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.

Stuffed By The Cock

Getting very consistent now - all the teams we beat in the first half of the season are now beating us. This time it was the turn of The Cock who played us at home. And despite the advantage of the home crowd the Wonderers once again managed to come second.

We thought the questions were pretty good, no quibbles about blanace and so on - in fact there is no excuse.

Individual scores were pretty good: Bob 15/12, Wendy 12/15, Nick 12/9, tomo 15/12 conferred 8/12, passovers 8/9. All in all pretty good - 20 points won on confers, and 17 with passovers. The Cock scored: conferred 12/3 passovers 15/11 - we gave them 26 points despite conferring well!!

Even mid-table is not looking secure now! Following the link at right for the questions.

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Again, the full team, playing on our home turf with home support - oozing confidence!! What had we to fear with this return match aganst the British Flag?


But the Flag very quickly showed why they have only lost one game this season (even if it was to us!). By the end of the Specialist questions the Wonderers were trailing 74/38 and made little headway in the General Knowledge losing that round 92/79. We found the questions for both Specialist and General Knowledge to be very good and do not blame them for our poor performance.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/12, Nick 9/12 and Tomo 6/21; conferred points were 8/10 and passovers (very telling!!) 0/6. The Flag had 24 conferred points and 22 passed over.

Final score was 166 to 117 - our dented pride soothed with excellent sandwiches and pie. An enjoyable evening.

4th March, Away To The Lamb

At full strength again, playing away at the Lamb in Sutton Lane Ends. there was some irony in that the questions had been set by the Church House in Bollington, probably mainly by Rick Davies who used to play for the Lamb when the team played under a different name.
The questions we thought were very good, especially the Specialist (see link at right) which were very different and innovative if perhaps a little hard (several rounds went by with no-one scoring a 3).
Bob returned to top form with what is probably a season's best and Tomo maintained his good run both justifying their position in the top 10 scorers of the B League. Personal scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 9/9, Nick 6/12 and Tomo 3/21. In the Specialist we scored 5 conferrred points and picked up 7 passovers, in the General Knowledge 10 and 11 respectively. Unusually we gave away 8 passovers in the Specialist rounds but pulled it all together with just 2 in the General Knowledge. After what seems like the years of the locust, the Wonderers eventually won, the final score being 126 to 109.

A good quiz with lots of laughter was rounded off with a selection of sandwiches and chips with bread and butter.

Cup & Plate Round 3 26th February

Buoyant from last week's result (we didn't lose!) we swaggered confidently into the Tavern - everything was going for us: the full team, playing on home ground. Just one thing stood between us and moving on to the next round - The Dolphin from the A League. Hmmm.

The questions we thought were quite good (see link at right) and it is interesting to look at the scores round by round:

Round 1 The Dolphin 12, Wonderers 15
Round 2 The Dolphin 22 Wonderers 4
Round 3 The Dolphin 14, Wonderers 17
Round 4 The Dolphin 23 Wonderers 8
Round 5 The Dolphin 16 Wonderers 11
Round 6 The Dolphin 24, Wonderers 7

So in fact whilst the final score of 111 to 62 looks pretty damning, in fact the Wonderers won 2 of the six rounds which is quite creditable.

So we can now look forward to having a couple of Tuesdays off (subject to being question masters) - every cloud ....

The Dolphin were worthy winners and we wish them luck in the next round of the Cup.

19th Feb At Least We Didn't Lose

At home to The Three Crowns and back to our full strength with Wendy's return. Wendy, looking tanned, calm and confident after her holiday, was anxious to get stuck in and re-energise the team.The Specialist Questions were set by the George and Dragon and were challenging, wide-ranging, well-balanced and enjoyable. At the end of the Specialist the Wonderers were a nose in front with 56 to 47.

It was then the General Knowledge questions set by the Park Tavern; these highlighted the need for proper preparation - apparently they were not shown to the George & Dragon for vetting until 6:30 Monday night - far too late to make any changes; there were sloppy answers, errors (see for example question 44) and repeats that would have been weeded out had the G&D had a chance to vet them and far too many date questions with no leeway. With the notable exception of Tomo who seems to be on a roll they did not fall well for the Wonderers who saw their slender lead eaten away until the teams finished level on 118 each. Still no win for the Wonderers.

Individual scores Bob 6/9, Wendy 9/6, Nick 12/3 and Tomo 9/15; 22 points were gained from conferring and 21 from passovers.

A great comeback by the G&D and obviously Wendy will have to try harder!

And another thing ... I mentioned a couple of week ago comments the questions have elicited from distant parts; imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a San Francisco website that publishes the whole of this blog and parts of News & Views as comments!! The website can be found at http://technorati.com/blogs/nicksquiz.blogspot.com.

The evening finished with a fabulous supper of chips, sausage and onion gravy wrth bread & butter.

Just have to beat The Dolphin next week to stride forward to the next round of the cup. Maybe they'll be intimadated by the Californian website.

12TH FEBRUARY - QUESTIONMASTERS AGAIN

Since we were asking the questions set by The Dolphin there is not a great deal to report, but we can however supplement some remarks in last weeks posting. Tomo's remarkable score of 39 last week was the highest score in any of the Leagues - congratulations Tomo!! And yet we still lost!!

And a glance at News and Views (link on right) shows that the George and Dragon (to whom we lost) on actual points (i.e. not League points) scored this season would expect to be much higher in the table than they actually are - only two teams have scored more!!

Last week's Specialist questions as expected rated very badly in the question setters trophy.

Since we did not play this week we will slip down in the League and although we will then have a game in hand our chances for the hoped-for promotion are now very slim.

This week's questions were generally highly thought of and scored well.

Shrove (or should it be Shafted?) Tuesday

Away to the George & Dragon, a pub with a long history (at one time it was a school!) nestled above the town in Higher Hurdsfield. Their quiz team is a buoyant and laid-back group that has survived the crises and vicissitudes the pub has suffered in the past couple of years, and it is good to see it has now settled down.

The specialist questions had been set by The Albion, the lair of well-known quizzer Paul Beard (veteran of TV quizzes although his departure was sometimes rather premature) whose individual stamp was immediately recognised on the questions. They can be viewed by clicking on the link at right - a quick glance at the markings from other teams suggests that they will not be taking the question-master's trophy this year. There seems little point in asking questions with the hope that no-one will be able to answer them. Three rounds from the end, Nick had to be restrained from slitting his wrists.

