OK, last second round match of this year's Only Connect. Winners would join the other second round winners in the group stage. Runners-up would join the other second round runners-up and the two highest scoring second round runners-up in the play-off round, which begins next week. Followed by the long awaited return to Monday nights on New Year's Day!
Anyway, playing the final second round match were the Detectives, Ian King, Tim Harrison and captain Tim Hall, who won a good first round match against the Theatricals, and the Arrowheads, Sarah Lister, Hannah Hogden and captain Nick Lister, husband of Sarah, who comfortably saw off the Wombles.
Round 1. The Detectives opened the show with Lion: 'C: Volt', then 'A: Arlington Million' (I had it at this), then 'B: Henry II', and finally '[cough cough] A: Googol'. They just about offered enough to get the point: they are million pound answers from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK. The Arrowheads opened their account with Two Reeds: 'Man-Killer', then 'Penthesilea', then 'Sharron Davies'; they offered them to be Gladiators from the eponymous series, not right. Their opponents saw 'Jeff Bezos company', and offered 'Amazon' as the link for the bonus. For their own question, the Detectives chose Twisted Flax, and got the music question: we heard the Chameleons with 'Up the Down Escalator', then 'White Ladder' by David Gray, then Aerosmith with 'Love in an Elevator', and finally Led Zeppelin's classic 'Stairway to Heaven'. They offered 'stairs', not right. Their opponents simplified it to 'ways of moving between floors', and collected a bonus. For their own question, the Arrowheads chose Water, and got the picture set: we saw the stadium Candlestick Park, then a still from Hitchcock's 'Rope', then the cover to the Beatles' 'Revolver' album, and finally a symbol for a dagger. They were timed out without an answer, and their opponents didn't see it either: they are weapons in Cluedo. The Detectives chose Eye of Horus next: 'Immunisation against infectious diseases', then 'Crime fiction (Pengiun)', then 'Colonel Gaddafi's philosophy', and finally 'Michelin travel guide'. They offered 'green', which Victoria was maybe a bit lenient to let them have, the link being 'green books'. Left with Horned Viper, the Arrowheads saw 'Tuesday 3 Feb-9 Mar', then 'Monday 1 May-7 May', then 'Sunday 22 Mar-25 Apr', and finally 'Thursday 22 Nov-28 Nov'. They didn't quite get it, their opponents did: they are the earliest and latest dates where festivals can fall. At the end of the first round, the Detectives led 4-1.
Round 2, What Comes Fourth? The Detectives kicked the round off with Horned Viper: '08:43:38', then '09:49:05', and then '10:54:33'. They didn't get it, their opponents did: it's times when the three clocks hands are right in line with each other, so '12:00:00' would be fourth for a bonus. For their own question, the Arrowheads chose Lion: 'Goals', then 'Away goals', and then 'AET'; they offered 'Penalty shootout', correct for two points, the sequence being how two-legged Champions League matches are decided. The Detectives chose Twisted Flax next: 'African leopard < African lion', then 'African lion < Cape buffalo'; they tried 'Giraffe < Elephant', not right. Their opponents saw 'Cape buffalo < Black rhino', but could also not offer an acceptable answer. They are the Big Five of African animals, so 'Black rhino < African elephant' would come fourth. The Arrowheads chose Eye of Horus next: 'Diver', then 'Tawdry', and then 'Lenya'. They didn't get it, nor did their opponents. 'Brown' completes the set, the sequence being the victims in the most common version of the song 'Mack the Knife'. For their final choice, the Detectives chose Two Reeds: '00 Henry I', then '01 Edward VII', and then '02 Anne'. They, and I, saw it to be monarchs who took the thrown in years ending in those numbers, so '03: James I' (or, as we call him up here, James VI) would complete the set. Left with Water, and the picture set, the Arrowheads saw the band 'The Nice', then Guy Ritchie and Guy Pearce, and then a checkered flag being waved. Neither side got this excellent cryptic set: the clues are 'Nice', 'Guys' and 'Finish', so something for 'Last', like the composer James Last (of Red Dwarf fame) would complete the set. At the end of the second round, the Detectives led 6-4.
On to the Walls. The Arrowheads went first, and chose to tackle the Lion wall. They had their first set in line pretty quickly: 'Bangla', 'Lal Toofan', 'Cobra' and 'Kingfisher' are types of Indian beer. After a few wrong guesses trying to feel the clues out, they isolated 'Fetish', 'Albino', 'Vindaloo' and 'Palaver', which are loan words from Portuguese, but they offered 'Hindi' instead, so three dropped. After carefully looking over the remaining clues, they isolated the final sets: 'Eleanor', 'Willpower', 'Marmalade' and 'Madonna' all follow 'Lady' to give song titles, while 'Allen Carr', 'Gum', 'Hypnosis' and 'Patches' are methods of curing smoking habits. Seven for that then.
So the Detectives could increase their lead if they could sweep the Water wall clean. They also isolated a first set very quickly: 'Sward', 'Campo', 'Savannah' and 'Veldt' are areas of grassland. A second set quickly followed suite: 'Grass', 'Sheffield United', 'Helicopter' and 'Razor' are linked by 'blades'. The final sets slotted in nicely after that: 'Mini', 'Gang', 'Oy' and 'Young' can all precede 'ster' to give longer words, while 'Dirndl', 'Hobble', 'Pencil' and 'Prairie' are types of skirt. A full ten there, which increased their advantage to 16-11 going into the final round.
So, still all to play for in Missing Vowels. 'Rhyming slang and its meaning', which saw a penalty for an omitted 'and', went to the Arrowheads 2-0. 'Things that can be drawn', such as 'COMPARISON' and '(A) PAIR OF CURTAINS', was split 2-each. 'Pairs of planetary moons' went to the Arrowheads 3-1, and that was time. The Detectives had snuck home, 19-18!
Another very good match, very well quizzed by both sides. Unlucky Arrowheads, best of luck in the play-offs. Well done Detectives though, and very best of luck in the group stage!
Next week's match: the Meeples vs the Parishioners in the first play-off.
UC back tomorrow at 8:30, see you then with that.
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