1nn1

You are a prolific player with a swag of completed FT challenges. Are there any major achievements that still elude you?

I’ve never managed to get the Treasure Hunter badge, the challenges that involve working out clues and solving riddles are definitely not my strong suit. (For example, I love ABBA but haven’t managed either of those The Winner Takes It All minis – despite not minding listening to the song on continuous repeat!)

Aside from that I’m still trying to complete the Daily Dynast (2000 daily challenges) and the Word Marathon – but I’ve got quite a long way to go on both as I haven’t played those games very consistently over the years.

ozzz2002

Of all the badges and badgelets in your FT trophy cabinet, which one was the most satisfying to claim?

That’s got to be the Ascended badge – if I remember rightly it took me about 7-8 months to complete the Ascension Quest playing pretty much every day, so it was a significant time commitment and getting to the end felt like a big achievement. But in hindsight it was also important to me as it forced me to try quiz writing for the first time. I’d never wanted to write a quiz before I started that game, but I got so invested in completing it that I had to bite the bullet and give it a go…

1nn1

You are an all rounder, good at everything on FT: quiz player, quiz writer, crossword writer, editor and team player. What is your favourite aspect of FT?

I guess playing the games has to be my favourite aspect, particularly the timed games because of the competitive element. But the different aspects are all interesting in different ways and I wouldn’t want to stop doing any of it.

MikeMaster99

What are your three top tips for creating a very good crossword?

1. Be a bit imaginative with the clues – having a bit of humour or interest in them makes a puzzle much more interesting to complete than just a list of synonyms.
2. As tempting as it might be if you’re struggling to think of a word to finish off a tricky corner of a puzzle, try to avoid filling it out with anything too obscure…having to spend ages on Google trying to figure out the final few answers is likely to sour a player’s memory of an otherwise excellent puzzle.
3. For a themed puzzle, remember that you can often use clues to make “filler” words fit in with the theme. For example, I had the word “eaten” in a recent crossword I put together about the works of Agatha Christie…making the clue refer to a way people can be poisoned helped to make it look less like a filler (which it blatantly was!)

ozzz2002; spanishliz

I have tried to play your logic quizzes but usually fail miserably. What is your process for writing these bafflers? Do you try them out on someone before submitting them?

I don’t try them out on anyone – perhaps I should! Although saying that, I recently came across an old notebook (from when I was about ten, I think) where I’d tried to create my own logic problems and copied them out for my family to try. They were just slightly embarrassing to look back at…

I’m not really sure how to describe the process… I guess I start with a few simple clues, see what information they provide for someone trying to solve the puzzle, then add additional clues to address the gaps and keep rechecking whether it can be solved yet at each step. There’s a fair amount of trial and error involved!

1nn1

What has pleased or surprised you most about residing on a multi-national FT team?

Since I joined said “multi-national FT team” (Phoenix Rising) during the Covid lockdown, I guess the main thing that’s been really interesting to see is how people in different parts of the world have had such different experiences and challenges with a global issue. But it’s really just been nice to get to know a group of people I would never have met otherwise and seeing the odd kangaroo in the background of someone’s zoom video is a surprising bonus!

1nn1

What made you choose the university you went to? Do you have any desire to pursue post-grad qualifications, or is that already a done deal?

The main two criteria I had for choosing a university were that it had to offer statistics degrees and not be too far from home – specifically no further north than London smile I ended up choosing the University of Bath because it met those criteria but was also quite small, less intimidating than others I looked at and I loved the city (it’s very pretty and has so much history).

I did do a masters course once, but it was a part-time thing alongside a full-time job and I didn’t enjoy it very much. I ended up taking the opportunity to drop out part way through after I’d got as far as qualifying for a post-grad diploma. I’ve got zero desire to go back and do anything academic again.

1nn1; MikeMaster99

You are our exemplary team statistician, and I understand that is your real life profession. Did you study maths and statistics at university? Was your job a targetted choice or a matter of serendipity?

See above I did a statistics degree, but it included a lot of pure maths as well.

I guess my job came about with a bit of both choice and luck. One of the major employers in my hometown is the UK’s main producer of official statistics, so it was an obvious choice to apply for a job there. The luck was that at the time they needed some people to start quickly and offered initial casual contracts to the applicants who lived closest to the office… it meant I got a nice easy foot in the door and a bit of help through the rest of the recruitment process.

MikeMaster99

Does a statistician need to be fascinated by numbers? Are you adept at mental arithmetic? Most people might think a statistician's job is simply 'counting things'. What are some of the challenges of your work?

I like to think I’m reasonably adept at mental arithmetic, but please don’t ask me to do 45131 x 31654 without a calculator!

