Welsh Learners v Relatives Only Connect

Hello.

Do you ever think that Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

simply hasn't been adapted,

televised, filmed and staged enough times in different forms?

Well, I've got good news for you.

Tonight, on A Connectmas Carol,

three festive spirits will go up against

another three festive spirits.

But enough about what I'm drinking. As the show unfolds,

I will, like Ebenezer Scrooge,

be waking up sporadically during a night of horrible surprises.

We've got six semifinalists here, shivering at the gruesome prospect

of questions yet to come.

They are...

on my right, Margaret Gabica, an accomplished linguist who was

once falsely arrested at gunpoint in France.

Chris Hern, an enthusiastic globetrotter, who is afraid of

theme park rides and was once trapped on a road

by a herd of buffaloes owned by Kevin Costner.

And their captain, Stuart Hern,

a keen hiker, who has a black belt in judo

and used to work inside a shipping container in Morocco.

They are keen students of God's own language,

they are the Welsh Learners.

So, Stuart, you've made the semifinals.

How has your experience been so far?

Well, I don't think any of us have slept for several weeks now.

So, to be honest, reality in general is starting to slip away.

So, it's about what we expected.

Good luck tonight.

You will be facing, on my left,

Hamish Galloway, a keen marathon runner who has 30 differently sized

and shaped Rubik cubes and got lost yesterday when he went for a run.

Nick Latham, a lighting director who once pretended he could play

the French horn in order to appear in a television commercial.

And their captain, Davina Galloway,

a Scrabble enthusiast who lived in Australia for five years

and was proposed to by husband Hamish at Blackfriars Station

because the train was late.

United by family ties,

they are the Relatives.

Davina, you're in the semifinals!

How's your team going to approach the game ahead?

With trepidation, I think. Up against a good side.

OK. Let's move on with our gruesome semifinal Round One.

What is the connection between four apparently random clues?

You won the toss, Relatives,

but you've elected to put the Welsh Learners in first.

So, please choose your Egyptian hieroglyph.

Two Reeds, please. Two Reeds.

That will be the first question of the semifinal.

What is the connection between these clues?

Here's the first.

THEY CONFER

Waterloo...

That was Belgium, wasn't it? So...

Yes... Rubbish.

Next, please.

1993, Cambodia.

Were you there?

Not quite then, no.

It's not when they became

independent from...

We'll have to go next. Next, please.

1975, Spain...

They're not the liberation from...?

Monarchy. Yeah.

BELL

They're all dates when

these countries were returned to being monarchies.

Correct.

These are monarchy restorations.

Last clue would have been 1660

England, Scotland and Wales.

Years when countries restored

their monarchies after a period without one.

Very well done. Two points

for coming in after three clues.

Relatives, your turn.

Twisted Flax, please.

Twisted Flax. What is the connection

between these clues? Here's the first.

Next, please.

He didn't wear glasses, did he?

No... No? Take next, then.

Next, please.

THEY CONFER

Collect newts? I don't know...

Collect newts?

That's only one. Ken Livingstone.

Next, please.

Well, they were killed,

but that's a... Three seconds.

BELL

They have strange pets.

Amphibians.

They do not all have strange

amphibian pets, more's the pity.

So there's a bonus

chance for you, Welsh Learners.

They were all replaced by Johnsons.

They were all replaced by Johnsons.

What can you tell me

about these people?

Er... Well, Kennedy was

followed by Lyndon Baines Johnson,

and Lincoln by Andrew Johnson,

obviously Ken Livingstone by Boris.

And I can never remember the name

of the guy who replaced Bon Scott...

Brian Johnson.

Brian Johnson. And Dennis Taylor,

no idea. Joe Johnson.

Yes, very dapper dresser.

Oh, so you're the snooker fan,

are you, Margaret?

Yes, dapper Joe Johnson,

very well done.

All succeeded by Johnsons.

So you get the bonus point, and the chance to choose your own question.

Eye of Horus, please.

Eye of Horus.

These are going to be picture clues.

Something connects them all.

What is it? Your time starts now.

THEY CONFER

Is that from Love Story?

Next, please.

David Tennant.

THEY CONFER

Tennant...

Next, please.

No idea.

He's not a chef or something, is he?

No... No?

Next, please.

Oh, is that Billy Twelvetrees?

Three seconds.

BELL

They've all played Hamlet.

