Love them or hate them, there’s no denying the popularity of game shows with millions of us tuning in to the likes of The Chase, The 1% Club and Only Connect on a weekly basis.
While actually getting to be a contestant on one of these shows is a privilege only a handful of viewers achieve, that doesn’t stop the rest of us from playing along at home, convincing ourselves that we’re better than those taking part.
However, there are times when the question-setters stump everyone with a teaser so cryptic that both those on-screen and off it can struggle to come up with the answer.
Here are a few such examples, comprising of some of the toughest game show questions to grace the small screen in living memory. See how many of these you can solve…
If 1,1 is the second row of Pascal’s Triangle, what is the seventh row? (University Challenge)
(Picture: BBC)
Let’s kick things off with a question from one of the most notoriously tough quiz shows on TV — one so tricky that it’s the norm to feel a bit smug if you actually answer something correctly.
Back in 2018, when Jeremy Paxman was still hosting the show, we were all left scratching our heads in confusion at this one: ‘If 1,1 is the second row of Pascal’s Triangle, what is the seventh row?’
We know, we’re stumped too. But it proved no problem for Newcastle University team captain Jonathan Noble, who fired back the answer: ‘1, 6. 15, 20, 15, 6, 1’.
It proved to be the correct answer, and even Jonathan’s teammate Adam Lowery looked amazed that he’d got it right.
In case you were wondering, Pascal’s Triangle was created by French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, starting with 1 at the top and expanding into a triangle where each number is the sum of the two directly above it.
Which of these is the odd one out in this CONUNDRUM? (The 1% Club)
The 1% Club is notorious for dishing up some right puzzlers, especially when it comes to that all-important final question.
However, the easier teasers can confuse contestants too. Such as this one from 2024, which despite being a 50% question proved so challenging that a huge 39 of the contestants chose to pass.
The question was: Which of these is the odd one out in this CONUNDRUM?
The correct answer was amongst: ‘A. cord, B. norm, C. noun, and D. moon’. The correct answer being D, the only word that couldn’t be formed from the letters in ‘conundrum’.
‘I think that’s the only time ever in the history of this show more people used a pass than actually knew the answer,’ host Lee Mack said.
Actress Joyce Frankenberg is better known by what name? (The Chase)
The Chasers might come across as the founts of all knowledge on the ITV show, but even they’re left scratching their heads sometimes. As was the case in 2020 when they were asked the question: Actress Joyce Frankenberg is better known by what name?
We admit, we’d have been stumped by this one — but it was one of only a handful of questions in show history that the experts were unable to crack.
The answer? It’s the real name of actress Jane Seymour, who was born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in 1951.
The 75-year-old British star is best known for her roles as Bond girl Solitaire in the 007 flick Live And Let Die, as well as playing the title role in the 90s TV hit Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman.
What should the final picture be in this sequence? (Only Connect)
Only Connect is one of those shows that stumps even the biggest brains at one time or another.
The long-running BBC Two favourite sees Victoria Coren Mitchell preside over two teams who have to work out connections between words, pictures and music over a series of rounds. But this picture connection in 2021 left even the host speechless.
The players had to correctly identify the last picture in a sequence, which showed a representation of 20 acres, the second showed a representation of 43 acres, and the third showed a combine harvester.
The answer? It represented the lyrics of the chorus in the 1970s chart-topper I’ve Got A Brand New Combine Harvester by the group The Wurzels – meaning the final image should be a picture of a key. While the team the Jukeboxers guessed it, Victoria was confused.
‘Even if you knew that weird machinery was a combine harvester from the song, how would you know that it goes “I’ll give you the key?”’, she asked. ‘It doesn’t make any sense. It makes no sense.’
Which of these would it be impossible to do? (The 1% Club)
The 1% Club is notorious for boggling everybody’s brains and here’s one which resulted in quite a few puzzled expressions back in May 2024.
The question was: Which of these would it be impossible to do? A) Marry your cousin’s cousin. B) Marry your brother’s widow. C) Marry your widow’s sister.
A shocking 32 people were knocked out of the competition on this one, breaking a record and leaving even host Lee Mack a bit staggered.
The correct answer? It’s C — you would be unable to marry your widow’s sister as you would be dead. ‘Before we get any complaints – I accept that is a bit zombie-ist,’ Lee joked.
The atomic number of sulfur is 16. What is the sum of the atomic numbers of the four elements whose symbols spell the word snob? (University Challenge)
Oh University Challenge. Never change. The BBC Two show, currently hosted by Amol Rajan, served up another corker when it asked the question: The atomic number of sulfur is 16. What is the sum of the atomic numbers of the four elements whose symbols spell the word snob?
Sorry what? We’re having trouble just keeping up with that one. If you managed to get it then well done you.
If you didn’t, then allow us to enlighten you: the answer is 36, as the individual atomic numbers are 16 (sulfur), seven (nitrogen), eight (oxygen) and five (boron).
What is the name of the illustrated manuscript written by the Lord of Earnam which provides a rich picture of rural life in the 14th Century? (Eggheads)
The contestants on Channel 5 show Eggheads might have had an awful lot of knowledge in those heads of theirs but even they got caught out from time to time.
As was the case in 2021 when quizzers Pat Gibson, Lisa Thiel and Judith Keppel were defeated in a sudden death round by the question: What is the name of the illustrated manuscript written by the Lord of Earnam which provides a rich picture of rural life in the 14th Century?
To be fair we haven’t a clue either — and while Pat attempted to guess The Book Of St Albans, it was the wrong answer, meaning their opponents, team Midlife Crisis, took the victory and a £4,000 cash prize.
‘Well done, wouldn’t have predicted the way that contest was going in the early stages,’ said impressed host Jeremy Vine.
Oh and in case you’re wondering the correct answer was the Luttrell Psalter. Of course.
What links these four locations together? (Only Connect)
Finally, we’re back to Only Connect with a picture question which even host Victoria declared to be ‘the most difficult we’ve ever had’.
This one came along in series 15 of the show back in 2019, where the contestants were asked to identify what linked the locations indicated on four different maps of the UK and Ireland.
Any ideas what these random locations might have in common? Well the maps indicate Carlisle, Dublin, Dundee and Humberside — the names of four locations mentioned in the chorus of the Smiths’ 1987 hit Panic.
Honestly, that would never have occurred to us either.
