Wadham alumni compete in Only Connect

The team of former Wadham students comprises Max McGenity (PPE), Iona Twaddell (Experimental Psychology) and Molly Glaze (nee Piggott - Biochemistry), all of whom matriculated in 2011. They lived together on a floor of staircase 9 in their third year at Wadham, along with Iona's now husband, Dan Haile.

The friends starting playing Only Connect as a group while at Wadham. They have applied a few times, as they enjoy meeting up, before being selected this year for series 20. The brain teasing quiz hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell 'where knowledge only gets you so far' is described as 'deliciously devious and maddeningly abstract'.

The group see themselves as generalists (with a gaping lack of knowledge about sport!) Max explains that the format of Only Connect suits them well because 'although it does require strong general knowledge, it’s not purely about that, so as long as you have decent lateral thinking and an ability to spot connections then you’ll do alright. It's very much a team quiz, where bouncing ideas around might jog something in someone else’s mind etc. – we’ve been close friends for almost 13 years so we have a nice shorthand and operate on the same wavelength.'

Reflecting on their time at Wadham, one of their highlights links to the College’s tradition of playing ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ at the end of every bop. The memory is bittersweet as Max explains, because it happened the night Nelson Mandela died. We happened to be having drinks in a friend’s room in a staircase on front quad. Once we received the nod from College, everyone convened on front quad and ‘mandela’ed’ in his honour – as far as I’m aware the only time this was ever allowed on FQ – it was a brilliant laugh and a lovely tribute to NM. Iona and Molly have both since got married and had everybody ‘Mandela’ at their respective weddings!'

We wish the team good luck in Only Connect! We hope that it will be another highlight with a link to their time at Wadham.