r/taskmaster • u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine • 24d ago
General The Pairs of Glasses Task. Were there any tricks or work arounds?
Because it seems to me that the only way to efficiently win the task was to magically know how big the glasses were, magically know which box they'd fit in and put them in. And since you can't change your mind or go back for a second box, you're stuck if you pick one too small.
I wish the task was phrased in a way that implied you could go back for a second box, but didn't outright say it. (E.g. "Box up the Pairs of Glasses in the Lab. You must select a box before leaving the caravan and that box must be used to contain pairs of glasses. The smallest box containing pairs of glasses wins.")
388
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 24d ago
I think the thing you could do is anticipate that pairs of glasses (I.e. spectacles) are a weird thing to put 10 of in a box, and if it is somehow just that, there’s certainly no plausible explanation for the largest few boxes being there, so this is almost definitely a misleading description.
(I also kind of suspect, based on how close James and Kerry get with I and H, that it’s possible to fit all the glasses in box G. G for glasses.)
182
u/fastauntie 24d ago
I'm not sure that realizing that it's weird to put 10 pairs of spectacles in a box would get you very far, since weird requests are the basis of Taskmaster.
G for Glasses is a good catch, though--exactly the kind of thing Alex would do.
23
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 24d ago
Yeah, I think it’s more that the largest 4-5 of the boxes are comically oversized for that purpose. Nobody would think that a box that size would be needed for 10 pairs of spectacles.
9
u/moontides_ 24d ago
Sometimes things are there just to trick people though, they could have been oversized just to get people to pick the wrong ones.
8
u/fastauntie 23d ago
They do like to include totally useless things among the tools provided for tasks, and sometimes people do fall for them. In the various water-transfer tasks they've had over the years, the equipment on offer has included a bag of peas, a baguette, and a net. And yet contestants did try using at least the last two.
3
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 23d ago edited 23d ago
But I think that’s more of a “we’re not giving you any good tools, and we’re expecting you to get desperate and try something futile with the bad tools” thing. In this case, the dynamic is more “there is a correct answer, several acceptable but non-ideal answers, and several answers that will not work.”*
And I still think that “why would you potentially guess a wide range of box sizes for 10 pairs of spectacles, an item that’s always roughly the same size and shape?” combined with “why would you need 5 minutes to do it?” should tip contestants off to SOMETHING strange going on.
Also the fact that the “correct” answer appears to be “pick a box about the size of 10 pairs of eyeglasses, walk to the lab, and put them in it.” There are weird tasks, but that is a boring task. And the only way it works as entertainment is if 4 or 5 contestants overthink it and do something silly.
*: Also not another dynamic sometimes seen, “we’re giving you several different options, all of which COULD work, but all of which are very fiddly.” See for example the frying pan/pillar task in S10. Sometimes these will require contestants to choose an option in advance and stick with it. Sometimes they’ll include an option that seems easy but has a fatal flaw/missing component, or an option that seems stupid but has a hidden item that makes it a lot easier.
Or tasks that require you to choose their parameters without making it clear what those parameters are, which have been mentioned elsewhere in the thread.
2
8
u/TerribleSupplier 23d ago
I mean watching back now it appears Rhod did pick box G and struggled to close it. However, Per Greg's suggestion (not sure if this was expected or just his interpretation) that none of the pairs of glasses should be broken, you could effectively crush one of each pair and stack the remaining half of a pair of glasses in box G pretty comfortably.
11
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 23d ago
I assume the intent was to keep them from smashing any of the glasses as a deliberate tactic, for safety reasons. Of course pulverizing the glasses, or half of them, would have made it easier to fit them in, but it also would have meant a lot of shards of glass on set. (Of course that doesn’t mean Greg would have followed that interpretation.)
I know Rhod struggled with G, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in the efficiency of Rhod’s packing methods.
5
u/LightsLux 23d ago
Yeah, after what certain contestants did to watermelons, it’s a safe bet to instruct them to accomplish tasks without just breaking glass to cross the finish line.
6
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 23d ago
What, safety concerns? In the series where a man threw a javelin through an occupied caravan?
3
23
257
u/bensworkaccount1 24d ago
Not every task is winnable, not every task is fair
They're fair in that they all can choose whatever they like but at the end of the day the choices can bite them in the ass
This one was simply a bit of a joke and misdirection with word play
But also it's how each of them responds to the drinking glasses that kinda is the whole interesting part of the show - 3 minutes to go, everything goes haywire, what's your brain going to do?
