News and Views: 2019–20 Season – Week 6 – 12 November 2019

Results

Only two games were decided by fewer than ten points this week – but in four others the margin was between 11 and 13. Six were won by the teams that went "first first"; these were evenly spread between the Leagues, with two in each.

It's probably fair to say that all six games in the A and B Leagues went to form, but in the C League, two teams recorded their first wins of the season. The Broken Cross Club followed up last week's draw with a victory over the Sutton Mutton, by a margin of just three points; but possibly the surprise result anywhere this week was an 11–point victory for the Pack Horse Bowling Club (previously ninth in the table) over the Brewers Arms (second).

Tables

Once again this week there was no change at the top of any of the three Leagues; the two Nags Head teams and the Park Taverners remain in the three top spots.

Not much change at the bottom of the tables either; in the A and B Leagues the bottom three are the same as last week, while in the C League the Broken Cross and Pack Horse clubs both moved above the King's Gambit thanks to their first wins of the season.

In the A League the Weaver climbed to their highest position of the season so far, largely at the expense of the Queens who didn't play. The B League's biggest climbers were the Dolphin Dragons, who are steadily repairing the damage done by their two weeks off in Weeks 2 and 3 and are now in third place. And in the C League the Park Timers moved up from sixth to fourth with their third victory of the season.

Individual

There were 19 personal bests this week, and 31 people failed to better their lowest scores of the season.

For the second week running, Ashton Davies scored 51 and was the only individual to top 50. Next highest was Peter McBride with 45, and there were six scores of 42 (three each in the A and B Leagues). Joint top scorers in the C League were John Green and John Poyser, each with a personal best 39.

One of the 42s was for Mark Watson, taking him to the top of the A League Individual table above Alice Walker, who didn't play. In the B League, Dave Partington remains in first place but Keith Pointon and Jim Kennelly both moved ahead of Paul Prior, who was second last week but didn't play this time. Similarly in the C League, Andy Ridgway still tops the table but Shauna Barstow, who was second last week but didn't play this time, was overtaken by four people: John Green, John Poyser, Wendy Brown and Kenny Davenport–Slater.

A League

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

B League

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

C League

Results

Table

Individual Top Ten

Cars & Van 4U Question Setters' Trophy

For the full spreadsheet, please click here.

The Queens' questions received more or less average marks all round, with the Specialists faring slightly better than the General Knowledge. The two sets are fourth and eighth respectively, out of twelve, in the overall table.

Both sets were of average Difficulty. In the Specialist rounds teams scored, on average, exactly 100% of their average scores (rounded); for the General Knowledge the figure was 101%. The Balance was pretty good (according to the spreadsheet): in the Specialists the teams that went first scored on average 98%, while those going second scored 101%. In the General Knowledge the figures were 104% (for the teams that went first in the Specialists) and 98% (for those that went second). The biases that the spreadsheet identified in the two sets tended to cancel each other out, so that overall the teams that went "first first" scored 102% of their averages, while those that went "second first" scored 99%.

The Entertainment scores were slightly less than average; the Specialist questions are currently seventh out of twelve, the General Knowledge ninth. The Specialist questions went down slightly better in the A League than in the B or C; the General Knowledge were also best received in the A League, and did well enough in the C League, but the B League gave them one of their lowest marks of the season so far.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019