Whilst on the subject of Eggheads actually there are a few related products on the market which I have never had chance to mention before, so with the new Egghead David Rainford on board, I think its a good time to mention a few of these....
The first is the Eggheads Quiz Book which has been out for some time now. Its a cracking little quiz book featuring the sort of questions you would find on the show. As far as I am aware these questions are exclusive to the book, hence they haven't been used on the TV Show before. It features the original Eggheads Line Up of CJ, Chris, Kevin, Daphne and Judith and you "take on" each one of them. Basically, most quizzers will use this as a series of multiple choice questions. Unlike some multiple choice books though this is challenging at times and a great job has been done all round. I really like this book and its only pennies on the Amazon store so is well worth adding to your collection.
Next is The Eggheads Board Game. There was a board game released prior to this and to be honest I do not know if this has updated questions etc. I have tried to look online but cannot seem to work it out. Anyone, if you notice the picture below you will see the box and thats the one to look out for (Link to Amazon is cheapest you can get it).Its a good little game that recreates the show well. The questions are well pitched and there are plenty of them. Ideal for Xmas!
And one I have recently obtained, and used my other halfs DS to play, is the Eggheads DS Game which is quite a nice little title. I thought with it being on the DS the difficulty may be toned down but it isn't and if anything this is tougher than the board game and book. Well worth a look if you own a DS!
Friday, 12 October 2012
Eggheads
I can thank David Rainford for one matter.......the hits on my blog have gone crazy in the last few weeks! (Bear in mind I don't often tend to look at the hits in much detail)
Anyway, when I noticed a huge spike I decided to have a look on the page which informs me of what "search terms" have been used to find The Quiz Addict. There has been a clear theme recently and my list is full of terms linked to David, CJ De Mooi and Eggheads. Clearly there still is a lot of interest in the show!
The show has not changed a great deal without CJ on board, not that I was expecting it to, but I always used to like him on the team. In case you may not have read it already the reason CJ left Eggheads was to pursue an acting career which you get daily updates on if you follow him on Twitter. On Eggheads he was never the strongest quizzer but anyone who follows the UK quizzing scene may be aware CJ did actually put in great effort to attend events across Europe, relocated to Wales to get involved in a better quiz scene (as I learned from the Quizzers New Shoots documentary which I have linked to before) and took quizzing very seriously. He has of course got other passions being an active Chess Player and now is involved in running the game nationally I believe.
He always maintained that the person he was on Eggheads was some sort of "character" and he was "playing a role". At the end of the day if that is true, it worked! He certainly divided opinion and played up the fact that he knew this! I know people who watched the show in the hope of him getting beat or seeing how he acted, to the point where they would turn off if they noticed he wasn't on that weeks show. In all fairness, despite being better quizzes, I don't think you can say that about many other Eggheads.
David Rainford though, aka the new Egghead, has come in and slipped right into proceedings. both Barry and Pat Gibson came into the show on the back of Are You An Egghead? thus had that backdrop but one minute CJ was there and the next we were saying hello to David. The team who chose David have certainly done a great job and although I am missing the CJ-ways, David has probably strengthened the team.
I would very much like to hear the thoughts of others on the New Egghead?
Anyway, when I noticed a huge spike I decided to have a look on the page which informs me of what "search terms" have been used to find The Quiz Addict. There has been a clear theme recently and my list is full of terms linked to David, CJ De Mooi and Eggheads. Clearly there still is a lot of interest in the show!
The show has not changed a great deal without CJ on board, not that I was expecting it to, but I always used to like him on the team. In case you may not have read it already the reason CJ left Eggheads was to pursue an acting career which you get daily updates on if you follow him on Twitter. On Eggheads he was never the strongest quizzer but anyone who follows the UK quizzing scene may be aware CJ did actually put in great effort to attend events across Europe, relocated to Wales to get involved in a better quiz scene (as I learned from the Quizzers New Shoots documentary which I have linked to before) and took quizzing very seriously. He has of course got other passions being an active Chess Player and now is involved in running the game nationally I believe.
