Criss Cross Quiz was a quiz programme that combined the game noughts and crosses with general knowledge questions and aired on the ITV network from 1957 to 1967. It was produced by Granada Television.
The programme was presented by Jeremy Hawk from 1957 to 1962 and Barbara Kelly from 1963 to 1967. The series was based on an American show entitled Tic Tac Dough which ran from 1956 to 1959 and was revived in 1978.
A children's version of the show called Junior Criss Cross Quiz was produced starting in 1957 (the same year the adult version started). Children played the game, but for prizes instead of money. This series ran from 13 November 1957 to 29 June 1967. Presenters on the children's version were: Jeremy Hawk, Chris Kelly, Bob Holness, Mike Sarne, Chris Howland, Gordon Luck, Peter Wheeler, Bill Grundy, Danny Blanchflower and Barbara Kelly.
Format
The game was basically the same as the American Tic Tac Dough with a similar set. Two contestants played the game with the champion playing cross ("X"), and the challenger playing noughts ("O"). They faced a noughts & crosses (tic-tac-toe) game board of nine subjects. Player took turns (starting with the champion) picking categories and answering questions in those categories.
Correct answers placed his/her symbol in the board and added money to the pot; the centre box was worth £40 while the outer boxes were worth £20. Each cross or nought on the "Junior" edition scored 10 points with the center box being worth 20 points for the winner to redeem for prizes. The first player to get three in row (across, up and down, or diagonally) won the game and became champion.
The first ever winner on the show was Bill Sykes of Sale who won £460, and the highest amount won in the show's history was £2,360.
By 1960, each contestant could only win up to £1,000.
Tic-tac-toe, noughts and crosses, or Xs and Os/“X’y O’sies” (Ireland), is a paper-and-pencil game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid. The player who succeeds in placing three of their marks in a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical row is the winner. It is a solved game with a forced draw assuming best play from both players.
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