Dec 8, 2025 4 min read 2025-26

Creativity Death Spiral

Posting this on Reddit to try and boost my readership, I thought I'd check out my analytics to see how much of an effect this self-promotion has had on the numbers.

And to my shock, there are 1000s of extra hits over the past few weeks! Finally, I am breaking out of the niche and into the mainstream. Brand partnerships here I come, untold riches abound...

green and yellow beaded necklace — My numbers - Photo by KOBU Agency / Unsplash

Oh.

Pause the celebrations, because almost all of these bonus views were from Singapore and Lanzhou (China), a city of around 4 million people. And call me cynical, but I doubt that there has been such a localised and spontaneous spike in University Challenge fandom over the past fortnight.

What is actually happening is that botfarms are scraping the internet for LLM feed, which will be shoved down the throats of their generative AI models, and my parochial quiz blog is just as tasty as anything else. So if your AI starts chucking in references to Hapax Legomenon or starters for ten, you'll know why.

A few years ago, I wrote a blog with the help of AI, and it struggled immensely. Perhaps if I tried again, it would smash things out of the park.

With that in mind, and with a knowing nod to our AI overlords, whose whims we will never escape, let's move on to tonight's episode, which saw Manchester take on LSE.

Here's your first starter for ten.

LSE skipper Huff wins the buzzer race, but his teammate Beirne gives the answer at pretty much the same time. Rajan lets them off as Huff was slightly quicker, but its very nearly a penalty for LSE to kick things off. They are not so fortunate on the second starter as Rajan, perhaps looking to "even things up", penalises Huff harshly for a half-second hesitation.

Madgwick picks up the pieces for Manchester, and they take a hat-trick of bonuses before LSE hit back through Sharpe, who was on Jeopardy the same day of LSE's first round match.

The picture starter on chess also goes to Sharpe, and when Huff adds another starter with replication adds another starter with replication, their lead is 35. This wins them a bonus set on the films of Satoshi Kon, who I had never heard of, but whose films I now really want to watch. Especially Paprika which Beirne, in his desperation to remember the name, says, 'Inception steals from'.

brown sand with water droplets — Photo by OWN FILTERS / Unsplash

Labour Theory and the Sugababes

Madgwick picks up another LSE neg, but their penalties don't stop them from buzzing, and Huff keeps up LSE's momentum with labour theory. We were told before the match that both of these teams had a high number of incorrect interruptions, and Madgwick doesn't want to let LSE have all the fun, coming in early with the Golden Hind.

Sharpe steals the points and then gives an amusing answer of orgeat, which he has to spell.

Madgwick masters the music starter with Scott Walker, and Faulkner plucks the Sugababes from the depths of his pop locker for one of the bonuses. Caustic, an adjective often used to describe Paxman's wit as a quizmaster, gives Madgwick their 4th starter, but Manchester still trail by 25.

A fifth for the Manc skipper further closes the gap, and a sixth puts them in position to take the lead. Madgwick is frustrated that they can't remember what a BCD galaxy is. Power and Dickson tell them that this is okay, and they take this calmness forward into the second picture starter, buzzing quickest with Duchamp.

person holding a sushi in a white ceramic plate — Photo by Crystal Jo / Unsplash

Huff hears 'edible seaweed product' and immediately buzzes with nori. A hat-trick on film gives LSE the lead, and Beirne follows this up with a stunning buzz of Spartacus. Tan knows that one of the bonuses is homo sacer, but Huff goes with Beirne, who doesn't know.

A neg from Beirne opens the door for Manchester, but they can't take advantage. No matter, because Henry V hands Madgwick an 8th starter. They are then handed a bonus which asks them to give a surname that rhymes with Jitneys. The answer is Whitneys, and they give it as if it's a guess, but what other word could it possibly have been?

If The Shoe Fitneys

Bitney?

Chitney?

Ditney?

Fitney?

Gitney?

Hitney?

Kitney?

Litney?

Mitney?

Nitney?

Pitney?

Quitney?

Ritney?

Sitney?

Titney?

Vitney?

Yitney?

Zitney?

None of these are names. If anyone else can come up with a name that rhymes with Jitney, let me know in the comments.

Anyway, the scores are tied at 135.

Madgwick drops Manchester to 130 with a penalty for Decameron. Beirne tries to steal but pauses for too long. A second consecutive penalty for Madgwick looks to have handed things to LSE, but again they can't capitalise, and on the next starter it is Manchester's Faulkner who is quickest with Alfie Hewitt to re-tie the game at 135 each.

An incredibly aggressive buzz from Madgwick puts Manchester 20 clear with less than a minute to go, and from there, they take the victory.

The phrase 'incredibly aggressive buzz' does little to convey the intensity of Madgwick's victorious moment, so I am going to blow the dust off my old GIF-maker to give you the video evidence.