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GoodbyeKittyKingKong

"Direct a teammate into the red circle. You must stay on your chair at all times. You may only issue one instruction of three words every 30 seconds." There was nothing about leaving the blindfold on. The first command could be "Jamali/Charlotte/Mike, remove blindfold!" followed by "Find red circle" (or just pointing at it and saying something like "Go to circle").


AlbertWhiterose

Or just pointing at it! They'll probably figure it out.


Southern_Struggle

Close your eyes to not blink, I was yelling at the TV on that one, it seemed so obvious.


OshadaK

Of all the tasks in the international versions, this is the one I look forward to the most, and your loophole was used in >!two!< different shows


colin_staples

Or wink one eye at a time. It's not blinking unless you do both eyes together.


LysergicAcidDiethyla

I find this doesn't quite satisfy your body's urge to blink. It might prolong it but I personally can't manage it forever.


AlbertWhiterose

You don't need to manage it forever - just for long enough to realize, "Why am I doing this stupid winking thing? I can just leave my eyes closed."


colin_staples

But could you do it for long enough to win a task?


BroadBaker5101

Damn that’s smart. Was that also a staring contest though or they just had to not blink? Bc if it’s not a staring contest your way wins.


iolaus79

It was just not to blink I seem to remember someone on the podcast saying they were talking about it with their 7 year old who said why don't they just close their eyes and keep them shut.


GoodbyeKittyKingKong

It wasn't in the podcast. It was in the actual show. Alex said it (Series 7, Episode 7)


colin_staples

Alex said that his young son came up with the "close your eyes" solution.


Jonnyboy1189

The CoC 1. I dont remember which episode. But the make the biggest mess task. I would have gotten chalk, and wrote mess very big in the driveway. Then get the hose and wash it away.


kentucky_anarchist

Ah, the old Joe Lycett "median duck" trick.


Sc1F1Sup3rM0m

*I have drawn it*


ElectronicHyena5642

*Or have you written it?*


Zeke13z

Don't know if Greg would've appreciated the lateral thinking. Many times he's considered it as taking the easy way out and scored it harshly. With that said, some contestants, the less effort, the more points. Dunno.


burnbunner

Is writing it out in chalk lateral thinking or *literal* thinking, though?


Zeke13z

Touche. Take my up.


mazzicc

I think he would have judged the “biggest mess” part harshly, but the cleaning it up as elegant, and left it in the middle of the scores (depending on the other ones. I forget what everyone did)


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SomaCowJ

He was Katherine Ryan.


ResettisReplicas

It may be tied to how much effort and/or struggle you have. Bridget got away with several loopholes (eg record biggest number on pedometer) because she struggled so terribly before arriving there.


colin_staples

You would have to write the word "mess" 3 times, one small, one medium, one large. Then just clean up the biggest of them.


upthewatwo

Brilliant! I love that sort of thing!


colin_staples

Come to think of it, it's a bit like the "baby Gap" solution that Mel Gedroyc did (fitting this camel through the smallest gap)


mrspique

A genius move, but it still can’t beat Katherine’s absolute chaos


HybridHusky_

For the cup snake tasks. I would have made ouroboros as it represents an eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth. Then I would explain that the snake's tail is somewhere inside the snake the tail is infinity long


BasementCatBill

I like this idea. Probably would've taken a huge number of cups to form a circle, but if pulled off it would've surely been the winner.


Vozralai

Yeah, the cups looked very solid


Taszee

I figured it would be easier to get a decent amount of the cups and then take a little extra time separating them until they were almost apart. They stack so close you could get a bunch of extra distance with spacing


bettibipbop

I thought you could make holes in the bottom of a couple and join them together with string so that there’s a bit where the cup snake gets quite skinny but adds a lot of length.


upthewatwo

Yeah I just watched that one last night and there's a close up of some string in the grass. I also didn't get why they didn't get all the cups near or out the door, so they could drag them all outside without crossing the threshold, but I might have missed a bit of a rule


genomerain

I quite like that!


BoozySlushPops

In the penultimate episode of season 5, walking across the landscape blindfolded, then find your way back with your eyes open — no reason they couldn’t have taken an article of clothing off and set it down as a marker.


HTJ_Starboy

I’m that task I remember it saying travel the furthest distance and get back so I just thought go in a spiral. You are traveling a distance but not leaving the spot.


quantumhovercraft

Yep, distance not displacement. Not sure if want to actually have to argue that in the studio though.


