So long as you’ve got a strong grasp of general knowledge, you’d do alright on most quiz shows, but to excel on ITV’s cerebral competition hosted by Lee Mack takes the skill to really dig through a question and figure out what it’s actually asking you while the clock ticks down. It’s easier said than done as your brain races to figure out the trick in the question and that unforgiving timer robs you of any chance to really work through all the possibilities.
You’ve just got to hope your mind lands on the right outcome and it all falls into place before you run out of time.
There’s one particular question which viewers found particularly bamboozling, so set yourself a 30-second timer and don’t peek at the answer if you want to give it a go.
Here’s your question, can you figure it out within 30 seconds? (ITV)
As read out by quiz show host Lee Mack, the question goes as follows: “A bat and a ball cost £1.10 in total. The bat costs £1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”
Start your timer, and if you haven’t worked it out within 30 seconds, console yourself with the fact that this was the show’s ’10 percent question’, so it’s not something most people were expected to get right.
It certainly had 1% Club viewers puzzled when it was first shown on TV as they called it ‘impossible’, and complained that they couldn’t ‘wrap my brain around it’.
One viewer even said they’d ‘seen the answer and it still doesn’t make sense to me’.
Let’s get to the answer.
Imagine Lee Mack is telling you there’s only 30 seconds to solve it. (ITV)
The answer to this question is that the ball costs 5p, since, if the bat costs a pound more, then together, a 5p ball and £1.05 bat will make for a £1.10 purchase.
When you saw that question, your mind probably first went to the ball costing 10p, didn’t it?
It makes sense; the figures thrown at you are £1.10 and £1, so when asked to figure out the rest of it, your mind would easily alight on the remaining figure in the question.
However, if the ball costs 10p and the bat is a quid more expensive then you’d spend £1.20 in total.
Given the pressures of time, and what’s at stake in a show like The 1% Club, it’s understandable that someone wouldn’t have time to work that out in 30 seconds.
If you tackled that one there are harder questions to answer. (ITV)
The hardest 1% Club questions ever
If you figured out the correct answer, then you might enjoy tackling some of the hardest ever questions contestants on The 1% Club have faced:
What is the first number that when spelled out has its letters in alphabetical order? Answer here.
If January equals 717, March equals 5315 and June equals 4624, then what does August equal? Answer here.
Lee was driving when he noticed his milometer read 16961 and was the same backwards and forwards. What will the next mileage be that also reads the same backwards and forwards? Answer here.
Into, Therefore, Evaluate, Benign. All of the words have something in common. Can you work out what it is?
