Only Fitting

After last week's fiasco in which I plagiarised myself, the pressure is on to come up with something completely original. I thought about doing the blog-version of that bit in Garden State when Natalie Portman screams a load of nonsense because its something that 'no one has ever done before'. But that could be construed as copying Garden State, so I'm back at square one.

Is it even possible to be truly original in this day and age, or has everything already been done by someone, somewhere, making our every moment of existence a pastiche of some long-forgotten life, a poor imitation of an ancient and pure uniqueness?

Probably not, so I should stop worrying about it.

Sheffield and Imperial played in consecutive weeks in both the first and second rounds, so it only seems fitting that they face each other in the quarter-finals. I've used the phrase 'only seems fitting' there because it, um, only seemed fitting.

But why on earth would it be fitting for this sequence of matches to take place. Holding my hands up on that one as a perfect example of a writer using pseudo-profound language to try and imbue something with a sense of capital m Meaning (and profound is too strong a word, but I can't think of another which conveys the same (lower case m) meaning).

Anyway, the two Universities take each other on tonight in a match which was clearly pre-ordained by the Almighty. Also, I reserve the right to continue using the phrase 'it was fitting' even if the situation is far from it - here's your first starter for ten.

If you want to watch the episode before reading the rest of the review you can do so here.

Lee takes the first points of the night for Imperial with China, and a full set of bonuses gave them a tidy 25 to start the match. Colclough hit back for Sheffield with Rosberg (shrewdly giving only the surname, having recognised Rosberg from a clue about Nico when the question had originally asked for his father Keke), but they could only manage a solitary bonus on phonetics.

A scintillating buzz from Debnath wins Imperial a bonus set on mathematics and again they took a hat-trick. Nail hits one on the head with Buenos Aires next time out after Lee had screwed up. One bonus on Hannukah left them 20 points back.

Nail took the first picture starter too, on ocean currents (not ocean currants, which is what you put in a salty scone), and again they floundered on the bonuses, but a third in a row for that man Nail gave them the lead for the first time in the game.

Debnath's second starter was followed by a Jones masterclass on bonuses about ballads, putting Imperial 15 clear again, despite having answered fewer starters correctly. A fourth perfect set in a row put them on one hundred points exactly - very impressive so far.

No one gets slough on the next starter, which is very disappointing. The question is based on the fact that the words slough, meaning cast off or shed, and slough, meaning a miry bog, are homophones. In English, the 'ough' sound is famously pliable, with the sentence below featuring nine different pronunciations.

The wind was rough along the lough as the ploughman fought through the snow, and though he hiccoughed and coughed, his work was thorough.

Sheffield's team features two different pronunciations of ough, so it would only have been fitting to mention this (and thus use that phrase properly) had they got it. Indeed, the only note I wrote down when watching this live was 'cough clough slough'. But alas, they were outthought by the question.

The 100% streak on bonuses continued for a fifth round, but was ended, after 17 consecutive correct answers, by a question on Finnish literature.

McGough took the music starter to start a mini-comeback, and was helped along by Rujak and Nail to bring Sheffield into three figures themselves. They remained adrift though, thanks to their abysmal record on the bonuses.

Rujak picks up the second picture starter thanks to a moment of imprecision from Jones (the skin we live in rather than the skin I live in), and Nail continues his stellar match to help them close within 30 points.

This is as close as they would get though, with Lee and Debnath shutting down a pair of late charges.

Sheffield 160- 195 Imperial

A great match, that. Pretty wild bonus run from Imperial at the start which would have put many teams out of the contest, but some great buzzing from Nail kept Sheffield in it. Both were great, so look forward to seeing these teams again, which is only fitting.