1+ out of 12: Well done, you beat us! 6+ 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) The fictional Barbara Millicent Roberts is better known by what name? 2) In miles per hour, what is the world record for a land snail? The answer contains the number 6, some number of 0s, and a decimal point. 3) Angelina Jolie missed the premiere of her movie Unbroken because she was suffering from what? 4) After a death at the San Diego Zoo this month, there are only five of what animal left on Earth? 5) Which country, where 10-20 are killed each year, observes a remembrance day for journalists killed in the line of duty on December 15th? 6) In professional boxing, what weight class is immediately below heavyweight, capping at 200 pounds? 7) As of April 2014, which of these sports clubs has the highest payroll? Manchester City FC, the New York Yankees, or FC Barcelona? 8) Occurring on the second Monday in October, the earliest possible date for Canadian Thanksgiving is October 8th. When is the next time Canadian Thanksgiving will fall on this date? 9)Three point question: what three liqueurs are layered in a B-52 cocktail? 1 point for each. 10) No country name in the world contains the consecutive pair of vowels UU. There are four other vowel combinations that don't appear in any country name. Name three of them. (You need all three for the point.) Note that the vowel pairs can appear across two words in a country name, so if there was a country called Nu Uland then that would give us a 'UU' combination. As a further clarification, note there are 25 possible pairs of vowel orderings: AE and EA, for example, are different.
The answers
1) Barbie 2) 0.006mph 3) Chickenpox 4) (Northern) white rhino 5) Russia 6) Cruiserweight (or junior heavyweight) 7) Manchester City FC 8) 2018 9) Coffee liqueur (e.g. Tia Maria or Kahlúa, Irish cream (e.g. Bailey's), orange-flavored liqueur (e.g. Triple sec or Grand Marnier) 10) UO, OE, EU, II
Our excuses
1) This was a real kick yourself question, as it's one of those quizzing classics that we either had somehow not encountered or (more likely) just forgotten. Without much hope we went with Thoroughly Modern Millie. 2) We worked out that 0.0006mph was about 1 metre per hour, which seemed pretty plausible (and more plausible than 10 times faster or slower). Alas, it seems snails are somewhat speedier than we'd anticipated. I quite enjoyed how the "it's a 6 and some zeroes" clue turned this from a complete crapshoot into something where some maths would help you narrow down the options. 3) Celebrity news has never been good for us. We went with depression as a cheerful stab in the dark. 4) This one was particularly frustrating, as we immediately considered white rhino but ruled it out as we were pretty sure we'd seen one at Disney World the previous week. It turns out there are two subspecies of white rhino, with the northern being much (much) rarer. The doctor suggested the Javan tiger, which unfortunately seems to be extinct. 5) Having been forewarned the quiz had a "this day in history" round we had done some prep on the topic, but didn't read all the way to the bottom of that day's Wikipedia page. Oops. We went with Israel. 6) Regular readers will be familiar with our boxing expertise. The doctor came agonizingly close here, however, with his guess of light heavyweight just one classification lower. 7) Obviously all three are very wealthy clubs, but I had a vague (and apparently inaccurate) memory of the very highest earning athletes typically coming from baseball, so we went with the Yankees. 8) I'm blaming the beer for this one. I took the basic rule of "dates advance one day a week each year" (so Christmas was on a Wednesday last year, will be on a Thursday this year, and on a Friday next year) but got completely muddled and did it in the wrong direction. 9) With a point per ingredient, we were rather aggrieved to miss completely on this one. Suffice to say we shall be trying to 'revise' cocktails over the Christmas period... 10) Quite a fun question to work on, as you gradually eliminate pairs as you think of countries. We eventually got down to six: EE, EU, II, OE, OO and UO. We somehow forgot Cameroon and Greece, and having incorrectly hypothesized that the homeland is called "The United Kingdom" we eliminated EU and went with II, UO and OO - so close!
How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 point or more)? Would you have helped us win (6 points 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 1) July 1992 saw Mattel release Teen talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases. One of these (spoken by about 1.5% of dolls sold) saw Barbie complaining that which school subject "is tough!"? 2) The term 'gastropod' (the class to which snails and slugs belong) derives from the Ancient Greek for which two words? 3) After a chickenpox infection, the virus remains dormant in the body, but it can be 'reactivated' later in life and cause a different form of the infection with the scientific name herpes zoster, but more commonly called what? 4) Part of the reason rhino horns command high prices on the black market is their use in some traditional medicines. Their medicinal properties are more than questionable, however, as they are made of what substance, the same type of protein that makes up human hair and fingernails?
Question 8
5) December 15th is also Zamenhof Day, which celebrates the culture of which language? The date commemorates the birthday of L. L. Zamenhof on December 15, 1859. 6) Which World Heavyweight Champion was the inspiration for the name, iconography, and fighting style of the character Rocky Balboa? 7) According to Forbes, who is Britain's highest-paid athlete of 2014? 8) Along with it's national winter sport of (ice) hockey, what is Canada's national summer sport? Pictured here, it's a team game of Native American origin. 9) What drink is added to a B-52 to create the somewhat pun-tastic B-52 "with bomb bay doors"? 10)3 point question: There are three UN member states which are the only countries whose names start with their respective letters of the alphabet. For 1 point each, name those three letters. For example, if only one country in the world began with the letter A, A would be one of the answers. (Spoilers: it isn't.)
The answers
1) Math(s) 2) Stomach foot 3) Shingles 4) Keratin 5) Esperanto 6) Rocky Marciano 7) Gareth Bale 8) Lacrosse 9) (Bombay) gin 10) O (Oman), Q (Qatar) and Y (Yemen) - bad luck if you said Z, as that's the only letter with two (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!
Scroll down for this week's Question of the Week poll!
Warning: the following contains spoilers for Series 10, Episode 16 of Only Connect, first broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 15th December. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it on iPlayer!
Missed last week's recap of the Lingusits vs. the Gallifreyans? Check it out here!
In the last Only Connect before their Christmas break the delightfully geeky Gamesmasters (Filip Drnovšek Zorko, James Robson and Frederic Heath-Renn) take on the probably just as geeky Orienteers (Simon Spiro, Paul Beecher and Sean Blanchflower) for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Gamesmasters opened their account this series with a 30-13 win over the Coders while the Orienteers saw off the Romantics in similarly impressive style 33-21. Since then the Coders eliminated the Romantics on a tie-break missing vowels decider, so on that basis the Gamesmasters seem to have the edge here. Interestingly, both of tonight's teams put in incredibly dominant missing vowels performances in their opening matches, so there's the potential for some fireworks later on. Filip opened proceedings with a rapid Rubik's cube solve while Victoria introduced the rules. That's just how we roll.
Round 1: What's the connection?
