece or nephew'; they offered 'Your sibling', which was not right. Their opponents offered 'Your child', which was correct for a bonus. For their own question, the Wayfarers chose Two Reeds: '1.0, 2.0, 3.0', then '95, 98, Me'; they offered '7, 8, 8.1', which was allowed. '7, 8, 10' was the model answer; they are the major Windows operation systems. 8.1 was an update, but it would carry on the sequence, so they let them off with it. The Builders chose Water next: 'Australian Open - The Masters' they saw, and immediately offered 'US Open - US PGA'. Correct, for five points! They are the tennis and golf majors in sequential order. Good call! The Wayfarers chose Lion next: 'Son House's blues', then 'Correction of digital image', and then 'Blocked by propranolol'; they didn't get it, nor did their opponents. The clues represent 'Delta', 'Gamma' and 'Beta', so it's OC's old friends, the Greek letters! So, something representing 'Alpha' would do the job. For their final choice, the Builders chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw Matthew Pinsent, then a female judo player, and then a male swimmer. Neither team knew it. They are the Team GB flag bearers at successive Olympic games (the judo lady being Kate Howey and the swimmer Mark Foster), so Sir Chris Hoy would complete the sequence. Left with Twisted Flax, the Wayfarers saw 'Gorm The Old', then 'Harald Bluetooth', and then 'Svein Forkbeard'; they offered 'Cnut', which was correct for two points. At the end of the second round, the Wayfarers led 9-8.

On to the Walls. The Wayfarers went first and chose to tackle the Water wall. After working out some groups, and trying some unsuccessfully, they isolated 'Kirk', 'Janeway', 'Archer' and 'Sisko', which are Star Trek captains, and then 'Norman', 'Alsatian', 'Provencal' and 'Picard', which are names for Frenchmen from certain regions. The remaining groups slotted in soon enough: 'Bergamasco', 'Lancashire Heeler', 'Collie' and 'Schapendoes' are all herding dogs, while 'Kermode', 'Ebert', 'Kael' and 'Bazin' are the surnames of film critics. A full house of ten for that then.

The Builders thus had the Lion wall to deal with. Again, they spotted some links, but had trouble isolating sets. They eventually isolated 'Gone Girl', 'Fight Club', 'Zodiac' and 'Panic Room', which are films directed by David Fincher, but they didn't know this, so dropped the point. After some more fiddling about, they isolated a second set: 'Conjunction', 'Ascendant', 'House' and 'Square' are astrological terms. They didn't have much time left to solve the rest, but did manage three tries, which ran their lives out. They still bonuses to pick up: 'Scissor', 'Seven', 'Ugly' and 'Magdalene' can all precede 'sisters', which they knew, while 'Brittany', 'Munsterlander', 'Italian spinone' and 'Pointer' are hunting dogs, which they also knew. Five points for that, which meant the Wayfarers led 19-13 going into the final round.

Not an insurmountable gap, so it was still very much all to play for in Missing Vowels. 'Street food from around the World' went to the Builders 4-0, so already four off the gap. 'Things represented by 'Po'' went to the Wayfarers 2-1. 'Alliterative cartoon characters' was a 1-1 draw, and that was time. The Wayfarers won 21-19.

Another good match with plenty of good quizzing. Unlucky Builders, but well played throughout the series. Well done Wayfarers; see you in the QFs.

Next week's match: the Bookworms vs the Athenians

I'll restate my intention to finish Series 1 someday, but don't be surprised if I don't get round to it.

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