The General Knowledge were set by the Harrington Academicals and were much better although at times it did seem that their fellow setters had influcenced them.

At the end of the Specialist, the Wonderers were just one point behind and looking forward to overtaking the home team with a better set of questions.

The Wonderers were once again without Wendy and again Eric stepped into the breech playing a strong game in the conferred questions, but it was not to be. Tomo played a great game scoring 15/24, Bob 9/6 and Nick 6/6 with conferred and passed over points being 7/3 and 16/10 - the home team gave little away.

The Wonderers were not even consistent - although they have lost the last few games, it has been by just a handful of points - this time they were trounced! The G&D on the other hand were not consistent either - it was their first win of the season! But no compalints - the home team's questions were as bad as the vsitors' - they were just better at answering them. A tough game and a worthy win by the G&D.

The final score was 118 to 102 after a game played with good humour, and spirits were lifted with a great spicy chillie con carne provided by the landlord.

29th January .- Looks Like We Peaked Too Soon

Away to The Plough, another long-standing team well-known to the Wonderers, now settled in at The Plough after some years as the Cricket Club.

The questions were well thought-out by The British Flag and newcomers to the League The Knot at Rushton, compiling their first set of questions.

If there is any criticism it is that some of the questions were too long! Once again, Nick's shocking memory for names was displayed when he was asked question 5 of round 8; at the beginning of the question he knew it was Kurt Waldheim, but by the time the question master had come to the end he'd forgotten it!!

The Wonderers were missing Wendy but Eric came along as substitute and played a strong game particularly on conferred questions. But the Wonderers seem to have peaked too early in the season, once again trailing by 6 points at the end of the specialist rounds (45/39); they battled back in the General Knowledge but only managed to claw back 4 points eventually losing by 2 points, 110 to 108. It is interesting that conferred and passed over points were very high (Specialist 13/2, General Knowledge 19/11) without which there would have been a much greater gap between us. Individual scores were Bob 9/12, Eric 3/3, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 9/12.

By way of compensation, or perhaps it's just spite, Nick can report an error in one of the answers to the previous round of the Cup/Plate, (Q118) about the birthplace of Mother Teresa; several people had challenged the given answer Yugoslovia (Nick added Skopje when he published the questions). She was born in 1910 but the kingdom of Yugoslavia was not formed until after WW1 in 1918.

And finally, it's surprising that our questions are provoking comments from all over the world - in particular see the comments for the questions of 7 March but also 21 and 27 November.

Excellent refreshments were provided at the end of a good-humoured and hard-fought game.

22nd Jan - Cup Game

Once again we faced the Harrington Arms - this time their B team in the Cup. Found them as friendly as the Academicals, played with good spirit with many laughs in a very close but enjoyable game.

The questions were tough but fairly balanced and the Wonderers were lucky to scrape through just 1 point clear after a great rally by the visitors. Final score 80 to 79.

Brian again had cooked one of his wonderful hams for refreshments and it was a most enjoyable evening.

15th Jan - Home to The Harrington Academicals

The Harrington is a wonderful old pub (until recently part of a working farm) frequently described as "The best pub in Cheshire". It is in the village of Gawsworth just outside Macclesfield. The team are well-known to us as a friendly bunch with a similar approach to the Wonderers - that a quiz night is fun.

However, they pulled no punches in last night's game dealing a blow to our promotion ambitions. We had had a shock earlier in the day when Wendy fell ill and were very lucky to be able to get Steve to cover for her. The specialist questions we thought were very good with a lot of thought having been put into them - in particular, the history picture round where we were shown a series of cartoons and had to identify the event in 2007. Even so we were trailing when the General Knowledge rounds started.

These however were very different: many seemd to based on the premise "They won't get this, ha ha!!"; several questions had been asked in recent quizzes; and again they were lop-sided with an easy question frequently being followed by an obscure one. Judge for yourself by following the link at right.

Having had a chance to read all the questions again, I now think this judgement is too harsh. Sorry.

The Wonderers played cautiously again hampered by Nick's failing memory (couldn't remember the title of "The Grapes of Wrath"!! He tried to cover this up with a joke from Alan Sherman -see end of this entry) and there were no high scorers. Bob 15/6, Steve 9/12, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 9/12. Conferred questions raised another 19 points but the Academicals passed little over and only 14 points were gained from their questions.

It was a game played with good spirit, won by a very good team and rounded off with an excellent spread of sandwiches in particular the ham cooked by landlord Brian only that morning.


With thanks to Alan Sherman:

The Ballad Of Harry Lewis(Parody of "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic")

I'm singing you the ballad
Of a great man of the cloth
His name was Harry Lewis
And he worked for Irving Roth
He died while cutting velvet
On a hot July the 4th
But his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Oh Harry Lewis perished
In the service of his Lord
He was trampling through the warehouse
Where the drapes of Roth are stored
He had the finest funeral
The union could afford
And his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Although a fire was raging
Harry stood by his machine
And when the firemen broke in
They discovered him between
A pile of roasted Dacron
And some french fried gabardine
His cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Away to The Baths

The Baths is an old Victorian pub (built 1875) standing silent testament to the old municipal baths that stood around the corner (now council offices). One of the few local pubs left in the town The Baths is known as a real ale pub.

The quiz team are well known to us as they moved from The Beehive following changes there - a very friendly bunch and good fun.

The Wonderers were jaded following their first defeat just before Christmas and the excesses of the holiday period and began cautiously - so much so that at the end of the specialist rounds they were trailing by 9 points and looking decidedly shaky. However they rallied in the General Knowledge round eventually slipping into the lead very late and scraping a close win with 115 to 111.

We were very impressed with the questions which were out of the ordinary and even the mandatory specialist had a novel twist - very different from run of the mill questions. In fact the Wonderers would not have won had there been none of the classical music questions.

Scores were not high except for Bob with 9/24, Wendy 6/9, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/9. And again the strength of the team in conferring is illustrated with 23 points and 18 passovers.

A most enjoyable evening ended with a fine selection of sandwiches - thankyou The Baths.

