16th December–Away to the Wharf

 

The Wharf is one of the excellent real ale pubs that have opened in town in the past couple of years – not only does the pub have a fine selection of beers from micro-breweries but it also has a fine reputation as a music venue. It was great to see Thornbridge Wild Swan beer available – at 3.5% it has an amazing explosive taste, dry and hoppy - an excellent session beer.

The quiz team we have known for some years and enjoyed many laughs with them and this was no exception. But we were without our mascot and our sole supporter was listening to his headphones. Understandably as this was not one of the Lemmings’ finest performances. The questions were fine with nothing qualifying for the Nine-Banded Armadillo award but as usual all questions are easy – if you know the answers. The Lemmings struggled through the specialist rounds at the end trailing by 3 points at 45 to 48. In the General Knowledge they did rather better but it should be mentioned that a record score was broken – Nick’s PW!! His worst score ever finishing with just six points over both sets of questions. His worst score not just for this season but for years!! Can’t blame it on the White Swan at 3.5%!!!.General Knowledge scores were 73 to 58 giving a final score of 118 to 106

Individual scores were Bob 9/15, Wendy 6/15, Nick 3/3, Tomo 12/18 and conferred points 8/14 with 7/8 pass-overs. The home team collected 5/6 pass-overs.

December 9th Home to Plough Horntails

 

Once again it was a merry meeting with familiar faces as we welcomed the Plough Horntails who have now returned to the newly reopened Plough Tavern after its recent troubles. We look forward to our away game in the hope that the high standards of hospitality and supper are maintained.

Questions had been set by the Bate Taverners and the Lamb Shanks and a lot of thought had gone into both sets – the fact that some rounds went by with no-one gaining three points must not detract from a good effort. For instance one round asked for the fictional character after giving the residence. One question that created much discussion was 21 in the General Knowledge even though the answer was in the question!!

At the end of the specialist rounds, the Lemmings had managed a slender lead of 62 to 51 but they saw that gradually eaten away by the Horntails but with a late recovery managed to get a draw in the General Knowledge with 73 each; final score 135 to 124.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 9/21. Nick 12/6, Tomo 15/15; conferred points were 10/15 with 7/8 pass-overs. The Horntails picked up 4/12 pass-overs.

The evening was rounded off with a selection of Brian’s home-cooked beef or cheese sandwiches.

Thanks are due to the question setters, the question master from the Bate, the question setters, The Plough Taverners and of course Brian.

2nd December–Questionmasters

 

This week the Lemmings were questionmasters for the B League; unfortunately Nick was away and many thanks are due to the British Flag who provided their own questionmaster.

The questions had been set by the Harrington Academicals and whilst one or two were queried (in particular Kim Clijsters) they were all settled without the thunderous roar of dummies hitting the floor.

Nick said later that he wished he had ben playing as he thought the questions suited him.

Just two more games to Christmas and the half-way stage

25th November–The Plate Round 1

 

 

Hello All,

Duncan Disorderley here standing in for Nick for this one as he is in London on secret business. Our fifth man, Tony, stood in admirable. Having lost in the first round of the Cup to the Dolphin the Lemmings settled in for a hopefully long haul starting with the Lamb Shanks as our opponents. The soundtrack to the evening was the efforts of Manchester City to overcome 10-man Bayern Munich and the talk amongst the spectators was which would be the better match – City v. Munich or Lemmings v. Lamb Shanks. Add the fact that Macc were playing Torquay and the heady mix was complete.

Speaking from the experience of many years of Cup and Plate matches, I have to say that this was a tough one. The first round was won 11-7 by the Lemmings. The second round was drawn 10-10 after which the Lemmings managed to maintain leads in each round up until Round Five which the Shanks won 14-10. A preponderance of literature questions was evident throughout the quiz and this worked to the advantage of the Lemmings and stopped the Shanks from creeping up on us too much!

The final result was 74 to the Lemmings and 56 to the Shanks. Thanks to the Lamb team and question master Juliet for a friendly and enjoyable quiz and to Brian for a smashing cheeseboard. So – Manchester City, Macclesfield Town and the Waters Green Lemmings were the winners on the night.

The only small blot on the horizon was a stonking entry for the Nine-banded Armadillo Trophy. Here it is folks:

What did Roy Jenkins replace with a ‘fridge?

Easy, you might think, but neither team got it right. It was a chalkboard on which were scrawled the names of prisoners awaiting execution.

Yes... so did we!

All for now.

