University Challenge fans baffled by 'toughest' question - can you answer it?

A question on University Challenge left viewers stunned as even one of Britain's sharpest university teams admitted defeat - and now fans are calling it one of the toughest questions ever asked on the show. The BBC quiz series, hosted by Amol Rajan, is known for pushing contestants to the limits of human intelligence. But during Monday's episode (October 20) featuring SOAS University of London and Imperial College London, one literary puzzle proved so brutal it stopped both teams in their tracks.

The now infamous question was: Question: "What six-letter acronym was adopted by a group of mid-20th century French writers who experimented with works restricted by logical or mathematical constraints? Members included Georges Perec and Raymond Queneau." Even the usually fearless Imperial team were floored. Microphones picked them up whispering in panic before one of them admitted: "I have no idea" - and they passed.

You'll have to scroll down to see the answer, we've added a few other from tonight's episode in as well for our brainiac readers.

Fans erupted online, with one viewer writing: "I thought University Challenge was meant to be hard but that one hurt my brain."

Another posted: "It doesn't matter how many times and years I've been watching this I don't think I'm improving, my only real chance of getting any right is the music round"

The question was just one of several fiendish challenges on the episode. Here are two more that had viewers throwing their remotes at the screen:

One question was: "Which Canadian province is the only one whose borders are not determined by any natural features such as bays, rivers or coastlines?"

And another: "Question: In which English county is the Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, a stretch of coastline that runs from Skegness to the mouth of The Wash?"

Contestants had seconds to buzz in, while viewers at home paused their TVs and still struggled. One fan commented: "I've never felt more thick than I do watching this show."

SOAS and Imperial are both no strangers to intense quiz pressure - Imperial famously won a record fifth University Challenge title last year - but even they looked rattled by the relentless complexity of the round.

The show has earned its reputation as television's most savage quiz, with decades of impossible-sounding questions dating back to Bamber Gascoigne and Jeremy Paxman long before Rajan took over.

Another brutally difficult question from a past episode still haunts fans today:

"With sulphur's atomic number being 16, can you calculate the combined atomic numbers of the four elements whose symbols form the word "SNOB"?

If you fancy putting your brain to the test, try answering the questions now before scrolling further. Think carefully... no Googling... and imagine Rajan staring you down for an answer.

Ready?

ANSWERS

Oulipo

Saskatchewan

Lincolnshire

36 (Sulphur 16 + Nitrogen 7 + Oxygen 8 + Boron 5)

Did you get any right? Let us know in the comments.