Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 15

Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 14

So here we go again....

Contenders on tonight's Mastermind were with a familiar face cropping up that I just couldn't place...

Alcuin Edwards
Charlotte Mason
Paul Sharp
David Gow

Alcuin Edwards kicked off the show tonight with the subject of Alice Cooper. It was a steady round generally and a good set of questions to face. I managed 4 on this with the Wiki challenge but Alcuin strode to a solid 11 points.

Charlotte Mason was next, a student taking on the Gemini Space Programme. This round started with a run of really long winded questions and that trend continued throughout. I wasn't counting here but it seemed Charlotte faced far less questions that Alcuin and she was certainly not hesitant in her answers. This happened in an earlier show were long questions resulted in one contender being asked 5 questions less than the winner (who ultimately won by 2 points) so it has been something of an issue. Charlotte continued to score and reached 9 points to leave her in contention.

Paul Sharp took on West Ham and usually I am quite strong at sport so had left this one unwikied but I found this a tough set. Paul had a string of passes mid round that halted his scoring but he still managed to score 7.

Now, David Gow came next and as soon as I saw him I knew I had seen him before but could not place where. I am pretty sure he was part of the Brunton Shield Event in Edinburgh (confirmed when I heard the Scottish accent). He had the subject of John Logie Baird. 11 Scored and a tied lead.

After the SS round the standings were thus....


Alcuin Edwards - 11
David Gow - 11
Charlotte Mason - 9
Paul Sharp - 7


Into the Gk and Paul Sharp got us underway and coped well with what I thought were some tricky questions. Rushing to 24 with a GK score of 17 put him into serious contention of a win. A great targets set for all and Charlotte Mason could not managed to match it scoring 17. She seemed to be thrown off by a string of passes in the middle of the round.

Alcuin Edwards needed 14 in his round to take the round and things started well. Just before the buzzer Alcuin reached the 25 he needed and left David Gow with everything to do. 25 is not enough to make it through on a runner-up ticket so it was all or bust for the two players. After hesitation early in the round David stormed to 20 in the final minute. As he hit 24 with little time left a wrong answer on a final question meant Alcuin Edwards made it into the final. A fantastically close heat tonight!


That put the final scores tonight as -

Alcuin Edwards - 25

Paul Sharp - 24

David Gow - 24

Charlotte Mason - 17

And putting that into the context of Mastermind as a whole this season we see....

Qualified

Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sean Howley -29
Mark Grant - 28
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Alcuin Edwards - 25
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25
Mark Kirby - 24

David Gow - 24
Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

Kevin Baker - 24 
Paul Sharp - 24
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20
James Jack -20
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Charlotte Mason - 17
Barbara Bell - 15

British Open Quizzing Grand Prix

One of my main ambitions for next year was going to be start to regularly attend the monthly quizzing Grand Prix's ran by the British Quizzing Association. I thoroughly enjoyed the World Quiz Championships and having purchased the questions used at the GP's for a few months now I am keen to take part properly. A few weeks ago however the opportunity to attend tomorrows British Quizzing Open in Rolleston, Burton arose (thanks to the kind offer of a lift to and from the event). 

I am very much looking forward to the event and with both a individual and team quiz to enjoy as well as the chance to meet fellow quizzers it should be an entertaining day. The finishing position is not too important to me at this stage and I know I will be within the bottom few places but its an ideal chance to test myself. I usually do the questions at home in the given time limit etc and compare my score to others through the results on the website and hence I have set myself a little score target I would be happy with. Either way it will be good to meet new people and the team quizzes are something I always enjoy.

Either way I hope to make this the start of regular attendance at these events and I might even meet some players who take the time to read the blog!

Quiz League Week 3 -Setting

As I mentioned earlier in the week it was our teams turn to set questions this week for the league, the first time I have set questions for such an occasion. I went along to match at the Hastings Hill pub to see how the questions went down and I ended up really enjoying the night.

