University Brain-Boxes win through

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY'S University Challenge team has succeeded in beating Hull University to get through to the third^[1] round of the prestigious TV quiz.

The Edinburgh team were not under a great deal of pressure, winning with a comfortable 230 points to Hull's 150.

At one point Hull were dragging on an embarrassing minus five points, but they soon pulled back to finish with a more respectable score.

Edinburgh University were lucky^[2] to get through to this stage having lost in the first round to Christ's College, Cambridge. They only^[2] went through as highest scoring losers.

University Challenge started in 1962 and has been a mainstay of the BBC's^[3] programming since then.

The show has enjoyed recent popularity thanks to Jeremy Paxman's sardonic wit.

Around 250 universities and colleges apply but a tough interview process whittles the number down to just twenty-four.^[4]

by Laura Kelly
Edinburgh Student, 14 November 2001

Footnotes^[5]

1. It's the second round we got to by winning this match, not the third round.
2. Hey! I resent that!
3. University Challenge has only been on the BBC since 1994; it was on ITV from 1962 to 1987 (and nowhere at all from 1987 to 1994).
4. There are actually twenty-eight teams that make it onto the show.
5. Yes, I know I'm sad.