22nd March Away to the Ox-Fford C

 

No jokes or humour this week out of respect for the terrible events in Brussels that morning and also the loss of long-time quizzer and outstanding question master Rick Davies who passed away on Monday.

Results were home team after the Specialist questions 74 to 63, after general knowledge 114 to 62 final score 188 to 125.

Individual scores Bob 12/15, Sunil 6/3, Nick 15/12 and Tomo 15/21 conferred 13/10, pass-overs 2/1 whilst the Ox Fford C picked up 3/12 – again the pass-overs telling a story.

Many thanks to the Ox Fford pub for the chip butties and to the team for  an excellent evening.

Comments still welcome

15th March–Beached by the Dolphin Dragons

 

The Lemmings were at home this week to the Dolphin Dragons with none of the distractions of last week (Mark was more forthright than I was!!) as they settled down to a leisurely game with the friendly Dolphin Dragons. Sunil again stood in for Wendy and whilst expectations of winning were not high the Lemmings were determined to make a fight of it.

The Specialist rounds looked promising from the titles but the Lemmings got off to a worrying start in the first round, only Tomo managing to get a 3 in the Arts and Entertainment; but we thought that was just a glitch – we’d do well in subsequent rounds. But it was not to be – at the end of the Specialist rounds the Dragons had a commanding lead with 50 to 25 – but the Lemmings have made up deficits of that size before in the General Knowledge. But no, the Dragons increased their lead by another 23 points with 70 to 47, final score 120 to 72.

The Lemmings generally take a dim view of blaming a defeat on lack of balance in the questions but it must be said that there were many occasions where one or other of the Lemmings could answer questions put to the Dragons whilst really struggling with their own. This is reflected in the pass-overs .

Nevertheless spirits remained high during the evening and a question about the Grand National gave Bob the opportunity to tell of the couple who were found having sex under Beechers Brook – they asked for 27 other fences to be taken into account.

Individual scores were Bob 6/6, Sunil 0/6, Nick 0/6 and Tomo 6/12; conferred points were 7/10 and 6/7 pass-overs. The Dragons collected 12/13 pass-overs.

The evening was rounded off with very tasty sandwiches including Brian’s remarkable roast beef, many thanks to Brian, to Haydn for his patient question asking and the Dragons for the usual good-spirited game.

8th March Submerged by the Ox-Fford

 

The Lemmings were at home to the Ox-Fford refreshed after being the previous week’s question masters. They were back to full strength Wendy having returned for a short visit before jetting off again next day – there must be something in this retirement lark!! As usual there were other sporting events as a distraction – not ladies’ darts this time, but Arsenal facing mighty Hull and the scandal of Sharapova’s banned substance that she had been taking for a decade with no apparent damage whatever its effect on her stamina. There was however a considerable challenge to the question master from a discussion at the bar which made listening very difficult at times.

The questions had been set by the Dolphin and the Lemmings were very happy to begin with as we thought the first three or four rounds were very good indeed; after that however, they seemed to get much harder and the visitors began to pull away – this is not to say the questions were worse, just harder. The Ox-Fford eventually finished 31 points clear with 81 to the Lemmings’ 50.

The General Knowledge were more consistent and whilst the Lemmings still lost they put up a creditable performance with 82 points to the Ox-Fford’s 98

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 12/9, Nick 9/21 and Tomo 12/18; conferred points were 7/11 with 1/5 pass-overs while the visitors collected 8/11 pass-overs – figures that tell their own story. Final score 179 to 132

Hull shared the same fate as the Lemmings but they were only stuffed by 5 the Lemmings by 47; and Maria Sharapova still looks fantastic. But it was a very pleasant and jovial evening rounded off with a fine selection of cheese and biscuits. Many thanks to Brian, the Ox-Fford and the put-upon question master.

1st March– Question Masters

 

Once again the Lemmings were not playing but asking the questions this time. For some weeks this blog has been an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas about balance, obscurity etc. and I feel it proper to say something about the Park Taverners’  questions. To guard against imbalance and so on, they had drawn up a spreadsheet identifying for each question where the player would be sitting  (so they don’t get questions on the same subject twice), whether the questions would be classified as history or whatever (for subject balance) and a rating as to how difficult the questions were. I think this was a remarkable effort and is to be applauded – it certainly showed at the Ox-Fford where the scores were very close. Against this however, they should bear in mind the advanced years of some of the question masters and print the questions in a larger font than last night.

Nick was at the Ox-Fford where there was a battle at the top of the League with the Weaver; the specialist did not suit the Weaver at all but the GK was a much closer battle; the pub has greatly improved with a wider selection of ales and a much brighter ambience – and they make excellent sandwiches.

Wendy was saved a long drive to the Royal Oak which was closed for maintenance, and her battle was held at the Old Millstone – once the centre of the league.

Any reports of something interesting in the other two games will be added later.