Conundrum (here it's called the Pre-selected Word).There were only six rounds in the following order:.
The pilot (called Calendar Countdown) was similar to the series, but not without differences: Now, all episodes use the fifteen-round format.
In the old format, the Grand Final of each series was a special 45-minute episode with fourteen rounds. On 25 March 2013, the format changed to this one that is used today: This format, however, was out of balance, as one contestant made the selections for six Letters rounds and one Numbers round, while the opponent made the selections for five and two rounds, respectively. On 24 September 2001, the show was extended to 45 minutes long, and had fifteen rounds in the following order: The show was originally 30 minutes long, and had nine rounds in the following order: The winner of this knockout, which culminates in the Grand Final, becomes the series champion. They are seeded in a knockout tournament, with the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, and so on. At the end of the series, the eight players with most wins (or the highest total winning scores in the event of a tie) are invited back to compete in the series finals. The winner of the game returns in the next show to face a new opponent (until Series 22, a tie game resulted in both contestants returning) a player who wins eight times is forced to retire, becoming a retired champion, in which case two new contestants will play the next game. If the scores are tied after the conundrum, tie-breaker conundrums are used until the tie is broken. In the event that the trailing player is 10 or less behind, the Conundrum becomes crucial and the set darkens because of it. If neither contestant buzzes in with a correct answer during the time limit then no points are awarded. If a contestant answers incorrectly then they may not guess again and the other contestant has the remaining time to attempt to find the answer. The first person to buzz in and correctly identify the word wins 10 points. If neither contestant can get within 10, no points are awarded.Ī nine-letter anagram made up of two smaller words is given to the contestants who must unscramble the word within the time limit of 30 seconds.
10 points are given for an exact answer, 7 points for a non-exact solution up to 5 from the target, and 5 points for a solution between 6 and 10 from the target. Points are awarded for the closest solution, and again both contestants score if the solutions are equally close. The numbers are always placed in a fixed order (going Right to Left - Small numbers are placed first, then the large ones). Fractions are not allowed-only integers may be used at any stage of the calculation, (e.g multiplication, addition, subtraction, division)įor numbers selections, they are to be straightforward. The contestants have to use arithmetic on some or all of those numbers to get as close as possible to a randomly generated three-digit target number (ranging from 101 to 999, inclusively), within the 30-second time limit. All large numbers will be different, so at most four large numbers may be chosen. Small numbers are between 1 and 10 inclusive, and large numbers are 25, 50, 75, or 100. One contestant chooses how many "small" and "large" numbers they would like to make up six randomly chosen numbers. Now, only British spelling is allowed, and the unspecified inflictions from previous series are invalid. Until 2002, American spelling and inflictions was permitted as well as many more unspecified inflictions. If both contestants find words of equal length then they both score the points. The contestant with the longest word is awarded one point for each letter in the word, but nine-letter words double the points (thus scoring 18 points). Any word which appears in the Oxford Dictionary of English is allowable, as well as some inflections. The contestants then have 30 seconds to find the longest word that they can make out of these letters. There must be at least three vowels and four consonants. One contestant chooses how many vowels and consonants they would like to make up nine randomly chosen letters.
Two contestants compete against each other in a series of fifteen (originally nine) rounds, split into three sections, with the contestants alternating turns with each round.