Carry On Hounding!

The title is in no way meant to suggest an element of farce in this week's proceedings, god knows this could apply any week anyway. The phrase turned up during the evening as it often does and I though I would bag it as a title before anyone else does. Kevster, please google and report back how prominently it features in the returned results.

At one stage earlier in the week I had a feeling that Hound might barely be plural this week, consisting only of the two of us currently on death row at Umbrella Towers, but we were quorate in the end with myself, Robson and Kevster present.  

Pre-match banter had it that Peterkin's BBQ was very enjoyable but low key, and on his way home via Shanks' Pony Robson lost his footing on a down slope crossing one of the Chipstead golf courses in the dark. Some cuts, grazes, bruises still visible. Robson as if from nowhere then produced a vintage copy of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles. The summarised chart life of the likes of the Dazz Band, Nolan Sisters, New Order, Spandau Ballet and Pluto Shervington  were amongst those analysed. Siobhan ended up with custody of the book, I think as compensation for an unnecessarily long journey home from work near the Euston Tower that day, via Waitrose on the Limpsfield Road. Apparently all ended well as she was able to pick up a bag of frozen chips and something to do with making 4 berry jam.

6 out of ten, an inauspicious start on celebrity mugshots. The best get by far was Kevster identifying Vanilla Ice, looked more like Shane Warne to me. A near miss on 2Pac, but no idea on Glen Campbell, Jane Fonda and number 10 who wasn't Richard James. Current Affairs went much better, featuring as it did skinny jeans, Taylor Swift, Ferrero Rocher, the word "Twerk", Barrack Obama's potty mouth and anti-austerity protesting. The other two were gently able to persuade me that I hadn't read that the queen might temporarily vacate Buckingham Palace in order that £150,000 worth of repairs could take place, and we only missed out on the age at death of a galapagos tortoise.

8 out of 10 on History, only failing to identify the names of two mice that the Russians sent into space and that Marengo was Napoleon's horse not the Duke of Boot. Connections round turned out to be London Squares, Natalie Portman in Question 4 lighting a bulb above Robson's head. I was much slower to realise that this meant the answer to number 1 was Willy Russell not Alan Bleasdale. Still not sure where Harriet/Harman square is to be honest.  

Charles Ingram (millionare cheat), Shawn Carter/Jay-Z and Lilt with the totally tropical taste duly banked 30 more points and the slow start was now all but forgotten.

Twiglets were introduced as the latest Wotsits alternative, not sure if I like them or not. First round of the second half was based on the premise that all answers commence with "D". A fact that I temporarily forgot when momentarily questioning the Dominican Republic as the Caribbean island with a capital of Santo Domingo. Only Franklin D Roosevelt's middle name eluded us, it was Delano not Delaney. In the connections round there were two clear bear traps that we avoided, where in the body is the Scaphoid bone (wrist) and what was the name of the plane that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan (Boxcar). The rest were nailed and on to the music round, where it is satisfying to report not only full marks but all identified first time up with no need for a second listen. Gerry subsequently threatened that next weeks selection would probably not hit our sweet spot so precisely. Topol was probably the only slightly off-beat selection.

Honestly can't remember the sweeties question, a group of French infiltrators who only joined the quiz around 10.00 p.m. won it, paying total disregard to the sharing ethic that they wouldn't be aware of and prompting some Dad's Army like rhetoric from Gerry. We won and by a good margin, I have a £100 for our treasurer should I see him any time soon.

G-Hound.