Trinity’s University Challenge returned last night, hosted by DU Quiz Society and the University Philosophical Society (the Phil). This inter-society quiz promised “unbeatable fun, a brand new perpetual trophy and mystifying questions”, hosted by Prof Patrick Geoghegan from the Department of History. The GMB was filled with around 30 clubs and societies eager to win the coveted title. The first half of the evening consisted of a table quiz to whittle down the numbers for the more Paxman-esque panel.
Geoghegan introduced the evening, tracing Trinity’s involvement with the original and well-known University Challenge. Remarking that the involvement was admittedly short-lived, he assured the participators that “if you humiliate yourselves tonight, you can still go on to do other things”.
The table quiz progressed as every table quiz does, with rounds as diverse as literature, sport, science and current affairs. Questions varied from “in what country was the first female president elected?” to “name the main character in the film Up”. The first count from the table quiz saw the Biological Society take the lead, with many others not far behind. Once points were announced it seemed that the quiz was taken more seriously and tables either sighed in relief or out of continued frustration at the questions asked. The precursor to the elusive panel section closed with a round of entertainment-based questions. Although the night had the potential to be highbrow and academic in its nature, it was refreshingly relaxed and punctuated by impromptu Mexican waves from particularly enthusiastic participants throughout the event.
After a short reception in the Phil’s Conversation Room, the semi-finalists were announced: Trinity Cancer Society, Suas Trinity, the Mature Students Society and the Biological Society (Bio Soc). The first round saw BioSoc versus Cancer Society, followed by the Mature Student’s Society against Suas. Now truly channelling the University Challenge style, students were armed with buzzers and given time limits. Stricter rules were laid out, such as a prohibition on conferring when answering. The rounds were aided by an app, projected onto a screen with a display keeping tabs on the points, which had an unfortunate tendency to slightly malfunction during the beginning of the quiz. Loud and oddly cheery music occasionally interrupted Geoghegan’s questions, which roused a confused laughter from the crowd, only feeding into the relaxed atmosphere of the evening.
The intense quizzing resulted in the Cancer Society and the Mature Student’s Society making it into the final. The starting questions were pretty accessible, like “what was the most recent state to enter the US?”, but then quickly shifted to more niche questions, in one case asking about former Soviet Union gymnasts. One notable question was, and this is not paraphrasing, “who shot JR?”, which was not answered correctly by either side. The quick switch from light-hearted topics to more sober ones, was a source of amusement, and ensured that the event was an eccentric spin on traditional quizzes.
The Cancer Society gained the lead fairly early on, but the Mature Students Society consistently closed the gap throughout the final round. However, it was the Cancer Society that eventually finalised their win with 80 points to 65.
Following the announcement of the evening’s winner, Geoghegan praised the remaining societies for staying around to watch the final, and also thanked the organisers of the evening for an all round entertaining and arguably intellectual challenge.
