Cleverdicks - Re-runs - Review Repeat!

As I mentioned Cleverdicks started its re-run on Challenge last night bringing the show to a much wider possible audience. I already reviewed the first episode when it first aired on Sky Atlantic so, being lazy, I will just repost that review with a not so clever bit of copying and pasting. Reviews of episodes following this will of course be original...

Cleverdicks finally started its run last night on Sky Atlantic. In all I enjoyed the show, there were some negatives but I think Cleverdicks is well worth watching and could grow into being on the best quiz shows on tv if a few of the issues are ironed out!

The first round involves each contestant facing 2 minutes of questions worth up to 5 points each. 5 clues are on offer, the more clues you take the less points. There is no punishment for guessing though which takes the edge of things as it means when you get a round such as “A Tennis Player” it can become a guessing spree on each clue. The questions in this round are well written though and enjoyable to play along with at home.

In terms of this episode, David Stainer, who you may have seen on only connect or know from the UK Quiz circuit, lead the way after the first round, way ahead of his rivals. His score of 44 included 25 points from getting the answers from one clue which was fantastic going, he stated it was “inspired guesswork”.

The second round sees Cleverdicks change into a buzzer quiz, testing a different sort of skill than the first round. The contestant with the lowest score from round one was eliminated, this being Susan, leaving three to compete in the second round.  It’s a simple buzz and bonus format where a successful buzz leads to 3 bonus questions. The one problem I had before this round even started was that there was seemingly no reward for first round performance as the scores were reset. So despite David Stainer clearly ahead after round one, it was now all down to buzzing ability. The questions to buzz in on are similar to the first round with 5 clues, but revert to normal questions for the bonuses. There is no punishment for buzzing in with a wrong answer though meaning if you get it wrong you can buzz again which does seem a bit odd. Again though it does revert to guessing as contestants soon realised if they didn’t buzz in with a guess someone else would. Especially as unlike University Challenge the bonus questions are opened to the others if answered wrong.

The results in this weeks episode were a reversal of the first round and David Stainer was eliminated which I found quite unfair given how much he had dominated round one. He was clearly only a split second behind in most of the buzzes and because he had not been given any reward for such a lead after round one he found himself eliminated leaving Steve vs Rob to play for a place in the final.

The third round is a head to head battle between the final two. It is turn based with no clues. A wrong answer adds a triangle to your stack, the higher the stack the worse it is for you as once a descending white line hits your stack you are out. You can remove the Triangles by getting questions right. I enjoyed this round probably more than the others, just straight up fast paced general knowledge questions.

Rob took a lead and moved towards the final of Cleverdicks. I suppose for viewers one positive aspect here is even a four point lead can be turned out very quickly so it keeps things open but that wasn’t to happen here. The white line collided with Steve’s stack and he was out. A great effort and a round I really enjoyed.

The final involves questions falling onto the board. The questions only drop off the screen when they are right, a wrong answer and the questions start to stack. If the list touches the descending white line you are out, if you survive 2 minutes you win! A nice format but again promotes guesswork which is not necessarily a bad thing but does detract from things a little. Two life lines are given for questions to drop off the board. Rob stuttered on a few and the white line caught up with him with around 30 seconds to go. This is going to be a difficult final game to win! The winner does return next time though for another chance with a rolling £1,000 jackpot.

One thing I did not like was the opening banter between Anne and the contestants. “I’m a Cleverdick because….” Made me cringe a little and all credit to the contestants they did the best they could with the bad line. Also at an hour, 45 minutes discounting breaks, it did seem a bit long and if you cut out the pointless chit chat then you could easily get this show into a more concise 30 minutes.

What about Anne Widdicombe as a host? She seems to have taken a lot of stick online about this first episode but I did not find her too bad. The most annoying parts of the hosting were not her fault at all and she is new to this so give her credit where it is due. I certainly didn’t think her presenting got in the way of my enjoyment of the show but I still do not like the banter between rounds. Apparently she gets better as the series goes on or so I am told by people who have appeared on latter episodes.

