The historic visit of the Club to Southampton?

2012:2 1 Editorial 1 Membership matters 1 Treasurer’s Business 2 Letters, News and Views 4 Winning Mastermind 6 How I Became Brain of Britain 2012 10 “Unto Southampton Do We Shift Our Scene” 12 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 14 Answers to Brain of Britain Quiz

15 Magnum 2012 16 Master Quiz 2012 Final Table 17 Mugnum 2012 19 Master Quiz 2012 Answers 20 Report of the “Titanic” non-Mersey Inquiry 21 Wheel of Misfortune 24 The Hardest of Schools of Hard Knocks IBC Results of Gavin’s Maritime Quiz IBC Results of Ken’s Film Quiz BC Quiz: The French Connection

Officers and Committee President Alan D. Blackburn

Hon. Vice-President Tony Dart

Secretary Gavin Fuller

Treasurer Susan Leng

Acting Editor of pass

Webmaster Mel Kinsey

Committee Members Phillida Grantham

Glenys Hopkins

Ann Kelly

Mastermind Club website: www.mastermindclub.co.uk

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pass and its contents ©2012 by the Mastermind Club except where noted. Contributions are welcome but may be edited or held over owing to space limitations. Check with the Editor for advice on the format of contributions. All material is published at the sole discretion of the Editor and Committee. Copy deadlines are the last of January (Issue 1), April (2), July (3), and October (4). Publication is normally 4–6 weeks later. Please notify the Secretary of any problems in receiving pass (allow an extra week or two for printing and postal delays).

Editorial Ken Emond, Editor

t the risk of having more farewell appearances than Frank Sinatra, I am back as Editor for one more issue. It was a great encouragement to all of us on the Committee that we received no fewer than six offers, of varying degrees of seriousness, to take on the Editorship of PASS. After a serious discussion we recommended to the AGM that we accept

Tony Dart’s offer to take on this role. This takes advantage of the combination of his long experience in the Club, including being a past President, and his imminent release from seeing his final students through their examinations at Southampton Solent University, and hence final retirement, giving him the time and freedom needed to be able to carry out the role. It has been a great privilege, as I have probably said before, to be Editor, and members old and new have all risen wonderfully to the challenge of making excellent contributions to this issue, which I hope you will all enjoy reading as much as I have done. Please don’t rest on your laurels! I am sure Tony will need the support of all of us in continuing to take PASS forward in the future. As you will see from the minutes of the AGM, there was a bit of a discussion of electronic versus hard copy publication, and I am certain that many members who were unable to be present would want to contribute to such a debate in future. For my part, I am all for a ‘mixed economy’ so to speak – thanks to Mel Kinsey’s wonderful work in setting up the Mastermind Club website, I see no reason why copies of PASS, or specific articles, could not be made available in full colour there, but I would also still prefer a hard copy myself, albeit in black and white. Tony has his own views, which he shared with the AGM, more in favour of the electronic edition.

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On a final, rather sombre note, this issue pays tribute to Peter Richardson, one of the longest-standing and most active of the Club’s members. We were all also very much saddened to hear of the death of Mamie Magnusson, Magnus’s widow, who died at home on 12 April. Membership matters

Gavin Fuller

side from the sad death of Peter Richardson mentioned elsewhere in this issue, the only other membership news of note concerns that fine class of 1993 (biased, moi?) R A Gordon Stuart (Membership number 729) has moved to Camusdarach Lodge, ARISAIG, Invernessshire. PH39 4NT

AWhilst I’m pleased to add that Chris Moore (membership number 753, of Rainham in Kent) has recently rejoined the Club. From the Treasurer

Susan Leng

would like to thank all those present at the Annual Dinner of the Mastermind Club who generously donated the sum of £335 which will go to the Club’s chosen Charity for the year which is the Magnus Magnusson Award Fund at Glasgow Caledonian University. The total includes donations from some members who were not present but who wished to donate – thank you to you all.

I If you want to see how the money in the Fund is used, please take a look at their website which is to be found at www.gcu.ac.uk/alumni/magnusmagnussonfund/awards Students are particularly considered for awards whose studies relate to any of the late Magnus Magnusson’s personal interests, including the media, history, language, literature and the natural environment and applicants must demonstrate achievement in their chosen area, and have a clear plan to take their work forward. The Magnusson Awards will facilitate that next period of exploration, study, learning and personal growth for the scholar. Each winner will be asked to provide a report and to present their proposal to a group including members of the Magnusson family.

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Letters, news and views Peter Richardson remembered

Ann Kelly I'm very sad to hear of the passing of dear Peter. Nina and Peter will be much missed in Southampton, it will be very strange to have a reunion without them. Peter and Nina were among the first people I met at my first reunion in 1987, to me he WAS The Mastermind Club.

Phillida Grantham I too was very shocked and sad when Nina rang me to tell me the news the morning after. Peter was a stalwart of the club for many years. He mixed high intelligence with an equally high sense of humour and he will be much missed. Nina is equally good company and I encouraged her to continue to attend the reunions in the future. She will always be welcome.

Andrew Francis I had played against and with Peter for over thirty years in the Ormskirk Quiz League, part of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues (MQL). Most recently Peter had played with me for the Greyhound Quiz team in 2011-12. In Chapter 8 of "I`ve Started So I`ll Finish" Magnus wrote about Peter and his professional approach to, and successes in, quizzes. The waspish comment by Robert Robinson on Brain of Britain when he called Peter a `professional` was always one of Peter`s favourites. Likewise the incredible victory in The Krypton Factor saw a semi-fit Peter walking around the obstacle course, content in the belief that his final buzzer round on general knowledge would secure victory. They changed the competition rules the following season. Past struggles with Kevin Ashman in the MM Club competitions were a highlight. Peter and his wife Nina were regulars at the annual get together and I know that they were looking forward to Southampton. ps At the memorial service in Knowsley Village Church on April 5th, these and other stories led to laughter and sustained applause. Peter would have liked that! The MM Club and the MQL have lost a truly great quizzer and a really nice person. I will miss him greatly.

Leo Stevenson He always reminded me of a favourite uncle of mine, ‘ome’ Leo (a Dutch uncle after whom I'm named), not just in character with his sense of humour and incredible knowledge and perspective on stuff, but also even in the way he looked – almost uncannily identical in fact. He’ll leave me - and I'm sure many others - with a smile when remembering him, which is really always the best way for anyone to be remembered.

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Marga Scott-Johnson I am sure Peter will be much missed at the annual weekends; I always enjoyed seeing him and Nina there and meeting up with them when they visited Northumberland.

Susan Leng (Treasurer) Donations at Peter’s funeral were for UNICEF, and we were pleased to send a donation of £50 on behalf of all members of the Club in Peter’s memory.

Communication, Communication, Communication

Glenys Hopkins I returned from the Southampton AG bubbling with ideas for using modern communications to help the Club offer more to its members by way of information, amusement and generally keeping in touch. I have just had a quick wallow in nostalgia looking at photos from previous AGs and other meetings now accessible on the splendid website devised by Mel Kinsey. This really does bring the Club’s activities to life, go to http://www.mastermindclub.co.uk to see glimpses of Mastermind Club through the ages. If you have any photos or anecdotes from Club events, please send them to the Web HQ at http://www.mastermindclub.co.uk/51.html. The more information we can show about what the Club does, the more interesting it will be. The Mastermind Club also has a Facebook page, set up by Ann Kelly. I am not (yet) very Facebook-literate, but managed to join this group, which is a very good way of electronically seeking information, giving reminders or just chatting about recent and forthcoming events. Of course, Communication is a two-way topic. It would be helpful if the Club could contact members by email with information which might be interesting or relevant. We are very sensitive to the requirements of the Data Protection Act, and the need to protect members’ privacy, and all information about members’ email addresses, if you agree to share them with us will be held centrally by Gavin Fuller, who looks after membership matters (send to him at gavin_fuller@hotmail.com). Any emails we send out will be sent as “blind copies”, so that your own email address will not be visible to other members.

It’s Catching On!

Glenys Hopkins Regular regional meetings have been held for some years in London, Manchester and the North-East. The practise has now spread to what many insist is the nation’s Capital of Quizzing, Liverpool. The inaugural meeting was held on Wednesday 25 April, at the temporary venue of Costa Coffee in Lime Street Station. This venue was chosen not for its glamour or atmosphere, but because it was accessible and not intimidating for members looking for people they did not already know. Next time we shall meet in the White Star, also in Lime Street Station, but where conversation will not be interrupted or drowned out by the young lady who kept on telling us not to leave our luggage unattended, not to smoke, and to be prepared to wait an additional five minutes for the train. Regional meetings are a good way of keeping in touch with other members. Because we have all been through the Mastermind Experience we find that in some ways we are on the same wavelength as other members, regardless of differences in age, profession and background. I realise that such meetings will only appeal to the more sociable members, but there seem to be plenty of those ☺, which makes for an enjoyable evening with interesting conversation and good company. For more information contact Glenys Hopkins, glenys.hopkins@virgin.net

