Weekly Match Reports - Winter 2025/26
(A big thank you to Jonny Peacock)
Week 4 - (20th November)
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The Chequers continue their 100% start to the season and are now at the top of the championship, the only team with that perfect record. In League One the Clifden Arms are clearly settling into their new home, winning again to go top, and the Blenheim take over at the top of the Premier League with a convincing win against the pointless Bunch! the only team in that state.
On a bitterly cold night in the Frozen North, the Chequers narrowly overcame the Masons Arms in a very tight game. The Chequers won all three of the first half rounds, scoring 11 points in all three rounds, but then lost the pictures 17-15 making the first half scores 48-35 to the Chequers. The Scampi and chips at half time (and a slice of delicious Birthday cake for all.!!!!, as `Mrs Potter` was celebrating her birthday) was welcomed by all. The sugar rush from the cake seemed to do the Masons Arms the world of good, they got into their stride winning rounds 5, 6 and 7, similar to the Chequers scoring 11 points in each round. But the 13-point half time deficit proved too much of a hill to climb and they finished the night 5 points adrift. A very enjoyable night - good quiz, good company, good food and an excellent pint or two of `Timothy Taylors`. Chequers 73 - Masons Arms 68.
They don't get much closer at the Windrush. Clifden Arms (nee Chandos Arms) travelled to Witney and promptly forgot where the Club was! However, despite being two minutes late we were given a warm welcome. GAME ON! Clifden Arms went into a one-point lead; round 2 and they retained their one point lead, and after round 3 still one point ahead! Picture round and the one-point lead remained. Then Shock! Round 5 the Windrush reversed the score and led by one point. Clifden Arms turned on the misfiring afterburners in round 6 and scraped into a heady lead of two points!. All to play for in GIVE IT AWAY - unbelievably Windrush with two questions left, gave Clifden the one remaining question that both teams knew. Phew that was close! Great evening and very friendly home team, question master and staff. However, only 5 bonuses all night! FINAL SCORE: Windrush Club 61 - Clifden Arms 64.
The Blackbird’s fine start ended with a visit from the city centre, Blackbird 63 - Castle 73. Though the Castle won 5 of the 7 rounds it was a close fought match all the way through. Both teams had Dr Hook's Sylvia's Mother down as the answer and discounted it for another title! The Green Ghost cocktail had never been heard of by both teams either. As always at the Blackbird we had a lovely night with a lot of laughter and of course the wonderful array of food put on by the pub.
The Plough were hoping to extend their good start to the winter and welcomed their old friends from the Sun Hooky. Howard knew who done it (see question 1 below) to secure a bonus in round one for the Plough to win the round and go into a narrow lead which they soon lost and only briefly regained in the final round. The Sun kept their nerve to keep the lead for the next five rounds, winning four to the home team’s three overall. A tense give-it-away round looked to have been salvaged by the Plough thanks to Ruth’s bonus on the Blue Peter garden vandals. But it was all level up to the final question, then there was a sting in the tail when both teams failed to identify St Ambrose as the patron saint of beekeepers and had to settle for a draw: Plough 65 – Sun Hook Norton 65.
In downtown Eynsham the visitors took advantage of the White Hart uncharacteristically fumbling the 'old TV' questions to register a couple of bonuses and take the first round 6-8. Although the hosts found their stride to take the lead round 2, it remained tight throughout, meaning that the White Hart took a 5-point lead into the final round. The early give it away questions were shared as both teams seemed strangely keen to hang on to the 'opera' question, but a late bonus led to the hosts taking the victory by a scarcely deserved margin. White Hart 66 - Kings Arms 58.
Meanwhile, in the bearpit under the Westgate, with its live chicken-hunts and general dizzy harlequinade, it was the posh Royalists against the common ploughpeople/ackermen, social warfare of the purest kind. And this time it was the gentry what came out on top - indeed, surprisingly comfortably. The Bunch!, perhaps exhausted after a hard day's tilling the frosty fields, hardly laid a gauntlet on the city-folk, winning not one single bonus in the entire contest. Mind you, the Blenheim only collected three of their own with Green Jelly, Poole and Jess Glynne, reflecting a contest where (one suspects) both teams either knew the answer or were unlikely to guess it. A rare exception to that rule came with Anna's inspired shot (see question 3 below) as an unlikely Dick Turpin. The Blenheim won all the first five rounds, establishing a possibly-unassailable 13-point lead but the Bunch! fought gamely to the end, drawing Round 6 10-10 and finishing on a high in Round 7 with a 10-9 mini-triumph, thanks to the home team's (well, both teams') failures with St Ambrose and the Groovy Greeks. Thanks to Jeff, once again, for bawling out the questions. Royal Blenheim 80 – 68 Ploughman’s Bunch!
