News and Views: 2022–3 Season, Week 9 – 31 January 2023

Results

There were eight games this week, as all the A League teams played. Four of them were won by the teams that went "second first", three by the teams going "first first", and one was drawn.

Apart from the drawn game (our second of the season), each of the other seven was decided by 27 points or more. Interestingly (for the numerologists), two of the eight matches were decided by 27 points, one by 54 points, and one by 108. Including the drawn game (zero points difference), that's five of the eight games decided by multiples of 27. And in one of the other three games, the difference was 40 points – which is 27 times 1.5, rounded down!

Tables

A draw for the Nags Head 'B', against the Waters Green Weavers, allowed the Poachers to go top of the A League table with a win over the Harrington Diamonds. This was the only change in the A League table.

In the B League, the only change was that the Park Taverners moved up two places, above the Plough Horntails (who didn't play) and the Sutton Club (who lost to the Waters Green Nags).

Individual

Top scorer this week was Ashton Davies with 45. No one else managed over 40, but there were five scores of 39 – three in the A League and two in the B League.

There were only four personal bests this week – all in the B League. Well done Pete Dykstra, Dave Barber, Andy Moores and Karl Burgess. In contrast, 30 of the 64 players failed to beat their lowest scores of the season so far.

As we are now at the half–way stage of the season, the full individual tables (including a printable version) are available either from the Latest Updates menu on the Home Page, or from the 2022–3 menu at the top of every page.

Questions

Most teams struggled with the Plough Horntails' questions, only the Dolphin Hammers managing to score more than their average for the season so far. There was some sympathy for the setters who had no vetters available, but it must be said that there is a limit to how much influence any vetter can have – and also that individual team members can always vet each other's questions.

A League

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

B League

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

Cars & Van 4U Question Setters' Trophy

Let's start with the good news. The overall balance on the Plough Horntails' questions wasn't bad (according to the spreadsheet). On average, teams that went "first first" scored 85% of their average scores for the season so far, while those that went "second first" scored 81%. That's better than four of the previous eight sets so far this season – in other words, about average.

However. Those figures, as well as the above table, show that most teams struggled to answer the questions. According to the spreadsheet, they were the hardest questions we've had so far this season, and by some distance. Not only that, but each set taken on its own was also more unbalanced than any so far; and the Entertainment scores were by some distance the lowest of the season so far.

In the Specialists, the teams that went first scored only 66% of their averages, while those that went second managed 85%. And in the General Knowledge, the teams that went second ("first first") scored 98% of their averages, but those that went first ("second first") scored only 78%.

The only team that scored more than their average marks were the Dolphin Hammers with 107%. At the other extreme, one team managed only 60%; while of the other 14 teams, 11 scored between 71% and 87%.

We had one drawn game this week, and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that this result would have been affected by any bias in the questions. But this was the exception; all of the other games were decided by 27 points or more, which is well out of the range of any perceived bias.

One last point, for the numerologists: two of the eight matches were decided by 27 points, one by 54 points, and one by 108. Including the drawn game (zero points difference), that's five of the eight games decided by multiples of 27.

(The other differences were 33, 38 and 40. The last of these is 27 times 1.5, rounded down!)

For the full spreadsheet, please click here.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2023