In the league, each team gets a different set of questions so there is the issue of trying to balance the questions to ensure fairness. I certainly made one mistake I feel based on the match I watched. I decided to ask a pair about sports trophies. The sport in which the Larry O Brien Trophy is awarded went unanswered (answers all below) whereas from talking to others the Vince Lombardi trophy is much easier. The other questions seemed to go down well and I could not resist sneaking in a Eurovision question. This is the set of questions I set all of which were either used or in the spares. I think only the Eurovision question in Set B and the aforementioned Larry O Brien question went unanswered at the match I was watching from the set below.

Overall setting is another part of the Quiz League experience I have thorougholy enjoyed. Roll on next week!

SET A

1.       The Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to a champion team in which sport?

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

2.       The largest producer of electric power in its homeland, on what river is the Grand Coulee Dam?

COLUMBIA

3.       The Eurovision Song Contest. What was it mandatory for the Host Broadcaster to provide until 1998 but after it  became optional in 1999 it has never been used since?

A LIVE ORCHESTRA

4.        The 'Arab Spring' uprising in Egypt during 2011 was inspired by the 'Jasmine Revolt' which took place in which country?

TUNISIA

5.       Rosina, Doctor Bartolo and Court Almaviva are characters in which 1816 opera buffa by Rossini?

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

6.       Which long running British TV show was devised by former RAF pilot Bill Wright and based on his experiences in a POW camp? Particularly the elements of interrogation.

 MASTERMIND

7.       Due to the familial relationship between them, what collective term is given to the Roman Emperors Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius?

ADOPTIVE EMPERORS

SET B

1.       The Larry O Brien Championship Trophy is awarded to the champions in which sport?

BASKETBALL (NBA Winners)

2.       Almost collapsing in a flood of 1983, on what river does the Glen Canyon Dam lie?

COLORADO

3.       When Katrina and The Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997, what was used for the first time and has been used ever since?

TELEPHONE VOTING

4.       Pearl Roundabout has been a scene of political protests, in which city is it?

MANAMA (BAHRAIN)

5.       Tamino, Papageno and the Queen of the Night are characters in which 1791 opera by Mozart?

THE MAGIC FLUTE

6.       A version of which song is used as the theme tune to the UK version of The Office starring Ricky Gervais?

HANDBAGS AND THE GLADRAGS

7.       Which Goddess was pictured on all Olympic medals from 1928-2002, seated with an ear of corn in one hand and wreath in the other? Her name is still synonymous with sport today.

NIKE

Top 5 Quiz Books 2012 - #1 Pub League Quiz Book

And so we get to the final book in my list of the quiz books I have used most this year....

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The Bumper Pub League Quiz Book is chocked full of questions of "quiz league" standard meaning they are tougher than a lot of the usual pub-quiz style question books out there.

Each set of questions contains sets for a Team A and Team B with individual rounds and a "drinks round" so what you get is a unique format. it also gives you some idea, if you are considering entering a league, of the style of questions and formats you may face.

This is a bumper edition so you get great value for money with all the various quizzes within and it will test every corner of your knowledge. There are no old chestnuts, no repetition and no filler, just a range of top quality quiz questions.

Mastermind Week 15 - Wiki Challenge

Mastermind Week 15 - Wiki Challenge

Alice Cooper

The Gemini Space Programme

West Ham 1970-date

Life and Work of John Logie Baird

Some very interesting subjects this week and I will definitely be having a go at the Wiki challenge on all of them. Alice Cooper is not someone I know a great deal about but I am quite familiar with anything space related so fancy that one un-wikied. The other two I will consult the web so if anyone else has a go let me know how you get on!

Top 5 Quiz Books 2012 - #2 Mastermind Quiz Book

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Prior to its release I was wondering about the format of the book. It starts off with a decent foreward by John Humphreys and then gets straight into the question. Each chapter is divided up into a "show" with a Specialist Round followed by a General Knowledge round, 30 questions each. That gives you plenty to play with.

The Specialist round themes are quite wide and varied and there is nothing "too" narrow where you will be tempted to skip it. I think the most narrow it gets is either "Star Wars movies" or "Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy". the first few I tried were the Summer Olympics, Academy Awards and French Revolution and they were all enjoyable.

