Third Meeting With The Plough - this time at home

Getting rather incestuous this! The return match with the Plough in the League, we played them in the Cup and Granville has asked the questions at the Tavern the previous two weeks. A great bunch with equal amounts of knowledge and humour but this time we had our mascot Rosie!

The Specialist questions were set by The George & Dragon with some new twists on the rounds, in particular the History and Geography - see link at right.

However, although the Phoenix enjoyed the questions and marked them quite highly, there were no big scores - in fact at the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were trailing by 51 to 42 and Nick had scored 0!! So it was with some trepidation that the Phoenix settled down for the General Knowledge questions.

Our fears were justified - it is hard to believe that the laid-back and friendly guys we had met only  the previous week could produce such a set of questions - is it really the same team? By question 20, two questions were already vying for the title of the most ridiculous of the season: would it be "What is the fastest ever recorded speed of someone travelling on a jet-powered skateboard?" (Q5) or "What is macropocide?" (Q19) - if anyone is interested the answer to the second one is the killing of kangaroos!!!

Nevertheless, the questions allowed the Phoenix to slowly make up the difference and gradually overtake the Plough eventually finishing with 114 to 93 - it is a sad irony that the questions that we judged very harshly and gave (for the first time I can remember) 0 marks were what allowed the Phoenix to save the day.

Wendy continued with her strong performance this season, with Tomo scoring a good 24 but otherwise the questons just did not fall our way.

Individual scores were Bob 6/3, Wendy 9/12, Nick 0/9 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 10/15 with passovers 8/18. The Plough picked up just 6/5 passovers evidence of very strong team work by the Phoenix.

A fine spread of sandwiches rounded off the evening - thank you Brian and Tracey

3rd March - The Cup Quarter Finals

For the quarter final of the Cup, we were drawn against The Albion currently top in the C League with John Hargreaves the top scorer in the individual merits. It certainly would not be The Fall of Albion as foreseen by William Blake (Albion dancing aside).

Steve was making a welcome appearance in Wendy's absence and for the second week running the genial question master was Granville from The Plough Taverners.

The questions were quite good but the importance of balance meant there were a large number of follow-on questions - i.e. consecutive questions taking the same form. (See link at right)

Since all questions were conferrred there are no individual scores, and the Phoenix managed to win most of the six rounds with a small margin. Final score was 102 to 82, a well-fought contest.

This means that the Phoenix will now go forward to the semi-final to play one of the teams from the Ox-Fford or The Dolphin who are towering above the rest in the A League - bring it on!!

A well-lubricated evening ended with a lovely selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey.

24th Feb - Home to the Puss Heads

We knew this was going to be a tough one - the Puss Heads top of the League and with a huge total points lead.

The Phoenix were intent on not letting the visitors get any passovers and played very cautiously - probably a little too cautiously.  There were no moments of high drama and Nick refrained from his usual faux pas - there were a couple of Specialist questions he should have got but his usual problem with names meant they were conferred.

Except for Wendy's magnificent equalling of her PB it was a low-scoring game but the Phoenix played solidly as a team managing to get 27 conferred points of which maybe 3 or 4 could/should have been 3's.

No complaints about the questions that were balanced, but there was some confusion at the end of the game when the question master's scoring was challenged and several questions were rerun. Eventually it was decided that the visitors won by 121 to 120.

Individual scores were Bob 6/12, Wendy 15/15, Nick 0/12 and Tomo 3/15 - conferred points were 12/15 and passovers 9/7; The Artists picked up 9/9 passovers. 

The evening was rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey

The Cock - But No Bull

A return match against the Cock (a Robbie's pub outside town) and this was bound to be a close call. 

Bob of the Phoenix and Jackie of The Cock were tied for second place in the individual scores and they each had something to prove. Moreover the Phoenix were again without a mascot and Bob's daughter had still not produced her baby. The tension!!

