We have a team mascot whom we rather unimaginatively call Pingu. He accompanies us to most quizzes. Whether he brings us luck or not is very much open to debate, but he is now a permanent fixture in the team.

Why a penguin? At one of our early forays into quizzing, a team member (who, to share her blushes, will remain nameless) didn’t hear the question fully, and so proffered the answer, ‘A Penguin’. To those who had heard the full question, this was a completely ludicrous answer, and, therefore, the cause of much hilarity (and even, dare I say, some uncalled-for mockery).

The next day, to commemorate the blunder, another team member crafted a felt penguin, and delivered it to the now-much-embarrassed victim. Thus began the reign of Pingu.

Recently, when it was our turn to set the questions, I contrived a whole round of questions about Penguins in Pingu’s honour. Sadly, random facts about penguins are not regular quiz fodder, and most teams were completely foxed by them.

The upshot was that it became the most discussed set of questions Keith (who, co-runs the league) had ever encountered. Penguins have been mentioned in our presence many times since, and, the following week, our opposing team arrived for our home match all bearing origami penguins.

Pingu, however, remains stalwartly aloof from the whole business.