Writes Daniel S. (Divs)
Manor House claimed a hard-fought victory in this year’s House Maths competition, edging past the reigning champions in a nail-biting final. After navigating tense early rounds, a dramatic tie-break, and one of the closest finals in recent years, the team lifted the trophy with a narrow three-point win. House Maths is one of the most prestigious house events of the academic year, where four people from each house (consisting of one Upper/Lower Third, a Fourth, a Div/Fifth and an Upper/Lower Sixth competed as a team to try and go all the way to win the competition. It’s very intense!
After a few nervous starts in the quarter-final, we made it to the team round – where anyone in the team contributed to solve an answer. The question was: what is the general formula for the total number of squares in an n * n grid? I remember seeing the pattern of square numbers quite quickly – and as a result, we managed to just squeeze through to the semi-final, where we played Walter House. This was a very intense and even semi-final as we both drew on 38 points apiece. A tie-break was necessary.
I remember being very nervous about the tie-break - but I was very happy when I saw the question.
It was how many squares are in an 8×8 grid – oddly familiar to the team round question in the quarter finals. So, using the formula, I managed to just beat my opponent in the tie break to reach the finals. Manor took played against White House in the final round – the reigning champions. After a long and arduous final, we finally came out on top by three points! The final score was 70-67, which was an amazing effort for both teams.
Let’s just hope the award remains with Manor House for a very long time!