Another Bruiser

Tuesday 11th December, a home game against old adversaries The Cock . This was another game in which points were traded blow for blow; the Wonderers got off to a poor start and at the end of the Specialist were trailing by 15 points and were making desperate attempts to catch up for the rest of the evening. They were not helped by Nick's familiar problem with names, when he had a clear image of Andy Warhol in his mind and blurted out Hockney!!!

The questions were pretty good, but although we generally avoid whinging about balance we did think that they were rather lop-sided, especially in the General Knowledge where repeatedly a very easy question was followed by a much more difficult one - readers can judge for themselves from the link on the right.

Scores were not high with the exception of Bob who played a captain's game with 9/21, Wendy (6/12), Nick (0/18), and Tomo (6/12) all scoring 18.

Conferred points were high with 13 and 12 respectively, but very little was passed over with the Wonderers picking up just 6 and 5 from the two sets of questions.

The final score was 120 to the Wonderers and 123 to the Cock - a well-deserved win and a good well-fought game.

There is now a three-week rest for the Wonderers to lick their wounds and prepare for the second half of the season.

The British Flag 4th December

The British Flag is a Robinson's pub, well known for keeping its somewhat temperamental beer in top condition.

The Wonderers knew this was going to be a tough one - the Flag were unbeaten and have always been tough adversaries. No-one however expected it to be such a hard slug-it-out game. Very little was given away and the questions covered a very wide spectrum each point being fought for vigorously.

There seems to be an equally tough battle at the Ox-fford to get the Cars & Vans 4 U trophy for question setting - an outstanding set of questions were provided by the Ox-Fford C team that made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, ably assisted by Jackie Hulme from The Cock as question master.

We send our condolences to the landlord of the Flag as a bereavement meant they were unable to be in attendance, but Nick and Bob managed to scramble back to the Tavern in time to nick some chip and sausage butties from their sister team.

The final score was 146 to the Wonderers, 143 to the Flag, individual scores being Bob 12/12, Wendy 9/24, Nick 9/21 and Tomo 9/15. In the specialist, the Wonderers picked up 11 conferred points and just 8 passed over. In the general knowledge rounds another 11 points were conferred with just 5 passed over; very little given away by either side!

The Cup - Sutton Church House

The first round of the Cup we played at the Sutton Church house, despite Nick sending out a note to the team that we would be playing at The Lamb - fortunately this was spotted in time (although Wendy had to get out of the bath to answer the urgent phone call!). The regular team is shown on their home turf.

The Church House is a very pleasant pub with 3 mainstream real ales, and the home team a very jolly lot.

The Wonderers got off to a very slow start, principally because the questions were badly balanced, but made up ground as the questions veered erratically with bias towards one team then the other (see the link at right). The questions were quite good but there were some pretty obvious ones (Northern Rock!). The eventual score was 96 to the Wonderers and 74 to the Church House.

The pleasant evening was rounded off with a good selection of sandwiches and chips.

20th November- Home to The Lamb

The lamb is a familiar team that we have played before, under their old guise The Sutton Club - they have crossed the road to The Lamb.

There was some anxiety that we would not have a full team and would need to play a beer mat (since ashtrays are no longer acceptable) but the vagaries of terms of employment for the Council meant Steve was able to cover for Wendy despite the original bleak forecast.

We started the evening in the rather surprising position of second in the League with a game in hand but did not allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of security.

This was fortunate as it was a very low-scoring game, with a lot of criticism of both sets of questions - as if the guiding principle had been "They won't get this one". They can be viewed from the link at right.

However, we did manage to finish in front with a final score of 125 to 99. Individual scores were Bob 6/6, Tomo 15/12, Nick 3/9 and Steve 9/24 - all below average scores. We also managed to scrape up 16 conferrred and 25 passovers.

Steve played a great game as reserve, but we're a bit worried about Tomo - his in-depth knowledge of daytime TV and board games suggest that he should get out more - but if he did we wouldn't win so often.

The brightest spot of the evening was a wonderful tray of sausages and onions with chips and bread and butter - grateful thanks to Brian and Tracey.

The Wonderers also felt that a reminder is due to the questionmasters about the time allowed to answer.

The Three Crowns

For the second game of the season we went to the Holt's pub The Three Crowns where we played familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting - the team recently moved from the St Dunstan.

The questions, set by the New Castle, were rather different and had some quite original rounds in the Specialist subjects. Both teams gave good marks for content and balance. See the link on the right.

The Wonderers managed to maintain their 100% record despite the liability of Nick's memory (among other things he could not remember the name Stephen King!!) - a fact reflected in the scores:

Bob 30, Wendy 24, Nick 18 (!!) and Tomo a very creditable 33. Points from passovers were 5 and 15 for the two rounds, and conferred points (mainly from Nick) 10 and 18. The final score was 153 to 114.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening played with humour and good spirit and rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

6th November Questionmasters

The second week of the season and the Wonderers are sitting proudly at the top of the B League - but not for long. This week they were the questionmasters for the B League team and set the specialist questions; General Knowledge questions were set by the Puss Artists. This was particularly difficult with only 2 weeks notice but heroic efforts by Tomo meant we met the deadline and the questions were delivered on time in neatly sealed envelopes. Fortunately Bob and Wendy had transport and were able to venture out into the wilds of Cheshire and cover the distant pubs in Gawsworth (the unforgettable Harrington Arms) and Sutton (The Lamb - a new venue for the Sutton Social Club team). In fact both sets of questions were very well received and got favourable marks by the teams. They can be viewed by clicking on the link at right.

Well, we now have a game in hand that will mask positions until the half-way mark.

October 30th - 1st Game of the Season

At last the season starts - and the first game is against the George & Dragon - a team that over the years the Wonderers have come to regard as their bete noir.

Steve had managed to rearrange his shifts and covered for Nick with Bob, Wendy and Tomo.

They had obviously recovered from losing the Plate Final as they stormed out from the beginning and ended with a remarkable win of 167 to 145 - all four members of the team scoring 30 or over (Steve 39, Wendy 36, Bob 33 and Tomo 30). And the George and Dragon scored highly too.

The questions were very highly rated and the Wonderers look forward to this season with confidence.

The questions can be viewed by following the link on the right.

