Tuesday 13 September 2016

Only Connect Series 12: Group B Round 1: Match 2: Wrestlers vs Clareites

OK, it's Only Connect time, with the second match of the second group. Playing last night were the Wrestlers, Steve Hoar, Tom Mead and captain Colin Daffern, and the Clareites, Elysia Warner, Olivier Grouille and captain Sarah Binney. If you missed my reminder last night, you'll recall the Clareites as 3/4 of the Clare College Cambridge team who competed in last year's UC, losing to Warwick in the first round.

Round 1. The Wrestlers went first, and kicked off the match with Eye of Horus: 'The Golden Man (2007)', then 'Adjustment Team (2011)', then 'We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1990); this gave it to them that they are books by Philip K Dick that were adapted into films, for two points. The Clareites opened their series account with 'Horn-ed' Viper: 'Betsan Powys (Welsh-language version)', then 'Peter Snow (Radio 4 revivial), then 'Clive Anderson (Discovery Channel version)', and finally 'John Humphrys'. The last one gave it to them: they are the hosts of various versions of Mastermind, and I'm claiming my first ever FIVE pointer for that question! (Thanks UKGS!) The Wrestlers chose Twisted Flax next, and got the music question: we heard 'On The Wings Of Love' by Jeffrey Osborne, then Mendelssohn's 'O for the Wings of a Dove', then 'Flying Without Wings' by Westlife; that gave it to them that 'wings' was the connection, for two points. The Clareites chose Lion next: 'Paganini: Violinist', then 'Dice: Bones', then 'Cocaine: Dandruff', and finally 'Ambrose Bierce's magnum opus: Dictionary'; that gave it to them that the former have been called 'The Devil's' latter, for a point. The Wrestlers chose Two Reeds next, and got the picture round: we saw Ant and Dec, then the Beatles, then the Olympic rings, and finally the front of an ambulance. They didn't quite get close enough to it, but their opponents recognised that the photos had all been flipped (Dec was standing on the left in the Ant and Dec picture!), which earned them a bonus. Left with Water for their own question, the Clareites saw 'Single-fingered rock-climbing hold', then 'Spanish monkey'; this was enough for them to offer 'Mono' for three points! Well worked out that. At the end of the first round, the Clareites lead 6-4.

Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Wrestlers went first, and began the round with Eye of Horus: alas, after seeing 'Nasal', Mr Daffern buzzed by mistake, and they were forced to answer. They naturally couldn't get it. The Clareites saw 'Frontal' and 'Parietal', but couldn't capitalise; 'Occipital' completes the set, the link being bones of the skull. Mercifully, the Wrestlers wouldn't have got it anyway. The Clareites chose Water next: 'Birmingham' with a red B, then 'East London' with a red E, and then 'Glasgow' with a red G; they spotted it to be alphabetical single letter postal districts, but couldn't get the right answer. Their opponents could: 'Liverpool' with a red L completes the set. For their own question, the Wrestlers chose Lion: 'Barack Obama: Inherent Resolve', then 'George W Bush: Iraqi Freedom'; they thought it might be things promised by presidents pre-election, and offered 'George Bush Sr: No New Taxes'. Not right. Their opponents saw 'Bill Clinton: Desert Fox', and offered 'George H Bush: Desert Storm' for a bonus, the link being code names for Iraq operations. For their own question, the Clareites chose Twisted Flax: 'The counter', then 'The sofa', and then 'The shower'; they thought it to be the lyrics to Craig David's 'When We Were In Love' (didn't we have that last series, or was that UC?), and thus got it wrong. The Wrestlers knew it to actually be Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me', and offered 'On camera' for a bonus. For their own final choice, the Wrestlers chose Horned Viper, and got the picture set: we saw some sausages cooking, then some mustard (I had it at this point), and then some green jelly. They didn't get it, their opponents did: 'custard' completes the set, though they didn't know the reason. It is, of course, 'Food, Glorious Food' from Oliver!. (Despite my distaste for musical theatre, I knew this thanks to the song being used for QI buzzers a couple of weeks back!) Left with Two Reeds for their own final question, the Clareites saw 'Doux', then 'Moelleux', and then 'Demi-sec'; they offered 'Sec' for two points, the link being sweetness of French wines. At the end of the second round, the Clareites led 10-6.

On to the Walls. The Clareites went first, and chose the Water wall to tackle. They quickly spotted some connections, but had trouble isolating anything. They finally isolated 'Japanese Chin', 'Griffon Bruxellois', 'Maltese' and 'Pomeranian', which are breeds of toy dog. They spent a while trying various permutations, before they finally identified a second group of 'Greek', 'St Peter's', 'Lorraine' and 'Calvary', which are crosses. They couldn't isolate the final set, losing their lives, and had to collect bonus points: 'Big Short', 'Information', 'Drunkard's Walk' and 'God Particle' are works of non-fiction, which they didn't get, while 'Judge Rinder', 'Masterpiece', 'Tipping Point' and 'Loose Women' are ITV daytime shows, which they did get. So, five for that.

The Wrestlers thus had the Lion wall to deal with. They too spotted some quick links, but had no luck, until they slotted in 'Mat', 'Goggles', 'Garden' and 'Pong', which can all follow 'beer'. They had a few more gos before isolating 'Kahn', 'Cromwell', 'North' and 'Stone', which are famous Olivers. They tried to work out what was left, but they too ran out of lives, and had to pick up bonuses: 'Pedal', 'Key', 'Belly' and 'Agraffe' are parts of the piano, which they didn't get, while 'Hardy', 'Irons', 'Hammer' and 'Davis' are actors who have played twins. (And kudos to them for giving mention to Laurel and Hardy's classic 'Our Relations'!) So four there, which left them trailing 15-10 going into the final round.

So, still all to play for going into Missing Vowels. 'Adjectives involving parts of the face', such as 'BEADY-EYED', went to the Clareites 2-0. 'Things people say when shaking hands' was split 2-each. 'Noted people born in St Louis' was another 2-each split. 'Taxes' went to the Clareites 3-1, and that was time. The Clareites won 24-15.

Another good match well played. Unlucky Wrestlers, but 15 is a score perfectly in contention for the play-offs, so hopefully you'll get another go. Well done Clareites though, and very best of luck next time!

Next week's match: Part-Time Poets vs Oscar Men

No comments:

Post a Comment