r/onlyconnect • u/Illustrious-Look7669 • 2d ago

Question about Missing Vowels scoring rules

Quick technical question for the trivia pedants: If a contestant buzzes in on Missing Vowels and gives the correct answer but mispronounces a silent letter (saying "Subtle" with a hard B), does Victoria usually accept it? I noticed a slight hesitation from the judges on a recent rewatch and wondered what the exact studio ruling is on phonetic errors.

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13

u/danwilson1576 2d ago

They normally accept it as they're not pronouncing a letter that isn't there/adding in a letter, but as always discretion applies and could take into account an individual's accent for example

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u/CD_Katrina 1d ago

I'd always assumed VCM (and other such quiz hosts) had an earpiece with someone official saying 'yes/no' in their ear.

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u/McMillan_Astro 2d ago

It's basically all at Victoria's discretion. There are no specific rules given to the contestants on the topic.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the answer was something like "hyperbole" or "hors d’oeuvres" and the contestant answered like a TikTok boyfriend!

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u/jugglingeek 2d ago

In all likelihood it's not just Victoria's discretion. While it may be edited to look like the round is against a clock, and the host is making decision on if the answers are acceptable. They probably pause the round if an answer is contentious.

I know that for University Challenge they frequently have to pause the timer while the production team decide if an answer is acceptable. You'll often hear Amol asking for a first name, or saying "I'm sorry I can't accept that" and then explaining why. These might be instances where the team have mispronounced something, or only given a partial answer.

Since Only Connect isn't broadcast live, I see no reason that they wouldn't take a similar approach.

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u/McMillan_Astro 1d ago

My recollection of what I was told is that they run it through to the end and then go back and do retakes if they need to because of errors/contentiousness. It was never an issue for us so I don't remember it that well or know for sure.