2016/17, Episode 24 - Corpus vs Peterhouse

If you haven't already you can watch the episode here before reading this post:

I’m going to open this post by telling you who I was supporting in this match, which I don’t think I’ve done up until this point unless my beloved Edinburgh had been on screen (if the media loses biaslessness it loses legitimacy, but I think this is a legitimate reason).

In November I took part in a quiz in Cambridge, held in Eric Monkman’s ancestral home of Wolfson College. Having travelled from Edinburgh with no hope of getting home after the competition it fell on some of the locals to offer shelter to myself and my colleagues. They didn’t have to do it, but a floor was provided, and more importantly a roof. And it was one of tonights contestants, Oliver Sweetenham of Peterhouse College who bravely offered a rogue Scotsman sanctuary in a foreign city, so thank you to him.

Earlier on in the day, arriving at the college having not eaten breakfast and looking at a long ten hours of quizzing on an increasingly empty stomach (contrary to reports, lunch was not to be provided) another hero rose. Step forward Ephraim Jacob Jacobus Levinson, who lead my poor, confused and hungry soul to the nearest Co-op, which was apparently in Oxford, judging by the distance we had to walk. Its not possible for me to have done worse than I would have done without the sustenance, but at least I was conscious when the competition reached its conclusion.

They also have a plush lizard as their mascot, which I inexplicably failed to mention for their previous appearance. So my apologies Corpus Christi (who to be fair to them do also have a lovely pelican representing them), but on this occasion my loyalties lay with the reigning champions. Peterhouse narrowly edged out Cambridge compatriots Queens’ in the first round, while Corpus Christi did the same to another CamColl, Jesus. Now they fight it out for the last place in the prestigious Quarter Final Stage of the Challenge.

The enemy of my friend is my enemy, and it is they who take an early lead, with a George Bernard Shaw quote snaffled up by captain Nikhil Venkatesh, who I and other credible sources believe is an alumni of another esteemed quiz show - Junior Mastemind. They take all three bonuses like they’re an insult, and snaffle the next two starters, only dropping one of the first nine bonus questions in total. Although it should be said, that despite knowing the distance of the sun from the earth, and having a physicist on their team, that bonus was dropped in spectacular fashion when they mis-guessed the distance of the moon to the earth by a factor of nearly 250.

This left my guys with a 70-0 deficit barely four minutes in, but never fear - this is the college that brought us Oscar Powell and Hannah Woods - they breed them scrappy at Peterhouse. Lin gets them off the mark with a starter on stars, which is exactly what he is, come on my son!

This sparks a storming response from his teammates who fire an onslaught of excellent buzzer work and efficient conferring, though they did have an unfortunate mix up involving the title characters from Romeo and Juliet, answering with she instead of he. After one of the speediest eight questions I can remember they’re only ten behind, with the two teams combining for 180/200 points on offer. If they could keep that up we’d be on for an incredibly high scoring game, but it wasn’t to be.

Venkatesh produced the first neg (an incorrect interruption, a term I really should have introduced earlier for those of you not familiar with Quizbowl) fairly soon after and the bonus conversion percentages slipped by both teams.  The music opener was missed too, though both teams buzzed in with potent enthusiasm before even a full bar had been heard. But thats not to say the excitement dropped. Corpus Christi stretched back out into a 35 point lead, but the Hiddlestone-voiced Sweetenham hauled Peterhouse back to tie the scores at 120 each.

Unfortunately, for the third time in the match, the Oxfordians treated this as a mere nuisance, and decided they’d had enough, blasting out to 175. Though they did miss out on 180 because of a tricksy question on a feathered animal. Wright suggested it might be a feather boa, only for his teammates to look at him with immense pity before ruthlessly dismissing him and going with crocodile. And the fact that it did turn out to be a snake shouldn’t absolve him of any the silliness associated with his answer.

Nevertheless this left Peterhouse with an awful lot to do in the remaining few minutes, and while they battled on bravely they couldn’t quite breach a third time.

Final Score: Peterhouse150 - 175 Corpus Christi

Commiserations to the kind folks at Peterhouse, but well done and well played to Corpus. Next week we return for the first of the QF matches - a blockbuster involving Balliol, Ox and Monkman’s Wolfson, Cam. It promises loud voices and smirking faces, what more could you want? Thanks for reading