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.

7th Jan Away to the Ox-Fford C

The first game after the Christmas break and after two weeks of intense eating and drinking the Lemmings managed to waddle to the Tavern and get a lift across town to the Ox-Fford, a pub that has seen some ups and downs during the economic crisis but now seems to have settled comfortably under new management. The pub still supports two quiz teams and other activities. It has always been a pub for football supporters so it was bound to be a noisy night as Manchester United were playing Sunderland.
I don’t think the Lemmings have ever played this team before so it was with some trepidation that they trooped onto the the Ox FFord C’s home turf. The game was played in a small back room in a very pleasant atmosphere presided over by Alan from the Dolphin with an ebullient style and occasional charade, in particular West Life’s Go West.
When the game was interrupted by a great cheer from the other bars following a goal from Sunderland, it became clear that the TV watchers were Man City fans, assuming Sunderland had not bussed fans into Macc. Sadly this was to be repeated following a very muted equaliser.
The questions were much to the Lemmings’ taste, two rounds in particular: Sport in which we were asked to identify certain international sporting venues and a round on the usually frowned-on capital letters and acronyms in which only the letter M was to be identified.
By the the end of the Specialist the Lemmings had stolen a slender lead of seven points with 67 to 60.
The General Knowledge were not quite as inventive but again suited the Lemmings’ interests. A very clever idea was to include a question to which the answer was an armadillo and the Lemmings did not get it!! There was just one mild issue when Alice gave the Polish name for Stettin and Nick was able to confirm this was right because in his days as an overseas telegraphist all telegrams had to begin with a handshake sequence of ZCZC and Szczcettin always caused a problem as the message kept starting again!!
The Lemmings won the GK 86 to 67 and the game finished 153 to 127.
Individual scores were Bob with a remarkable 15/24, Wendy 9/12, Nick 18/12 and Tomo 12/12; conferred points were 10/20 with 3/6 pass-overs. The Ox-Fford C picked up 4/5 pass-overs.
It was a most enjoyable game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwches and a quiche – another first!!!
The final flourish was when Alan the questionmaster recalled that the Lemmings had beaten his team in the first half of the season but that the next game they would leather us!! Bring it on!!!
Many thanks to the Ox-Fford and their team.