Are you up to the Challenge?

What is the capital of Kenya? Which is the largest moon of the Solar System? Who is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes?

For many people, the answer to those questions is “who cares?”, or, if they’re feeling charitable, “just google it”. For a select few, however, being able to recall these nonessential bits of information represents a cherished pastime. That’s right, we’re talking about the trivia enthusiasts.

These people pride themselves in knowing who the first Tory PM of Great Britain was, or the atomic number of Einsteinium, but their skill is generally hidden or left for the odd pub quiz, and they are often unable to brag about how they know who wrote “As I Lay Dying”. Unless they are college students, of course, in which case they will probably try to get on University Challenge.

A true British institution, the popular quiz show has a little something for everyone, from those who like to marvel at the vast range of knowledge to those who want to challenge themselves to those who just want their dose of a sarcastic, quipping Paxman. Some are proud when they manage to answer at least a question per episode, but some dream of getting on the big stage and proving themselves on national TV.

Imperial has produced a few teams of such hopefuls, and the college has a reputation for being a juggernaut when it comes to scientific questions but a minnow in artistic matters. In 2011, for example, an unlucky cohort was defeated in the first round by the University of the Arts, and there’s a real feeling of overspecialisation when the Imperials are all reading physics and biology and medicine and whatnot but the opposing team can also boast experts in geography, theology and literature. That’s not to say that the Imperials are always hopeless in their quizzical endeavour: they have won the competition twice, in 1996 and 2001, and reached the final again in 2002, where they almost accomplished a spectacular comeback victory going from -10 to 185. In 2012 they made it all the way to the quarterfinals, being defeated by the eventual winners, and in 2010 an excellent team was just short of the final.

It’s been a while, however, since an Imperial team has made it to the televised portion of the show; the last team, in 2012, left the competition with the infamous “Inspector Clouseau” moment, and for two years running no representatives of the College have had the pleasure of being grilled by Paxman.

It is a great experience to go through the whole process and sit on those uncomfortable chairs, finger quivering on the buzzer, sweat pearling on the forehead, hoping that the next question is on the maximum mass of white dwarf stars and not on the architect who rebuilt Westminster Palace. It’s a thrill that is every bit as good as an athletic competition, only with obscure facts about flags instead of footballs and running.

The only thing that is missing is a little bit of local team pride, and we hope to see soon an Imperial quartet teaching those Oxbridge brats a lesson.

The tryouts for this year’s candidates are going to be soon. If you think you can wrestle with the date of birth of Churchill and the longest river of Australia, give it a go. You may be next Imperialite to have the honour of being berated by Paxman on TV.

_* In case you were wondering, the answers are, in order: Nairobi, Ganymede, Linus Pauling, the Earl of Bute, 99, William Faulkner, the Chandrasekhar limit, Charles Barry, 1874 and the Murray river. _