Thanks to Jeff Welch for the questions, with a TV selection from this week below.
Q1: Previously presented by Shaw Taylor and Edward Woodward, who hosted ‘Whodunnit’ from 1974-79?
Q2: Whose TV roles include Danny Baldwin, Ronnie Brooks, and Graham O’Brien?
Q3: Running for four series from 1979 – 82, who played the title role in ‘Dick Turpin’?
A1: Jon Pertwee.
A2: Bradley Walsh.
A3: Richard O’Sullivan.
Week 3 - (13th November)
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Storm Claudia blew in, only a week after the Celebrity Traitors final, creating some quirky matches and interesting results. Jeff cranked up the crankiness of the questions, so the average scores took a dip towards sixty, in some close games.
When two premiership teams without a win so far meet, there is only going to be one winner, or possibly a draw. Dark skies and pouring rain did nothing to quell the excitement of a match between the Ploughman's Bunch! and the Nomads. With the car full, Jeremy had bravely volunteered to cycle to the pub and was duly honoured upon his arrival. The pub was packed, and Question Master Martin, had to be at his usual best to make himself heard. Although seats were hard to find, if you looked closely enough, there were also a couple of players from the Plough nearby – one in plain sight, another hidden behind a pint of Guinness and a newspaper. In line with recent performances, it was no surprise that the Bunch! took an early lead, which they then consolidated in Round 2. However, the Nomads rallied to level the score by the end of Round 3 and then take the lead after winning the Picture Round. Whilst there was still only 2 points separating the teams, the Nomads revival continued - adding another point in Round 5 and three more in Round 6. With the Nomads six points up going into the final round, the Bunch! bounced back but couldn’t quite close the gap. In the event, there was only one winner - the final score was Ploughman's Bunch! 68 – Bletchingdon Nomads 72. Both teams immediately applauded their counterparts - and the Question Master - on what was an excellent match and a very pleasant evening.
In a journey from the frozen North into the big city that would have been more suited to an Ark than a car, the Chequers ventured to the Castle or as the question master referred to it. Our "1870 Parisian Bordello". The scoreline seems a little harsh on the Castle, as we were about to start the game an emergency at home meant the Castle team were reduced to three players instead of the four they hoped. The Chequers won all 3 first half rounds but lost the Picture Round 19-14. Rounds 5 and 6 went to the Chequers with Round 7 being drawn. The Castle were restored to four players for Round 7, but it was too late by then, the damage had been done. A very enjoyable evening in the `Bordello` with a lot of laughs and a nice pint of Hooky. With a chessboard theme possibly evident in the fixture, it all ended
Castle 57 - Chequers 75.
Sun 54 - White Hart 69. The White Hart rode their luck with a series of questions that fell in their favour to take the first round 13-2. The hosts then took the next three rounds to narrow the lead to 5 points after the pictures and induce a few 'here we go again' thoughts for the visitors. However, another two strong rounds for the White Hart restored the lead to 15 points, which they held to the end. A breadth of musical knowledge from Shostakovich to the Hollies via Frank Sinatra proved useful, even if they got the Gilbert and Sullivan question wrong (again).
I am pleased to report on The Windrush Club's first win of the 2025-26 season. In the very pleasant and friendly environment of the King's Arms, Woodstock (where the visiting team were even wished good luck by the barmaid!) a highly good-natured quiz match ensued...the home team made a good start with 10-7 and 10-8 wins in rounds 1 & 2. The 3x4 round, however, proved once again to be a happy hunting ground for the Windies, who overhauled the King's Arms to lead 24-25 before the Pictures. The 1-point lead was extended to a 3-point margin after an 8-10 result on a testing set of pictures. The Windrush never looked back after that and took the following 2 rounds 6-10 and 8-9. Both teams did equally badly in the Give It Away round for a 6-6 score that meant the visitors took the chequered flag: King’s Arms 52 – Windrush Club 60. Many thanks to the King's Arms for a fine evening with great beer (I do love a pint of Gale's HSB!).