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Winning Mastermind Gary Grant I would never have won Mastermind if my ex-girlfriend hadn't dumped me by text message in 2007. So, although I wouldn't have guessed it at the time, she did me a massive favour. Thanks, 'N' - I owe you one. Let me explain. I'm not a 'natural' quizzer. Sure, I used to watch the odd quiz show and shout out the answers (who doesn't?) and I had made a solitary appearance on The Weakest Link in 2001 notable only for my snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the final round not once but twice, but I didn't watch or play in quizzes regularly, and I certainly never tried to learn 'facts'. That was something only geeks would do... or so I believed a few years ago. But in late 2007/early 2008 everything that could possibly go wrong in my life did. My dad became very seriously unwell, my job was a daily source of misery, I was isolated in Scotland away from my friends in Manchester, I had money problems and then, as a wonderful coup de grace, the girl who I loved and who had said she wanted to marry me not two weeks before, dumped me. To go back to the guy she'd been engaged to before she met me. Life, in short, sucked, and I was at the lowest ebb I'd ever been. It was in this state that I declined an offer to go out to the pub one night, and instead stayed at home alone, watching whatever rubbish was on telly and wallowing in self-pity. As changing the channel was just too much effort in my virtually catatonic state, I left Mastermind on when it came on. And I found myself shouting out the answers. "Don't be stupid, It's Minsk, you idiot". "It's Radiohead - you old people know NOTHING about pop music". And so on. And it happened to be one of those shows where John said at the end "if you would like to be a contender...". I still have no idea why I applied. Maybe I thought I had nothing left to lose. Maybe I thought that I would show my evil bosses at work, and my ex-girlfriend a thing or two, but whatever the reasons, 20 minutes later an e-mail application was winging it's way to the BBC. To be honest, I didn't really expect to get on. I had no quiz pedigree, and I thought I would get 'found out' at the auditions. I hadn't even thought about my specialist subjects too hard. I'd put Jackie Stewart because I like Formula One and had just finished his autobiography, but for the remaining 3 spaces I'd put whatever came into my head - like I'd get to the semi-finals anyway. So, my other choices were 'the Planets' on the grounds that with Pluto's demise, there's only 8 of them and they won't ask about Earth, so how hard can it be? For the final I picked 'Alesteir Crowley' because I had a book of his. Never mind the fact that I hadn't read it, or any of his other 20 or so works. Even suggesting a subject that I would use if I got to the Mastermind final seemed like a ridiculous impertinence - I wasn't even going to get on the show. Except, improbably, I did. And several weeks later I was clutching a piece of paper with a filming date and a bit in bold that said across the middle: 'Gary Grant - Specialist Subject: The Life And Career of Jackie Stewart'. Oh God. This was real. I was going to go on that terribly clever programme, with terribly clever contestants, with its ominous theme music and black chair, and make an utter fool of myself. I could see the local paper's headline "LOCAL DOCTOR IS NATION'S DISASTERMIND" and the mock humorous article telling the tale of how I'd got locked into a pass spiral and scored the lowest ever total in the show's history; I could see that all too clearly in my mind's eye. So I threw myself into revision - every hour I wasn't at work, assisting some evil surgeon in doing unspeakable things to people's bowels or haemorrhoids I was reading about Jackie Stewart. I might not do brilliantly in general knowledge, but there would be no fact about that man I wouldn't know. I had to avoid shame and humiliation at all costs. And here's the thing: all that revision, all that work, all that *having something to aim for* - a tangible goal - lifted me out of my depression. It would be over-egging it to say Mastermind saved my life, but it probably saved me flouncing out of my job, and thus at least it saved my career, finances and my mental well-being. For weeks, motivated by sheer fear of failure, I lived and breathed Jackie Stewart. I maybe even started talking in a mousy West Coast burr... but I was determined and I was focussed. I wanted to do well in this show more than I could ever have predicted. As it turns out, I did do quite well - certainly beyond my own expectations. I scored 14 out of 16 on Jackie Stewart (the 2 I got wrong were actually questions about F1 engines and were a bit unfair, I thought, but I wasn't going to argue) and then, helped

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by - all false modesty to one side - the easiest of the 4 GK sets, I garnered another 13 in round 2. I even survived the 'chat' with John that you used to do without making a total fool of myself. And with 27 points, much to my own astonishment, I'd won. I was in the semi-finals. This was both good and bad. Good in that it was far better than I had expected, and most importantly, I hadn't come last with a single-digit score. Bad in that I now had to answer questions on the planets of the solar system - a subject I knew literally next to nothing about and had little interest in. Going to Blackwell's bookshop in Edinburgh and finding there was a densely written 400-page tome on Venus alone possibly suggested that I hadn't, in fact, made the wisest choice. Nonetheless, I applied myself with the same vigour to my subject, and other than working, eating, sleeping and shopping, for several weeks I did nothing but learn pointless, slightly dull facts about the Solar System. Water-rich plumes erupt from Enceladus, Saturn's sixth-largest moon. Uranus' magnetic field is tilted 59 degrees from where it should be. Not massively interesting, but with the fear factor large and the adrenaline of having won my last heat, it sustained me through otherwise dull and solitary evenings stuck in the Scottish Borders (tourist logo: "Where old people come to die"), and afternoons spent being shouted at by colorectal surgeons for holding the surgical retractors in the wrong place. Of course, I found my level in the semi-finals. I was actually leading after the SS, having done my homework on the planets well, but Mastermind semi-final general knowledge levels were a bridge too far, and I missed out on winning after scoring a faintly embarrassing six on GK. But it didn't really matter, because the whole experience had given birth to a monster. From nowhere, I had developed the most massive determination I had ever had in my life: I was going to go back on that show, and win it. I don't know where that came from. My theory is that, to me, winning Mastermind would symbolise my triumph over, my recovery from, the terrible pits of despair into which I had sunk 4 years ago. Maybe it was partly about proving my own self-worth after feeling sorry for myself, but I went about my goal with a determination I had never before experienced. I threw myself into quizzing - on coming back to Manchester (thank God!) I joined three local quiz leagues, I went to the national Quizzing events, I watched - and recorded - every quiz show on TV, I did a little bit of 'quiz study' most nights, either reading quiz questions from books or online, or reading about things that I was weak on, such as art, history or classical music. I had become one of those geeks I'd viewed with such disdain before. The thing is, at no point in all this quizzing - and I have to confess that, at first, I really enjoyed it - did I admit to anyone why I was really doing it. Why set yourself up for a fall? After all, it became quickly clear from my attendance at national events that former Mastermind champions such as Kevin Ashman, Pat Gibson and Jesse Honey were on a different quizzing stratosphere to ordinary mortals. Not only could they answer questions beginning "Which Romanian sociologist....?", they would probably worry that they might pick the wrong one. To state openly that I might emulate those guys seemed like hubris of the highest order. But still, I had my grim resolve, and if I didn't do it, I would die trying. It quickly became apparent from watching the show that there might be ways you could make things easier for yourself, so after some careful study, and I fear to say, some statistical analysis of the show (what was I saying about geeks again?) I came up with the following rules for myself that I would have to obey rigidly to stand any sort of chance:- 1. PICK NARROW SPECIALIST SUBJECTS WITH CLEAR BOUNDARIES OF WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN'T BE ASKED 2. KNOW THOSE SUBJECTS INSIDE OUT 3. ANSWER AS QUICKLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE (if you don't know it instantly, concede the point or guess and move on) 4. NEVER PASS (say something silly instead if you must) and 5. ALWAYS, ALWAYS CONCENTRATE ON THE COMING QUESTION - IF YOU GET A COUPLE WRONG IN A ROW, IGNORE IT. Or, to put point 5 more succinctly, DON'T PANIC. As you may have seen, then, that's just what I did. In the heat and final, I achieved perfect scores on my specialist subjects, The 7 wonders (again, there's only 7 of them, how hard can it be?) and Cetaceans (OK, there's 84 of them but many of them are virtually unknown, and I banked on them not using too many Latin names). My only foul-ups on SS were in the semis, on the Monaco Grand Prix, where I impressively failed to identify my favourite driver ever, David Coulthard, amongst other schoolboy errors. My mistake was in picking something I thought I knew about anyway, and failing to do the requisite work, and I was lucky I was able to mount a comeback from 3rd place with my GK. So Gary's tip for the top? Pick a specialist subject you previously knew nothing about. Seriously. It forces you to do the work needed, and you can tailor the subject for the show rather than hoping your own interests would make a good specialist subject. If you get to the final, and have to do the filmed bit, where you have to say why you chose 'The Twilight Novels of Stephenie Meyer' (there's only 4 of them, how hard can etc etc), just wing it. After all, I did with whales and dolphins....'always fascinated me' indeed. So I have achieved what, for 4 years, has been my biggest ambition in life, I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Caithness glass bowl, and I'm one of less than 40 people ever to have won one. I am not going to lie - I know full well that I'm not the greatest champion ever, or even in the top 80%. I won, I think, because of my tactics - in the final answering quickly gave me more questions than anyone else, and thus I had a 4-point lead at half-time which I simply maintained on GK. My general

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knowledge is good, but not brilliant. I'm a decent player in local quiz leagues, but not the best even there (although I did win the coveted Brain of Bolton last year - oddly I had to give the trophy back on the day of the MM final, which cleared a space on the shelf nicely as it turned out). Equally, in both rounds where I was given 2 and a half minutes on GK, I still managed to score more points in the lesser time (2 minutes) I was allotted for my specialist subject. I had, through 3 years of quiz work, just enough general knowledge to maintain the leads I'd built up, and I was lucky to get a nice GK set in the semi-finals that allowed me to claw back the only time I had a deficit. But am I a quizzer of the calibre of most of the champions? No. It still amuses me to see my name besides theirs on Wikipedia, to be honest. But winning Mastermind will do me. I felt a sense of happiness and achievement, yes, but when John announced my total score of 35 in the final, oddly the main emotion was relief. That was 3 and a half years of hard work and single-minded determination, and it hadn't been a waste. Besides, if you ask a person on the street what the most impressive quizzing accolade is, I'm sure many of them will mention the glass bowl. I could keep going at quizzing, I could put in the hours and hours needed to compete at the truly top level of World and European Championships, but I've done what I set out to achieve and my own opinion is there's only so many facts one brain really needs. I'm happy to learn who the King of England was in 1400, but the King of France, the Tsar of Russia? Nah - there's other stuff I want to do in life - like climb Aconcagua, my next goal (currently slated for winter 2013). If I can muster even half the determination I had to win MM I'll be sending you a photo from the top in a year or so's time. So I'm going to come along to the Mastermind club functions, and I may even put in the odd casual quiz appearance, but my obsessive quizzing days are now over. I have achieved something that means a massive amount to me personally, and I am now a happy man. I might even text 'Miss N' now, and thank her for dumping me. Best thing anyone's ever done for me, that.

