GAME OVER! The 1% Club Contestants Left Stumped By A Tricky Five-Letter Word Riddle – Can You Crack It In Just 30 Seconds?

A seemingly simple five-letter word proved surprisingly difficult for contestants on The 1% Club, with two players losing their chance to reach the jackpot after failing to solve the puzzle within the allotted 30 seconds.

The ITV quiz show, hosted by Lee Mack, regularly puts contestants through a series of increasingly challenging brainteasers. In one episode, 100 players started the competition hoping to survive until the final 1% question and win a share of the jackpot.

But the 5% question quickly separated those who could think on their feet from those who struggled under pressure.

ONE FIVE-LETTER WORD LEFT CONTESTANTS STUMPED

Standing before the contestants, Lee presented a word puzzle that sounded straightforward enough – until players tried to work out the answer.

He asked:

“There is a five-letter word where if you remove the first letter a bit remains.

“If you remove the second letter that bit is still there and if you take away the third letter it continues to be in place.

“What is the word?”

The contestants had just 30 seconds to come up with an answer.

When the countdown ended, two players had failed to crack the puzzle and were eliminated from the competition, ending their hopes of progressing towards the jackpot.

Lee then revealed the answer: HABIT.

The explanation was much simpler than the question initially suggested:

• Remove the first letter, H, and you are left with ABIT – “a bit”.
• Remove the second letter, A, and BIT remains.
• Remove the third letter, B, and you are left with IT.

Once the trick was revealed, the answer seemed almost obvious. But under the pressure of a ticking clock, it was enough to catch two contestants out.

ANOTHER BRUTAL QUESTION SENT 23 PLAYERS HOME

The word puzzle was not the only challenge to cause trouble.

In a separate episode aired on Saturday, an even tougher question left 23 contestants stunned after they were eliminated in one fell swoop.

Lee asked:

“Including the word ‘and’, what is the only number out of the numbers below that uses every vowel exactly once when spelt out?”

The three possible answers were:

• 107
• 206
• 305

As contestants tried to work through the wording, Lee added a familiar dose of humour to the pressure-filled moment.

“Take as long as you need… as long as the time you need is 30 seconds,” he joked.

The correct answer was 206.

THE 15% QUESTION CAUSED EVEN MORE TROUBLE

The challenges continued, with another question proving difficult for several players.

This time, Lee presented groups of six symbols and asked contestants to identify which group appeared in exactly the same order when read from left to right and from right to left.

He lightened the mood with another joke, telling the contestants: “This is basically what we had to use before emojis.”

The correct answer was C.

Despite making it through several earlier rounds, eight more contestants were eliminated by this stage of the competition.

They were just three questions away from the coveted 1% question – and the opportunity to win a share of the jackpot.

For those players, the dream of reaching the final had come painfully close, only to disappear over a handful of tricky brainteasers.