News and Views: 2019–20 Season – Week 10 – 7 January 2020

Results

We had top–of–the–table clashes in both the B and C Leagues this week. Both went to the team that was already top; in the B League the Waters Green Rams beat the Nags Head fairly comfortably, while in the C League the Sutton Club won a much closer game against the Park Taverners.

This was the Sutton Club's eighth win in a row, and it brought them revenge for their only defeat of the season so far (in Week 1). It was also the Taverners' second successive defeat, after they lost their unbeaten record in Week 9.

The closest game of all was in the B League, where the Robin Hood edged out the Harrington Academicals by a single point (127 to 126). This is the fifth match of the season that the Robin Hood have been involved in, that has been decided by a margin of five points or fewer (won 2, lost 3); and it was the Accies that were on the receiving end of their previous narrowest victory (by 166 points to 163, in Week 1).

Tables

In the A League, the Dolphin fell two places from second to fourth after a defeat by the Queens. In the B League the Robin Hood went above the Harrington Academicals thanks to the narrow victory referred to above; and in the C League the Brewers Arms dropped a couple of places after losing to the Park Timers.

Otherwise the tables are unchanged; the Nags Head 'B', Waters Green Rams and Sutton Club remain in top place in their respective leagues, with the Nags Head and Park Taverners in the other promotion places.

Individual

In a week of modest scoring, the top scorers were Ashton Davies and Mark Watson with 42 each. There were 39s for Alice Walker, Alan Hodgson, Haydn Thompson (all in the same match!) and Liz Horrocks; top scorer in the C League was Graham Wallace with 27.

There were only three personal bests this week: take a bow Phil Davies (36), Chris Wearne (27) and Tony Wilkinson (18). No fewer than 35 people (out of 80) failed to better their lowest scores of the season; 16 of these were in the C League.

The most significant mover in the individual tables was Andy Ridgway, whose 24 was not enough to give the Brewers victory (see above) but took him from fourth to top place in the C League standings.

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.

As last week (albeit that was in reality four weeks ago), the good news about this week's questions is that (according to the spreadsheet) they were very well balanced when taken as a whole. Unlike Week 9 however, the bias in each set is quite pronounced. In the Specialist questions (set by the Plough Horntails), the teams that went first scored on average only 82% of their average scores, while those that went second managed 93%. The General Knowledge (set by the Harrington 'B') redressed this imbalance: the teams that went first (second in the Specialists) scored on average 75% of their average scores, and those that went second scored 87%.

Overall, all teams – regardless of the order they went in – scored on average 84% of their average scores. This of course didn't help the Balance scores, and it didn't help the Difficulty scores either. The General Knowledge scored zero for Difficulty, being the hardest we've had so far this season, and the Specialist did only slightly better – they weren't quite as hard as the Brewers Arms's questions in Week 8.

Not surprisingly, in view of the above, the questions were not popular. The General Knowledge are currently 12th (out of 20) in the Entertainment rankings, and the Specialists 17th. Overall, this week's questions currently occupy the bottom two places in the Cars & Vans 4U Question Setters' Trophy table.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2020