How I (Somewhat To My Surprise) Became Brain of Britain 2012 (and Showed an Alarming Knowledge of Poisons, Explosives and Massacres) Ray Ward I had been on BoB three times, and it never occurred to me that I might come out on top this time. This is not false modesty (I am not noted for modesty!): I reached the semi-final twice, and on the other occasion I was knocked out in the first round (when Kevin was writing the questions, so there was obviously no advantage in knowing him!). So I thought I'd have another go: take some money off the BBC (they actually pay one for appearing, whether you come last in the first heat or win the final - a whole £50!) and see how far I could get... I applied for the 2010-11 series and was auditioned and offered a place, but then I got tied up in other things, so I asked if I could have a bye to the next series, and the producer, Paul Bajoria, agreed. The first heat and semi-final were recorded at the Maida Vale studio (which has a plaque recording that Bing Crosby made his last recording there, just before he died on a Spanish golf course - the way he would have wanted to go, I think!), and the final in the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House. I think BoB suits my range of knowledge: little on popular culture, on which I am poor, and even less on sport, on which I am very poor. And Phillida Grantham told me her son, who was with her in the audience for the final, remarked that quiz experience obviously came into it.

Five right in a row gets a bonus point, but because of the high standard of the questions and their varied nature this isn't easy; there was only one in all three of my games, in the first, and it wasn't me who got it. Here are the questions I got right, and a few other interesting ones. I'll give the answers separately [Ed. see pages 14 and 20], so you can all have a go!

1. Which was the port from which the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588? - a bonus. 2. What is the English name for the food the French call boudon noir? 3. Who was the murderer whose crimes have been attributed to Walter Sickert, Lewis Carroll, the Duke of Clarence and

Sir William Gull? 4. Who was the British crystallographer who became, in 1964, the third woman to receive a Nobel Prize for chemistry

and in 1965 was admitted to the Order of Merit, the first woman since Florence Nightingale? - I was ready to jump in for a bonus when, with the ten seconds almost up, the contestant got it, to my frustration!

5. What was the name by which a Beethoven violin sonata, originally composed for George Bridgewater, came to be known after Beethoven fell out with Bridgewater? - I knew it but couldn't think of it.

Usually, BoB questions are a complete miscellany, but sometimes two are linked. I wondered if a question about the story of the same title as the answer to 5 might come up and, sure enough:

6. Who was the author of the novella of the same title, with a theme of sexual abstinence, by a man whose wife bore him 13 children(!)? - this one I did get, again on a bonus.

7. What is the meaning of YOI in the British prison system? 8. What is the highest point in the Peak District at 636 metres? - I have the advantage of coming from nearby Sheffield. 9. What is the Latin phrase meaning "come with me", used for a personal handbook? 10. Can you spell the name of the Ayrshire castle, the former home of the Marquis of Ailsa, and site of an apartment

given to Eisenhower by a grateful Britain, pronounced "Cullane"? - another contestant made an inaccurate attempt, and I got another bonus.

11. Which creatures are you afraid of if you have ailurophobia? - another bonus. 12. The Scottish theme continued with the name given to the split in the Church of Scotland in 1843, which I'm sure the

distinguished Dr. Emond (who was in the audience) knew, but neither I nor any of the other contestants did. Having, however, managed to spell the name of the Scottish castle I redeemed myself on Scottish matters with another bonus:

13. What was the name of the husband of Gruoch, granddaughter of Kenneth III? 14. What was the name borne between 1925 and 1961 by the city formerly called Tsaritsyn and later Volgograd? - having

studied Soviet politics this was no problem. 15. In which year did the Labour Party became so named? - another bonus, and also no problem, being interested in

British political history. 16. What is the name of the pale yellow, highly corrosive, poisonous, gaseous halogen, the most reactive of all elements?

- another bonus, and the first on the poisons theme.

Another linked pair was: 17. What is the meaning of ZIP in American ZIP codes? - I was annoyed my bonus attempt wasn't accepted, and: 18. Which British city was the first to adopt postcodes? - one of those questions where you know the answer perfectly

well but somehow manage to give the wrong one! Finally in the first heat I had another chance to display a knowledge of poisons, with another bonus:

19. What is the name of the highly poisonous alkaloid used as a pesticide derived from the seeds of the Asian tree nux vomica?

And in the semi-final:

20. Who was the Saracen military leader who commanded the victorious forces at the battle of Hattin in 1187? 21. What was the surname of the American brothers Eliphalet and Philo, credited with the 19th century invention and

manufacture of repeating rifles and also the first typewriter? 22. Who was the author of "The Telltale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado", among his Tales of Mystery and

Imagination? - another contestant got it wrong, I knew it, but to my frustration someone else got in before me for a bonus.

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The following two of my own questions caused my friend Ann Kelly, knowing I was a space buff, to remark that she thought they were fixed in my favour!:

23. What was the meaning of the acronym ESRO for the organisation formed in 1964 by ten European nations and Australia with the intention of pursuing scientific research in space?; and:

24. What was the name of the village on the Baltic coast which was the location of German rocket research under Wernher von Braun in the Second World War?

25. What was the Heart of Midlothian in Scott's novel? - another answer to warm Dr. Emond's heart. 26. Which Greek island was, in Homer, the home of Odysseus, the story of his delay in returning there being a key

element in the epic tale? - another bonus. 27. Who was the author of Our Exploits at West Poley, his only children's story, published in 1952 but written many

decades earlier? - I'd heard of it but couldn't think of the answer. 28. Which motor sport developed in the 1920s when cars were modified to help moonshine runners outpace the

authorities during Prohibition? - another bonus. 29. Which Nunnally Johnson film of 1957 was inspired by the story of Christine Costner Sizemore? - more frustration! 30. Cleeve Cloud, at around 530 metres, is the highest point in which county? - another bonus; I have the advantage of

having visited the county frequently. 31. Navassa Island, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the Caribbean between Haiti and Cuba, is an unincorporated territory

of which country? - another bonus and, I admit, a pure guess, since I had never heard of it! 32. Which painter married Jacqueline Roque as his second wife in 1961? - another one I knew, but someone else got in

first - grrr! 33. Near which French city did the airship R101 crash on its official maiden flight in 1930? - another bonus, and also

arousing Ann's suspicions, knowing I am interested in airships, particularly the R101. 34. After some music which I didn't recognise we were told it was part of the overture to Auber's opera La muette and that

riots following a performance in 1830 led to the independence of which country? I got it, on a bonus, from partial knowledge; I knew which country became independent in 1830, but had never heard of the opera connection.

35. The battle of Tel-el-Kebir was a significant victory during the British conquest of which country? - another bonus. And so to the final:

36. What was the name of the couple who made discoveries of early humans at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania? - I was ready to leap in, but another contestant got it.

37. Which country is regarded as the smallest African nation, an archipelago of over 180 islands in the Indian Ocean 1,500 km. from the mainland? - another bonus, though two possible answers had been eliminated by others.

38. Which 19th century author is commemorated with an enormous monument, still standing, showing him with his dog Maida?

39. In which part of the British Isles is 9 May designated Liberation Day? 40. What is the highly explosive mixture of mainly picric acid, once used by British troops in ordnance shells, named

after the village on Kent's Romney Marshes where it was manufactured? - another bonus, and adding knowledge of explosives to my alarming familiarity with poisons!

41. What is the name of the schoolboy at St. Custard's in books by Geoffrey Willans, illustrated by Ronald Searle? - I love the books, and was cross when another contestant got it!

42. The first of the two Beat the Brains questions, sent in by a listener and answered jointly by all the contestants, asked for the name of the Yorkshire-born philosopher and logician, better-known for a way of presenting data bearing his name, who in 1908 was granted a patent for a bowling machine for cricket practice. I didn't know about the bowling machine, but the bit about a way of presenting data suggested a name to me which proved correct. However, none of us knew the other:

43. Which organisation was granted a UK patent in 1973 for a nuclear-powered flying saucer(!)? 44. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go was played, and another contestant was then asked for the names of both members of

Wham! (which didn't really require one of their records to be played, of course!), declared he couldn't name even one, and I jumped in for a bonus.

45. Which ship was at the centre of the 1949 Yangtse Incident and was the subject of a 1957 film? - I saw the film long ago, and was able to call the ship's name to mind.

46. Can you give the location of one of the three remaining crosses of the 12 erected by Edward I in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile? - a bonus.

47. Oscar Wilde wrote that all women become like their mothers: that is their tragedy. No man does; that's his. But in a play by which writer will you find the parody: All women dress like their mothers: that is their tragedy. No man does: that is his? - another bonus.

48. What is the name of the island in Lake Huron in North America, the largest freshwater lake island in the world? - having read the original Guinness Book of Records since childhood I had known it for decades.

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49. What is the meaning of the computer term USB? - I could get the first word, but alas no more! 50. Two men who were never President appear on American paper money. One is Benjamin Franklin (which I knew), but

who is the other? 51. Who was the French Impressionist painter born on the Caribbean island of St Thomas who encouraged Gauguin to

turn to painting? - another one I knew but couldn't remember. 52. What was the name of the character played by Alex Karas in the film Blazing Saddles which is also a Mongolian

currency unit? - although it's one of my favourite films, I couldn't think of it. 53. Who was the German chemist who, with Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassman, was the first to find the atom split when

bombarded by neutrons? - yet another I knew and couldn't think of. And so to massacres:

54. What is the French town in the Limoges region where 642 men, women and children were killed by a German Panzer division on 10 June 1944, the ruins of the town being left as a memorial? - another bonus.

So now I have a nice trophy, a silver-plated salver from Mappin & Webb. When BoB was based in London the trophy was given to the Champion and then immediately snatched back to be taken to M & W to be engraved with his or her name. Now it's based in Salford, however, I was allowed to keep it and take it in myself, with the bill to be met by the BBC. However, Paul, the producer, told me they didn't charge them for the engraving - perhaps they like the repeat business of getting to sell a silver salver every year - so, having been shown a nice wooden display stand I cheekily asked if the BBC would pay for one of those for me, and they did! [The answers begin on page 14, for those who want to try the above as their own quiz]

  Ray Ward with the Brain of Britain Trophy and stand.

