University Challenge 2013/2014

[Bob De Caux]

I don't know - I guessed dimension, but was still surprised when it was right. Maths questions are often necessarily convoluted that I reckon they're much harder than, say, a tough history question. I suppose from another point of view, it wouldn't be that unusual to sit and browse a text on the Second Carnatic War (did that even happen?!), whereas perusing a treatise on Euclidean geometry would be somewhat odd.

Yeah, I think I got one maths question right in our entire run! One big problem is that it's much harder to parse questions with any technical terms or equations under pressure - also, because maths questions don't come up much in quizzes and are quite convoluted as you say, they don't tend to trigger the same Pavlovian response that a lot of the other questions do.

I know I'm only repeating what will have been said a hundred times elsewhere, but that music numbers opening question was one of the wankiestly worded things ever. 15 was way more correct than 75.

Yes

[Thomas Cappleman]

Unlucky again Bob, not much you can do against another strong Manchester team. Though will be interesting to see how they do if Collings has an off day.

I happened to see where the music starter was going, but 15 was definitely also plausible with the wording (and a lot more right than 40). Almost ambiguous enough for it to be scrapped and replaced, though would have been a loss of a rare interesting idea.

[Ian Volante]

I said 90...

[Michael Wallace]

I don't know - I guessed dimension, but was still surprised when it was right. Maths questions are often necessarily convoluted that I reckon they're much harder than, say, a tough history question.

Yeah agree - I almost never get those sorts of questions right which is kinda ridiculous.

General sadfaces at Southampton going out. Not going to pretend we don't have a bit of an 'anyone but Manchester' attitude in our household, but even then this team just seems super boring and not enjoying themselves regardless of whether they're winning or losing, whereas you guys were fun and had some pretty spectacular performances earlier in the series.

[Gavin Chipper]

So what were these rubbish questions?

[Matt Morrison]

Starter question was phrased really badly, someone else can correct me on the precise wording but it was something like "i want the sum of the numbers mentioned in the lyrics" and they played... oh god my brain has gone blank... a song with "1-2-3-4-5" in the chorus.

I answered "15" at home, as did Southampton in the studio. It was the sum of the individual numbers that had been mentioned (the number 1, the number 2, etc.).
Paxman wanted 75 because this "1-2-3-4-5" played through five times total.

Whether or not he was corrected off-camera when it came around to the extra 3 questions I don't know but he clearly changed the lyrics to say something like "the total of all mentions" more clearly and also "in the excerpt" and not "in the lyrics" which makes miles more sense.

[Ian Volante]

It was 5-4-3-2-1 by Manfred Mann. The other tunes were 2-4-6-8 Motorway by the Tom Robinson Band (which was very sneaky because as well as the chorus refrain, it mentions a ten-wheeled lorry and something else too), 74-75 by The Connells, and a great old random tune from the mid-80s - Driving Away From Home by It's Immaterial. Chorus is "Driving away from home, 30 miles or more...", and it also mentions the M62 and maybe a couple of other numbers, can't remember off the top of my head.

[Matt Morrison]

Ah yes thanks Ian. I know and enjoy that last tune but couldn't put my finger on it and typically it was the only one Paxman didn't name after the question (ridiculous).
I was one out, again like Southampton, presumably for the same reason of mishearing something in the first line, something like the "on" of "Come on", as a "one".

[Bob De Caux]

2-4-6-8 Motorway was a pretty sneaky way to start the bonus set, as we weren't expecting anything tricksy like numbers not in the main refrain. And yes Matt, for the It's Immaterial song, Richard assured me that he had heard an extra one. I quite liked the round as a concept, but the main question definitely wasn't clear enough.

Thanks for your comments, Michael. I think that Manchester are so weighed down with the pressure of previous years, it's hard for them to enjoy it in the same way as teams with no expectations. Off set, we got on really well with them.

[Heather Styles]

Bob & Co (or Caux?), well done to have got as far you did and unlucky against Somerville and Manchester. Agree with Matt about the wanky wording.

[Michael Wallace]

Thanks for your comments, Michael. I think that Manchester are so weighed down with the pressure of previous years, it's hard for them to enjoy it in the same way as teams with no expectations. Off set, we got on really well with them.

I bet that was all part of their game plan, drilled into them in their endless training camps. Maybe.

[JackHurst]

Great episode today, nice to see Manchester go out just because its Manchester. To be fair, their team seemed nice this year and they got quite far considering Day's attempts to make his team's score negative.

[Ryan Taylor]

I particularly enjoyed Collings. Probably because he studied geography. But he was by far their best player throughout the series. Morley and company are pretty formidable though and I always expected them to turn it around and by fuck they did with that blitzkrieg in the final few minutes. Important buzzes from apterous' Richard Freeland tonight too. Morley is super bright and I love how confident he is with his buzzes even if they are wrong. Drnovšek Zorko is also good, but not as good as he thinks he is. I like the parts when Morley quietly puts him in his place.

[Hugh Binnie]

Drnovšek Zorko is also good, but not as good as he thinks he is. I like the parts when Morley quietly puts him in his place.

I don't know how good Filip thinks he is at quizzing, but he's a very good quizzer!

[Adam Gillard]

Just caught up on the final.

Congratulations to Richard and Team Trinity!