Mitfordmind
Sophie Hollender, student, made me jealous last night, taking the Mitford Sisters as her specialist subject on Mastermind. I tried to play along, but because she answered faster than me, it's difficult to know what my score would have been in the same circumstances. I'll provide the answers at the bottom, in small print, for the large majority of you who will want to join in the fun. There were 19 questions; the formidable Sophie got 16 correct answers, two passes, and one wrong - which, coincidentally, I got right. I think, if I'm brutal with myself, I got 11 correct answers, but two further are debatable [see: answers]. I might normally use the excuse, well, if you were going on Mastermind, you'd cram beforehand, but since I am reading three books about the Mitfords concurrently, that doesn't hold much water for me. I should have done better. In the final analysis, Sophie Hollender is better than me, but I did OK. She was joint first after the specialist subject round with the man who knew all about Ty Cobb, but was beaten into third place in the general knowledge. The man who knew about Ty Cobb won. He was very good.
1. What was the name of family house built by Lord Redesdale in 1926?
2. In whose Berlin apartment were Diana and Oswald Mosley secretly married in October 1936?
3. What is the title of the second of Nancy's Radlett novels, published in 1949?
4. When Oliver Watney proposed to Pamela, he gave her a ring that was a replica of which jewel found in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford?
5. In which city did Jessica and her husband Esmond open a cocktail bar as part of an Italian restaurant called the Roma, during the period of the Phoney War?
6. What word, meaning pig, that he'd picked up in Ceylon, did Lord Redesdale use for the young men who paid attention to his daughters but a ventured an opinion with which he disagreed?
7. According to the family, Deborah had received an invite to join the British junior team for which winter sport at which she excelled?
8. In 1979, Diana was approached by Lord Longford to write a biography of whom?
9. Which establishment, essentially a finishing school, did Nancy attend as a boarder from the age of 16?
10. Jessica tried unsuccessfully to donate her share of which Hebridean island, owned jointly by the sisters, to the Communist party?
11. What was the title of Deborah's first book, part autobiography, part history, published in 1982?
12. Pamela, whom John Betjeman described as the most rural Mitford, was an acknowledged expert in what subject?
13. According to the biography by Mary Lovell, which hymn was sung at all the Mitford funerals?
14. Diana and Mosley were interned in 1940 on suspicion of being Nazi sympathisers – they were held separately at first, but in 1941 given joint quarters at which prison?
15. According to a revised preface, what was Jessica's original preferred title for Hons & Rebels?
16. What nickname did Deborah give to the Queen Mother, after having observed her enthusiasm for this item at a wedding?
17. Who was Nancy's long term lover and de Gaulle's right-hand man in exile in London?
18. What middle name was given to Unity at the suggestion of her grandfather Redesdale?
19. Which newspaper did Deborah successfully sue after it wrongly alleged that she had eloped rather than Jessica?
Answers:
1. Swinbrook (I foolishly said Asthall Manor, which was the house they lived in while Lord Redesdale was building Swinbrook - bad start!)
2. The Goebbels' (correct)
3. Love In A Cold Climate (correct)
4. King Alfred's Jewel (didn't know this)
5. Miami (Sophie said San Francisco - this is the only one she got wrong and I got right)
6. Sewer (too slow to get this - I knew it but couldn't call it up)
7. Ice skating (correct)
8. The Duchess of Windsor (didn't know this)
9. Hatherop Castle (Sophie's first pass - I passed too)
10. Inch Kenneth (correct)
11. The House (couldn't remember the title quick enough)
12. Poultry (I said animal husbandry - I wonder if I would have been given the point?)
13. Holy, Holy, Holy (didn't know this)
14. Holloway (correct)
15. Red Sheep (Sophie's second pass - me too)
16. Cake (correct)
17. Gaston Palewski (I said "The Colonel", which was his nickname - again, debatable whether Humphrys would have given me the point - if I'd had time, I would have got his actual name, but Sophie beat me to it)
18. Valkyrie (correct)
19. Daily Express (correct)
posted by Andrew Collins @ 9:02 AM
18 Comments
Contact
Andrew at
18 Comments:
I laughed out loud when the subject of the Mitford sisters was announced, then had to explain to my wife why that was funny. When it emerged that I had laughed because a bloke who is sometimes on telly is also really interested in the Mitfords I was forced to conclude that it wasn't really that funny anyway.
