One Percent Club Episode 24 Jan 2026
ITV 1% Club Shown 24 Jan 26 testing AI against the question
Published: 24 January 2026
Overview
This post compares how three major AI models (OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini) approached a hidden numbers puzzle from The 1% Club episode aired on January 24, 2026.
True Answer: 21
Problem: What is the total if you add up all of the numbers that appear across consecutive letters in the following sentence?
"Often leigh took her dad out for a pub lunch to break up him being alone while she was at work"
Model Responses Summary
| Model | Verdict | Proposed Answer | Pattern Identified |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI - (gpt-5-nano) | Correct | 21 | ten (10), eight (8), one (1), to as two (2) |
| Anthropic - (claude-sonnet-4-5) | Incorrect | 15 | ten (10), four (4), one (1) |
| Gemini - (gemini-3-flash-preview) | Correct | 21 | ten (10), eight (8), one (1), two (2) |
Detailed Analysis by Model
1. OpenAI (gpt-5-nano)
Final Answer: Correct ✅
Reasoning:
- Identified numbers hidden as consecutive letters across the sentence
- Found "ten" in "Often" (10)
- Found "eight" across the boundary "leigh took" (the substring 'eight' within 'leightook')
- Found "one" in "alone" (1)
- Found "to" represents two phonetically in "lunch to break" (2)
- Sum = 10 + 8 + 1 + 2 = 21
Key Factors:
- Recognised cross-word boundary pattern matching
- Found "ten" (10) in "Of-ten"
- Found "eight" (8) across "leigh took"
- Found "one" (1) in "al-one"
- Interpreted "to" as "two" (2) phonetically
Timestamp: 25/01/2026, 00:57:24
2. Anthropic (claude-sonnet-4-5)
Final Answer: Incorrect ❌
Reasoning:
- Identified consecutive letters forming number words in the sentence
- Found "ten" in "Often" (10)
- Incorrectly found "four" in "for" (4) - "for" only has 3 letters, not enough to spell "four"
- Found "one" in "alone" (1)
- Calculated total: 15, not 21
- Missed "eight" across "leigh took" and "two" across word boundaries
Key Factors:
- Found "ten" (10) in "Often" ✓
- Incorrectly identified "four" (4) in "for" ✗
- Found "one" (1) in "alone" ✓
- Missed "eight" (8) across "leigh took"
- Missed "two" (2) either phonetically or across "at work"
Timestamp: 25/01/2026, 00:56:54
3. Gemini (gemini-3-flash-preview)
Final Answer: Correct ✅
Reasoning:
- Correctly scanned text for strings of letters that spell out numbers, regardless of word boundaries
- Found "ten" (10) within "Often" (Of-ten)
- Found "eight" (8) across "leigh took" (le-igh t-ook)
- Found "one" (1) within "alone" (al-one)
- Found "two" (2) across "at work" (a-t wo-rk)
- Sum = 10 + 8 + 1 + 2 = 21
Key Factors:
- Applied cross-word boundary analysis systematically
- Found "ten" (10) in "Of-ten" ✓
- Found "eight" (8) across "leigh took" ✓
- Found "one" (1) in "al-one" ✓
- Found "two" (2) across "a-t wo-rk" ✓
Timestamp: 25/01/2026, 00:57:04
Conclusion
OpenAI and Gemini both correctly identified all four hidden numbers and calculated the sum as 21. Anthropic missed two numbers ("eight" across "leigh took" and "two") and incorrectly identified "four" in "for" (which doesn't contain enough letters), resulting in an incorrect total of 15.
The key to solving this puzzle was recognising that number words can span across word boundaries. While both OpenAI and Gemini found "two", they identified it differently: OpenAI interpreted "to" phonetically as "two", while Gemini found it across "at work" (a-t wo-rk). Gemini's explanation was clearer about the cross-boundary pattern.