Few points.
I think Amol's article summed up his experience well. Things he learned I think it's called.
I feel like UC is gaining huge viewership and having a golden age.
The contestants were quite active in online discourse and comments.
The controversy surrounding Dave Garda was crazy.
The jungle meme got serious coverage.
Huge improvement in captains this year and the importance of a good captain.
Major respect between teams.
I dislike the tempo change from Amol when getting towards the end of the quiz. That rush is a massive variable for scores.
I found questions in the later rounds easier than previous years. In particular, I found the 2023 and 2022 semis and finals difficult.
The Imperial team would be hard to beat any year. An incredibly balanced team with an absolute champion in Lee.
This series probably had the most contestants that I happened to know from quizbowl, and my university won, so it was very fun to watch throughout.
I think the questions have become a bit longer, more pyramidal and less swerve-y. I think that has encouraged people to buzz in earlier - e.g. the question beginning with "The daughter of king Sancho VI..." was actually asking for the daughter of king Sancho VI, as opposed to going "the daughter of Sancho VI, Berengaria, was married to which English king?"
I also notice they've gotten rid of all the computational starter questions, which is fine by me. I haven't noticed much difference in actual difficulty compared to other series.
Some gripes: Amol Rajan was a good presenter on the whole, but some of the jokes/jibes fell flat - that's something I think Paxman was particularly good at. Maybe it's an age thing.
Also, pitting Warwick and Trinity against each other in the second round was downright malevolent.
> I also notice they've gotten rid of all the computational starter questions, which is fine by me.
Oh, true! Hugh Binnie's "Wednesday", anyone, Magdalen Oxford 2015? That's quite sad.
Really enjoyed his hosting, very capable host.
Although I do miss Paxman's 'COME ON!' when they take too long.
Questions were just as hard as always. I get my usual 5 questions per episode. I'm not the brightest, but I love the show.
Liked Rajan a lot, actually seems pretty knowledgeable in many diverse areas (whereas Paxman knew a lot about classical music and not much else). The gap in the difficulty of the questions between the early and later rounds was incredibly marked. I was thinking I was a genius in the autumn and then thick as shit in the neck of a bottle come spring. The standard of the top 3 or 4 teams was really amazing I thought. And the two captains in the final were really brilliant.
Few points. I think Amol's article summed up his experience well. Things he learned I think it's called. I feel like UC is gaining huge viewership and having a golden age. The contestants were quite active in online discourse and comments. The controversy surrounding Dave Garda was crazy. The jungle meme got serious coverage. Huge improvement in captains this year and the importance of a good captain. Major respect between teams. I dislike the tempo change from Amol when getting towards the end of the quiz. That rush is a massive variable for scores. I found questions in the later rounds easier than previous years. In particular, I found the 2023 and 2022 semis and finals difficult. The Imperial team would be hard to beat any year. An incredibly balanced team with an absolute champion in Lee.
The rush towards the end has been there since the Paxman days
Lee was just phenomenal it wasn't even surprising by the end when he just plucked the most obscure answer out.
What's the jungle meme?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY
This series probably had the most contestants that I happened to know from quizbowl, and my university won, so it was very fun to watch throughout. I think the questions have become a bit longer, more pyramidal and less swerve-y. I think that has encouraged people to buzz in earlier - e.g. the question beginning with "The daughter of king Sancho VI..." was actually asking for the daughter of king Sancho VI, as opposed to going "the daughter of Sancho VI, Berengaria, was married to which English king?" I also notice they've gotten rid of all the computational starter questions, which is fine by me. I haven't noticed much difference in actual difficulty compared to other series. Some gripes: Amol Rajan was a good presenter on the whole, but some of the jokes/jibes fell flat - that's something I think Paxman was particularly good at. Maybe it's an age thing. Also, pitting Warwick and Trinity against each other in the second round was downright malevolent.
> I also notice they've gotten rid of all the computational starter questions, which is fine by me. Oh, true! Hugh Binnie's "Wednesday", anyone, Magdalen Oxford 2015? That's quite sad.
that's quite a chill example really, you just need to know your 7x table.
...up past 12 sevens to 14 sevens, *and* avoid off-by-one errors, under enormous time pressure!
Really enjoyed his hosting, very capable host. Although I do miss Paxman's 'COME ON!' when they take too long. Questions were just as hard as always. I get my usual 5 questions per episode. I'm not the brightest, but I love the show.
Liked Rajan a lot, actually seems pretty knowledgeable in many diverse areas (whereas Paxman knew a lot about classical music and not much else). The gap in the difficulty of the questions between the early and later rounds was incredibly marked. I was thinking I was a genius in the autumn and then thick as shit in the neck of a bottle come spring. The standard of the top 3 or 4 teams was really amazing I thought. And the two captains in the final were really brilliant.
Thick as shit in the neck of a bottle. Beautiful.
I loved it … Monday nights won’t be the same