Thursday, 26 February 2015

Only Connect Post Mortem: Series 10 Episode 23
Nørdiphiles vs. QI Elves

After last week's adventure with no Question of the Week, we were pleased to be faced with a difficult decision for the honour on Monday's show. Ultimately though, it went to Outflows of world's longest rivers for taking some pretty boring, standard trivia and twisting it into a fun little challenge. Honourable mention to the element letters, too. Cracking show all round. As always, here's this week's poll. (After last week, someone pointed out I should really have a 'no question of the week' option, but as we're so close to the end of the series now I'm going to keep the same format. I'm fairly hopeful this is an episode where very few people would want to choose it, though!)

Tom Cruise is an anagram of Costumier

Your targets this week:

1+ out of 10: Well done, you beat us!
3+ out of 10: We'd have won with you on our team!

The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor
3) The left-fielder

The ones that got away

We're kicking things off this week with five questions of the form "name the movie". You're given the year a Best Picture Oscar-winning movie was released, and an actor who was in the movie (but not necessarily a main character).
1) 2006, Martin Sheen
2) 2001, Russell Crowe
3) 1998, Colin Firth
4) 1992, Morgan Freeman
5) 1988, Tom Cruise
6) Which shoe manufacturer sponsors Usain Bolt?
7) What nickname referred to American soldiers who served in Europe during the First World War?
8) Against which country did William of Orange lead the Dutch in the Eighty Years' War?
9) 2 point question: Excluding 2, what is the lowest jersey number a player for the New York Yankees can wear?

The answers


Our excuses


How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more points)? Would you have helped us win (3 or more points)? Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!


My alternative questions
1) Deriving (loosely) from the Japanese for 'Sulfur Island', which island's name features in a 2006 Best Picture nominated Clint Eastwood-directed movie?
2) Named after its inventor (upon whose life A Beautiful Mind is based) what two-word term describes a situation in a non-cooperative game where no player can improve their position by changing their strategy?
3) Judi Dench won the Oscar for her (brief) portrayal of Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. Which actress also notably portrayed the Virgin Queen that year, in the title role of another film nominated for Best Picture?
4) Which journalist and television personality's name is, somewhat appropriately, an anagram of 'Smearing Pro'?
5) Autism is one of three recognized disorders in the autistic spectrum. Another is the rather descriptive 'pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified', what's the third?
6) In theory, what is the shortest distance a runner could spend holding the baton in a 4x100m relay without being disqualified?
Question 7
7) How is Poppin' Fresh (pictured), the mascot of a baking products company, better known?
8) Which country enjoys a 'special relationship' with the Netherlands thanks to actions during the Second World War? Its forces led the liberation of the Netherlands, the country hosted the Dutch Royal Family in exile, and they even temporarily declared a hospital ward as extraterritorial to ensure a Princess born there would hold Dutch citizenship.
9) National Football League teams play 16 games in the regular season (that is, excluding the post-season playoffs). National Basketball Association and National Hockey League teams, meanwhile, play 82 games, but how many games do teams play in the regular season of Major League Baseball? Spot on gets you 2 points, within 10% gets you 1 point.

The answers


How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!

Thursday, 19 February 2015

The 'USS' in Star Trek was said to stand for both United Space Ship and United Star Ship

Your targets this week:

1+ out of 11: Well done, you beat us!
2+ out of 11: We'd have won with you on our team!

The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor

The ones that got away
1) Until 1995, scientists thought the giant panda was genetically closer to what animal than bears?
2) Which of these is not a real species of bear? Cave, Cinnamon, Glacier, Mexican Grizzly, or Naked?
3) Louis Jourdan, who died on Valentine's Day, played which Bond villain in the movie Octopussy?
4) The Cricket World Cup began last weekend at the Hagley Oval, a ground in which country?
5) 7 years ago Toshiba announced they would no longer produce what storage format?
6) What was Geordi La Forge's rank in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Each of the next three answers rhymes with 'bear' or 'bears'.
7) Which actress wore prosthetic breasts in the movie A Dirty Shame?
8) The USA has 492, China has 152, Canada has 32. What?
9) In the New Testament, what would find in Matthew, Chapter 9, Verses 9-13?
No more rhyming!
10) 2 point question: 'Old Orchard' (which is also a chain of pubs of Montreal) is cowboy slang for what?