The questions 1) Renaissance woodwind instrument; Italian croissant; Pegg/Frost trilogy; 'O Sole Mio' rewrite 2) Syphilis; Sweating sickness; Rickets; Football hooliganism 3) North Korea; The State of Israel; Hells Angels; National Health Service 4) Pictures: Joey Dunlop; Prince; Wilson from Cast Away; Anthony Stewart Head 5) Music: 4th of July (Fireworks) (Kelis); Fireworks (Roxette); Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel); Firework (Katy Perry) 6) Estonia; Author of 'The Enormous Room'; mc²mc²; Merger of T-mobile and Orange
The answers
1) Cornetto 2) 'The English Disease' 3) Founded in 1948 4) Tennis equipment companies 5) Fireworks 6) Two 'E's
Our thoughts 1) Good movie knowledge to kick things off for the Orienteers, who recognized the trilogy and deduced there wasn't much else that could link it with the previous clues. I wonder if this question came about from someone spotting the potential for Cornetto the instrument and Cornetto the ice cream and tried to finish the set (although Wikipedia tells me Cornetto with cappuccino is the most common breakfast in Italy, which sounds as tasty as it does unhealthy). 2) The fact everyone calls syphilis the "someone else's" disease is a bit of a trivia chestnut, but you'd be hard pushed to pull out that particular connection until the final clue (as the Gamesmasters duly did). While football hooliganism works well as a giveaway, I think having the first three all be biological afflictions does make it hard not to look for some pathological connection. 3) Opening with a pair of countries it would have taken a very good (and confident) quizzer to realize we were looking at the foundation year here. Hells Angels, however, immediately narrows down the options while the NHS perhaps gives you the best chance of getting the answer spot on. We were still completely at sea though, but the Orienteers got the link and the year for a good point. 4) It's interesting to look at the balance between clue number, ease of identification, and notability of company here. I suspect very few of Only Connect's regular audience would recognize Joey Dunlop (and even then you'd perhaps think of tyres before tennis), while Prince's symbol is familiar but not the most famous tennis brand. Wilson the volleyball is something I've only ever encountered in quizzes, for some bizarre reason, and either that or Head would presumably get you to the link if you were already thinking along the right lines. This seemed awfully tough at home, but the Orienteers still managed to pick up the bonus after the Gamesmasters' enjoyable suggestion they'd all trained Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 5) Some standard music connection fare, where knowing two would give you the answer for certain, while one would probably see you guess correctly. The Orienteers, like us at home, needed all four clues, but secured another point. 6) Filip Gamesmaster (in my universe Only Connect contestants can, like pop stars, be referred to by their first name followed by their team name) was visibly frustrated to have missed E. E. Cummings until after the mc²mc² clue, but the team still took two points on a question where two or three was the most likely return. It was a welcome boost for the team, as they ended the round trailing slightly, 5-3.
Round 2: What comes fourth?
The questions 1) 100: Bannerman, Australia; 200: Murdoch, Australia; 300: Sandham, England 2) 4th: Butler; 3rd: Kennedy; 2nd: Hamilton 3) Group; Publisher; Title 4) Pictures: Simon Mayo; James Galway; Clare College 5) estate; autunno; inverno 6) ♀ (East-coast): dress sense; ♀ (Southern): accent; ♀ (Midwest): hospitality, etc.
The answers
1) 400: Lara, West Indies (Test cricket landmark scores) 2) 1st: O'Hara (Surnames of Scarlett O'Hara) 3) Check digit (ISBN sections) 4) (e.g.) There once was a quiz host named Vicky... (Irish counties) 5) primavera (Seasons in Italian) 6) ♀ (Northern): osculation (California Girls)
Our thoughts 1) There are two names you need to know when it comes to cricket trivia. One is Donald Bradman, the other is Brian Lara. The Orienteers tried the former, having deduced the theme of the question, but it was Filip Gamesmaster who stepped in with supposedly the only thing he knew about cricket to earn the bonus. In the comfort of home I was quite pleased to have 'buzzed in' for three points, having decided that once I've realized a question is about cricket any more clues aren't going to mean anything to me. 2) I don't doubt this was a question seasoned quizzers would have had very early, but Gone With the Wind is one of those things I have never found myself interested in, despite its fame. Neither team had this either, with both thinking along presidential lines. 3) Two questions in a row to stump both teams, as while this was obviously something to do with books you'd be unlikely to guess the correct answer unless you'd realized it was specifically to do with ISBN codes. James Gamesmaster had apparently studied them during his degree and still didn't spot it, but did get to say 'whateves' on Only Connect, so he's still a winner. 4) I maintain that Simon Mayo is much more recognizable than anyone who is (predominantly) a Radio 2 DJ deserves to be, but once he's paired up with flautist James Galway it's hard not to think of that quizzing staple of Irish counties. Part of why we moved to Canada was getting fed up of these coming up on pub quizzes (maybe), so we were nowhere, while the Gamesmasters took a reasonable punt with Cork as it's the largest. Unfortunately for them (but not the Orienteers who swooped in for the bonus) we were travelling down the West coast. 5) Perhaps there is more nuance to this than I'm giving it credit for, but this seemed a 'three points or no points' style of straight general knowledge, to which the Orienteers were in the former group. I presume anyone familiar with Vivaldi's Four Seasons would have a good chance at this, but beyond that and knowledge of Italian itself, there's not much to work with here. 6) The Gamesmasters needed a good score here to risk losing touch, but were unfortunate to finish the round with an absolutely brute. I imagine even if the lyrics had been written out in full they would have struggled (I certainly would have had no chance) but the obfuscation, while potentially fun, makes this horribly difficult. (I also wonder if the inclusion of the female symbol was a late addition to make the question more accessible.) Unsurprisingly neither team got it, and so the Orienteers headed into the wall with a 9-4 lead.
A five point deficit before the walls means that a perfect ten is almost essential. The Gamesmasters delivered just that, however, including what I thought was a particularly impressive spot of Panama, Adam, Even and Elba forming a group of final words in famous palindromes. Unfortunately for them the Orienteers followed suit, with a wall that featured the rare sight of a homophone that doesn't work in received pronunciation ('your' sounding like 'ewer'). Given their previous missing vowels performance a five point comeback wasn't out of the question, but while the Gamesmasters did pull two points back in the final round, the Orienteers ultimately held on to a well-deserved 22-19 victory. Of mild note, however, was the set 'Same spelling, different pronunciation', where Filip Gamesmaster's "protest and...prottest?" was ruled invalid causing a three-point swing. There was some mild consternation on social media about this, but for me it seems like a fair ruling on an ill-advised group. It's certainly a fun idea: the challenge of figuring out the pronunciations adds an extra dimension to the usual "buzz when you spot it" mentality of the round, but I felt it needed slightly stronger clues to justify the potential for harsh-seeming (with the emphasis on seeming) adjudications. Still, congratulations to the Orienteers on two impressive performances, and commiserations to the Gamesmasters (don't worry, all the cool teams lose once...).
Question of the Week
After some debate, we've taken the difficult (and unprecedented) step to withhold Question of the Week. While most of the questions were perfectly good, none stood out at all to me as being particularly special, and so in the interests of non-competitive sports days we won't be picking one for the coveted title. As always, however, the regular poll is below for you to help crown the people's question champion!
