News and Views: 2021–2 Season – Week 13 – 29 March 2022

Results

The King's Gambit recorded their first win of the season this week – but not in a way that they would want to. The Pack Horse Bowling Club were unable to field a team, meaning that the King's won by default.

Of the six matches that did go ahead this week, only one was won by the team going "first first". According to the spreadsheet, in the Specialist questions there was a heavy bias towards the teams that went "second first". This was somewhat counteracted by a slight bias the other way in the General Knowledge, but it is possible that one or two results may have been affected.

Tables

With most teams having one game to play, the top two and the bottom two places in the A League are decided. In the B League, Harrington Academicals will be champions if they beat the Plough Horntails next week, but if they lose they could be pipped at the post by the Nags Head (who play the Park Taverners).

The bottom two places in the B League have been decided for some time now, and in the C League, the one match to be played next week can have no effect on any League standings. The Park Timers moved into second place this week with a victory over the Sutton Mutton, but they are three points behind the Sutton Club who were already confirmed as champions.

It's too early to talk about promotion and relegation, as it will depend how many teams we have next season. Let's hope we can welcome back some of our old friends, or maybe even a new team or two!

Individual

Top scorers this week were Ashton Davies and Paul Prior, each with 48. There were also two scores of 42, for Alan Hodgson and Ian Musgrave – the latter helping the Nags Head to the highest team score of the week with 176. Meanwhile in the C League, three players – John Poyser, Andrew Fenton and Wynne Keith–Davies – scored 30.

There were eight personal bests this week – one each in the A and C Leagues, and six in the B League – and six of the 46 players (four in the A League and two in the B League) failed to better their lowest scores of the season.

With the Queens not playing, Alan Hodgson and Ashton Davies both moved above Haydn Thompson in the A League table, and are now second and third respectively. They are separated by only one question, and it's Ashton who is in the stronger position as he has a lower "lowest score" to be marked off. But he'll need a phenomenal score to displace Alice Walker from the top spot.

In the B League, Paul Prior played his 10th game, meaning that all of his 48 points went onto his total. He now leads Dave Partington by four questions, and he also has a lower "lowest score" – making him very much the favourite to take the title for the first time.

With the Park Timers confirmed as C League champions, the interest in their final match – against the Pack Horse Bowling Club – will centre on the battle between John Poyser and Andrew Fenton for the Individual title. They are currently tied on 189 points, with Andrew having a marginally lower "lowest score" to come off.

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

Despite the misgivings of some of the vetters, the Queens' questions proved to be slightly easier than average. Overall, teams scored 101% of their average scores for the season; since Week 5 (11 January), only in Week 8 have the questions been easier.

The General Knowledge questions were slightly easier than the Specialists, with teams scoring (on average) 102% in the former and 100% in the latter.

For Entertainment, the A and B Leagues gave above average marks to both sets of questions.  In the C League, the Specialist questions went down well enough but the General Knowledge were scored only 4.50 – 25th out of the 26 question sets so far this season. (The A League ranked them 6th with a score of 7.25, and the B League equal 12th with 5.83.)

The worst news for the Queens, however, was that they failed (not for the first time) to achieve anything like a fair balance in the Specialist questions. Teams going "first first" scored on average only 91% of their average scores, while those going "second first" scored 109%. This was the heaviest bias we've had so far this season, meaning that the Specialist questions scored zero in this criterion.

The balance in the General Knowledge questions was much better – 103% and 101%. This went to counteract the bias in the Specialists to a certain extent, and overall the teams going "first first" scored 98% of their averages for the season while those going "second first" scored 104%. On an average team score of 139 this could have made a difference of 8 or 9 points, and one or two of the six results may have been affected by this imbalance.

For the full spreadsheet, please click here.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2022