He always maintained that the person he was on Eggheads was some sort of "character" and he was "playing a role". At the end of the day if that is true, it worked! He certainly divided opinion and played up the fact that he knew this! I know people who watched the show in the hope of him getting beat or seeing how he acted, to the point where they would turn off if they noticed he wasn't on that weeks show. In all fairness, despite being better quizzes, I don't think you can say that about many other Eggheads.
David Rainford though, aka the new Egghead, has come in and slipped right into proceedings. both Barry and Pat Gibson came into the show on the back of Are You An Egghead? thus had that backdrop but one minute CJ was there and the next we were saying hello to David. The team who chose David have certainly done a great job and although I am missing the CJ-ways, David has probably strengthened the team.
I would very much like to hear the thoughts of others on the New Egghead?
The Chase Board Game
I will be posting a full review of this is the coming days after I have played it some more, but suffice to say for now that this is a cracking little board game that is fun for all the family and even for experienced quizzers there are some top notch questions.
Ideal xmas gift too....
Ideal xmas gift too....
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Mastermind Challenge
Back to normal this week then and that means back to the Mastermind challenge. In case you have never tried this before the challenge is simple, spend a short time reading the Wikipedia page on each of the subjects and see how many points it brings to your round.
This weeks subjects are -
National Parks of England and Wales
Battles of the American Civil War
Life and Work of HP Lovecraft
Boxing World Title fights since 2000
Well I have been a big Boxing fan for quite a while now so might rely on my knowledge there and I fancy having a go at the National Parks using my own knowledge. I will however need to boost up on HP Lovecraft so that will be my main focus this week. As for Battles of the Civil War I might give it a stab but this could be a tricky one to revise on Wiki.
This weeks subjects are -
National Parks of England and Wales
Battles of the American Civil War
Life and Work of HP Lovecraft
Boxing World Title fights since 2000
Well I have been a big Boxing fan for quite a while now so might rely on my knowledge there and I fancy having a go at the National Parks using my own knowledge. I will however need to boost up on HP Lovecraft so that will be my main focus this week. As for Battles of the Civil War I might give it a stab but this could be a tricky one to revise on Wiki.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Breakaway is Back
You may have noticed but the tea-time quiz show Breakaway is back for a new series as of yesterday. It is airing at 4.30pm on BBC2 and I am very much looking forward to getting stuck into this series. I really enjoyed the last run, despite a failed phone audition, and consider it to be another one of the many good quiz shows we have on TV at the moment. A few little birdies tell me we can expect some familiar faces from the quizzing world this series so it is well worth tuning it. Good questions, good format and good fun!
TV Round Up
Well, due to a combination of factors, mainly including Broadband and work overload issues, I have not been able to post as frequently as I usually do. I have of course still found time to keep tabs on the usual shows but rather than write a late full report Ill just post up a few bits and bobs. David Clark has full reports on his Life After Mastermind blog.
Results from this week -
Christine Plume - 29
Paul Whittaker - 27
Alan Sharp - 26
Alan Wharmby - 24
I thought this weeks show was a much higher standard than a few episodes in this series and there was a cracking couple of GK rounds in there. Christine did a superb job to qualify for the final with 29 and I think there may be more to come from her.
So that means thus far we have....
Qualified
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Aidan Mccquade - 24
I am also told that my Runners Up table is not strictly correct as apparently two people from the same heat cannot qualify based on scores alone. It literally is the 6 highest scoring "2nd place" contestants that make it through. I will re-do the table at some point this week for anyone interest but for now here is the list of runners up in order purely based on score.
Runners up
Chris Cann - 29
John Wheeler - 29
Paul Whittaker - 27
Alan Sharp - 26
Nathan Joss - 26
Philip Walters - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Andrew Hunt - 25
---------------------------------------------------
Rosalind Winter - 24
Andrew Granath - 24
Laurie Handcock - 24
Alan Wharmby - 24
Kevin Baker - 24
Roland Mcfall - 23
Graeme Marley - 22
Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22
Ian Copping - 22
Alan Haddick - 21
Sarah Le Fevre - 19
Jackie Phillips - 19
Matthew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott - 18
Mastermind
Results from this week -
Christine Plume - 29
Paul Whittaker - 27
Alan Sharp - 26
Alan Wharmby - 24
I thought this weeks show was a much higher standard than a few episodes in this series and there was a cracking couple of GK rounds in there. Christine did a superb job to qualify for the final with 29 and I think there may be more to come from her.