I am also pleased to see in the GK sets that they don't seem to have too many "gimmies" in there that you see on the show so the book is not filled with simple chestnuts but instead the more advanced questions from the GK rounds on the series over the years!

Factor in at the end of every couple of "shows" you get interviews, titbits and features on all things Mastermind, you have a very top quality quiz book here and one I would strongly recommend.

Scottish Quizzers...

I know from my stats I have a fair chunk of Scottish readers so here is a message from Brian Pendreigh....

"There is a proposal to set up a Scottish committee to oversee and organise events such as the Max Thomson Cup, the team championship which took place for the first time earlier this year. There are now a number of events take place in Scotland or involve Scottish quizzers which are a step up from pub quizzes, including participation in the International Quizzing Assocation's monthly Hot 100 solo quiz. Could anyone who is interested in being involved in discussions about the new committee or simply wants details of such events, please get in touch. We would especially like to hear from quizzers in the West of Scotland. According to Peter Ross in Scotland on Sunday: "Edinburgh, according to seasoned observers of the scene, is home to a much higher standard of quizzer than Glasgow." Time to set things right."

If anyone is interested pop me an email at fully234@hotmail.com and I will pass on your details. 

Top 5 Quiz Books 2012 - #3 - On The Tip Of My Tounge

Its been tough separating the Top 3 in my list of quiz books but I will start with one of the most diverse books on the market...

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On The Tip of My Tounge is not a normal quiz book and rather than be simply questions and answers this tests depth of knowledge too by asking for lists, sequences and all kinds of great tests if your knowledge. Well worth a look! One of the best quiz books in my collection! its a quiz book with a difference and essential for your quizzing shelves! 

Brain of Britain Returns!

Brain of Britain is back tomorrow! It seems a long time since Ray Ward won the Brain of Britain title in the last series but starting tomorrow 48 new contestants will take part in what is without doubt one of my favourite Broadcast quizzes.

I did apply to be on this year but never heard anything but will keep trying as I am very fond of this show. Last I heard some big names from the quizzing world are having a stab at the crown. Barry Simmons (Eggheads) I am pretty sure is involved and possibly David Stainer (top ranked UK quizzer, Only Connect champions)

Top 5 Quiz Books 2012 - #4 - Wordsworth Book of Pub Quizzes

The next in my series of the quiz books I have found most useful this year....

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I came across this by accident when searching for some new Reference Books and have to say its one of the most enjoyable quiz books I have ever used. Wordsworth have a budget range of reference works available that are ideal for quizzers looking to raise and cement knowledge, covering all sorts of subjects.  But hidden away in this collection is this Quiz Book.

This is going to appeal to quizzers of all natures and is aimed I would say more at people with an above average general knowledge. Very few questions are gimmies here and even the rounds where the first letter is given is full of well written questions. There are plenty of questions to choose from and at £3.99 its a bargain considering how much fun you will have with this.

Only Connect Semi Final Preview

Only Connect Semi Final Preview

Footballers vs Draughtsmen 

We are already at the Semi final stage of Only Connect this year and it is one of the closest series in recent memory to call. A belated congratulations go to locals and fellow Sunderland league players Chris Brewis and Dave Taylor along with Brian Pendreigh. I did not have time to write up a report on the show this week but it was a cracking display and I have my fingers crossed the Wordsmiths go all the way!

Anyway this Monday sees the first Semi Final

Footballers - Jamie Turner, Michael Mcpartland, Barry Humprhey

The Footballers come through into this match on the back of 18-11 and 20-19 wins over two strong teams. As mentioned about this team previously all the players are top UK quizzers with impressive quizzing CV's. (Barry has been on TV more than the news this year). 

Draughtsmen - Andy Tucker, Iwan Thomas, Stephen Dodding

Again just like the Footballers, the Draughtsmen are packed with known faces from the UK quiz scene and the experience on show in tonights match is vast. After a tiebreak win in round one (arguably the most entertaining match of the series) a 28-14 win in the last round against a strong opposition put them in the Semi.