Wow. That last production

is something I would very much

like to see. But they have not

all played Hamlet.

Relatives, a bonus chance for you.

Er... Drinks?

Like Ryan O'Neal, David Tennant...

It's Ryan gin and tonic.

It's not, it's Ryan O'Neal.

And the third one is the journalist Martin Sixsmith.

Do you start to see it?

If you write out O'Neal you get

one at the beginning.

David TENnant. Martin SIXsmith.

And Billy TWELVEtrees.

Their names start with numbers.

Does anybody know why

Billy Twelvetrees was nicknamed 36

when he was at Leicester?

I can't remember the name

but his coach was Irish,

so he had said, for him

twelve trees is 36.

Exactly right. Very well done.

But no points on that question.

Relatives. Your chance to choose.

Horned Viper, please.

The Horned Viper.

What is the connection between these clues?

Here's the first.

THEY LAUGH

Next, please.

THEY CONFER

Well, New York doesn't have a... There's Albany, but...

Next, please.

Oh... Yeah, it's um...

Because Sheffield and Philadelphia are the Blades.

BELL

Er... The football teams, like Sheffield and...

Sports teams have the same nicknames.

That's absolutely right.

The sports teams share names.

It's actually Rugby League and American football.

London and Denver, do you know

over there?

Broncos. The Broncos.

Huddersfield and New York,

it's the Giants.

Sheffield and Philadelphia, anyone?

Eagles. Eagles.

Widnes and Minnesota?

Vikings. OK, that's it.

So, while the ladies watch snooker

you're on the old American football?

Very well done, Relatives.

And back to you Welsh Learners.

You're on a 50-50 for the music question now, good luck.

Lion. Lion.

A happy silence.

It's not the music question.

I simply want to know, what's the connection between these clues?

Here's the first.

Next, please.

My dame has got my shoe,

there's a nursery rhyme starts like that...

Next, please.

Brian Whittle.

Ah, ah, ah!

He lost his shoe.

They all lost their shoes.

OK. Jason?

I don't know Jason. He definitely did.

OK, well, tell me about this later.

BELL

They've all lost shoes.

Yes, they have.

Last one would have been Cinderella.

They've all lost footwear.

You didn't know about the first one.

Jason of Argonaut and Golden Fleece

fame lost a sandal in a river.

What about "My dame,"

where's that from?

It's "My dame has lost her shoe,"

it's a nursery rhyme, poem.

That's it, yes. It goes... Cock-a-doodle-doo

My dame has lost her shoe

My master's lost his fiddle stick

And doesn't know what to do.

But apparently there's debate

whether it's fiddle stick or fiddling stick.

Which is a debate I'd very much

like to witness. I'd like to see it very seriously done,

Dawkins on one side, Bragg on the other.

Fiddle stick or fiddling stick. Let's debate.

Very well done for the points,

and bad news, Relatives, you know

that the music question remains.

It's nobody's favourite. BELL

Ah, the music question. What is the connection between these clues?

Here's the first.

# O Rose, thou art sick... #

Next, please.

# Father, Father

# Where are you going?

# Ah, do not walk so fast

# Speak, Father

# Speak to your little boy

# Or else I shall be lost. #

Next, please.

MUSIC PLAYS: "The Lamb" by John Tavener

No, still nothing.

Next, please.

# And did those fields... #

Is that Jerusalem?

THEY CONFER

Cities? Go with it?

# Walk on England's... #

BELL

Erm...cities, towns.

Not cities and towns, I'm afraid.

Your bonus chance, Welsh Learners.

William Blake.

It is William Blake!

You looked so confused,

but that's absolutely the answer.

Did you only recognise Jerusalem?

Yes.

You also heard Benjamin Britten's

O Rose, Thou Art Sick,

second one Jah Wobble's

Songs Of Innocence,

and the third one was The Lamb

all adaptations Of William Blake.

Very well done.

Meaning at the end of Round One,

the Relatives have two points,

the Welsh Learners have six.

Round Two is the sequences round, of course,

what comes fourth in a sequence.

The teams must work out the connections and then tell me

what the last clue would be.

Welsh Learners, you'll be first.

Which hieroglyph would you like?

Twisted Flax, please.

The Twisted Flax. What would come

fourth in this sequence?

Here's the first.

Well, it divides with nine...

As far as powers go...

Next, please.

Have to go... Next, please.

THEY CONFER

Nah, there's obviously

a sequence in there...