2012:2 9

“Unto Southampton Do We Shift Our Scene”

Michael Davison Our 2012 Reunion in Southampton came just 100 years to the day after the sinking of the Titanic. Inevitably we were caught up in the city’s commemoration of the tragedy. Though I didn’t arrive in time for Saturday morning’s ‘Titanic Walk’, I heard good reports of the ‘good-humoured and informative’ guide, Southampton born and bred, who led members through streets once lined by the homes of the seamen who owed to White Star Line their livelihoods – and their deaths. He pointed out the seamen’s pub, The Grapes; the building in which some passengers spent their last night before the voyage; the White Star Line’s former headquarters; and Dock Gate 4 leading to the fateful Berth 44 from which the Titanic sailed. Wherever we went this weekend, it was evident that the victims of the Titanic disaster most remembered in Southampton were not the first class-passengers – Vanderbilt, Astor, Guggenheim – of whom we had heard a lot in the run-up to the anniversary. Those whom Southampton mourned were the members of the crew, 700 of whom came from Southampton, 500 of whom died. The loss to the town was brought home to me forcibly when I visited the hugely impressive SeaCity Museum, opened only a week earlier in the Old Magistrates’ Court building. A map of the older part of Southampton covered an entire floor in the museum’s Titanic exhibition, and on it a red dot marked the address of every victim. Next to our Dolphin Hotel, the shell of the bombed-out Holyrood Church encloses a memorial fountain dedicated to the ‘stewards, sailors and firemen’ who perished. Holyrood was the starting point for weekend costume tours, in which groups in Edwardian dress walked round the city, even posing for photographs in Winslet/DiCaprio style on the prow of a symbolic boat on the Esplanade. On Sunday I walked up High Street, here called the QE2 Mile, to the granite memorial in East Park commemorating the Titanic’s engineer officers. An inscription relates that the men stayed at their posts to the end, and none survived. The names of the victims were supplemented on this anniversary weekend by written tributes from present-day descendants: ‘To my great-great-grandad, you were very brave’ (Ella, 6); ‘I am inspired by your bravery and I think that I would never have the guts to do such a thing as what you did’ (Charlie, 11, great-great-grandson). A wall plaque nearby commemorates the musicians of the Titanic who famously played on to the end. If the city and date selected for this Reunion gave us a powerful sense of the drama of April 1912, so Gavin’s inspired choice of hotel took us a further century back in time. As a plaque on the front wall of the Dolphin explained, it was in the ballroom of the Dolphin (focus of our weekend activities) that Jane Austen celebrated her 18th birthday in December 1793, while staying with her brother Frank, and later attended dances when she came to live in Southampton between 1808 and 1809. Our Saturday afternoon walk, led by another entertaining and well-informed guide named Pamela, took us in the steps of Jane through Southampton’s Old Town. We were reminded that Southampton in the 1800s was a fashionable spa and seaside resort, and we passed the site of its fountain and botanical gardens. Nearby is the site of Jane Austen’s house in Castle Square: the house itself was demolished in 1902, too soon for Jane’s growing 20th-century reputation to save it. Our walk followed surviving sections of the walls that enclosed the medieval town. In Jane’s day the tide would have washed the base of the walls below her house, but the sea has now been banished far beyond what is still called the Western Esplanade. If the ill-fated Titanic voyage was not reminder enough of Southampton’s maritime history as a ‘Gateway to the World’, plaques in the pavement of the QE2 Mile recalled other historic embarkations from Southampton. From here knights took ship for the Crusades and for Agincourt, the Pilgrim Fathers sailed for America in 1620, Allied forces set forth for D-Day in 1944. Southampton was the home port of the great Cunard liners, and the anchor of the QE2 on the pavement beside the Dolphin Hotel is a memorial to the heyday of luxury transatlantic sea travel. To all the customary jollifications of our Reunion get-together, this year’s event added powerful echoes from the past.

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George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig Following my participation in the latest series of Mastermind, I was pleased to receive, and to accept, an invitation to join the Mastermind Club. Following our reading through PASS, my wife and I decided we would take part in the Club’s Annual Meeting, and to discover something of Southampton (where we’d never been). This turned out to be one of the most pleasurable weekends we have had in some time, and it was the kindness and hospitality of the Club’s members that made it that way. Several of the club’s longer-standing members took us under their wing and, at meal times and over drinks, filled us in on things: not simply who’s who, but especially the collegial and supportive nature of the club. With them – and along with other new (or new-ish) members - we sat back an enjoyed the Magnum quiz, shared thoughts about quizmasters past and present, and mused as to where future Club meetings might be held. We found ourselves enriching the Club’s coffers by investing in some stylish-yet-practical memorabilia, too! Moreover, it was a pleasant change from the routine to be present at a business meeting that was efficiently run, while inviting the involvement of the many members present. It would be invidious to name those who were so warm and welcoming to us, and it would also be impossible to do so. This is partly because I don’t have a great memory for names, partly because Carolyn and I met so very many people, and partly because there were some with whom we could only nod our greetings, in the hope of a more personal get-together later. So, Carolyn and I just want to thank everyone, and say: ‘Bring on Llandudno’!

Members and guests gathering for the Annual Dinner

Patricia Owen was given a special presentation on the Saturday night to mark her retirement, after continuous service on the Club Committee since its inception.

2012:2 11

Annual General Meeting 2012

Minutes of the 34th Annual General Meeting of the Mastermind Club

Jane Austen Suite, Dolphin Hotel, Southampton: 10.45 Sunday 15th April 2012

Gavin Fuller, Secretary Members Present: Sonia Anderson, Mary Andrews, Kevin Ashman, Ian Bayley, Alan Blackburn, Mike Chivers, David Cowan, Patricia Cowley, Andy Crane, Stewart Cross, Tony Dart, Michael Davison, Paul Emerson, Ken Emond, George Ferzoco, Wendy Forrester, Gavin Fuller, Phillida Grantham, Leslie Grout, Glenys Hopkins, Kathryn Johson, Stuart Johnson, Ann Kelly, Mel Kinsey, Ann Leaney, Susan Leng, Rachel Leonard, Victoria MacKenzie, Amy Macpherson, Anne Miller, Constance Moore, Patricia Owen, Chris Pelly, David Porch, Hazel Prowse, Liz Shaw, Paul Steeples, Leo Stevenson, Edward Towne, Kate Vernon-Parry, Ray Ward, Pauline Wells Apologies: Anne Ashurst, Keith Bogle, Barrie Douce, Barbara-Anne Eddy, Margery Elliott, Mary Gibson, Anne Hegerty, Arfor Wyn Hughes, Norman Izzett, Sue Jenkins, Morag Knox-Crawford, Josephine Lawrey, Dave Taylor, Geoff Thomas. 2011 AGM Minutes: The minutes of the 33rd AGM at The Holiday Inn Royal Victoria, Sheffield, on 10th April 2011 were passed nem con and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising. Membership Report: Gavin Fuller reported that over the last year 16 members had joined and one had rejoined, whilst 5 had resigned, 5 were removed from the membership list for non-payment and 3 had sadly died. This left an official membership of 344. However, Susan Leng could only account for 343 through payments and honoraries, and so work needed to be done to resolve this discrepancy. There were also 11 members who had not paid in 2012, who would be shortly be removed from the list if this situation continued. Glenys Hopkins proposed that, in view of the fact that the club’s finances were in a relatively healthy position, the Club should be prepared to spend some money on recruitment and retention of members. This proposal was agreed nem con. Hazel Prowse asked whether members were sent to attend recordings. Gavin replied that although the Mastermind production office did forward a membership application form to contenders it didn’t send him any recording schedule. However, given the number of times he had spotted Diane Halligan sitting behind the contenders in the current series, those in a position to attend should clearly be able to discover when recordings were! Treasurer’s Report: Susan Leng reported that in 2011 the Club had made a profit of £1490.72. She presented details of where money had come in and gone out in 2011, with a comparison with 2010. Interest had stayed static at 35p, whilst postage had gone down but committee and other expenses had gone up. David Porch asked, slightly tongue in cheek, whether the increase in committee expenses ought to be of concern to members – Susan replied that the committee as a whole endeavoured to keep expenditure at a minimum and most of this was travel expenses to attend meetings. David Cowan queried the vast difference in the income and expenditure for the 2011 and 2010 functions – Gavin explained that this was due to the cost of individual hotel rooms in 2010 being paid through the Club in 2010 whereas in 2011 they had been paid by those attending on checkout. Susan informed members that due to the increase in postage prices by the Royal Mail PASS expenses would necessarily have to rise in 2012, although the printers had a deal with the Royal Mail which meant the cost of postage would be lower than it might have been. Paul Emerson asked whether PASS could be sent electronically rather than posted. Glenys Hopkins thought that receiving a hard copy was preferable to an electronic form, but Tony Dart, citing various professional bodies who sent their journals electronically, disagreed. Susan felt that as the Mastermind Club was not a professional body such a practice may not be wholly appropriate. Ian Bayley suggested that in some cases copies of PASS could be collected from a nominated distributor if their paths were known to cross, whilst Victoria MacKenzie said she’d be willing to pay a premium to receive a posted copy and thought others might be and Hazel Prowse said that as she did not have the internet in her house she’d be unable to receive an electronic version. As opinions were clearly split on this matter, the membership as a whole would be consulted through PASS.