And another first win of the winter at Masons vs Clifden: The home team surged quickly got into their stride six points up by round 2. The 3x4 round seemed to wake the Clifden Arms up although neither team scored a single point to the questions on the easily forgotten year 2005. The splendid food revived the Clifden as they took round 5 by four points. Going into Give it Away the slender 3-point lead that the Masons held looked vulnerable. In all my years of quizzing, I have never known known us give the opposition all but one question that they (or us) did not know and they gave us every question that we did know (our one failure was a hearing issue we thought we heard the CX-30 electric car (and said Mazda), however the question was EX30 electric car (a Volvo - which we also knew) - time to get hearing aids! Final Score Masons Arms 55 - Clifden Arms 60, congratulations.
The Blackbird continue their strong start to the season, welcoming the inner-city summer champions the Blenheim. Two bonuses in the first round gave the visitors a four-point lead, which may have been more without guest question-reader Jonny fluffing the music questions. The Blackbird pulled level in the next three rounds to 40-40 after the pictures. Then home team lost by three then won by four to go into the final round one ahead, the tension mounts. Eleven out of the twelve final questions were answered correctly, but the Mount Everest question was a hill to climb, and in the event the hill to die on for the Blenheim, the only question missed in the round which could have gone either way right up until the final question. The Blackbird consistently came up with the answer throughout the quiz, keeping the pressure on the Blenheim. A great match ended Blackbird 70 – Royal Blenheim 68, with abject apologies, sackcloth and ashes from Jonny for that round one slip that may have decided the result. Thanks to Paula for a tasty selection of food and to the Blackbird crew for a great night in a lively pub.
Thanks to Jeff Welch for the questions, with a fruit and veg selection from this week below.
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Q1: In the nursery rhyme the little nut tree would bear nothing but a silver nutmeg and what else?
Q2: Birne is the German word for which fruit?
Q3: Aquadulce Claudia (not the storm) and Masterpiece Green are varieties of which vegetable?
A1: A golden pear.
A2: Pear.
A3: Broad Bean. (why couldn’t it have been a pear?)
Week 2 - (6th November)
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You wait ages for a bye, then three come along together. Then to add to the bonfire night general mayhem we had a missing answer, easily resolved, and the gremlins got into an answer. It’s only the second week of the season, and there are but three teams with a 100% winning record. What larks!
After a fallow week with a bye, the Blackbird stormed into contention with a strong performance, going off like a firework. A jovial evening as always at Bletchingdon, the game was played in good spirits, question master John in good form, until the microphone played up, a few Welsh expletives were whispered, anyway he soldiered on. The Bird off to a flyer, and always in control, it just wasn't the Nomads’ night, everything they chose their opponents knew the answers, The Bird couldn't do no wrong, we even guessed the Kegs of dynamite correctly! Good start to the season, but I surmise a few ups and downs to follow. It all finished Bletchingdon Nomads 58 - Blackbird 87.
And the Blenheim bounced back from last week’s draw with a win. Lemmy once told the New/Apollo Theatre (where your correspondent was cowering at the very back of the back, hands over ears): "We are now playing at 118 dB. If we played any louder, the building would fall down." There was no such health and safety announcement at the Blenheim, but the effect was the same. No mere saturnalia, this was full-blown bacchanalia, an all-in-one celebration of Guy Fawkes and his "threescore barrels, laid below" (or was it 36?), Hallowe'en and the finale of Traitors. The acreage of flesh being flaunted was a big challenge to the concentration of the hardy quizzers, but the main problem was that no one could hear Quizzing's Jeff Welch as he gamely attempted to bawl out every single one of his own questions. Professional lip readers had a big advantage but there weren't any of those in attendance The home team got an early bonus with Neil Gaiman and a further one in R2 for remembering the year in which Mary Queen of Scots was executed for exchanging illegal signals with her bridge partner, Anthony Babington (harsh, but fair?) to take a 6-point lead. But a bizarre confusion of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone pegged them back in Round 3. Who the Dickens knew the great author had those middle names - we certainly didn't. As the din increased, the Masonic brethren (and sisterhood) staged a comeback, winning Rounds 5 and 6 by 9-7 with bonuses on American sport and Lambeth Bridge. So the champions went into the final round, like last week, with a 4-point advantage. At the Castle, it was not enough but this time an early bonus with the Vista operating system settled the nerves and the Blenheim eased home. Jeff was last seen hurrying to the JR for an operation to stitch his vocal cords back together. Final score: Royal Blenheim 75 - Masons Arms 66.
