The Wanderers had finished 2023 with three wins on the bounce, but the new year brought a new name at the top. Friends of Maddie won the first quiz of 2024.
In second place were Premium Bondleigh, making their first appearance in the top two. A team with a name that good was always going to turn up on the scoreboard sooner or later.
By the numbers
Friends of Maddie’s fifth win took them to within one of Cobley Wanderers on the all-time list, 6 to 5. Eleven quizzes in, and those two were still the only teams to have lifted the trophy.
A flavour of the questions
January’s quiz opened and closed its first half with the Premier League in alphabetical order, and later asked teams to decide whether a list of names were West Indies cricketers or Buckinghamshire villages. Harder than it sounds.
- General knowledgeAlphabetically, what’s the first team in the Premier League?
Answer: AFC Bournemouth. And the last? Wolves. - General knowledgeWhat’s the lowest number you can’t score with one dart?
Answer: 23 - General knowledgeIf you joined the M5 at Exeter and kept driving, what would happen at the end?
Answer: You’d merge into the M6 - Alphabet roundWhat was the name of the car in Knight Rider?
Answer: KITT - General knowledgeWhat archaic unit of distance is based on how far someone can walk in an hour?
Answer: A league - General knowledgeWho were married by the turkey who lives on the hill?
Answer: The Owl and the Pussycat - Cricketer or village?Hammond Furlonge: West Indies cricketer or Buckinghamshire village?
Answer: Cricketer. Three Tests in the 1950s. - General knowledgeWhat word can precede city, sanctum and tube?
Answer: Inner
The wipeout round was all famous Garys, from Gary Cooper to Garry Kasparov (two Rs, as the sheet sternly reminded everyone), which made a fitting warm-up for the traditional last question.
The music round: what’s the number?
Ten songs with a number in the title. One point for the number. From a magic three all the way up to 2525.
- 19Paul Hardcastle
- One Step BeyondMadness
- Across 110th StreetBobby Womack
- In the Year 2525Zager and Evans
- 99 Red BalloonsNena
- The Magic NumberDe La Soul
- I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)The Proclaimers
- Disco 2000Pulp
- Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes
- When I’m Sixty-FourThe Beatles
And finally
Next up was February, and a brand new name on the trophy.
Every question from the night is in the questions archive, every winner is on the monthly winners board, and there are more photos in the gallery.