Merseyside Quiz Leagues

Billy Butler is looking for contestants for the Gamesroom which is played Monday-Friday 3.40pm during his show on Radio Merseyside.

If you would be up for playing you can email claire.minter@bbc.co.uk or contact them during the programme (2-4pm) on 0151 709 9333.

The quality of some recent question sets that have been played in the MQL has precipitated a lot of comment, the MQL Council intends to address this problem at the earliest opportunity. Firstly a little background, you may be aware that MQL is obliged to supply sets to cover matches on Mondays and Tuesdays for a total of 26 weeks, this was previously done by separating the six areas into two groups of three and sets being provided by one group to be played in the other necessitating a total of 104 sets (26*2*2). This would mean that every area would need to produce eighteen sets each to cover these requirements. Currently sets written by certain areas (Liverpool, Northern and Warrington) can be used more widely as all Liverpool teams play on Mondays which means that their sets can be used in all areas for Tuesday matches, similarly for Warrington whose teams all play on Tuesdays. Northern have only two Tuesday teams so by careful fixture planning nearly half of the Tuesdays can be kept free allowing their sets to be used in all areas. This arrangement has allowed us to reduce the question setting requirement to approximately twelve or thirteen sets per area, however it can quickly be seen that this number is a problem for some areas as they have lost a large number of teams in the last few years such that they are required to supply more sets than they have teams. The question is; Where do we go from here? There are several alternatives, here are a few;

1. If we reduce the number of sets required then quality should improve (discuss?) How do we do that? Removing the option to play on either Monday or Tuesday evening immediately halves the number needed if we go back to the original system of half the areas supplying the other half. Shared venues causes a big problem if this is adopted as fewer and fewer pubs and clubs are now suitable for an MQL style quiz.
2. If more areas become more Monday/Tuesday dominant then fixtures could be arranged to leave blank weeks
3. We buy question sets from outside the league. Obviously added expense, how much would it cost for 52 sets? What do we do about President’s Trophy and Shield plus Merseyside Challenge Cup, Feeny, Rendon and Mimir competitions? Do we buy sets in for those too? Are we guaranteed to get better quality? We may just swap a problem of our own for an expensive one. We are currently looking at the possibility of electronic distribution of question sets as this will save a lot of money (no postage, no printing, no envelopes to buy) but it does require all teams to have someone with the ability and equipment to download the set from the internet (iPad or similar or laptop computer, Wi-Fi at the venue is not necessary). This could free up the funds to purchase sets.
4. We set up a group of question setters of known quality and they provide the sets we need. This is not really very much different to what we do at present, areas tend to collect in sets then play, amend, blend etc. The responsibility usually falling on a few.
5. Recommendations are made to teams as to what sort of questions should be included, what should definitely not be included, play sets before they are submitted, would you really like to play on the set that you are submitting? It’s no good sending in a really difficult and obscure set just to “see how they like that”. Question setting guidance is already on the MQL website, maybe it should be updated.

This will all be discussed at the next MQL Council meeting but if you have any ideas, suggestions etc then please let us know. If we are to do anything for next season then we need to have proposals for the AGM which is in April, these proposals need to be with the General Secretary on or before Sunday 29th March 2015. Send anything that you think might help to Cliff Houghton on cliff.angela9@gmail.com, copy any comments to your Area General Secretary. You can also comment directly via the website.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of the deaths of two stalwarts of the MQL, both members of the Warrington Quiz League.

Elaine Bates, who was the incumbent MQL President and former deputy chair of the organisation, passed away on January 4th.  Her funeral will take place at Walton Lea Crematorium, Warrington on Monday 20 January 2014 at 12:20 pm. Afterwards, there will be a reception at Culcheth Village Club (formerly Culcheth British Legion), postcode WA3 4LY, where Elaine was an active team player for many years.

Charlie Willliams, former President and Assistant General Secretary, passed away on Thursday 9th January.  His funeral will take place at 13.00 on Monday 20th January at Newchurch Parish Church, Culcheth, Warrington and afterwards at Leigh Golf Club.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to their families and friends.

Channel 4 have announced that 15 t0 1 is coming back to our screens in the new year.  You can visit the Channel 4 website for more details, and If you would like to apply you can download and application form from here:

In each show fifteen contestants go head to head answering some of TV’s toughest general knowledge questions. It’s a gripping game of quick fire answers where the winner is simply the last person standing.

Ultimately more than just a game of survival, Fifteen to One is a battle of supreme knowledge with the fifteen highest scoring winners returning for the end of the series final where they’ll compete for the title of ‘Grand Champion’.

The Grand Champion of the series wins up to £40,000!

Auditions are happening all over the UK - taking place exclusively throughout January 2014. The application closing date is January 17th 2014 but please apply quickly as audition spaces are limited.

All applicants must be 18 years or over and be legally resident in the UK. Terms and conditions apply.

You can only apply once so please only send one completed application form.

N.B: successful applicants will be granted one audition only.

ITV are looking for teams of 3 to compete against a team of 3 celebrities based on their knowledge of television, with the chance to win  a prize of £3,000.

If you are interested, please contact Bethan Williams at showmethetelly@itv.com or by phone at 0161 952 0760