QuizList

Congratulations to NC for his jackpot win on Thursday (‘On what river does Perth stand?’) and thank heavens I didn’t go up as I was the only person who didn’t know the answer.  Sign of the times:  big cash jackpots are not being stored in pubs much any more and we got our winnings by cheque. There was the infamous ‘sorry lads, the thousand pound jackpot has been nicked’ in a different pub a couple of years ago which has still left a bitter taste…

No new quizzes this week, and what’s happened all the Christmas ones?  No doubt there’s something in the Elephant (North Finchley) but more are needed.  And in the Christmas spirit, news that the quiz we attended twice and found ‘irregularities’ in the results is still going;  when it was fed back to the QM that ‘some people are unhappy with the scoring’ he apparently replied ‘I only go by what’s on the sheets’.  Our point precisely – he marks the sheets himself and had marked a wrong answer right on the sheet, and added one or two to the score, of the ‘winning’ team.  So every loser wins…

Which is also the name of a quiz machine game.  Now, this one has its moments, as it’s a genuinely good idea which isn’t based on a TV programme.  From a choice of one or two alternatives you have to hit the wrong answer – you might have one lifeline (it never seems like much) and once you hit a right answer, you’re out.   The main problem is that if people are behind you shouting out prompts you have to be clear on whether they are saying the right answer (which you must avoid) or the wrong answer (which you should hit).  This confusion has been the downfall of many a hardened quiz machine player and a source of some animated conversations following the game.  Another problem is when the questions start getting sneaky (negatives or double negatives) and you have to work out in your head what the question is actually saying then go against it, all within the time limit.  It does keep the brain cells active. I hope.

Mystery city, clue 12:  the city has a light rail system with 36 stops on it.