Non-starter for 10 Why TV quizshows are abandoning general knowledge

There was a time when quizshows were about knowing who composed the 1812 Overture, which EU capital city is the most southerly and who scored the winner in the last FA Cup final to be held at the old Wembley.

- Michael Savage

Lately, however, you have to be able to bend your brain in a different manner. For example, what is the lowest number to have the same value as 10 times the number of letters in its name?

That was posed during the latest series of The 1% Club, the ITV quiz presented by the comedian Lee Mack, now into its fourth series, which becomes progressively more difficult as its rounds progress.

Its success follows a trend for TV brain teasers and lateral thinking, including the BBC's devilishly hard Only Connect, which completed its 20th series last month. Richard Osman's House of Games also weaves questions into puzzles.

According to experts, the trend comes from the enjoyable process of logic puzzles, which avoid the black-or-white nature of trivia.

"TV quizzes featuring brain teaser puzzles certainly seem to be experiencing something of a surge in popularity at the moment - and long may it continue," said Robert Dean, who has written thousands of questions for shows including The 1% Club.