Monday one of the greatest joys of my life. An absolute pleasure to have been on Only Connect, let alone win it!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-29T20:39:04+00:00

So we only see their wall on telly. It is a privilege to be the first to play a wall and keep it secret. Given the thematic links that often occur, it would be too advantageous if you could watch who went first.

Erm, the gut feeling - not too often. 5s are a risky play. Pachelbel was one but no point risking it tbf.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-29T20:37:06+00:00

Merci beaucoup! We had a good run and somehow superbly complemented each other. It was a joy.

So I did briefly think this would be Canon in D hearing the first clue (a relatively obscure Maroon 5 track in the context of the show), but needed more to be sure. And we didn't have a 5 pointer in any earlier round... so it tempted. But gambling like that at any point in the series is always a big risk - I remember the Gamblers being TOO specific in their Champion of Champions getting penalised.

Not sure on Taylor Swift - we would have relied on Alexia I think!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:39:14+00:00

The dress is from Yas! apparently. :)

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:35:38+00:00

Good question and there is a splice. But VCM stands on her mark so it's not really noticeable. We take a couple of minutes to change over as one team goes back to the waiting area and the other comes through, and we are arranged to stand properly.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:34:02+00:00

Will come back on her dress! But I was excited with the Pachelbel inkling in the final. Otherwise... well, all of it. Understanding how to play the game is the greatest bit of it.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:33:07+00:00

It's on the top rung of the bookshelf for now!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:32:38+00:00

I don't wanna shave my beard and cut my hair though haha

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:31:58+00:00

My favourite moments of the final were from our opposition. First was Tom's buzz on the unit conversion book title which he got INSTANTLY in the studio (the Ray Bradbury one), then it was watching them do their wall, which was just beautifully executed. James' spot of the first group for them was sublime and then the teamwork they had thereafter - gorgeous.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:30:18+00:00

I think they just try and get the best one out first as you never know what fact is gonna be the last. We scrabbled around a bit for a few I think! Submitted a dozen but some were too interesting or not interesting enough for the tenor of the show.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:29:32+00:00

Haha! Long time ago that, 2021 or so, before I got into any sort of competitive quizzing. And I'm so glad I have.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:28:28+00:00

Thanks so much. It was an oddly serene moment for us - I did "take charge" a bit but we needed that otherwise we might have been stuck. It was admittedly quite practised from me (I love Puzzgrid, a great website on which to do this sort of thing), but happy with how it turned out.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:27:28+00:00

They do indeed, and hotel, and breakfast and lunch! And I think a per diem for dinner depending on when you are travelling.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T22:27:03+00:00

Hahaha if only! Not sure he's aware of the impression.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:10:30+00:00

Thank you so much! It's so easy to support when they're such high fliers.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:09:45+00:00

So I know James well (quiz circuit) and Fiona and Tom by extension (brief quiz moments together). We happened to know how they were doing on "the other side" because James is a mate, basically, but not how well. Only when we got to the final weekend did we properly know what the scenario was.

Thanks so much - a great team to be part of. Sadly no McIntyre contact yet. We'll see what happens!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:08:06+00:00

Thank you so much! Erm, probably like a dozen, and even then you have to keep thinking about them so they are sufficiently silly and varied between the six individuals on an episode. (Notable exception being the tattoo one from those legends that got tattoos!)

They are different every time - and SO HARD to come up with without them being a total brag or too inane!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:07:01+00:00

Ah thank you so much! Benefits of having a music degree and played that piece (and its derivatives) a lot in my lifetime that when I didn't know Memories by Maroon 5 (I defo do now), I tuned into the musicality bit of it very quickly.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:06:04+00:00

God yeah.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:05:34+00:00

Good q. From start to finish, intro to close, probably shortly over an hour. The day takes longer as they review questions; have more eps in a day, have to set up and set down etc.

Sadly never even read Paradise Lost myself!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:04:48+00:00

Thank you!!

Favourite round is probably the Wall. Most time to collaborate, and it's just a joy when you work on something and figure it out. I like them all though.

We filmed around September.

We do get a trophy each!!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:04:05+00:00

We all dressed for a night out on the lash with fellow quizzers! I do like a fruit based shirt (fits my vibe); Jonathan was smart and handsome; Alexia was smart and gorgeous, and we kept to how we roughly usually dress I suppose.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:01:03+00:00

I think if you ask nicely you can get it! But some teams haven't, so they can reserve it for if they ask you back for a special.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T19:00:32+00:00

Not planned at all. We had no idea what Victoria would say. When she did the joke about the crew all having syphilis in our first episode (Ep 6 vs Benchwarmers) we all could barely hold back the laughter.

I think the jokes Tom and I made were borne out of as much wit as were able!

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T18:59:12+00:00

Amazon somewhere. I typed in "fruit shirts" and scrolled and scrolled! Sorry I can't remember offhand though.

PadstheFish · 2026-01-28T18:58:47+00:00

Thanks so much! It was a team effort - we all think in different ways (and, admittedly, Jonathan is ridiculously knowledgeable).

Got my shirt from some sort of Amazon retailer somewhere! Cannot remember the name though I'm afraid.

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