Chequers 78 - King's Arms 49. Always nice to meet up with the King's Arms team. It seemed that the Chequers were unbeatable, even guessed answers turned out correct! We won rounds 1 to 4 14-6, 7-4, 11-6 and 16-13. The King's Arms rallied in round 5 with a 7-8 win but the last 2 went to the Chequers 11-6 and 12-6. And our French correspondent writes: “On a puzzling note, it seems that Jeff might have confused (hopefully not abused!!!) his French wines.... Bordeaux is the capital of Aquitaine, Burgundy is on the other side of the country!!”
Clifden Arms 56 - Castle 72. We had a lovely evening at the Clifden Arms, it is lovely old place with superb food great atmosphere and beautifully warm. The Clifden team won the first round, but then the Castle won all of the remaining rounds. None of us knew the name for a group of eagles or the youngest ages name of the girl guides! We were very impressed that the Clifden got the name of the submarine that sunk the Belgrano correct as most of us didn't have clue, and they were very knowledgeable about anything to do with music.
Plough 88 - White Hart 59. Jonny’s role as captain was made simpler by Howard’s uncanny ability to produce answers he didn’t realise he knew. It was a great team performance from the Plough: after a brief wobble in round two the home team won all the last five rounds by a good margin. The high point for the White Hart was their two bonus answers in round two, but nothing was going their way after that, despite some great pop music knowledge, most impressively the UK Eurovision entrants in 1982, Bardo.
Thanks to Jeff Welch for the questions, and here is a pop music selection from this week below.
Q1: Which singer had a top ten hit with ‘Head Over Feet’ in 1996?
Q2: Which singer had a number 4 hit with ‘Stupid Girls’ in 2006?
Q3: Who had a number one single in 1974 with ‘Everything I Own’?
A1: Alanis Morissette.
A2: Pink.
A3: Ken Boothe.
Week 1 - (30th October)
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As the clocks go back, so the winter league goes forward, same thing happened last year. Tim Busby is rejoining the teams as a competitor, and Jeff Welch is resuming question-setting duties, so it’s all change, continuity, a new start, and back to old routine. Hope that’s clear.
The great thing about the quiz league is that there are always surprises, and this week the Masons of League One overcame the Nomads of the Championship: anything can happen, and it usually does. The first regular fixture of the year for the Masons was at home to the Nomads. Question setter Jeff was reading for the evening. Oddly the first three rounds went the way of the home team with the same score: 9-7 x 3. The home team won the pictures and then it was another 9-7 round to the Masons. The penultimate round went to the visitors, but in the end the Masons won through. A great evening’s quizzing ended Masons Arms 64 – Bletchingdon Nomads 57.
The Sun 60 - The Chequers 74. The opening game of the season saw two local sides playing each other. The Chequers got off to a good start winning all 3 first half rounds, 6-10, 8-11 and 3-11. The picture round was just edged by The Chequers 16-15. Sausage and Chips at Half Time was well received by all being washed down with lots of delicious Hooky Bitter. Round 5 was much the same as the first half with The Chequers winning 7-10 but then came the late rally from The Sun winning Round 6, 13-8. No excitement in the final round which was drawn 8-8. A special mention to the two young players in the Chequers team, Charlotte and Connor who came up with some excellent answers. The answer of the night though which had the room in fits of laughter came from The Sun, when asked “What `G` word name is given to a hollow, often spherical rock cavity lined with crystals formed when water seeps into a cavity” Their answer was… ‘A Gloryhole’..!! A very enjoyable night was had by all.