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Alan praised Susan’s stewardship of the Club’s finances and proposed that her report be accepted. Seconded by Pauline Wells this was passed nem con. President’s Report: Alan Blackburn reported that the collection for the Club Charity had raised £335. He paid tribute to the committee, saying the Club was fortunate in having a body of people who worked like they did on its behalf and it was a pleasure to work with them. Gavin Fuller was singled out for particular praise, with Alan expressing the opinion that his hard work made him something of a lynchpin for the Club. He felt that the previous 12 months had been a good one for the Club, with a fair and accurate article appearing about the Sheffield function in the Radio Times. Insignia: Phillida Grantham reported that a cut-price sale of insignia at the annual function, with only a selection of the available merchandise, had raised £154. She had received a suggestion that sweatshirts be re-ordered, and this idea received a generally favourable response from the meeting. Colours under consideration would be oatmeal, red, navy blue, pale blue, black and purple. She asked for any other suggestions from the meeting, and Constance Moore suggested hoodies, which didn’t meet quite as favourable a response. Ties were also suggested; Tony Dart felt that if any were ordered they be of a better quality, such as silk, that the previously available ones. Badges were another suggestion, and Susan Leng felt that if these were ordered they could be given to new members as a welcome gift. Stewart Cross suggested mugs – Phillida had concerns about the logistics and cost of posting these, although Ann Kelly suggested they be available to purchase solely at Club functions. Glenys Hopkins felt that overall less dressy items gave the Club more scope for insignia. Phillida was thanked for her work on the insignia. Election of Club Committee: Gavin reported that he had received no nominations to stand for the Committee. Ann Kelly had reconsidered her decision to resign from the committee at the end of 2011 and would be welcomed back on, but with Patricia Owen retiring after over 33 years on the committee that still left a space spare. Due to his work on the Club’s website, Mel Kinsey had been approached to fill this space, and Gavin was pleased to report that Mel had accepted. Hazel Prowse thus proposed that the committee stand as now constituted, seconded by Chris Pelly, and this was accepted by acclamation. PASS: Ken Emond paid tribute to Ann Kelly for her work on the magazine in 2011, and Spindrift Press for printing and distributing the magazine so expeditiously. He already had a healthy stock of contributions for the next issue and welcomed any more. In the longer term, the committee had received several offers to edit the magazine, and after due discussion had decided that Tony Dart, who was due to finally retire in the summer and so would have plenty of time to oversee it, would take over the editorship from issue 2012:3. Annual Functions 2012, 2013 and 2014: The 2012 function was generally felt to have been a good weekend, with the Dolphin Hotel proving an excellent venue and the helpfulness and friendliness of its staff coming in for particular praise, as well as the food, which Paul Emerson said had been particularly good. Gavin Fuller reported that he had explored the options for Llandudno in 2013 and as a result had booked the St George’s Hotel, a conveniently situated 4 star hotel on the seafront, for the weekend, which would be on April 5-7. With regards for 2014, Shrewsbury had been the favoured option at the previous year’s function, and it was assented to look at holding the function there that year. The committee has granted Gavin a sabbatical for that year’s function, in lieu of the one he never actually managed to have in 2011, and Ken Emond had bravely volunteered to undertake the organisation of that year. Ian Bayley enquired whether consideration was given to Quizzing events when booking the function weekends, as they generally held them on the first Saturday of each month and this could lead to a clash which might impact on potential attendance. Gavin replied that he did bear these in mind, but there could be occasions, such as in 2013, when the best offer he received lead to an unavoidable clash. Ian suggested that if this was the case thought could be given as to holding the functions in a location where people could attend both events; Gavin would bear this in mind. Magnum Competition: Gavin Fuller praised the good spirit and humour in which the nine competitors had played this year’s competition. Paul Emerson thought it had been a good, competitive competition and Ian Bayley praised the appropriate level at which Gavin had pitched the questions. Mugnum Competition: Gavin reported that this year’s set had met with an often hostile reception over the difficulty level, and this was reflected in the fact that he had received only 21 entries (18 individual and 3 team) this year as opposed to 26 in 2011. Out of 40 potential points, scores had ranged from 3.7 to 31, with the majority scoring less than 18. Kevin Ashman’s astonishing 31 won him the individual trophy, and this was presented to him by last year’s winner Mel Kinsey, who also unveiled a case for the trophy which he was generously donating to the Club. Mel himself had come second and Geoff Thomas third. Andy Crane won the prize for the easiest question, his being the only one everyone answered, and Somesorts again won

2012:2 13

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the team prize, but as they had won it so often they generously allowed the prize to go to the second-placed team of Chris Pelly and Paul Emerson. Any other business: Mel Kinsey reported that the website was working well, and had received 138 hits through March. Ann Kelly had also set up a Club site on Facebook which was also going well. There being no further business, the President closed the meeting at 12.02.

The Answers to Ray’s Brain of Britain Quiz Questions… 1. Lisbon. An old trap question, because anyone who didn't know would naturally guess somewhere in Spain, as the contestant to whom it went first did, saying Cadiz, but Portugal was dominated by Spain at the time.

2. Black pudding (the subject of a question when Patricia Cowley and I were on Today's the Day some time ago; the presenter, Martyn Lewis, gave a franglais version, "pouding noir").

3. Jack the Ripper. It was the first I had heard that Lewis Carroll had been named as a suspect, but I gather he has, though the attribution is much ridiculed.

4. Dorothy Hodgkin 5. The Kreutzer Sonata

6. Tolstoy 7. Young Offender Institution

8. Kinder Scout, also called The Peak (as in Peak District). Long ago, a friend and I stumbled around on it for quite a while before deciding we weren't going to walk the Pennine Way!

9. Vade mecum

10. CULZEAN (z was used because of its similarity to the letter yogh, representing y, which it resembled, when yogh wasn't available in a font).

11. Cats 12. The Disruption

13. Macbeth 14. Stalingrad

15. 1906 16. Fluorine

17. Zone Improvement Plan (I said Zone Improvement Program)

18. Norwich (I inexplicably said Ipswich which, as has been pointed out, isn't a city, breaking my own rule about naming something which doesn't fit into the specified category!)

19. Strychnine 20. Saladin

21. Remington (did anyone else make guns and typewriters?) 22. Edgar Allan Poe

23. European Space Research Organization (pretty easy to guess, I would have thought, when the question specified it was concerned with space; if that hadn't been mentioned it could have been Sport, Sausages...)

24. Peenemünde 25. The Edinburgh Tolbooth

26. Ithaca 27. Thomas Hardy

28. Stock car racing (the contestant to whom it went first said drag racing).

29. The Three Faces of Eve. I knew the title contained a number, but gave it as 12!

30. Gloucestershire 31. The USA

32. Picasso 33. Beauvais

34. Belgium 35. Egypt

36. Louis and Mary Leakey 37. The Seychelles

38. Sir Walter Scott (on Princes Street, Edinburgh; seen it often but never got up it).

39. The Channel Islands (occupied by the Germans in the Second World War). This question took me back to the first series of Mastermind, and a bad blunder when a question asked which part of the United Kingdom has a Liberation Day. The Channel Islands are, of course, not part of the UK!

40. Lyddite. A friend of mine e-mailed to say of course she knew it - but she used to live at Lydd-on-Sea!

41. Nigel Molesworth. Russell Davies, who knew the (sadly, recently deceased) Ronald Searle, said he preferred Molesworth to the much better-known St. Trinian's.

42. John Venn 43. British Rail!

44. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

45. HMS Amethyst. The film, Yangtse Incident, was sometimes called Battle Hell in America, an outstanding example of a misleading title!

46. Waltham Cross, Essex (my answer), and Goddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire.

47. Alan Bennett. It's from Forty Years On but, although Bennett is one of my favourite writers, I haven't seen that play and my guess was based on his style. (The Wilde original is from The Importance of Being Earnest.) Continued on page 20

Magnum 2012 Gavin Fuller reflects on this year’s competition. Thanks go as always to those who went in for Phillida’s and my preliminary quizzes for the competition; it is always entertaining to receive your entries! Alas numbers were down this year with only 37 entering part 1 and 33 part 2. I must apologise for a number of typos which sadly crept into my set – must get my proof reading better next year!, and thank Mel Kinsey for promptly getting a corrected version up on to the website. Curiously the majority of the strongest entries this year were from people who were not attending the annual reunion – Geoff Thomas may have topped the rankings by a country mile with a hugely impressive 826, but six of the next eight scores were from non-attenders. With only 17 points separating the fourth to eight qualifiers it was nip and tuck as to who qualified where, and Leslie Grout pipped Ray Ward to the final berth by a single point. Heat one this year comprised Mastermind 2006 and 3-time Magnum winner Geoff Thomas, Magnum debutant Andy Crane and Mastermind 1981 and Magnum winner 1987 Leslie Grout, whilst heat 2 had 2-time Mugnum winner Mel Kinsey, 5-time Magnum winner Kathryn Johnson and David Porch, with the final heat comprising Magnum 2010 winner Stewart Cross, Paul Emerson and Magnum 2008 winner David Cowan. Remarkably, by the halfway point of round 1 all those sitting in the first and third chairs were on three points, with Andy and Kathryn leading the way on 11 apiece and Paul Emerson third on 8. The second half saw things become less even, with David Cowan scoring 15 to top the qualifiers on 18, Andy, Kathryn and Leslie tying on 14, and Mel and David Porch completing the semi-final line-up. Kathryn soon roared away with her semi-final, scoring 13 in the first half to be seven points clear of any other score at the half way point, and another 12 in the second half to qualify for the final with a remarkable 25. In the other semi it needed David Cowan to get all three questions in the final round on drinks to pip Paul Emerson 14-13 and qualify for the final for the second year in succession and have what appeared to be the dubious pleasure of facing Kathryn in the final. David was first out of the blocks in the final, but was soon overhauled by Kathryn who took a 12-10 lead at the end of the first 20 questions. However the pictureboard proved less to her liking, and with David winning that 14-10 the positions were reversed going into the final 20 questions with David 2 points head 24-22. After 16 of these Kathryn had halved the deficit and it was still anybody’s game, but David answered three of the last four to win 40-36 and to his evident delight take his second Magnum title. Congratulations to him, and commiserations to Kathryn who played her full part in a thrilling competition. And thanks also to all those who said such kind words about my questions - I look forward to seeing what I can conjure up next year!