Following our Disney vacation last week I've been playing catch up both with the real world and the blog. The bad news is there'll be no regular Ones That Got Away this week, but the good news is I've put together an extra-magical Disney quiz! (Spoilers: if you don't like Disney this may also be bad news, sorry.)
It's ended up being a somewhat mammoth, 50-question affair, split into ten rounds of five with a variety of themes and question styles to hopefully keep things magical. I'll explain each round as I go along, but a general thing to keep in mind is that anything Disney is fair game, and so there may be one or two Disney-Pixar collaborations lurking down there. I've tried to keep things fairly accessible, so even if you're not a Disney Dork you hopefully won't wind up feeling like a Disney Doofus. That said, this is very much written with either fans, or teams, in mind - if you find it tough by yourself you can at least be sure you're well placed for any future Disney quiz questions! Good luck!
Round 1: Disney 101
There are some facts that may not be the most interesting, but nevertheless you have to know them for the occasional Disney-loving quizmaster. Here are five Disney essentials to kick things off.
1) When he first came up with the idea of a mouse character, what name did Disney have in mind before settling on Mickey? 2) Released in December 1937, what was the first Disney theatrical animated feature? 3) Walt Disney founded the Disney company in 1923 with Roy Disney - what relation were Roy and Walt? 4) Beginning with 'E', what was Walt Disney's middle name? 5) Perhaps the most essential of Disney trivia to finish: Mickey Mouse was first seen in a single test screening of the animated short Plane Crazy, but which 1928 cartoon is considered his debut as it was the first to be distributed?
The answers
1) Mortimer 2) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 3) Brothers 4) Elias 5) Steamboat Willie
Round 2: Disney lands
Time to get really stuck into the movies with the first 'quick-fire' round. In this one, I'll give you the names of five locations that appear in five Disney (or Disney-Pixar) films. You just have to name the film. (And before you get smart, while many of these appear in sequels, it's the originals I'm after.)
1) Elephant graveyard 2) Thebes 3) Radiator Springs 4) The Scarefloor 5) The Man Village
The answers
1) The Lion King 2) Hercules 3) Cars 4) Monsters, Inc. 5) The Jungle Book
Round 3: fun facts!
Next up are five questions about some of the facts I found particularly fun or interesting. That counts as a theme, right?
Round 3 Question 4
1) Forging a link between the Magic Kingdom and a Magic Roundabout, which UK town beat 24 others in a competition to become unofficially 'twinned' with Walt Disney World in 2009? 2) With the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson, Mickey Mouse has met every US President since Harry Truman, but which one remarked "It's always nice to meet a world leader who has bigger ears than me."? 3) How many different countries boast a Disney resort? 4) For which film was Walt Disney presented this unique Academy Award? 5) Which Disney theme park is an experimental prototype community of tomorrow?
The answers
1)Swindon 2) Barack Obama 3) 4: USA (California and Florida), France (Paris), Japan (Tokyo) and China (Hong Kong, with a Shanghai resort expected to open next year) 4) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 5) EPCOT (not a bad acronym, I think)
Round 4: who wrote that?
If you think things are getting a little low-brow then prepare to have your brows raised. Here are five Disney classics; I want you to tell me the authors of the stories or books which primarily inspired them. (Surnames alone will suffice.)
1) Alice in Wonderland 2) One Hundred and One Dalmatians 3) Cinderella 4) Peter Pan 5) Tangled
The answers
1) Lewis Carroll (AKA Charles Dodgson) 2) Dodie Smith 3) Charles Perrault 4) J. M. Barrie 5) The Brothers (Jacob and Wilhelm) Grimm (Tangled being loosely based on Rapunzel)
Round 5: villainous pictures!
It's time for the first picture round! Below you'll find five naughty Disney characters, you just have to name their respective films. (Click for a bigger version!)
The answers
1) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Judge Claude Frollo) 2) Pinocchio (Stromboli) 3) Peter Pan (Captain Hook) 4) Robin Hood (Prince John) 5) Toy Story (Sid Phillips)
Round 6: Frozen solid
There's no escaping Disney's Frozen, especially at this time of year, and as the highest-grossing animated film of all time it only seems fair to devote an entire round to it. Don't groan, you'll be thanking me when these start popping up on pub quizzes (if they haven't already).
1) Which Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale inspired Frozen? 2) The setting of Frozen is primarily based on which country? Some of its landmarks, including the Akershus Fortress and the Nidaros Cathedral are represented in the film. 3) As the co-writer of Oscar-winning Let It Go, Robert Lopez became the 12th - and by far the quickest - person to date to win all four major American entertainment awards (the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). The first of these was a Tony Award in 2004 for his work on which musical, featuring songs including The Internet is For Porn and What Do You Do With a B.A. in English? 4) What 11-letter word describes Elsa's power to psychically control and create ice and cold temperatures? 5) Not adjusting for inflation, Frozen is (at time of writing) the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time. Name three of the four movies that currently beat it.
The answers
1) The Snow Queen 2) Norway 3) Avenue Q 4) Cryokinesis (or cryokinetic) 5) Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (and yes, you need the 'Part 2', I'm afraid)
Round 7: quick-fire songs
While a Disney film is still yet to win the Best Picture Oscar, they have put in a remarkably strong showing for Best Original Song over the years. For each of the films below, tell me which of its songs won the gong.
1) The Little Mermaid 2) The Lion King 3) Pinocchio 4) Song of the South 5) Mary Poppins
The answers
1) Under the Sea 2) Can You Feel the Love Tonight 3) When You Wish Upon a Star 4) Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah 5) Chim Chim Cher-ee
Round 8: two words
In this round every answer is precisely two words. That may not sound like much of a theme, but it could give you the extra hint you need.
1) The central castle at Walt Disney World, Florida belongs to Cinderella. Also know as Aurora, and Briar Rose, whose castle sits at the centre of the original Disneyland Park in California? 2) Subsequent imitators included Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from Warner Bros., and Happy Harmonies from MGM, but what was the name of the Disney animated short films originally intended as accompaniments to pieces of music? 3) Deriving from Walt Disney's use of theatrical analogies when referring to park operations, what term describes any employee at the various Disney theme parks? 4) The Karnival Kid was the ninth film in the original Mickey Mouse film series, and the first in which he speaks. What food was his first words? 5) As Cinderella Castle becomes taller, its proportions get smaller, making it appear larger than it actually is. What term describes this technique?
The answers
1) Sleeping Beauty 2) Silly Symphonies 3) Cast Member 4) Hot dogs 5)Forced perspective
Round 9: you've got a friend in me
In the final quick-fire round, I'm going to give you the names of five Disney 'companions'. Each of them is associated with a title character, can you tell me who? As a bonus hint, they're all from movies with one-word titles.
1) Mushu the dragon 2) Meeko the raccoon 3) Abu the monkey 4) Timothy Q. Mouse the mouse 5) Penny Forrester the human
You're almost there! To finish off I've got five photos of locations from Walt Disney World's World Showcase. Each of these is from a pavilion dedicated to a specific country, and your final task is to name each one. (Again, you can click for a bigger version!)