I don’t know if a fascination with numbers is “necessary” for being a statistician, but it certainly helps if you don’t get bored stiff by them! The thing that drew me to statistics in the first place though was that it is less about the numbers themselves and more about how they can be used to provide real, practical information about society and the world around us.

I’d suggest that if you can just count something then you don’t really need a statistician. My job is more about working out how to measure things that can’t be simply counted or observed (at least easily or without unlimited budgets), then analysing, interpreting and presenting the findings. In my current work I’d say the main challenge is finding a good source of data about our topic of interest, as it’s not something you can get a reliable answer about simply by running a survey and asking some questions!

ozzz2002

I know that you have expressed an interest in tracing your family tree. Have you found any famous ancestors? Or infamous ones?

No, sadly nobody famous and thankfully nobody infamous! I find family history fascinating - particularly when it provides a link to some aspect of history. Generally though the information I’ve discovered would only really be interesting to people in my family.

The closest I got to any fame or infamy? I did discover that there is a Wikipedia page about my great-grandfather’s eldest brother – but that doesn’t really qualify him as a “famous” person. I also found some old newspaper articles about my great-great-grandfather’s divorce from his second wife in the 1860s (my great-great-grandmother was his fourth wife). Apparently, he had placed a newspaper ad for a wife, married the first woman that responded to it and then been surprised when it didn’t work out…so I guess he must have suffered some local infamy at the time after being publicly mocked in the press.

Pollucci19; spanishliz

What drew you to Formula One, and when? Have you attended many Grand Prix? Do you have a favourite driver, current and/or all time? Does loving F1 translate to a personal lover and interest in cars?

I started following Formula One in 1994 after seeing the stories about the death of Ayrton Senna in the news. The first race I watched was the Spanish Grand Prix, which was also David Coulthard’s first race for the Williams team – so I started off as a David Coulthard fan and then became a McLaren fan when he moved there in 1996. I’ll happily support any of the British drivers though.

I’ve only ever been to one grand prix in person, the British Grand Prix in 2003. It was good to get a chance to experience the atmosphere of a grand prix, but it was much more difficult to follow the action compared to watching on TV.

Following F1 hasn’t translated into any personal desire to own a sports car, but I do take an interest in cars in general and enjoy driving as fast as the speed limit allows!

1nn1

Apart for Formula One, what other sports do you love? Do you play any sports?

I wouldn’t say I “love” any other sports and I don’t follow any other sports all that closely. I try to watch as much of the Olympics as I possibly can each time it comes round and vaguely follow things like tennis, snooker and football. I used to watch a much greater variety of sports back in the late 1980s and 1990s when the BBC used to show a mixed sports programme called ‘Grandstand’ every Saturday afternoon.

I’m not very sporty and have never really played any sports beyond what was forced during school PE lessons.

1nn1; ozzz2002

Has being a sport editor piqued your interest in any new sports? Has your editing turned you into an expert on Canadian ice hockey, or Australian Rules football?

Sadly, editing sports quizzes hasn’t done much for my knowledge of Canadian ice hockey, Australian Rules football or any of the big U.S. sports – I just don’t seem to retain much of the information and often can’t answer questions I know I recognise from having editing them. Given that, I can’t honestly claim that editing has made a big difference to what sports I tend to watch.

Pollucci19

As a West Australian, I have been very sheltered from all the happenings with the pandemic, and there's been very little impact upon my freedoms. Has the pandemic changed your and, if so, for better or worse?

The pandemic has had a big impact on my life over the last 18 months or so. I’ve been working from home for the whole time (with the exception of a single one-off trip to the office a year ago) and while the team I work in has tried hard to create some social activities over video conference, it really isn’t the same as just seeing people around the office. The whole thing has been quite isolating and the saddest thing for me is that it’s never going to go back to how it was before, as in future there will be hybrid-working approaches rather than people being full-time in the office.

At least (for now, fingers crossed) life in England does seem almost back to normal with most restrictions having been lifted and everything being open again, despite relatively high levels of Covid still circulating. I just hope that, unlike last year, this Christmas doesn’t get cancelled at the last minute!

MikeMaster99

Have you developed any new skills during Lock-fown (apart from a presumed enhanced proficiency at using Zoom!)?

I can't think of anything of note to mention. I haven’t used the time wisely to learn a new skill or start a new hobby. I did try to make my own face mask once, but it didn’t turn out well...

ozzz2002

Before we all got shut down, did you ever play trivia live, at a pub or club?

I used to go to a local pub quiz with a group of friends from work, but not on a regular basis. We did win a few times and I think somewhere in the office there’s still a kitty of unspent winnings that we were saving up until we had enough to pay for a meal out. Plus, I used to go to charity quiz nights at work a couple of times a year.