 At the end of the specialist  rounds the Phoenix were a nose ahead with 47 against The Cock's 44; The Cock kept up the pressure in the General Knowledge questions just losing by 67 points to 66. Final score was 114 to 110 to the Phoenix. A very close and most enjoyable match.

Nick had learned the lessons from previous mistakes and this time thought about his answers instead of blurting out the first thing that came into his head; so when asked "Which crime-fighting duo had the first names Christine and Mary-Beth?" he scratched the inside of his skull for the answer eventually coming up with that little-known series Cagney and Makepeace!!! The groans could have been heard at the Tavern!

We felt the questions were pretty good and balanced even though the two question setters had not been able to vet each others' questions.

Bob and Wendy continued to get high scores with Bob easing in front of Jackie in the individual merits; individual scores were Bob 15/15, Wendy 9/15, Tomo 9/6 and Nick 6/9. Conferred points were 2/17 and passovers 6/5. The Cock picked up 7/3 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with a good selection of sandwiches - perfectly rounded off just before midnight with Bob's daughter giving birth to a baby daughter.

A good night all round.

The Baths Are Empty ...

... but the quiz team remains buoyant.

Yes, The Baths pub is one of the casualties of the financial crisis and its doors have closed. 

The quiz team however continues and last night The Ox-Fford were good enough to allow us to use that pub as neither of their two teams was playing at home. The team are continuing their search for a new venue. It was good to be back in the Ox-Fford with memories of our sojourn in the A League, and there was a selection of Jennings and Wychwood beers that were welcome.

The Phoenix were under some pressure - not only were both mascots missing, but Bob's daughter is about to go into labour which was something of a distraction.

The questions by the Oxford C we thought were very good (see link at right) and the twist on the picture round (nations' flags in black and white) was certainly different.

The Baths raced ahead to an early lead of about 13 and at the end of the Specialist were ahead by 51 to 43. The Phoenix fought hard to get back and managed to win the General Knowledge by 76 to 75 the final score being 126 to 119 in favour of the Baths. It was a very hard-fought game and very few points were given away - no complaints, well done The Baths. The able and affable question master was Brian from The Knot.

Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 7/17, passovers 3/5 with The Baths picking up 9/5 passovers.

Well done The Baths and thankyou very much to the Ox-Fford who prepared a plate of varied sandwiches that were very welcome.

February 4th - Home To The Puss Artists

A first meeting with the Puss Artists, the second team from the Puss In Boots, who had a bad start to the season losing the first three games but who have made steady progress since, winning the subsequent four.

 Our mascot Rosie was back again but seemed to take more interest in the radiator pipe under the seats than the game itself.

 It was a very tight game with the Artists showing the wide range of knowledge that has brought them such good fortune. It was made even tighter with two of the Specialist rounds being out of the ordinary, Round 3 in particular  allowed Tomo to display his encyclopaedic knowledge of daytime TV. The other unusual round was a picture round. The challenge enabled two of the Phoenix (Wendy and Tomo) to attain personal bests for the season and Bob put in a very steady 27. Nick unfortunately once again showed off his loose canon trick on two questions that a moment’s thought would have given three points rather than 1 to the Artists. Rosie was in danger of being dragged from her warm spot to be replaced by Nick.

 However there were some questions that caused some comment, in particular:

  1. A question about the width of the standard gauge asked for the nearest inch – but gave the answer with a fraction of an inch and no leeway shown. (GK Q13)

2. The first name of Dubya Bush’s younger brother was requested with the answer shown as Jeb (or maybe Jed - apparently they are interchangeable) but in any case his first names are John Ellis. (See Round 8 Q3)

 For both these questions and throughout the quiz the question master stuck strictly to the rules and insisted on the answer shown, similarly with time-keeping. We felt he did a very good job indeed. The responsibility for both difficulties lies with the vetting, as did the imbalance of questions in the General Knowledge.

 Final scores were Bob 6/21, Wendy 15/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/15; conferred points were 5/18 with Passovers giving 6/3. The Artists got 10/6 passovers.

