Hardest of bonus rounds

[aaron sica]

As a complement to the post of the easiest bonus rounds, what are the hardest?

This occured to me yesterday while watching the 9am Concentration on BUZZR. I think the "guess two rebuses in 10 seconds for a car" has to be pretty high up there.

[SamJ93]

The concept of the Concentration '73 bonus round wasn't difficult in and of itself IMO, but when the showrunners insisted on solutions like "JIMMY STEWART WAS A FAMOUS ACTOR WHO STARRED IN IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" and "MY VERY EXCELLENT MOTHER JUST SERVED US NINE PIES," it definitely became one of the hardest.

I'd say Carmen Sandiego once they increased the goal to 8 correct answers ranks up there, especially if a contestant was unlucky enough to get the Africa map. And even though it was thoroughly discussed on the board recently, Nick Arcade.

[SuperMatch93]

The way the Winner's Big Money Game on Sale was set up was quite tricky most days. Not only were the puzzles written so that they were a shot in the dark until the fourth word, you had virtually no chance of making up lost time with an incorrect answer or if you waited too long on one of them.

[tvmitch]

I don't know if it qualifies as a bonus round, but the endgame on the Chase is up there in terms of loss/win ratio.

[TimK2003]

In the history of game shows, this one was just a blip:

It Takes Two w/ Dick Clark...
 
IIRC, I don't think ANYBODY won the Waverunner Bonus Round.  The winning "range" was always different from show to show and the teams answer was based on the average of contestant's two guesstimates without any consultation between the players.

[mystery7]

The concept of the Concentration '73 bonus round wasn't difficult in and of itself IMO, but when the showrunners insisted on solutions like "JIMMY STEWART WAS A FAMOUS ACTOR WHO STARRED IN IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" and "MY VERY EXCELLENT MOTHER JUST SERVED US NINE PIES," it definitely became one of the hardest.

And to think all you got out of it was a lousy Vega or Chevette. Anyone who could solve puzzles like that deserved at least an Impala.

[aaron sica]

Also (and I'm sure there's someone here that can fill in my foggy details).

One of the bonus rounds on an episode of "Pass the Buck" was beyond impossible. It was a letter of the alphabet, you had to say one word that began with it, and there was only one right answer.

[SamJ93]

Along the same lines of the Concentration example...one of the reasons I generally don't watch WoF is because it's usually blatantly obvious when the producers don't want the bonus round to be won and the puzzle is something like ZUCCHINI PIZZA or JAZZ XYLOPHONIST.

[MikeK]

Also (and I'm sure there's someone here that can fill in my foggy details).

One of the bonus rounds on an episode of "Pass the Buck" was beyond impossible. It was a letter of the alphabet, you had to say one word that began with it, and there was only one right answer.

I went down a Pass the Buck rabbit hole over the weekend, courtesy of Adam and Matt's Bill Cullen FB group.  One episode had naming a word starting with Z.  That was lost.  Another episode asked for a Q word on the top row.  Not only was it won, it was the first word out of the player's mouth--QUACK.

[PYLdude]

The bonus round on Scattegories, to me, was overly difficult. I don’t know whether that was due to contestants’ incompetence or judging being a little too strict but it seemed like almost every time I watched it, it wasn’t anywhere close to winnable.

In previous posts I’ve mentioned the 5 in 30 round on Caesars Challenge and the aforementioned Double Play round.

[Loogaroo]

Any time the artifact was put in the rooms directly to the left of the pit on Legends of the Hidden Temple, they were setting up for a loss because the route would invariably take the first player the longest possible way around the temple only to get pulled out by a second temple guard with like 25 seconds to go.

[The Ol' Guy]

Depending on one's definition of hard, I've often thought one of the hardest of bonus rounds was the original Chain Reaction. Sure, it was frequently won, but having two people try to follow each other's descriptive thoughts concisely took a great deal of effort and flexibility. One poorly chosen word, and it might take another eight words to get the question back on track. Winning Streak's bonus was also tough. 

[Unrealtor]

I don't know if it qualifies as a bonus round, but the endgame on the Chase is up there in terms of loss/win ratio.

The Chase, as much as I generally love the game, has done a lot to sour me on formats where a player/team spends the first phase of the game building a bank and then goes home empty-handed if they fail to defend it in the second phase. At least throw in some pity cash.

Along the same lines of the Concentration example...one of the reasons I generally don't watch WoF is because it's usually blatantly obvious when the producers don't want the bonus round to be won and the puzzle is something like ZUCCHINI PIZZA or JAZZ XYLOPHONIST.

And even when they do use less-uncommon letters, it's still TERRIFIC UKULELE or some other thing that's a logically-coherent phrase but not in anything resembling common use.

[Loogaroo]

The Chase, as much as I generally love the game, has done a lot to sour me on formats where a player/team spends the first phase of the game building a bank and then goes home empty-handed if they fail to defend it in the second phase. At least throw in some pity cash.

I used to be of this opinion as well, but it kind of defangs the whole mythos of "trivia amateurs take on a master" when you know that even if they fail they'll get consolation money.

[Kevin Prather]

Tenable's final round requires a perfect 10/10 to win the money, making it very difficult for teams to take the money home. And this series in particular, I'm noticing more and more final lists with one answer that's meant to be a stopper.