Weekly Match Reports - Summer 2026
(A big thank you to Jonny Peacock)
Week 3 (28th May)
Welcome to the Enhanced Quiz! Special concessions were agreed, permitting the carefully monitored administration of performance-enhancing substances. Quiz teams were allowed to participate while consuming alcoholic beverages, UK Duty Paid and for sale through licensed outlets. Record-breaking scores were expected… in fact the average team score, 61, was the lowest since May 2025, not quite ‘since records began’. Is it the heat, or are Tim Busby’s questions hotting up too?
The Blackbird take the early season top spot in the Championship with a win in Bletchingdon: Nomads 65 - Blackbird 69. The quiz was nip and tuck all evening, Blackbird taking a one-point lead going into the final round, went down to the last two questions, both music questions, The Nomads "resistance was low" to give the Blackbird the hard-fought victory. Always a pleasure to visit Bletchingdon, the club was packed, the Question master John using a microphone to be heard, great atmosphere, and the beer prices, a throwback to earlier days. Keep up the good work guys.
And up to second place in the Championship are the Masons Arms. A very depleted King’s Arms team journeyed to the Masons. After an initially promising start the next two rounds were drawn with very low scores. The pictures gave the home team a much-needed impetus, and they were then never headed until the final score settled the evening’s competition. A final question on the Stranglers was ideal for the Masons captain who has seen them over 20 times! An enjoyable evening in one the league’s finest venues: Masons Arms 56 - King’s Arms 43.
An all-premiership tie played out in Wolvercote, the Plough hosting the Cricketer’s Arms. The home team took the first two rounds to lead by seven points, but the night was yet young. Plough birthday boys The Gemini Twins were feeling chipper under the stern eye of Captain Howard, but in the next two rounds they relinquished all but one point of their hard-earned lead. Three Plough bonuses in a disastrous round five for the Cricketer’s put the hosts ahead again, then the away team recouped three points to be in a strong position. They won a low-scoring final round too, but not by enough to win the match, so the final score on a hot summer night was Plough 67 - Cricketer’s Arms 63.
The Ploughman’s Bunch! are finding good form early in the season. Two teams of four battled it out under Maureen's assured questioning, with first blood going to the home outfit in the shape of a motoring bonus to take round one 8-7 (although the visitors came close to levelling, saying solidus when a more solid answer of solidi was required). Undaunted, the Bunch! took the next round 11-8 with a bonus on Oscar Peterson, extending the lead thanks to a good guess on Jimmy Cliff in round three. A comfortable five-point lead entirely disappeared after the pictures, though, the hosts' close knowledge of Loose Women leaving the match all square. But round five was decisive, as with serve the Bunch! triumphed 12-4 before a 12-12 full house in round six set the visitors up nicely to romp away at the finish, thanks to more guesses on horsepower and the River Jordan. Although his niece was not actually playing for the team on the night, the Bunch! had no difficulty identifying the fifth man. Castle 56 - Bunch! 70.
Thanks to Tim Busby for the questions, with a selection on English towns from this week below.
Q1: In which town is John Fowles novel ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ mainly set?
Q2: At which 1403 battle was Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy defeated and killed by King Henry IV forces?
Q3: What is the county town of Wiltshire?
A1: Lyme Regis.
A2: Shrewsbury.
A3: Trowbridge.
Week 2 - (21st May)
The scores inched a little higher this week, and the teams set out on a balmy May night for a pleasant evening quizzing. Tim Busby kept things interesting with his usual varied selection of questions, which produced good matches and interesting results.
The Cricketer’s Arms held their first fixture in their new venue, and The Masons had the privilege of being the first away team to play there. It’s a good venue and much more conducive to great quizzing. It was a very close match in which the lead changed numerous times. It always remained tight, and working through releasing the bishop still didn’t get the point for the visitors. But in the final round the Masons took the lead by a single point. A great evening’s quizzing in a great new venue, with Jeff on the questions. Final score Cricketer’s Arms 66 – Masons Arms 67. No spies had been seen in the Cricketer’s training camp, so the result stands!
Castle v Kings is a match made for a chess question, and there it was, fools mate in two! A lovely trip out to Woodstock and finding the streets there full of people sat outside pubs and cafes under umbrellas in the sunshine, perhaps summer is on its way! A very pleasant evening with most rounds being very close, the first round was drawn, the next four were won by the Castle and the last two rounds by the Kings Arms. The 2nd Elvis question baffled everyone even after we had the answer of Live a Little, Love a Little given, and no one remembered Peter Schmeichel being on Strictly Come Dancing! Very nice food and good company, what more could we ask for? King’s Arms 63 - Castle 67.
The Plough sailed across the ring road for a fun sociable evening at the Blackbird. The visitors were parried at first sight, losing the first round 10-7 despite Howard’s Elvis bonus on King Creole. The Blackbird earned a bonus of their own in the next round, but their opponents secured three to win the round 5-13 to take the lead which they held on to by a diminishing margin throughout. Paula brought out a mighty spread of half-time food: stew, sarnies, bhajis with chilli dip and roast spuds. What a crew, with Captain Glen steering the ship, Yorkie the Steward and Paula in the Galley, and many thanks to Mark Burke for standing in as question reader. With questions on fools mate and fools gold, neither team was a ship of fools. A strong 13-10 round six fightback from the Blackbird took them to within four points of victory, but it was not to be. When “The Great Escape” came up, John Conway commented “we need it” but both teams were fooled by the fools mate chess question and the Plough held on, Escape to Victory: Blackbird 70 – Plough 77.