Apropos of nothing, I just accidentally visited andrewcollins.com. 'Did Cosmic Rays Affect Human Evolution?' seems to be the hot topic there.
you know the first step is admitting you've got a problem...
Slightly at a tangent as usual but if you continue to watch this Mastermind series you'll see my first and second ever apperances.
Look out for specialist subjects on Italian Politics and Gram Parsons. I know nothing much about either (apart from Parsons weird botched cremation by his friends after his death) but I was sat behind the contestants who did, when they filmed two shows in the spring.
Do you think Richard Herrin joined in at home as well?
I wonder what his score was. Can we find out on the next podcast?
She obviously doesn't read your blog as the 'Miami' one was the only one I got right :) and that was because I read it on this blog!
Who says your blog isn't educational?
Fascinating as ever sir. Is Sophie posh? I always go for the posh studious types. This reminds me of my recent post on posh girls from University Challenge:http://charliemingles.wordpress.com/2008/10/22/university-challenge/
She may have got 16 answers right in the first round but she was worse than useless in the second - and just how annoying was that librarian bloke? Very.
Who knew Ty Cobb was such a bastard though, eh.
Ended up watching it but was preparing food at the time so was running in and out from the kitchen. Did watch her whole first round. Good grief, what a strange bunch the Mitfords were were! After you mentioned their political persuasions earlier, it must have been real fun and games around the dinner table when they all came together.
Diana and Oswald getting married in the Goebbels’ apartment. Nice. Giving Unity the middle name Valkyrie... right. Or rather, far right!
A series or so back, one specialist subject was Edge of Darkness. I got the same score as the contestant, getting one question wrong that he got right and vice versa.
Shame after getting a high score the girl screwed the pooch on general knowledge. It looked like after getting a few wrong she got flustered. I mean, not getting plebs/plebeians?
I just wish they put the show back in it’s right place in the shedule, making a great double bill with University Challenge.
Ah ha. This was on when I was at the gym but I was listening to my mp3 player so I didn't realise what her subject was.
(Gym on a friday night? Yes, be jealous of my social life.)
I wish I could say I was listening to collings and herrin, but sadly this week I hadn't downloaded it in time...
Colin D.
The key to winning seems to be narrowing down your category as much as possible:
Had she chosen "The Mitford Sisters: 1939-1940" she'd have been on to a winner.
Does anyone else think 'our soph' in the first picture could be Andrew in Drag? Or perhaps a twin sister? I seem to remember seeing some shots of Andrew C on news 24 doing his film stuff with a bit of a ruffled hair do, and well....
you have to say there is a resemblance.
Maybe the predilection for 'Mitfordania' is genetic?
(oh I love it Andrew when you mention the Mitfords on the Podcast to Richards anguished howls of 'No!' - especially last weeks when he was in the process of doing something and you had to fill some time. I always chuckle at that.)
One fact I read in the Guardian Books section one time (they're as obsessed as Andrew) was that Nancy recommended saying "brush" instead of "cheese" when having your photo taken as it gives a much more attractive and natural smile. This sounded like good advice but then I thought about it and really I need more information. Nancy probably rolled her r's, didn't she? Say a normal r in the mirror and you look moronic. Same goes for a northern "u" sound, as brush is one of the words I say in the north-of-the-isogloss style. Back to the drawing board for this unphotogenic idiot (I'm pointing to myself as I say this).
Andrew - This is probably old news to you, but there's an interesting interview with Jessica Mitford on iTunes. It's an hour long, it's conducted by Christopher Hitchens and organised by the New York Public Library.
How did your Albany Mitfords talk go Andrew?
The gig at the Albany was great. I loved doing it. The only review comes from Michael Legge, the comedian. You have to read down, but I'm very proud of what he says. It's a great blog anyway, and it's here.
Yeah, fine review, very pleasing for you.
The Legge blog is good and I also clicked through to Dave Gorman who I hadn't read before either. So a good connection, thanks.
what was the punchline that he went 'wow' at?
..after all, Herring isn't going to let you tell us on the podcast is he?
(my house my rules!)
A late post on an old thread, but just out of interest, what first sparked your interest in the Mitford sisters? Is it a fairly recent thing or have you just recently had the opportunity to put in some focussed reading on a long held interest?
I ask in part because as a child I remember my "family elders" talking about the Mitfords and the name and, I guess, their celebrity has been something of a latent memory, revived both by you and the various books now in the 3for2s in my local Waterstones.
Post a Comment
<< Home