History Main / UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer

** Another team got the question ""Which of these two US TV comedies ran for the most series?" with choices Friends (10 series) and Fraiser (11 series).

-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' [[hottip:*:(The answer is Nineveh)]] [[hottip:**:Ha, ha. just kidding. It depends entirely on exactly what time period's being referred to. Ashur, Nimrud, Kalhu, and many, many others are possible answers, so no matter what you guess, you're screwed.]] [[hottip:***: On the other hand, judging by King Arthur's experience, asking for clarification about the time period would have worked.]]

** It's not that obscure. Assuming they remembered highschool physics class.

** Maybe they were a highschool physics student who hadn't forgotten everything yet? It's not that obscure.

-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' [[hottip:*:(The answer is Nineveh)]] [[hottip:**:Ha, ha. just kidding. It depends entirely on exactly what time period's being referred to. Ashur, Nimrud, Kalhu, and many, many others are possible answers, so no matter what you guess, you're screwed.]] [[hottip:*** Judging by King Arthur, asking for clarification about the time period would have worked.]]

-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' [[hottip:*:(The answer is Nineveh)]] [[hottip:**:Ha, ha. just kidding. It depends entirely on exactly what time period's being referred to. Ashur, Nimrud, Kalhu, and many, many others are possible answers, so no matter what you guess, you're screwed.]]

* In order to win anything at all on the British game show ''The Million Pound Drop'', contestants must face a final AllOrNothing multiple-choice question at the end of the game, picking from two choices. Picking the right answer means they get to keep their winnings, while picking the wrong one wipes out their winnings at the last second. For one team, this final question required them to correctly identify which happened first: Prince Charles and Lady Diana's marriage (29 July, 1981) or Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's (4 July, 1982). They got it wrong, and lost 525,000 pounds.

** YMMV on this one. That's a question most people should learn the answer to in high school, or at least a low level college physics or chemistry class.

-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' [[hottip:*:(The answer is Nineveh]]

* In version 3 of ''You Don't Know Jack'' (a series of PC games that play like a game show) there are "impossible questions", worth a ridiculous $20,000 (normal questions go from $1,000 to $6,000), like "Within two years, how much time was there between the invention of the can and the invention of the can opener?" Unlike most of the other multiple-choice questions you have to type in your answer (in this case [[spoiler:48 years]]).

* In version 3 of ''You Don't Know Jack'' (a series of PC games that play like a game show) have "impossible questions", worth a ridiculous $20,000 (normal questions go from $1,000 to $6,000), like "Within two years, how much time was there between the invention of the can and the invention of the can opener?" Unlike most of the other multiple-choice questions you have to type in your answer (in this case [[spoiler:48 years]]).

-->'''Bridgekeeper:''' What... is the capital of Assyria?
-->'''Sir Robin:''' ...I don't know that! *flung off the bridge*
-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''

* Even the children's game show ''{{Knightmare}}'' could sometimes have really obscure questions you'd hardly expect English schoolchildren to know the answers to, such as the name of the first hobbit to hold the One Ring in ''LordOfTheRings''. [[spoiler:In the book, it's Bilbo — at his birthday party.]] Combined with the game show's physical challenges, it was no wonder that seeing anyone actually win the game was a rare sight (in fact, not a single team won in the first and third years).

-->-''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' (The answer is [[spoiler:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineveh Nineveh]]]])

** Subverted at least once on the 1980s ''$100,000 Pyramid'', where one run at the top cash prize included the seemingly impenetrable "Things That Are Enshrined" in the top box. [[spoiler:The celebrity gave the clue "hall of fame books", which led to the contestant giving the right answer for a $100,000 win... with fewer than five seconds left on the clock.]]

* ''WheelOfFortune'' can sometimes have a sadistic streak in its own BonusRound, where a contestant is given R, S, T, L, N and E plus three more consonants and a vowel to aid in solving a shorter puzzle. The difficulty stems from some incredibly short puzzles (for most of the 1990s, few bonus puzzles were over six letters long, sometimes getting as small as three letters), puzzles with several rarely picked letters (e.g. JURY BOX) and/or large numbers of vowels (e.g. OAK BUREAU; no matter which vowel is picked, there's still a lot of empty space to fill).