All in all I did enjoy Cleverdicks and will continue to watch this show. There are a few issues such as the balancing of points in the second round, the lack of reward  coming from the first round and the reward for guessing. Additionally as mentioned I am not keen on the banter between rounds and it makes the show feel overlong in parts. Despite this though the questions are well written, its great to see top class quizzing on TV and I really hope the show is a success!

Cleverdicks gets a thumbs up from me!

Pub Quiz Machine Guide: Piggy Bank Quiz

I have in the past reviewed a few games you are likely to find on the average pub quiz machine. Based on my traffic reports there seems to be a lot of people googling the term "Pub Quiz Machine".....more than likely looking for answers rather than opinions....but it has reminded me of the series.

I still play the machines regularly. If I go to the local Wetherspoons for Breakfast a few 50p's end up in the machine, at the start of a night out there is quizzing done and generally if there is a quiz machine in a pub I am in, I am too tempted to play!

Piggy Bank Quiz is the latest game to appear on local machines. But before I mention it I have a theory...


I am convinced that games that appear on quiz machines with "new" on them are in some way made easier at first and allow bigger wins than later in their life. I can see why this might be done....you win on a new game, the next time you play the machine which game will you play? You mention it to people in the pub and they play. I may be wrong but several times over this has happened where I have won relatively big on a new game in the first few goes on easy questions and then struggled weeks later.

Piggy Bank Quiz is as simple as they come. You answer multiple choice questions to rack up the total. Each answer in the first round is worth 10p but you must get all ten correct to get the £1 prize. This tends to be an easy £1 to rack up to be fair with very simple questions and only one stopper towards the end of the round but with two Try Agains and a Pass to play with you can navigate this. Round two is worth 20p a questions with 5 questions and so on all the way to £10.

One positive side of this game is that rather than the harder questions all being "stoppers" (questions no one would know and where the answer is so obscure its guesswork all the time) they are just Mastermind Level GK questions. It means you can think about them rather than have to guess at random meaningless answers.

I found the questions refreshing and entertaining on this particular pub quiz machine game and whilst it still has all the complaints and problems of any game on one of these machines, its well worth a look for enthusiasts!

The Week in TV Quizzing...

As mentioned, one of the highlights of the TV this week is going to be the start of the repeats of Cleverdicks on Challenge this week. Shown earlier in the year on Sky, Cleverdicks is a quiz show where top quiz players compete against each other in, as Anne puts it, "proper general knowledge questions". I saw the first episode but was unable to watch the rest due to a house move so will certainly be tuning into Cleverdicks on Challenge TV this week at 7pm.


I mentioned earlier in the year that online applications for a new Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show were being accepted. I obviously have not been successful in that as the show starts tomorrow at 9pm on ITV.  Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire will continue for three nights in succession and I for one am glad to see it back on TV!


For those of you enjoying Tipping Point that remains in the 5pm slot on ITV. The less said about this show the better...........


Repeats of Weakest Link, Pointless and Eggheads continue after a short hiatus due to the Tennis and speaking of Tennis Sue Barker hosts new episodes of A Question of Sport from Friday at 7.30pm.


And if you can tolerate Davina The Million Pound Drop (with from what I see vastly dropping viewing figures) airs on Friday!




EDIT: And I have also just realised a new run of "All-New Blockbusters" starts tonight kicking of with a celebrity special.

Quiz Kings

I have possibly posted about Quiz Kings before but did not get much of a reply. Does anyone know anything about this? I have no idea what it was made for, where it was filmed or anything so any bit of information about Quiz Kings would be nice!

Quiz of The Weeks News

Just a quick quiz of this weeks news today.

11.       Who was announced as the captain of the Great Britain football team for the forthcoming Olympic Games tournament?
 
2.       Who seemingly assassinates the Go Compare Tenor in the latest advert for the brand?
 
3.       Why was Oscar Pistorius in the news this week?
 
4.       Who was named as the new Director General of the BBC this week?
 
5.       Where were the Olympic Gold Medals for the upcoming games taken to this week for safe keeping?
 
6.       Which British rider took the Yellow Jersey in the Tour De France this week?
 
7.       The worlds first double-decker, open-top  cable  car system opened in which country this week?
 
8.       A British Prisoner won the right to have what in his cell overnight?
 
9.       What was the cause of a terror attack on the M6 this week?
 
10.   Who is at number 1 in the UK Singles Charts with the song “This is Love”?

Think You Know it All?