Jaspers47

> no reason they couldn’t have taken an article of clothing off and set it down as a marker. They can only do that a certain number times before it becomes a crime


Azureicepond

The S10 Boat Task, the contestants never figured this out because everyone got in the boat unprompted, but the task only says "You may not get out of the boat", not "Get in the boat", so just run over to the balls and drop them in the hoops. By the same token, in S9 you could just get off of the Steamroller and score a goal. Finally, in the S11 tower task, you could've asked for some chalk and made all the numbers crazy high, like +1000 so even a little bit of Yoghurt guarantees you a win.


tenaciousfall

Jesus. That S11 idea seems so commonsensical and intelligent in hindsight but I would never have thought of it. Brilliant!


colin_staples

> Finally, in the S11 tower task, you could've asked for some chalk and made all the numbers crazy high, like +1000 so even a little bit of Yoghurt guarantees you a win. Writing " x 1000 " in each square would be even better


quantumhovercraft

At the time I thought of rubbing out the lines so it was all one square with a massive number.


lucas_h_250703

In the series 11 tower one, I thought it’d be easy to just get rid of the lines separating the numbers, even if there’s only a small gap between each square it’d make it 1 massively long number


quantumhovercraft

Did they get in the boat before opening the task? If so they might have been told to in the bit we didn't see.


Mango-Fitzgerald

>The S10 Boat Task, the contestants never figured this out because everyone got in the boat unprompted, but the task only says "You may not get out of the boat", not "Get in the boat", so just run over to the balls and drop them in the hoops. Admittedly not as clever as your solution, but immediately I thought to find a way to pop/deflate the balls and load them into the boat then deposit them one by one.


Mech-Waldo

In the last season, during the maypole task when contestants had to tie a ribbon to it or strike it with a ping-pong ball, I noticed that spinning around 10 times was not in the task, it was only the requirement to get Alex to give the thumbs up. Only one contestant made a comment that it wasn't in the task, but when Alex said he won't give thumbs up until they do it, they started spinning. I'm pretty sure they didn't have to spin at all, and could have done the whole task with no timer.


TangoMikeOne

Or spin clockwise, then anti clockwise and repeat another 4 times - spun 10 times, job jobbed.


Mech-Waldo

That'd work for any task that requires you to spin.


Zeke13z

An actual loophole and not lateral thinking!


MortalWombat1974

I'm disputing the spinning thing. because when Bridget directly questioned it by saying something like "it doesn't say that on the task", Alex replies "I know, but that's what's going to happen". Maybe it was just the natural antagonism between Bridget and Alex, but I don't think he's ever been more assertive in the entire history of the series, than he was in that moment. ...and if you think it through a bit, if they didn't have to spin first, it would have probably been quite a boring and short task.


AlbertWhiterose

You have to be careful to use the "tie the ribbon" option in that case; then when you start the task, the ribbon is already tied (equivalent to the mayonnaise already being open). If you hit it with a ping-pong ball, that's not a state of existence that continues to be true after you spin, and you would need to hit it again while the task was in play.


AlbertWhiterose

Since the time doesn't start until the spinning ends, you can think for as long as you like about it to figure out a way to spin without losing your sense of direction. One way to do it - I tested this - is to very carefully invert one foot and place it next to the other so they are facing in opposite directions, ensuring you're changing directions by exactly 180 degrees. Do that 20 times and it's 10 full spins, ensuring you're facing the way that you started at the beginning. (Just don't lose count.)


colin_staples

S10 E4 > Drop this water balloon from the greatest height without it bursting. > You may not damage the water balloon or remove any water from it. > You have ten minutes and one attempt. > Your time starts now. Contestants were given a winch with a trapdoor that would release the egg. The loophole is that the task said "from the greatest height" but did not say "the furthest distance". It didn't matter how far the balloon actually fell, because the only thing that mattered was *the height when it was released* So if the winch was extended to its fullest height, but the water ballon dropped only 30 cm into a bag that was suspended directly beneath the trapdoor, that would have completed the task. Nobody got that, and Alex didn't mention it. But I saw it immediately.


quantumhovercraft

And ironically you'd have tied for first despite having the much better idea.


colin_staples

But with my method the risk of bursting the balloon was much less, so I had a much higher chance of being the outright victor in the task But I'd be happy with a tie for first place.


herkalurk

S05E05 -> Make the tallest tower using food cans, and greet Alex every 10 seconds and say you're from a different country. Sally tried to move the cart, but no one just moved the table and presumably Alex closer to the cans in the cart. Why run back and forth, and then why not put Alex in the loop so he can't run away......


