Lightning round

A lightning round is a short, fast paced segment of a game or competition in which participants try to accomplish as much as possible within a fixed, usually very brief, time limit, most commonly by answering as many questions correctly as they can before time runs out. The format is a fixture of quiz bowls and quiz style game shows, where the pressure of the ticking clock adds tension on top of the ordinary difficulty of the questions. The term was first used in this formal sense on the game show Password in 1961, where contestants had sixty seconds to guess five hidden words from one word clues given by a partner. Later shows built their own signature versions of the idea, including the Fast Money round on Family Feud, which gives a pair of contestants twenty to twenty five seconds to answer five questions between them, and the Winner's Circle round on The $25,000 Pyramid, which requires describing six categories within sixty seconds. Broadcasters typically reinforce the format with visual or audio cues, such as changed lighting, ticking sound effects or urgent music, to heighten the sense of urgency for viewers and contestants alike.