ChatterBank2 mins ago
The Chase.... They Walk Among Us .... Part N
40 Answers
Another cracker.....
Q: The serotine is a type of what flying mammal?
A: Bird!
PMSL!
Answers
The thing is, 11:05 is entirely correct, and this whole series is judgemental BS - from someone whose own knowledge gaps he shows no interest in trying to fill.
As an aside, here are a few questions from my own experience:
1. "What is the sum of the natural numbers from 1,2,3... up to 1000?"
This one is not, on the face of it, the same level as the example in OP, but there are two relevant points here: this is actually not about doing any sums, but remembering an anecdote/shortcut; in any event, I knew the answer and, in ordinary circumstances, would have found it personally easy. But these were not ordinary circumstances. My team had built a commanding lead, but had to watch the other side catch up then pass us, and with only a few minutes left it looked like we'd thrown it away. I'd just got a question wrong myself, buzzing too early in a desperate attempt to gain ground that backfired ("No, I'm afraid you lose five points..."). So I was an absolute wreck mentally.
Somehow or other, though, the mathematician on the other team couldn't get this one quickly - I'm shocked why, have to ask him about it. But I was struggling, and I am not kidding here, to work out what half of 1000 was.
In the end, I did buzz in, and got the correct answer, with anyone watching seeing me rattle it off - "five hundred thousand five hundred" - quite quickly. But when I buzzed, I didn't know what I was going to say, and my thought process amounted to "I know that 1+2+3+...+10 is 55, so I will just say that and shove a few zeroes in somewhere and hope it's right".
It was - and, confidence restored, I dragged our team to victory. But I can't stress enough that this amounts to luck: the other team not knowing the answer either, and Paxman being slow to kill the question, giving me the time that in another format I might not have had. But if it had been just me, on the spot, with maybe a handful of seconds, you could have asked me what half of two is and I'd have gone blank.
2. That last one I somehow rescued, but here's one I did not:
"The Ganges river, after winding its way down from the Himalayas through India, empties into which bay of the Indian Ocean?"
This time, I was on the spot with only a few seconds. This time, too, I had to get every question I was asked correct to stay in the show. And, in the run-up to this, I had just got an unlucky 50/50 question wrong, and then completely lost focus for the next one. Although I'd relaxed a little (the chance of winning having gone), I was still not quite "sofa"-relaxed.
But here, the mistake was also thinking too early that I knew what the question was going to be. So, from the word "Ganges" until "which bay" I wasn't listening and was just having the word "Brahmaputra" bouncing in my head. Then the question morphed into "which bay", and I was unable to readjust. Brahmaputra just was stuck in my head, taking all the space, and I couldn't think and reset.
The answer I gave, as I knew I was about to be knocked out, was "Biscay". I want to be clear: I knew this was wrong, and I knew the right answer, and in another situation (eg earlier in the same show!) I'd have been able to offer the correct answer of "Bengal". But it didn't matter.
This series wasn't running at the time, but I bet this answer would have featured in it. Well, sure. But if you're asked about a fact you don't often think about, with your fate in the show riding on it, and only a couple of seconds to think... well, that's a situation that TTT either doesn't understand or is too embarrassed to admit that he's been in all too often.
CTG: "But if you're asked about a fact you don't often think about, with your fate in the show riding on it, and only a couple of seconds to think... well, that's a situation that TTT either doesn't understand or is too embarrassed to admit that he's been in all too often." - I get that and I agree but I don't raise those questions, I raise ones where the answer is either obvious or derivable from the question like this one.
ClareTG0ld
'1. "What is the sum of the natural numbers from 1,2,3... up to 1000?"'
That is the sort of question they'd have on The 1% Club.. setting quiz questions is a special challenge and one that I enjoy very much. On the Chase the multiple choice questions often have clues between A, B and C answers.. a process of elimination to leave the correct answer. Also as in this case 'a bat' with the clue being in the way the question is worded. Either case requires at least a minimal amount of subject knowledge without it, as is often the case, it ends up being a guess! Time pressure and nerves, plus the fact it's in a studio with the bright lights for the TV programme recording adds to the 'high stakes' feeling, psychologically it is a high stress environment mistakes and errors are more likely to occur.
The level of question difficulty and subject range also contestant 'quality' in terms of quizzing ability (knowing the answers) does vary, University Challenge, Jon Snow's Very Hard Questions and Eggheads etc at the top level, The Chase I'd rank mid-way, and a new quiz I came across this week The Boss hosted by Susan Calman at a lower level. I much prefer the harder questions, I enjoy The Chase, the format and challenging the Chaser make it 'one to watch' on TV.
TTT seems to enjoy pointing out questions that should have been answered correctly, but were not.. no problem, the contestant failed, point(s) lost, do better in future! ;O)
In general, if the question includes 'flying mammal' or 'arachnid' you know the answer is bat or spider, otherwise it's a fish or bird. The person was guessing 'bird' before the question was finished, and then, as ClareT says it's too late to rethink. Better than passing, I think, which always drives me nuts.
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