18th November–Away To The Bate Taverners

 

This was the first time the Lemmings had visited the Bate Hall since the management changed recently  and it is good to see the the high standards brought in by the previous managers are being upheld. The pub is a very old former coaching inn dating back to at least 1525 and still retains a priest hole reflecting former intolerant times. The Marston’s beer is on top form and the pub has a welcoming atmosphere.

The questions had been set by the Cock-A-2 and the Chester Road Tavern covering a wide range of subjects and it was a very close game with the Lemmings at the end of the Specialist rounds just a nose in front with 53 to the Bate’s 52. There had been some confusion when Nick heard education to be vegetation (Round 3 Q6) and not one of America’s greatest legal decisions.

In the General Knowledge the Lemmings were less successful falling quite a way behind at one stage but eventually managing to claw back the lead with 86 to 82, final score being 139 to the Bate’s 134.

It was an excellent light-hearted game rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

Individual scores Bob 9/24 Wendy 6/24 Nick 9/15 and Tomo 15/12 conferred points 11/12 with 3/8 pass-overs; the Bate picked up 3/9 pass-overs.

Thanks are due to the Bate Taverners, and to the landlords for providing a large room and excellent supper.

11 November–Away to The Park Taverners

 

it was good to meet up again with old friends from the Park Tavern, a brewery-owned pub with a wide range of Bollington Brewery beers. It also has a lively social life with a film night, monthly scibar meetings and its own weekly quiz night.

The Lemmings were perhaps a little over-confident as they gathered in the room that had been set aside for the game. They were top of the League, Bob was first in the individual merits with Tomo not far behind and best of all we had our mascot Rosie. The questions had been set by the Ox-Fford C and covered a wide range of subjects from baking to film – the Lemmings thought they were very good except for one thing – they didn’t know the answers!! Scoring was very low and in the Specialist rounds not one Lemming member managed to get double figures, losing by 64 to 45 – a deficit of 19. In fact in one round (Sport) not a single point was scored and the home team cleaned up!!Even so, the Lemmings had made up similar deficits in the past. But it was not to be – they made up a little ground but the score for the General Knowledge was 82 to the Park’s 76 with a final score of 146 to 121 – a sound thrashing!!

No complaints – the questions were good, no points were thrown away, conferring was good – but the Lemmings were just not good enough – well done the Park Taverners. There was lots of laughter throughout the evening and a generous selection of excellent sandwiches to finish a very pleasant match.

Individual scores were Bob 9/12, Wendy 6/18, Nick 9/9 and Tomo 6/24; conferred points were 11/10 with 4/3 pass-overs. The home team collected 7/14 pass-overs (a story in itself!!).

Well done the Park Taverners and a big thank you to the Park Tavern.

4th November–Away To The Cock-A-2

 

It’s been some time since we faced the Cock-A-2 who moved to the Cock from their old haunt The Castle – always been a tough team to beat and after two consecutive losses the Lemmings were not brimming with confidence. It was interesting to note that the quiz league has now become an international event with American spectators and another supporter listening to Liverpool against Real Madrid.

We found both sets of questions very good although some had everyone scratching their head, in particular the largest lake in Europe  - they were however well balanced and very few did not get a correct answer. It was interesting to learn the name of the inventor of plastIcine!!

Breaking with tradition the Lemmings were ahead at the end of the Specialist rounds with 57 to 46 taking the General Knowledge with 81 to 70. Both Bob and Tomo scoring in the 30’s.

It was a very pleasant atmosphere with lots of laughter, particularly as Bob reminded us of some of his old jokes, and the Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde was on good form.

Individual scores were Bob 15/24, Wendy 9/6, Nick 9/9, Tomo 15/18; conferred 3/16 and pass-overs 6/8. The Cock-A-2 picked up 6/4 pass-overs.

Final score 138 to 116.

The evening ended with a fine selection of sandwiches – many thanks to the Cock and the Cock-A-2 for a most enjoyable evening. Liverpool lost too.

28th October First round of the Cup/Plate

 

Two important knock-out competitions on the night – the first round of the Cup and Plate and Macclesfield’s replay against Wrexham in the fourth qualifying round of the Cup.

The Lemmings were drawn against the Dolphin, always a popular venue with a friendly jocular team, a welcoming atmosphere and probably the best Robinson’s beer in town. However the Lemmings were doubly handicapped – Rosie was absent as was Bob who’s place was taken by new recruit Tony.