1nn1

On our weekly team Zoom meetings, you are one of the quieter ones. Is this because you can't get a word in edgeways or are you more of a sit-back-and-listen person?

A bit of both probably – I like listening to the group discussion and there’s a lot of talkative people in our team Zoom group! I’m definitely a bit of an introvert and speaking up in larger groups has never come that easy to me, particularly when I don’t know people so well. On Zoom it seems twice as hard to find the right moment to talk (I think there’s a bit of a lag sometimes) and I hate feeling I’ve interrupted someone if we end up talking at the same time. I know I tend to talk more when I meet up with people in smaller groups.

ozzz2002

You live on the southern coast of England. Are you a beachgoer?

No, not really. I’m not a big fan of the beach or swimming in the sea. The local beaches are all pebbly and not that exciting, and the water is usually too cold and full of seaweed.

1nn1

In a team discussion bemoaning our lack of a Canadian player, you mentioned you had some Canadian heritage. Would you care to elaborate?

In that discussion I think I claimed to be about 1/16th Canadian, but I knew that wasn’t a very accurate estimate! I based it on the fact that I had one great-great-grandmother who was Canadian, although technically she was born before Canada was founded as a country. She came from a little village in Quebec, which at the time was a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post and is now a Cree First Nation community. As she was métis (of mixed European and native ancestry), my amount of Canadianness must be less than 1/16th, which might explain why it seems to be of no help to me whatsoever when Canadian topics pop up in Team Heroes smile

MikeMaster99

Which two books have made a very strong impression on you and why?

My favourite book of all time has to be Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I first read it when I was 13 and have come back to it so many times since then that I can practically quote some sections. It’s one of those timeless stories that people can still relate to over 200 years later, but also paints a picture of what life was like during the early 19th century.

Having sat for a while and wracked my brain a bit, I can’t really think of a second book that’s really left a strong impression on me. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ got me started on reading a wide range of classic literature from different periods in history, but none of them really stand out. I’ve never really got into reading non-fiction.

1nn1

What is your favourite place that you have visited. What part of England do you like the best? Pandemics allowing, what new places would you like to visit?

Up until a couple of years ago I’d have said Venice, as it is the most amazing city I’ve ever visited. I was only there for a day trip while on a holiday to Lake Garda and I’d love to go back and see more of it. But now it’d have to be Lunga, a tiny, uninhabited (by humans) Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides. It’s home to a colony of puffins who are incredibly tame and the cheekiest, cutest little birds to watch. I got to spend two hours just sitting there watching them running around, digging burrows, flying past with beakloads of fish and generally just showing off for the camera. It was an incredibly memorable trip capped off with a visit to Fingal’s Cave on Staffa, some seal-watching from the boat and a somewhat roller coaster-like journey back to the port over some enormous waves.

Favourite place in England…probably the north coast of Cornwall, it’s got some really dramatic cliffs, rocky beaches and stunning scenery. My grandparents used to live in a little village there, so I’ve got some nice memories of visiting each year.

New places to visit…there’s so many theoretical options that it’s hard to pick – Paris, Rome, Pompeii, New York, Australia and New Zealand would all be on the list. I’d also love to visit a few of the places that came up in my family history research, so Canada, Sri Lanka and Thailand would be on my bucket list as well.

MikeMaster99

You can have two famous people join you for a long meal. Who would you choose and why (they can be currently alive or long dead!)?

Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, so I could find out what else they might have written about if they hadn’t died so young. Plus, they’d have a lot in common so could probably carry the conversation between them – I’d clearly be too star struck to say anything sensible.

MikeMaster99

Why are puffins such a favourite of yours?

They’re just extremely cute and funny to watch. I don’t think I’m alone in being a puffin fan – anywhere in Britain that has puffin colonies seems to capitalise on the tourism potential and there’s a huge amount of puffin merchandise out there!

Pollucci19

This is the question that will probably get me into trouble, but... tell us about the 'Crazy Duck Lady'

Ok, this question probably requires some context! At one team zoom meeting we had favourite mugs on camera…mine was one with a picture of a duck and the caption “Beware Crazy Duck Lady” on it.

It was a leaving present from my old team at work along with a whole bunch of other duck-themed items. I’m not quite sure why they picked the mug with that specific phrase, but it could have stemmed from the fact that I kept a quacking duck soft toy on my desk and for quite a few years I had a singing plastic duck named “Max the Mallard” as well. On top of that it might have had something to do with the fact that I do tend to strongly express disapproval for going out to any pubs or restaurants that have duck on the menu. Plus, there was an incident once where I somehow ended up in a heated debate about the principle of duck-specific vegetarianism with a member of senior management…