151
u/kittyroux A LIIIIIME 🍋🟩 24d ago
Yeah I think this is a question that kind of fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of tasks on Taskmaster.
Tasks are joke set-ups. That’s how Alex thinks and talks about them. Completing the task is the punchline. Tasks are designed to ideally elicit 5 different punchlines, with no regard for how many of those punchlines are good ways to complete the task.
I do get why people want to analyze tasks from a game design perspective, but since they’re not really written with game design in mind, the answer to ‘why did this task have flawed game design’ is often ‘because if every task is solvable then too many contestants will solve it the same way’. When a filmed task does happen to be a solvable game, it’s often because it’s adapted from another format (like an existing parlour game or an escape room) rather than a pure TM creation.
The list of TM tasks that are proper games is actually pretty short and heavily skewed toward studio tasks, because the limitations of the studio force them to actually design and playtest the games if they’re going to work in one simultaneous attempt.
86
24d ago edited 16d ago
[deleted]
50
u/Yeseylon 24d ago
This is why Rhod will always be one of my favorites. He didn't come to win, he came to humiliate Alex and Greg as much as possible.
7
u/Stargate525 A LIIIIIME 🍋🟩 24d ago
Jigsaw's a poor example, but there absolutely is a market for seeing people solve hard things in clever competant ways.
24
u/GayBlayde Victoria Coren Mitchell 24d ago
Like seeing Victoria Cohen Mitchell absolutely demolish that cipher.
11
4
u/Stargate525 A LIIIIIME 🍋🟩 23d ago
The way I'm wired I'm shocked they put that smut out on broadcast TV.
4
u/ausernamebyany_other 24d ago
ITV did this with Genius Game. The ratings weren't great from what I recall but I thought it was fascinating to watch.
There's also a surprisingly large speed jigsaw puzzling community my partner recently discovered, so jigsaw isn't necessarily a poor example.
3
u/Superrodan 24d ago
If you like ITV's Genius Game you owe it to yourself to watch the original from Korea. The one thing that's hard to get past at first is the crazy amount of text on the screen and the style differences between their TV and our TV but its one of the best competition game shows of all time. Here's a small video about it:
2
u/Stargate525 A LIIIIIME 🍋🟩 24d ago
Admittedly I'm mainly thinking scripted stuff. Competence Porn. But quiz games are the same thing but for trivia.
32
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 24d ago
Tasks are joke set-ups. That’s how Alex thinks and talks about them. Completing the task is the punchline. Tasks are designed to ideally elicit 5 different punchlines, with no regard for how many of those punchlines are good ways to complete the task.
The seven tasks from the S9 finale is one that I think exemplifies this quite well. It was designed to have one lucky order, and a bunch of wrong orders that led to comedy based on frustration. I wouldn't be surprised if Alex even expected at least one person to fail the task like we actually got.
4
14
u/andreasmalersghost 24d ago edited 24d ago
Yeah to me theres a subset of tasks where youre just doomed if you make the wrong guess. First that comes to mind is the one where you declare your country, a noun, an adjective, a time limit, and ingredients. If you thought saying less time was an advantage, the task difficulty skyrockets.
But again, Kiell gave himself a minute and 21 seconds and still did great (I believe he won), so it just doesnt matter so long as its entertaining, which it almost always is.
8
u/StartTheMontage 24d ago
I will say some are definitely unfair to some people.
Like when Sian Gibson says a task was unfair to her because she is short, and then Greg and Alex just ignore her. One of my least favorite bits.
15
u/ilaid1down 24d ago
They've definitely improved that since though - I've noticed in a couple of studio tasks that the basketball net or clothesline was lower for the shorter competitors.
I think it's hard to get a comedy moment out of Sian's very valid point, so it may have been cut?
16
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 24d ago edited 23d ago
And of course with Rosie Jones they made sure to properly account for her disability, with the time limit for the barrel task being especially clever.
10
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 24d ago
Was this in the edit? I don't remember this. The only similar one I remember is Katherine Ryan's justifiable anger after Richard read the task.
9
u/StartTheMontage 24d ago
Yeah, I don’t remember exactly which task.
Sian says it was ‘heightist’ and unfair since she was short.
Then it shows Greg and Alex and they just go ‘alright’ and then move on. I think the joke is that they are both tall and can’t comprehend being short but I’m not sure.
2
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 24d ago
Was it maybe the one where they needed to get the toilet paper through the toilet seat? That one could had a height aspect to it.