At Last - The Final

The seconds are out, the gloves are off and the pints are pulled. Yes, it is the final of the Plate!!
The Wonderers felt somewhat apprehensive with memories of last year’s final when they lost on a tie-breaker – they needn’t have worried as history was not to repeat itself.
Question Master Rick Davies introduced the teams pointing out that this was the first smoke-free game ever in the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League, a point welcomed by many in attendance.
Sadly the fresh air seems to have fuddled the Wonderers and at the end of the first 20 questions they were some 15 points adrift. Subsequent rounds showed signs of a fight-back but by the end of the quiz they were still some 8 points behind.
Their opponents the Puss Artists were a very powerful team who played well and with good spirit – worthy winners indeed.
Special mention must be made of Rick Davies who was an excellent Question Master with a light tone but firm decisions. Thanks also to the Sutton Club and Harrington B teams who set the questions.
A most enjoyable evening with the Wonderers once again catching the bride’s bouquet.

Relegation Party

As the long wet summer dragged along, Tuesday nights saw a strange phenomenon in the streets of Macclesfield. Individuals in woolly cardigans, sandals and a profusion of face hair shuffled along the streets looking puzzled and confused. What has happened to the quiz nights?

Even the Wonderers were affected by this strange malady and to break the gloom Nick arranged to have a party to celebrate relegation to the B League where we rightfully belong.

Spirits were lifted (by the glass as well as morally) despite a rainy start to the day but mercifully there was a break in the clouds and we could all sit outside and join in with Steve's songs and marvel at Tomo's conjuring and mind-reading.

The team and reserves were all present along with Mark from Maliwan's Thai restaurant, Brian the landlord of the Waters Green Tavern with Anne, and some neighbours anf former colleagues of Nick. They were later joined by an intrepid group of walkers from the Greenwalks group, another Tavern-based organisation that focuses on public transport in its monthly walks. They seemed glad to have something to eat.

Roll on the final of the Plate.

End of the Season

Although the Wonderers played their last League game of the season, there was still one important event before the close of the season - the final of the Cup knock-out competition between the two teams from The Dolphin.

I will leave it to our highly regarded secretary Mark to sum up the evening and announce the various trophies, and would like to take this opportunity to thank him for a magnificent season's work, and for all his asistance on the occasions we have requested it. He does a truly great job.

"Folks,

Many thanks to all who attended the Finals Night last night. There was an excellent turn-out, the Cup Final was a very closely contested affair and the butties were very welcome too. I have only a small number of trophies left in my possession; I will contact the winners separately.

In respect of the Cup, the Dolphin beat the Dolphin Dragons 114 – 98. Congratulations to all concerned.

Thanks also to Rick Davis and Allan Sherratt for asking the questions and scoring respectively – much appreciated, your fine efforts added to the night’s entertainment as always.

We also presented a Special Award to Alan Hodgson from the Dolphin for his unique 60 out of 60 all the way back in Week 1. We might have set a precedent now, but as it is the first time in over 20 years it has happened, we shouldn’t be breaking the bank just yet.

Alan – well done indeed.

I have attached to this message the following:-

All the scores from the last week of games, Week 18
Final League Tables and Individual Scores for A, B and C Leagues
Final Cars and Vans 4U Ltd Question Setters Trophy scores
Cup Final questions from last night.

Every team has indicated to me they want to carry on next season and it would be good to find a couple more if anyone has any suggestions. Now would be a good time for any new people interested to perhaps “try out” a set of questions in a game against another team. I would be more than willing to supply a “hand-picked” set of questions if anyone wanted one!

The final trophy of this year will be settled at the start of next season as usual. The Plate Final will be: -

Puss Artists v Waters Green Wonderers

This game will be played at the AGM before the start of next season, sometime in September / early October, date and place to be confirmed.

The Sutton Club and the Harrington ‘B’ will assemble questions for this game from those not used for the Cup Final and I have handed all the material to the Sutton Club last night.

If I don’t see you before we start again, have a great summer and I will be in touch.

Regards,

Mark"

The questions for the final can be viewed by clicking on the link o the right.

So we start the next season as we did this - with the final of the Plate!!

Last Game of the Season - and a Champion Discovered

The last game of a most enjoyable season was at the Ox-Fford against the Oxfford C team (in name only!) and from the ashes of relegation arose the phoenix of a champion in our midst.

Having answered a very difficult question for 3 points (see Q60 in the General Knowledge questions from the link on the right) Wendy disclosed that she was the 1969 northern counties champion of tiddlywinks!! What a way to finish the season!!

It was an excellent game with characteristic humour, fun and beer and an outstanding set of questions from the Principals with a finishing score of 158 to 138 to the Ox Fford C.

Individual scores were:

Bob 12/15, Wendy 9/15. Nick 12/18 and Tomo 12/15. Conferred points were 21 with 9 passed over, whereas the Oxfford had 24 and 17 respectively.

We've thoroughy enjoyed our season in the A League and very much hope we can return at the end of next season.

Thankyou the Oxfford C and all the other teams for giving us a great season.

3rd April - We Didn't Lose!

Well at least we didn't lose last night, helped considerably by the fact that we didn't play, having set the questions and aksing them at the three A League venues.

Just one game left now to wind up a most enjoyable season in the A League.

3rd April - We Didn't Lose!

Well at least we didn't lose last night, helped considerably by the fact that we didn't play, having set the questions and aksing them at the three A League venues.

Just one game left now to wind up a most enjoyable season in the A League.

Plate Semi-Final

At home to the Sutton Club!

Inspired by the team's recent performance, Bob set off on a long-distance walking holiday - obviously the pressure's getting to him. His place was taken by Tony who is our regular reserve and always plays a great game.

So this was it - were we going to end up in the final again, to finish dead level and to lose with a cliff-hanger once more? Who could say. The Sutton Club are a well-respected team but were lacking the advantage of a home game. The Wonderers on the other hand are riding the trough of a wave with a hardly-dented record of repeated losses.

The questions were very good indeed and since they were all conferred (it has been noted that conferring is Nick's specialism) there was no opportunity for individual glory and the playing field was levelled.

So, defying predictions, continuity and trampling tradition into the dust the Wonderers managed to scrape home by winning 4 of the 6 rounds by a narrow margin in a game that was most enjoyable, broken by sufficient beer breaks and lightened by much humour, overseen by a flexible but fair question master from The Baths.
Thankyou Sutton Club - it was a great game.