The questions were set with a sense of humour, very few were unanswered and we were lucky to have Paul from the Ox-Fford as question-master who kept the laughs rolling along. There will be no nominations for the Armadillo trophy this week! But, as an aside, the original armadillo question was asked on The Chase earlier in the evening (although the answer was multiple choice and nine-banded was not required as a part of the question).

It was not a good start for the Lemmings who lost the first two rounds by 8 points but recovered well in the third round to get equal points; but it was not to last as they lost the next three rounds losing by almost 30 points – 118 to 89.

But it was a very pleasant evening rounded off with a generous supper of chicken nuggets and chips with excellent sandwiches.

Thank you to the Dolphin, the Dolphin team and to Paul for easing the pain of a crushing defeat.

But we were not alone – Macc Town lost 5-2 – not a good evening!!

On to the Plate!!

A Night To Remember 21st October

 

The above was one of the questions, perhaps with some prescience, but in fact we were playing the Robin Hood the newly crowned Plate champions. This was the Lemmings’ third home game with a clean record having won both the previous games. This was one of the worst nights of the year as the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo lashed the country with gale-force winds and torrential rains. Sadly none of that energy had been picked up by either team.

Even the question-master was affected, as he turned up some 20 minutes late. It was obviously his first experience of asking and he was certainly put through a baptism of fire competing with the noise from the ladies’ darts game

The questions had been set by the Lemmings’ sister team the Rams but the scores on both teams were quite low compared to past games and the Specialist rounds finished with the visitors ahead by six points with 43 to the Lemmings’ 37. The General Knowledge rounds however saw an increasing lethargy particularly on the part of the Lemmings – for instance Nick was stirred into activity only at the mention of Madonna’s bra!! The visitors did far better in the General Knowledge with 90 points to the Lemmings’ 66.

However the main topic of conversation was the Nine Banded Armadillo trophy which last season failed to attract a winner but has already collected some nominations, GK20 and GK74 from last week and Nick has already been asked to enter from this week Sport Q3 and two requests for GK Q51 that possibly outdoes the original 9-banded armadillo!! And as for the name of the dog in Coronation St!!! No doubt more nominations will follow.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/3, Nick 6/6, Tomo 3/15 conferred points 7/17 and pass-overs 6/7. The Robin Hood picked up 9/11 pass-overs. Final score a victory by 30 points to the Robin Hood with 133 to 103, and no we weren’t robbed.

The evening ended with Brian’s excellent selection of sandwiches – thank you Brian, best wishes to the question master for future QM duties and well done the Robin Hood. In fact it was a night best forgotten.

14th October–Home To The British Flag

 

Not without trepidation did the Lemmings gather for their second home match, this time against old adversaries The British Flag; they too were relegated at the end of last season, but look at the comments in the last entry for the Hospice quiz (admittedly there were a few extras in their team).

But at least we had Rosie the team mascot who was unaffected by the team’s tension and slept through the entire evening (until food appeared that is!!).

We were very pleased with the questions at first but as the game went on, there were some really odd questions beginning to appear and we immediately nominated the Sport question on Lester Piggott (his middle name???) for the Nine-Banded Armadillo trophy – there may be other contenders this season.

At the end of the Specialist rounds the Lemmings were trailing by five points with 55 to the Flag’s 60 – not looking good!

But the Lemmings then made a remarkable come-back and at the half-way stage in the General Knowledge were some 20 points ahead – only to see that lead begin to slowly dribble away. However the Lemmings kept their heads and managed to scrape a win with 78 in the General Knowledge to the Flag’s 68, thus winning the game with 133 to 128.

Individual scores were Bob 12/18, Wendy 9/18, Nick 9/9, Tomo 12/12; conferred points were 9/12 and pass-overs 4/9. The visitors picked up 7/10 pass-overs.

A most enjoyable game rounded off with Brian’s home roast lamb and ham sandwiches with a tasty vegetarian option.

Thank you Brian, the British Flag and the question master from the Robin Hood who conducted his first game calmly and with humour.

East Cheshire Hospice Quiz 10th October

 

Whilst not strictly a part of the Macc Pub Quiz League activities the quiz questions had been set by the League secretary Mark, who with Paul (also from the Ox-Fford) asked all the questions and there were a lot of familiar quiz faces, which was good to see.

The Hospice do a considerable amount of good work and no doubt will at some time be in the lives and memories of everyone who attended – 14 teams of 8!! This was a chance to acknowledge our debt.