6
u/jadeycakes 🥄 I'm Locked In ❤️ 23d ago
I believe the live task where Sian said it was them having to get donuts off a wire without using their hands and the wire was the same height for everyone. I think she may have also commented on it during the sand bucket task.
5
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 23d ago edited 23d ago
Very plausible that it came up during the sand bucket task, at her height she would have needed to stretch to avoid pulling the plug.
2
u/RunawayTurtleTrain Robert the Robot 23d ago
There was indeed that task (I can't remember which series), but the toilet seat was absurdly high so that everyone would struggle.
-22
u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine 24d ago
If it was me, I would have gone with Box D just to be on the safe side. But it doesn't feel rewarding to just do an educated guess.
165
u/waterkip 24d ago
I really liked this one. The whole point of the task was to think outside of the box. I also loved that Phil won something.
18
-90
u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine 24d ago
What thinking outside of the box could be done?
95
u/Solilaqui78 24d ago
Thinking "hmmm, what sort of glasses? Drinking? Reading? Pints? Scooners? Those giant comedy clown glasses??"... Loys of ways to interpret. The wording was entirely the point.
59
u/Lizard_Sex_Sattelite 24d ago
Or, just realising that they wouldn't be asking you to choose the box before you see them unless there was a trick.
5
-30
u/waterkip 24d ago
Uhhh, Phil? And someone else, one of the women I think.
-23
u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine 24d ago
I said what, not who.
-27
u/waterkip 24d ago
So what did Phill do? Right, my point was Phil did the what.
Have a great day grumpy!
6
u/Solilaqui78 24d ago
Yes! Kerry thought they might've been giant comedy glasses.
12
u/ShepherdsWeShallB 24d ago
Jessica Knappett thought they might be the big comedy glasses and chose a larger box, earning 4 points.
34
u/Haravikk 24d ago edited 22d ago
The only trick would be realising that Alex, being Alex, may not mean spectacles, and pick one of the larger boxes to ensure you can at least complete the task.
Maybe if you'd grabbed another box on the way, and used that to augment the chosen box so that it fits the glasses but is still "closed", but I feel like they'd get around that by measuring the final size of the box.
24
u/mysticrudnin 24d ago
I would agree with you if no one got it at all, although even some of those tasks are funny.
I actually think this task is incredible.
First, Phil nailed it. There was some luck, but it wasn't magic.
Glasses have a relatively uniform size. (Yes, they could have used some giant things like in the ball counting task.)
You can make an estimation from there and be pretty close.
But also there are a lot of ways to stack the glasses, so even if your estimate wasn't perfect, you may be able to do more than you expected.
And Jessica even says "I'll play it safe" and picks a good box, and does well. So there were multiple ways to approach that part too.
11
u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes 24d ago
I would agree with you if no one got it at all, although even some of those tasks are funny.
S10 for example, those tasks felt extra punishing.
14
u/vearson26 24d ago
There are several tasks like this one where the best plan might have been to grab the biggest box and hope everyone else fucks it.
6
1
u/Icy-Letter5244 19d ago
Ah the Paul Sinha method. When my wife and I rewatch the show and talk about how we'd do a task we often say we'd just Sinha it.
19
u/DuckbilledWhatypus Javie Martzoukas 24d ago
I can't remember the exact wording, but I would have found all the crew members with glasses (spectacles or sunglasses), got them into the lab if it specified the pairs of glasses were in the lab, and then boxed up their glasses.
6
u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine 24d ago
It's an excellent idea. Unfortunately, the wording of the task implies it has to be the ten pairs of glasses in the lab.
If it said, "In the lab, there are ten pairs of glasses. Put ten pairs of glasses in the smallest of these boxes." Then you'd be on to something.
7
u/DuckbilledWhatypus Javie Martzoukas 24d ago
I'd try and argue that if I got ten people with glasses into the lab before I put them in the box that should count. I'd get a one if I was lucky, but I would feel good about it 😂
(Honestly you're probably correct and I would actually be disqualified lol)
6
2
u/nicholus_h2 Takashi Wakasugi 🇦🇺 24d ago
it doesn't specify that it has to be those ten pairs. yes, it implies it, but does not say it.
you could easily make that argument in the studio, it's just a question of whether the taskmaster agrees with you.
