Only Connect Series 8

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Michael Wallace
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Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

I know there's already an Only Connect thread, but if UC gets its own thread every series, then so can this, especially when it features such exciting contestants as me and CF.

The new series starts on September 23rd, with our first (SPOILERS?!?!?!?!*) episode airing on the 30th. Be sure of it!

*It's double-elimination now, so saying 'first' is not a spoiler. Huzzah.
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Matt Morrison
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Matt Morrison »

If it deserves a thread per series, then you deserve not to have to explain the rules.

Well excited though.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Charlie Reams »

Never been much of an OC fan but in preparation for some hardcore raccoonery I watched quite a bit of the last series.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Martin Bishop »

Meanwhile Richard Osman reminisces upon Raccoon and CF's previous appearance together on tv.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpaAlvrZsTA
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Martin Bishop »

Knew you'd come good in the missing vowels round. Well done.

That wall was painful, though. Don't think I've ever seen anyone press so many buttons.
Last edited by Martin Bishop on Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Adam Gillard »

Didn't know you guys were going to be on it and just happened to watch it this week. Well done (except for the connecting wall)! My mum somehow got 'cow' from the first connection in the 'how now brown cow' round, which was pretty impressive (she also got 'y=x' and 'MP' pretty sharpish)! My dad got the helicopter manufacturers straight away so it was tough to see you mention it and then almost immediately dismiss it. You were very strong in the missing vowels round, which bodes well for future contests (you even beat me, which doesn't usually happen when I watch the show!). You're very entertaining; I remember two of you being on Pointless and that was also good fun, so I'm looking forward to your future show(s).
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U

C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)

Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
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Michael Wallace
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

Martin Bishop wrote:Knew you'd come good in the missing vowels round. Well done.

That wall was painful, though. Don't think I've ever seen anyone press so many buttons.
Haha yep, Twitter is very annoyed about that :p Thing is, if you're not pressing, you're definitely not going to get anything, and most of the time we were going for 3 + something which works surprisingly often when we practised (but is nevertheless really annoying to watch, and probably looks random). As it turns out we never had a chance on that wall - we'd heard of 1 of the helicopters, 2 of the jars and 2 of the news people, so a bit doomed from the outset. (We just tried to do it again and still didn't solve it!)
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

Adam Gillard wrote:Didn't know you guys were going to be on it and just happened to watch it this week. Well done (except for the connecting wall)! My mum somehow got 'cow' from the first connection in the 'how now brown cow' round, which was pretty impressive (she also got 'y=x' and 'MP' pretty sharpish)! My dad got the helicopter manufacturers straight away so it was tough to see you mention it and then almost immediately dismiss it. You were very strong in the missing vowels round, which bodes well for future contests (you even beat me, which doesn't usually happen when I watch the show!). You're very entertaining; I remember two of you being on Pointless and that was also good fun, so I'm looking forward to your future show(s).
Thanks, sounds like your mum should go on :p We were pretty surprised with the turnaround on the vowels - we knew we were pretty good from playing at home, but then you have to factor in a) studio pressure, and ii) the small delay they introduce, so we really had no idea.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Zubair Patel »

Very entertaining stuff Michael. Well done on the performance. I'm sure I've seen the captain of your team on University Challenge recently ? Hope you guys go far !
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

Zubair Patel wrote:Very entertaining stuff Michael. Well done on the performance. I'm sure I've seen the captain of your team on University Challenge recently ? Hope you guys go far !
Thanks :) You're bang on, Jamie was captain of the UCL team two series ago (2011/12) - Hywel was in the same team (and I was on a different team that series as well), so we're arguably more 'University Challenge alumni' than 'Board Gamers' (although we do actually play a lot of board games too).
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Tony Atkins »

Is Peter Steggle the same as Pete Steg on Apterous?
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by James Robinson »

Tony Atkins wrote:Is Peter Steggle the same as Pete Steg on Apterous?
His real name is Peter Steggle, so definitely possible. :)
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Tony Atkins »

Pete confirms it was him on this week. He recommends it for the fun and a free weekend in Cardiff!
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Jordan F »

Little late, but spoiler comments art below:

Good job Michael and co. for making it to the semi-finals. Never commented on your game with the Lasletts, but they definitely seemed like tough cookies that game, perhaps just nicked you guys on the buzzer too. What seems strong about your team, perhaps like the Lasletts too is that Michael, Hywel and Jamie all seem like they have their strong areas and can take ownership of questions if need be. Plus I think you try to enjoy yourselves a little while you do it, though I wish the Monopoly puns would stop a bit.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

Jordan F wrote:Little late, but spoiler comments art below:

Good job Michael and co. for making it to the semi-finals. Never commented on your game with the Lasletts, but they definitely seemed like tough cookies that game, perhaps just nicked you guys on the buzzer too. What seems strong about your team, perhaps like the Lasletts too is that Michael, Hywel and Jamie all seem like they have their strong areas and can take ownership of questions if need be. Plus I think you try to enjoy yourselves a little while you do it, though I wish the Monopoly puns would stop a bit.
Ha, thanks. Yeah, the Monopoly thing turned into something of a 'running joke' for the producers. When they briefed us on our intro to the first show (where they claimed we had a "Passion for Pictionary") they were genuinely surprised to learn that when we say 'Board Games' we mean proper ones, not the sort of things people play at Christmas with their family. From there they decided to do an 'embarrassing' introduction to each show. And yeah, we intersect fairly well, at least for Only Connect; Hywel and I are big on the 'lateral thinking' side of things, while Jamie can chip in with random knowledge from pretty much anywhere (he's also a pretty good captain, there have already been a couple of times this series where he's plucked the correct answer out of nowhere when being pressed by VC). We're definitely weak on general knowledge overall, but try to make up for it with quick lateral thinking and solid missing vowels work.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Phil Reynolds »

Haha. The Radio Times 'Choice' blurb for tonight's show describes the Board Gamers as "captained by Zaphod Beeblebrox".
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Jordan F »

Again, spoilers below:

Great job getting to the finals. I was watching with a friend, and we ended up getting no points in round 1, but a potential 10 in round 2 depending on what we were asked (We got the Catan one after one clue, the Harry Potter one after two and the x cubed one after three. Also recognized Dead Parrot but couldn't think of the sequence). That did perhaps seem more like a you game than any others, the board game stuff, the math missing vowels round, etc. Will be interesting either way because the final will either be the battle of the apterites or a rematch.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Jordan F »

And the double apterite final it is. Michael Wallace on the Board Gamers vs Pete(r) Steg(gle) on the Bakers. I feel like this is the first time we're going to have an apterite champion while actively on apterous. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Andy McGurn »

Just want to say well done to the Board Gamers on winning the final. It was really enjoyable to watch you guys throughout the series. I thought you did brilliantly.

Hopefully we'll see you on the show again in some champion of champion specials (the move to BBC2 should mean they can pay your airfare from Canada!!)

Well done also to Pete Steg and his bakers for reaching the final.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Eoin Monaghan »

Yes just wanted to add my own congratulations. Thought you were particularly entertaining and was very glad you guys won!

Congratulations also to Peter's team for making the final, some of your team's answers were fantastic and I was miles off.
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Michael Wallace »

Thanks chaps. I've said it elsewhere, but anyone who's even vaguely considered applying should really do so. It's amazing fun and the team behind it are the best we've encountered in TV. (Plus you won't get on the show if you're not good enough at the audition, so you don't need to worry about making a fool of yourself on national TV (such as, for example, by admitting you don't know where Swansea is).)
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Adam Gillard »

Well done to Michael and the Board Gamers for an excellent series and a great final. Congratulations also to Pete and the Bakers for an excellent series and a great final. I've given you both the same accolade because I am unimaginative and there was hardly anything to choose between the two teams apart from in the m ssn gv wlsr nd. Entertaining chat too!
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U

C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)

Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
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Re: Only Connect Series 8

Post by Jordan F »

I know it's a series 9 topic but there hadn't been one on today's show.

Today, we had I believe the first contestant on Only Connect who was totally blind, the girl from the record collectors. She had a braille wall, and an interesting assistant in the form of an earpiece during missing vowels. I'm curious how that'd work with speed, if she would have heard the consonants before the others saw them or some other trick that the TV managed to edit. I'm intrigued actually. And it is cool that Only Connect is going out of their way to make sure those with vision difficulties can play (I know Michael mentioned something similar for him).
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