I have no idea...

Three seconds.

BELL

52 (4).

The answer is not 52 (4).

So, Relatives, a bonus chance

for you, if you know the answer.

Erm... We'll go for 44 (11).

That's not it either. No.

Now, these are Harshad numbers.

Do you know what I mean by that? No.

They're numbers where if you add up

the digits, they're divisible

by it, so 3 and 6, you add up and get 9,

divide 36 by that, you get 4.

40. 4 and 0 added up makes 4,

4 divided by that you get 10.

Next in the sequence would be 45 (5).

The next time you get a number

which is divisible by the sum of its own digits is 45, and if you divide

it by the sum of 5 and 4, you get 5.

After that, you'll be delighted to know that Harshad is

a Sanskrit word meaning "joy giver."

What a joyful question that was.

OK, Relatives, your turn for a Round Two question.

Eye of Horus, please.

Eye of Horus.

What is the fourth in this sequence?

Here's the first.

Elementary charge...

Well, it's to do with physics...

Next, please.

They are the major

constants in the universe...

I think, but what... Are we going to go next?

Next, please.

Well, that's the one that I might

have gone for fourth. So, erm...

E, F, G what comes after G?

H...

It could be

but is that Planck's constant?

Three seconds.

BELL

We'll go for Planck's constant.

The answer is Planck's constant.

And that is because, I think

you were saying, it's E, F and G.

It is alphabetical.

But the constant, the fundamental constant,

indicated by an H is Planck's constant.

Do you know what that is, Planck's constant?

It is something to do with

some very small unit of length,

the Planck length is something very, very small,

but what the constant is I'm...

It's to do with the probability

of finding a quantum particle in a different location

at a certain amount of weight, within a certain time,

according to Brian Cox's book,

which I was reading last night.

Or, to put it another way,

the energy of a photon

related to the frequency of its associated electromagnetic wave!

Of course! Simple as that.

They will be laughing at home as

they recite the words along with me.

Very well done. Back to you,

Welsh Learners, for a choice.

Lion, please. Lion. What would be the fourth in the sequence?

Here's the first.

OK, capitals but er...

Next, please.

Are the countries going east to west?

No, it's not in alphabetical order.

Capital cities, so you want

the capital cities in alphabetical order...

Yeah... Erm, should we go next?

Next, please.

OK, maybe not. Are they capitals

of earthquakes, maybe?

Capital cities hit by earthquakes?

Could be...

Yeah, but what's it going to be?

It's not a connection.

Five seconds.

BELL

USA = San Francisco.

Not the answer, I'm afraid.

So, Relatives, you've got

the chance for a bonus point.

Er... The capital cities were...

No, you've got to get the fourth.

Oh, right, sorry. I don't know...

I don't think you know it.

No, we don't know.

I wanted to hear Peru = Lima.

And I'll tell you why.

It is to do with the word lengths.

These are countries where

the capital city has the same number of letters as the country name.

You'll see there's seven letters in Algeria and Algiers,

six letters in Greece and in Athens,

five letters in Japan and Tokyo,

so a country where there are four

letters in the country name and the capital.

Peru = Lima is what I wanted to know. Relatives, your turn.

Two Reeds, please.

Two Reeds.

These are going to be picture clues.

What would you expect to see in the fourth picture?

Here's the first.

Biceps, triceps...

Next, please.

Liquid...

Sternum, isn't it?

Is it spine?

Next, please.

That's a Red Admiral. Butterfly...

Oh!

Backstroke, breast stroke,

butterfly, front crawl.

BELL

A baby crawling?

I'll take a baby crawling,

because I know you're thinking of the front crawl.

These are swimming strokes

in a medley relay, and after the

backstroke, breast stroke and

butterfly, it's actually freestyle,

but everybody does front crawl.

So crawl or freestyle

an acceptable answer. Very well done.

OK, Welsh Learners.

Horned Viper, please.

Horned Viper. What would be

the fourth in this sequence?

Here's the first.

THEY CONFER

Go for the second so we can see

what it is. Next, please.

I don't know what they're called...

Is it Hajj? For the pilgrimage?

We're not going to get any better,

are we? So fourth, fifth equals

fifth Hajj.

BELL

5th: Hajj

Is the correct answer.

These are the pillars of Islam,

of Sunni Islam, as listed

in the Hadith, the second, third and

fourth pillars and the fifth would

be Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Well done.

