Each of the 15 numbered contestants began the quiz with three 'lives'. The host made two passes through the field in numerical order, asking one question to each contestant per pass; typically, the category for each question was announced before it was asked. The contestant had three seconds to respond, and lost one life for the first incorrect answer or failure to respond in time, whether on the first or second pass. A second miss took away both remaining lives and eliminated the contestant from the game. Stewart's succinct explanation of Round 1 was, "Two questions each in the first round; one correct answer from you to survive."