David Cowan and Kathryn Johnson, Magnum finalists 2012

2012:2 15

Master Quiz 2012 Final Table Round 1 Round 2 Total 1 Geoff Thomas 396 430 826 2 Les Morrell 360 428 788 3 Ray Driscoll 386 367 753 4 Anne Hegerty 366 379 745 5 Martin Wyatt 356 381 737 6 Raymond Kahn 346 390 736 7 Mel Kinsey 364 366 730 8 Stewart Cross 350 373 723 9 Mike Formby 361 359 720 10 Paul Emerson 337 333 670 11 Andy Crane 354 306 660 12 Kathryn Johnson 286 373 659 13 David Porch 348 306 654 14 David Cowan 324 329 653 15 Ruth Newbury 336 315 651 16 Tim Westcott 320 298 618 17 Norman Izzett 336 280 616 18 Janet French 315 278 593 19 Leslie Grout 280 301 581 20 Ray Ward 313 267 580 21 David Humphry 318 257 575 22 Glenys Hopkins 287 286 573 23 Hilary Forrest 274 294 568 24 Keith Bogle 301 241 542 25 Ken Emond 230 306 536 26 Chris Payne 278 245 523 27 Patricia Cowley 264 247 511 28 Kate Vernon-Parry 281 211 492 29 Wendy Forrester 225 186 411 30 Ann Leaney 199 188 387 31 Colin Edgar 200 175 375 32 Barbara-Anne Eddy 231 134 365 33 Jean Burke 338 338 34 Andy Burrows 314 314 35 Michael Davison 288 288 36 Gordon Stuart 120 100 220 37 Joseph Hand 212 212

Les Morrell wins the in absentia prize

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2012:2 17

Mugnum 2012

These are the questions submitted for this year’s Mugnum competition, for those who were not present in Southampton to try their hand at answering. The answers will be printed in the next edition. 20 (Patricia Owen): What connects Omelette Arnold Bennett with Monet’s views of London? 81 (Hazel Prowse): What was the name of the Royal Navy submarine shore establishment, and home to the RN Submarine School, based at Gosport until the 1990s? 145 (Ray Ward): Which car maker’s name is the Japanese name for the star cluster The Pleiades and has a picture of this on its badge? 156 (Kathryn Johnson): In the French translation of which famous book would you find characters called Sacquet, Poiredebeurre, Grand-Pas, and the evil Cavaliers Noirs? 253 (Chris Pelly): What New Testament nickname did T.E. Lawrence confer on his Brough Superior motorcycles? 265 (Liz Shaw): What is the meaning of Skye, as in the Isle of Skye? 275 (Tony Dart): Adam Worth, a German-born American who died in 1902, was the inspiration for which famous fictional character? 280 (Leslie Grout): What relation was the last Duke of Cambridge before Prince William to Queen Victoria? 287 (Phillida Grantham): What are the names of the official mascots for the 2012 Olympics/Paralympics? 337 (Rachel Leonard): In what way is 25th October a doubly significant date in English/British military history? 338 (Kate Vernon-Parry): Who led the expedition during which Peofessor Edgeworth David led the first party to reach the South Magnetic Pole? 342(Michael Davison): “In every mess I find a friend, in every port a wife” wrote Charles Dibdin, Southampton-born composer of sea shanties, who is commemorated in a plaque on the tower of Holyrood Church. Which prominent contemporary Conservative politician, a

distant descendent, has the composer’s surname as one of his middle names? 448 (Ann Kelly): How many Beatles were there in total? 455 (Kevin Ashman): If all the county tops of England’s 39 historical counties were listed in order of height, the appropriately named Boring Field, at 80 metres above sea level, would come at the bottom of the list. In which county was it? 475: (Stewart Cross): For what specific reason was St Teresa of Avila, who died on October 4th, not buried until the 15th? 526 (Wendy Forrester): In Romeo and Juliet, what was the name of Juliet’s nurse’s child, who died in infancy? 579 (Anne Miller): What is the nickname of Southampton FC (boo, hiss, Ed.)? 672 (Patricia Cowley): In the works of Jane Austen, when Henry Crawford went to Portsmouth, who was he going to visit? 687 (Glenys Hopkins): What name links an American bank robber, a Scottish river and a fictional (film) orang-utan? 696 (Ken Emond): Most people know what NIMBY means, but in the same vein what is BANANA? 731 (Gavin Fuller): In terms of South Coast football, what are “scummers” and “skates”? 757 (Stuart Johnson): What was unusual about the July 1864 murder near Victoria Park, Hackney, of the prosperous city clerk Thomas Briggs by the poor immigrant tailor Franz Muller? 766: (Geoff Thomas): Peter Sellers based the voice of his Goon Show character Hercules Grytpype-Thynne on that of which British actor, who took his own life in 1972?

769 (David Cowan): Name either of the Lifetime Achievement Award winners at the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards? 779 (Mary Andrews): What was first broadcast on radio on Friday 13th January 1910? 797 (Mike Chivers): Which long-running radio gameshow takes its theme tune from the film Monte Carlo or Bust? 819 (Mel Kinsey): What do the US States of Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin have in common? 824 (Sonia Anderson): To within a decade either way how many years apart were these famous lines written? A) “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” B) “Now the next thing you’ve got to do is...” 849 (Constance Moore): Now having a Titanic brewery in his honour, what was the home town of the Titanic’s Captain Smith? 869 (Susan Leng): Two film and television actors, both born in 1912, played memorable roles as a Sergeant on television. What were their names and the names of the Sergeants they played? 955 (Paul Emerson): In relation to transport, what did Harriet Quimby become the first woman to do on April 16 1912?

971 (Ann Leaney): There is the old adage that “Travel broadens the mind” but which writer (1874-1936) thought that “Travel narrows the mind”? 993 (Sarah Scott): 200 years ago Henry Bell, first Provost of Helenburgh, launched the Comet. What was her claim to fame? 1029 (Andy Crane): What was significant about the death of Millvina Dean, aged 97, in 2009? 1035 (Dave Taylor): In 2005, in which perhaps appropriate city was there a statue was unveiled to Elizabeth Montgomery? 1038 (David Porch): Which combination of Oscar winner and six-time Oscar nominee played the leads in the 1975 made for television remake of Brief Encounter? 1041 (Ian Bayley): which programming language, one of the top 10 most widely used in the world, took its name from a BBC television series? 1064 (Paul Steeples): The two stars of which popular 1980s television show appeared in separate plays in London’s West End in January 2012? 1074 (George Ferzoco): What trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League team that wins the post-season playoffs? 1075 (Amy Macpherson): What is the name of Edward Rochester’s home in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre?

Mel presented Kevin with the Mugnum trophy

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Master Quiz 2012 Phillida Grantham provides the answers to Round 1 of this year’s Master Quiz. Many thanks and congratulations to all those who entered Round I of the Master Quiz. The breadth of your knowledge was even more impressive than usual. Special congratulations to Les Morrell (in absentia prize) and Ruth Newbury, winner of the theme prize (Films and the Cinema). Both receive book tokens. 1. Mike Todd died in a plane crash. 2. D-Day. 3. (b) snowdrops. 4. Cycling. 5. Harper. 6. Trainers. 7. “Tiger, Tiger”. 8. Leni Riefenstahl. 9. Tuberculosis bacillus. 10. An immigrant worker. 11. The first female Poet Laureate. 12. The Rev. Timothy Farthing. 13. Witney, Oxon. 14. Annie Oakley. 15, His real name was James Stewart and there was already a well-known actor of that name. 16. Ava Gardner. 17. South Sudan. 18. The Marriage of Figaro. 19. France. 20. Antiques experts. 21. His niece, kidnapped by Indians. 22. Julia Bradbury. 23. Picasso. 24. Gray’s “Elegy in a country churchyard”. “The paths of glory lead but to the grave”. 25. Robin Williams. 26. Highgrove. 27. Cemeteries. 28. China. 29. Christine Lagarde. 30. Madeira. 31. Ohm’s Law (Volts = amps x resistance). 32. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas), Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, Night on the Bare Mountain (Mussorgsky), Rite of Spring (Stravinsky), Ave Maria (Schubert), Nutcracker Suite (Tchaikovsky), Dance of the Hours (Ponchielli) and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

33. February 2nd. 34. W.C. Fields. 35. Richard I. 36. Raspberry and blackberry. 37. The triangular is informative and the round is mandatory. 38. Russell Davies. 39. The Isle of Wight. 40 Ulysses S. Grant. 41. Kara Tointon. 42. The ironing board. 43. 1935. 44. Montana and Idaho. 45. Michael Winner. 46. Astronomer Royal. 47. Buck’s Fizz (Making your mind up). 48. (a) Germanic. 49. Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford. 50. 1937. 51. Diana. 52. Single number. 53. Specsavers. 54. 2061. 55. Cuba. 56. Anton Karas. 57. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 58. To get to an Ashes Test Match. 59. Peterhouse. 60. Thomas Hardy. 61. Richard II. 62. Olives, with capers and anchovies. 63. Heights. 64. Christine Bleakley. 65. John Barry. 66. “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest”. 67. “The Italian Job”.

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68. Bengaluru. 69. Minsk. 70. York. 71. Bradshaw’s Railway Guide. 72. Antwerp. 73. Ireland. 74. Both were directed by Charles Crichton. 75. Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. 76. Danny Boyle. 77. As an artist, painting mainly cricket scenes. 78. The National Trust. 79. Meat Loaf. 80. Edinburgh (also Glasgow). 81. James Dean. 82. “Wait a minute, wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothing yet”. (Jazz Singer) 83. Cambridgeshire. The cheese is actually made in Leicestershire. 84. Fanny Blankers-Koen.

85. Matt Smith. 86. “A Star is Born”. 87. “Der Hund von Baskerville” and “Der Mann der Sherlock Holmes war”. 88. The pancreas. 89. Washington Irving. 90. The Duke of Northumberland. 91. Arthur Miller. 92. Morgan Freeman. 93. Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. 94. Mrs. Thatcher (Margaret Roberts). 95. Marni Nixon. 96. Audi. 97. Clytemnestra, with her lover Aegisthus. 98. Brussels. 99. The Glasgow Boys. 100. “I don’t see why not, young man. You look reasonably fit to me”.

Report of the “Titanic” non-Mersey Inquiry

Lance Haward Of the handful of intrepid souls who survived the re-union and returned home to submit their reports, the narrow winner, with a score of 30½ points out of 36, by 2 points from runner-up Hazel Prowse, was Paul Emerson, to whom is awarded a (far more ancient) genuine relic, a chunk of the timber from the pre-fire “Cutty Sark”. Can’t imagine what he’s going to do with it… [Ed. Just to explain a little, although he was unable to join us in Southampton himself, Lance set what proved to be a rather tough quiz on the Titanic to be distributed to members present for a little light relief from the other quizzing of the weekend. His article on the Titanic begins over on page 21.]