The answers
1) Japan 2) Mexico 3) Canada 4) Morocco 5) United Kingdom
Phew. Hopefully that wasn't too much of a slog. If you got this far (and managed to keep count) then you can use the poll below to show off both your Disney knowledge and your stamina!
Christmas is just around the corner (no really, it actually is now), and it's a great time to get down to the pub. I'm not just talking about escaping the family, though, I'm talking quizzing. No quizmaster can resist a Christmas-themed quiz, and with certain festive factoids coming up year after year, a little preparation can turn into a nice Christmas bonus.
As your friendly neighbourhood quiz nerd, I've put together a short guide to the essential Christmas knowledge that quizmasters love to test. Below you'll find specific facts, tips and tricks, and a few practice questions covering the most commonly encountered holiday favourites. Some of it will seem obvious, some of it won't, but everything could mean an extra point and a better chance at taking home the money. Similar preparation last year saw us pocket over £150 in cash, booze and other goodies in one week of quizzing, and as we're stuck in Canada this time around I thought I'd share some of those secrets.
Part 1: Christmas Controversy
I'll kick things off with a few topics that can cause Christmas quiz consternation. These are the questions where you don't just need to know the correct answer, you need to work out which correct answer the quizmaster thinks is right.
The question: What gift is given on the (e.g.) tenth day of Christmas? The problem: It depends - there's no definitive Twelve Days of Christmas, with different gifts on different days, including some really weird ones such as badgers and "part of a June apple tree". The answer: Step one is to learn a specific set of gifts, for which I'd go with the first one listed on Wikipedia (from a 1909 publication by Austin). The first eight days are fairly universal and should be easy to remember. Days 9-12 are trickier, and more likely to vary across versions. I memorize this version by starting at the twelfth day and working down with "The Dr Picked the Lords and Ladies" for Drummers-Pipers-Lords-Ladies. This isn't the best mnemonic, but it works for me, and if you take a minute to come up with your own it'll probably stick for years.
The other thing you may want to do is explain to the quizmaster what you've done. If you say something like "You know there are different variations of this, right? We've gone with the one that comes first on Wikipedia, is that OK?" they'll probably be surprised to hear their question is ambiguous, and thus be happy for you to offer them an easy way out. (If you're truly serious you can learn a few variations by name, but that's more than a little tedious.)
North LOL more like.
The question: Where does Santa Claus live? The problem: It depends who you're asking. North America tends to think he lives at the North Pole (which doesn't belong to any particular country), while each Nordic country claims him for their own. Even if the question is as specific as "Where is Lapland?" you're still not safe. They probably want Finland, but it's also the name of a province of Sweden as well as a general region stretching across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The answer: Check with the quizmaster. If the question is simply "where does Santa Claus live?" then say "Americans think he lives at the North Pole, Norwegians think he lives in Norway, Danes think he lives in Denmark..." until they get bored and tell you what they want you to put. If they just ask for which country Lapland is in, you're almost certainly safe with Finland, but if you want to be extra sure then ask for further clarification (assuming you haven't got on their nerves by now...).
The question: What date is the twelfth day of Christmas/Epiphany? The problem: It could be January 5th or January 6th. The answer: If they ask for Epiphany, you're fine - as that's unambiguously January 6th. If they ask for the twelfth day of Christmas (or twelfth night) you're going to want to ask for clarification. Wikipedia lists Twelfth Night as falling on the 6th as well, so that's your best bet, but if you work it out with Christmas Day being the first day of Christmas, you'll come to a different conclusion: by that logic January 5th is the twelfth day. Indeed, Wikipedia mentions that Twelfth Night is defined by the Shorter OED as being on the evening of the 5th, so if you mention that to the quizmaster as well they'll hopefully admit you probably know best and let you have the point.
The question: What gender are Santa's reindeer? The problem: The Internet loves arguing about it. The answer: If someone has asked this there are two possible reasons. One is that they've read that male reindeer lose their antlers in winter, so the answer is female, and thus it's a 'fun' sort-of-trick question. The other is that they've heard this fact, then gone onto the Internet and discovered that not all male reindeer lose their antlers in winter (and what's more they're fictional reindeer anyway) and are trying to catch people out in a QI-esque manner. In the vast majority of cases I would wager on female, but be ready to fight your corner.
Part 2: Easy mistakes
Next up I've selected a few tidbits that aren't particularly difficult questions, but are easy to get wrong.
1) If you add up all the presents received during the Twelve Days of Christmas you'd get 364 gifts in total - one for every day of the year except Christmas! Obviously you could work this out for yourself, but it's easy to make a mistake, plus just knowing it will save time, stress, and maybe impress someone.
Mistletoe and whuh?
2) (European) Mistletoe berries are white, not red. A classic one that gets thrown in to annoy people. Don't be one of them! (Although thanks to a commenter below for pointing out some other varieties do fruit red, so watch out for that.) 3) There are four ghosts in A Christmas Carol. It's easy to forget Jacob Marley in addition to the more famous Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come (bonus pedantry that could save you a point: that last one is not simply 'Future'). 4)Last Christmas by Wham! was not a UK Christmas number one. It was kept off the top of the charts in 1984 by Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas. 5) The three wise men are Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, giving gold, frankincense and myrrh, respectively. My mnemonic for this is "God Came From Me and MyBaby" which gives the first two letters of the gifts and wise men in order. It's a bit contrived but works for me. While we're on the subject, if you're asked what the gifts actually are then it's probably safest to say that frankincense is a perfume or fragrance, while myrrh is an embalming fluid. (It's a little more nuanced than that, but those definitions should be fine.) 6)The eight reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. This is a classic one for quizmasters to ask either as a lazy way to have eight points available, or as a tough one- or two-pointer. Like the seven dwarfs it's easy to forget one, so make sure you test yourself a few times to see if there are any you regularly overlook. For me, the easiest ones to miss are Comet and Cupid as they come in the middle and don't rhyme, so they're usually the ones I write down first. Try testing your team on this before the quiz starts and see if there are any gaps - as long as you're prepared even a team of two should have no difficulty remembering eight names. Addendum: you may be wondering about Rudolph. The 'traditional' eight above are from the 1823 A Visit from St. Nicholas, and for my money that's the only really objective way to define it. If I was asked about this in a quiz I'd probably check with the quizmaster what source they're working from; it's a sloppy question if they don't have a specific one in mind.
Part 3: Question Time
To finish up I've written a few 'Classic Christmas Trivia'-inspired questions and divided them into very loosely themed rounds. Either have a go yourself or use them as a warm-up while waiting for the quiz to start. If your teammates think this is a bit weird, be sure to explain that doing a quiz before a quiz is what all the coolest of kids do.
Questions with 'Christmas' in the answer
1) Also the poem's opening words, what is the more common name of A Visit from St. Nicholas? 2) Sent on 3 December 1992, what two words formed the first SMS message? 3) First performed in the movie Holiday Inn. Which Bing Crosby song (written by Irving Berlin) is the best-selling single of all time? (His version of Silent Night, meanwhile, is the third best-selling single, with Princess Diana tribute Candle in the Wind second.) 4) Which slogan was introduced by the National Canine Defence League (now the Dogs Trust) in 1978? 5) What was first delivered by George V in 1932? 6) On what day in 1066 was William I crowned?
