Not sure how familiar Lemmy is with the game show Only Connect, but I'll try to simplify the rules and adapt them to the limitations of the medium here.
Example of the Format
How to Play
- You will need to find the connection between the 4 clues. The first clue is in the post image, and the remaining three are in spoilers below.
- You get one guess, and the goal is to use as few clues as possible.
- Clues are given out one at a time, and you should only reveal the next clue if you cannot make the connection with the clues given so far.
- Each additional clue reduces the points earned to the value indicated above it. e.g. if you get the answer after the third clue is revealed, you will receive only two points.
- The later clues are usually easier to reveal the connection with the last clue sometimes being obvious.
- You are on the honor system to report your score.
The first clue is in the post image and is worth 5 points if you can guess the connection with just that one.
Hopefully this post doesn't earn me a cease and desist from the BBC lol.
Clues
Clue #2 (3 points)
Clue #3 (2 points)
Clue #4 (1 point)
Give up? Solution (0 points)
The only four characters to appear in all of the TNG era Star Trek series set in the 24th century.
ELI5
It’s not a game where you figure out the connection, it’s a pure guessing game. If I wanted five points, I would have to correctly guess that question being asked with “Quark” as my only context? How?
I don’t know the actual parameters of the question until I’ve lost all but one point.
That's how the game works 🤷♂️. It's deliberately difficult and sometimes unfair in several ways, but that's part of its charm.
It's also why you get an extra point for the first one. It's very, very rare for anyone to ever get it on the first, but I have seen it happen.
You should watch the actual Only Connect show (a lot of them are up on YouTube). It's absolutely bonkers what some of the players are able to figure out. You'll be like, who are these people, and what laboratory were they grown in? How the fuck did they get that? But after you watch enough episodes you actually start to get the hang of it and start solving them yourself. A lot of the time just knowing that there's definitely a connection is more of a clue than you might think at first.
And sometimes the answers are so oddly specific it's as hilarious as it is frustrating. The team will debate and finally answer something like "They were all 18th century poets" and Victoria won't accept it because it should have been "They were 18th century poets who only wore hats on Tuesdays."