Am I alone in being confused how NONE of that entire team knew what a closhe was?

Bet they knew how to spell it, though.

Fair point.

(Though to be fair I wouldn't count on it )

In these types of challenges all they need is a dictionary.

Well, I knew what a cloche was:

Either a type of hat or a 'micro-greenhouse'.

However, never having worked in an hotel or similar I was unaware of its other meaning(s).

I suspect that a dictionary was not on the list of allowed research tools. (I absolutely refuse to believe that if it were not one of them would have had the nous to use it.)

Does anyone know if the teams are prevented from using apps/internet to find the products. A quick google search would tell you what an item is, where in London it could be found as well as its general value.

No, they are encouraged to use the internet to the fullest possible extent but so far, through all the series that have been transmitted, not a single candidate has been smart enough to think of it on any task.

My 14 year old daughter was incredulous that none of them knew what it was.

I'm 46 and the only cloche I knew of was the coldframe type that cucumbers grow in.

Its notable that Susan's team had no dificulty with it though - was one of their team in the hotel/resturant trade?

Naughty!

I knew what it was

did none of them think of googling it or looking up in a dictionary?

and these are supposed to be Britain's brightest

Is she terribly posh?

I'd not have expected my two to know but as it happens they did - helps having friends with a catering business.

What stumped me as well was that none of them knew what physalis was.

Cloche is French for a bell but in culinary terms according to the Online dictionary it's a restaurant's bell-shaped cover for a plate of food, to retain warmth. I didn't know it was called a cloche I must admit.

They can't use the internet - I don't think they are allowed to access the internet on their mobiles either. Perhaps they are not given access to a dictionary but you'd think they could go to the nearest bookstore or Whsmith and just look it up in a dictionary wouldn't you

I must admit I didn't know what physalis is either

To be honest, I had heard of both of them, but couldn't bring to mind what either was. That's no use at all! You have to be pretty sure what they are, and neither are common.

Did either team know, or locate physalis?

I couldn't understand why as I imagine they would all have smartphones, they didn't Google 'Cloche'.

Are they not allowed to use the internet or something?

Nope I am pretty sure they are not - see my post above

I don't think Gavin's team did - they only got 6 out of 10 item - not sure about the other team as they got 9 out of 10

yep, would have taken all of two minutes to go to a bookstore and find out. Morons

I'm surprised the '10" Stainless Steel' below the word didn't give a slight clue.

You would have been quicker googling it rather than starting a thread