Good Taste in Blogs

About a month ago, I was informed by a reader of my blog on Tumblr that they were going to be on the show in a few weeks. Whenever I realise this, that the people I write about may well read what I have written about them, it makes me a bit nervous. I feel like a teacher who's child has been put in their class - should I be overly mean or overly nice to them? Tell them off for whispering in the back of the classroom or let them off for chewing gum?

In all honesty I don't know how I would go about doing either of those things in a University Challenge Review contest, so I've done the one thing I know I can always rely upon if I think there's the potential for me to be a bit awkward - make it meta, baby. If I reference the fact that I don't know what I'm doing then it makes everything okay, and then I already have a pre-made excuse if things do go south.

Let's see if my journaistic neutrality manages to keep you guessing as to which contestant this was.

By the time I watched the first half of this episode, I'd aready seen the second. While making dinner at my girlfriend's, her flatmates put on the last fifteen minutes, having already seen the rest another time, so I watched the tense ending with them, probably quite distracted from the meal I was supposed to be helping to cook. The first half I watched on a plane to Turkey, after frantically downloading it while waiting to board.

So lets go back to that flight for our first starter for ten... and I'll try not to be too biased.

The Courtauld team look very much like they are a team of Art Students, and Captain McMeekin looks very amused with himself (as well he should), when he tells us he's doing an MA in circum-Atlantic visual art of the late colonial period, giving his teammate an extra slice of side-eye for good measure.

First points go to Courtauld courtesy of Mackarel, and there's nothing fishy about her answer of Boudiccia (there's also nothing fishy about the pronunciation of her name, as Roger Tilling's emphasis makes clear - its more like a Scottish style Mc - but I had to get at least one pun in there). They look a bit apprehensive at the news they're getting a bonus set on astronomy, but they manage a comfortable two. McMeekin then opens his account with Squid Game, but they only managed one bonus this time.

Newnham then got on the board thanks to the amazing and legendary Roma Ellis (who has an excellent taste in blogs) who buzzed in quickest with neutral, which is something I'm still aiming to be. They rattle through two bonuses with a classic UC set, about words differing by a single letter, with superfluous poise and we have a game on our hands.

I showed the picture questions to my boss, a self-proclaimed flags expert. He recognised Tuvalu, as McMeekin did for Courtauld, but struggled on the bonuses, second guessing himself on Christmas Island. Courtauld missed this one too, but they did manage to get the Isle of Wight, to avoid a wightwash.

Another brilliant buzz from the magnificent Ellis (who, again, it must be mentioned, has a marvelous taste in medium-length internet content) brought Newnham straight back into the game. Unfortunately I will have to deduct them some points here for failing to get Avogadro's constant on a bonus, as the Ideal Gas law holds a special place in my heart. This deduction doesn't stop their teammate Holloway-Strong for smashing the next starter, which gave them the opportunity to take the lead.

They duly did this, but it didn't last long, as Dodds took her first starter of the night. It was also the first instance of Dodds' signature move - the post-correct-starter glasses nudge. She did this after almost every starter she got right, which was quite a few, and it made me smile every time. As I child competing in a music festival with my trombone, I remember having to push my specs up every time I had even a beats rest. Its very important.

Three in a row from Dodds, with a particularly zealous specpush on warp, had given Courtauld twice the score of their Cambridge counterparts, but they couldn't relax yet, and Holloway-Strong hit back for Newnham with 12th Night. This was merely a brief respite from the Dodds dominance of the middle-game period, and she took a fourth with the music starter, on Moulin Rouge.

Ellis (with a stupendous taste in quiz reviews) fights back too, but such is Dodds monopoly on the buzzer that she can't be held at bay for too long. How Newnham must have hated the sight of her sliding her spectacles up her nose. She lends the buzzer to her teammate Mackarel for a starter on the poster for the movie Belfast, and Courtauld are seventy points clear.

Another from Holloway-Strong cut this to fifty-five before an unfortunate neg from Mackarel made it fifty. Ellis coolly waited for the question to be finished and then buzzed in with Princess Diana, a steelly look in their eyes. This wasn't over yet, was it?

Dodds brought the gap back out to fifty-five with her sixth of the match, but Ellis' fifth cut it down again. McMeekin's guess of four on a maths question allowed Chen to steal in with three and Bowen's quick buzz of Jane Austen on the next starter meant we had a gap of ten points going into the final starter.

Sadly, the blockbuster finish was brought to a premature end thanks to Chen accidentally leaning on the buzzer. She screws her face up in anguish, and the gong sounds almost instantly. They were already losing, so it will only have made a difference if one of her teammates knew it and was going to buzz in the next two seconds or so, but my gosh what a tough way to end the match.

Newnham 160 - 175 Courtauld

A heartbreaking finish, but Newnham will be back for the high-scoring loser play-offs, so its not all doom and gloom. And all joking aside, Ellis really was a great captain, with some clutch buzzing and a good tactical awareness. They'll have an excellent shot at making it through the repechage.

Congratulations to Courtauld, who look very strong and will be a tough draw for whoever they face next. See you next time for RGU vs Roehampton, which features someone I went to school with!