The Answers to Ray’s Brain of Britain Quiz Questions… (continued)

Ray Ward

48. Manitoulin Island, in the Canadian part. It has many lakes, some with islands, some with pools - a lake on an island in a lake on an island in a lake!

49. Universal Serial Bus.

50. Alexander Hamilton. Somebody said Alexander Knox, an example of how people with the same names get confused even if there is no connection with them; Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor best remembered, by me anyway, as Control in the BBC Television dramatisation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

51. Camille Pissarro. Books about him caused a problem to my first employers, Sheffield City Libraries, since they classified books on individuals with the appropriate classmark followed by the first four letters of their surname, which in his case meant - well, I'm sure you can work it out!

52. Mongo. 53. Otto Hahn.

54. Oradour sur Glane. I remembered that the first episode of the 1970s documentary series The World at War, narrated by Laurence Olivier, started with the cameras roaming through the ruins.

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Wheel of Misfortune Lance Haward

footnote to all your “Titanic” commemorations may be useful (or not – but still entertaining. M.M. folk are they for whom the informative is always entertaining.)

Many p eople over the last century have been hammering their brains regarding the ship’s movements in the last minute of its

autonomous existence, not least the contributors to Channel 5 “docudramas”

A Understandably so for anyone not actively involved in nautical practice during the first decades of the 20th Century, since the maritime world of the day was itself in a state of equal uncertainty. But even today, those who read the testimony of the man most immediately involved during the thirty-seven seconds prior to the collision have a hard time reconciling his explanation of the orders given with the vessel’s movement throughout that brief time. Among the more flagrantly Prokrustean reshapings of the event’s anatomy, that of Graham Booth and Richard Dale, writers of “Inside the ‘Titanic’ “ transmitted on the 22nd of March, ranks somewhere close to the most cavalier. Their version proceeds on the following lines, and historically commences more or less immediately upon receipt by the bridge of look-out Frederick Fleet’s report, “iceberg full ahead!” : First Officer Murdoch (the man in charge on the bridge at that moment): “Hard a-Starboard!” (The wheel is shown being turned to the left, and the ship turning to port. Murdoch himself is seen to hesitate for some seconds.) Narrator: “The prow is turning left……. (but)…..the only way to drag it out of harm’s way is to steer the prow back to the right, straight towards the iceberg.” Murdoch: “Hard a-Port!” Helmsman (Quartermaster Robert Hichens): “Hard a-Port.” (The wheel is shown being turned hard over to the right.) The later part of this sequence, including most of the voice-over commentary, is pure fabrication on the part of Booth ‘N’ Dale. No order “Hard a-Port” was issued and prior to the impact the vessel never again altered course from the two degrees that it had already backed during those thirty-odd seconds, from the 71o N of its original heading,. One assumes that all this falsehood is not simply attributable to routine journalist’s instinct to improve on facts, but to their own bewilderment over Hichens’ clear account at this point. We shall do better to have confidence in the conspicuous trustworthiness of the only surviving witness of those crucial moments. What is known to have taken place is Murdoch’s initial command as quoted, the movement of the prow two degrees to port and the impact almost immediately thereafter; very shortly followed (at this moment we turn from Hichens’ testimony to that of Fourth Officer Boxhall) by Murdoch’s order, “Full speed astern!”, the arrival on the bridge of Boxhall immediately followed by Captain Smith, the closing of the watertight doors by Murdoch and his statement to the Captain that he had intended to reverse the course by “Hard a-Port” but had had no time to do so. Booth and Dale can perhaps be excused for their uncertainty, shared as it is by most casual onlookers today, but not for filling the gap in their understanding by unbridled invention. But the programme credits reveal that there was in studio a Script Supervisor. There can be no exoneration of the ineffective Jelena Grisina for not paying any regard whatsoever to this piece of quite blatant fiction. No doubt the lady was handsomely remunerated for failing to discharge her supervisory role. Small wonder that an event surrounded by confusion in the earliest moments of its report to the world has gone on to accumulate multiple additional confusions with the passage of time, and in particular with the steady removal of the onlookers from working familiarity with maritime procedure of the day. Even while the press loftily disparaged the “heartless fabrications” about the Captain’s “suicide”, they still managed to retail their own fabricated version out of synch. with the facts. With hindsight, the manner in which the factual testimony was tendentiously interpreted in the media to establish circumstances to which it bore no relation is very evident. Hichens’ report of Murdoch’s actions on the bridge at the moment of impact was the outstanding illustration of this, in having no relevance whatever, as was argued in the “Daily Sketch” later that week, to the First Officer’s subsequent actions as the ship was going down.

2012:2 21

Notice that in the above sequence based (loosely) on eye-witness testimony, the fiction lies in that second alleged command and manoeuvre: it is not that the Producer is in any doubt regarding the way in which the ship responded to its officer’s commands. It is the writers who are manifestly struggling to cope with the ostensible discrepancy between commands and their consequence in the ship’s visible movement, and descending into fantasy in the attempt. The very limited movement which “Titanic” actually executed during those crucial three quarters of a minute has never been in serious doubt. It is there on the face of the official record for all commentators who wish to read. The difficulty for uninstructed observers has always been not the movement itself but that apparent discrepancy between officer’s command and the movement resulting. The crux of the business is that the order “Hard a-Starboard” accompanied by the turning of the prow to port is indeed exactly what took place, and by the end of the 20th Century, when the customary state of nautical practice in 1912 had been forgotten, serves to spread that general bewilderment. The average landlubber, on being apprised of Murdoch’s instruction, would not unnaturally suppose that the effect of compliance would have been to turn the ship’s bow to the right. So how come, he asks (and has frequently been heard asking these past hundred years), do we learn from Hichens that the prow in fact shifted two degrees left? Apparently some opposite command must have been issued in the interim before collision, to achieve that effect - as conjecturally inserted by our script writers. Until I cottoned on to the phenomenon known as “tiller steering”, I too drew myself futile little diagrams of the relative positions and movements of ship and iceberg, in a fairly desperate attempt to stave off cerebral seizure. A brief, necessary excursus and tutorial, then. Back in the infancy of sea-going, an oar stuck out over the stern was the best that primitive sailing man had for directing his vessel’s course. It was a very early and obvious device, next, to secure this in place at the stern, its pivotal point. That original design, unchanged in essence throughout the entirety of maritime practice up to the present day, variable-direction propellers apart, supplies us with the ship’s rudder, which turns the vehicle in the direction toward which the plane of it turns, in relation to the line of the vehicle itself. And the rudder is then turned by the inboard extension of itself that we call the tiller. Small sailing boats continue to engage a steersman sitting in the stern with his hand on the tiller. With the advent of decked ships, and the necessity for visibility purposes of stationing the helmsman at a level above that of the tiller, a new means had to be devised for imparting his control to the rudder. At first it was a mechanism known as the whipstaff, which went vertically down through the decks and in essence left the operation of the tiller as it always had been, but the mechanical problems attendant on this device led to its early replacement by the ship’s wheel, which functions in the same way as the steering wheel in your car (assuming that you are not by now ensconced in one of Mercedes’ joystick models) – turn it anti-clockwise (when facing the bows, this is, the normal arrangement – in ship as well as car!) and the rudder swings left, the ship likewise. At this point notice that for the first time the helmsman has acquired a capacity to direct the ship by a movement which instinctively we all regard today as being in that same direction. It is, in fact, a less straightforward equation than commentators adverse to the practice of tiller steering would have us believe. It is not necessarily and undeniably the case that a wheel turning clockwise is itself turning right, not even today (as tends to be blithely observed by those advocates of the wheel) a case of: turn the wheel to port and the ship will go to port. That simply sees the wheel’s movement as being the movement of its upper part: logically, it would be just as accurate, by focussing on the lower arc, to describe that manual movement as being in the opposite direction, but no one any longer entertains that perspective. Yet inherent in it was the seed of the ambivalence that has to be dealt with at this point. Because the only movement of any inboard steering device about which one could be categorical was (and in a sense still is) that of the vestigial tiller, it was during most of the 18th and 19th Centuries regarded as more straightforward for instructions to the helmsman to be delivered by reference to that piece of equipment, “Starboard” or “Port” as the instruction had always been to the man sitting in the stern – “tiller steering”, in a word, not a term which describes the movement of the rudder, but the command given to achieve it. And of course, the tiller being moved right, the boat turned, as the ship turns, to the left. It is, moving into the era of the wheel, the tiller-steering command “Starboard” which thus achieves that left turn. As the 19th Century wore on and steam became auxiliary to, and eventually superseded, sail, the maritime world simultaneously adjusted to the use of the new-fangled system and began to be uncomfortable with instructions in the old which seemed to deny the natural meaning of what was observed. As is always the case, those not brought up in the practice are those that start to question it.

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(But it would be interesting to know at what point in the history of steering wheels this now universal perception evolved that the wheel turned clockwise is being moved “right”, anti-clockwise, “left”. It is on that specific awareness that the discomfort hangs.) By the turn of the Century, many nations had changed over to the practice of accepting the command “Starboard” as an instruction for clockwise movement of the wheel, and vice versa. The United Kingdom, out of what could be regarded as an obsessive instinct for accuracy and consistency, along with the United States, in 1912 retained the system of issuing commands by reference to the residual tiller which still operated in all vessels notwithstanding that all the larger ones had by that time interposed a wheel between this device and the helmsman. It was and is not an inherently irrational one. It was not until two full decades after “Titanic” went down that these nations (reluctantly?) came into line, so to speak, with the rest of the world – not always a good idea. And of course in many vessels – the smaller classes of yacht, for example - tiller steering remains unchanged as employed for thousands of years. It is important to appreciate that the system was never at any time suggested to have been a material contributory factor in the accident, or to have caused any confusion in practice to any crewman in the early 20th Century - only to scriptwriters and others in the 21st. Got it? Dale, Booth and Grisani didn’t, but a programme with, no doubt, a six-figure budget ought to be able to. How much blatant fiction may even a presentation that is more drama than “docu” permissibly contain?!

