I've known that biscuit since I was a small kid I think so it felt a bit weird to see them not get it. Its like it says it on the tin or in the construction of the word.
Had also just read Zami which must be an advantage when it came to that one. Would hope it would be widely known cos it was a good book.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 1 March 2022 23:33 (two years ago) link
bis-cuit. Zami Audre Lorde Skilly islesand fun things like that.
― Stevolende, Friday, 4 March 2022 10:55 (two years ago) link
A close but also not too exciting UC match this week. The questions were pretty tough but it's still hard to imagine that winner putting up a serious challenge in the semifinals. I think the top 2 teams have clearly separated themselves.
The 90s drum n bass and Bill & Ted specialist rounds in Mastermind this week were fun.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 14:47 (two years ago) link
that flags round on UC was absolutely brutal
― Number None, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 15:17 (two years ago) link
a bad round i thought, too complex and it killed the momentum dead
― Nordle (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 17:41 (two years ago) link
I don't remember, in years gone by, UC becoming so much harder in later rounds.
But it's certainly done that now.
I'm used to knowing maybe 15+. Tonight I managed 4: Charlier Parker, Alice James, Potemkin, Perestroika.
It can't ever be easy being on these quizzes, even in early rounds, but the obscurity of expertise being shown by winning teams at this stage is another class.
― the pinefox, Monday, 14 March 2022 21:01 (two years ago) link
11-1 to me tonight, but he’s got a stinking cold and I’ve got a German degree. Knew it would come in handy eventually.
― mike t-diva, Monday, 14 March 2022 22:03 (two years ago) link
Definitely harder but though I got less than 10 last week I wasn't completely adrift this time and got 12: white, gestalt, palpitation & palpation, revenant & ant man, miyamoto, gentileschi, 33, alice james, titian, potemkin, perestroika, kale.
― ledge, Monday, 14 March 2022 22:07 (two years ago) link
This is a radio ting but I heard a contestant on Counterpoint earlier that knew nothing about the most famous Woody Guthrie or Talking Heads songs. Couldn't tell the difference between Public Enemy and NWA. Didn't recognise a Communards song. Knew nothing about the Rock Against Racism movement in the 70's. I just wouldn't show up if I was so fucking clueless. And they didn't sound young either.
― calzino, Monday, 14 March 2022 22:17 (two years ago) link
Didn't recognise a Communards song.
GASP
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, 14 March 2022 22:26 (two years ago) link
if only Jimmy Somerville had a more distinctive voice
― calzino, Monday, 14 March 2022 22:33 (two years ago) link
i knew the miyamoto mushashi question because the book always turns up in the amazon search results when i'm looking for the mizoguchi dvd
lots of maths guesses tonight, none of them correct (and some oddness with the buzzer the one time, did i imagine that, someone buzzed but was ignored and didn't get penalised)
titian is always worth a punt. that or velasquez.
― koogs, Monday, 14 March 2022 22:42 (two years ago) link
I wasn't really listening, and in any case only heard from halfway through the jazz music round.
But yeah, later rounds have always been harder than earlier, certainly during the Paxo era
― Mark G, Monday, 14 March 2022 23:31 (two years ago) link
Oh God, we were pitiful on the jazz round; I got Coleman, but we were kicking ourselves on all the others.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 07:46 (two years ago) link
i got dizzy with a half-educated guess but for the others i was just blurting out names
― koogs, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 08:01 (two years ago) link
I managed a "Don't say Duke Ellington, that's not a piano" but that's all.
― Mark G, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 12:48 (two years ago) link
I got Thelonious Monk, think I got Ornette but somehow didn't get Yardbird.Did strike me again that early Ornette sounds a lot like a continuation of Bird.Oh yeah got Dizz too.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 13:23 (two years ago) link
I could watch Zeng answer geography questions for hours. What a maniac.
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Tuesday, 22 March 2022 19:59 (two years ago) link
Got 22 this week, or 21 if you don't count my final answer which was after the gong!
Amen, Georgia, Armenian, Minotaur, tesselation, chromosome, Egypt, Norfolk & Suffolk, non-sequitur, titanium, Boyne, Belfast, Shannon, verdigris, penalty, Paris Texas, Southwark, Lisbon, New York City, William S. Burroughs, accretion, Populus.
― Grandpont Genie, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 20:03 (two years ago) link
18 for me, Midnight cowboy, Armenian, Beatrice, minotaur, cellular automata, tessellation, lamina, chromosome, Norfolk Suffolk, non sequitur, memento mori, verdigris, penalty kick, dashiel hammett, Paris texas, NYC, Burroughs, accretion
― ledge, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 20:15 (two years ago) link
Oh no spoilers
― ledge, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 20:21 (two years ago) link
11 for me this week, same as last week.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 23:49 (two years ago) link
I got Times Square then blanked on The Deuce while saying I watched that through & loved it. Tooth was paining quite badly & I was watching the show a day after i recorded it. THink I did get a few others .
