News and Views: 2021–2 Season – Week 8 – 8 February 2022

Results

Contrasting fortunes in the A League, where the Waters Green Weavers won their second successive game, having lost the first five; and conversely, the Poachers lost their second successive game having won the first five.

The Nags Head enjoyed a resounding victory over Harrington Academicals (who had replaced them at the top of the B League table last week), while Plough Horntails came out top in a mid-table clash with the Dolphin Dragons.

Second played third in the C League, and the result was a narrow victory for the Sutton Club (previously in third place) over the Park Timers.

Tables

Waters Green Weavers climbed out of the A League drop zone, at the expense of the Queen Bs, with their second victory of the season (over the Poachers).

In the B League, leaders Harrington Academicals fell to third place after their second defeat of the season – which, like the first, came at the hands of the Nags Head. But it was the Park Taverners, and not the Nags, that returned to the top of the table, with a victory over the Chester Road Tavern.

Big changes also at the top of the C League table – where the leaders, the Sutton Mutton, had another week off. The Sutton Club's narrow victory (as already mentioned) meant that they replaced their stable–mates in first place, while the Park Timers slipped to third. But it's still the Mutton who are undoubtedly best placed – level with the leaders on points, but with a game in hand.

Individual

Congratulations to Alasdair Reid, who was the top scorer this week with 51. Top scorers in the A League were Alice Walker and Haydn Thompson, each with 48; there were also 45s for Alan Hodgson and Rob Parkin, and Julian Amey's 45 was his best score of the season so far, by some distance.

Ian Grieve and Phil Davies both notched up personal bests of 42, and the top scorer in the C League was John Poyser with 39 – yet another personal best.

There were 19 personal bests in total: 6 in the A League, 9 in the B League and 4 in the C League. And only 12 people failed to beat their best scores of the season so far.

There were no major changes in the A League Top Ten, but in the B League Rob Parkin replaced Dave Partington in second place behind Paul Prior. Meanwhile, Simon Rumsey and Wendy Brown were big movers in the C League - each moving up four places, to third and fourth respectively.

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

The big news this week is that we have a new leader in the Cars & Vans 4U Question Setters' Trophy table. According to the spreadsheet, the Waters Green Lemmings' General Knowledge questions were the easiest we've had so far this season, although they just failed to beat the easiest from last season.

(We are still counting the scores from last season, even though we are now more than half–way through this shortened season. After next week most of us – in the A and B Leagues at least – will have played eight games, which is half of a normal season, so provided time allows the spreadsheet will be amended to stop taking last season's scores into account and just go by this season.)

The spreadsheet couldn't fault the General Knowledge questions for balance either; the teams going "first first" and Second first" all scored, on average, 115% of their average scores. The fact that they scored 9.65 and not a perfect 10 does however mean that the balance was not quite perfect (the percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number).

The spreadsheet suggests that the Specialist questions, set by the Pack Horse Bowling Club, were of pretty much average difficulty, with teams on average scoring 101% of their average scores. There was a moderate bias towards the teams that went "second first" (105% to 98%).

Overall the questions favoured those teams slightly (111% as against 108%). On an average team score of 136, this could potentially have made a difference of about 4 points.

For the full spreadsheet, please click here.

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2022