The answers


Our excuses


How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more points)? Would you have helped us win (2 or more points)? Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!


My alternative questions
1) The name of which web browser is another name for the red panda?
2) As explained above, when the doctor and I were on Pointless, one round was on types of bear. But to within 10%, how many of the 100 people surveyed on that episode (when given 100 seconds to name as many types of bear as they could) named the giant panda? (Note that 'within 10%' means 'plus or minus 10% of the actual answer', not 'within 10 people'.)
3) According to oxforddictionaries.com what is the standard English plural of the word octopus?
4) Of the five teams to have won the Cricket World Cup which one does not represent a member of the United Nations?
5) Essential (boring) trivia: the HD in HD DVD stands for high definition (or density), but what does the V in DVD stand for? (The Ds stand for Digital and Disc.)
6) What links a five-time Wimbledon champion with an alien race from the Star Trek series?
7) A now-global boycott of which mulinational corporation began in the United States over 30 years ago in protest over their marketing of breast milk substitutes?
8) Who is North America's only black billionaire?
9) The penultimate UK number one single of 1999, Cliff Richard's The Millennium Prayer featured the Lord's Prayer sung to what tune?
10) The 'Old Fashioned' is often described as the world's first cocktail. Primarily comprised of whiskey, according to the International Bartenders Association there are three other ingredients. For one point each, name two of them.

The answers


How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Only Connect Post Mortem: Series 10 Episode 22
Orienteers vs. Gamesmasters

Alas, our beloved Gamesmasters are no more, and while I wish I had time for a more fitting obituary, I must instead keep things brief. We will not be awarding Question of the Week, whether this is in mourning for our fallen quizzing comrades, or because we thought none of them particularly stood out, is up to you. (Spoilers: it's the latter.) Nevertheless, I hunger for quizzing opinions, so do let us know which ones tickled your proverbial with the poll below.

Thursday, 12 February 2015

The M&M's masocts are called 'spokescandies'

Your targets this week:

We won this week (qualifying for some exciting 'playoffs' fun!) but could you have done even better?

The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor

The ones that got away
1) Which actor, who has appeared in the Spiderman movies and Whiplash, also provides the voice of the yellow M&M?
2) Debuting last weekend, what is the name of the spin-off to Breaking Bad?
3) In February last year Shia LaBeouf appeared at the premiere of which movie sporting a brown bag labelled "I am not famous anymore"?
4) 2 point question: Demarchy is the selection of leaders by what method?
5) 2 point question: The rapper Christopher Wallace is better known by what name?
6) 2 point question: Spell the capital of Cambodia

The answers


Our excuses


How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 point or more)? Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!


My alternative questions
Question 2
1) Standard milk chocolate M&M's come in six colours: red, yellow and blue are three. Name the other three for a point.
2) Behold the Breaking Bad title card. Name either of the two elements cunningly highlighted in the name of the show.
3) Prior to his paper bag moment, LaBeouf walked out of a press conference saying "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.", thereby quoting the words, and mimicking the actions, of which French footballer?
4) If the next Prime Minister of the UK was picked at random from the current makeup of the House of Commons (as of Friday 13th February, 2015), to the nearest 1% what is the probability that they would be a Liberal Democrat? You get 1 point if you're within 3%, 2 points if you're within 1%.
5) The B.I.G. supposedly stood for 'Business Instead of Game', but following the rapper's death his memorial foundation, which raises money for school equipment and supplies, has changed the acronym's meaning to what instead of what? (1 point for each word.)
6) For one point each, name the country whose national capital comes first alphabetically, and the country whose national capital comes last alphabetically. (Usual Pointless definitions of 'country' apply.)

The answers


How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!

Only Connect Post Mortem: Series 10 Episode 21
History Boys vs. Linguists

Only Connect is getting serious, and so are the questions. Here's this week's poll, now completely devoid of any pretense that I may ever find time to express much opinion about the show beyond our favourite question. This week that honour falls to 6 seconds, 7 minutes, 8 hours, 9 days. While Piphilological Mnemonics gets an honourable mention for being deliciously work-outable, I appreciate I may be in a slight minority when it comes to maths-themed questions, so have deferred to the doctor's judgement. We were also particularly impressed with the Linguists not only picking up the bonus on this, but coming up with the excellent Lady Jane Grey answer to fit it perfectly (the doctor, ever the decisive captain, went with "a very long poo").