This really is too close to call and I am eager to see how it pans out!

Top 5 Quiz Books 2012 - #5 Bamber Gascoigne's Challenging Quiz Book

I have had some good feedback and friendly comments on the Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books of the year I have decided to follow it up with a countdown of the Top 5 quiz books I have enjoyed the most this year....

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Bamber Gascoigne's Challenging Quiz Book has been around since around 2007 but I only managed to get my hands on it at the start of this year. I have found this to be a fantastic book that tests every aspect of your quizzing. The questions are pitched at quite a hard level so no time is wasted with easy questions you see in every quiz book and there is certainly no filler here. Just top quality question writing, some good explanations of answers and plenty to learn.

Worth a look!

Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 14

Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 14

It does not seem like any time at all since I was watching Rachael Neiman set the highest score of the series so far on Mastermind last week but Friday has come around quickly and with 10 heats to go Mastermind is in full swing.

Mastermind Contenders tonight -

Charlie Tinsley
Mark Kirby
Aileen Lucas
Sean Howley

And so we got underway with Charlie Tinsley answering on Geoffrey Boycott. This was one of the subjects I had tried at the Wiki challenge this week and it seemed to help. Charlie was very confident throughout, tried not to pass and thought through the answers he did not know. (The other common strategy being quick passes to get to questions you can score on). It worked quite well for Charlie who scored 8 with my Wiki Challenge boosting my score to 4.

Mark Kirby had chosen Futurama which is a show I have rarely watched so scored only 1 point here as I did not bother with the challenge. Mark began scoring fast and early to keep his total ticking over reaching a solid 12 to give himself every chance in the next round.

Aileen Lucas tackled Graham Greene and took a much more cautious approach to her round (I don't recall anyone every asking for a question to be repeated before although it probably has happened). I managed to take 4 points here mainly from the brief read of Wiki. Aileen could not got a rhythm going and a score of 5 left her a lot to do in the final round.

Sean Howley was last into the chair and took on US Militray Aircraft since 1945, rather a wide subject. (Another request for a repeat here.....). Sean was very impressive on a subject that I imagine is difficult to master and a solid score of 10 set him up nicely for the second round.


That meant after the Mastermind SS round we had -

Mark Kirby - 12
Sean Howley -10
Charlie Tinsley - 8
Aileen Lucas - 5

So Aileen Lucas had a lot to do if she hoped to win this round so needed to set a decent target for the others to reach. An early slip up on Nuremberg being the city of the famous war trials was soon overcame with a string of correct answers showing some solid knowledge. Without any disrespect intended I still stand by the opinion that the first person in the chair gets a handful more "gimmies" than other contestants. Anyway, Aileen coped well with the round, a very respectable GK score of 15 took her to 20 and a target had been set.

Charlie Tinsley was next up and got off to a good start. He rattled through 13 questions to take his total to 21 and put him the lead for now.

Sean Howely next and if there is a way to play a third-person round this is it! Fast correct answers, no passing and scoring 19 for the round. just for interest this was the round I scored highest on tonight for what is worth. Little more other to say other than impressive and a round deserving of victory. Unless....

Mark Kirby looked confident and relaxed coming to the seat but had a huge job to do with 18 needed for a win. A strong start was only let down by a couple of wrong answers and it was appearing that was going to be a closely run contestant. The mid-round passing double however followed by a string of wrongs answers seemed to signal the end of his run and I think this seemed to affect the latter half of this Gk round. 24 was the final score.

So congratulations to Sean Howley with a superb 29 points to win the heat. Unfortunately Mark Kirby has not quite scored enough to make it into the round but with everybody hitting the 20 mark it was a good heat and Sean Howley may be one to watch.

The final standings for Mastermind Heat 14 were thus

Sean Howley -29

Mark Kirby - 24
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20


And putting that into the context of Mastermind as a whole this season we see....

