Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Most head-scratching questions asked by Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge

Jeremy Paxman hosted University Challenge for 28 years and announced that he would be stepping down from the show in 2022 (PA)
Jeremy Paxman hosted University Challenge for 28 years and announced that he would be stepping down from the show in 2022 (PA)

First aired in 1962, brainiac game show University Challenge has been a mainstay on British TV for more than 60 years.

After almost three decades fronting the show, quizmaster Jeremy Paxman, 73, announced his departure last summer, with his final show set to air on Monday.

During his time on University Challenge, Paxman asked repeatedly difficult questions about everything from chemistry to classics.

– Pascal’s triangle

With audible gasps from the audience, Noble, from Newcastle University impressed when he answered a tough question about Pascal’s triangle.

Paxman asked: “If one, one is the second row of Pascal’s triangle, what is the seventh row.”

Noble responded: “One, six, 15, 20, 15, six, one.”

– Snob

In the final between Wolfson College, Cambridge and Balliol College, Oxford, on series 46 of University Challenge, Paxman tested the contestants capacity for mental maths.

He asked: “The atomic number of sulfur is 16, what is the sum of the atomic numbers of the four elements whose symbols spell the word snob?”

Goldman, from Balliol, Oxford answered 37, before team member Yang from Wolfson, Cambridge asked whether it was 31.

Paxman revealed that the answer was 36, as the individual atomic numbers are 16, seven, eight and five.

– Shocking pink

On series 46 of the show, a question about the shade “shocking pink” stumped the contestants.

Paxman said: “The packaging for a perfume launched in the 1930s by the designer Elsa Schiaparelli is the origin of the two word name of which colour, described in a contemporary publication as a ‘crude, cruel shade of rose’.”

Menkus from Imperial answered “Chanel pink”, which was wrong, while Goldman from Balliol, Oxford guessed “flame red”, which was also wrong.

– Gulliver’s Travels

In series 51 of the show, Paxman asked a question about the book Gulliver’s Travels which left the King’s College team silent.

He said: “In Gulliver’s Travels, which island is separated from Lilliput by an 800-wide channel, the two empires are involved in an on-going war over which end of a boiled egg should be broken.”

Mays from Imperial interrupted and got the answer wrong, while King’s College stayed silent, before Paxman revealed that the answer was Blefuscu.