Only Connect Put Four Famous Films On Screen With Bizarre Numbers Beside Them — And The Connection Is Hiding Inside The Movies Themselves

Back to the Future and The King’s Speech both say “99m” while When Harry Met Sally says just “4m” — but the numbers have nothing to do with the films’ running times

If you saw four famous movie titles accompanied by a number of minutes, you’d probably make the same assumption most people would.

They must be running times.

And that is exactly why this Only Connect question is so effective.

Contestants were confronted with:

Back to the Future — 99m
The King’s Speech — 99m
Singin’ in the Rain — 68m
When Harry Met Sally — 4m

At first glance, everything appears to point towards movie lengths.

There’s just one problem.

When Harry Met Sally certainly isn’t four minutes long.

So what on earth are those numbers measuring?

The question appeared in a particularly unusual Only Connect episode

The puzzle came from the opening episode of Only Connect Series 16, broadcast on BBC Two on September 21, 2020.

It was the first-round meeting between the Pilgrims and the Corkscrews, with the latter made up of Laura Lawson, Alex Thomas and Alexander Olive. The Pilgrims were Rick Tooley, Pat Everitt and Pam Tooley.

The episode is also instantly recognisable today because it was filmed under Covid-era precautions.

Rather than sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, contestants were separated by transparent screens and positioned further apart. The production also adapted the way teams communicated and played later rounds.

But the show’s notoriously unforgiving questions certainly hadn’t become any easier.

And Question Five of the opening Connections round delivered a particularly satisfying piece of movie trivia.

Four films. Four suspiciously specific times.

Try it before reading any further.

What connects:

Back to the Future (99m)

The King’s Speech (99m)

Singin’ in the Rain (68m)

When Harry Met Sally (4m)

The fact that the numbers are followed by an “m” practically begs you to interpret them as minutes.

But once you notice the four-minute problem, another possibility opens up.

Maybe the programme isn’t telling you how long each movie lasts.

Maybe it’s telling you how long you have to wait for something to happen.

And there’s another clue sitting right in front of you.

Look carefully at the titles.

Back to the Future.

The King’s Speech.

Singin’ in the Rain.

When Harry Met Sally.

The answer is hidden in what each movie promises.

The numbers tell you when the title actually happens

The connection was:

the point in the film at which the event described by its title occurs.

In other words, Only Connect wasn’t giving contestants the running time of each movie.

It was measuring approximately how far into the film you have to go before the title becomes literally true.

According to the question:

Back to the Future — 99 minutes

The King’s Speech — 99 minutes

Singin’ in the Rain — 68 minutes

When Harry Met Sally — 4 minutes

And suddenly that apparently ridiculous “4m” beside When Harry Met Sally makes perfect sense.

The title doesn’t refer to the whole romance that follows. For the purposes of the connection, it’s about the moment Harry meets Sally — something that naturally happens near the beginning.

Singin’ in the Rain, meanwhile, requires the film to reach the point associated with the title event, while the two 99-minute clues force viewers to wait considerably longer for the corresponding title moments.

@undeniablyalex Another of my old Qs, even the non-music Qs involve a risk of contestant singing. #quiz #quizshow #onlyconnect #puzzle #trivia #gameshow #victoriacorenmitchell ♬ original sound – UndeniablyAlex

The first assumption is precisely what makes it tricky

It’s a wonderfully simple example of how Only Connect can make familiar information look completely alien.

You don’t need obscure knowledge about directors, Academy Awards or release years to understand the connection.

Instead, the trap comes from presentation.

Put a movie title next to “99m” and your brain almost automatically reads it as:

Film — running time.

Once that interpretation takes hold, it’s difficult to abandon it.

Yet the clue that destroys the entire theory is also the easiest one on the board.

When Harry Met Sally — 4m.

Nobody needs an IMDb page to know that’s impossible as a running time.

The four minutes aren’t telling you when the movie ends.

They’re telling you when something in its title begins.

And the Corkscrews had plenty more to deal with

This wasn’t the only lateral-thinking trap in the episode.

Other Round One connections included things hidden inside equids, Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, apparitions and phone numbers whose digits had to be added together. The movie question was followed by a set involving vestigial structures.

The match itself remained tight.

The Pilgrims held narrow advantages after the first two rounds, but the Corkscrews produced the stronger Connecting Wall performance to move ahead 17-14 before Missing Vowels.

Laura Lawson, Alex Thomas and Alexander Olive maintained their advantage in the final round and eventually defeated the Pilgrims 22-19.

But this particular movie connection is arguably more fun when played from home.

Because once you know the answer, those four numbers stop looking arbitrary.

And When Harry Met Sally (4m) goes from being the clue that appears completely wrong to the one that could have given the whole game away.