Only true geniuses can crack 'impossible' TV gameshow question

26 August 2023 , 15:15

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Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the popular show (Image: BBC/RDF Television/Rory Lindsay)

Only Connect is a game show known for its tough and challenging questions, with contestants and viewers alike given a true mental workout during each 30-minute episode. For those who have never heard of the programme before, teams compete to draw together the connections between seemingly random things. To win, you have to outdo the other teams by trying to crack some fiendishly difficult clues to connected words or phrases.

Teams competing in the competition, which is hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell, need to demonstrate excellent linguistic and numerical skills. They only need to have a fair bit of obscure knowledge in order to stand a chance of winning. The show first aired on BBC Four between September 2008 and July 2014, before moving over to BBC Two. It remains popular and has continued to find new fans over the years as people try and see if they're smart enough to crack the answers.

Can you solve this difficult task?

During each episode, there are four different rounds, with the questions being of varying difficulty. In the first round, they are given 40 seconds to figure out the connection between four words or phrases. In round two, the sets of clues become sequences. Based on the sets of clues they have already been provided, teams must determine what the fourth word or phrase in the sequence is. The third round is when it gets complicated, as the teams face a 'connecting wall' of 16 words belonging to phrases, each of which consists of four groups of four connecting words or phrases. The fourth and final round is quickfire, which has teams buzzing in as they face a series of word puzzles with the vowels removed.

Some questions however appear so very impossible, that they make others look easy by comparison. Take, for instance, a question posed in series 12 episode 37 (Verbivores v Cosmopolitans) during round four. Their clue was "five words in alphabetical order" and from there, things became even more difficult. The clues were: BGB GBGB GBG / PTTN GPTT NGPT TNGPT TNGP TTNG / MSS SMS SSM SS SMS SSM SSS and LS TL ST LST LS TL ST.

It seems easy once you can see the answer

At first, it might just look like a random bunch of letters, but a variety of different words can be formed. The answers are: BAG BEG BIG BOG BUG / PATTING PETTING PITTING POTTING PUTTING / MASSES MESSES MISSES MOSSES MUSSES and LAST LEST LIST LOST LUST. Did you manage it?

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This isn't the first time that people have been stumped by difficult questions on the show. Previously, Coren Mitchell declared this to be "the most difficult question we've ever had" and this was her "least favourite question" during the 2021 series.

Billie Schwab Dunn