The Minibus of Despair

It's the quarter-finals, which means I can crack out the only piece of reusable content I have for this blog - the double elimination double qualification (DEDQ) graphic (see below). This year there is even more recycled verbiage than the last time I used the image, as you'll see later...

Most knockout tournaments are simple 'lose and go home' affairs, but in 2010 University Challenge decided that this was too simple and did not befit a program of such intellectual stature. Instead, we have the DEDQ system, whereby you must win twice to progress and lose twice to go home.

It's quite elegant and means that we get to watch the best eight teams a few more times than we would under a regular knockout format.

Paxman always seemed convinced that the format of the quarter-finals was too complicated for most PhD students to grasp, despite the fact it is simple enough to be understood by people who can’t spell PhD, but you had to let him have his fun, didn't you?

As I alluded to earlier, I'm going to mine my archives for mentions of Paxman's old descriptions of the DEDQ format, which he badmouthed every series. This week, see below some extracts from the 2016/17 series...

From Warwick vs Emmanuel, Cam

I don’t want to have to do this every week, but if the venerable Pax keeps describing the quarter-final stage as something vaguely on par with a meteor strike in terms of its desolation, I’m going to have to continue to rebuff his exaggerations. 

From Imperial vs Nuffield, Ox

This week the adjective he opted for was Kafkaesque, despite the distinct lack of monstrous beetles contesting the show.

From Emmanuel, Cam vs Corpus Christi, Ox

Another week, and another Paxman comparison of the ten-match quarter-finals to the works of a writer particularly associated with the bleak and lugubrious.

Tonight it was the turn of Edgar Allan Poe, as Jeremy continued his one-man crusade against the so-called “remorselessness” of this format. I’m starting to think he has real feelings of hatred towards this stage, as if the six extra shows he has to film on top of the regular four of other quarter-finals trap him each year in some form of tortured purgatory.

From Balliol, Ox vs Birmingham

Paxman says the losers this week will ride ‘off into the sunset’, rather than the ‘minibus of despair’, which Bristol took a few weeks ago. His hard-line attitude to what he sees as an apocalyptic quarter-final stage is clearly softening as it begins to draw to a close.

Onto the episode itself, which promises to be a cracker. Imperial are the defending champions and are seeking a fourth title in six years. They started the series on a heater, with consecutive 300-point victories, extending the unbeaten run of their institution to fourteen matches.

Christ's, meanwhile, have posted two scores in the 200s, though they have faced tougher matches.

You can watch the episode here before reading my review.

Here's your first starter for ten.

Bethlehem buzzes first for Christ's with novella, on which he uses a jaunty Italian accent. They take a hat-trick on theatre before Firman extended their lead with obelisk.

Spry countered with leprosy and a second in a row for the Imperial captain brought them back within five points. They took the lead with an early buzz from Elkouby, but Despard quickly tied the game with Wuthering Heights. Already, Imperial are being pushed harder than they were in either of their opening two matches.

Spry continues his strong start with mass spectrometry, an answer for which Rajan rewards him with three 'well done's.

Well done,

well done,

well done.

Their bonuses are on French potato cooking techniques, and they take deux.

Salamanca Camacho, Imperial's MVP in the earlier rounds, takes his first starter of the match, and the London quartet have their healthiest lead of the episode - 40 points.

Christ's took the music starter, but two more from Spry put Imperial in a very solid position going into the final third.

The Cambridge side refused to sit down though, and Luu swung back with curvature to keep them in the game. An improvised guess of vibraphone from Bethlehem closed the gap further, and already they had scored more than Imperial's two previous defeated opponents combined.

Salamanca Camacho won the second picture starter with Durer, and backed this up on the next 10-pointer with Apollonius.

They were 50-points clear with less than five minutes to go but Christ's weren't done yet, and a superb buzz of synchrotron from Despard set up a grandstand finish. Bethlehem followed this up with a pair of clutch buzzes, and the match was tied at 160 apiece.

Imperial are on a three-and-a-half-minute drought, and this gets larger when Despard buzzes with gastrulation. Christ's have the lead!

Will Imperial have the chance to fight back?

No. No, they won't.

Christ's answer the bonuses as quickly as possible, no hint of stalling for time here, but the gong still sounds with the scores at 180-160 in their favour.

Phew, what a game.

Imperial 160 - 180 Christ's

The best game of the series so far, given the number of lead changes and that epic comeback. Two awesome teams who may well both make the semi-finals. And just like that, a 4-year, 14-game unbeaten run is snapped.

Subscribe if you enjoyed the review - I will be leaving X soon so if that is your only way of finding these posts you'll need to join the mailing list. Thanks x (that's a kiss, not a lowercase X for Twitter)