So that means thus far we have....
Qualified
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Aidan Mccquade - 24
I am also told that my Runners Up table is not strictly correct as apparently two people from the same heat cannot qualify based on scores alone. It literally is the 6 highest scoring "2nd place" contestants that make it through. I will re-do the table at some point this week for anyone interest but for now here is the list of runners up in order purely based on score.
Runners up
Chris Cann - 29
John Wheeler - 29
Paul Whittaker - 27
Alan Sharp - 26
Nathan Joss - 26
Philip Walters - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Andrew Hunt - 25
---------------------------------------------------
Rosalind Winter - 24
Andrew Granath - 24
Laurie Handcock - 24
Alan Wharmby - 24
Kevin Baker - 24
Roland Mcfall - 23
Graeme Marley - 22
Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22
Ian Copping - 22
Alan Haddick - 21
Sarah Le Fevre - 19
Jackie Phillips - 19
Matthew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott - 18
University Challenge
Bath took on Liverpool last night and having a quick look on facebook and Twitter this episode has gained some heavy criticism, much more than usual. Of course the Twitterati always have a pop at TV game show contestants but last night there were calls that this was one of the lowest standards of teams in recent UC History! A bit far. Yes there were some wild guesses, but this could have been down to nerves, and yes obvious questions were missed but there was still some good knowledge on show. Neither team will contend for the crown I doubt this year but apart from the odd few wild and "uneducated" guesses I did not see a major problem with this show.
Bath won the round by 125-110....not the lowest winning score (or indeed not the lowest combined score).
Only Connect
Scribes 31 - 13 Ciphers - The Scribes were very impressive last night in what happens to be the biggest winning margin of the series so far and the second highest score. Dom Tait lead the line with some superb knowledge shown throughout and the team dominated every round. They will certainly take some beating and given the standard of the teams we have seen so far the Quarter finals are going to be very interesting indeed.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Only Connect 2012/2013 - Round 1 Heat 6
Only Connect 2012/2013 - Round 1 Heat 6
It has been a stressful Monday but finally Only Connect comes along to cheer me up. Tonight's show continued the excellent run in this series so far with the Quitters taking on the Wintonians.
Wintonians
Paul Baker
David Norcott
Andrew Steen
Quitters
Nathan Hamer
Rachel Pagan
Andrea Lowe
Round 1 started with one of the hardest questions of the series so far for the Wintonians on the issue of ways to pronounce 98 in various languages but the team soon got into their stride and ended up taking the first round 7-0 with some impressive playing. Quitters got a tough hand with the music round (although the ZZ Top song at the end would have plunged long term viewers into the right answer I would imagine). The Wintonians picked up on it to start a scoring spree which included a fast buzz for 3 from David Norcott identifying Superhero themes, Andrew Steen spotting words ending in "nik" (I think I could have went all day without getting that from the first three clues) and taking a point at the end on items named after living creatures. A very commanding start indeed but as we all know this game can change in the click on a finger!
However, the Wintonians carried the theme into the next round with David Norcott grabbing points for identifying Stations of the Cross and after a great spot on "signed sealed delivered Im yours" in the picture were 12-0 up. Quitters finally got off the mark on a straightforward question on Scottish kings and improved their total later in the round but not before the play of the night from David Norcott with a 5 pointer...only the second of the series so far. This put the scores at 17-5 into the wall.
Both teams actually conquered the wall and gained all ten points. The Quitters seemed a little more panicky in the room but got there in the end and the Wintonians were faced with a wall that looked easy at first but was far tougher than it appeared. Both played great rounds though. 27-15 and now the Quitters would need a Ryder cup style comeback to win the match.
There has been some debate this week on facebook between fans (as well on David's LAM blog) regarding whether the final round is fair and whether it should be included. After a few dramatic weeks in which large leads were lost (or nearly lost) tonights was very straight forward. Like every quizzer watching I'm sure, the first round of "Reference books used by question setters!" was much appreciated. The Wintonians won the final round too (7-3 by my calculation) giving them a dominating win of 34-18 and certainly the Wintonians become one of the major contenders for this years crown.