We're moving towards the end of the season now in which the Wonderers have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of playing in the A League - next season we're back in the B League but maybe for just one season - if we continue to be promoted/relegated each year we'll be vey happy.

Castled and Rooked

Having rested the previous week, the Wonderers swaggered into The Castle looking refreshed , sporting a rather attractive blue tan from their action-filled journey from the Waters Green Tavern. Only about 50 yards but the howling wind and driving hail made every step an adventure.

Ah, The Castle - promoted to the A League with the Wonderers at the end of last season, and now precariously hanging onto their position one above the wonderers (i.e. next to bottom) despite having won three games. This was to be a game with no holds barred, no punches pulled, no quarter given. The Wonderers were at full strength with the added advantage of a groupie again (Nick's son Rah).

The tactics adopted were the same - allow The Castle a small advantage in the Specialist rounds confident of steaming ahead in the General Knowledge. This is a tried and tested formula that has consistently led to victory - for our opponents! And last night was no exception.

Final score was 156 to 115 with individual scores as follows:

Bob 15/12, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/3 (pathetic - his son is looking for another team to support), Tomo 13/12.

Again good conferred points 12/11 (mainly thanks to Nick!) but little picked up from our opponents 2/3.

Ah well - the semi-final of the Plate next week - our more determined readers may recall that we began the season losing the Plate final on a tie-breaker setting a pattern that has been adhered to rigidly with just two lapses - consistent defeat with good humour and lots of beer.

The Castle is a wonderful old pub steeped in history, selling real ale (Theakston's) and with a very generous spper of hot meat pies.

A most enjoyable evening and for the most selfish of reasons we hope The Castle get relegated with us next season. Thankyou.

Duncan Steps In

As I've been away for a week, the news on the league has not been up-dated. Fortunately Duncan Disorderly the local minority sports writer was on hand to fill the gap.

By the way, an astonishing development - if you look at the Comments on the questions for 6th March (link on right) you will see that our obscure scribblings in this tiny corner of Cheshire were picked up by a scholar in Idaho who gently corrects an answer!!

WHERE DID IT ALL START TO GO RIGHT?!

A report on recent earth-shattering events by Macclesfield Minority Sports reporter Duncan Disorderly

Just when I thought that I had finally extricated myself from the purgatory of reporting the utterly predictable defeats of the Waters Green Wonderers, all hell seems to have broken loose. Following the defeat by the Dolphin I insisted on an interview with my Editor, R Supwards, and insisted on being reassigned from the Macclesfield Quiz League. I told him that I had covered the Wonderers for half the season and my penance had been duly served, and that I never meant to prang his bloody car in the first place. The going had been tough and I had completely lost the will to live.

After gloating a bit he took pity on me and got me off the case. I couldn’t tell you how relieved I was. In the intervening two weeks I covered the quarter-finals of the Macclesfield one-hand freestyle crochet championships and the preliminary rounds at the Pott Shrigley Noughts and Crosses Festival, both of them much more exciting than listening to the Waters Green Team muttering that they were alright really….. keeping a stiff upper lip….the experience was good for them…even enjoying it in a funny kind of way….when all the time they were devastated and making their packets of crisps soggy with their loser’s tears. I say packets of crisps because that’s all that Tracey and Brian will provide for them until they buck their ideas up.

So you can imagine the torment when I was summoned back to the office from a particularly exciting heat of the Upton Priory Shove-halfpenny Fest. “Grab your pen”, cried my frantic Editor, “the Wonderers have turned the corner”. His enthusiasm turned out to be a little premature. It was true that the Wonderers had won – they had beaten the Bath in the Plate (or was it the plate in the bath). I knew the Bath team well – at least the only one of them that turned up. This team used to be the Beehive, one of the Wonderers favourite opposing teams – many a good night spent in combat and all that - but they were so under-strength on the night it wasn’t true. One of the team had only popped into the pub to ask directions to Buxton, and the other was a passing Pork-Scratching salesman. But heigh-ho, a win is a win, and the team left the venue with something I hadn’t seen before – the smiles of winners. I was not convinced that the team had at last turned the corner and I turned up the following week fearing the worst. To save time I had already written the report – how their Plate win had been a complete fluke and they had been crushed by the second best team in the whole League. And then the unthinkable happened. They won! At the end of the match, both teams were reduced to a stunned silence for very different reasons, I had to rip up my notebook, sandwiches and pork pies replaced the bags of crisps, and the look of hope shone in the eyes of the beleaguered Wonderers.

All this, of course, was a slap in the face to Billy Prattlefaggit, who is currently putting together a rival team. He suddenly became a little quieter, particularly about the clandestine offer he had made to Tommo to poach him from the Wonderers. He had offered our rising young star as many Twiglets as he could eat and a guaranteed Saturday Night audience at the Hurdsfield Darby and Joan Club whenever Tommo felt the urge to do his magic tricks. I have heard on the grapevine that the other Waters Green players got wind of this illegal approach and had a meeting with Tommo to discuss the situation. It was made clear to him that if he as much as thought of jumping ship, Wendy would break his pencil, Bob would break his legs, and Nick would show him a magic trick involving a large disappearing cucumber.


Come the next week though, all was well. They were thrashed by the best in the land. They have reverted to type and I am stuck with reporting their antics again.
Still, Mark Watson does a brilliant job of e-mailing fixtures and results, so I am saved the arse-ache of doing all that. Mind you, I still think he should be concentrating on the current crime wave. One of my mates in the Pig and Ball Bearing was telling me about these two youths who were terrorising his neighbourhood. One was drinking battery acid and the other was eating fireworks. The police charged one and let the other off.


Be brave and remember – if you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.

Duncan Disorderley

Lightning Does Strike Twice

Despite folkore, the Waters Green Tavern proved last week that lightning does strike the same place twice.

Not only did the Wonderers win their first League game of the season, but their sister team the Rams also won their game. both teams thereby breaking their duck.

This week the Wonderers returned to form in an enjoyable game against the Dolphin the final scores being 153 to the Wonderers' 106. Tomo was at a book-signing in London and could not play but Wendy's husband Ken stepped in and played a strong game, particularly in the conferred questions.

Individual scores were Ken -/6, Wendy 9/18, Nick 6/9 and Bob a worthy 15/15.
An enjoyable game with the usual excellent supper provided by the Tavern

Infamy, Infamy, They've All Got It ...