What did you think? Let us know!

Sunday, 8 February 2015

Only Connect Post Mortem: Series 10 Episode 20
QI Elves vs. Coders

After almost a week of not being able to get hold of an episode, the Internet came to the rescue and I can at least get up the all important Only Connect question poll. Our Question of the Week was an easy one for once, and while our love for sequences based on auditing firms is well-known, it had to go to Did it Themslves. Only slightly due to the doctor managing a good bit of quizzing to get this for 3 points, it's a question with fun penny dropping and fun trivia. Tasty.

Have at this poll to share your opinion (assuming you can remember a week ago - I've added some extra info to help jog those memories...).


Friday, 6 February 2015

Quiz Show Run Through

Just had an email from Saima Ferdows at the amusingly named Saltbeef TV. They're looking for people in London (specifically, Archway) for a run through next week. In their words:

"We are looking for contestants who can answer Only Connect/Mastermind type questions. The quiz pits two teams of three against each other in an interactive general knowledge based quiz."

INTERACTIVE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE!

It's 1pm-5pm on Thursday 12th February ("although it’ll prob finish sooner"), so if you can make either of those why not give it a go? You can email them at: casting@saltbeeftv.com

I've done quiz show run throughs in the past and they're super interesting if you're a bit of a quiz show nerd like me, as you get some fun 'behind the scenes'/'how the sausage is made' insight. Even if you're not a bit of a quiz show nerd, but do like quizzing, they're still plenty of fun and a pretty unique experience. Also, you might get free biscuits. (Although I haven't had confirmation of free biscuits for this particular show, so don't hold me to that.)

ADDENDUM: they will provide "lunch etc".

...

LUNCH ETC

(I assume 'etc' includes biscuits.)

Thursday, 5 February 2015

The name 'Kiribati' comes from the local pronunciation of 'Gilberts'

A special guest edition of the ones that got away this week, as the doctor (@NoDrNo to you and me) has taken the reigns! (Apologies in advance.)

Your targets this week:

1+ out of 12: Well done, you beat us!
7+ out of 12: We'd have won with you on our team!

The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor

The ones that got away
1) Which European country has more registered cars than residents?
2) The average American Football game in the NFL is 60 minutes in length and plays out over 185 minutes of real time. For how many minutes in total is the ball in play? You can have 3 minutes either way.
3) A round called "Capital plus letters" in which one had to combine a country's capital, with 2 extra letters (in any positions) to give the answer: e.g. European capital - "to add a number to itself" Answer: Doubling (Dublin) European capital - "What might you call it when one of Santa's reindeer sleeps lightly?"
4) Which comedian was Google's top trend of 2014?
5) 2 point question: Which item appears uniquely on the flags of Guatemala and Mozambique?
6) 2 point question: Which US city was formerly known as Terminus?
7) 2 point question: What percentage of the US congress are millionaires (to within 5%)?
8) 2 point question: Which franchise has made more money, the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies (combined) or the James Bond franchise? NOT adjusted for inflation.

The answers


Our excuses


How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more points)? Would you have helped us win (7 or more points)? Don't forget the 2 point questions! Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!


My alternative questions
1) San Marino claims to be the "oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world", stemming from origins in a Monastic community founded in which century? (You can have a century either way.)
2) What is the name of the trophy awarded for winning the Super Bowl? It's the same as the surname of the Starfox Wingman (pun intended) usually known simply as Falco.
3) Capital plus letters: (South American Capital) "Reasonably reasonable".
4) Which word links the battle cry of the Lost Boys in the Robin Williams movie "Hook" and a track by Skrillex?
5) 2 point question: Which is the only non-quadrilateral national flag? Which is the only square national flag? (And by 'national', we mean pertaining to a country that's a full member of the United Nations blah blah blah.)
6) 2 point question: Which work of post-apocalyptic serial fiction (both a TV series and a comic), set in and around Atlanta, features a journey to a supposed "safe zone" called Terminus? (This is a 2 pointer for being a bit tough.)
7) 2 point question: The longest ever filibuster in the US congress was delivered by Republican Senator Strom Thurmond, as an attempt to block which 1957 Act from being passed? For a second point, which US President signed the Act into law?
8) 2 point question: Which actor has died in both a Lord Of The Rings film and a James Bond Movie? For a second point, name either both characters, or both movies.

The answers


How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!