White Hart 71 - Windrush Club 64. Having discussed beforehand the history of close matches between these teams, the early rounds showed a repeat of this history. The score was 25 each after 3 rounds, then 50 apiece after round 5. The hosts eked out a 3-point lead in the penultimate round, which was the largest lead of the match at this point, only for the Windrush to score the first points of the final round and level things up again. The closing questions favoured the White Hart, however, who somehow then eased away to a 7-point victory that had seemed unlikely until the very end.
As the Chandos bow out before Dr Who style regeneration as the Clifden Arms, they were in a state of transformation for the match in Woodstock. The match ended King's Arms 64 – Chandos Arms (now Clifden Arms) 63. A result on a par with England's progress to retaining the Euro title earlier this year (word of the day - "hyperbole"). King's Arms took a slight two-point lead after round one but that seemed to be as good as it would get for the home side. A six-point reversal in round two set the template for (almost) the rest of the match, so that after six rounds Chandos had built up an eight-point lead. And then round seven.... King’s Arms managed to pick almost exclusively questions that Chandos didn't know, and in return Chandos managed to pick almost all questions that King's Arms did know. With the result decided on the home team remembering what was at either end of the M27, an 11-2 score meant King's Arms had stolen victory.
Now that rare beast, a draw: Castle 70 - Royal Blenheim 70, and the summer champions start by dropping a point. As can see a very closely fought game all the way through, 3 rounds were drawn and we each won 2! We were all baffled by the I.O.W festival being garlic question but were very impressed with the Blenheim getting the 2024 Olympics answer of Raygun. So not a bad start to the season.
In Wolvercote there was an all-premiership fixture, a repeat of final match of the summer league five weeks previously: Bunch! v Plough clash of the titans, before other tighter titans emerged. Both teams missed one answer in a drawn first round, then Ruth’s garlic festival knowledge won a bonus for the Plough. Round three was another 10-10 draw but the “visitors” took the picture round by four to go a slim seven points ahead. Round five saw a bonus each, but the Bunch! were unlucky to pick the two questions neither team knew, to slip a perilous seven points behind. Fuelled by tasty pizza and chips, there was much hilarity at the condom question, where the team consensus was to “go with Jonny”! The Plough won the final two rounds by one point thanks to one bonus in each, but with further chuckles at the bellringing question – sally – ‘that rings a bell’. A good-natured, high-spirited night ended Ploughman’s Bunch! 70 – Plough 83, the highest score, aggregate score, and no consolation the highest losing score.
Thanks to Tim Busby for the season of Summer League questions, and to welcome Jeff Welch back for the winter season, here is an American selection from this week below.
Q1: Which American Revolution battle, 28 Sept – 19 Oct 1781, led to the eventual British surrender?
Q2: At which Air Force base is Air Force One based?
Q3: Which was the last contiguous US state to be admitted to the Union, in February 1912?
A1: Yorktown. (Virginia)
A2: Andrews. (Maryland)
A3: Arizona.
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Table Top - (23rd October)
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Back to the Blackbird, Back to the Future, it’s the winter league! Eleven keen quiz teams packed into the convivial back room of the celebrated Leys hostelry to kick of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, enough clichés already. Question-master Chris Potter made good use of his experience of herding cats to call the room to order. Six rounds and a simultaneous blockbuster kept the quizzers busy while the smart super-synchronised ordering system (write your order on a piece of paper, pay cash, then Yorkie will bring the drinks through) launched without any technical glitches. Why can’t everything be that simple?
Chris cooked up 159 questions to separate the winners from the pack, and after a night of cerebral entertainment.
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Q1: What is the neurological condition where one sense is experienced through another?
Q2: Which term describes animals active at twilight, both dawn and dusk?
Q3: What type of building takes its name from the nine goddesses of the Arts and Science?
A1: Synaesthesia.
A2: Crepuscular.
A3: Museum.
Thanks to the Blackbird team: Glen, Yorkie the barman and especially Paula and the crew for the expansive, delicious buffet, with separate zones for veggie and vegan delights. An orderly queue snaked round (or was it an orderly snake queueing?) with facial recognition software identifying those who returned for seconds and more.
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