Not content with destroying the bookies' anticipated gains last week with an unexpected (highly improbable in fact!) win in the Plate competition the Wonderers rubbed salt in the wounds with another win this week.

Do tradition and history count for nothing?

Playing a strongly fancied team from the Principals (second in the League) the Wonderers looked in a very shaky position as they were unable to find a question-master and would have had to play with a team of three. Then at the last minute, due to the largesse of Stockport Council with their leave arrangements, Steve became available - a welcome return and a strong performance.

The Wonderers played their usual game - a fun evening with plenty of laughs and beer breaks, a tradition carried with Nick to the Questionmaster's chair.

Scores were Waters Green Wonderers 130, Principals 116.

Individual scores were bob 6/12, Wendy 12/6, Steve 9/15 and Tomo 21/15 - Tomo looks set to climb even higher in the top 10 scorers league.

Conferred points were 10/10 (good team work) and passed overs 10/4.

At the beginnning of the game the visitors asked if they could have the questions but had lost interest by the end - make your own mind up by clicking the questions link on the right.

Tradition Trampled Underfoot

In an astonishing reversal of fortunes, the Wonderers last night slithered through to a surprising victory in the Plate competition.

The Baths were badly hit by absentees from their regular team and had roped in some reserves, but were no doubt confident after studying the form of the Wonderers. Yet despite thrashing the visitors in one of the four rounds the Baths were not able to sustain the attack and the Wonderers were able to advance through to the next round. No doubt the appearance of two groupies for the visitors affected their performance.

It should be pointed out that the Baths are top of the C League and in fact have scored about the same number of points in the League as the Wonderers.

The Baths was very pleasant, with real ales and a fine supper provided. A very pleasant evening with lots of laughter and fun.

Thankyou - we look forward to playing you in the B League next season.

Half Way to Purgatory.- Duncan's Take

Well, the half way stage of the season has come and gone and still the Wonderers haven’t a point to show for their efforts. Last week’s display at the Dolphin reached an all time low when Bob got the question “what kind of animal is a Red Poll”. Misty-eyed he remembered the days when he would look at the farm entrance next to his sister’s house and see the sign “THE LONGDENDALE HERD OF PEDIGREE ATTESTED RED POLLS”. Imagine the poor man’s feelings when he was informed that it was a bleedin’ parrot. Things then went from bad to worse. Nick got a question in a round called “Name the Dead Person” or something – “A famous Lancashire contralto singer” etc. The answer should have been Kathleen Ferrier. What readers need to know is that Bob founded the Kathleen Ferrier Society. This is an international Society. This is the Society that runs the country’s main bursary competition for undergraduate singers. Bob is the CHAIRMAN of the Kathleen Ferrier Society. Nick answered Joan Sutherland, who was (a) not a contralto, (b) not from Lancashire, and (c) not even English, and (d) still alive for all I know. Bob met this slap in the face with typical Biggles fortitude. His bottom lip trembled slightly, and that was that. Nice to see that Nick came clean in his report.



Typical of the good soul that he is, Bob has not even mentioned it to the rest of the team.



Nick was suitably mortified and vanished to Wales for a winter break. I don’t blame him. I hate bad weather, and coming out once more to report another defeat is so wearying and not doing my professional career any good. Last time I sent a report in the gales were at their height. I left the house and went to the car only to be met by the farmer who lives nearby. He told me that it was so windy that one of his hens had laid the same egg three times. When I parked up in Waters Green I got out of the car and saw what I thought was a rubber glove quivering in the road. It was, in actual fact, a dog that had blown inside out. Anyway, Tuesday was no exception. They lost again. Tracy and Brian had gone on holiday, obviously to escape the humiliation of hosting the only two teams in the Macclesfield Quiz League without a point between them. They all did their best but nothing was coming across the table to them. No crumbs from the poor man’s table. The opposition was kind to the Wonderers and didn’t giggle too much. I hear that their captain, Mark, a leading light of the Quiz League organisers, is a law enforcement officer of some kind. Perhaps he should disband his team, hand all their points to the Waters Green Wonderers and tackle some of the crime I am hearing about at down at the Pig and Ball Bearing in Rainow.



I heard that thieves had actually broken into the Macclesfield POLICE STATION and stole the toilet seat! The police say that they have nothing to go on. Also, a gang of thieves were being sought for breaking into the pharmacy at Tytherington and stealing 48 bottles of California Syrup of Figs. Police are looking for three men on the run, and the public are advised not to ‘have-a-go’ unless they are wearing their wellies.



All this is so depressing.



Never mind, cheer up everybody and remember, space isn’t remote; It’s only an hours drive if you go straight up.



Duncan Disorderley

Home to the Ox-Fford

We had already disappointed the Ox-Fford by not thrashing the Dolphin last week thus enhancing the Ox-Fford's place in the League, so we knew this would not be an easy one.

However we were not concerned even when we obsrved that the Ox-Fford are third in the league table - with 2 games in hand.

We were not disabused - we remained steadfast in consistency and pulled off our usual performance - Specialist rounds we lost 72 to 57 and General Knowledge 88 to 69.

Individual scores were Bob 15/18 (PB!), Wendy 9/15 (Probably PB), Nick 9/6 (!!)and Tomo 30 - another great score.

Conferred/Passovers remained true to form with Specialist 10/2 and General Knowledge 8/4.

Questions generally highly thought-of although there was perhaps some inbalance in the difficulty. No scenes of high drama and a vey pleasant evening with lots of laughter.

I feel sure Duncan will have some authoratitative comments to make on our performance.

The Dolphin Away

Boosted by narrowly losing the Specialist rounds the previous week, we swaggered into the Dolphin already giving high fives to celebrate our victory. A cavalier glance at the individual results sheets gave us added confidence - they only have one in the top 2 scorers of the A League (1st actually) their next appearance being at no 7. Nothing to worry about there then! And the fact that they are leading the League just fired our ambition.

Moreover, Wendy was able to return to the team and we were sure her extensive knowledge of children's TV would secure victory. We were back to the normal team!!

There were moments of high excitement, not least when Nick was trying to remember the name of the superb English contralto born in Blackburn - he knew exactly the person required but the only name he could come up with was Joan Sutherland. This did not go down at all well with Bob who just happens to be secretary of the Kathleen Ferrier Society!!

