The Brainteaser Experience By James Aukett
		After a break came the round that would decide whether it was me or Mark that would go through to the final - Clued Up. The round begins with a subject, and four clues are then revealed one by one, where the contestants then have to work out what the correct answer is. Ten points are awarded to the contestant who buzzes in first with the correct answer (they don't need to wait for all four clues before buzzing in), but if a contestant buzzes in incorrectly, their opponent then gets to see all four clues with the chance of stealing those ten points. Neither me or Mark knew the first answer (i got the Academy Awards mixed up with the Baftas), but then came the subject Person, with the clues.... Major.... Cough.... - and buzzed in with none other than Charles Ingram, the guy who cheated on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire! (And I was right - by the way the other two clues which I didn't need were £1,000,000 and Guilty!) Mark then got the next question correct, which was followed by the interesting subject Science. It was backed by the following clues.... Celestial Body.... Founded 1705.... 76 Year Old Cycle.... - I buzzed in first, but what did I come up with? "Uranus", and pronounced it so brilliantly that it sounded like "Your...." (work out the rest for yourself!) Unsurprisingly, a noise sounded to indicate that I was wrong, followed by a few moments of silence, during which time Craig looked anxiously worried, before coyly laughing it off and revealing the final clue.... Edmund. Mark sensibly gave the correct answer, Haley's Comet, although that part does get funnier and funnier every time I think of it! Neither myself or Mark knew the next answer, though Mark got the next answer right by correctly guessing France. (I had buzzed in first with just the clues Europe and Alps, thinking it was Switzerland.) I then got some points, as Mark had buzzed in incorrectly with Pepper - I was thinking exactly the same thing, but as Mark had buzzed in first, I got a second bite of the cherry and had two extra clues, correctly guessing Cabbage and getting the points. The came the final question - the subject was Album, followed by the clues.... Released 1991.... Irish Band.... Zoo Station.... I knew it was U2 but wasn't sure of the title. I buzzed in first but incorrectly guessed The Joshua Tree. Mark correctly indicated that it was Achtung Baby, and got himself the points. But then the end of the round was signalled, who was going through to the final? Well, Mark had accumulated 70 points.... but thanks to my strong performance in Wordstorm, it was me who was going through having notched up no fewer than 100 points!
			SUMMARY OF "CLUED UP" (J) indicates that I got the points. (M) indicates that Mark got the points. (N) indicates that neither of us got the points. EVENT = Baftas (N) 80-30 PERSON = Charles Ingram (J) 90-30 CITY = Philadelphia (M) 90-40 SCIENCE = Haley's Comet (M) 90-50 FILM = Red Dragon (N) 90-50 COUNTRY = France (M) 90-60 FOOD = Cabbage (J) 100-60 ALBUM = Achtung Baby (M) 100-70
		I shook hands with Mark, then during the quick breather that I had, I geared myself up for the big moment, just thankful that my good knowledge of words had served me well. Then, it was time. The time had come for me to face the final round: THE PYRAMID....
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