Christmas Quiz 2019 – winners and runners-up

A long time ago we had the Christmas Quiz and now it is finally time to announce the winners in detail. Apologies for the delay but the number of entries coupled with an incredible number with virtually identical scores meant a lot of concentration and careful marking was required.

In the end we were fairly tolerant with the marking and assumed an answer was correct unless obviously wrong. So we accepted varied explanations as to why the GWR numbered its platforms differently. One or two answers regarding the station with the most electrification systems were accepted although not giving the intended answer because a detailed explanation was given at how they arrived at that number.

Question 15 asking In what way did ATO on the Jubilee line assist TfL’s inclusivity and diversity objectives in 2019? left the majority of you floundering and was one of the questions that sorted out the winners from the runners up. Because we specifically asked about something in 2019 a lot of the vague guesses were rejected and only the fact that it allowed colour-blind tube drivers was accepted as a valid answer.

Question 18 on roundels for special events left practically everyone struggling for a complete set of answers. In retrospect we should have made it even clearer we were referring to station roundels – so District 150 with a roundel on the engine would not qualify. At one stage it appeared that the order of the best answers would depend on how we marked this question but in the end those who did well in the rest of the quiz tended to have the most correct answers for this question. However, with the exception of the already-announced outright winners, the Sir Herbert Walker team, who achieved a perfect score no-one managed more than six correct answers out of eight.

In the end two people managed to answer all the questions correctly and fully except for the question on the special roundels. In both cases they managed six out of eight correct roundels so congratulations P B-G and JW – both long time entrants for excelling themselves even by their own standards.

An honourable mention must go to SMcT who got just one question wrong and managed five roundels. Three of you got just two questions wrong but managed six roundels – AC, EddP and SW – so also deserve to be mentioned. Quite a few of you were hot on their heels with an extra question wrong or not answered and/or only five roundels correct.

Checking the answers is time-consuming but enjoyable. For those who answered in detail, it is fascinating to read how you found the answers and the extra links and explanations are appreciated. It is good to see how one or two people who have entered before have gradually improved over the years but equally we see former winners pipped at the post this time. And we really didn’t expect to get an entry from Zambia (also from probably our youngest joint entrant).