I have one word for this book....marvellous!

This is not the "normal" kind of quiz book you will be used to using and I would strongly recommend it to quizzers on any level. The closest thing I can actually compare it to is either the "On the tip of my tongue" book or the website Sporcle (which I am sure you have all used).

It is ideal for quiz revision, learning and testing yourself and others. The questions do not come as standard quiz questions but in all kind of interesting formats from giving you dates of composers with you required to name them, quotes from Shakespeare you link to a play, maps with points you need to identify....my words and descriptions won't do the book justice as there is so much diversity from the simple to the challenging that it will give any level of quizzer a serious workout.

I have found some gaps in my knowledge, realised I know more than I do and above all else when I have had an hour or so with this book I have felt as if I have had a real genuine brain workout! Dan Smith has done a fantastic job on this and even though the "activity book for grown ups" is a bit of an odd choice of title, suffice to say this is a cracking general knowledge test.

If you liked "On the tip your tounge" you will love this!


Below is the link to buy it on Amazon, a snip at £5.49 as it will keep you entertained for hours. Go on treat yourself.....

Tipping Point

Well Tipping Point continues to air on ITV this week and after my initial review slating it my opinion has not changed. This is coming close to being one of the worst game shows I have ever had the misfortune of seeing! I have given up on it now and only caught a fraction of the last episode but I see no reason to watch Tipping Point again.

If interested, check out my review earlier in the week. In a nutshell tipping point is a boring format with abysmal quiz question, an unfair format and is full of tedium!

I cannot remember being so bored of a quiz show quickly....bring back the chase

EDIT: I am also hearing that Tipping Point has started strongly in ratings but dive bombed amid the horrid reviews and viewers becoming bored. Try again ITV!

Film Quiz

A quick few quiz questions for you this afternoon on movies. Answers in the comment box as usual.

1.      What was the first name of the “one-day” wife of James Bond?
 
2.      Lon Chaney, Anthony Quinn, James Cagney and Charles Laughton have all played which character?
 
3.      If his horse is Pancho and his sidekick is Diablo, who is he?
 
4.      He was a swimmer who played both Tarzan and Flash Gordon. Name the actor?
 
5.      What films is missing from the following….The Enforcer, Magnum Force, Sudden impact and The Dead Pool?
 
6.      How is Don Diego de Vega better known?
 
7.      Disney’s Tinkerbell is said to be modelled on which Hollywood star?
 
8.      The Thin Man is based on stories by which author?
 
9.      What is the name of Tarzans Chimpanzee?
 
10.  Keyser Soze appears in which film?
 
11.  Clarence Nash provides the voice of which animated character?
 
12.  Who played Inspector Clouseau in “Inspector Clouseau”?
 
13.  In the Wizard of Oz, what is Dorothy’s surname?
 
14.  Which classic movie tells the tale of the relationships between Laura Jeeson and Alec Harvey?
 
15.  Basil Rathbone played which famous detective during the 1930’s-40’s?

Cleverdicks - Re-runs

Cleverdicks aired on Sky Atlantic earlier this year and is set for a re-run starting Monday at 7pm on Challenge. The show attracted top class quizzers to compete against each other with several familiar faces from the quizzing scene taking part. I missed this, apart from the very first episode, first time around due to moving flat and being without Sky for a few weeks. Also, the move means the show will be screened on freeview for the first time giving it a whole new audience.

From the first episode I saw it was a very enjoyable show, far better than a lot of the newer quizzes out there on TV and I am looking forward to seeing the whole run. Cleverdicks is airing seemingly every night at 7pm on Challenge (8pm on +1 too of course) and I think 30 episodes were made so for those of us who haven't seen this before in full, that is 6 weeks of some top class quizzing back on tv!

Gameshow.co.uk - Update

I reported last week that the online quiz game with real money prize that ran last week, Gameshow.co.uk, had seemingly gone offline shortly after the contest ended.