Qualified

Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sean Howley -29
Mark Grant - 28
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25
Mark Kirby - 24

Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

 Kevin Baker - 24 
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20
James Jack -20
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Barbara Bell - 15

Quiz League and Question Setting

My second week in the Quiz League saw my first away game as I headed down to a nice little pub - The Prior, Doxford Park (formerly the Colonel Prior and having recently been done out it looks very nice indeed).

It was a very close game indeed with two equally matched teams and for much of the contest we (Museum Vaults) were leading by one or two points. I was able to chip in with plenty of answers on Christmas Number 1's, Strictly Come Dancing (something I never watch) and the magazine that revealed Kate Middleton's photos (shows my level really haha!). I knew plenty more which I was pleased about but again though failing to mention an answer in my head (Britannia as the silver used after Sterling for coins) cost us a point.

A collective error was also made, and as well as learning new information I am learning more about working out answers from information given. The question arose, England beat which nation 48-4 in a Rugby International last Sunday?. Straight away Fiji came to mind. The team were confident, we all said the answers....wrong. We all knew at Ruby Union England had beaten Fiji that weekend. The day did not even come into our thinking but that was no the giveway. The giveway being of course the score! You cant get 4 points in Rugby Union! A lesson learned.

In the end those points didn't matter (phew!) and we recorded our first win of the season 35-30. More importantly I enjoyed the entire evening again, learned a great deal of new information (Cleveland Browns being the only NFL team without a logo on their helmet folks!) and had some good company. Roll on next week.

Speaking of next week, it is our turn to set the questions. With the league having an odd amount of teams each week one team takes it in turn to write a set. Each player has submitted a number of questions each and two of the team are putting together a set based on those. I actually found more enjoyment than I would expect on here. Being that I am just getting into the league I will miss not playing next week, but the question setting side of things is an added bonus. So keen am I to see the questions I set in play, I am heading down to a match next week just to observe.

Once the league matches are through on Wednesday I will post up the questions I submitted on here,

Mastermind Wiki Challenge

Moving on and after last weeks success on this I am quite looking forward to this weeks....This weeks subjects are -

Geoffrey Boycott
Futurama
Graham Greene
US Military Aircraft Since 1945

I think I might have a little go at all those using Wiki. Futurama will be tough as I have only seen it a few times but I will see how it goes!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 #1 - Pears Quiz Companion

Long time readers may have seen this one coming...

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I have mentioned the pears Quiz Companion on here several times before and I am a huge fan of this work. Wherever I have been quizzing this year whether it be in my local pub, the World Quizzing Championships, Mastermind Auditions....you name it and Pears has helped me out. Knowing the information from this book has won me quizzes, notched up endless points and lead me to further study. If there is one book I could not have quizzed without this year then the Pears Quiz Companion is it. Available for pennies on the link above to Amazon this is well worth your time!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 - #2 A-Z of Everything

To continue in my list we have one of the best reference books ever written...

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Simply put this is an essential work for any quizzer looking to improve knowledge. It is one of the most used books in my collection, a tome of great information and if this were merely a list of what I considered the best all round reference books, this would be right up there at the top.

There is a reason why this comes in 2nd, which Ill explain in the first post, but learning information from this book will no doubt improve your quizzing as it has done mine. In plain terms, this needs to be on your book shelf!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Works 2012 #3 Chambers Fact Finder

To continue with my series....

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The Chambers Fact Finder is in many ways similar to the Facts Fact Facts book I mentioned some time ago. This is a smaller, more concise work shall we say but still contains bucket loads of information that will be useful to any quizzer. From History to Geography through to Science and Sport whatever the issue this book covers plenty of areas!

It is all well presented and the facts I have taken from this book have certainly improved my quizzing this year. 

Tale of Two Quizzes

The Sunderland Echo Quiz League finally kicked off this week and after getting a small taste in the pre-season cup competition I was eager to get going in the league proper. The match was held at the Museum Vaults pub in Sunderland, which is well worth a visit if you are local to the area. It was the first time I had set foot in the place and its a nice little pub! Indeed, Museum Vaults is to be the team I play for this season and the match was against Penshaw, double winners from the past few season and containing some very good quizzers, most of whom had just returned from Estonia and the European Championships.