 The evening finished with a splendid supper of sausages, onions, chips and bread and butter. Thank you Brian and Tracey.

A Close Shave At The Plough

Once again the Phoenix were at The Plough, this time in the knock-out Cup/Plate competition (See Week 4 2nd December). And The Plough were out to avenge their close defeat at the previous meeting.

Once again there were serious distractions - Manchester United were playing West Bromwich Albion and Macclesfield were playing top of the League Wycombe; to compound the problems the Phoenix were without either of their lucky mascots.

It was a keenly-fought match with the lead swapping from one to the other team with pretty good questions. There was lots of laughter and fun and The Phoenix eventually scraped through with 66 points to The Plough's 64.

The game ended with a splendid assortment of sandwiches and particularly a bowl of pickled onions. Excellent!!!

Oh and United won 5-0 and Macc achieved a goalless draw.

Home To The George & Dragon

Good to be back home for the quiz this week with an amazing selection of fine real ales to bolster our efforts.

This was to be a very interesting week as the standings from last week show that there were 4 teams tied for 3rd place - including the Phoenix and the George & Dragon.

Our opponents have been friends and adversaries over many years and the game was bound to be good-humoured and fun.

There was a major change in the Phoenix side - Nick's son was dropped as the team mascot and replaced by Wendy's Jack Russell Rosie. Sadly this did little to improve Nick's performance - last week he confused Scotland and Ireland, this week he surpassed himself confusing Dvorak's New World Symphony with Holst's Planets Suite. There is serious consideration being given to replacing him with Rosie.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) showed a lot of thought and ingenuity with rounds that were not at all familiar (i.e. not the usual textbook questions) and it was a keenly fought battle with the Phoenix eventually finishing ahead by just one point at 51/50.

General Knowledge were not quite as good but were well received and allowed the Phoenix to pull slowly ahead, mainly led by Bob's brilliant score of 39. Final score was 140 to 126.

Individual scores were Bob 18/21, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/15, conferred 10/16, passovers 5/4 and the G&D picked up 9/5 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with the Bollington Church House question masters taking part in the fun. Many thanks to Brian and Tracey for a superb spread of sandwiches.

13th Jan - Choked by The Knot

The Phoenix braved the Cheshire-Staffordshire border and its multiple speed traps to play away at The Knot in Rushton Spencer. We were met by a roaring fire giving out enormous heat and a very friendly team that has done extremely well over the last two seasons. Three real ales were available (Jennings, Black Sheep and Bombardier) which is always welcome.

The Specialist questions were very well received and although there were no big scores someone answered just about every question, and there was very little to choose between the two teams. It was clear that a lot of thought and imagination had gone into the questions  and at the end the scores were 37 to the Phoenix and 38 to the home team.

The General Knowledge were less well received but that is not the reason The Knot began to nose ahead to eventually finish 122 to 108.

Final individual scores were Bob 9/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 3/12, Conferred points 10/15, Passovers 7/7 whilst The Knot picked up 6/7 passovers.  The knot is a very strong team ably captained by Brian Bogie whom many of us admired on Mastermind a few weeks ago.

A very tight and most enjoyable game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches.

An Epiphany

January 6th saw the valiant members of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League battling through ice and snow to play their games.

It was the turn of the Phoenix to ask the questions in the B League in Rushton Spencer (The Knot), Bollington (Church House) and in town the Plough and Puss In Boots.

The results will have to await the News and Views (see link at right) but the questions (see link) were very well received in Bollington  and the Specialist rounds especially gained high scores. In the General Knowledge there was some discussion about a couple of questions which were substituted by Supplementaries: Q34 as it was unclear if the question meant mainland Scotland or the islands, and Q48 that should have referred to the Liberal Democrats not the Liberals.

The evening was rounded off with a splendid selection of sandwiches, pork pies and hot pizza - many thanks.

All the question masters from the B League report that the questions were well judged.