It was held at Tytherington school and all tables had a selection of fine sandwiches and Storm beer was available at the bar.

It was an excellent evening with fun and humour the eventual winners being very familiar from visits to the British Flag – who are playing the Lemmings on Tuesday!!! The Lemmings came last!

7TH OCTOBER–HOME TO THE NAGS HEAD

 

The first game of the new season, and the Lemmings gathered at the Waters Green Tavern, shaking off the dust of summer’s joys  in India, the Scottish islands and the Baltic instead shivering in the sudden drop in temperature.

Back in the B League it was good to meet up again with the Nag’s team, old adversaries who have always given us a close game.

Questions had been set by The Ox-Fford and were of a very high standard, but with three picture rounds in the Specialist section could perhaps have been called Mark’s gallery.

The Lemmings got off to a stuttering start (but see individual scores below) in particular Nick still smarting from his earlier Cagney and Makepeace answer (a drama yet to be written)  confused Birds of a Feather with the Liver Birds  and sacrificed a point to the Nags to the obvious shock of his team mates.

At the end of the Specialist the Nags held a comfortable lead of 12 points with 71 to the Lemmings 59.

In the General Knowledge Bob played a good captain’s innings and in particular Tomo scored a difficult to beat 27 making an outstanding total of 45 with the Lemmings steadily closing the gap eventually scoring 101 to the Nag’s 85. Quite a nail-biter played in good spirits.

Individual scores were Bob 18/18, Wendy 3/21, Nick 9/15, Tomo 18/27; conferred points were 9/12 with 2/8 pass-overs and the Nags picked up 4/7 pass-overs. Final score 156 to 161.

The evening was rounded off with Brian’s excellent home-roast beef and ham sandwiches – thank you Brian, the Nags Head and Pete the question master from the Park Taverners.

AGM and Plate Final 16th September 2014

 

The new season got off to a great start with a thrilling Plate Final between the Robin Hood and the Cock; the questions had been set by the Knot Know-Alls and the Park Taverners and were very testing – both teams did extremely well with a range of answers from railway gauges to chess masters and Rick Davies asked the questions with his customary light touch and humour.

The Robin Hood maintained a small lead for each of the first five rounds when the last round saw a remarkable change of fortunes but too late to affect the final score which saw the Robin Hood emerge as Plate champions.

The contest was followed by the AGM which saw an interesting debate on the Arts and Entertainments questions – should we continue with having a separate Art and Culture round or revert to having three “free” rounds? This was eventually put to a vote with each of the teams present having one vote and with a narrow margin (10 to 9) it was agreed to return to the old method – there is some discussion on this in the comments on the entry below for 30th April. I’d be happy for this to continue but the nature of the blog is that they will be buried with future entries.

Special mention was made of the friendly and attentive staff at the Weaver and the future looks good for the coming season.

Out of Season Party

 

With the AGM fast approaching, it seems appropriate to look at the Lemmings’ summer party that went off well with the weather generally smiling down upon us.

A neighbour was kind enough to take some photographs but there were other quizzers present who managed to avoid the camera so this is not a complete record:

Alice

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haydn

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather, Graham and Pete

 

 

 

Tomo

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chef

 

And Brian without whose generosity the Lemmings would have nowhere to meet and the ale provided at the party would be severely limited

To Any Regular Readers

 

Just a reminder that we are having a party on 12th July and all quiz teams are invited – if you don’t have the details please email me or in extremis add a comment below.

Cheers – enjoy the summer

30th April–And Now The Final Curtain

 

Yes, the curtain falls on the Cup Final, the last gasp of the 2013-14 Macclesfield Pub Quiz League, a season that saw several ups and downs and was in all probability completed thanks to the National Health Service to which several of us owe a big debt of gratitude.

The finalists this year were the Dolphin Dragons,  proudly sporting their TV star Liz, old stalwarts of the A League and a serious (if friendly) force to be reckoned with.

Facing the Dragons were the new kids on the block, the Waters Green Rams who have made remarkable progress in the past couple of years and have just won promotion to the A League and pass the Lemmings on their way down.

It was a closely fought contest with a fine set of questions prepared by the Knot ‘Arf and the Weaver from questions offered by all teams in all three Leagues. The contest was overseen with a light touch by Rick Davies as questionmaster, and very few questions were not answered. Except for the last round there was very little in it, but the Rams put in a storming finish to win the game with 112 to 97.

Congratulations to the Rams for winning the double – top of the B League and Cup Champions – an excellent season. Well done!!!