The whole match was great fun and I managed to come up with far more answers for the team than I imagined I would. It was close throughout the early few rounds but Penshaw gradually pulled away and won comfortably in the end. Some cracking questions, great company and it is great to be part of the league proper now!

The following night I headed to my local Thursday night quiz. I always have a choice of two quizzes on a Thursday but seeing as the one I attended this week is ran by a friend I decided to go there. I know this may sound foolish, but I don't treat it as a "quiz" as such due to the amount of cheating. The question master knows what goes on, he is fully aware of the cheating but there is little he can do about it. One "massive" team on the end always tends to win with the aid of google but as I said this is more a social night out than anything else. I would get very frustrated every week if I took this as seriously as I do some other quizzes!

Its not the question masters fault, the questions are actually really solid, its a good format and its a really entertaining quiz which is why it keeps the pub busy but the sheer amount of cheating makes it redundant as a decent contest!

Roll on next Wednesday and the next League match!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 - #4 Pears Cyclopaedia

Next on my list of the Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books for me this year is the two version of an annual treasure trove of facts I have started to amass....Pears Cyclopaedia

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I have included both here but of course the 2011-2012 version is the one I have got most use out of this year purely for the reason that it has been available for the longest. I have amassed a fair few version of these titles and they have been very very helpful to my learning and revision.

Again, like a lot of reference books, these books are hard to summarise. Basically in Pears, you get information on all major quizzing areas from World History to in depth features on Classical Music to Popular Culture. Its not merely lists but Pears adds that extra little bit of information that will help you remember key information.

What I also like about this series is the fact that each year, although some parts of the book remain the same bar the the update for events in that year, they include exclusive and expanded sections so no two versions are ever the same and it is always worth upgrading to the latest version.

Another essential reference work for your shelf and certainly one that has helped me a lot this year.

Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 13

Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 13

We are now into the second half of heats for this years series of Mastermind and after a slow start we have started to see plenty of contenders arise. Interestingly prior to tonight's show it was still the winner of episode 1 who held the highest score so far...

Anyway, tonight in the black chair were....

Peter Wharmby
Thomas Grinyer
Colin Wilson
Rachael Neiman

Peter Wharmby kicked us off with the subject on the Titanic. He made a cracking start, looking very comfortable in the chair and answering well. My own Wiki challenge on this subject had keep me very engaged as I felt myself scoring much higher than usual. I was no where near the very impressive 14 points gained by Peter who put himself in a great position to win but over the moon I managed 8 on a subject I knew little about before this week.

Thomas Grinyer appeared on University Challenge last year if you thought he looked familiar and he is active on the UK Quiz scene. He took on the American Revolutionary War. Things started well but an odd event in which Thomas answered "Jane...", Humphreys took a while to prompt for a surname and for a few seconds there seemed to be confusion. Thankfully it did not slow the round down too much but it seemed a very tough set, its a subject I thought I was comfortable with but suffice to say the solid 8 from Thomas was far more than I could manage.

Colin Wilson had the interesting subject of East German Athletics and as with a lot of sports categories I was surprised at some of the information that I have stored without realising. The Wiki reading did not help me much here as I think the 6 I got I would have got anyway. Colin coped well with everything thrown at him with fast answers. 13 scored!

Finally we had Rachael Neiman on the subject of John Peel's festive fifties. Rachael has appeared on University Challenge, she may have been on a winning team but I am not too sure. She stormed off into  rapid answering on a subject I imagine was rather hard to revise and learn to the extent needed to score well here. And score well Rachael did with a fantastic 14 to tie with Peter Wharmby for the lead.



After the SS round the standings were as follows


Peter Wharmby - 14
Rachael Neiman - 14
Colin Wilson - 13
Thomas Grinyer - 8


So, into the GK round and Thomas Grinyer started us off. The scoring started fast as Thomas racked points on the board but slowed down towards the middle. Still, some fantastic knowledge was shown throughout the round and he seemed to cope better with the harder questions than the "gimmies" which took him to a very respectable 23 (would have won two heats this series. Setting a marker for the rest....

