Gavin Fuller
The youngest ever Mastermind
champion. 2 x 15-to-1 winner.
A highly qualified contender.
GRAND FINAL
Clive Spate
You name it, he's won it: Countdown, 15-to-1, The Weakest Link. A true maths and numbers supremo. One to watch.
23
0:00:000:57:79
33
Just click the stars (******) to reveal
the answer to the questions
R01
- General Knowledge
As they step up to the ‘ockey’,
both contestants are impassive. Their thousand yard
stares are a front, no doubt, for churning insides.
£50,000 is at stake and the enviable title
of 'Grand Slam Quiz Champion Of Champions'. A few
butterflies are to be expected.
It starts as it means to continue – with
nothing in it. But, against the odds, it is Clive
who makes the first error.
Rickets is a disease caused by a deficiency of
which vitamin? *******
*
An early switch fight over this question ‘Who
played corpulent Captain Quinlan in the 1958 film
'Touch of Evil'? *****
****** ’ kills off half the switches.
So there’s no way out of these:
Appenzeller and Toggenburger are cheeses of which
country? ***********
In the 'Monty Python' sketch, which country was
the 'Dead Parrot' from? ******
Gavin drops some howlers. Wincing, he knows it.
But you try to summon the answer with two million
people and 4000 watts of tungsten light glaring
down on you.
What was Oscar Wilde's only novel? ******
****
In the Gregorian calendar how many months have
31 days? ******
In the end, Clive clinches it with 9.13 on the
clock. All to play for.
R02 - Numbers
Clive is nothing short of
a legend in this round having not got a question
wrong throughout the entire compeitition. But Gavin,
it seems, has been revising. He gives no quarter.
Except, of course, when toughies like these come
out of nowhere :
Multiply the number of leaves on a lucky clover
by the number of nickels in a quarter. **
How long is 17 feet 4 inches in inches? *** *******
What does y equal in this equation: 7y +14 = 9y
+ 8? *
There’s a point, mid-round, where Gavin
squeezes Clive’s lead to just 7 seconds.
But it’s fleeting. What hope can you have
when you’re up against the human calculator
?
Clive wins with 16.14 seconds. Gavin really needs
to make an impression in the next round or it's
over.
R03 - Keyword
This week’s word is
Grand.
Quote a round. For thirty seconds, neither drops
a question.
Which river lies at the bottom of the Grand Canyon?
********
Who was the paternal grandfather of Elizabeth
II? ****** *
Which Grand Opera master composed Rigoletto in
the mid-eighteenth century? *****
Which fruit gives the liqueur Grand Marnier its
distinctive flavour? *******
Surprisingly, it’s Clive who drops first.
Too quick with the answer he fails to hear the
full question.
Steinway & Sons opened their first shop selling
grand pianos in which country? ***
Another music question broadsides him. Which
'grand old man of jazz' was born in 1899 in Washington
DC?. He tries to switch himself out of danger
but Gavin has the answer - **** ********** –
ready.
Clive can’t recover. He loses. He looks
unsettled as Gavin walks into the break with a
much needed 14.48 seconds. Just 15 seconds separates
them now.
R04 - Contemporary Knowledge
Statistically,
they're both equal in this round. Gavin however
is the first to fall down, missing three on the
trot – a disaster at this level.
Which British author wrote the thriller 'The
Eleventh Commandment'? ******* *******
Who designed the cigar-shaped Swiss Re Headquarters
in London? ****** ******
Which historic agreement was signed 10th April
1998? **** ******* **********
10 seconds down, it looks like he’s lost
it until two wrongs in a row for Clive levels
the playing field.
Which UK airport is sometimes known locally as
'Turnhouse'? **********
Which pop singer has had recent UK hits with 'American
Life' and 'Hollywood'? *********
Slipping, Clive can’t recover. Gavin triumphs
with a mighty 15.42 advantage. Blimey. Even he
looks surprised. He’s in the lead…
R05
- Words & Letters
Another of
Clive’s specialities. He gets the bulk of
the toughies but swats them aside. Gavin slips badly
and is unable to recover. He crashes out, leaving
32.52 seconds for Clive to absorb up into his total.
It’s all over, surely?
Some questions from the round. How would you’ve
done?
Which flower is hidden in this phrase: THE AGENDA
IS YET TO BE SET? *****
Separate the artist from his work in this mesh:
GPIUCERANSISCOA? ******* ********
Which world statesman is an anagram of LEAN AND
SOLEMN? ****** *******
Which word completes the first and begins the
second in this puzzle: PAR _ _ _ KEY? ******
R06
- Final Combination Round
Just 30 seconds
separates them. Gavin’s 59.90 versus
Clive’s 1:27:79. But at this level,
that’s a veritable abyss..
Gavin struggles valiantly. The gap narrows
and expands. 25 seconds. 20 seconds. 23
seconds. 15 seconds. But Clive holds fast
and Gavin just can’t recover the time
lost in the previous round – and bows
out.
For the first time in the competition,
Clive displays an emotion – joy -
as he is deservedly crowned Grand Slam Champion
and handed £50,000 cash. An astonishing
performance from a nigh-on supernatural
brain. Well done.
How would you have fared in the final? Experience
in the pressure first hand in our
quiz.
If you're an
unsung triv wiz, put your brain to the test
and win cash prizes in our exclusive Grand
Slam Text Quiz.
FINAL