9th February Home to The Church house Bollington

We were pleased to welcome the Church House Bollington to the Tavern following their promotion from the C League last year. It is a team that has been around for some years with many changes – both to the team and to the Church House itself!

The Phoenix won the toss and opted to go first in the Specialist rounds. Sadly the toss was about the only thing we won on the night.

The Specialist rounds were very obscure, reflected in the scoring (conferred and Passovers not included):

Round                        Phoenix                      Church House

 

Sport                                    0                                 3

Geography                         0                                 3

History                                3                                 0

Science                                6                                  6

Arts & Entertainment   6                                  0

Lest We Forget                   0                                  6

Music                                   6                                   6

Answer Lies In The Soil  9                                    6

 

In each of the first three rounds, only one person managed to score a 3 – the purpose of the quiz is not to show how clever the question setter is!

The Specialist were better but were sometimes irritating with attempted “balance” i.e. consecutive questions on capitals, castles etc.

 

At the end of the Specialist, Phoenix were trailing by 10 points and although they made up some of the gap the final score was 112 to 107 to the Church House.

 Individual scores were: 

Bob 6/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 12/6. Conferred points were 6/5 with 13/11 passovers. The Church House picked up 11/11 passovers. A very high number of passovers that sheds some light on the questions.

 No complaints about the winners – it was a keen game in a relaxed atmosphere and the Church House questions were no easier than those of the Phoenix – well done.!!

Once again there was serious distraction from another sporting event - this time of even greater import!! The Waters Green Ladies' Darts team!! You don't mess with them!!

 The Phoenix were able to draw comfort from the roaring fire and hefty sandwiches provided by Brian. A very pleasant evening.

 

P.S. It must be emphasised that the above comments are those of just one member of one team and it will be interesting to see the reactions of others,

Week 4 2nd December

The first snows of the winter saw the Phoenix making their way to The Plough, a well-established pub with a quiz team well-known and respected from their previous home at The Cricket Club.

Once again there was a sporting diversion with the Burnley v. Arsenal cup tie being televised and, more importantly, Macclesfield playing away to top of the League Wycombe.

The four draught ales available however provided more interest than the TV and the game proceeded smoothly.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) were much appreciated and lent themselves to the Phoenix as they crept ahead to a 51 to 37 lead. In particular the rounds on old toys and symbols were original and interesting.

The General Knowledge questions allowed the Plough Taverners to stage a comeback but finished with a close score of 61 to 63 to the Phoenix. This also saw a first in the Quiz League with Nick scoring absolutely nothing!! A very lonely furrow at the Plough!

 Final scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 3/18, Nick 9/0 tut tut!!! And Tomo 9/12. Conferred points gave the Phoenix 11/15 and Passovers 7/6. The Plough Passovers scored 6/11. Final overall score 114 to the Plough 98. Tasty sandwiches were very welcome before stepping back into the cold after a very pleasant evening.

Oh, Burnley won 2-0!! But Macc lost 4-0 – can’t win ‘em all!

First Round of the Cup

This week saw the first round of the knock-out competitions Cup and Plate (for those knocked out of the Cup competition in the first full round).

The Phoenix were at full strength and were drawn against the Chester Road Tavern; this is a team we have often met over the years in a friendly pub selling real ales. There is a strong interest in sport in the pub so there are several TV screens to cover various sporting events.

Unfortunately the night of the quiz coincided with two minor events involving Manchester United (against Villarreal) and Celtic (against Aalborg). It would seem that these lesser events were of more interest to the regulars than the quiz and at times audibility was rather difficult.

The questions (see link aside) were set by the Ox-fford C and The Church House Bollington and thought to be of a high standard; the Phoenix managed to win each of the six sets of 20 but only by a narrow margin and the final score of 109 to 83is rather misleading as to how close the two teams were.

A very pleasant evening was rounded off by a selection of tasty sandwiches, black pudding and pork pies. Much appreciated. And although United did not score they go through to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Puss Heads no Pussy Cats!!