Indeed, the highest score of the series so far. It is all obviously a very different kettle of fish on Only Connect but out of interest the top scores of the first round so far....
The Wintonians - 34
Draughtsmen - 27
Numerists - 26
TEFL Teachers - 22
Wordsmiths - 19
Footballers - 18
(The Joinees managed 26 but lost in the first match....)
Congratulations to the Wintonians and I look forward to next week!
Round 1 started with one of the hardest questions of the series so far for the Wintonians on the issue of ways to pronounce 98 in various languages but the team soon got into their stride and ended up taking the first round 7-0 with some impressive playing. Quitters got a tough hand with the music round (although the ZZ Top song at the end would have plunged long term viewers into the right answer I would imagine). The Wintonians picked up on it to start a scoring spree which included a fast buzz for 3 from David Norcott identifying Superhero themes, Andrew Steen spotting words ending in "nik" (I think I could have went all day without getting that from the first three clues) and taking a point at the end on items named after living creatures. A very commanding start indeed but as we all know this game can change in the click on a finger!
However, the Wintonians carried the theme into the next round with David Norcott grabbing points for identifying Stations of the Cross and after a great spot on "signed sealed delivered Im yours" in the picture were 12-0 up. Quitters finally got off the mark on a straightforward question on Scottish kings and improved their total later in the round but not before the play of the night from David Norcott with a 5 pointer...only the second of the series so far. This put the scores at 17-5 into the wall.
Both teams actually conquered the wall and gained all ten points. The Quitters seemed a little more panicky in the room but got there in the end and the Wintonians were faced with a wall that looked easy at first but was far tougher than it appeared. Both played great rounds though. 27-15 and now the Quitters would need a Ryder cup style comeback to win the match.
There has been some debate this week on facebook between fans (as well on David's LAM blog) regarding whether the final round is fair and whether it should be included. After a few dramatic weeks in which large leads were lost (or nearly lost) tonights was very straight forward. Like every quizzer watching I'm sure, the first round of "Reference books used by question setters!" was much appreciated. The Wintonians won the final round too (7-3 by my calculation) giving them a dominating win of 34-18 and certainly the Wintonians become one of the major contenders for this years crown.
Indeed, the highest score of the series so far. It is all obviously a very different kettle of fish on Only Connect but out of interest the top scores of the first round so far....
The Wintonians - 34
Draughtsmen - 27
Numerists - 26
TEFL Teachers - 22
Wordsmiths - 19
Footballers - 18
(The Joinees managed 26 but lost in the first match....)
Congratulations to the Wintonians and I look forward to next week!
University Challenge 2012/2013 - Match 10
University Challenge 2012/2013 - Match 10
Monday rolls around again and its time for another edition of University Challenge. This weeks show saw a battle between Pembroke College Cambridge and the University of Lancaster.
Line ups -
Pembroke College Cambridge
Robert Scanes
Tom Foxall
Jemima Hodkinson
Emily Maw
Robert Scanes
Tom Foxall
Jemima Hodkinson
Emily Maw
University of Lancaster
Alan Webster
(Sorry msised the first name) Kretzschmar
Ian Dickson
George Pinkerton
Pembroke were last series runners up and were up against a team this week who had seemingly chosen, without any disrespect, a mixture of experience and youth with two mature students and two younger minds. A useful tactic? We shall see...
The opening exchanges were pretty even with buzzes from Alan Webster and Tom Foxall setting the tone for what would be a high scoring contest compared to recent week. An early picture round based on Norman Foster was a particular highlight of the early questions and indeed the picture rounds in the whole series so far have been fantastic.
It was only really after this that Pembroke started to take a lead and there conversion rate was much much higher. Lancaster picked up buzzes but just did not turn into points and this saw the trail by over 50 points as we headed into the first music round. As always on University Challenge the music rounds tend to prove to be some of the toughest and indeed tonight's caught out the teams. 150-95 Pembroke lead.
A tough picture round starter with Michael Sheen saw Alan Webster, one of the mature students, get a Paxman "We'd be here all night" rant for not answering quickly and the following picture round was a toughie with actors born in the 19th century. Certainly no leeway here! It would take a comeback of Ryder Cup proportions to land Lancaster the win now as a storming run by Pembroke plus higher conversion but them 170-105 in the lead with 4 minutes to go.
