Quote: Kenneth @ 10th November 2018, 12:49 AM

One simply requires competence and the ability to respond "You'll need to be more specific" rather than dismissively saying "No, that's blindingly obvious."

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In that case, I seem to be ideally qualified as a question setter as my response to your suggested answer was "Although that answer is correct, I don't think it's sufficiently correct to qualify as the correct answer."

If we have a connections question in which each clue is a famous person's name, and the answer is that they were all born in Huddersfield, it would be woefully insufficient to come up with the answer that they were all born on planet Earth or even that they were all born in Great Britain or England.

If however, somebody were to come up with the answer that they were all born in Yorkshire, I can imagine Victoria saying "you'll have to be more specific".

It may be that such a question would never arise but I'm giving it here only as an example of varying degrees of specificity.

I think my question about men who all married women less than half their own age was quite interesting but I don't think the suggestion that they were all divorcees who married younger women was close enough to qualify as the correct answer.

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 10th November 2018, 7:48 AM

The fourth was Final resting place or Suffering from exposure. They are the concerns of Al in the second verse of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al".

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Yes, I see what you mean - but that was a pretty hard question!

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 8:53 AM

Yes, I see what you mean - but that was a pretty hard question!

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Here's a pretty easy one (tee-hee):

The Irish
Lesbians
Builders
A posh drug user.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 10th November 2018, 6:55 AM

Au contraire

Your own connection you put up last week Wise Whistle Dreadful Black had only one answer, and not to list but here's another one I pitched to OC as a sequence about four years ago, but they rejected, which I was pissed off about at the time as I thought it was another gem from the Herc stable :-

Bill Brewer Jan Stewer Peter Gurney Peter Davy

This is only one answer.

Having said that I do agree that sometimes on the prog. I see a Connection come up and think to myself "Yes, but it could also be................."

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Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 8:53 AM

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I'll take that as a "Yes" then............

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 10th November 2018, 6:55 AM

Bill Brewer Jan Stewer Peter Gurney Peter Davy

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They are all names of characters from the old song "Widecombe Fair".

I can think of no other connection sufficiently strong to be deemed accurate on Only Connect but they are also connected by the following indisputable facts (among others):

Each person's name contains the letter sequence "ER".

Each person's name contains only one vowel that is not an "E".

Each clue is written using the Roman (a.k.a. Latin) alphabet.

As an absolutely last resort, of course, every clue ever broadcast on Only Connect is connected to every other clue ever broadcast on Only Connect by the fact that they are all clues broadcast on Only Connect.

My view (which I'm sure will be shared by almost everybody else) is that the above four connections should all be rejected out of hand as none is sufficiently strong or sufficiently interesting to render it acceptable.

My point, however, for those who may have missed it, is that the acceptability of an answer to a connections question is a matter of subjective judgement rather than a matter of fact.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 8:53 AM

In that case, I seem to be ideally qualified as a question setter as my response to your suggested answer was "Although that answer is correct, I don't think it's sufficiently correct to qualify as the correct answer."

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What rot you talk.

Quote: Firkin @ 10th November 2018, 9:29 AM

Here's a pretty easy one (tee-hee):

The Irish
Lesbians
Builders
A posh drug user.

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Dykes? If so, may not be acceptable.

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 10th November 2018, 6:45 PM

Dykes?

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I was surprised to see you offa "dykes" as a connection.

I'm pretty sure that the Irish are not a nation of dykes.

I'm also pretty sure that builders and posh drug users tend not to be dykes.

Accordingly, I'm very much looking forward to your explanation for that suggestion.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 12:02 PM

They are all names of characters from the old song "Widecombe Fair".
I can think of no other connection sufficiently strong to be deemed accurate on Only Connect but they are also connected by the following indisputable facts (among others):

Each person's name contains the letter sequence "ER".

Each person's name contains only one vowel that is not an "E".

Each clue is written using the Roman (a.k.a. Latin) alphabet.

As an absolutely last resort, of course, every clue ever broadcast on Only Connect is connected to every other clue ever broadcast on Only Connect by the fact that they are all clues broadcast on Only Connect.

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That's just plain silly again. I can see what you are getting at but that's not how it works on the programme, and if it did, it would of course grind to a halt.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 12:02 PM

My view (which I'm sure will be shared by almost everybody else).................