The Puss Heads moved this season to join the Puss Artists at the Puss In Boots pub on the Buxton Road. They are old friends having spent many years at the St Dunstan in Langley before moving briefly closer to town prior to this latest move.

The pub is very comfortable with large rooms and whilst good food is served it does not overshadow the fact that this is a pub; well-kept real ale is on sale (Brains inter al) and the staff are friendly and helpful.

The quiz was hotly contested with questions generally thought to be different and good. The Puss Heads had a small lead at the end of the Specialist rounds (51 to 45) and neither side gave much away in the General Knowledge. However the Puss Heads slowly pulled away with a finishing score of 130 to 111 - worthy winners in a well-fought contest.

Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 9/15, Nick 6/18 and Tomo 6/6; conferred points (demonstrating good team work) were 6/14 whilst passed-over questions from the home team gave just 6/4. Passovers to the home team gave them 7/7.

Well done the Puss Heads - no complaints - they were good.

The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

The Phoenix Rises

Despite having good scores, the Wonderers narrowly missed promotion last season; undeterred, they gave notice of intent with a change of name to the Waters Green Phoenix.

Then if there is no promotion this season they will drown their sorrows with beer from the brewery of the same name.

They started well with two home games each with excellent support from a reserve.

Game 1 was against The Baths, old friends and adversaries with a lot of experience in the League. This was a taut and highly contested game with what are generally thought to be very tough questions set by The Knot and Chester Rd Tavern (see link at right). The Phoenix were a nose ahead at the end of the Specialist rounds, but The Baths came back fighting hard and the final result was a narrow victory to the Phoenix with 111 points to 108.  It is good to report that three of the team scored 21 points each and 27 valuable points were scored with conferred questions. Just 16 were passed over.

 

Game 2 was again against a familiar team from The Cock at Henbury with both sets of questions set by the Harrington Academicals generally thought to be very good. Again the scores were very good with Bob getting 36, Tomo 30, Wendy 24 and Tony 21 – final score 155 to 111. Coincidentally conferred points were again 27 with 17 passed over to The Cock.

New Season 2008/9

As the cold winds and heavy rain of the summer gave way to the darker, colder winds and heavier rain of autumn mysterious figures shuffled out of the bleak, black night of Macclesfield into the welcoming arms of the Weavers. Yes the Macclesfield Quiz League was shuffling off the sloth of summer and getting into prime condition as the AGM heralded the start of another season.

First off was the Plate final which pitted the Principals against the Knot – the former is a long-established team with a healthy record in the A League for many years whereas the Knot have had a remarkably strong first season coming top of the C League winning promotion to the B League and getting to the final of the Plate.

As usual the question master was Rick Davies who conducted the question with a fine blend of authority and humour.

The Knot put up a spirited performance but in the end the experience of the Principals won through.

I hope to publish the questions at a later date.

All was not bad news through the summer – once again the Wonderers had their annual end of season party celebrating with Indian food, music by Steve and Tomo’s miraculous conjuring tricks. As usual Nick had chosen one of summer’s few fine days (well in advance!) and the team’s numbers were swollen by friends.

To greet the new season and express their intentions, the team will be known as the Waters Green Phoenix (we can always fall back on the name of the brewery!)

22nd April - Belated report

The final match of the season, Nick was swanning around in Spain and Wendy was struck down by some fearful disease and could not play. Eric once again stepped into the breech and after running up a hefty telephone bill Bob managed to get Dave, one of his mates to play - apparently he was more interested in drinking the real ale in the Waters Green Tavern than the quiz itself.
There was much to play for - not only were the Wonderers fighting to stay in the top half of the League but both Bob and Tomo were neck and neck in the individual scores and it was every man for himself.
At the end of the Specialist rounds, the Wonderers were a nose in front with 51 against the Plough Taverners' 43; the gap grew wider in the general knowledge with the Wonderers' 90 to 63 by the Plough Taverners - a final score of 141 to 106.