A burst of late scoring saw the tie end 200-140 with Pembroke looking like a dangerous team again this year with superb all round knowledge. Contenders for the University Challenge crown? I think so
Alan Webster
(Sorry msised the first name) Kretzschmar
Ian Dickson
George Pinkerton
Pembroke were last series runners up and were up against a team this week who had seemingly chosen, without any disrespect, a mixture of experience and youth with two mature students and two younger minds. A useful tactic? We shall see...
The opening exchanges were pretty even with buzzes from Alan Webster and Tom Foxall setting the tone for what would be a high scoring contest compared to recent week. An early picture round based on Norman Foster was a particular highlight of the early questions and indeed the picture rounds in the whole series so far have been fantastic.
It was only really after this that Pembroke started to take a lead and there conversion rate was much much higher. Lancaster picked up buzzes but just did not turn into points and this saw the trail by over 50 points as we headed into the first music round. As always on University Challenge the music rounds tend to prove to be some of the toughest and indeed tonight's caught out the teams. 150-95 Pembroke lead.
A tough picture round starter with Michael Sheen saw Alan Webster, one of the mature students, get a Paxman "We'd be here all night" rant for not answering quickly and the following picture round was a toughie with actors born in the 19th century. Certainly no leeway here! It would take a comeback of Ryder Cup proportions to land Lancaster the win now as a storming run by Pembroke plus higher conversion but them 170-105 in the lead with 4 minutes to go.
A burst of late scoring saw the tie end 200-140 with Pembroke looking like a dangerous team again this year with superb all round knowledge. Contenders for the University Challenge crown? I think so
Book Suggestions
A few books I have been getting stuck into lately certainly deserve a little mention on here.
I will start with one I have mentioned before and that I am almost finished working my way through. Jeff Evans TV Companion is treasure trove of information on the small screen. Its probably the number 1 reference title in the field, certainly for British TV. And I really have found it so useful with bags of information about all the TV shows you likely to face in a quiz of any sort!
Next is quiz book I have been focusing on this week and one which I have just about finished. Bamber Gascoignes Challenging Quiz Book is exactly what it says on the tin...challenging. But in a good way! The questions are all top quality and tough, answers are to some extent explained and there is so much to be learned here it is an essential quiz book on any quiz lovers shelf.
And finally one last book I have had my head in for the past few weeks. Its simply called Art, published by Parragon, and is a stunning book with fantastic images, nice large hardback book and well worth the money. Covers all kinds and eras of art in great detail and plenty to learn visually and within the text.
And I will also sneak this one in. You may have read mention of Brian Pendreigh on a few previous occasions....The WQC in Scotland, Brunton Shield etc. A very keen quizzer indeed with many TV appearances. Anyway, Brian has published a book of short stories after publishing a novel earlier in the year. Its a Kindle edition and his work has had some very good write ups so this may well be worth a look for any fans of fiction!
I will start with one I have mentioned before and that I am almost finished working my way through. Jeff Evans TV Companion is treasure trove of information on the small screen. Its probably the number 1 reference title in the field, certainly for British TV. And I really have found it so useful with bags of information about all the TV shows you likely to face in a quiz of any sort!
Next is quiz book I have been focusing on this week and one which I have just about finished. Bamber Gascoignes Challenging Quiz Book is exactly what it says on the tin...challenging. But in a good way! The questions are all top quality and tough, answers are to some extent explained and there is so much to be learned here it is an essential quiz book on any quiz lovers shelf.
And finally one last book I have had my head in for the past few weeks. Its simply called Art, published by Parragon, and is a stunning book with fantastic images, nice large hardback book and well worth the money. Covers all kinds and eras of art in great detail and plenty to learn visually and within the text.
And I will also sneak this one in. You may have read mention of Brian Pendreigh on a few previous occasions....The WQC in Scotland, Brunton Shield etc. A very keen quizzer indeed with many TV appearances. Anyway, Brian has published a book of short stories after publishing a novel earlier in the year. Its a Kindle edition and his work has had some very good write ups so this may well be worth a look for any fans of fiction!
