Quiz Tour: #4 The Princess of Wales, NW1

Having come from glorious victory at the Junction Tavern we knew the only way was down but to fall so far and so fast was galling to say the least. In our defence it was a skeleton crew of 3 men and a dog that arrived early at the Princess of Wales in Primrose Hill. The unusually late start time of 9pm allowed for a relaxed pre-quiz supper (a large selection of pub staples and interesting Italian options). The pub itself is a fine establishment catering to a colourful crowd of the local gentry and manages to feel both spacious and cosy at the same time.

Despite coming last, the quiz itself was thoroughly enjoyable. It reminded me how a good quiz should feel with challenging questions, a friendly atmosphere and teams that are obviously regulars. One of the barmaids did a fine job as a pleasant (if unspectacular) quizmaster. The format was good, 5 themed rounds of 10 questions and a picture round where the highest scoring team gets a free round of drinks. There was also a welcome appearance of a joker option (surprisingly the first of the tour) which we thoroughly squandered on our lowest scoring round!

All in all, a quiz that left us itching to return with a full team to give the regulars a run for their money with only one big fly in the ointment, the 9pm start. The quiz ran at an enjoyable pace but didn't finish until about 11:15 meaning it was gone midnight by the time I got home. I hate to admit it but just the timing makes it an impractical venue for most of the Conquiztadores, otherwise, it could have been a contender...




Good in a blizzard, not so hot in the General Knowledge round.








Quiz Master: 7
Question Quality: 9
Competition: 9
Refreshments: 8
Pace: 4* *marked down for late start
Format: 7
Prizes: 5
Ambience: 7


The High Point:
Not much to choose from here but a good 'connections' round saw us spotting the connection early and getting all but one of the Olympic cities.


The Low Point:
Our joker round, 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' which showed up our deficient knowledge of Frank Sinatra World War II movies, yacht races and most embarrassingly of all crediting the Vengaboys with a little too much originality for 'We're going to Ibiza'.





What We Learnt:
The names of the Stephenson Rocket's competition in the Rainhill Trials¹, who was appointed in 2009 as the youngest ever Chief Scout² and who loved their horse so much they turned it into some very collectable beer jugs³.






¹ - Cycloped, Perseverance, Novelty and San Pareil
² - Bear Grylls
³ - Oliver Cromwell

Quiz Tour: #3 The Junction Tavern, NW5

When I first heard that The Junction Tavern was doing a pub quiz I felt a nervous flutter of excitement in my stomach. The combination of fantastic gastropub food, great beer, a nice beer garden and staff who care about running a good pub make it a long time favourite of many of the Conquiztadores. If the pub quiz turned out to be as good as the rest of the pub we could have an early candidate for winning the Conquiztadores’ residency. So how did it turn out?

Well, the Quiz Masters were an enjoyably charismatic husband and wife team who wandered round chatting to the teams before the quiz started and encouraged some good banter throughout the evening. The food was the Junction Tavern’s usual high standard although we probably under-appreciated the premium you pay for it as we wolfed it down between questions. The questions themselves were interesting and pitched at a pretty good level although let down by there not being many of them. The format was disappointing, 30 questions loosely grouped into 6 rounds. No picture round, no audio round, no bonus round and all over by about 9:30. The prizes left a lot to be desired too. We notched up our first win of the tour after our Mystery V-P performed admirably in a tie-break situation, but we left with just a consolation bottle of wine after loosing a coin toss to see if whether we get to take home our hard-earned winnings.

It was only the second time they have done this quiz so hopefully they will get on top of the pace and format issues. A trickier problem for them is probably the lack of teams. There were only 5 teams on the night we went and it suffered for feeling a bit empty and quiet. Hopefully they can get some more bodies through the door because with twice as many people and some improvements in the format this has the potential to be a great pub quiz.

Quiz Master(s): 8
Question Quality: 7
Competition: 5
Refreshments: 8
Pace: 4
Format: 4
Prizes: 1
Ambience: 7

The High Point:
Full marks for a good round on assassinations with particular credit to Mrs Smith for knowing who the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated was.¹




The Low Point:
Not spotting the trick question when asked to name any England substitute in the 1966 World Cup final.²




What We Learnt:
That Blue Peter are scrapping their annual to concentrate on apps and that The Who had a singles collection called Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (not Sir Mix-a-lot as we thought!)




¹ - Spencer Perceval
² - There were no substitutes in the 1966 World Cup Final