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 20:00 (two years ago) link
King
― Number None, Thursday, 24 March 2022 08:55 (two years ago) link
I've noticed that they've really stepped up the difficulty of the pop music questions + bonuses of late.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Tuesday, 29 March 2022 02:03 (two years ago) link
I got Madonna but only because of the voice, I've never heard it before. Didn't get John Zorn so perhaps my lol at their guess of Eno was somewhat hypocritical.
― ledge, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 08:47 (two years ago) link
They weren't really paying attention to the "New York" portion of that question, I think. They kept throwing out British names, which is normally a good instinct on UC. It was impressive to watch Hutchinson (I think that's his name) pull things out of his memory, and actually bounce ideas off the rest of the team to come up with the right answer. Good captaining.
― trishyb, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 08:52 (two years ago) link
Having thought that the series was getting harder and harder and becoming impossible, I knew ... 12 correct answers last night in the SF !!
One was Buck Mulligan.
Also Madonna: I think I shared in others' feeling of "that sounds like Madonna, but I don't think I know the song, maybe it's the very early Madonna that people associate with a cool NYC".
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 11:22 (two years ago) link
Madonna I got because of the Ciccone Youth cover.
I nearly outguessed myself on the John Zorn question.
― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 13:01 (two years ago) link
Ah, I had the subtitles on and was in the kitchen when "Burning Up" came on, and yeah got that one no bother.
The music round (for me) easier than usual, didn't get John Zorn but the rest.
Had a lol at "Thompson Twins" for Kid Creole & the coconuts, but hey if you don't know then guess by all means...
Apart from that, yeah Reading in the final then. Average age is uh??
― Mark G, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 14:04 (two years ago) link
38
― conrad, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 14:47 (two years ago) link
Hutchinson is good but he's a hard man to warm to
― Number None, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 19:28 (two years ago) link
There is a bit of “let us pause while I consult the mind palace” about him. Don’t think I’ve heard a correct answer from the non-Hutchinson or Ounsley members of the team. I wonder if he gets a lot of INXS jokes from people who can’t remember Michael Hutchence’s name properly.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 03:04 (two years ago) link
I need to check out this John Zorn fellow. Hadn't heard of him!
16 this week for me...Dodie, Indo-European, Przewalski's horse, encephelization quotient, Cassini-Huygens, Voyager 2, Chatsworth, Madonna, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Laurie Anderson, hip, hoatzin, ostrich, Samuel Beckett, deuterium*, votes for women in Kuwait.* answer given & accepted Hydrogen 2, but same thing..
Looking forward to the final.
― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 21:11 (two years ago) link
I always find the maths questions impossible by the way!
― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 21:13 (two years ago) link
If you answer 2 to the maths questions usually get them right about 1 in 4 times.
― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 21:27 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I go for 0, 1 or 2
― kinder, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 21:42 (two years ago) link
FWIW I agree with Number None and Chuck Tatum about that player. I didn't like him.
― the pinefox, Thursday, 31 March 2022 08:44 (two years ago) link
Player? I suppose the word is Contestant.
I was quite impressed when he retrieved "anderson" to go with "laurie" when he didn't immediately know it but also agree about his "mind palace" vibe
― conrad, Thursday, 31 March 2022 10:24 (two years ago) link
OTOH I like that Hutchinson is undefensively consultative with his team (or with Ounsley at least). I don't like captains that grandstand at their team's expense.
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 31 March 2022 11:00 (two years ago) link
I just can't agree with this. His genuine delight when the picture round about absurdist theatre came up was lovely.
― trishyb, Thursday, 31 March 2022 12:32 (two years ago) link
He's quite good value on Twitter as well.
― ailsa, Thursday, 31 March 2022 12:36 (two years ago) link
yay
― a spectre is haunting your mom (Noodle Vague), Monday, 4 April 2022 19:56 (two years ago) link
I wasn't sure who I wanted to win tonight.So good game. Funny last minute developments.But cool .Glad it was so close
― Stevolende, Monday, 4 April 2022 20:05 (two years ago) link
Well, goodbye UC, it was nice knowing you.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/16/jeremy-paxman-step-hosting-university-challenge/
― Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Wednesday, 17 August 2022 10:35 (one year ago) link
Amol Rajan - the ultimate "risen without a trace" bbc presenter of this era. Does anyone actually like the odious cunt other than the management?
― calzino, Wednesday, 17 August 2022 10:41 (one year ago) link
putting aside all the culture war content and dubious "debates" he's made his bones from, his presenting style is unbearable.
― calzino, Wednesday, 17 August 2022 10:51 (one year ago) link
I don't like him, but he's not going to put me off watching it. Not yet, anyway. It'd have to be someone like Michael Portillo or Giles Coren before I would boycott it sight unseen.
― trishyb, Wednesday, 17 August 2022 11:22 (one year ago) link
"Look at his face, just look at his face"
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/11/07/11/50165641-10174307-image-a-18_1636283276609.jpg
― Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Wednesday, 17 August 2022 11:27 (one year ago) link