News and Views: 2023–4 Season, Week 1 – 7 November 2023

Results

The first week of another season, and once again the Nags Head 'B''s questions produced a raft of high scores. Last season the highest score on the opening week was 199 by the Waters Green Nags; we reckoned this was the highest ever score in the B League. The highest score in the A League that week was 191 by the Harrington Academicals (closely followed by the Poachers' 190), but both of these were some way short of the A League record of 210, set by the Ox–fford 'C' on the opening day of the 2013–14 season (when the Dolphin scored 203).

This year the newly–renamed Queens of the Castle surpassed their own record with a score of 222. There were also four scores in the 180s, by the Nags Head, Waters Green Weavers, Dolphin and Harrington Academicals. The highest score in the B League was 182 by the Waters Green Nags, followed by the Park Taverners with 176.

Two of the three matches in the A League were very close - decided by two and three points. All three in the B League were won by comparatively comfortable margins. Five of the six matches were won by the teams that went second in the Specialist; the only team to win going the other way was the Waters Green Nags.

Tables

Not much to report on here, this being the first week of the season. The teams that scored most points on the night naturally start as League leaders, and this means the Queens of the Castle and the Waters Green Nags.

Individual

Big shout out to Alice Walker, who scored a "full house" – 60 out of a possible 60. Alice is only the third person ever to achieve this, after Alan Hodgson in the 2006–7 season and Haydn Thompson in 2009–10.

Alice has previously scored 57 on two occasions – most recently on the opening day of last season. Alan Hodgson has scored 57 at least three times, but Haydn Thompson had never scored 57 – until this week. (The question he got wrong was the one about Primark.)

Alan Hodgson was one of four people who scored 51 this week, along with Peter McBride, Heather Wallace and Tony Moores. This is almost a commonplace score for Peter, who has scored 57 at least twice (the first time being as long ago as 1989–90) and also has at least one 54 under his belt; but 51 is an all–time personal best for both Heather (whose previous best was 42 in 2017–18) and Tony (45 in 2013–14).

Another notable all–time personal best was Tim Massey's 48. Tim's previous highest score was 45, which he has achieved at least twice.

Full Results: A League

Full Results: B League

A League Summary

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

B League Summary

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

Cars & Van 4U Question Setters' Trophy

As mentioned above, five of the six matches this week were won by the teams that went second in the Specialists. The spreadsheet did detect a significant bias towards those teams, and it was all in the first half. The teams that started second scored, on average, 131% of their average scores over the past year in the Specialist questions, while those that went first managed a comparatively modest 97%. Consequently the Balance score for the Specialist questions was as low as you can get. The General Knowledge on the other hand were almost perfectly balanced – 129% for the teams that had gone first in the Specialists, and 127% for those that went second.

This brings us to the observation that (as we've also seen already), the Nags Head 'B''s questions produced the usual high scores, and this means top marks for (lack of) Difficulty. In the General Knowledge, scores were as high as they've been over the past year – if not ever; teams scored on average 128% of their average scores over that period, and one team got the highest score on record.

The Entertainment marks were good, albeit not quite as high as we're used to for the Nags 'B''s questions. On Entertainment alone, both sets would have been comfortably in the Top Ten last season. On total marks, the General Knowledge would have been top by a comfortable margin but the Specialists would have been as low as 25th.

In summary: although this week's Specialist questions were let down by their apparent (lack of) Balance, the General Knowledge have thrown down a real marker for the rest of us to aim at.

For the full spreadsheet, please click here.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2023