One question left for you, then,

Relatives. Water.

What is the fourth in this sequence?

Here's the first.

Next, please.

THEY CONFER

Take the next one. Next, please.

It's what they died of, but...

But I don't know what

the connections are between the people.

Have you got anything?

No, the only thing I can guess is...

Three seconds.

BELL

Pandora and hope.

Not the answer, I'm afraid,

so, Welsh Learners, a bonus chance for you.

Michael Spear.

You're thinking of Billy Twelvetrees' production

of Hamlet, aren't you?

But, no, Nick, what were

you muttering during that?

I had a feeling it might have been

Cleopatra and the asp.

The answer is Cleopatra (asp).

These are deaths

in Antony and Cleopatra.

The manner of the deaths

of characters in chronological

order of their deaths,

and after Antony dies by the sword,

it's Cleopatra with the asp. Nearly.

At the end of Round Two, then,

the Relatives have six points,

the Welsh Learners have nine.

Connecting Wall time.

Four groups of connected clues all jumbled up into a blizzard

of 16 visions of something that the teams have to sort back out.

Relatives, you'll be going first this time.

Would you like the Lion Wall or the Water Wall?

Er... Lion, please.

OK. Two and a half minutes to solve the Lion Wall.

Starting now.

Flying picket, flying lizard.

THEY CONFER

Flying...

OK, go on, go on.

Right, work to rule, go-slow, overtime ban.

Picket?

Yeah, we'll that's stand-down, picket.

Cycle through them...

These are points, like lizard point, needle point...

Is Cromer a point? Bardsey's a point, Cromer's a point...

OK, no, it's not. Try Eddystone.

That's five.

Uh... Dog-ear.

There must be another one.

Cyclone goes...

They rotate.

Eh... Don't know. Right.

Caparison, is that a point?

Without lizard....

Without needles...

Without... We've done that one.

OK, so dog-ear is...

There's something wrong with...

Erm... What else is wrong with it?

What if you irrigate...

OK. Water flows through it.

Wonder if they're...

techniques or something?

Eddystone.

Eddystone rock, lizard rock.

A minute left.

Bardsey... Needles is a rock.

Three strikes and you're out, now.

I think those two go round...

Currents? Currents, yeah.

And you can irrigate something with a current.

But I don't know what caparison is...

Do we start taking chances?

There's one gone, so let's just see

if we can see anything...

Are there any anagrams there, or...?

Well, that's a good thing to think of.

Or anything inside the word.

Erm...

20 seconds.

Oh, there's Paris, Rome...

Oslo and one other...

Capital cities... Riga.

That's it. With ten seconds left,

you've solved the wall. Well done.

Four points, of course, for the groups you've found,

and what about the connecting points?

Picket, work to rule,

stand-down, overtime ban.

All to do with unions and working to rule, standing-down,

overtime ban's all work-related, union-related.

Types of industrial action.

That's what we wanted to hear, but that's right.

Needles, Lizard, Eddystone, Bardsey.

Yeah, we'll go for lighthouses.

I will accept that they are all lighthouses.

And the next one, caparison,

Cromer, irrigate, go-slow.

They've got European capitals.

Paris, Rome, Riga and Oslo.

That was well-spotted by you right at the end, there.

They contain the names of European capitals.

And the last one, dog-ear,

cyclone, lattice, electric.

Have they all got currents in them,

are they all...?

They haven't. This is a pretty obscure one,

they're actually all fences.

They're types of fence, but you

got four points for the groups

you found and three more for the connections.

That's an excellent total of seven.

Time to etch-a-sketch that wall, throw 16 new, devious clues

on to it, and give it to the Welsh Learners.

That'll be the Water Wall, that's what remains for you.

Two and a half minutes to solve it.

Starting now.

OK, erm... Traditional...

Welsh...

Er... Flint... Cardigan...

Montgomery...

Eyebrow. Anything with eyebrow?

Robert Mitchum...

Robert Mitchum. Robert Powell?

Oh, that's Humphrey Bogart.

Elliott Gould...

Lavender...

Ian lavender.

Doily...

Bogart. Different sort of doily.

Humphrey. Erm... Are we talking about

rugs or something, Afghan rugs?

Or dogs?

Loom... Brow... What's... What's that?

No. OK. Erm... Afghan rugs...

Sorry, what were you thinking

with doily, loom? Well, a doily

is a doily. It is a doily.

