Your Starter For Ten...

April 13, 2015 by Ray Morgan

Your starter for ten...

I was raised in a quiz house. I'm not sure if you're familiar: do you LOVE answering questions? Would you rather be given a series of clues rather than be told a simple answer? Is 8.00 on a Monday night reserved exclusively for you, Jeremy Paxman, and the 8 finest brains in Britain (along with a notepad to keep your scores)?

If yes to any of the above, then I'll assume you're one of us. I love quizzes. Love them with all my heart. My partner says I go into a "quiz fog" if one comes on the TV. She's not allowed to talk during a quiz programme because a) I might miss the question and b) how will she be able to hear if I get it right when I shout it out, and subsequently praise my genius?

Mastermind is a provider of great joy to me. I love people who are geeky enough to know everything about, say, the works of Alexander McCall Smith, or the highs and lows of Everton football club between 1989 and 1997. They are super-fans and I salute them. I hyperventilated when someone chose Harry Potter as their specialist subject: I both loved and hated the contestant at the same time. First, that was MY specialist subject (for when Mastermind comes knocking at my door, I assume that's how it works), and second, she had a breathtaking knowledge of all things Potter. It was a confusing 30 minutes.

(I would like to take this opportunity to tell you I got all but one of the questions right and I'm still working through forgiving myself for not getting that last one. JK Rowling, I'm sorry. I can make it up to you.)

Sometimes, I'm not au fait with the specialist subjects, and know that I have no chance of getting any questions right. Why put myself through that? It would just hurt my ego. So on occasion, the first half of Mastermind involves me making a cup of tea and getting some sort of snack. You need brain food to prepare for the General Knowledge round...

Last week at work, a menu was sent round for one of our quarterly office socials. I am a food obsessive and took great delight in answering questions from my colleagues. What is an arancini? And what exactly is in aioli? Have you ever had a Thermidor? Christ, I was in my element. Food and drink is my FAVOURITE round in a pub quiz. And talking of pub quizzes, this is another area where I thrive. I don't always win (I don't want you to think I'm some sort of super-brain - Harry Potter is my level, remember) but it's a jolly good night out.

I'm about to "out" my family even more here, but we used to love all sitting together and watching University Challenge. We would *cringe alert* tally our scores. But what was REALLY frustrating was that my Mum would always, always win. I'm talking over 10 correct answers every week. If any of us ever beat her (rare occasions I may even be fabricating), it was a Big Deal. She's such a boss at quizzes, and totally the reason that I'm like I am. But I love it. It brought us together as a family. I would secretly glow (slash be horrendously smug) when I got a correct answer for a classical music question (none of our areas of expertise), and rejoice when something vaguely representing popular culture emerged. Those moments are gold.

So there we have it. Further indication of my geek-ness, for which I am very proud.

My top 5 quizzes

1. University Challenge "Don't buzz if you don't know the answer!" Oh, Pax! <3
2. Mastermind - always and forever the GK
3. The pub quiz at The Broker on a Sunday night
4. The News Quiz on R4. Not one in which I can partake, mind...
5. Countdown. A sneaky entry, not really a quiz, and never the same since the departure of RW.