Yes, it’s true. I am a junkie – quiz junkie, that is. I love completing quizwords (not crosswords as they’re usually cryptic, which isn’t my thing), and watching serious “quiz” shows on TV such as Mastermind. I have one of those brains that retains useless facts and knowledge, even if I can’t always remember what day of the week it is or what I did yesterday. This knowledge hasn’t done much for me other than being able to answer many questions on University Challenge, a favourite in our house, and one I’ve watched since it first began way back in 1962 when Bamber Gascoigne was question master. As long as it’s not on politics or sport or mathematics – not my best subjects – I often surprise Dave that I know the answers, especially to obscure questions such as nuclear physics or chemistry, but quite accepts I know a lot about literature and art; I can thank my brilliant school education for that. Physics was my favourite subject at school, which he finds hard to believe.
Years back, we both competed regularly in a weekly charity quiz for the Meningitis Trust. I also took part for a number of years in a local quiz league, at one point being league secretary for the South West Region for a couple of years, and also helped set questions for national quiz leagues through the University of Southampton.
Yes, I’m there, right in the middle wearing the white dress.
My all time favourite quiz programme was Fifteen-to-One, and back in the early 1990s I took the plunge and applied to take part in the third series and passed the audition. It was a fabulous day, complete with a make-over, and although I didn’t win (I never expected to, knowing nerves would get the better of me, which they always do, and did) being able to see how a quiz programme is put together and recorded, and being inside a TV studio was fascinating and excellent for research purposes.
So, if you’re ever short of numbers for a quiz or need a player for a game of Trivial Pursuit (does anyone even still play that board game?) I’m your man… well, okay, woman. As my sisters love to remind me: I have all the brains in the family whilst they have all the beauty. Hmmm, not so sure I agree with that statement…
