News and Views: 2023–4 Season, Cup and Plate Semi–Finals – 2 April 2024

Cup Results

Queens of the Castle vs. Waters Green Weavers

The Weavers have been under strength for most of this season due to the illness of their strongest player, and although they went ahead on Question 1 with a pass–over (by naming the losing finalist in this year's Australian Open, men's singles) the Queens took the lead on Question 9 and never looked back. The Weavers won Round 5, when they scored three pass–overs, but Round 6 proved to be the Queens' best and there was no coming back.

Poachers vs. Nags Head 'B'

The Nags Head 'B' were also without their strongest player, who was unfortunately called away by a family crisis. The Poachers took full advantage, winning every single round and scoring no fewer than 17 pass–overs.

Plate Results

Nags Head vs. Sutton Club

Sutton Club got off to a flying start in Round 1, winning four pass–overs, and in Round 2 they increased their lead to 17. But the comeback started in Round 3, and by the end of Round 5 the scores were level. After the first six questions of Round 6 the Nags were five points ahead, and by the end they'd increased their lead to eight.

Park Timers vs. Dolphin Hammers

Like the Sutton Club, the Park Timers won Round 1 easily but (unlike the Club) that was as good as it got for them. The Hammers came back with a vengeance in Round 2, and proceeded to win the remaining four rounds as well. They scored a total of 21 pass–overs, as well as answering 40 of their own 60 questions correctly.

Questions

For the full questions page, please click here.

The questions were set by Harrington Academicals and the Bate Hallers. The consensus seems to be that they were somewhat more challenging than we are used to, as befits the later stages of the knockout competitions. But there was some good scoring, with three of the winning teams notching up three figurs and the aggegate score in the fourth match reaching 170.

The two Cup games were won by the teams that went first, and in the two Plate games the teams that went second came out on top.

There were five questions that weren't answered correctly in any of the four games:

18	Which sultanate was established in 1250 with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt?
	The Mamluk sultanate
23	To what post was Rob Polkinghorne appointed in December 2023?
	CEO of Cheshire East Council
41	What is the main river in Baltimore, which flows into Chesapeake Bay?
	The Patapsco River (who knew that before this week?)
86	Which anthem by Felix Mendelssohn features the line: "O for the wings, for the wings of a dove!"?
	Hear My Prayer
115	What was the title of Jia Yinghua's 1992 biography of Sun Yaoting, who died in 1996?
	The Last Eunuch of China

Each of the following ten questions was answered in only one of the four matches:

12	According to a saying often attributed to Picasso: "Good artists copy, great artists ..." do what?
	Steal

Answered by the Waters Green Weavers for two points.

24	The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship for women, in which activity?
	Bridge (the card game)

Answered by the Dolphin Hammers for two points.

34	The animator Oliver Postgate was the grandson of which 1930s Labour Party leader?
	George Lansbury

Answered by the Dolphin Hammers for two points.

35	Which HBO comedy–drama series shares its name with a rebellion that took place in central China between 1796 and 1804?
	The White Lotus

Answered by the Poachers for two points.

37	In 1995, Juliette Binoche became the face of which French cosmetics house's perfume Poême?
	Lancôme

Answered by the Nags Head on a pass–over.

48	What new award category is being introduced at the Academy Awards from 2026?
	Casting

Answered by the Waters Green Weavers for two points.

64	Michael Curtiz said, "Bring on the empty horses!" while directing which 1936 film?
	The Charge of the Light Brigade

Answered by the Waters Green Weavers for two points.

65	Which politician, whose grandson won the 1950 Nobel prize in literature, was the last Whig prime minister?
	Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. The Nobel laureate is Bertrand Russell

Answered by the Poachers for two points.

85	What surname was taken by all ten of the illegitimate children fathered by William IV with his mistress Dorothea Jordan?
	FitzClarence (William IV was Prince William, Duke of Clarence)

Answered by the Waters Green Weavers on a pass–over.

91	What is the name of the helicopter landed on Mars by NASA in 2021?
	Ingenuity

Answered by the Waters Green Weavers on a pass–over.

Congratulations to the Weavers, who appear to have known at least two things that no one else did, and possibly as many as five!

You may have noticed that of the five unanswered questions, three were odd-numbered and two were even; and of the ten that were only answered by one team, five were even and five were odd. All of which, coupled with the fact that two matches were won by the teams going first and two by the teams going second, would seem to suggest that the questions were fair to both teams.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2024