tablequiz.net

I had a definite sense of deja vu on Thursday night when I sat down in the Park Hotel, Kiltimagh, to await the start of quiz in aid of the local GAA club.  We took part in a quiz there last Easter and, as it was available, I sat down at the same table we’d used that night. History was to repeat, in another way, shortly after when the quiz master started speaking and I realised it was the same man who hosted the Karate club quiz last week.

The host was in more ebullient form this time.  He started off by telling us all that first prize was going to be a set of Kiltimagh GAA Club hoodies, whilst the runners-up would be getting a matching set of windbreakers. “No, no – only joking!”  First prize was actually four night’s B&B, sponsored by the venue. (Just like that night last Easter, funnily enough.)

The runners-up were to receive four free tickets to the Mayo county senior football final.  Remembering last year’s dire battle between Ballintubber and Castlebar Mitchells, we wondered if this was also a joke… *

After round 3, we were three points behind the leaders.  Frustratingly, we could never get closer than a two point deficit for the rest of the quiz.  Our final score of 84 was good enough for joint-third, two points behind tables 6 and 15.  Thus, a tie-breaker was needed to separate first and third.  However, at least we got to dodge the county final tickets.

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My 100% start to the new table quiz season is over.  In truth, it only lasted 24 hours. On Friday night last myself, Ger, Breda and Ger’s sister Marie took part in the Karate Club quiz in Kiltimagh – where we lost by a point.

Now, regular readers to the blog will know that there’s nothing I hate more than losing by a point. It makes the after-quiz post mortems all the more depressing as you’re always looking out for the one that got away: the point that could have saved you from defeat and at least got you into a playoff.  That said, by my count we actually had 87 points (the winning score) but the scorers’ table obviously didn’t agree.  If the top prize had been anything other than four bottles of wine I may have gone up for a chat!

The quiz itself was very good in places but also very annoying in others. At one point the quizmaster told us “don’t blame me, I didn’t write them!” but later on, when the (excellent) flags round was presented, he said “anyone who’s been at one of my quizzes before will know that I love this kind of thing…” So did he create the questions or didn’t he? Was there a co-operative in use here?!

We were also asked if it was true or false that, at the proprietor’s upcoming birthday (next week), he would be 45 years of age. “Where is he?” someone asked.

“Stand up John, the out-of-towners want to get a look at you.”

Where was he? He was at table 4! Just what you want to hear, a question about someone who’s taking part in the quiz…

We guessed false and it turned out we were right. Alas, we did manage to get four of that round wrong which, given they were all 50/50 shots, was a bit of a disaster. That’s why we didn’t win this quiz.

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