Food for thought

During Krimo’s early days, in the late eighties, I came across what I thought was a peculiar group of diners. They were usually six or eight people in total, who bragged that they came to the restaurant to spend their quiz winnings. Never having heard of pub quizzes before, I had no idea what they really meant. I was just pleased that many of those gatherings happened at least a couple of times a year. And the beauty of those groups was that, at the end of a lavish meal, they simply divided up the bill equally between them, never bothering to tot up the price of every morsel they had consumed, unlike some parties of diners who seemed to have a named accountant armed with a calculator to work out exactly what each guest had ordered to the nearest penny. 

Quiz teams were also extremely generous with their tips, as their winnings seemed like free money, earned by simply answering a few questions a week, while enjoying a drink or two. 

Having always enjoyed University Challenge with, first Bamber Gascoigne during my student days and now, the great Jeremy Paxman, albeit only answering a maximum of ten questions per show, I joined my current Sunday evening quiz team around ten years ago. Pentangle is, as it says on the tin, a group of five Fisherman’s Arms regulars. Mind you, over the years, the number of its members has grown to six and seven, depending on who is available on Sunday evenings. We gathered around a few nibbles including my famous meatballs which I prepared at home just before I headed for the pub, so that they were still piping hot when I arrived.

The regular quiz master, Trevor Lancaster, sadly passed away just before the end of last year. He was a jolly character who took no prisoners. As the man in charge, his word was law and if anyone argued, they were gently put in their place, sometimes with a few expletives. This year, instead of going out for a meal, the team decided to add the year’s winning to Trevor’s fund. 

I did manage to dine out with my other quiz team. Having been bitten by the quiz bug, I joined The Donkeys at the Nursery around three years ago. Every Tuesday evening, a maximum of three or four teams of varying sizes gather round a few nibbles and drinks to answer questions from quizzes compiled by alternating members of some of the teams. The weekly first prize varies between a huge £3 and a magnificent £5. Having saved our meagre winnings over the last year, we had enough money for a nice meal at local Indian restaurant, Zaika at the turn of the year.