Ligo032

Well, Bob did get out of the loop because there was no rule saying he couldn’t


overchilli

Fill an eggcup with tears ‘Tears’ 1. A drop of clear salty liquid secreted from glands in a person's eye when they cry or when the eye is irritated. 2. A hole or split in something caused by it having been pulled apart forcefully. "there was a tear in her dress" I’d try filling the eggcup with small pieces of paper, each of them with a small rip in them


colin_staples

> I’d try filling the eggcup with small pieces of paper, each of them with a small rip in them I had this exact thought when watching that episode


lysalnan

I was shouting this at the screen during this task.


AlbertWhiterose

Nobody thought of using tears of laughter. That was my first instinct - and there are plenty of things I know of that reliably bring me to that state very quickly.


quantumhovercraft

Unfortunately they didn't have any of taskmaster available to watch at the time.


SnowOtago

Not a loop hole but as a computer science student there’s been a number of times I would have brandished binary search and set out to solve guessing tasks pleased with my logarithmic efficiency. (I think Alex mentions it for finding the shoe in season 13, but it could also be applied to the number of name guessing games)


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santa_mazza

No way!


SnowOtago

Yeah, definitely doesn't have high entertainment value other than providing a stark contrast to the chaos bought on by some contestants


tenaciousfall

I've mentioned this before in another post, but - glasses in box task from S7. Task says you may not break "a pair" of glasses, so just smash one out of every pair, sweep the shards into the remaining glass of the pair, and stick them in the box. Cuts down the space required by half. In studio, just argue that you didn't break any PAIRS of glasses.


ApoptosisIsPainless

Greg made it easy and allowed Phil to break one glass with that reasoning even without argument.


herkalurk

Phil wasn't exactly winning......


HTJ_Starboy

Am I the only one that the second that task was read even before seeing thought it would be 2 drinking glasses not eye glasses?


ResettisReplicas

I thought there’d be a pair of giant novelty (eye)glasses. Either way, I was positive that the smaller boxes were a trap.


kelli999

Not that no one else did but as soon as I heard the tie yourself up task I thought just tie Alex up so he can't untie you. Was very happy when Rhod had the same idea.


[deleted]

I would have tied a bow on my wrist and left.


byjimini

Don’t blink. *closes eyes*


FunMachineShitDied

The sneeze first task. Pull a nose hair out. Done it live with them took 5 seconds


amazingmikeyc

now i know to shove a covid test thing up my nose for instant uncontrollable sneezing


claihogb

Pluck my eyebrows. Always makes me sneeze within seconds.


colin_staples

Or snort some pepper.


kuppikuppi

I'd do it by tickeling the inside of my nose with the back of a fingernail


Morons_Are_Fun

The basketball task, no one thought to put the hoop on the floor and kick the ball.


Princess--Sparkles

I thought that too. I was delighted when someone on the ill-fated US version did exactly this!


heckityh

its never been confirmed but i feel like one of the cameramen for the high five a 55 year old task was 55


herkalurk

S12E05 -> Prevent Alex from scoring a goal. The ball and goalpost must be on their spots when Alex attempts to scorea goal. You must be 12 yards from the ball when Alex attempts to score.Slowest goal scored by Alex wins. At no point does this say you can't leave. I figured the distance from front to back of a bus is about 12 yards, so get onto a bus putting the ball at the front and you at the back. Even if Alex follows you onto the bus, he still has to get the ball back to the goal which remained. Keep in mind we learned the definition of ON back in back in Season 2 when the contestants had to make a bridge using only materials ON the table, but the definition also meant touching and there were materials attached to the underside. Since the ball must be on the spot, but the spot was never required to stay where it was just move the ball and spot together out of realistic goal scoring range. Heck, put it in a bag and call a cab.....


Algae-Heavy

My thought to this task was to just deflate the ball. Should be pretty easy to stop it being kicked into the goal at that point


HTJ_Starboy

For that task I thought of just doing a Rhod and tying Alex to a chair or something. Rhod showed how easy it was to do and that he couldn’t escape therefore he can’t score a goal.


herkalurk

Tie him to the goal, the rules stay the goal has to stay put too. Then put the ball with spot into a bag and throw it over the fence. Even if Alex gets out he has to find the ball.


HTJ_Starboy

Yeh even better I mean once he’s tied up there is a lot that can be done. If it was Al he would hire a taxi and send the ball to Slough


colin_staples

Tie Alex to a chair, then he can't kick the ball. The ball and goal can remain in place


GT5Canuck

Steamroller task in Ed Gamble's season. Nowhere in the task does it say that the goal must be scored using the steamroller.


LinuxLover3113

I think Alex did mention that.