The answers
1) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (or just The Night Before Christmas) 2) Merry Christmas 3) White Christmas 4) A dog is for life, not just for Christmas 5) The King's Christmas Message (or the Queen's Christmas Message, or the Queen's Speech, just make sure you know it was George V in 1932 who did it first!) 6) Christmas Day
Christmas around the world
1) While Alabama was the first In 1836, in 1907 Oklahoma was the last US state to do what? 2) In Ukraine, which creature is considered good luck at this time of year, thanks in part to a legend in which it decorated a barren Christmas tree?
One year they'll put Nelson on top.
3) London's Trafalgar Square Christmas tree has been donated every year since 1947 by which city as a token of gratitude for British support during the Second World War? 4) 'Nadolig Llawen!' means 'Merry Christmas!' in which language? 5) Christmas Island is a territory of which country? 6) Which Italian sweet bread, originally from Milan, is traditionally enjoyed at Christmas? Spelling counts! 7) Seemingly ubiquitous at this time of year, from which country does the poinsettia originate? 8) Kallikantzaros, malevolent goblins who dwell underground but come to the surface during the twelve days of Christmas, are found in the folklore of Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, and which other country? 9) Canadian postcodes typically consist of six characters, alternating between letters and numbers, such as A1B2C3. What postcode has been designated for Santa Claus?
The answers
1) Declare Christmas an official holiday. 2)Spiders 3) Oslo 4) Welsh 5) Australia 6) Panettone 7) Mexico (Although it's also found in other places, you will almost certainly be expected to put Mexico.) 8) Greece (We've heard this asked more than once, without the clarification of Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey, but they wanted Greece.) 9) H0H0H0
Christmas Miscellany
1) What festive item was created by baker Tom Smith in London in 1847? 2) On what date is St. Stephen's Day observed in the UK? 3) On what date is St. Nicholas Day observed in the UK? 4) Which English physicist was born on Christmas Day, 1642? 5) Which song was performed by choirboy Peter Auty in a classic 1982 film? 6) Which nut is traditionally used to make marzipan? 7) Debuting in 1892, which Russian composer wrote the score of the ballet The Nutcracker? 8) Which group has the most UK Christmas Number One singles, with four?
The answers
1) The Christmas cracker 2) December 26th (although note other churches may use different dates, such as December 27th in the Eastern Church) 3) December 6th (although note other churches may use different dates, such as December 19th in the Eastern Church) 4) Isaac Newton 5) Walking in the Air (from The Snowman; Aled Jones made a notable cover version, but was not the singer of the film version) 6) Almond 7) Tchaikovsky 8) The Beatles
Part 4: Further reading
The above covers what my experience has taught me are the most common facts and tidbits that crop up in pub quizzes at this time of year. There's obviously more you could look at but at this point the returns for the effort required start to drop off considerably. Still, I have a few recommendations for further reading. The first thing to do is obvious: search online for 'Christmas quiz' or 'Christmas trivia' (and similar). You'll find a world of quizzes to have a go at, many of which will overlap with what you've read above. I've known quizmasters who have clearly done exactly the same thing and their resulting quiz has been almost entirely 'borrowed' from ones online. Beyond that, the classic things to look at are UK Christmas Number Ones (any quiz with a music round may well focus on these) and things that have happened on Christmas Day.
Here's hoping some of the above comes in handy, and that your Christmas quizzing is at least fun, if not profitable. Let me know if so, and happy quizmas!
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
1) Celebrity viniculture 2) Olympic men's 100m gold 3) Bats 4) Advertising restrictions 5) Next 6) Subjects of Michael Jackson songs
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
1) The seven coins less than £1 in value arranged as a shield (Shield of the Royal Arms on coins) 2) Earth: 24 (Length of days in Earth hours) 3) Upsilon (Greek letters beginning E, I, O, U) 4) 12 in Asia (Continental territories in Risk) 5) Grimshaw (Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenters) 6) (e.g.) Billie trilling (The 12 Days of Christmas)
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.
The Ones That Got Away is on vacation in Disney World, Florida, so no updates this week. Quizzing funtimes will return shortly, including an extra-special Disney quiz ready for when we get back!
1+ out of 4: Well done, you beat us and we'd have won with you on our team!
The attendees 1) The statistician 2) The doctor
The ones that got away 1) The 1981 wedding of (fictional) super couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history. Name the show. 2) The US television channel Syfy broadcasts marathons of science fiction classic The Twilight Zone every year on New Year's Eve (and Day) and which other holiday? 3) Nicknamed the Flying Finn, which real-life marathon runner is Dustin Hoffman's idol in the 1976 movie Marathon Man? 4) Containing a single alcohol serving, typically what size (in millilitres) are bottles of spirits usually served on aeroplanes?
The answers
1)General Hospital 2) The Fourth of July/Independence Day 3) (Paavo) Nurmi (although there are numerous Finns with this nickname) 4)50ml
Our excuses
1) A short, US-centric set this week, and it's no coincidence that these are from our trip south of the border to New York. We'd not heard of General Hospital, but it's definitely an institution in the US with over 13,000 episodes and counting. That said, apparently there was a UK spin-off in the 1970s. We went with the standard 'popular 80s US TV show' guess of Dallas. 2) Halloween seemed the obvious guess here, with the only slight niggle of doubt stemming from the end of October being awfully close to the end of December. If we'd followed this thought further we might have spotted Independence Day as an alternative big holiday sufficiently far from the New Year for people's marathon appetite to have built up again. 3) Flying Finn puts me in mind of the Formula One driver Mika Häkkinen, who it seemed an unlikely candidate to also be a marathon runner from the 20s. I was surprised the name didn't ring a bell when read out. 4) A pretty weird question, but one I felt quite annoyed for missing. My (admittedly hazy) memory was that a shot of alcohol was 25ml, although the Wikipedia page on shot glasses seems to reinforce this. Unfortunately, I should have realized that would make for a tiny bottle of booze.
How did you do? Would you have beaten us and helped us win (1 or more correct)? 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. Spoopy.
1) A surprise fan of General Hospital, she apparently sent the actors who played Luke and Laura bottles of champagne in time for their on-screen marriage. Whose (real-life) 1981 wedding was one of the most watched broadcasts in British television history? 2) Three years before taking on the role for which he is best known, name the actor pictured on the left in the 1963 Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. 3) With nine Olympic gold medals, Paavo Nurmi sits joint-second on the list of all time Olympic gold medalists. Which athlete is way (way) out in first place with 18? 4) In the UK one unit of alcohol is defined as 10 millilitres. How many units of alcohol are therefore in a 70 centilitre bottle of 40% ABV vodka?
The answers
1)Princess Diana 2)William Shatner 3) Michael Phelps 4) 28 units (40% of the 700ml of vodka is alcohol, which is 280ml)
How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!