A thrilling end to a season that despite ups and downs still ran like clockwork for which the committee must be congratulated.

April 1st–A Night For Great Decisions

 

Macclesfield Town playing Cambridge United in a bid to reach the play-offs – defeat would demolish such hopes.

Manchester United in the first leg of the Championship League quarter final against Bayern Munich, the much fancied current holders. Even staunch supporters expect them to lose.

And the really important game – the Waters Green Lemmings against the British Flag on which their future in the next season rests. Sitting next to bottom, the Lemmings have 10 points, equal to the Knot ‘Arfs who lead on scores difference. The Flag have not won a game all season, although running some games very close, so the Lemmings take their seats confident of victory but dependent on how the Knot ‘Arfs get on. If the latter lose the Lemmings will remain bathed in the sunlight of the A League but if they win the the Lemmings are consigned to the funeral parlour awaiting the drop into the B League.

All in all a night of tension, anticipation, high hopes and potential disillusion. So, the results in ascending order of importance.

United shocked the pundits by taking the lead 8 minutes into the second half with a Vidic header from a Rooney corner. Munich scored shortly afterwards but with an uncharacteristic excellent defence United hung on to go into the second leg with a goal each.

Sadly Macc Town surprised nobody and lost 1-0 effectively securing their place in the Skrill League next season.

Then the big one!! The last game of the quiz season. Perhaps the smug confidence of the Lemmings blinded them to the clouds on the horizon. Not only was Rosie the mascot missing, but so was Wendy her owner!! Wendy was replaced by Graham, who had started quizzing many years ago with Bob when the League was first formed. Bob seized the opportunity to  remind Graham of some of his jokes.The questions had been set by The Weaver and whilst the balance was OK, there were several times when the Lemmings groaned “I wish we’d had that”. The British Flag seemed to have no such problem and it soon became clear that they were running away with the game finishing the Specialist with 54 points to the Lemmings’ 36. – Only 18 points – we’ve made that up before!! But not this time – the Flag won the General Knowledge with 74 to 63 with a remarkable margin of 29, 128 to 99.

One point must be made – both teams felt that the answer to question 6 in the History was wrong, but in fact it was quite correct and fortunately made no difference to the outcome.

Individual scores were Bob 3/18, Graham 6/6, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 10/13 and pass-overs 8/8. The Flag collected 6/12 pass-overs.

Well done the British Flag, the Lemmings resume their hereditary place in the B League and and on the way pass their sister team the Rams who are promoted to the A League.

Despite the fate at stake the game was played with much laughter and jokes, and rounded off with an excellent cheese board from Brian. Thank you Brian, the Flag and the question master from the Weaver.

And so ended the Lemmings’ season of missed opportunities, mixed fortunes and metaphors.

We enjoyed our season in the A League and hope to get back at the end of next season.

25th March–Home to th Ox-Fford C

 

 

The penultimate game of the season, and after a promising start the Lemmings have had a rather disappointing time of it. Tonight was against the Ox-Fford C and clearly it would take a miracle to change the Lemmings’ fortunes and save them from relegation.

They took their usual place in the Tavern feeling rather despondent, as if led like lambs to the slaughter. But then there was a ray of hope!! Only three players turned up from the Ox-Fford C as one of the team had fallen sick at the last moment and they had not had time to find a replacement. Perhaps miracles do happen – but it was a slender hope.

As the questions  began it was clear that they were very much to the Lemmings’ interests and they began to draw away leading by 21 points at the end of the Specialist with 69 to 48.

Peter the question master from the Dolphin then remarked that considerable work had been required to bring the General Knowledge questions up to standard, for instance several very obscure ones required the answer to be turned into the question. And now the visitors showed their mettle and they clawed back into the game, eating into the Lemmings’ lead. However the Lemmings recovered their composure and with much discipline managed to cling on losing the General Knowledge with 62 to 81 – but winning the game by two points, 131 to 129.

Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 15/9, Nick 9/12 and Tomo an excellent 21/12; conferred points were 6/15 with 6/5 pass-overs, the visitors picking up 4/10 pass-overs.

It was a most enjoyable game rounded off with a fine lamb curry from Brian with popadoms, naans and a fiery mango chutney. Thank you Brian, Peter and the Ox-Fford C for a splendid evening.

18th March–Away to the Knot Knowalls

 

Like old times – the original Lemmings team playing together again. And against one of our favourite teams, the Knowalls.