East Park was laid out with a representation of the ship marked on the ground

The ‘Titanic’ tour setting off from the Dolphin Hotel

Robert Hitchens, the last man at the wheel…

2012:2 23

The Hardest of Schools of Hard Knocks Ray Eaton

ictory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan" Count Caleazzo Ciano (1903-44).

those in th

Like everyone else who previously sat in the famous black chair, it's usually interesting to watch the progress of e latest series of Mastermind: the exception being, when a contender has a nightmare (usually on the specialist

subject). One such nightmare took place in the 2012 series, where one poor chap, who picked the 30 Years War, managed just a single point. It makes me cringe, when it goes that badly. This contestant did at least redeem himself with a fine effort on the general knowledge, and his pride was restored. In the past, others weren't so lucky. A number of hapless performances on Mastermind have even been held up to ridicule, in the national media.

“V

Watching this guy’s effort, did leave me with one question begging to be asked. If you have the misfortune to flop badly on a quiz show, is Mastermind the worst show, on which it can happen? Let's look at some of the other contenders, starting with some of the other highbrow quizzes. Many teams have been on the receiving end of a heavy defeat on University Challenge (and once or twice, that too has attracted the attention of the media). But at least here you have the consolation sharing the disappointment with others, as it will be a collective failure. Having watched the show for years, I've come round to the opinion that many of the teams that get well beaten, do know the answers to a lot of the questions. The problem is that their opponents, are just too fast on the buzzer. One of my favourite quizzes, 15 To One was particularly ruthless-a pair of wrong answers, and you took no part in the last two-thirds of the show. But each day, a few contestants usually fell by the wayside after round one. Many fine quizzers didn't get the chance to do themselves justice, in front of William G. Stewart. A current programme that enjoys great popularity among quiz enthusiasts, is Only Connect. I was one of the first contestants to take part on this show. My team and I, failed to progress beyond the first round. But most of the contenders who take part in Only Connect, are usually of a reasonable standard, and you do get a bit of time to answer the questions. So what of the quiz shows that offer cash prizes? Let's start with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Millionaire has been going on-and-off, for over a decade, and the amount of times someone got into the chair and went onto leave empty-handed, could probably be counted on one hand. The three lifelines usually ensure even the weakest contestants, can usually negotiate the first few questions. The Weakest Link is different. Humiliation is par for the course, with Anne Robinson's constant put-downs, and of course, the obligatory "walk of shame". No matter how badly you do on the Weakest Link, it's going to be no worse than hundreds of other people. Then there are the two quizzes that see mere-mortals take on the giants of the quiz world. Eggheads involves a team of five people, face four head-to-heads, before the final round. Even when a team is reduced to just one player, there is a chance to pull off a surprise victory, should "that" one unanswerable question, go in the direction of the Eggheads. A number of teams have won, single-handed. Besides, there is no disgrace in losing to one of the best quiz players in the country. ITV's big money offering The Chase, gives the challengers plenty of chances, too. Each contestant gets a minute to answer as many questions as possible, before taking on the quiz professional (The Chaser) in a run down a wall, to qualify for the final, preferably as part of a four-person team. Plenty of challengers enjoy success, and you can get away with a poor one-minute round, and have potentially a headstart of four steps on the wall. In conclusion, Mastermind may well be the one programme on which you don't want to endure a complete failure. But of course, there is a flip side to this argument. Unlike every other quiz show that I have mentioned, when you take part on Mastermind, you do have some control over what questions you will face, courtesy of your specialist round. If you are smart, it's a good idea to study your specialist subject, as if you are the question setter. When someone fails badly, during the first half of Mastermind, it is usually one of two reasons. Firstly, the contender hasn't sufficiently learned their subject. And secondly, they might suffer from "stage fright". Strangely enough, the latter seems to happen more often during the "celebrity" editions of the show. Even established celebrities, can resemble a rabbit caught in headlights, when they take their turn in the spotlight. No wonder Magnus Magnusson used to advise all contenders "It's only a bloody game"! Whenever I chat to someone and they find out I'm a quiz enthusiast, I'm always asked if I've been on the television, or radio. Like many others who read "PASS", I've had my ups and downs, on my own individual quiz journey. But what always impresses people, is when you can say you won, when you went on Mastermind. It's almost like a badge of honour. And this pretty much sums up the debate. Quizzing wise, Mastermind may turn out to be a school of hard knocks, when it goes badly wrong. But victory on the show, will command respect, in a way hardly any other quiz programmes do. And I suspect it will always be that way.

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Maritime Quiz Gavin Fuller I was gratified to get 14 entries to my maritime-featured quiz in the last issue. Question 18 seemed to cause quite a bit of trouble, and proved rather crucial in sorting out who went in the draw for the winner! The answers were:

1) Santa Maria 2) Olympic 3) U-571 4) Terra Nova 5) Henry Hudson 6) Andrea Doria 7) Mauretania 8) Pequod 9) Turk’s Head 10) Octant

11) Nansen 12) Charlotte Dundas 13) Hispaniola 14) Endeavour 15) Red Ensign 16) Britannic 17) Ostia 18) Up Funnel Down Screw 19) Revenge 20) Gloire

21) Quartermaster 22) Underwriter 23) Erebus 24) Exxon Valdez 25) Number One 26) Speedwell 27) Tea 28) Orlop 29) Wherry 30) Nautilus

with the featured ports in the acrostic element being RMS Titanic’s three ports of call on her fateful maiden voyage, Southampton, Cherbourg and Queenstown (now Cobh).

The final scores were: Paul Emerson, Ian Sadler 30; Ray Driscoll, Janet French, Richard Humphry, Ann Leaney, Ruth Newbury, Hazel Prowse, Kate Vernon-Parry, Ray Ward 29; David Cowan, Michael Forder 28; Raymond Kahn 27; Gordon Stuart 16 After a draw of the top 2 scores Paul Emerson was picked as the winner, and will receive the book token. Congratulations to him, commiserations of a sort to Ian Sadler, and thanks to all those who entered.

Ken’s Film Quiz Ken Emond I received 17 entries in total and, as predicted, the quiz was really straightforward for most of those who took part, with no fewer than 13 all-correct entries. First out of the hat in the draw conducted by my friends from the Romanesque Sculpture project was Richard Humphry, to whom go special congratulations and a book token. P.S. I know that film dating can be a tricky subject, and some entrants pointed out that My House in Umbria is usually dated 2003. I can only say that the source I used gave 2002 – but it didn’t prevent anyone from getting that answer correct… The answers were: 1 Oklahoma! 2 Bonnie Scotland 3 Xanadu 4 Made in Dagenham 5 Iceland 6 Quebec 7 Lisbon 8 Nashville 9 Death in Venice 10 Belle of the Yukon 11 Alaska 12 A Fair Wind to Java 13 If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium 14 The Philadelphia Experiment 15 The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia 16 Mr Smith Goes to Washington 17 Monte Carlo or Bust! 18 England Made Me 19 Krakatoa, East of Java 20 Five Graves to Cairo 21 The Heroes of Telemark 22 My House in Umbria 23 Reunion in France (aka Mademoiselle France) 24 Havana 25 Flying Down to Rio 26 Escape from Zahrain The scores were: Tony Bell, Sally Branston, Dave Cowan, Ray Driscoll, Paul Emerson, Janet French, Richard Humphry, Raymond Kahn, Mel Kinsey, Ruth Newbury, David Porch, Geoff Thomas, Ray Ward 26 Ann Leaney 25.5 Mike Formby, Ray Eaton 25 Patricia Cowley 22

The French Connection Geoff Thomas

All these questions are based on, or connected with, France and the French. All-correct answers only will go into the hat to draw the winner for the magnanimous mystery prize, and can be sent to me at 17 The Pavilions, Davenham, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 8LB,or by email at gandjtom@hotmail.co.uk to arrive by the deadline on 31 July 2012 1) What is the equivalent on a French computer keyboard of our QWERTYUIOP?

2) What name is given to an inhabitant of the city of Béziers?

3) How did the top chef Vatel reputedly react when the fish he had ordered for a banquet for Louis XlV in 1671 failed to

appear?

4) Why was Granada TV's 1992-93 update of the series “Maigret” shot in Budapest?

5) Which eponymous restaurant guide was founded by two critics in 1965?

6) Which Paris underground station, formerly called Lancry, was renamed after the first Parisian civilian executed by the Nazis

in 1940?

7) Tennis: what connects the last Frenchwoman to win the French Open and the last man representing The UK to reach a

Grand Slam final?

8) Which Mastermind champion took "The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71" as his first specialised subject?

9) What does SC mean on a French restaurant menu?

10) Which 1939 Hollywood film, remade in 1966, is loosely based on Maupassant's 1880 story “Boule de Suif”?

11) Which French international footballer has appeared for four top English clubs: Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and

Chelsea?

12) In John Arbuthnot's “History of John Bull”, under what name does Louis XlV appear?

13) Which French stage musical, a world-wide hit, was made into a 1963 Hollywood movie - but without the songs?

14) By what title is the 1967 Claude François song “Comme d'Habitude” (“As Usual”) better known to us?

15) When, to a French person, is “between dog and wolf”?

16) What is the acronym for the International Organisation of Motor Manufacturers, founded in Paris in 1919?

17) Who was the last player to win the Wimbledon men's Singles title wearing long trousers?

18) The artist who designed the trophies awarded by the French film industry (i.e. like the Oscars) is buried in which Paris

cemetery?

19) Which well-known regional delicacy became in 1957 the first livestock product to gain (like wine) AOC status?

20) Despite Yorkshire Cricket Club's refusal at that time to include players born outside the county, which Old Etonian and

occasional captain was born in Nice in 1925?

21) Which 18th century French composer wrote 21 operas and a treatise on the techniques of chess, giving exhibitions of

playing two opponents simultaneously whilst blindfold?

22) Which French exponent of plein air painting, often of harbour or beach scenes, shares his name with a French food item

which can be blanc or noir?

23) Who wrote in the 16th century “When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more

than I with her?”

24) Which Gloucestershire garden, now in the care of the National Trust, was founded by a horticulturalist born in Paris in

1871?

25) Which soft, fine dress material is named after a French prefecture (departmental administrative centre)?