Appliance of science leaves all to play for
The third round of President’s Cup matches was played with a question set with a distinctively scientific feel in comparison with its predecessors. Like the others however there were some interesting contrasts in the scoring and a few surprises. Top met bottom at the Oakdale Arms and it was previously unvictorious Cambridge who prevailed against previously unbeaten Oxford with a good performance across the team. By contrast an unusually disjointed London were beaten by Beds & Herts although it was only the last two rounds which carried the home team clear.
The thriller of the day came in the match between Mastermind Club and Sussex. In a high-scoring game, Sussex took a big lead in the first half but were quickly pegged back by two high-scoring rounds from the Masterminders. Eventually the outcome hinged on the very last question which the Sussex captain answered correctly to clinch the game by the narrowest of margins.
These results leave the league table intriguingly balanced with only two points between all six teams. Will this be the closest ever competition?
The next round of quizzes will take place on Sunday November 15, with Cambridge, Mastermind Club and Sussex hosting.
| Pos | Pre | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Avg | 2s | Pts | Form |
| 1 | 3 (+2) | Beds & Herts | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 107 | 102 | 5 | 35.67 | 32 | 4 | WLW |
| 2 | 5 (+3) | Sussex | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 115 | 96 | 19 | 38.33 | 29 | 4 | LWW |
| 3 | 1 (-2) | Oxford | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 107 | 93 | 14 | 35.67 | 26 | 4 | WWL |
| 4 | 2 (-2) | Mastermind Club | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 115 | 119 | -4 | 38.33 | 39 | 2 | WLL |
| 5 | 4 (-1) | London | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 108 | 104 | 4 | 36.00 | 29 | 2 | LWL |
| 6 | 6 (-) | Cambridge | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 84 | 122 | -38 | 28.00 | 22 | 2 | LLW |
| Beds & Herts | 41 - 33 | London |
| Fred Filby 15 John Grant 10 | Brian Wright 17 Paul Steeples 13 |
| Cambridge | 39 - 32 | Oxford |
| Simon Bradshaw 12 Stuart Solomons 12 Roger Bennett 10 | Mike Billson 15 Roger Mortimore 13 |
| Mastermind Club | 41 - 42 | Sussex |
| Gavin Fuller 18 Paul Webbewood 10 | Olav Bjortomt 20 Kathryn Johnson 11 |
| Pos | Table | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | West London | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 47.50 | 5 | 33 |
| 2 | North London | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 46.13 | 1 | 21 |
| 3 | Outer London | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 41.25 | 2 | 18 |
| 4 | Central London | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 44.13 | 3 | 17 |
| 5 | South London | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 36.50 | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | East London | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 37.00 | 0 | 8 |
| Pos | Division 1 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Broken Hearts (C) | 20 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 52.90 | 14 | 84 |
| 2 | Pericardium | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 50.95 | 9 | 77 |
| 3 | Nomads | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 50.15 | 12 | 72 |
| 4 | Atletico | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 47.85 | 8 | 62 |
| 5 | Allsorts | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 47.35 | 4 | 54 |
| 6 | Old Itonians | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 45.55 | 9 | 53 |
| 7 | Telstars | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 42.00 | 5 | 37 |
| 8 | Barb | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 38.70 | 5 | 27 |
| 9 | Pineapple | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 37.65 | 4 | 22 |
| 10 | Waterloo Sunset | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 37.40 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Five Bells | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 38.10 | 1 | 11 |
| Pos | Division 2 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Gray Monks (W) | 20 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 48.75 | 9 | 77 |
| 2 | Banana Splits | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 43.65 | 3 | 67 |
| 3 | Rosslyn Park | 20 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 39.85 | 5 | 57 |
| 4 | Eclectics | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 40.80 | 4 | 54 |
| 5 | Accies | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 38.25 | 3 | 51 |
| 6 | Sons of the Dessert | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 39.40 | 6 | 48 |
| 7 | Mealy Bugs | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 39.10 | 4 | 40 |
| 8 | Ovalytes | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 38.20 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 | Outcasts | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 34.05 | 7 | 29 |
| 10 | Wharfside | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 29.70 | 2 | 14 |
| 11 | London Scottish | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 29.90 | 1 | 13 |
| Pos | Table | P | W | D | L | 2s | Pts |
| 1 | Sussex | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 117 | 16 |
| 2 | Mastermind Club | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 122 | 11 |
| 3 | Oxford | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 81 | 11 |
| 4 | London | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 103 | 8 |
| 5 | Beds & Herts | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 94 | 8 |
| 6 | Cambridge | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 89 | 6 |