Colin Wilson needed a high double figure score here to put pressure on the others. Again as in the first round Colin racked in with fast answers and the score kept on ticking up. Colin got to 23 then a spate of wrong answers seemed to throw him off the round and he tied with Thomas on 23.

Peter Wharmby needed 10 to take the lead. After missing  a few gimmies at the start Peter got going into his round and soon began to move towards the 24 he needed. Indeed this was soon reached with a string of correct answers and Peter began to build on his lead moving onto 27. A good target to set indeed!

Rachael Neiman was next and started well moving to 20 within no time. Few points were being dropped anywhere and Rachael not only then became the third person to reach 30 this series but indeed her 33 was the highest score of the series so far. A serious contender has emerged and given the range of knowledge shown here no one will want to face Rachael in the next round. Great stuff!


Hence the final scores tonight on Mastermind were...

Rachael Neiman - 33

Peter Wharmby - 27
Colin Wilson - 23
Thomas Grinyer - 23



Peter Wharmby  also for now is one of the 6 highest scoring running ups with 11 heats to go.

And adding those the the overall table of this series we have...

Qualified

Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Mark Grant - 28
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25

Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

 Kevin Baker - 24 
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
James Jack -20
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Barbara Bell - 15

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 - # 5 A-Z Of Britain and Ireland

Heading into the Top 5 now of the works I consider to have been the most useful to me this year in terms of quizzing revision and learning and the first of three Trevor Montague Books which I have been utterly consumed with this year (However only two have made it onto the list).

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The A-Z Britain and Ireland makes it easily onto this list! Trevor Montague has pulled off another superb achievement in putting this book together which, particularly for any quizzer in the UK, is essential! Containing profiles of each county, each lasting several pages and giving fantastic information from the essentials to the fascinating, this is THE book for UK Geography, history and various other bits and bobs. Easy to dip into and hard to put down this certainly will ensure you cope with those pesky questions based on Britain and Ireland!

Essential!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 - #6 Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Continuing on with the series of the books that I have found most useful this year in terms of Reference works...

And my list just would not be complete without Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

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Out of all the books on my list for 2012, this is probably the one I have "enjoyed" the most. The book is essentially an encyclopaedia of all kinds of wonderful information from mythology to modern day culture and everything in between. I actually find it hard to summarise what this book actually covers as it is so varied. A read of one of the thousand-plus pages in this book will certainly give you at least a new bit of information to consume.

Again, as I mentioned regarding another work this is one of those books you will dip into looking for one piece of information and end up hours later finding yourself consumed. Ideal for learning, setting and just reading for enjoyment I cannot fault this work and it will be of endless use to me for many years to come.

Only Connect Quarter Final 4 - Preview

Only Connect Quarter Final 4 - Preview

Wintonians vs Wordsmiths

After a break last week for the Only Connect Children in Need Special, we return this coming Monday to the last of the Quarter Finals with the Wordsmiths taking on the Wintonians.

The Wintonians gave a commanding performance in the first round and will be tough to beat. Scoring a massive 34 points gave them victory over the Quitters. They seemed strong in every round making them formidable opponents for anyone in this format. 

I must confess a little bias here as I have quizzed with members of the Wordsmiths on previous occasions. Indeed Brian organised the World Quiz Championships venue at Edinburgh, I played with Chris and Dave in the Brunton Shield event and also they play in the league in which I have started to play. I do not have any idea on the result of this but will have my fingers crossed for the Wordsmiths!

Too close to call!

Mastermind Wiki Challenge

The Titanic
The American Revolutionary War
John Feels Festive Fifties
East German Athletics


This week the above four subjects will be tackled by the contenders on Mastermind and as always I invite you to take the Wiki Challenge. Read the Wikipedia page on the subjects above and see how much it can improve your SS score.