I managed to get an email from a fellow quizzer and have since been paid into Paypal. If anyone else needs the email address it is jamie@glassesdirect.co.uk

As far as I know Jamie is sorting all payments out and I know the main winner, £1,000, has been paid as well as other top prizes.

The Book that keeps on giving....

When I first started to take quizzing seriously and sought to expand my knowledge by building a useful library of reference books, one of the first books recommended to me was the Pears Ultimate Quiz Companion. I knew this book was going to be useful the minute it dropped through my letter box from amazon (£1.29 including p and P) but over recent weeks it has proved its weight in gold. 

A lot of reference books fall into the trap of overload, giving uninteresting, repetitive and unnecessary information that tend to distract rather than promote retention.

This book though takes a more plain approach and whilst I would not describe it as a book of lists per se, it provides information in short sharp "lists" of sort with two columns on each page crammed with facts. Its actually set out really rather real and works a treat for keeping information in.

At Around 690 pages and coming in standard paperback size you would imagine the book misses out a lot of areas and doesn't cover as much group as rivals. Well it does and the reason for this post about it today is simply because the more my quizzing goes on the more useful this has proved....

Whatever the occasion knowing the contents of this book has served me many purposes.

4 points at the World Quizzing championships were gained from knowledge I only knew from this title, the same goes for the Mastermind audition questions and GP questions the BQA issues. Week in week out pub quizzes are won by points based on knowledge I have learned from this book and it has won me jackpots and drinks rounds as well.

Although by no means the be all and end all of reference books (What book can be?) for anyone who is in a similar position as I was, simply looking to improve the basics of all areas of knowledge quickly and to improve performance on any level of quiz this should be an essential starting point.

In fact as a starting point I think this is hard to beat. Of course Trevor Montagues books go further into details but as a starting block, before getting stuck into some of the more weightier tomes, this is hard to match!


Here is a link to purchase for a pittance on Amazon

Pears Ultimate Quiz Companion (Penguin Reference Books)

Tipping Point

Tipping Point - Episode 1

Tipping Point is the latest teatime quiz show from ITV and it all kicked off tonight with the very first episode in a 4 week run. I had heard very little about Tipping Point prior to it commencing other than the fact that it is based on 2p machines from the Arcades and is hosted by Ben Shepherd. 

The game has a very simple format, something which ITV have not always adhered to in some recent shows. 4 players start and there is £10,000 up for grabs. By answering questions in the first round you earn tokens to slot into the giant slot machine and whatever you manage to push out you win.

By the way just in case I am not making sense about the "2p machines" this is what I am referring to...

There are a few other little parts of the round that aren't worth mentioning and the game continues into a third round where 30 seconds of questions earns each player tokens to use. Following a head to head the winner plays for up to £10,000.

You might already have gathered I lost some enthusiasm in describing the game as I found this show to be very dull indeed. I have seen a few comments online too after the show and during it which expressed similar sentiments. The fact of the matter is that Tipping Point, in my opinion, is boring and at 5pm on an evening after a hard days work the last thing I want is a boring game show dragging on for an hour. Don't get me wrong their were positive comments I notice and I would love to hear your views but for me Tipping Point on ITV does very little!

First and foremost is the questions. The actual Tipping Point questions are dull, old chestnuts and plain boring. Even when they select the "medium" and "hard" questions in the final round they are painfully easy. Shepherd does very little to bring any life to things and for anyone watching this, like me, for the quizzing value it becomes clear pretty early on that this is not only dull but also not the focus of the game.

The focus of the game is the second problem.....the machine. This is the selling point of the show and the questions merely serve a limited purpose of ensuring they can build a TV show around a gigantic 2p Machine. After the first set of coins have went in the fascination wears off. By the time you get to round 2 and the contestants are having 5 or 6 goes each, back to back the tedium clicks in. 

I imagine playing this game as a contestant is fun but the way I see it is simple.....we all enjoy an odd game on the 2p machines in arcades, but we wouldn't spend an hour watching someone else play would we? It is a very odd occasion when a quiz/gameshow is so boring on screen but would be so much fun to play in reality!

If you watched Tipping Point tonight I hope you enjoyed it, but I don't see myself spending much more time with it as I really cannot see what else it has to offer other than what was on show tonight.