The Knot is a warm and welcoming pub and the grumpy mood from travelling there was soon dissipated.There was a novel start to the game in that the other Knot team (question masters) had asked Nick to bring along the questions and there was a little banter about opening the envelope before delivery. However this was not necessary as the questions had been delivered to the Waters Green Tavern uncollated and without envelopes and although the manager Stephen had valiantly sorted them into order there was still a transparent lack of envelopes. Undeterred, Nick wrapped the question papers in the Daily Mail thus serving the dual purpose of defending customers from its mindless bile.

Having settled in and collected our respective drinks we faced Round 1 from the jovial question-master. It was from this moment that things went downhill. There was nothing wrong with the questions, it was just that we didn’t know the answers and by the end of the Specialist we were lagging by 15 points, 52 to 37.

Undeterred and fortified with another round of drinks the Lemmings reminded each other that they have made up bigger deficiencies in the past and would do so again – and why not tonight??

Indeed the Lemmings began to claw back the points and at one point were just five points behind the home team – but it was not to be, once again the Knowalls lived up to their name and drew away ending the game with a clear lead of 19 points, 127 to 108.

No complaints and in any case what more proof could anyone ask that the Lemmings had not looked at the questions before handing them over to the question-master since each scored well below their average.

Individual scores were Bob 6/15, Wendy 6/15, Nick 0/12 and Tomo 9/9, conferred points were 9/11 with 7/9 pass-overs; the Knowalls picked up 9/11 pass-overs.

Nevertheless it was a very pleasant evening rounded off with fine sandwiches and excellent chips – many thanks to the Knot, the Knowalls and the laid-back question-master.

And finally although there were no serious objections to the questions, there is another nomination for the nine-banded armadillo!! Yes, “What was Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s first son called?” (Q33 General Knowledge – one almost wonders if this was a deliberate entry to the armadillo challenge!!). No doubt everyone was on the edge of their seat waiting to hear the answer which apparently was Sonny.

11th March–Questionmasters

 

Firstly a word of thanks to Mark Watson – the Lemmings have recently been struggling with absences, Nick being stuck in London for two months and Bob being away; nevertheless they managed to get together both sets of questions but with no regular reserves could not cover the four venues despite an appeal to each team in all Leagues and several personal approaches. Much against his better judgement, Nick was forced to disturb Mark who is recovering from serious surgery for advice and Mark managed to cajole his own team and the British Flag to cover their own game. We have always recognised that the smooth running of the Quiz League owes much to Mark’s skills but this was much beyond the call of duty and is very much appreciated and Nick again offers his apologies.

A word of appreciation is also due to the Harrington Academicals and the Nags Head who thoroughly vetted the questions and whose suggestions certainly improved thee Lemmings’ efforts and proved the worth of all Leagues being involved in the questions.

The games at the Knot and the Dolphin both seem to have been good-humoured affairs with much laughter and fun. Nick however was at the Weaver where the home team were in typical belligerent mood that reached a low point with complaints that there were four football questions in the Sport round (“Don’t you know any other sport?”) that spilled over into the next round (All Saints) with a petulant display of football teams beginning with St holding up the game. The Ox-Fford C retained their composure and usual light-hearted approach whilst cries of “Boring” and “crap question” peppered the rest of the game.

At the end of the Specialist the Weaver had a slight lead of 58 to 54 which they retained as the General Knowledge was a dead heat with 54 each. The Weaver pub has vastly improved following refurbishment and the refreshments were a generous selection of sandwiches with chips

4th March Cup/Plate semifinals

 

The Lemmings had already been knocked out of the Cup and Plate so it was a night off for the team.Nick watched the game between the Knot Originals and the sister team from the Waters Green Tavern the Rams – it was a very good game and Nick wished he was playing as the questions appealed to him.

If there is any further news I will update this blog.

25th February–Away to the Weavers

 

Again I am indebted to Bob for supplying details as I was again out of town - Nick

Tuesday we played at the newly refurbished Weavers in the newly foreshortened Thornton Square, no longer a vast, pitch-black, ankle-breaker car park, but a bright parking lot with some new-build adjacent. The pub itself has been changed just sufficiently to make it more homely, which was just what it needed. A bright, cosy atmosphere and a good selection of ales.  Perhaps this lulled the WGL into a false sense of security as it went steadily downhill from there...  The questions were OK - not an armadillo in sight, and the

Chester Road Tavern provided two great 'free' specialist rounds - "A colourful life" and "Trigger Points" - a good little tribute round to the great Roger Lloyd-Pack.