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Oh really? Bit presumptive isn't it - I've seen no support so far, only antagonism, which has now got my dander up too.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 12:02 PM

..........................is that the above four connections should all be rejected out of hand as none is sufficiently strong or sufficiently interesting to render it acceptable.

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IF you had cared to read my post properly you would have seen that I said it was originally offered as a Sequence, (even if you knew the words to "Widecombe Fair" you would have to think hard maybe who the fourth one was in the sequence and at the time there was a similar one that had already been accepted; but clearly I am speaking to someone who knows more than me who has been submitting questions to Only Connect for a number of years.

I tell you what, here is Parasol's (the production company) address........................ http://www.parasolmedia.co.uk/ ..................you submit your Connections to them based on say words that all have an "E" in them or use the Roman alphabet and let us know how you get on. Would be interesting to see how many you got accepted.

Still no comment on my Wise Whistle Dreadful Black query then.
Oh, but wait, Ah yes, they are ALSO words in the English language - now I feel such a fool not seeing that.

I seem to be doing a dreadful job of making myself understood.

I say that I'm sure that almost everybody on this board who is a fan of OC will agree with me that the suggested answers:

Each person's name contains the letter sequence "ER".

They are all clues broadcast on Only Connect.

although perfectly correct, should be rejected because the connections are far too weak and you say that's presumptuous of me. You then go on to agree with me that those answers would almost certainly be rejected by OC if they were to be submitted.

In what way, therefore, are we disagreeing with each other? We're not!

You say that those suggested answers are silly. Yes, they are silly and they are intended to be silly. My point is to show that obvious connections and weak connections exist for a great many questions but that, as you say, if they were to be accepted the show would grind to a halt.

In what way, therefore, are we disagreeing with each other? We're not!

If I remember correctly you previously said that in order to be accepted by OC, a connection or sequence question must have only one correct answer (which is, of course, to say there must be absolutely no other correct answers). My point has always been that the rule employed by OC must surely be not simply that there be no other correct answers but that there be no other correct answers of any merit. The distinction might, of course, be lost on a great many people but I'm sure that a man such as yourself will see it.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2018, 9:54 PM

I was surprised to see you offa "dykes" as a connection.

I'm pretty sure that the Irish are not a nation of dykes.

I'm also pretty sure that builders and posh drug users tend not to be dykes.

Accordingly, I'm very much looking forward to your explanation for that suggestion.

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Builders and the Irish might construct dykes. Not sure where the posh drug dealers come in.

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 11th November 2018, 11:11 AM

Builders and the Irish might construct dykes. Not sure where the posh drug dealers come in.

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Yes, I now see what you mean.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 11th November 2018, 9:14 AM

I seem to be doing a dreadful job of making myself understood.

I say that I'm sure that almost everybody on this board who is a fan of OC will agree with me that the suggested answers:

Each person's name contains the letter sequence "ER".

Each person's name contains only one vowel that is not an "E".

Each clue is written using the Roman (a.k.a. Latin) alphabet.

They are all clues broadcast on Only Connect.

although perfectly correct, should be rejected because the connections are far too weak and you say that's presumptuous of me. You then go on to agree with me that those answers would almost certainly be rejected by OC if they were to be submitted.

In what way, therefore, are we disagreeing with each other? We're not!

You say that those suggested answers are silly. Yes, they are silly and they are intended to be silly. My point is to show that obvious connections and weak connections exist for a great many questions but that, as you say, if they were to be accepted the show would grind to a halt.

In what way, therefore, are we disagreeing with each other? We're not!

If I remember correctly you previously said that in order to be accepted by OC, a connection or sequence question must have only one correct answer (which is, of course, to say there must be absolutely no other correct answers). My point has always been that the rule employed by OC must surely be not simply that there be no other correct answers but that there be no other correct answers of any merit. The distinction might, of course, be lost on a great many people but I'm sure that a man such as yourself will see it.

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Nice to see some more Telegoons.

If it was Dykes you could replace posh drug users with Miranda Hart, as Hart-Dyke is her real name. Just a thought.

Quote: Firkin @ 10th November 2018, 9:29 AM

The Irish
Lesbians
Builders
A posh drug user.

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They are all people a traditional English gentleman would prefer his daughter not to marry.

I hereby claim my £5.

Who is a traditional English gentleman? Would they accept Thomas Telford? What about a Northern Irishman? So, it's a tricky question.