Ep 337: Lainie Mercieca, Hiep Do (December 13, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


Lainie returns, this time described as a quiz show "participant" rather than a devotee.  There is a passing mention of her having been on 1 vs. 100 as well as the others listed yesterday, then Richard asks her whether she prepares well in advance for the shows.  She definitely does, and lists her preparation for this show as having a copy of the book that she's been practicing with as well as watching the show every night.  That's... really the bare minimum one could do, so I hope that she did a bit more than that and just didn't mention it.  And while I'm on this tangent, the first five books (covering episodes 1 to 250) are now available at the SBS shop.

(As a brief digression here, Lainie did not respond that well to the conversational hooks she was given.  Future contestants: A question is not something to give a yes or no answer to, but something giving you an opportunity to expand a little on the subject matter.)

Tonight's challenger is Hiep Do, at sixteen year of age the youngest a participant is currently allowed to be.  He's completing year 11 at what is described as Victoria's first specialist sports school.  Richard asks what they do at the school, and Hiep responds that they have a wide range of sports with both before- and after-school training.  He lists soccer, tennis, and "footy" in particular, but says that it is pretty much any sport.  (Not surprisingly, the school website has a more comprehensive list.)  Richard switches tacks, asking where Hiep hopes to go after he finishes school.  Hiep aims to one day do some journalism, to travel the world and see the world, or maybe do some sport science.


There's a bit of back-and-forth in the letters rounds that Hiep has slightly the better of, coupled with a better numbers result that sees Hiep safely clear going into the conundrum.  Just as well, as he buzzes in with an incorrect answer and Lainie solves it within the remaining time; in the end there's just three points in it, with Hiep winning 43 to 40.

For my part... oh, my, this was a poor game.  Ryan, if you're still reading this, I expect to hear from you about how you crushed me tonight.  A missed eight in the letters, two rather poor numbers rounds (including a nine-away shocker under pressure that bizarrely ended up counting), and an incorrect conundrum attempt.  I thought for a while that this would be my first loss of the series, but that second numbers round defeated the contestants completely and I scraped home with the win.  The score was higher, but my disappointment in the numbers performance makes this feel like a worse performance than that of episode 314.

As usual, details after the jump.

Ep 336: Lainie Mercieca, Duncan Butler (December 12, 2011)

Rounds: Here.


With Toby winning his last game and retiring undefeated, we have two new contestants tonight.  First up is Lainie Mercieca, described as a "quiz show devotee".  She's been on many shows, apparently, including Wheel of Fortune, The Weakest Link, Sale of the Century, and Temptation.  She enjoys the challenge of them and also the whole lights/camera/action vibe; she finds it all a lot of fun.

Next up is Duncan Butler, an excavator operator.  He's asked what his most fun job was, and relates how when he was much younger he worked in a department store, assembling and testing toys and bicycles for Christmas sales.  He and the other employees turned the loading dock into their private playpen.


Duncan falls behind early, and although he finishes well the only time he outpoints Lainie is in the conundrum.  It lets him finish on a good note, but Lainie has the victory with 59 points to Duncan's 33.

For my part I similarly outpaced Lainie, winning by a similar margin.  There was a blemish with the first numbers round, but aside from that it was fairly comfortable territory.

As usual, details after the jump.