Scroll down for this week's Question of the Week poll!
Warning: the following contains spoilers for Series 10, Episode 14 of Only Connect, first broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 1st December. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it on iPlayer!
Missed last week's recap of the QI Elves vs. the Nightwatchmen? Check it out here!
We're at the mid-point of this mammoth series and things are starting to get serious. Four teams have already been sent packing and tonight the first quarter-finalists will be crowned. That's right: tonight's teams have already won a match and are in that happy place where they can afford to lose. They first graced our screens all the way back in episodes one and two, so you'd be forgiven if they don't look too familiar. The Felinophiles kicked off Only Connect's time on BBC 2 with a 24-14 victory over the Politicos, who have since been eliminated by the Oxonians, who themselves were beaten by the History Boys in their own first match by 28 points to 19. The form book alone suggests the History Boys were the slight favourites here, having seen off an apparently stronger team by a similar margin, but who reads books these days anyway? Time to settle the age-old debate about which is better: cats, or history?
Round 1: What's the connection?
The questions 1) Oswald Mosley group, 1934; Polish rebellion, 1863; Number one single for Pilot, 1975; Betty Draper, 2007- 2) GB1331655: Flying saucer; GB1426698: Cat flap/peace-keeping bomb; GB1333548: Exploding nail; GB2272154: Ladders for spiders 3) Meher Baba; Cuzco, Peru; Peace; LGBT community 4) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; Wall Street; The Pursuit of Happyness; On Golden Pond 5) Music: Haysi Fantayzee; Scritti Politti; Milli Vanilli; Lynyrd Skynyrd 6) Pictures (all with a 'no' symbol): Runs (in tights); A pet; A duck; A bomb
The answers
1) January 2) UK patents (of Arthur Paul Pedrick) 3) Rainbow flags 4) Father and child playing father and child 5) Rhyming band names 6) No ____ing (in a swimming pool)
Our thoughts 1) Like the History Boys, we were thinking Blackshirts, but having seen a question based on that in our semi-final just two series ago we ruled it out as a possibility. The second clue doesn't help much, but if you know your 1975 number ones or your Mad Men actors you were in luck. The History Boys did, and got things up and running with a point. You could probably categorize this as a 'one and done' question; if you know just one of the clues you'd probably be in a position to get the points (even if you started with 'months' before specifying 'January'). 2) An odd one, this, although I can imagine Pedrick's antics are known to a certain type of person. If you're unfamiliar (as we certainly were) then the idea of patents nevertheless seems fairly clear after two clues, at which point it's a case of when you decide to go with that instinct. The Felinophiles took a third before settling for two points, and I'm not sure the last would make all that much difference. I wonder if this question was originally written with "all by the same person" in mind, or similar, and deemed to hard. As it is the link seems a tiny bit loose. 3) I don't know about you, but I hadn't come across the idea of using a rainbow flag for peace before, and this seems very tough to get for anything more than, as the History Boys did, a single point. A quick poke at Wikipedia suggests Cuzco (or Cusco) is perhaps something I should've heard of, being the site of the capital of the Inca Empire. Every day's a school day. 4) A neat group, and both teams skirted around the answer without quite nailing it down. We got entirely caught up with Lara Croft and video games and never really recovered. Fun fact: Will and Jaden Smith were the first father-son duo to 'win' the worst actor and worst supporting actor Razzies for After Earth. 5) Some impressive band recognition here from the History Boys to take this for two points, while the debate rages on about whether Lynyrd Skynyrd really rhymes. 6) Excellent work from the Felinophiles who took a brave three points while also suggesting swimming pools may have 'no dogging' signs. Not for the first time this series I'm more than a little suspicious that this was a deliberate plant by the setter, but regardless the Felinophiles had snuck into a 5-4 lead.
Round 2: What comes fourth?
The questions 1) 3: Connecticut; 2: Florida; 1: Maine 2) Pictures: German Shepherd; English Springer Spaniel; Cocker Spaniel 3) Battery LR8D425; Highest credit rating; Founded by Bill W. and Dr. Bob 4) Count Dooku; Qui-Gon Jinn; Obi-Wan Kenobi 5) Music: Hit the Road Jack; The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba; In the Hall of the Mountain King 6) E: 13,6,10; S: 17,3,19; W: 8,11,14
The answers
1) (e.g.) 0: Hawaii (Borders with other US states) 2) Labrador (UK's most common dogs) 3) (e.g.) Ampere (AAAA, AAA, AA, A) 4) Anakin Skywalker (Each trained the next) 5) (e.g.) The Ace of Spades (Jack, Queen, King, Ace) 6) N: 5,20,1 (Sections of a dartboard)
Our thoughts 1) Knowing that Maine is 'the Cornwall of America' is one of those things you pick up doing quizzes, but recognizing which states have two or three borders is another matter entirely. The History Boys seemed to have this just as they took the third clue, taking what was ultimately an easyish two points. At home we completely fluked three points, speculating this might be the number of presidents from those respective states, expecting to see "1: Hawaii" and so went with "0: Alaska". Oops. 2) Very unambiguous pictures of dogs doesn't leave too much room to manoeuvre, and while we considered the correct link we ultimately plumped for Presidential dogs (figuring we at least knew that Barack Obama had a Portugese Water Dog, whereas we had no idea what the most popular dog breed was). The Felinophiles, true to their name, couldn't get to the bottom of this, while remarkably the History Boys not only knew the answer, but knew they knew the answer. Top dog knowledge. 3) While quadruple A batteries aren't too commonplace, the economic climate of the last few years means that spotting the top credit rating isn't too tricky. From there you just have to apply the classic Only Connect sequence logic of "is it going up to AAAAA or down to A?". The History Boys kept their cool, correctly deduced the battery must be AAAA, and took another three points. 4) Tough on the Felinophiles here, who seemed to have the sequence and took a brave early buzz that didn't quite pay off allowing the History Boys were able to pick up the bonus. Count Dooku puts one in mind of masters and apprentices, but we initially got stuck focusing on Sith Lords, for which Count Dooku didn't make sense as a sequence opener. Eventually the doctor concocted a theory about numbers of Light Sabers, starting at one and working up to General Grievous with four, apparently perfectly happy with the idea this could be the end of an Only Connect sequence. 5) Hooray! There had been rumours of a sequence music question and I was delighted to finally see what will hopefully be the first of many. The History Boys were perhaps a touch unfortunate to find themselves the guinea pigs, and didn't manage to recognize either of the two classical pieces with any real confidence. The comfort of playing at home allowed us to get this for a relatively straightforward five, as an opening of Jack seemed destined to run up to Ace. The Felinophiles were able to take their first point of the round on the bonus, while both teams deserve some credit for having a go at Ace of Spades following Victoria's request. Classic TV. 6) Something of a quizzer's classic to finish, as although most of the British public are probably familiar with the top of a darts board, very few beyond actual players and the weirdos who learn it for trivia purposes will know the rest of it. Happily for me I spent a lot of time in my parents' garage playing darts as a kid, and am also a trivia weirdo, so was well placed for this, while neither team managed to spot what felt like a question on the "five points or none" side of things. Still, an impressive round from the History Boys had seen them propelled into an 11-6 lead and the Felinophiles were going to need some luck with the walls to get that gap down to something manageable.
