Victoria Coren Mitchell slammed the New York Times’ puzzle editor when they revealed their next game on Twitter.
Wyna Liu passionately introduced her new notion, Connections, which is about grouping words that have a similar thread.
She wrote: ‘Very excited to share the game I’ve been working on, Connections! I’ve loved making it, and hope you enjoy playing.’
Victoria saw the tweet right away since it reminded her of her BBC quiz Only Connect.
The programme pits two teams of three against each other and asks them to draw connections between seemingly unrelated topics. Patience and lateral thinking are as important as knowledge in the show, which frequently leaves spectators perplexed.
‘Do you know this has been a TV show in the UK since 2008?! It’s so similar I guess you must do?’ Victoria wrote on Twitter in response to Wyna’s announcement.
Do you know this has been a TV show in the UK since 2008 ?! It’s so similar I guess you must do?
— Victoria Coren Mitchell (@VictoriaCoren) June 13, 2023
Some of the show’s viewers backed Victoria, 50.
‘I, for one, can’t wait for the opening of the next series where you duly rinse them for such plagiarism,’ wrote one person.
Another added: ‘I guess they thought a puzzle game on the BBC won’t have much of a following.
‘Little did they know that Only Connect fans are very good at writing angry letters and tweets to not only correct, but also to protect their show!’
While plenty of people noted that NYT version seemed a little easier to solve.
‘Presumably, the major difference is that the NYT version will not involve me just staring at it for ages before saying something like “Are there bridges in there?” just as the time runs out,’ joked one person.
Only Connect is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