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Site of the Week: Pub Quiz Trivia
I featured this site as my site of the week a few months ago, and having used it ever since, I thought it is well worth mentioning again. Whether you are a pub landlord looking to buy questions for a weekly quiz, on the look out for a set for a one off event or like me, an avid quizzer looking for quality questions to test your knowledge then Pub Trivia Quiz certainly ticks all those boxes.
In actual fact the questions have become more unique and better quality in the past few months. Considering they were of a high standard in the first place that takes some doing!
The sample on the website is there for all to use and with strong customer service, friendly staff and a customisable quiz package to suit all (as well as a very easy to use site) this is one of the best sources to buy questions on the net1
Click HERE to check out Pub Trivia Quiz!
Book Suggestion: Chambers Factfinder
I have mentioned before that I often have a brief look in local Charity Shops to check out for bargains on reference and quiz related works. Combined with Amazon Marketplace I have saved myself a small fortune and amassed a sturdy collection along the way.
Last week I picked up Chambers Factfinder which is a book fellow quizzers may be familiar with. (A "as-new" copy for the giveaway price of £1.50). I have spent time on it this week and thought it was worth a mentioned to those who have never used it. It is very similar to Chambers "Facts Facts Facts" but this is a shortened version that contains different information on top of the sections that are similar. Its a nifty little size, ideal for taking on trains etc and contains endless bits of useful info. Well worth a space on your book shelf
You can get it for next to nothing on Amazon....
Last week I picked up Chambers Factfinder which is a book fellow quizzers may be familiar with. (A "as-new" copy for the giveaway price of £1.50). I have spent time on it this week and thought it was worth a mentioned to those who have never used it. It is very similar to Chambers "Facts Facts Facts" but this is a shortened version that contains different information on top of the sections that are similar. Its a nifty little size, ideal for taking on trains etc and contains endless bits of useful info. Well worth a space on your book shelf
You can get it for next to nothing on Amazon....
Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 7
Mastermind 2012/2013 - Heat 7
Well, I was slightly disappointed there had been a change to this weeks episode but either way the 7th heat of the first round of this years Mastermind involved -
Kevin Baker
Andrew Hunt
Nina Fetherston
Michael Wright
Kevin Baker was first in the chair. Out of pure coincidence I am currently reading an Ian Botham Biography. That is why I was hoping this episode had shown next week when I had finished the book. Either way this was one of the best totals I had got in any SS round this series....oddly after only reading a third of a book (all answers gained from this bar the Question of Sport Questions). It was fair set seemingly and Kevin Baker stormed to 14 points. Always a total likely to leave the contender in with a shout.
Andrew Hunt was up next and his choice, Caspar David Friedrich was the complete opposite for me and I knew virtually nothing about him. I can't judge how hard it was but Andrew Hunt faced slightly less questions than Kevin but still managed a solid 13.
Nina Fetherston came up next and a quick trawl through the TQA archives shows she appeared on University Challenge a few weeks ago. Her subject of Guns and Roses was interesting as I have a few of their albums but never taken much interest in them other than on record so I got far less than I expected here. Nina, a student, looked confident and bar the odd slip up managed 11 to give her every chance of progression.
Finally, Michael Wright took to the chair to take on the Hornblower novels. I had actually started reading one a few weeks back but this was off very little help. Michael Wright look relaxed, confident and gave speedy answers to land 14 points and I fancied him to take the win at this stage.
So the standings after the first round were -
Kevin Baker - 14
Michael Wright - 14
Andrew Hunt - 13
Nina Fetherston - 11
So, Nina Fetherston was back in the chair for her GK round. Last week I said I felt the contestant trailing got an easier opening 5-6 questions but tonight proved me wrong as I found Nina's the hardest of all. Of course this is all subjective but she showed strong, wide ranging knowledge giving fast answers, being unfazed by the chair and managing a solid total 14 points on here round taking her to 25. A very good target for the opener to set but unless this is a winning score, it maybe won't be enough as one of the six.
Andrew Hunt was up next needing at least 12 to take the lead. Again he was answering quickly and showed a good range of knowledge. The few he seemed to guess at fell right and he moved into the 20's without trouble and was soon at the 25 mark which he ended up finishing with thus tying with Nina. 12 is still a solid GK score and 25 would indeed have been good enough to win an earlier heat but tonight I had a feeling more would be needed.