In Nick's absence, WGL were joined by Dave Jones who scored a creditable 18 points for us. The home team were welcoming, as were the butties, and Caroline, the QM hosted the quiz really well. But all this didn't stop the Lemmings going further and further behind until we were somewhat bemused that an enjoyable quiz had drifted into a thumping win by the Weavers of 196 points to 115.   A good quiz, we thought, but for us on the night a bad toss to lose.

We have decided not to mention that it was the opposition wot got the question "What great American Folk Singer died recently?" Yes, we know it was Pete Seeger, but what group did he play in for many years..... The Weavers!

18th Feb Away to the Knot ‘Arf

 

It is always a pleasure to head for Rushton Spencer to play either of their two teams and this was no exception. Much fun was had from the repetition in previous games of Trowbridge being the county town of Wiltshire (see comments from 28th January) that fuelled more humour with the evening’s questions – hedgehogs were flavour of the evening but the questions were fine, especially the Specialist although the Knot’s avid interest in cricket served them well.

At the end of the Specialist the Lemmings were trailing by just 5 points with 68 to 73 – not usually a problem as the General Knowledge is pretty good for the Lemmings and they were slowly making up the deficit until two disastrous rounds where they scored practically nothing at all and fell impossibly behind losing the General Knowledge with 60 to 110. Final score a great win for the ‘Arfs with 183 to 128.

Individual scores were Bob 18/12, Wendy 18/9, Nick 6/9, Tomo 18/6, conferred points 7/16, with pass-overs 1/8; the home team picked up pass-overs 4/13

A most enjoyable evening rounded off with generously filled sandwiches with chips – many thanks to the Knot, the ‘Arfs and the Dragons for interesting questions

11th Feb Away to The Ox-Fford

 

Nick was again out of town and his place was taken by Tony – Bob has been kind enough to send in the following report:

“ We played the Ox-fford, including Mark and got off to a very slow start - after round two it looked like we were in for a thrashing almost equal to Arsenal at Liverpool, but the ship steadied and we were only four points behind at the end of the specialists! Although Wendy's figures showed that at one stage we got within a point of them, we couldn't keep it up and they ran out winners by 146 to 123.  Another demonstration of us knowing a lot of the questions that they knew but it was like an Arab celebration - no Passovers! There was a "who am I" round which everybody seemed to enjoy, and I found my questions not too bad, but Tommo and Tony in particular, were not having much luck with their questions. The company was great, though we did have one complaint. They were selling Marstons' bitter for £2 a pint which we thought was a deliberate ploy on the part of the Ox-Fford team to lull us into a false sense of security. There was a large slice of humour to the match and we couldn't help but dwell for a moment on the fact that as soon as the floods hit the Thames Valley, including Windsor, Marlow, Eaton and other bastions of Tory heartland, the first thing the Prime Minister shouts is "Money's No Object". I wonder if he'd have said that if it was Sunderland? The whole quiz was excellently and entertainingly refereed by the Knot Know-All's, and rounded off with good butties! Thanks to the Ox-fford for hosting such a good evening.

Match stats:

Final score: Ox-fford 146.

Waters Green Lemmings 123.

Specialists: Ox-fford 57; WGL 53

GK:              ox-fford 89; WGL 70

Conferred: Ox-fford 33; WGL 17

Passed Over: Ox-fford 23.  WGL 7

Bob: 33

Wendy: 33

Tony: 12

Tommo: 21”

The questions have been unavoidably detained (stolen laptop) but are now available in a rather different format.

Thanks all

4th February–Away to The Dolphin

 

Revenge is mine; I will repay saith the Dolphin (with apologies to the King James version Romans 12:19)

In the first game after the Christmas break, Alan the question-master from the Dolphin had sworn to “leather” the Lemmings who had won the first round against the Dolphin, so it was with some trepidation that they headed up the hill to the pub safe only in the knowledge that the Robinson’s beer is one of the best (if not THE best)  in town.

On a serious note our opponents like a laugh and are good fun to play and this was no exception. It was a very pleasant game and the few quibbles about the questions or answers were resolved with good nature and laughter under the watchful eyes of the question masters from the British Flag.

It was one of those nights when the questions fell easily for some and were a real headache for others although as usual conferred questions served the Lemmings well. Some in particular stretched the rules a bit, in particular round 4 of the Specialist that were arithmetical (admittedly easy) but required two other answers as well (a glance at the round will make this clear). Nick suffered his usual problems with names (Van Eyck for Vermeer) and the whole team played an over-cautious game conferring questions only to confirm the original knee-jerk answer.

