Masterminds in action at the 2024 House Quiz

The House Quiz returned to the Wilberforce Hall in style on Thursday 14 November, with all the Houses bringing competitive teams of keen quizzers.

Congratulations to Newington for their win to the Boarders for their second place, closely followed by Underwood. 

Quizmaster Mr Evans introduced the competition by presenting the teams with an iconic Picture Round, which remained open for most of the afternoon. If the Picture Round answers are indicative, Kylie Minogue and Carol Vorderman look alike, Rick Astley is universally recognisable, and Jellycat needs to launch a new marketing campaign to promote their famous plushie seagull (Chip Seagull).

There were four rounds of spoken questions: History/Geography; the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics; Books and Literature; and Music. Each House had a Joker card with a picture of a penguin on it (with the penguin himself standing at the Quizmaster’s podium and overseeing everything), which they could use to double their scores in exactly one round each. Three Houses played their Jokers for History/Geography, and the other four for Music, with five Houses using their Jokers during their strongest round and thus maximising their scores in the Quiz.

The teams were particularly intrigued when they had to work out what the most common papal name has been, what Keely Hodgkinson’s 800 m winning time was at the Paris Olympics, what Ernest H. Shepherd’s role in the Winnie the Pooh books was, and which song includes the lyrics, “Like a small boat on the ocean, sending big waves into motion.” 

In the end, with five Houses packed closely together on the leaderboard for third to seventh place, it was Underwood (last year’s Junior Quiz winners) who took the quizzing bronze medal. The Boarders (who had the largest team) took a comfortable second place, and last year’s Inter Quiz winners, Newington, took the gold. A special shoutout must go to Elisabeth (Upper Sixth), whose Books and Literature knowledge was a decisive component of Newington’s victory.

Thank you to all the quizzers for your great House Spirit, and to Dr Soltysiak, Mr Mills, Mrs Rounds, and Miss Hurton for your support in marking the answers. We cannot wait for the 2025 Quiz – and neither can our Joker Penguin or Mr Evans’ Southampton cat mascot.

Mr R. Evans

Head of Ridgefield, House Quiz Host

 Answers to the questions from paragraph 4: the most common papal name as of 2024 is John; Hodgkinson’s 800 m winning time was 1:57, to the nearest minute and second; E.H. Shepherd illustrated the Winnie the Pooh books; those lyrics are from Fight Song, by Rachel Platten.