The nature of a redpoll was also the cause of some controversy - is it a bird? Is it a cow? Extensive research discloses that red poll (2 words) is a breed of cattle but since the questions are oral that is not very clear.

One or two other questions generated discussion but the Wonderers prefer to stand aloof from such squabbles, particularly as they don't know the answer anyway.

To go into detail would be tedious but we were consistent, played well as a team, conferred well and were absolutely hammered. Score not available at the time of writing but see News And Views next week.

Our own scores were as follows:

Bob 15/12, Wendy 3/15, Nick 9/15 and Tomo 6/24 - it's some time since Tomo got less than 30 and he may get headhunted next season! We are happy to discuss a transfer fee but it is unlikely that any teams in any League could afford him. Conferred/Passed Over points Specialist rounds 3/2, General Knowledge 10/5 - these A teams don't give much away do they?

It was a very pleasant evening, lots of laughter, good sportsmanship, Robbies well-kept and their new acquisition Oldham Brewery beers that were on form. And samosas, kofta and chicken curry and rice was a very generous and well prepared supper afterwards - thankyou The Dolphin!!

Away To The Flag

The start of the second half of the season, and an away game at The British Flag, a Robinson’s house.
It was not an auspicious start – the reserve Tony had been asked to cover Wendy but the evening clashed with Nick’s retirement party and fears were voiced (not least by Nick) that he would be in no state to play. Then panic set in – by the time we were due to leave our home ground (where we had been having a tactics meeting) there was no sign of Tony. Nick’s son Sunil gallantly offered to play and Nick resigned himself to a game.

Just as we were leaving Tony arrived and was briefed on the situation – his face lit up and he said that suited him perfectly and he would stay in the Tavern and drink some excellent beer.

Then more anxiety when it seemed we were in danger of being inconsistent when at the half-way stage we were just 3 points behind after the Specialist questions – 47 to 44 – worried looks all round. Was this to be our first win?

We need not have worried, we were soundly beaten in the General Knowledge rounds 80 to 48 and we thus remain bloodied but unbowed with a clean sheet of no League points. Sunil was a little cautious and could have scored more but played exceptionally well with the conferred questions.

So, individual results:

Bob 12/3, Sunil 0/3, Nick 9/9 and Tomo 9/12.

Again we had a strong showing with conferred points (13/14) but managed to pick up only 8 (1/7) with pass-overs. The Flag keep a tight ship!! A very friendly and enjoyable encounter.

The General Knowledge questions in particular were generally thought to be unbalanced and perhaps a little too clever – will be interesting to see how they were marked by the other teams. And Robbies was not to the taste of the team especially Nick who had started at noon and narrowly failed to empty a barrel of Wild Swan in the home ground.

Duncan's Take - Ox-fford dons it's winners cloak

Billy recruiting for his quiz team

Well, it was nice while it lasted! Three weeks and not a defeat in sight, even though the main reason was that the Wonderers had no matches, their reputation as ace-question masters going before them as they played the part of supreme referees. Nick has provided all the statistics and a profile of the Ox-fford ringer, Ashley Tray, so there they stand, naked in all their under-achievement.



Billy Prattlefaggit rang me to say how disgusted he was, and has asked me to warn the WGW that he is currently putting together a team of over-eighties to usurp their place in the league. He assures me that once he has got a fourth man and a pub that has room for five zimmer frames, they will be having a few practice matches before asking the league to kick the Wonderers out and have his as yet un-named team take their place.

“This is an exciting venture for us” said Billy “we want to show these buggers what the old ‘uns can do. We have got some sponsorship money from the drop-in centre and this has bought us new glasses, and in one case a set of teeth. There is pride at stake here, and the first team we will challenge to a practice match is the Wonderers!

We can still cut it, even though my memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.”



So hard times all round for the Wonderers, but at least they keep smiling. In between bouts of tearful self-pity they are currently partaking in a humorous ‘quiz’ to find as many film titles as possible punned from Welsh, Irish, Scottish and English geographical names. They can be towns, counties, regions or rivers. Here are some to be going on with. Constantly reading about failure can be very wearing and this may lighten your day. Please feel free to join in – your entries will be acknowledged in your own name in the final judging. Entries to Bob Langstaff at evenwood@talktalk.net .



Wales
Breakfast at Taffy’s



Scotland
The Glasgow Menagerie

Crocodile Dundee

Callender Girls

Crieff Encounter

Reach for the Skye

A fistful of Dollar



England
Far From The Reading Crowd

Sleepless in Settle

Ice Cold in Alnwick

Brighton Dock

The Merchant of Ventnor

Whose Afraid of Virginia Water?

Mobberley Dick

The Rainow Children

The Wizard of Osmotherley

Basing Saddles

Gunfight at the Oakham Corral

Look back in Ongar

Gone with the Mynd

Clun for Hire

Hooray for Hollinwood

Saturday Night and Sunbury Morning

Casino Royton

Dr. Knowsley

For Your Eye Only

Macc to the Future

Sergeant York



Rivers

The Magnificent Severn

Bridge on the River Wye

Ouse Life is it Anyway?

Ribble Without A Cause

Stour Wars

It’s A Wonderful Liffey

Tyne Bandits

An American Wear Wolf in London





Chin up Wonderers and remember, change is inevitable (except from vending machines)



Duncan Disorderley

23 January - Magnus R.I.P.

Refreshed after two weeks as question masters the Wonderers knew that playing on their home ground they would be able to maintain their consistent form.

They were not to be disappointed but it was a close call – the Ox-FFord C team had obviously heard of the Wonderers’ prowess and one of their team failed to show. In time-honoured fashion he was replaced with an ash tray (what will we do after July??) - ironically it was the eponymous Ashley Tray who got all their easy questions!

Nevertheless, it was a close call with the Wonderers managing to cling to their unbroken run of defeats with a respectable score of 129 to the Ox-Fford’s 139.

Individual scores were pretty good – Steve put in a guest appearance with a very creditable 27 (9/18), Tomo equalled his personal best with 30 (12/18), Bob put in his usual solid performance with 27 (12/15) and once again Nick showed he owes his place on the team to the blog with 15 (9/6).

Conferred points show good team work with 20 (11/9) and against a team as good as the Ox-Fford we were lucky to pick up 10 pass-overs (6/4).