At the end of the Specialist the Lemmings were 10 points behind with 46 to 56 but hopes were undimmed as they have often picked up that many points in the General Knowledge – but it was not to be – the General Knowledge finished with equal scores of 82 and a final score of 128 to the Lemmings and 138 to the Dolphin.

Individual scores were Bob 18/18, Wendy 0/18, Nick 6/6 and Tomo 9/24; conferred points were 9/11 with 4/5 pass-overs whilst the Dolphin collected 8/10 pass-overs.

The evening ended with a supper of an outstanding cheese and potato pie with an excellent shortcrust pastry, a superb meat and potato pie and if that was not enough there were chips!! Thank you The Dolphin and the team for a very pleasant evening.

To sum up, revenge is a dish best served cold, but that supper steeled the Lemmings to face the dreadful rain and cold outside.

28th Jan CUP/PLATE Questionmasters

 

The Lemmings were questionmasters this week and Nick was out of town – however one or two comments on the questions have been passed as follows:

Dave P from the Harrington Academicals:

“Alain Prost did not win 4 consecutive F1 championships

Magical Mystery Tour was not released as an album until 1976 – it was originally a double EP

Matt Baker is a co presenter of Countryfile as well as the one show

We didn’t use the supplementary for who replaced Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes Team. They answered Peres and pointed out that it was the McLaren Mercedes team and he moved to Mercedes.”

Brian from the Knot ‘arfs suggested that some questions have been used so often they should be formally banned – Fred Perry in particular.

Vetting lessons for us all there!!

Two more late entries from anonymous in the comments:

And Stafford is on the river Sow.

And Sydney Opera House opened in 1973, not 1956

Nothing for the Armadillo trophy then??

21st Jan Home to the Dolphin Dragons

 

The first game of the second half of the season,the Lemmings once again faced the Dolphin Dragons – the first clash resulted in a draw so it was with some trepidation that the Lemmings gathered on the home turf.

The dragons play a relaxed and friendly game and we all looked forward to an enjoyable evening.

The Specialist questions started well with Arts and Culture but then some rather odd rounds were introduced including one on trains and  another on numbers – not particularly wrong but certainly did not suit the Lemmings, reflected in the uncharacteristic low scores. At the half-way stage the Lemmings were trailing by 61 to 46.

It was therefore with some relief that we turned to the General Knowledge questions – how wrong we were!! These seemed to have been written by a committee comprising a computer programmer, a maths teacher and a daytime TV fan with a primer in quiz questions – so much so that it seemed at times that questions had been written in an attempt to gain nomination for the armadillo trophy. As in the Specialist the very low scores(except for Tomo and Bob respectively)  reflect the level of the questions. At the end of the General Knowledge the Lemmings lost by a similar margin with 86 to 70 – final score 147 to 116

Individual scores were Bob 6/27, Wendy 3/12, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 15/9; conferred points were 14/6 and pass-overs 2/7. The Dragons picked up 4/9 pass-overs.

All questions were borne with good humour on both sides and the evening ended with an excellent selection of cheeses and French bread – many thanks to Brian and Stephen, and to the Dragons for helping us through a difficult evening assisted by Mark from the Ox-Fford who asked the questions with patience and good humour.

And finally I’m sure everyone who reads this will join me in wishing Mark Watson a very speedy recovery and return to full health.

14th Jan Away To The British Flag

 

The British Flag are old adversaries as we have had many clashes over the years but this was to be the first one in the A league.

There was the usual distraction as Macclesfield were playing Sheffield Wednesday in the replay of the FA cup, but the game was played in a comfortable room away from the screens .

The questions did not really suit the Lemmings’ interests (not that they should!) and by about the half-way mark of the Specialist rounds they were trailing by 15 points but they managed to pull themselves together and ended the Specialist with 53 to the Flag’s 57.

The Lemmings fared rather better in the General Knowledge with 88 to the Flag’s  70 with the game finishing 141 to the Flag’s 127.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18 Wendy 12/21 Nick 6/9 Tomo 6/21 conferred points were14/12 and pass-overs 6/7; the Flag picked up 5/9 pass-overs.

It was a friendly game with little worthy of comment (other than Macc losing 4-1) ending with a tasty selection of sandwiches. Many thanks to the British Flag and their team.