The Bunch! got off to a good start in their opening match of the summer season, at home to the White Hart. The questions fell in our favour in the first three rounds, with the White Hart unlucky to get 7 of the 10 questions unanswered by either side prior to the picture round, the Bunch going 32-15 up. It was very different from that point on, the remaining four rounds going to the visitors 45-47, including the answers of the night in the last round, with The Toy Dolls, Rosa Parks and The Great Escape. A convivial evening, with thanks to Stuart for reading in his usual inimitable style, and to the Plough for the delicious food: Ploughman’s Bunch! 77 – White Hart 62.
Thanks to Tim Busby for the questions, with an American selection from this week below.
Q1: Which is the only American state capital to start with N?
Q2: When Hawaii joined the Union, who was the first president of all 50 states?
Q3: In March 2026, who did Donald Trump fire as US Secretary of Homeland Security?
A1: Nashville.
A2: Ike, Dwight D Eisenhower.
A3: Kristi Noem.
Week 1 - (14th May)
And the summer runners are off! It’s the same nine teams participating as in 2025, but with one side relocating: the Royal Blenheim team are now based at the Cricketer’s Arms in Temple Cowley. Here’s to a warm and lively summer, may the best team win, and everyone have fun.
Last summer's champions were the Royal Blenheim, perhaps partly due to the racket generated by their braying supporters. In an attempt to prove that they won on merit, the Blenheimistas have rebranded as the Cricketer's Arms (Nick Smith has asked us to note the apostrophe before the 's', folks - you may be docked marks if you get this wrong in your match report). The only current cricketer in the team was delegated to write his report after an opening night victory in the dungeons of the Castle. The home team, no longer fired up by the challenge of a Westgate local derby, were only able to field four players but stormed out of the blocks with a 13-10 Round 1 scoreline, thanks to some Millwall/Middlesbrough confusion in the cricketing ranks. The visitors edged closer with bonuses on the University of Arizona and the Graf Spee in Round 2 before Betty Boo helped them edge ahead in Round 3 and then a further 2 point gain on the pictures. But Round 5 was effectively the decider, 6-13 to the visitors, including bonuses on Wal-Mart, Jimmy Tarbuck and James II. Perhaps the questions in the last two rounds were a little harder or maybe both sides took their foot off the gas, but these were also won 7-8 and 4-8 by the Marshmen, to produce a win for Cricketer's (Arms). All in all, a most enjoyable start to the season against ever-congenial opponents who will surely score strongly when they have a full complement of five. Final score: Castle 61 – 77 Cricketer's Arms
Good night in a very lively Masons Arms. Blackbird, missing Captain Conway, again slow out of the blocks, 12 down after 3 rounds. However, they would go on to win the last four rounds, including an incredible 17-2 victory in Round 5. Final score Masons Arms 48 - Blackbird 60. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat as a colleague commented. Good food served by friendly landlord Chris, who really knows how to pull in a crowd. Nice to see in these times.
White Hart 67 – King’s Arms 67. The White Hart welcomed their old friends from the Kings Arms for what is usually a closely fought encounter. The hosts started well, despite a schoolboy error of jumping in with an answer and consequently confusing Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball, thereby gifting a bonus point. Still, it was early days and unlikely to be important. The Kings Arms then had a couple of strong rounds, including a clean sweep on the 'name the year' section, to the extent that they led by four points going into the pictures. The hosts re-grouped (i.e. had another drink) and managed to edge the next few rounds to leave it level coming into the final round. It seemed that neither side wanted to win, as points were hard to come by in the Give It Away, and the scores were still level for the final question on what was supposed to be a White Hart specialist area, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No such luck, though, as both teams' guesses were wide of the mark, leaving it level at 67 each apiece, as Trevor would say. An enjoyable match and a fair result, just don't mention Kenny Ball (or Acker Bilk).
The Nomads wandered to the Plough for a top-quality match which could have gone either way and was only decided at the end of the final round. The pub was busy with diners from Saltsjöbaden Choir, Stockholm on a short local tour. The Swedish singers (not Jenny Lind or Abba) broke into song later, but thankfully the quiz teams resisted the temptation to sing along. The quiz had no shortage of harmony and cooperation as the Nomads kindly gave up John Clark their question reader to conduct proceedings, thanks for that. There were only four bonuses all night, three to the Nomads, and a regular scattering of unanswered questions, but it was a very close match all night. The Plough took the first round with their only bonus, but the Nomads came back very strongly in round two, only for the teams to draw level in the pictures and the next two rounds. We were even-stevens going into a low-scoring final round, with half the questions unanswered, and the result decided in the last few questions, but this time it was the Plough who started the summer season with a win: Plough 74 – Bletchingdon Nomads 72.
Thanks to Jeff Welch for the season of Winter League questions, and welcome back to Tim Busby for the summer season, with a science selection from this week below.
Q1: Which Noble gas, element 18, takes its name from the Greek for ‘inactive’ or ‘lazy’?
Q2: Which Italian physicist’s law states that equal volumes of gas at the same pressure and temperature contain equal numbers of molecules?
Q3: What is the chemical name for Epsom Salts?
A1: Argon.
A2: Avogadro.
A3: Magnesium Sulphate.