Tomo managed to beat Bob in the individuals with a hefty 36 to Bob's 27; Dave gave the lie to the malicious suggestion he was only there for the beer with a magnificent 21 on his debut appearance whilst Eric scored his personal best with a solid 18.

The questions (see link at right) were very good indeed - a fine way to end the season!

Calling All Quizzers

Well, the end of the season is upon us and through the summer months Macclesfield will see Tuesday nights transformed as the streets are filled with sandalled and bearded men in woolly cardigans shuffling through the town with dazed expressions on their faces - what to do on a Tuesday evening?

But all is not lost - to break up the out-of-season dullness the East Cheshire Hospice has arranged a quiz to brighten those bleak summer evenings. Details can be found here

http://www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/default.asp?id=94

Most quiz team members will have had personal experience of the hospice and the magnificent work that they do and will no doubt wish to show their appreciation and support by entering a team on 27th June - not only a quiz but supper is also included.

So for a fun evening and fund-raising for a truly wonderful institution in the town let's see how many teams we can bring together - but you have to be quick. The Wonderers tried to muster a team last year but were too late with their entry form - don't let it happen to you. Entry forms are available at the above link.

So get your applications in for a great evening and raise funds for a really worthy charitable institution - the East Cheshire Hospice.

See you there!!

Refurbished Harrington Fails To Put A Shine on Wonderers

The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth, just outside town, is a charming Queen Anne building frequently described as the best pub in Cheshire. Until recently it was a part of a working farm and until her death some years ago was run by the fiercely independent Mrs Bayley who fought a running battle with Robinson's Brewery and their attempts to modernise the pub (i.e. install handpumps etc.). After her death the pub was open but its future uncertain until recently when a new manager took over. The pub has been renovated whilst retaining its charm with lighter paint on the walls and the old 20 watt light bulb replaced with a brighter one.

There are two quiz teams based at the pub and the fortunes of the Harrington Academicals mirror the changes taking place at the pub - at the start of last night's game they were in an unassailable 2nd position and guaranteed promotion to the A League. But this did not lead to any relaxation in their combativeness.

They stormed into an early lead with the specialist questions at the end of which the Wonderers were trailing by 23 points (67 to 44). The General Knowledge brought about a change of fortunes, but the visitors were unable to close the massive gap, finishing with the same margin of 23 points (147 to 124).

The questions were fine, especially the Specialist into which a lot of thought and ingenuity had gone (see link at right).

Bob and Tomo put in excellent performances fully justifying their positions in the top 10 scorers of the League (see the News & Views link at right), individual scores being Bob 15/18, Wendy 3/12, Nick 6/3 (pathetic!) and Tomo 9/27. The conferred and passed over points tell their own story - in the Specialist we got 9 and 2 respectively, whilst the home team picked up 8/11. The visitors did a little better in the General Knowledge with 11/9 against 13/7.

An excellent dish of sandwiches finished off the evening and we wish the Academicals every success next year in the A League. Thanks and best wishes to the new landlady of the Harrington.

Back In The Swim With The Baths

This week we played at home to The Baths - old friends and adversaries.

The Baths went storming into the lead on the Specialist questions and the Wonderers were soon trailing by something like 20 points. However, they proved to be strong finishers towards the end of the Specialist and eventually pulled back to 47 points against the Baths' 54.

Chastened, the Wonderers played steadily with very few wasted points eventually picking up a total of 128 to the visitors' 116. Individual scores were Bob 12/15, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 6/12. Conferred points were 8/12, and passovers 8/9; significantly the Baths got an astonishing 26 passovers, 15 from the Specialist rounds where the Wonderers really struggled.

Despite not knowing the answers we thought the questions were imaginative and interesting and marked them highly.

An inexperienced Louise from The Lamb was question master and carried her duties with aplomb and good humour. A pleasant evening out.