The usual what-if comment – 5 wrong guesses would have given a dead heat if conferred, and 6 would have destroyed the Wonderers’ credibility as consistent losers.

Another most enjoyable evening, well done and thanks to the Ox Fford C team.

Duncan Bounces Back into 2007

Thanks Nick, for holding the fort and doing such a good article on the defeat by the Castle. I tried to do one but I was so depressed and let's face it, there are only so many words in the language and I couldn't find any fresh way of introducing another defeat. And I get so depressed at Christmas, which is a time of the year I really dislike. I hate that stupid Father Christmas idea. Last year I left him a salad and a note saying that he could afford to lose a bit of weight. I tried to be a bit more positive this time and I told 'er indoors that we were going traditional. No more frozen turkey. So I bought a real one, plucked it myself and stuffed it myself. She only had to kill it and put it in the oven. As if being in trouble over that wasn't enough, I think I upset Wendy from the quiz team. I was telling her how we should have the proper old-fashioned Christmasses back and she agreed and said she was going to make her own Christmas pudding. I suggested that she do what they used to do and drop a couple of threepenny bits in the pudding mix for good luck. It was then that she slapped my face and said that tradition or no tradition, her bra was staying firmly fastened. She hasn't spoken to me since. Christmas Day was even worse. My nephew, little Kevin, was in floods of tears. All he got was an empty box. His Dad told him it was an Action Man deserter.



Anyway, back to the quiz. I am upbeat again now that Christmas is over and happy to report that at last, I did not witness a defeat of the Waters Green Wondereres.

This is because they did not play.

Nevertheless, dedicated to the cause of minority sports as I am, I entered the Prince Albert (not in the biblical sense, you understand) to watch Bob Langstaff in his role as Question Master. He carried out this job with wit, wisdom, fortitude and forbearance. The competing teams were so pleased that they suggested the rest of the WGW team should have a whip round and buy him a huge present!



No Action Men please.



Here's to a win in 2007

Peas on earth and goodwill to you all"



Duncan

CASTLED!!!

Bloated from a month of resting from the quiz and two weeks of guzzling good food and wine, the Wonderers waddled into their home pub to face the mighty Castle with high hopes of breaching their defences and scoring our first victory in the A League.
It was a cliffhanger! At the end of the Specialist rounds, the Castle were just 2 ahead, at a beer break halfway through the General knowledge it was level pegging (i.e. the Wonderers were leading in the GK by 2 points). And at the end the Castle raised the drawbridge with a breathtaking win of 110 to 107. Well done the Castle - thanks for a great game.

The questions were fine and the balance good but there were no big scores with the exception of Tomo who scored what is probably a best-ever personal best - congratulations.

Scores were Bob 0/6, Wendy 9/12, Nick 9/0 and Tomo 15/15.

It is interesting that we picked up 30 points on conferred answers (10 +20) and managed to get 7 from pass-overs from the Castle.

As the scores were so close it would have taken just 2 of the wrong guesses to have won the match if they'd been conferred - 109 to 108. Phew!!

P.S.

Some dry-as-dust statistics to illustrate Duncan's penetrating analysis. Individual scores: Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/21, Tony 3/12 and Tomo -/24 - good scores by everyone and well done Tony standing in as reserve. Once agfain the team did very well with conferring, scoring 19 on the Specialist and 17 in the General Knowledge; pass-overs were few, 2 in the Specialist and 5 in the General Knowledge but we gave little away to the Dolphin who scored 14/15 on conferred and 6/6 passovers.
Congratulation on winning the General Knowledge round - pity I missed it!!

December 5th - Duncan's Report

WONDERERS HAVE NO BETTER LUCK WITH DOLPHINS THAN WALES.

Hello all.

A good news / bad news week for the Wonderers.

Well, not really - I lied about the good news, though they did win the General Knowledge round (again) before going down 136 to 161 to the Dolphin, a jolly bunch who enjoy a good quip whilst they are relentlessly hammering the opposition. Another bright moment was Wendy reaching the top ten individual chart. This will cheer her up no end. Wendy is often the life and soul of the team but recent results have made her a bit more introspective. Perhaps she is missing her book stall on Macclesfield market which she has recently relinquished. She kindly gave me one of her last remaining books "The Penguin Book of Quotations". I was overjoyed - I didn't even know penguins could speak!

Wendy is still having family trouble in Liverpool. Her cousin Billy lost his job as a window cleaner when his Black and Decker sander packed in. Wendy took him to his local for a drink to cheer him up and he won first prize in the raffle, which was nice. The first prize was a week's alibi.

Tomo did his best again with a magic trick in the interval, but even turning Bob into an ashtray failed to raise much of a smile. Bob's a bit despondent too at the moment. He recently wrote to a Lonely Hearts Club enclosing a photograph of himself. They wrote back to him saying thanks for the letter but they weren't THAT lonely! The redoubtable Tony Toft was standing in for Nick, who was doing his stuff in Vienna. The team miss Nick when he is away - they would follow him anywhere (out of morbid curiosity).

As for the quiz itself, there was an interesting round on alliteration. The team enjoyed it though some say such sophisticated speech sounds somewhat superficially supercilious. Not too many Welsh questions either.

Billy Prattlefaggit is still threatening to visit to "sort those tossers out". He sent me a grainy old photograph of his quiz team in action at the Limping Whippet, Higher Hurdsfield, in 1958. There was a notice on the wall behind the quiz team table saying.
SPECIAL MENU - AS MUCH AS YOU CAN KEEP DOWN FOR ONLY A SHILLING.

"It were a rough place", said Billy in his note. "They used to keep a pig on the bar as an air-freshener, but at least we knew the answers to the questions, not like those losers at t' Waters Green!"

Still concerned about the lack of tactical nous amongst the Wonderers I decided to ask the Landlady at the WGT what she thought. Most of what she said is unprintable, but she gave the impression that she was not impressed. "I should be on the ***** team myself, in fact I have been before now. I used to be on a quiz team at the airport - I used to work there push-starting jumbo jets - and we NEVER lost". I broached the subject of underhand tactics and she promised to come up with some ideas for next week.

So watch this space, and in the meantime, a win will do nicely.

The Wonderers didn't win, but Macclesfield DID!! Roll on Chelsea!