Ancient DNA
Edinburgh and Trinity have played only once in UC history, with Edinburgh winning a quarter-final match in 2022. Trinity came into this as slight favourites (to me, in terms of winning likelihood), but Edinburgh were also strong favourites (to me, in terms of who I wanted to win, because I went to uni there).
Rajan calls this the round of 16, which is obviously correct, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call it this (though he probably mentioned it at some point during the other round of 16 matches and I didn't notice). There is only one more R16 match before Christmas, with Lincoln vs UCL closing out the year and Churchill vs Merton still to come in the New Year after the break for the alumni Christmas series.
Can't think of much else for an intro (stick around till the end for a Christmas present plug), so with minimal preamble (for once)...
Here's your first starter for ten.
Amjad is quickest to recognise Superman's fortress of solitude, and Edinburgh took two bonuses on Oscar Wilde. Marchant hits back for Trinity with some Swedish golfers, and they tied the game with a pair on metals.
Khand takes the lead for Trinity with government, and they win a bonus set on Japanese folklore. One of the questions mentions Tōfu-kozō, which is a spirit in the form of a boy carrying tofu, and which is now one of my favourite mythological characters of all time.
Marchant takes the picture starter with ,and wins the bonuses on cities which give their names to climate accords. Kearney loses five points with an incorrect interruption, and Richards gets Edinburgh going again with vespers.
New Caledonia continues Marchant's great start, but he misses Montmartre on the next starter. This is unfortunate because the phrase Marchant's Montmartre starter would have been great fun to write. He gets the next one with Mombassa, but that sentence wouldn't be quite as enjoyable.
Edinburgh are then handed an absolute gimme in the form of a question on paleogenomics. Richards is doing a PhD on this subject (though he introduced himself by saying he was doing one on Ancient DNA, which is the definition of paleogenomics, and what the starter had asked for). As he buzzes, his teammates are all laughing like they can't believe their luck.
Richards follows this up with John Donne, further proving that he doesn't need the questions to be directly related to his specific area of expertise, and his side have the lead. He makes it a hat-trick with ,, and Edinburgh are on the charge. Amjad gets in on the act, and their advantage is suddenly up to 70-points.
The second picture starter goes to Marchant with Battleship Potemkin and follows this up with Cahiers. Two more for Trinity and the gap is back down to 10, but Richards grabs another starter with Easter Island to stop the comeback.
A stunning buzz of acid-base from D'Attanasio kept Trinity in the hunt, but they missed all of the bonuses so remained adrift. A starter for Edinburgh skipper Leonard and a pair of bonuses put the Scottish side 40 points clear with moments to go, leaving Trinity no time to get back in touch.
Trinity 150 - 180 Edinburgh
Trinity's defeat means that there will only be two Oxbridge colleges in the quarter finals (both of whom will have come through Oxbridge derbies in the round of 16). A solid performance from Edinburgh, who improve from the first round (or round of 28?).
As mentioned, next week sees UCL vs Lincoln and then we're off for the Christmas break. My predictions took another hit with that win, but I'm pleased for my former uni so I'll take the L.
- Merton
Magdalen- Warwick -->
- UCL
- Imperial -->
LSESouthamptonTrinity- Churchill
- Sheffield -->
- Manchester -->
- Edinburgh -->
Bristol- Lincoln
Strathclyde- Darwin -->
If you fancy getting someone you love a University Challenge-themed Christmas present, look no further than my eBook compiling reviews of the 10 Grand Finals from 2015-2024
From the Author
Member discussion