But with a black capital E there is NO WAY to guess. There's an infinite number of answers possible. You have no option than just to say next, so what's the point of having it as a clue?
But with a black capital E there is NO WAY to guess. There's an infinite number of answers possible. You have no option than just to say next, so what's the point of having it as a clue?
The coloured lower case e was very guessable.
For the single dot question the second or third clues - the musical note or dot ball in cricket - would have been more appropriate for the first clue, and guessable, in which case the "E" second would also have served as a kind of red herring.
Hello again. I used to write about 45% of the series, and that slack is now taken up by four senior writers - three of those are regulars, one is new. The editor is new. A number of regular part timers chip in occasional questions.
Hello, welcome back!! I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away
There seem to be a lot of credits for question setters this series. Wasn't it only your name previously?
Anyway, any chance of the new fella coming on here to respond to any issues raised?
Yes. Sounds like people are phoning for the Waaambulance.
Thing is with questions like that is you may just "get it" and take the gamble, or not, depending on how the question falls and the way your brain works.
Ages ago I got a five pointer (first round, not sequence round) for "Sue Lawley", it triggered instantly as a misheard lyric, but other people may have thought many other things that were not easy to take a chance on, say "Nationwide Presenters" and what if the next one was Sue Cook, so you would defintely say that, or maybe famous Susan newscasters, and so on.
That's how the 5-pointers work, you either get it AND are prepardd to gamble, or you don't.
Breaking that rule was "Pugachev's Cobra" which could only be an aerobatic manoeuvre, so there, there was no gamble, you either knew it or you didn't.
Maybe it's just the luck of the draw.
There was a question about the orders of a mass and so if you knew the first clue and what it referred to then it was a very good chance that you'd get the 4th.
The problem is that with some of the recent ones it's not until the 3rd clue until they have a chance of a sequence.
Meanwhile over on The Link (a sort of dumbed down Only Connect), the first two clues were Horses and Wall, and they still didn't get the connection (at least they didn't need the fourth clue which was Egg - I forget the third). There were similar ones that had me shouting at the TV "how could they not see it?!".
Guesses at a cathedral where Thomas Becket was murdered were Salisbury and St Paul's. It's not quite In It To Win It territory, but it's getting close.
Meanwhile over on The Link (a sort of dumbed down Only Connect), the first two clues were Horses and Wall, and they still didn't get the connection (at least they didn't need the fourth clue which was Egg - I forget the third). There were similar ones that had me shouting at the TV "how could they not see it?!".
Guesses at a cathedral where Thomas Becket was murdered were Salisbury and St Paul's. It's not quite In It To Win It territory, but it's getting close.
i was also shouting at the TV for the Thomas Becket question. What do they teach them in history lessons at school now? I thought everyone learned this at school.
Meanwhile over on The Link (a sort of dumbed down Only Connect), the first two clues were Horses and Wall, and they still didn't get the connection (at least they didn't need the fourth clue which was Egg - I forget the third). There were similar ones that had me shouting at the TV "how could they not see it?!".
Guesses at a cathedral where Thomas Becket was murdered were Salisbury and St Paul's. It's not quite In It To Win It territory, but it's getting close.
Meanwhile over on The Link (a sort of dumbed down Only Connect), the first two clues were Horses and Wall, and they still didn't get the connection (at least they didn't need the fourth clue which was Egg
Ok, I have just got this now. Why would "horses" and "wall" give it away? Could be just about anything, or am I being too highbrow? Was actually thinking more along the lines of horse of the year show. ;-)
It really does not feel like something that Dave would show? Maybe Challenge but Dave? But anyway I'll be watching.
I'm sure I said something similar, somewhere.
Perhaps it's the VC-M link, since she's performed so well on HIGNFY and QI- she only needs to set a half-decent time on Star In A Reasonably Priced Car and she's pretty much got the set.
I'm not sure about the anagrams this series. It make give the question editor a hard on thinking up these clues and connections but they have to be makeable in the context of the quiz show.
What a strange show tonight. The questions felt very different, sort of easier, but weird. Agree about the anagrams in the wall, that really wasn't on.
How can you spot four anagrams in 16 random words? It's hard enough to get links.
And the one which was festooned with cricketing suggestions was simply unfair.
Having said that, I did better than both teams (quicker than one, and more correct answers than the other) ... but would never have completed either connection - even when the words were revealed
How are you supposed to solve an anagram or group of four anagrams without ANY clue as to what links them or what the anagram is supposed to resolve to?
Reinforced by the fact that neither team got the anagramed words....
Also, putting one red herring in the wall is fine, but when (I think) eight or nine out of sixteen are potential cricketing terms, that's going just TOO far.....
A slightly contrary opinion, but I thought the multiple cricketing terms in the wall was okay - it's more that the team handled it badly by not focussing on finding an alternative starting point. (I found the 'middle' set almost immediately - okay, that was 4 from 5, but still simple enough to bash out.)
The anagrams in the wall, though - clever for clever's sake. I like the wordplay ones, but anagrams are just too hard (although I will concede that 'Nordic Era' should have set alarm bells ringing).
Comments
The coloured lower case e was very guessable.
There seem to be a lot of credits for question setters this series. Wasn't it only your name previously?
Anyway, any chance of the new fella coming on here to respond to any issues raised?
K
There was a question about the orders of a mass and so if you knew the first clue and what it referred to then it was a very good chance that you'd get the 4th.
The problem is that with some of the recent ones it's not until the 3rd clue until they have a chance of a sequence.
Guesses at a cathedral where Thomas Becket was murdered were Salisbury and St Paul's. It's not quite In It To Win It territory, but it's getting close.
i was also shouting at the TV for the Thomas Becket question. What do they teach them in history lessons at school now? I thought everyone learned this at school.
I just watched that and shouted St.Pauls? 597AD?
Canterbury - Dec 29 1170
I'm sure I said something similar, somewhere.
Perhaps it's the VC-M link, since she's performed so well on HIGNFY and QI- she only needs to set a half-decent time on Star In A Reasonably Priced Car and she's pretty much got the set.
How can you spot four anagrams in 16 random words? It's hard enough to get links.
And the one which was festooned with cricketing suggestions was simply unfair.
Having said that, I did better than both teams (quicker than one, and more correct answers than the other) ... but would never have completed either connection - even when the words were revealed
How are you supposed to solve an anagram or group of four anagrams without ANY clue as to what links them or what the anagram is supposed to resolve to?
Reinforced by the fact that neither team got the anagramed words....
Also, putting one red herring in the wall is fine, but when (I think) eight or nine out of sixteen are potential cricketing terms, that's going just TOO far.....
The anagrams in the wall, though - clever for clever's sake. I like the wordplay ones, but anagrams are just too hard (although I will concede that 'Nordic Era' should have set alarm bells ringing).