Only Connect Post Mortem: Is the music question really that bad?

A common sight (and sound) on Only Connect is a team's anguish as they pick the dreaded music question. Heads drop, faces grimace, and Victoria (sometimes) apologizes - but do the numbers back up these reactions? I took a (very) quick look.

The plot below summarizes the points scored by teams on every connection question in Series 10 of the show. (I've ignored sequences as they offer higher points scoring potential, and have far fewer music questions.) There does appear to be some difference, with it seeming very slightly harder to score big on the music questions than non-music, but this is somewhat balanced by a relatively high proportion of one-pointers. Moreover, if we turn to some formal statistical tests there's no real evidence of a true underlying difference between the two types of question. In short: do not fear the music question bong.

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