*** Actually, it still wasn't a good choice. If she was right that it was zoo, then guessing Z doesn't add any value; she could just guess a more common consonant and, if nothing inconsistent with zoo hit, just guess zoo. There's an unlimited number of guesses (within the time limit). On the other hand, if she was wrong with her zoo hunch, then guessing Z was incredibly unlikely to help her, and what if it was something like "ALP?" Okay, granted, she would have gotten the L but still.

** Heck, a British one actually got fined when "balaclava" and "rawlplug" came up as items a woman keeps in their purse. Seriously, what kind of woman would keep a ''balaclava'' in their purse ... besides a burglar?

* Some versions of ''You Don't Know Jack'' (a series of PC games that play like a game show) have "impossible questions", worth a ridiculous $20,000 (normal questions go from $1,000 to $6,000), like "Within two years, how much time was there between the invention of the can and the invention of the can opener?" Unlike most of the other multiple-choice questions you have to type in your answer (in this case [[spoiler:48 years]]).

* Speaking of children's shows, after a string of correct answers, ''[[DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' would throw in a few questions that no child could be expected to know, such as "How much is the rent on Boardwalk with a hotel?" Answer: [[spoiler: $2,000]] or "What does D.N.A. stand for?" Answer: [[spoiler:Deoxyribonucleic acid]], in order that a messy physical challenge (one of the main draws of the series) would be played.

* In order to win anything at all on the British game show ''The Million Pound Drop'', contestants must face a final AllOrNothing multiple-choice question at the end of the game, picking from two choices. Picking the right answer means they get to keep their winnings, while picking the wrong one wipes out their winnings at the last second. For one team, this final question required knowledge about ''nearly-30-year-old celebrity gossip'', causing them to lose 525,000 pounds.

** Subverted in the bonus puzzle ZOO; given only the three blanks and a category of Place, the contestant [[spoiler:played her hunch and called Z and O among her letters. Who would have ever thought that Z would be a good choice in the bonus round?]]

::: The equation was for the combustion of glucose (a key element of said powder). According to those behind the show, "an explosion in a custard factory" is or used to be the standard example used when the combustion of glucose is taught at school, and that's how she knew it.
*** It still is. It's also used as an example of the effects of Static Electricity.
* TruthInTelevision, literally. Collegiate quiz bowl tournaments can be known for this difficulty.
* Played with on the Comedy Central show ''Vs.'' Winning teams would be given two choices for categories, one hilariously obscure, and one hilariously gamed to their advantage. For instance, a team of Grateful Dead fans would be given the choices of "International Grandmasters of Chess" or "Jerry Garcia Songs". Occasionally the teams would spring for the obscure category, for which they did indeed have a question prepared.
** Also existed in the show's bonus round: a representative of the winning team spins a wheel to determine the category of a final question; get it right, and the team wins a major prize. One wedge is the "Easy Question" (e.g. "Which is bigger: the Sun or your head?"). The other five are categories like "Incredibly Difficult Tax Code Trivia."

* Questions in ''OnlyConnect'' tend to be fairly difficult at the best of times, but some stand out as being unanswerable by anyone except a human manifestation of {{Google}}. In one such question, contestants had not only to identify the category of Chief Medical Officers of England, but also to provide the fourth in the sequence.
** And to get the maximum points, not only must you get it right, but you must get it in one clue!

** Subverted, though, with one impossible question, of the category "It's a Dog!": "What has four legs, barks, and is a common household pet?" No tricks here.
** And subverted in another impossible question which has the not terribly obscure answer of "PyrrhicVictory". However, keeping with the theme, even if you get it right, you lose points.

* In order to win anything at all on the British game show ''The Million Pound Drop'', contestants must face a final AllOrNothing multiple-choice question at the end of the game, picking from two choices. Picking the right answer means they get to keep their winnings, while picking the wrong one wipes out their winnings at the last second. For one team, this final question required knowledge about '''nearly-30-year-old celebrity gossip''', causing them to lose 525,000 pounds.