Only Connect

Only Connect
Only Connect logo
Starring	Victoria Coren
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	57 (inc. 3 specials)
Production
Producer	Presentable
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Four
Release	15 September 2008 (2008-09-15) – present

Only Connect is a quiz show programme first shown on BBC Four on 15 September 2008, presented by Victoria Coren. In the series, teams compete in a tournament of finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues. Radio Times's listings usually describe it as "a game of patience and lateral thinking".

The phrase "Only connect" was originally used as the epigraph to E. M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End.

Format

Each programme has two teams of three people competing in four rounds of gameplay. In the first three series, clues in Rounds 1 and 2 and the connecting walls in Round 3 are identified by Greek letters. In series 4 Coren announced that this idea had been dropped, ostensibly due to viewer complaints that it was too pretentious, and that henceforth Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs would be used instead.

Round 1 - Connections

Teams are given up to four clues and must try to figure out the connection between them within 40 seconds. The team is initially shown one clue, and may request the remaining three clues at any time within the 40 seconds (they are not automatically shown). The team may press their buzzer to guess after the first clue for 5 points, the second for 3, the third for 2, or the fourth for 1. If the team guesses incorrectly, or fails to buzz within the time allotted, the question is thrown over to the other team for a bonus point, after being shown any remaining clues. Typically, one of the six puzzles involves pictures, and another uses pieces of music, both classical and contemporary.

Example Puzzle for Round 1

Clue 1	Clue 2	Clue 3	Clue 4
A hammer and feather	Six US flags	Eugene Shoemaker's ashes	Two golf balls
Connection: Items left on the Moon

Round 2 - Sequences

Each set of clues is now a sequence, and teams must try to figure out the fourth item in the sequence, again as early as possible. They must give the final item in the sequence, and score points even if their theory for the connection is incorrect. As in the previous round, each team will play three sets; again, if one team fails to guess, it is thrown over to the other team, who can see any remaining clues and earn one point by guessing correctly.

Example Puzzle for Round 2

1st Item	2nd Item	3rd Item	Missing Item
5 C in a N	2 N in a D	2½ D in a Q	?
Answer: 4 Q in a D - US coin values (5 cents in a nickel, etc.)

Round 3 - Connecting Wall

Each team receives a wall of 16 clues and must figure out a perfect solution, consisting of four connections for four different items. The puzzles are designed to suggest more connections than actually exist, and some clues appear to fit into more than one category. Teams score 1 point for each connection spotted within 2 minutes 30 seconds. They may make unlimited guesses until they have identified two of the four connections, but have only three guesses for the remaining connections. Teams can then score 1 additional point for identifying each connection, even if they did not spot them earlier. Two bonus points, for a total of ten, are earned for a perfect solution. On 1 March 2010, an interactive online version of this round was put on the Only Connect website.

Example Puzzle for Round 3

Love*	Ace***	Crab**	Puck^
Squash Ball^	Deuce**	Goose-Egg*	Cowboy**
Zip*	Buttress***	Bullet**	Fox***
Elastic Band^	Nil*	Fish***	Condom^
*Answer: Terms for Zero.
**Answer: Poker terms.
***Answer: Flying _____.
^Answer: Things made of rubber.

Round 4 - Missing Vowels

In a final buzzer round, the teams are presented with a series of word puzzles. Each puzzle is a word or phrase with the vowels removed and the spaces shifted to disguise the original words. The category of the puzzles is given prior to them being displayed.

Teams score 1 point for each puzzle they solve, but lose 1 point for guessing incorrectly; furthermore, the opposing team can take a guess. The team with the most points at the end of the game advances in the tournament. If teams are tied, then a single sudden-death puzzle is given to the captains of each team with no category given. If a captain correctly buzzes in with the correct answer first then their team wins, but an incorrect answer automatically forfeits the game.

Example Puzzle For Round 4

Clue	Answer
Category: Booker Prize-winning novels
T HG HS TRD	The Ghost Road
LFFP	Life of Pi
S CRN DLCN D	Oscar and Lucinda
VR NNGDLT TL	Vernon God Little

Transmissions

Original series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	15 September 2008	22 December 2008	15
2	13 July 2009	31 August 2009	8
3	4 January 2010	12 April 2010	15
4	6 September 2010	27 December 2010	16
5	15 August 2011	?	?

Specials

Date	Entitle
21 December 2009	Series 1 & 2 Champions Special
15 November 2010	Children in Need Special - The Wheelmen vs. The Larks
10 January 2011	Series 3 & 4 Champions Special
17 January 2011	Crossworders vs. University Challengers
14 March 2011	Comic Relief Special - The Treesome vs. The Larks

• The Wheelmen - Rev Richard Coles, Adam Hart-Davis and Grub Smith
• The Larks - Michael Bywater, Sir Andrew Motion and Stuart Maconie
• University Challengers - Alex Guttenplan, Jenny Harris and Josh Scott
• The Treesome - Brian Sewell, Adam Hart-Davis and Grub Smith

Champions

• Series 1 - Crossworders (Mark Grant, David Stainer, Ian Bayley)
• Series 2 - Rugby Boys (Richard Parnell, Guy Dermody, Mark Labbett)
• Series 3 - Gamblers (Jenny Ryan, Dave Bill, Alan Gibbs)
• Series 4 - Epicureans (David Brewis, Katie Bramall-Stainer, Aaron Bell)
• Series 1 vs. Series 2 - Crossworders
• Series 3 vs. Series 4 - Epicureans

External links

• Only Connect at BBC Online
• Only Connect at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• Only Connect at UKGameshows.com
• PuzzGrid Unofficial, open game based on Only Connect