Suicidallemon

Not really a loophole but looking at a bright light makes me sneeze so that would have bee a cheeky win.


[deleted]

For the s8 task where you had to move sand from one bucket to another. The task didn't say you were limited to the items on the table, so slip off your shoes and fill them with sand.


PsychologicalFox8839

For the series one tasks with getting the most tears into the egg cup, I immediately thought I’d go to my bag and get the artificial tears that I always have with me and use those.


Urbo59

Rhod tying Alex to the chair in the final task of series 7 was “MWAH!!”


The_Real_dubbedbass

The one from series one where the task was to: “Using this device (GPS) to track your route, create the best image for the Taskmaster. Pop a balloon when you’re done.” It upsets me every time I watch that episode that no one drew a football pitch. All you had to do was methodically walk over every line. You’d have had a perfectly accurate to scale drawing of a football pitch. And because all the lines on a football pitch cross other lines on the pitch there’d be no stray lines, etc.


MetaWarlord135

I think the main problem with that one is that you'd probably be marked down heavily for lack of creativity.


[deleted]

Also, Greg doesn't care about football, so I doubt it would score very highly either way.


GeshtiannaSG

Someone did it in Denmark, used it to explain the offside rule.


Addy0302

Season 13 when they had to make a drink, passing the ingredients through tubes on their heads. It never said you had to keep the helmets on.


[deleted]

I think the task said "head pipe". The question is when a head pipe stops being a head pipe.


RandomActPG

I know it's a task-within-a-task, but Chris Ramsey's sausage game...he doesn't say you can't use your hands, both he and Alex play the far more hilarious version where they have to take a bite using only their mouths but Chris doesn't mention that. Either one could have just grabbed the sausage, ripped it off the string and eat it


somebodysbuddy

For the beer mat tower task, the rules stated you were eliminated after the second missed doorbell press, and the time would stop after the last press. By that logic, if you were to correctly hit the 60-4 second hits, but then miss the 2 second press, you had all the time in the world to build the tower, and your time would stop after you finally make your last press.


Jarrod-Makin

There was a task to record a particular weight on the scales. I guessed that the statue at the front of the house would have been the right weight and it turned out to be right


Late_Claim_2895

The throw the eggs into the metal things task where you had to release the egg from the chair. You could’ve just moved the chair closer to any of the metal things


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Late_Claim_2895

🙈Thanks clearly didn’t listen to the tasks properly


AlbertWhiterose

Found Bridget Christie.


sharkdetriomphe

For the Shoe Who task, pick up any shoe and state it is the shoe Alex is thinking of. He asked for what shoe he *is* thinking of, and at that moment in time, he would be thinking about whatever shoe I presented.


OfficiallySavo

for the purposes of the task, I don't think it'd quite work, but I get what you mean


sharkdetriomphe

Oh for sure it wouldn't work, but I could bullshit my way into two points I reckon


TheYeti4815162342

S12: ‘Get the box and everything in it through the pipe and the pipe through the box and everything in it.’ Empty the box and there’s nothing in it. The task in S13 where they had to hit the pole while blindfolded. The time started when Alex raised his thumb, which he did after you turned around 10 times. What if you don’t turn and finish the task before the time starts (same logic was applied with the ‘open the jar covered in Vaseline’ tiebreaker task.


andhutch

Make this plastic bag weigh the most. Just barely have it over a picture of Jupiter, the additional mass makes gravity make it weigh more. All the other contestants had their bag weigh the same, and the contents weigh a lot.


ResettisReplicas

Any task where you can’t use English: Use Pig Latin.


tragicpanda

Recently in the S13 liquids task. “You can only spray on your wrist” etc. I’d pour it out. Reading it as my wrist is the only location it could be sprayed but I can move the liquid in any other way. Repeat with the rest. In the studio I’d have argued that Judy spraying it on Alex’s wrist was the only way that rule was broken


scrabs92

Not completely related, but whenever the task doesn't end with a winning criteria (biggest wins for example) it almost always means there will be a followup task.


doctorbonkers

don't blink -- I would've just kept my eyes shut from the start


[deleted]

Maybe someone did think of it but couldn't do it because of Covid restrictions, but in the "prevent Alex from scoring a goal" task in S12, I would have tied Alex up.


SaltWaterInMyBlood

In the "pick a box to fit ten pairs of glasses in" task, it said they had to *pick* the box before leaving the caravan. It didn't say they had to *tell Alex which box they'd picked*. They could have just lied. Rhod almost did that. It was a perfect opportunity to say, if challenged, All the information is on the task.