Scroll down for this week's Question of the Week poll!
Warning: the following contains spoilers for Series 10, Episode 15 of Only Connect, first broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 8th December. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it on iPlayer!
Missed last week's recap of the History Boys vs. the Felinophiles? Check it out here!
Last week we saw the History Boys become the first quarter-finalists of the series, and now two more first-time winners were hoping to join them. The Gallifreyans trounced the now-eliminated Wandering Minstrels 26-12 back in episode 3, while the Linguists narrowly beat series 2's runners-up the Chessmen a few weeks later. That performance alone indicates they're a team to be reckoned with, but let's see Who won on the night. You know, like Doctor Who.
Round 1: What's the connection?
The questions
1) Il Cantate (Mick Hucknell); Adega do Cantor (Cliff Richard); Inglenook (Francis Ford Coppola); Chateau de Tigné (Gerard Depardieu)
2) Pictures: Wells Cathedral; Tony Christie; David Bailey; A bolt
3) Music: Leather-winged Bat; Die Fledermaus; Danny Elfman's Batman theme; Bat Out of Hell
4) Formal royal ceremonies; When including a religious service; Live parliamentary proceedings (<30 mins); Children's (<30 mins)
5) Nicholas [sic] Cage magician film (2007); Company founded by Steve Jobs in 1985; UK clothing retail giant; Request another clue
6) A rat; Zombies; Paternity dispute; Racism
The answers
Our thoughts
1) We'd expect a ramping up in difficulty from the first round, and this fairly niche opener certainly felt that way to me. Nevertheless, the Gallifreyans managed to pick this up for 2 points, having briefly considered a musical connection as implied by the first couple of clues.
2) Another tough set, where it's hard enough to work out what the pictures are of, let alone put a connection together. Perhaps unsurprisingly, neither team had it.
3) A slightly more accessible music round to follow, with an excellent range of genres to help you get into it. The Gallifreyans needed all the clues to be sure and took away a point, while at home we took advantage of the lack of studio pressure to take a punt when we heard the Batman theme.
4) An interesting one, this, as after 2 clues we were thinking along the right lines but couldn't quite figure out exactly what they were looking for. Once the first "<30 mins" clue comes up things become slightly clearer, but the Linguists couldn't quite see it (and perhaps got to the final clue a little too late) allowing the Gallifreyans in for the bonus.
5) Ignoring the spelling error in Nicolas Cage's name (which I only mention as I've done it all-too-often myself) this was a lovely idea which was scuppered by a team being too good at it. The Gallifreyans knew their 2007 Cage films and took a brave guess for the full 5 points. A shame we didn't get the "next clue" hilarity the setter surely had in mind.
6) Having seen Ben (the rat in question) as a picture clue just a couple of weeks ago, it was a little surprising to see him referenced again here. (Not that it helped us at home, mind.) A very clever little set, I thought. A brilliant "little bit" of a guess from the Linguists finally got them off the mark, but this round had all been about the Gallifreyans, who were leading 9 points to 1.
Round 2: What comes fourth?
The questions
1) Pictures: 1p, 2p and 5p; 1p, 2p, 5p and 20p; 1p, 2p, 5p, 20p and 50p
2) Venus: 5,832; Mercury: 1,408; Mars: 24.62
3) Epsilon and Eta; Iota; Omicron and Omega
4) 6 in Africa; 7 in Europe; 9 in North America
5) Ball; Cox; Moyles
6) O'Brien squeezing an udder; Bracknell twerking; Lucan vaulting
The answers
Our thoughts
1) After a toughish opening round this question suffered from a case of "is it really that simple?". I would've thought it's hard not to notice that the new(ish) coins form a shield when put together, and certainly after 2 clues there's little else it could be. One can only assume the challenge (and thus a requirement for the answer) is knowing which coins go where, and the Gallifreyans saw all 3 clues before filling in the 50p at the bottom.
2) We buzzed in after the first clue at home, thinking "Earth: 1" seemed plausible without thinking too much about it. Unfortunately this was about length of days in Earth hours, not Earth days. This seems like a question which tempts an early (wrong) buzz, and the Linguists were rewarded with 2 points for being rather more patient
3) Somewhat like the coins question, the sequence was fairly obvious after 2 clues, but the answer possibly isn't. The penny dropped for the Gallifreyans once they'd seen the third and demonstrated their Greek was up to scratch to take the points. Given my background in maths I'm really not sure how gettable this is if you don't have a lot of experience in either the sciences or classics - it's one of my least favourite Greek letters, to boot.
4) Hooray for board game questions. Boo for board game questions about Risk. I've only played Risk once, and was consequently (like both teams) nowhere near this. Quite a fun question, though, as it's about one of the few board games most people have heard of, and you can at least get close with a guess if you're lucky.
5) Back to more familiar territory for most, although the opening of Ball and Cox is quite a neat distraction from what's really going on. The doctor (to my surprise) wasn't duped by this and we took 3 points at home, while taking the third clue gives away the sequence if not the answer. The Gallifreyans found themselves in this position, but couldn't drag out the current host, and the Linguists were able to pick up a much-needed bonus.
6) A well-timed festive question to finish the round, and a really lovely idea. After 2 one is put in mind of it being something to do with clueing to specific phrases, but with Bracknell putting me in mind of the place rather than the Lady, it seems tricky to score more than 2. I've written about the Twelve Days of Christmas in my Christmas Quiz Guide, so once the penny dropped this was fairly easy at home. The Linguists, meanwhile, didn't buzz in time while the Gallifreyans made the (understandable) slip of thinking the answer would be the drummers from the last day of Christmas. Still, they were looking more than comfortable with a 13-4 lead going into the walls.
The Linguists were going to need something special to merely be in contention here, and were a tad unlucky to just miss out on a perfect solve by being too specific with "chess computers" when only "computer competitors" was required. The Gallifreyans, for their part, managed just 4 points on what at home seemed a much tougher wall, with their set of Poirot characters (for my money) a much tougher ask than the Linguists' Sherlock Holmes group. Still, a 17-11 lead will usually see you through, and a low-scoring missing vowels duly resulted in a Gallifreyan win by 20 points to 14.
Question of the Week
After a fairly varied show in terms of difficulty, picking a favourite was looking tricky until the last one of round 2. Our question of the week went to The 12 Days of Christmas - a fun Only Connect special requiring some strong lateral thinking as well as familiarity with that pesky Christmas carol.
No comments:
Post a Comment