Only Connect

Victoria Coren Mitchell returns with the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

In this opening heat, three fresh air fanatics take on a trio of Midlanders, attempting to find connections between a series of random clues. For example, what comes next in this sequence: sumo, tuwe, thfr...?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

One of the teams likes beer, while the other has a bit of a thing for big vegetables - the bigger the better, apparently. Meanwhile, what's the connection here: 'cat: 200-300', 'mouse: 10-15', 'horse: 15-20k', and 'human: 2-2.5k'?

Victoria Coren Mitchell presents the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Two teams of three look for connections between apparently random clues. For example, the words peaceful, easy and normal – what do they have in common, and what would come fourth in that sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

A love of classical music brought one team together, and a yearning for yoga unites the other, but both teams are bound up in their devotion to quizzing.

Rocky, Norm, not in this game, yes we can – can they find the connection?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

The Pipe-dreamers are, well, pipe-dreamers. Too Many Cookes are a family team, whose surname is, er, Cooke.

Not much of a puzzle there, so how about this: Ian Buckells, Marwood, the narrator of Three Men in a Boat... what's next in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

EM Forster, JM Keynes and Virginia Woolf: all unavailable, sadly, but how will their stand-ins fare against a team of three tea devotees?

The connection between chorod, clary muscles, rs and retna is revealed, and a long-standing scoring record is broken.

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Three self-professed introverts have ventured as far as Cardiff to take on three representatives of the University of the Third Age, all seeking the link between apparently random clues.

For example: Barbados, Club Med, Maserati and Britannia – what do they have in common?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Three whisky drinkers take on three number crunchers this week, all seeking the link between apparently random clues.

For example: Black (from Australia), Bewick's and Whooper – what do they have in common?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Three Midlanders take on a team of ale aficionados in trying to connect a series of clues.

Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom – not hard to spot the connection with this one, perhaps. But what would come fourth in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Undeterred by having been beaten in the missing vowels round last time, the Harmonics are back to take on three devotees of a German card game.

Question: tonsillectomy, Victoria and mergers - what connects all of the above?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

Three fans of surrealism take on a team of tea enthusiasts, all attempting to establish connections between apparently random clues.

For example, what connects the following: Fritz Walter, Billy Gene, Wes Lindsay and Ang Spike?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – the vital extra ingredients are logic and lateral thinking.

A team of whisky lovers returns to face a team from the U3A, all aiming to establish connections between apparently random clues.

For example: what connects EDIA, ENTRA, ALFWA and IDDL? One team reckons they're Welsh traffic signs.

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

The Al Frescans and the Sprouters return to slug it out for a place in the next round – the winners go straight through, the losing team takes a more scenic route.

Bearded, ancient and bearded, Sunday and trinity, and tobacco. What connects them all?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

Two teams of talented quizzers wrestle with such questions as -1: OAT, -2: BAT, -3: BOT. What comes next in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

In another tight match, the team that wins (just) goes straight through to the next round, while the other team will have to play again to stay in the competition.

What connects: evil, line manager, pleasantly cold and vomit?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

Nobody goes home tonight: for the teams, it's a question of how they get to the next round...

The questions are getting tougher. For example: German 'yes', the bassist Pastorius and actor Sir Derek – what comes next in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

The knockout stage has arrived, and it's a rematch! Yes, thanks to the cunning series structure that nobody quite understands, these teams have played each other before.

They're facing such questions as: Arkana, Astana, Nur-Sultan... what comes fourth in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far - logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

It's the knockout stage, so one of the teams will be going home - but not before grappling with clues such as 1000 is ALL, 100 is CV, 10 is J. What's next in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

When these teams met before, the Crunchers barely won, so there's a score to be settled.

Gwen Stefani, Ryan Reynolds and Alexis Carrington – what do they have in common, and who might come fourth in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

More high scores, but only one team can progress to the next round, and the clues are getting trickier.

For example - what connects: Tamaulipas, British Hong Kong, Seychelles and British Columbia?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

Yoga lovers and veg men vie for victory and a place in the next round. They face such questions as: what connects verb, abbreviated, monosyllabic and hyphenated?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

The Four Opinions won their previous game on a tiebreak – the captain hopes never to repeat the experience, but what does fate have in store?

The question-setters, meanwhile, have the following in store: 
Fourham, Threefield, Twomouth – what might come next in the sequence?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

Two teams face off in an attempt to get through to the semi-finals. What connects the following: excels, robust, Liberec and Arabic?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far - logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

There's a place in the semi-finals at stake and, as is only to be expected, the questions are getting more fiendish. For example: first wife, almost old, forty-one and Ghost Wolf - what is the connection?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

It's semi-final time, and a coveted place in the third-place play-off is at stake. The teams are on form, with this sequence question being answered after just two clues: 13: Anne of Austria, 14: Maria Theresa of Spain... what comes fourth?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

The second semi-final goes to the wire in the Missing Vowels round, but before that, some tricky Sequence questions must be dealt with.

For example – BBC: M&S, C4: N&S, C4: N&M... what comes next?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.
It's the third place play-off, and the questions have grown suitably difficult. For example: Pelham and Hope, Curb and Fosse, Gag and Marley, and Snaffle and Geldof – what's the connection?

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the quiz where knowledge only gets you so far – logic and lateral thinking are the vital extra ingredients.

The winners of the series are crowned – and, as can be expected, it's a close contest.