Stockport GP

I attended the Quizzing Grand Prix in Stockport on Saturday, my third IQA event. Given that I'd attend two events prior to this, I knew what to expect in terms of the day and the standard of the questions, though I found those on Saturday to be a tad harder than those I've done before. Despite that, I managed to increase my score slightly from Stafford in May.

The venue itself was very good, right outside/inside Stockport FC's ground, Edgeley Park, and the turnout was the biggest ever seen at a domestic GP as far as I know. Certainly the biggest I've ever seen at a quiz. Perhaps some of that number was due to the Fifteen to One auditions taking place in the afternoon, which I took part in. I might not get on the show, but thought I might as well try if I was there to begin with. I was eliminated fairly early in the mini-game thing we did thanks to not knowing who played Scarlett O'Hara's father in the film Gone with the Wind - apparently it was Thomas Mitchell (I'm still none the wiser).

The individual quiz itself marked a slight improvement for me, though I thought it was harder than the WQC and the Stafford GP in May, particularly the Art & Culture and Physical World sections. I would think that, being as young as I am, some of the more obscure events of the past, such as current affairs from past decades and the like, are harder to brush up on than stuff like English monarchs and famous battles.

Overall, though, it was a great day, featuring a decent mix of quizzes, and it was good to meet some new people in the team quiz. I'd recommend the Grand Prix events to anyone - they may not be cheap, particularly when you've factored in travel, but they're certainly well-organised days with quizzes that are almost always excellent (there are a few exceptions in terms of individual questions, but on the whole they're not bad).