15th December - Questionmasters

                        
This week was the exact half-way point in the Quiz League and whilst The knot were pretty secure at the top of the B League three teams were jockeying for second place - News and Views (see link at right) will carry the details next week.

As the Phoenix had vetted the questions we thought some were hard and some easy but the balance was very good and did not affect the scoring. Al the questions can be viewed here.
We look forward to the second half of the season.

A WELCOME RETURN

This week the Phoenix played away to the New Castle at the half-way point in the fixtures; we have not seen them for some time as they have spent the previous two seasons in the A League so it was bit of a reunion - they are a very pleasant and fun-loving team and it was great to play them again.

Moreover we were playing away at the Castle Inn probably one of the oldest buildings in the town said to have had links to the original castle that stood nearby.It is a beautiful old building with many sectioned-off rooms decorated with brass hangings, beamed ceilings and walls with a warm welcoming atmosphere. The beer is Theakstons, with just the bitter available on the night.

A curious coincidence arose with the questions in that both the Specialist and General Knowledge were set by the two teams from Staffordshire: the Knot who have made a strong impression since joining the Macclesfield League and the Royal Oak enjoying their first season and setting their first questions.

The questions in both sets were challenging and enjoyable; Nick was particularly looking forward to the "Knot Quite In Cheshire" round, expecting questions on Rudyard Lake, Leek and even the revived Knotty (North Staffordshire Railway). Sadly it wasn't like that and he pathetically spent the rest of the evening whingeing that his question had been one on sport!!! They were actually quite difficult with everyone scoring less than usual except Bob who chalked up a storming 33. Individual scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 9/9, Nick 3/6 and Tomo 12/9; conferred points were 6/14 whilst we picked up 7/12 passovers. The New Castle collected 8/7 passovers. The Phoenix scraped home by just 9 points.


All the questions can be seen here.


The question master from the Knot was Andrew Bogie who joined in the fun and laughter and exercised his judgement with authority.

A most enjoyable evening rounded off with extremely tasty sandwiches - thankyou questions setters, question master, the New Castle and The Castle Inn.

BOWLED OVER

This was the Phoenix' first visit to to the Pack Horse Bowling Club, new home of the peripatetic quiz team that spent some years at The Beehive, then moved to The Baths until that closed down (now reopened with a new quiz team) when they moved here. We very much hope they stay here for many years to come as it is a warm, welcoming place serving well-kept real ale. The team are well-known to the Phoenix as we have had many games together over the years enlivened with humour and good spirits. This was to be no exception.

Again there was a different slant on the specialist questions and whilst playing to the Phoenix' love of real ale and food in two of the rounds at the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were lagging by 12 points.

There was a spirited fight back in the Specialist questions particularly by Tomo who had a great run of 3's
whereas the questions just did not fall right for Nick who scored just 3.

The final score was 139 to 136 - the Phoenix lost by 3 points.

Individual scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 12/15, Nick 9/3 and Tomo 6/24. Conferred points were 9/14 with 2/9 passovers. The home team collected 6/5 passovers.

A pleasant rounded off with a lovely selection of sandwiches and pork pies apparently provided by the team itself - many thanks.

The questions can be viewed by clicking here