I know at least one reader has been on Tipping Point and would love to hear how contestants found it to play.

Will it do well? Tipping Point will have that initial interest from people who liken it to the popular arcade machine but I cannot see it lasting.

Roll on the return of The Chase!


I welcome any comments below as to how anyone reading this felt about the show?

Trevor Montague is back...

Regular readers and friends will know my obsession with the reference works of Trevor Montague. He has a new book out this week (currently only in ebook/kindle format but due soon for a hardback version) which is the latest in his A-Z series....this time his focus is popular culture!

Its a cracking book so far as I have started to study it and this books is perhaps the most useful of the series to normal pub quizzers as these questions tend to dominate the average pub quiz.....

Here is an amazon link for the ebook. Well worth every penny and you do not need a kindle etc to use it as you can simply download the free software and browse it on your PC/laptop.





Just in case you are unfamiliar with the A-Z works Trevor writes then, in a nutshell, they are perhaps the most essential works for any quizzer's collection and studying even just a few pages of these books will boost your knowledge considerably!

The best remains the A-z of Everything....




And also very useful for British quizzers is the fantastic A-Z of England and Ireland....






All well worth the price!

Tour De France Quiz

The Tour De France has been keeping my attention this week so I thought I would put together a little simple quiz to test the basics....Answers as usual in the comment box

1. This years Tour De France began in which country?

2. Which German cyclist holds the record for the most Green Jersey victories?

3. Lance Armstrong holds the record with 7 Tour Victories. There are four cyclists who have won the Tour De France 5 times. One is Eddy Merckx. Name any one of the others?

4. Andy Schelck is from which country?

5. Which Briton holds the record for the fastest prologue which he achieved at Lille in 1994?

6. With a stunning 34, who holds the record for the most stage victories in the Tour De France?

7. Which Briton won the Green Jersey in 2011?

8. Who is the only rider besides Eddy Merckx to win the Tour De France, Giro and Worlds in the same season?

9. The wearer of the Polka-Dot jersey has achieved what?

10. The "Flamme Rouge" represents what?

11. Who was the first rider to wear the famous Yellow Jersey?

12. What appeared first in the Tour de France...The Alps of the Pyrenees?

13. What mountain was Tom Simpson climbing when he tragically died in the 1967 Tour De France?

14. Who was the first British cyclist to hold the yellow jersey in the Tour De France?

15. What is the highest position a British Cyclist has finished in the Tour De France overall classification (as of end of the 2011 Tour)?

Weekly News Quiz

Just before I settle down for a lazy Sunday here is a quiz of the weeks news to get stuck into. The answers are in the comment box.

1. Which Kindle title became the first to sell 1 Million copies this week?

2. Which entertainer made his first ever British festival appearance at Hop Farm this week aged 84?

3. The National Trust has appealed for £1.2 million to buy a stretch of what?

4. What was the name of the Hawk who was "employed" to keep pigeons away from Wimbledon this week who has since been stolen?

5. The divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes was announced this week. What is the name of the child who Holmes has applied for sole custody of?

6. The musical Viva Forever was launched this week based on the music of which act?

7. Which island became the fifth nation to appeal for an EU Bail Out this week?

8. The SFO has been busy this week investigating the shady dealings of British Bankers. What does SFO actually stand for?

9. It was announced this week that the law restricting the times of marriage in the UK will be changed in October allowing couples to tie the know at any time during the day or night. Prior to this change, what was (and until October is) the hours between which a couple in the UK could wed?

10. The Tour De France started this week. To the nearest hundred what is the overall distance covered in the tour....3000km, 3500km, 4000km or 4500km?

11. The Amazing Spiderman is the latest reinvention of the superhero to hit cinemas this coming week but who plays Spiderman in this movie?

12. Who is the author of 50 Shades of Grey, the book dominating sales charts this week?

13. Wild fires hit which US state this week?


SPORT
------

A bonus rounds in this weeks news quiz. I am going to give you 5 sporting figures, teams or events and I want to know how they have been in the news this week....

1. Yaroslava Shvedova
2. Laurent Blanc
3. London Welsh
4. Yohann Blake
5. Fabian Cancellara


Enjoy!