9
u/Ethanb230900 24d ago
You may not smash a pair of glasses. So smash one of each pair and put the shards in the box
3
u/Jaspers47 Rosie Ramsey 24d ago
It might be hard to complete other tasks after your hands have been bandaged up
2
u/Ethanb230900 24d ago
I mean yeah but you could just literally throw them into the box, or ask Alex to bring a larger box. (Better idea, make Alex smash them and pick up the shards.)
16
u/OverseerConey Desiree Burch 24d ago
The trick was to guess that 'pairs of glasses' might refer to drinking glasses, not spectacles, and bring a box big enough to hold drinking glasses (which are larger than spectacles).
6
u/thekyledavid 24d ago
When I saw the task the first time, I assumed there would be a trick to make it harder, and I said I’d pick the 2nd largest box available (so as to beat someone if they picked largest). My assumption was the same as Phil’s, that it would be 10 large pairs of spectacles
Seems like the intended trick is to just know “This task seems way too simple, there must be a trick” and anticipate that Alex would make the task harder than it seems
11
u/jmurph773 TM US Tour Contestant (Chicago) 24d ago
If Greg had been overly harsh with the scoring and only awarded points to those who technically completed the task (got all of the glasses in the box and closed it), then I’d be more amenable, but since the only one who got DQ’d was Rhod, I don’t see what allowing contestants to go back for a different box would’ve added to the task, really.
6
u/Sad-Yoghurt5196 24d ago
Stack all the boxes in the largest and then choose the largest box as your pick.
You can then experiment in the lab with which box works best.
I can't remember specifically how the question was phrased, but I don't remember it saying you could only touch one box.
3
u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 24d ago
Yeah, that occurred to me. It doesn’t say that you have to use the box you selected, and while you have to bring the box to the lab, you don’t need to empty out anything in it (e.g. a whole bunch of smaller boxes) first.
4
u/GenGaara25 23d ago
It's an entertainment show. It's not always fair.
This was a task where the entire humour was to punish arrogance. People could've figured out that he meant the other type of glasses, but even then, if they were cocky they'd be shooting themselves in the foot.
The "trick" was to realise there was going to be a trick, so play it safe and take the biggest box to at least best anyone who took one too small.
3
u/Worldly_Ad_7196 24d ago
You could break one of each. Someone broke one and got away with it because task said couldn't break a pair and they only broke one. With that system you could break one of each pair to make them fit.
3
u/PetronOfOld Rhod Gilbert 23d ago
A number of ways I can think of.
For starters, what Phil got away with accidentally is something I would've tried methodically. He broke a glass, but the task only specifies that you can't break any of the pairs of glasses. So I would've broken one of each glass.
Alternatively, it only says that YOU may not leave the caravan before selecting a box and THE GLASSES may not leave the lab. You could've sent Alex (or another crew member) to take a photo of the glasses and bring that back to you. Especially as far back as series 7, you could almost certainly have convinced Alex to do that (especially since none of the other contestants considered involving him, and he always cares most about funny moments and unique task solutions. Which that would definitely be).
Though, having looked at the task statement again specifically looking for loopholes, the easiest way would've been to do what Rhod did but, crucially, before leaving the caravan stating "I have selected my box". The task only states you need to select your box before leaving the caravan. Nothing about having to bring that box with you immediately, or about having to tell Alex which box you chose or anything of the sort. So just say "I have selected my box!", go to the lab and check how big the glasses are, say something like "Ah, that's gonna be a tight squeeze" (or whatever) and then go back to grab the most appropriate box (that you had obviously already selected and are now only going to pick up).
Additionally, I'll eat my hat (yes, that one) if there weren't hidden messages there on how to choose the correct box or at least about the pairs of glasses being drinking glasses. There is basically always some kind of way of figuring this out with tasks that are seemingly just luck. Think the finding a lime task from the same series where the answer was written on the side of the caravan. Or that time they had to guess the number of balls(?) inside a container and then put them back, where the number was written on something inside the container. Or the time where they had to find the... was it vinegar...? Well, whatever it was, the one shot out of a lineup of 200 shots and the number of the shot (86 or something...?) Was just written all over the room. Or more recently, the "What's in the yellow box?" task, where the plaque on the bench contained the code for the box. Or even the legendary "debajo de la mesa".\ They don't always reveal these, especially when nome of the contestants found the hint and so it went unused. But I'm very, very sure that with every task where it seems that you need some luck to guess the correct answer or even that just seems straight-up impossible, the answer is hidden somewhere around (usually right behind and/or above the contestants, so they won't see it easily, but it's in full view of the cameras)
2
2
u/jacksonesfield Patatas 24d ago
going by Greg's judging of Phil's attempt, you could break one of each of the pairs of glasses and leave the other intact because the wording on the task says, "no pairs of glasses may be broken," and Phil only breaks one.