OK. Mitchum, and also the film noir...

Montgomery...

Montgomery Clift's the first name...

Ooh, hang on a minute!

Have they all played the same character? Might be, yeah.

Because they played, um, Philip Marlowe. OK.

Oh, yes, Robert Mitchum. Mitchum,

Humphrey Bogart. Elliott Gould.

And somebody else.

What about Montgomery Clift?

Halfway through the time.

Keep going with that.

Have we got anything else to go on?

Might be a....

Three strikes and you're out, now.

Erm... Candle, candle...

Candlestick? Candlestick, candle...

Afghan, Afghan rug...

Mmm-hmm. Lavender...

OK, Afghan's also a dog.

Yes.

Candles, candlelight...

Lavender and lace...

Four candles...

Are they things, is that it?

Eyebrow, eyebrow...

OK, we'll start...

No. OK, two left.

20 seconds.

THEY CONFER

OK, er... What about rugs?

BUZZ No, that's it, you've had your

three strikes and the wall has frozen.

But you found two groups, so that's two points,

and I'll give you more if you can tell me the connection.

Cardigan, Monmouth, Flint, Radnor.

Traditional Welsh counties.

That's right, they're historic Welsh counties

that are not Welsh counties any more.

You were quick to find that one, I'm not surprised to see.

And the next one,

Mitchum, Gould, Powell, Montgomery.

They all played Philip Marlowe.

Very well spotted.

You can also get points

for connections in the groups you didn't find,

so let's resolve the wall.

OK. Candle, lavender, Bogart, loom.

Humphrey.

No, you see, you spot it or you don't.

Look at the beginnings of those words. Can, lav, bog, loo.

Oh!

I mean, it's possible that you're

simply too elegant and polite to spot.

Ty bach wasn't there. It wasn't.

It's words for facilities or toilets...

or lavatories, I won't go on.

And the last one brow, bones,

doily, Afghan.

They're all erm...

types of decorative lace.

They are not all types of decorative lace.

These are things that can be knitted.

Obviously you can knit a doily or

an Afghan is a knitted shawl,

but you knit your brow, you know,

when you frown and knitted bones,

that's when they're healing.

The bones are knitting, so they're

all things that can be knitted.

Two points for the groups you found,

two points for the connections.

That is a total of four.

Let's have a look at the scores going into the final round.

The Relatives have 13 points,

the Welsh Learners have 13 points.

And if you'd like to play a Connecting Wall,

you'll find some on our website,

where you can also write your own,

but we will be deciding

the outcome of this very close quiz,

and the first place in the final by Missing Vowel.

Fingers on buzzers, teams.

The first group are all...

BELL Relatives?

Germany and Deutschland.

Correct.

BELL Welsh Learners?

Ireland and Eire.

Correct.

BELL

Relatives?

Estonia and Eesti.

That's right.

BELL Learners?

Spain and Espana.

Correct. Next category...

BELL Learners?

The Cat Who Walked By Himself.

Not the answer, I'm afraid.

You lose a point. Relatives?

The Cat That Walked By Himself.

The Cat THAT Walked By Himself.

Next clue.

BELL Learners?

How The Leopard Got His Spots.

Correct.

No. This one is too late,

I'm afraid. I can give you the answer.

The Crab That Played With The Sea.

Next clue.

BELL Relatives?

How The Camel Got His Hump.

Correct. Next category...

BELL Relatives?

Wooden Heart Of Glass.

Correct.

END`OF-ROUND JINGLE PLAYS

That one was Son Of A Preacher Man In The Mirror.

It was those two titles,

but at the end of a very close and brilliantly fought semifinal,

the Welsh Learners finish

with 15 points, but the winners,

and through to the final

with 18 points are the Relatives.

Very well done to you, and a very

well done to you, Welsh Learners,

you've played brilliantly and that was an incredibly close one.

Not to go through, you were unlucky there.

Thank you all very much for coming.

So that's the end of A Connectmas Carol.

That means it's time for me to see

the error of my ways,

rush out into the street and give the first person I see

a big goose. Goodbye.

'It's a story of palatial ambition.'

Magnificent! The power base of Medieval England.

Palaces achieved...

Charles's ceiling was a piece of breathtaking arrogance.

'..palaces abandoned...'

You get a sense of the people who made the palaces. Yes.

'..and palaces killed off.

'Join me, Dan Cruickshank,