A mixed bag this week...The Titan and The American Revolutionary War should be good ones to Wiki, and indeed I would fancy a go at the latter without Wiki but the other two may be trickier. I don't think I will spend much time on the Peel subject but might try a little of the East German Athletics.

Let me know how you get on if you decide to do it!

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Works 2012 - #7 Guinness Book of Knowledge

The next entry on my list of the reference works that have been most useful to me in my quizzing this year, I move onto a work that has been around a while but that I have only began to use this year. The Guinness Book of Knowledge.

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The Guinness Book of Knowledge is a treasure trove of facts, information and goodies that will aid any quizzer. I picked it up from next to nothing from the Amazon Marketplace and it certainly has been one of my most used titles this year.

The work contains a range of quizzing subjects in Hardback title. Everything is in full colour with plenty of photographs, diagrams and illustrations to supplement the information contained. Every major quizzing field is covered and in some depth as well. The book is not merely lists of information but takes time to explain and describe. Although there are plenty of lists and tables too!

I think the variety of the way information is presented in this book makes it fun to use, easy to learn from and memorable. It certainly has contained a wide range of information that I have learnt a great deal from, and a lot of unique information that is not found in other books!

Well worth a look especially considering the price you can get it for from Amazon Marketplace!

Quiz Questions

It has been a while since I posted up some quiz questions but try these ones for size. Answers as usual in the comment box

1. Which film, also the name of a hit song for pop group Take That, is based on the life of pianist David Helfgott?

2. What is the name given to the term coined by TH Huxley that describes the notion that belief in God, or indeed atheism, is irrelevant as the issue is beyond the realm of human understanding?

3. On the 31^st July 1973, 3 members of which band were murdered in Buskhill County Down by the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) on the way home from a gig in the area?

4. What TV Show Title links a series starring Peter Davison as a husband plotting against a adulterous wife and a WW2 drama starring Robson and Jerome?

5. The Howards Hawks movie, “The Big Sleep”, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall is based on a novel by which Author?

6. According to Greek Mythology, what was the name of the daughter sacrificed by Agamemnon in exchange for favourable winds to aid the Greek expedition to Troy?

7. John Wycliffe was the found of which 14^th century political and religious movement?

8. Some Alcoholic drinks, including Tequila, are made from the sap of which Genus of Plants?

9. In the 1980’s TV show Airwolf, which character wore an eyepatch and carried a walking stick?

10. At the 1980 Olympic Games, which head of state was present to officially open the event?

11. For which 1985 film, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, did Cher win the Cannes award for best actress?

12. “The whole thing is a damn meat parade. I don’t want any part of it”. Which actor made this comment regarding the Academy awards and the refusal of his nomination?

13. His first best seller was ‘The Firm’ in 1991 which went on to sell over 7 million copies. Other novels include “The Chamber” and “Runaway Jury”. Which American Author and Lawyer has sold over 250 million books worldwide?

  

14. What is the name of the English Stately home which is the seat of the Marquees of Bath, originally built by John Thynne and located close to Warminster in Wiltshire? The home also has gardens designed by Capability Brown.  

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2012 - #8 Top 10 of Everything

As I continue my series in looking at what reference works have been the most useful to me throughout the course of 2012. Two titles share the number 8 slot. Both of which I purchased this year....

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You have probably noticed the Top 10 of Everything Titles in various stores and over the past few years they have certainly become much more mainstream with, from what I am told, superb sales figures. 

The books are not everyone's cup of tea. However, ignore these at your peril! The books contain, what you expect...lists of the highest, most recent, tallest, longest etc. All vital quizzing material. They are presented nicely, making them easy to learn and there is not too much information crammed into one page. The lists are supported by fantastic photographs and visually these books are fantastic! They are also hardback.

I have found that by learning information from these books, I have taken in a heck of a lot of information which has improved my quizzing. Obviously the one downside you may consider here is that the books, by their very nature, are released every year but they do not contain the same information. The 2013 version covers different areas to the 2012 version. There is a little bit of crossover but that is only natural as the lists change.

I personally would highly recommend these books as easy to use books with essential quizzing information for quizzers at any level!