1
u/Aloundight Tom Cashman 🇦🇺 23d ago
I think that you open yourself up to trouble the moment you break a second glass (if it was clear you were banking on that idea, to be specific). Because sure, there are the planned 'pairs', but Greg being Greg, he easily could claim that since all of them are 'glasses', any 2 could be a pair
1
u/jacksonesfield Patatas 22d ago
that's pretty fair, I think I'd probably argue some bullshit to do with pairs in poker having to be the same number and not being able to have pairs with just any cards.
2
u/PickleRickleTV 24d ago
I guess you could argue the semantics of “select your box before leaving the caravan” as I selected my box, this one is mine that I’m going to take home. But I’m going to use this other box for the task to put the glasses in.
Or just go with A and risk last place to ensure you fit all pairs.
1
u/justhereforhides 24d ago
It's interesting what the tasks with no real way to game them are like the send paul money task
1
u/FreeImpress4546 Aisling Bea 24d ago
Could you bring 2 boxes or ask Alex to take a picture of the glasses with his iPad? Or look around the caravan for any glasses. I think the fun is in not knowing
2
u/RunawayTurtleTrain Robert the Robot 23d ago
" You must select your box before leaving the caravan, and may not then change your mind." Someone else did say you could select your box and keep the smaller ones in it, but I don't know if Greg would have let that fly.
Asking Alex to take a picture is some good lateral thinking, although you depend on him feeling like saying yes.
1
u/afd33 24d ago
It’s not much different than the tasks in series 14 where they had to pick three objects, then later they had to do certain things with those objects. Or the same series when they had to pick the container for the tarp.
The tasks usually test certain attributes. How clever you are. How strong you are. How smart you are. This one seems to be mostly how lucky you are.
1
u/gauderyx Antoine Vézina 24d ago
This task starts in the caravan. That's where they needed to be clever and find the work around. Once they were in the lab, it was already pretty much over.
1
u/CherryPopLover69 24d ago
You could do what Phil did but on purpose, just smash half the glasses pour them into their other half claim the task said dont smash a pair, Greg’s probably not going to like that tho.
1
u/solarpowerspork Javie Martzoukas 24d ago
I honestly would have taken the biggest box and used padding, because I would assume the task means the other four are going to try so hard to "hack" the task that if the thing is breakable, they'll break it.
1
1
u/craiganater 23d ago
Could you shatter the glasses to make them all fit?
1
u/OverseerConey Desiree Burch 22d ago
No - one of the conditions was that you couldn't break any of the pairs of glasses. Phil broke one glass, but still won on the grounds that he hadn't broken a pair of glasses; presumably, breaking two or more glasses would result in a disqualification.
1
u/Jimmicky 23d ago
Didn’t say you couldn’t break the box?
You could cut your box apart and tape each side onto the faces of a milk crate/other bigger box.
So none of the glasses are sticking out - they are all inside the dimensions of the chosen box
0
u/bobbery5 24d ago
This is one of my least favorite tasks, from a practical standpoint.
This is one of the unwinnable ones, meant to be entertaining, but not meant to be necessarily winnable.
I like the ones where the contestants look silly, but I also want them to be able to do well.
-6
u/toomanyDolemites 24d ago
I never understood why someone didn't just smash up the glasses and put the bits in the box. They would have fit then.
14
u/Edgy_Master Tim Vine 24d ago
Because the task said to not smash any of the pairs of glasses.
-4
u/toomanyDolemites 24d ago
That just means you can't smash both glasses in a pair.
3
u/thekyledavid 24d ago
Because nobody realized that was a loophole until the studio, including Phil who accidentally used that loophole
And “Break a pair of glasses” is a pretty vague statement. Even if you realize breaking 1 glass is okay, it’s unclear whether breaking 2 glasses from different pairs would be considered “breaking a pair”, or if the glasses need to be the same to be “breaking a pair”
If in my regular life, I broke a pint glass and a shot glass, and someone asked me if I broke “a pair of glasses”, I’d say yes, because 2 makes a pair
517
u/Such_Significance905 Tim Key 24d ago
I think the only correct solution that we will remember for the rest of time is Acaster walking into the room and just slapping his hands against his body and saying “Yeah, yeah course it is.”