The cat lovers duly did all they could do on their wall, scoring a perfect ten partly thanks to some good Pulp knowledge. Unfortunately for them the History Boys followed suit, despite a wall practically overflowing with bears. (I was, meanwhile, reminded of one of our episodes of Pointless, where we had to pick out bears from a list of options. I went with spectacled and the doctor went with polar, Pointless bear fact fans.)
So with a five point gap to make up things were looking ominous for the Felinophiles, and they weren't given much chance of a comeback as the History Boys (following the least subtle 'wall stall' in Only Connect history) took the missing vowels eight points to four and the show 29-20. Solid stuff from the Series 2 veterans who are straight through to the quarter-finals, while the Felinophiles will be back with one last chance to join them. Special mention here for the category 'chemical elements and their symbols', a devilish little group that featured the delightful DNND. Lovely stuff, despite the shocking controversy of a round on elements when one of the contestants has the surname Element.
Question of the Week
We're probably just being caught up in a wave of new question type euphoria, but who cares, our question of the week goes to Jack, Queen, King, Ace. While the novelty is almost certainly part of it, we also thought this was a pretty neat sequence, and any question that encourages Only Connect contestants to attempt Motörhead is a winner for us. Agree or disagree, do please let us know what you think with the poll below. Ideally while singing.
1+ out of 7: Well done, you beat us! 4+ out of 7: We'd have won with you on our team!
The attendees 1) The statistician 2) The doctor 3) The oceanographer
The ones that got away 1) Which member of the Traveling Wilburys sung the line "I don't believe you, you're not the truth"? 2) In 2011 who was named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine? Was it Bradley Cooper, Matthew McConaughey or Brad Pitt? 3) Which of these are teenagers not soaking in vodka: socks, their eyeballs, tampons, or Q-tips (cotton buds)? 4) What were the last two letters added to the English alphabet? (You need both for the point.) 5) Which restaurant was originally known as Pete's Super Submarines? 6) Who was the first member of the Beatles to have a solo UK number one album? 7) Which country absorbed Albania in April 1939?
The answers
1) Roy Orbison (in Oh, Pretty Woman) 2) Bradley Cooper 3) Q-tips 4) J and U 5) Subway 6) George Harrison 7)Italy
Our excuses
1) The Traveling Wilburys hint admittedly through us off slightly, as we assumed we were looking for the singer of a song by that group, rather than a song by one of its members. That said, given we apparently thought Neil Young was in the group, this slight confusion probably didn't make much difference. 2) Regular readers may recall that not so long ago I had cause to look up People's Sexiest Man Alive list due to not guessing that Sean Connery won it in 1989. I even wrote my own question on it, but nevertheless couldn't recall who had won in 2011. While we correctly ruled out Brad Pitt (one of four two-time winners) I was a little too swayed by the quizmaster stressing that spelling wouldn't matter, which seemed to rather hint at McConaughey over Cooper. 3) A ridiculous question, with predictably little conclusive evidence to back it up online. You can of course find tales of all of these things happening, while we managed to remember that the rumour-quashing website Snopes (as recently as 2012) said that the vodka-soaked tampons story is false. 4) I was similarly sceptical of this question, and while it's quite hard to google various links do seem to suggest J and U were the last two to be added. While we had J, it seems that our other guess of W was the third last. 5) I suspect many of my UK readers may have got this one right simply by it being the only major submarine sandwich chain in the country. While we did consider it we ultimately went with Quiznos (the second-largest such chain in North America) deciding that Subway was just too obvious. 6) I've complained about this before, but I really did hope one benefit of moving to Canada would be an end to us getting questions about the Beatles wrong on pub quizzes. After ruling out Ringo (who has perhaps unsurprisingly never had a UK number one album) we made a half-educated guess at Lennon. Predictably it's very close between the remaining three, with Lennon and McCartney getting their first number ones in 1971, while Harrison pipped them with All Things Must Pass in 1970. 7) It's rare for us to miss a European history question on this side of the Atlantic, but this was something that apparently passed us by. Instead, we went with Yugoslavia, which seemed a not too ridiculous bet based on geography alone.
How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more correct)? Would you have helped us win (4 or more correct)? 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) Featuring in the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman, which Verdi opera features a wealthy man tragically falling in love with a courtesan? (The opera is based on La dame aux Camélias, a play adapted from a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils.) 2) In the 2014 movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Bradley Cooper provides the voice of Rocket, a character inspired by a Beatles song and similar in appearance to which animal? 3) What two-word term describes a drink of lager mixed with a lemonade-based alcopop (such as Smirnoff Ice) sometimes fortified with a shot of vodka? 4) An English Scrabble set features two Ws, each worth four points. Which language Scrabble set features five Ws, each worth a measly one point? Other one-point tiles include Y (of which there are seven) and DD (of which there are four). 5) Subway's biggest-selling sandwich, the Italian B.M.T., was originally named after Brooklyn Manhattan Transit (subway, geddit?). Give any one of the words the letters B.M.T. now supposedly stand for. 6) George Harrison was a member of the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, but which British rock group are widely recognized as the first supergroup, being credited as such by Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner in 1969? 7) Along with Kosovo (which is currently only partially recognized) there are six present-day countries which were formerly part of Yugoslavia before its breakup in 1992. Name four of them.
Scroll down for this week's Question of the Week poll!
Warning: the following contains spoilers for Series 10, Episode 1 of Only Connect, first broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 24th November. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it on iPlayer!
Missed last week's recap of the Coders vs. the Romantics? Check it out here!
An extra-late update this week, as technical difficulties have wreaked havoc with my vital TV quiz Internet opinion schedule. Nevertheless, here we are with the last set of first round losers, the QI Elves and the Nightwatchmen. The former were seen off by the Bibliophiles 23-16 in their opening match, while the latter suffered the ignominy of a missing vowels turnaround as a five-point lead was turned into a narrow, 28-26 loss against the Nørdiphiles. Two lovely teams but one of them would be eliminated tonight. Hashtag sadface.
Round 1: What's the connection?
