Only Connect

Etymology

The phrase "Only connect" was originally used in E. M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End. It was spoken by the character Margaret Schlegel, and occurs in chapter 22:

The quote was the basis of an unanswered question in the grand final of series nine – the beast, the monk, the prose, the passion, to which the answer was Only Connect.

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 were identified by Greek letters. In series 4 Coren Mitchell announced that this idea had been dropped, ostensibly due to viewer complaints that it was too pretentious, and that henceforth Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (two reeds, lion, twisted flax, horned viper, water and the eye of Horus) would be used instead. The show's opening sequence continued to display Greek letters until series 5, when they were replaced with the hieroglyphs.

In series 7 the "knockout" format was modified to a double-elimination tournament with the exception of the single-elimination final round, in a rule change that Coren Mitchell said that even she did not fully understand. This reduced the number of competing teams from 16 to 8, and the episodes from 16 to 13, compared with the previous series except Series 2. The number of competing teams was restored to 16 with Series 10, expanding the series to a total of 27 episodes. In Series 12, the number of competing teams was expanded to 24; this expanded the series to a total of 37 episodes, and as it is in the fellow quiz show on BBC Two, University Challenge.

The current format is split into 2 halves of 12 teams, each containing 6 heats, with the winners qualifying for the second round. The 4 highest scoring losers from each half play 2 matches, with the winners joining the heat winners in the second round, who then play each other in a straight knockout to reach the third round. Thereafter, the remaining 8 teams must win twice to reach the semi-finals or lose twice to be eliminated.

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 posed 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. Music questions are generally considered among the toughest questions in the quiz, and a team's dismay upon realising they have chosen the music question is a frequent source of humour on the programme.

Round 2: Sequences

Each set of clues is now a sequence, and teams must try to figure out the fourth item in the sequence (therefore, the team will only be able to see three clues), 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. As in Round 1, one of the sets of clues involves pictures. Starting from the quarterfinals of Series 10, there is occasionally a sequence made by three music clips, and the contestants must supply the title of the fourth unplayed music clip.

For example, sequential clues of "5 C in a N", "2 N in a D" and "2 1/2 D in a Q" would be answered correctly with "4 Q in a D" (the explanation being abbreviations of US coin values, five cents in a nickel, etc. Note that the half-dollar coin is not in wide circulation.)

Round 3: Connecting Wall

Each team receives a wall of 16 clues and must figure out a perfect solution, consisting of four groups of four connected 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 group found within 2 minutes 30 seconds. They try to create one group at a time, and may make unlimited guesses on the first two groups. Once two groups have been identified, they only have three chances to identify the remaining two groups.

Should the team fail to complete the wall, the missing groupings are shown. Teams can then earn 1 point per group for identifying the connection, regardless of whether they correctly identified the grouping. A team that identifies all four groups and all four connections earns a 2-point bonus, for a total of 10 points. Unlike the previous two rounds, teams have no opportunity to score on their opponents' wall.

On 1 March 2010, an interactive online version of this round was put on the Only Connect website. Since mid-2011, coinciding with series 5, the website took online submissions for new Connecting Walls, although a successful submission does not guarantee publication on the site. The online game was discontinued for series 10.

Round 4: Missing Vowels

In a final buzzer round, the teams are presented with a series of word puzzles. The category of the puzzles is given prior to them being displayed, and each category contains a maximum of four puzzles. Each puzzle is a word or phrase with the vowels removed and the spaces shifted to disguise the original words. For example, in a category of "Booker Prize-winning novels", a puzzle of "VR NNGDLT TL" would be correctly answered as "Vernon God Little".

Teams answer simultaneously using buzzers, and score 1 point for each puzzle they solve. Initially there was no penalty for guessing incorrectly on this round, but starting with the quarter-finals in Series 1, teams have faced a penalty of 1 point for each incorrect answer. Additionally, if the team that buzzes provides an incorrect answer (even by a single letter) or fails to answer quickly, the opposing team is given an opportunity to answer for a bonus point.

The round lasts for between 90 seconds and three minutes, usually features three complete categories. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. If teams are tied, then a single sudden-death puzzle is given to the captains of each team. If a captain buzzes in first and gives the correct answer then their team wins, but an incorrect answer automatically forfeits the game. Although no category is officially given they make reference to their own role as sudden-death questions. Examples are "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish", "To the Victor, the Spoils" and "Winner Stays On".

Champions

Ratings

Ratings sourced from BARB.