Kevin Baker got off to a solid start with fast, precise answers. He missed a few popular culture based questions (Pulp Fiction and Stevie Nicks) which slowed the scoring a little but he reached 20 early in the round. A few spats of wrong answers made it touch and go as to whether he would take the lead and unfortunately Kevin could only reach 24 signalling the end of his time in Mastermind this year.
So Michael Wright needed 12 to ensure progress into the next round and to be fair he was gifted a dozen of points early on with some old chestnuts but later in the round was required to dig out some deep and impressive knowledge in what turned into a great GK round with a score of 15 taking him onto 29 and a comfortable win in the end. The joint third highest score of the series so far and Michael may well be one to watch in the coming rounds.
The way it has worked means Michael goes into the final as the third highest scorer and both Nina and Andrew are currently one of the top 6 runners-up but it will be tough to make it through with so many heats to go. Overall though a much higher standard tonight!
Hence the overall Mastermind standings tonight -
Michael Wright - 29
Andrew Hunt - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25Kevin Baker - 24
Overall standings for the Mastermind Series so far -
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Michael Wright - 29
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Aidan Mccquade - 24
Runners up
Chris Cann - 29
John Wheeler - 29
Nathan Joss - 26
Philip Walters - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Andrew Hunt - 25
---------------------------------------------------
Rosalind Winter - 24
Andrew Granath - 24
Laurie Handcock - 24
Kevin Baker - 24
Roland Mcfall - 23
Graeme Marley - 22
Hazel Humprheys - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22
Ian Copping - 22
Alan Haddick - 21
Sarah Le Fevre - 19
Jackie Phillips - 19
Matthew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott - 18
Friday, 28 September 2012
David Rainford makes his Eggheads debut
I have a stack of Eggheads episodes to watch on my Sky plus but made sure to tune in last night as David Rainford made his debut. CJ left the show a few months back and his final episodes have just been screened. I am sure David will do a great job but its such a shame there was not a new new series of Are You and Egghead?.
Thursday Quizzing - Being a Team Player
I was joined by my parents for a quiz last night. This week has been my Mams (for those of you not in the north-east that means my mother :)) 50th Birthday and she and my Dad joined us making it the first time in quite a while I had a larger team that just me and my other half.
I have mentioned this before but when me and my other half are quizzing I am a completely different player than when in a larger team. As my other half is not that keen on quizzing I am very much in "control of the pen" when it is just us. I always go with my gut, rarely chance an answer and am quite decisive.
Put me in a team though and I am a completely different player....
I found myself last night changing answers (which of course involved changing the right answer to a wrong one), doubting my knowledge, hesitant to put things down and allowing myself to be talked out of right answers. In some ways I prefer having a team as I enjoy discussing the answers and questions (and can also show off!!!) but it makes me a far worse player having a team around me! That is not meant in any disrespect to my team mates as everyone of them gave great answers and got points I wouldn't have been able to!
Either way it is also good to see The Fitzgerald's quiz is back to its best with good teams, close scores and a good atmosphere!
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Mastermind Challenge - Week 7
If you are planning on having a "wiki-challenge" for this weeks Mastermind then here are the specialist subjects for this weeks episode.
Life and Career of George Harrison
History of Rome until 1944
Everest Mountaineering
Anthony Powell's A Dance to The Music of Time
I certainly fancy having a go at George Harrison without any reading but I will give that a bash. The History of Rome is a much greater subject as is Everest Mountaineering. I may have a stab at the latter but I certainly won't be looking into Anthony Powell's A Dance to The Music of Time which is the longest ever work of fiction (enough to warrant an Subject on Mastermind?)
Anyway if you try the challenge let me know how you get on!
Life and Career of George Harrison
History of Rome until 1944
Everest Mountaineering
Anthony Powell's A Dance to The Music of Time
I certainly fancy having a go at George Harrison without any reading but I will give that a bash. The History of Rome is a much greater subject as is Everest Mountaineering. I may have a stab at the latter but I certainly won't be looking into Anthony Powell's A Dance to The Music of Time which is the longest ever work of fiction (enough to warrant an Subject on Mastermind?)
Anyway if you try the challenge let me know how you get on!
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