The questions 1) Music: Any Broken Hearts to Mend?; How Can You Mend a Broken Heart; Where Do Broken Hearts Go; Too Many Broken Hearts 2) Joan Fontaine; Jack Charlton; Lucian Freud; Liam Gallagher 3) AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER; ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL – ENGINEER 1806-1859; IN VICTORY MAGNANIMITY IN PEACE GOODWILL; STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS 4) Pictures: Ben (a rat from the 1972 sequel to Willard); Gentle Ben; Ben Nevis; Uncle Ben 5) Australian gold; Antiguan and Barbudan silver; Portugese platinum; Cuban copper 6) You; A Beatle; A Dukla Prague Away Kit; My Two Front Teeth
The answers
1) Broken hearts 2) Sibling feuds 3) £2 coins 4) Bens 5) Web country codes and elements 6) 'All I Want for Christmas is ____'
Our thoughts 1) A tough set of songs to identify and with some quite long titles you'd need to know at least two, or make a good educated guess, to get the points. The Nightwatchmen didn't seem to recognize any which allowed the Elves to open proceedings with a good bonus point. At home we were lost until I excitedly recognized the Jason Donovan classic, but based on that alone we over-thought matters and proposed "suits of playing cards". 2) Another tricky one, as while after two clues it's reasonably clear we're talking about siblings, the specific feud link seems rather harder to pin down. Both teams, like us, were skirting around the sibling idea, but neither could land on the required answer. I'll admit that only the Gallaghers' reputation for not-so-familial relations was familiar to me. 3) As I mentioned just last week (when women on banknotes appeared as a sequence question) things on money is one of those areas everyone loves to set quiz questions on. While at home we managed to get this on the final clue, it's perhaps no coincidence that all four could feasibly appear on plaques or statues, which was where the Nightwatchmen headed. A question I'd expect is either a five, one, or zero-pointer for most players. 4) I really hope that we weren't the only people at home thinking "...black things?" before Uncle Ben rather awkwardly debunked it. It certainly had the appearance of one of those questions where the setters are trying to lure people in to an early buzz after two clues, but that seemed far too easy. After the third, however, we decided Ben Nevis was actually the Black Hills of Dakota and we were sunk. The Elves, however, weren't to be tricked, and took what was ultimately an easyish point on a question where patience pays off. I was surprised to learn that the rat in this question is the same 'Ben' Michael Jackson sang about. 5) Lovely stuff, and a real Only Connect classic. The opening clue offers a few thoughts ("is Australian gold used as a standard for something?" "maybe it's to do with Olympic medals?") and the second only serves to further suggest it's somehow to do with precious metals. Platinum, though still in the same vein, does rather bring elements to mind (which was when the penny dropped for us) while the final clue helped confirm it for the Nightwatchmen. Not only does this question feature some really elegant misdirection, it's also gettable for five if you've really got wits about you: perhaps I'm ignorant of the metal down under, but I'm fairly sure there's nothing special about Australian gold, which could easily be enough of a hint to spot the link and (if desired) take a brave punt. 6) This was really a test of whether you knew either of the middle two songs, as the first alone is little to work with while the last gives it away. We took a bit of an early stab after two clues with Time Magazine's Person of the Year, expecting to see Hitler or the Queen show up next. "A Dukla Prague Away Kit" did, admittedly, lower my optimism a tad, while it was enough to give the Elves two points and a 4-1 lead.
Round 2: What comes fourth?
The questions 1) Trousers; Shave; Were-Rabbit 2) Pictures I 100% can't be bothered to render properly, sorry: L reflected; M reflected; N reflected 3) Clergyman (7); Former Marriage Guidance Council (6); Fill with joy (5) 4) Spanish; Asian; Hong Kong 5) Broken hearts; Sibling feuds; £2 coins 6) 1st: Love's Labour's Lost; 2nd: A Midsummer Night's Dream; 3rd: All's Well That Ends
The answers
1) Death (Wallace and Gromit titles) 2) O reflected (L, M, N, O reflected) 3) (e.g.) tardy (4) (Prelate, relate, elate, late) 4) Swine (Influenza pandemics) 5) Bens (First four answers in this programme) 6) 4th: The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare plays with apostrophes)
Our thoughts 1) The Nightwatchmen impressively spotted we were dealing with Wallace and Gromit after 'Trousers' alone, and with 'Shave' it's difficult not to at least have the link. At this point it's a matter of how well you know the films, and at home we (correctly) deduced the third clue wouldn't help, and (incorrectly) guessed Were-Rabbit as the answer. Neither team could remember A Matter of Loaf and Death (I'd got as far as "there's baking in it, I think?"), thinking the sequence was instead going back to the duo's debut in A Grand Day Out. 2) Very hard to judge the difficulty of this IQ-test style puzzle, but my suspicion that it was perhaps a tad easy was reinforced by the Elves joining me in spotting it for three points. 3) I do wonder if this one was originally planned without the bracketed numbers before someone decided that it needed softening up a bit. I think it hinges a little too much on whether you remember Relate, as it seems tough to come up with 'elate' for the final clue with nothing else to go on. We'd deduced that it would be a case of "take a letter away each time" which should have helped, but didn't, while the Nightwatchmen knew their marriage councils and worked their way to two points. 4) A matter of how well you know your flus, although despite working this out after two clues we couldn't decide whether it would continue "swine, bird" or "bird, swine" and so took a third to be 'sure'. This, however, seemed to kill off the flu idea and we were left stumped. The Elves, meanwhile, went for it after Asian and took an impressive three points (leaving Victoria to explain that avian flu was never a pandemic). 5) Forget question of the week, this felt like question of the series. Absolutely devilish, the Nightwatchmen seemed in agony before eventually picking out 'Bens' to earn two points. I'd love to have had the experience of playing this in the studio, as trying to keep track of who was asked what in that sort of environment seems a world away from playing along at home. 6) Impressively, we were fixated on the apostrophes ourselves but couldn't see how that could form a sequence, and while the Elves spotted the link they couldn't come up with a fourth allowing the Nightwatchmen a cheeky bonus. (It was only on a second viewing that I noticed the apostrophes were coloured!) Perhaps it was just in comparison to the previous one, but this question felt a touch like someone stumbling across a group of four and thinking "ooh, I can make this an Only Connect question!". Nevertheless, after two rounds with some absolute crackers, the Elves had stretched their lead by another point going into the walls 10-6 ahead.
He'll be ready.
A four point lead looks good, but as the Elves didn't know their bridge terms their seven on the wall left the door open for a real comeback. The Nightwatchmen couldn't quite take advantage, managing seven points of their own and in the process providing some wonderful imagery. Stumped on who CJ, Kevin, Barry and Judith could be, they proposed characters from Baywatch and the West Wing. The former suggestion is particularly glorious, and so naturally I called in my expert Photoshop skills to help bring it to life.
With a four point deficit to make up the Nightwatchmen would need to inflict a Nørdiphiles-like comeback to stay in the competition. Alas, it was not to be as the Elves took the vowels 7-5 and the show 24-18. Sad to see the Nightwatchmen leaving so soon, as the trio were an enjoyable watch. Similarly though, it would have been a bit of a shocker for the Elves to be dumped out immediately, and so I'm glad they've lived to fight another day.
Question of the Week
As you can probably guess from the write-up, there was no doubt for our favourite question this week. Although 'Web country codes and elements' looked like having the accolade all but sewn up, it was First four answers in this programme that knocked our socks off. I say it about a lot of questions, but this is another example of why Only Connect is so great. It seems simple on the surface, but short-term memory can be surprisingly rusty, not least when you're in the middle of filming a TV show, and it was particularly fun that it fell such that the team had to remember their opponents' question to boot! As always, if a little bit late, the poll below means you can share your own opinion with the world!
