Round 1: Connections

Teams are given up to four clues and must try to figure out the connection between them within 40 seconds. The team is initially shown one clue, and may request the remaining three clues at any time within the 40 seconds (they are not automatically shown). The team may press their buzzer to guess after the first clue for 5 points, the second for 3, the third for 2, or the fourth for 1. If the team guesses incorrectly, fails to answer after buzzing in a timely manner, or fails to buzz within the time allotted, the opposing team is shown any remaining clues and can answer for a bonus point. Play then alternates until each team has played three sets of clues. Typically, one of the six puzzles involves pictures, and another uses pieces of music, both classical and contemporary. Music questions are generally considered among the toughest questions in the quiz, and a team's dismay upon realising they have chosen the music question is a frequent source of humour on the programme.

Round 2: Sequences

In this round, each set of four clues forms a sequence. Teams may see a maximum of three clues, and must determine what would come fourth in the sequence within the 40 second time limit. As with the first round, teams score points dependent on the number of clues seen and if they fail to guess correctly, it is thrown over to the other team, who can see any remaining clues and answer for a bonus point. Some sequences can have multiple acceptable answers (for example, if the sequence is sources of Vitamins A, B, C, and D, any source of Vitamin D would be an accepted answer), while others may only have one. Teams can score points without correctly identifying what the sequence is, but may be required to do so if the sequence is very specific or if they are providing a correct alternative sequence incorporating the three provided clues. As in the previous round, one set of clues involves pictures, with teams describing the fourth picture in the sequence, and starting from the quarterfinals of Series 10, there is occasionally a sequence made by three music clips, with contestants supplying the title or artist/s of the fourth unplayed music clip.

For example, sequential clues of "Anger", "Bargaining" and "Depression" would be correctly followed by "Acceptance", these being the 2nd to 5th stages of the Kübler-Ross model of grief.

Round 3: Connecting Wall

Each team receives a wall of 16 clues and are given 2 minutes and 30 seconds to sort them into four groups of four connected items. The puzzles are designed to include red herrings and to suggest more connections than actually exist, as some clues appear to fit into more than one category, but there is only one perfect solution for each wall.^[11] Teams create groups one at a time by tapping on four tiles on the touchscreen, and can make unlimited guesses before finding two complete groups. Once two groups have been identified, teams are only given three chances to identify the remaining two groups before the wall freezes, even if there is time remaining on the clock.

Once all groups are found, time has expired, or all three lives are depleted, the team scores 1 point for each group found within 2 minutes 30 seconds, and any groups not found are shown. The team then scores 1 point for correctly identifying the connections in each group, including the groups they failed to find. If a team finds all four groups and correctly identifies all four connections, they are awarded 2 bonus points, for a maximum total of 10 points. Unlike the previous rounds, the opposing team does not have the opportunity to score points from their opponents' wall.

Round 4: Missing Vowels

In a final buzzer round, the teams are presented with a series of word puzzles. The category of the puzzles is given before they are displayed, and each category contains a maximum of four puzzles. Each puzzle is a word or phrase with the vowels removed and the spaces shifted to disguise the original words. For example, in a category of "Booker Prize-winning novels", a puzzle of "VR NNGDLT TL" would be correctly answered as "Vernon God Little".

Teams answer simultaneously using buzzers, and score 1 point for each puzzle they solve. Initially there was no penalty for guessing incorrectly on this round, but starting with the quarter-finals in Series 1, teams have faced a penalty of 1 point for each incorrect answer. Additionally, if the team that buzzes provides an incorrect answer (even by a single letter) or fails to answer quickly, the opposing team is given an opportunity to answer for a bonus point.

The round lasts for between 90 seconds and three minutes. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. If teams are tied, then a single sudden-death puzzle is given to the captains of each team. If a captain buzzes in first and gives the correct answer then their team wins, but an incorrect answer automatically forfeits the game. Although no category is officially given, they make reference to their own role as sudden-death questions. Examples are "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish", "To the Victor, the Spoils" and "Winner Stays On".

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