Here are common question types on the TV show. Competitive version questions overlap, but typically mostly focus on the kinds of questions that feature in the ordinary and 13th sectors, with the occasional black box question or, in online tournaments, audiovisual questions.

In addition, competitive version questions tend to require more knowledge than TV version questions, especially when competing in national-level tournaments and above.

Ordinary sector question example: Continue the sequence: love, chance, party, wall, column, sense, heaven.

Answer: Wonder. (That question is based on set expressions: first love, second chance, third party, fourth wall, fifth column, sixth sense, seventh heaven, eighth wonder)

The 13th sector is made up of questions sent in electronically during the taping of the show, which is the reason why it's called Internet vs the Experts. Other than the questions not being fact-checked, answering a 13th sector question is mostly like answering an ordinary sector question. If it's the final game of the year, the host asks instead.

Blitz sectors are actually a set of 3 easier questions, but the experts have 20 seconds to answer rather than 60. And the experts must answer all 3 questions to get the point on TV. Superblitz sectors differ from blitz sectors in that only one designated expert can answer, but are otherwise identical to other blitz sectors. The last expert to answer a superblitz correctly in a given year wins a prize. In competitive version, blitz questions are widely considered the easiest questions; however, they don't come in trios.

Blitz sector question example: what's German for lightning?

Answer: Blitz.

Black box questions start with the host or tournament director showing a black box to the contestants. On TV, three black boxes are used, and the largest one is typically used first unless the answer is a small-sized object. More than one box may be used if the answer features more than one box. If the black box question is a blitz or superblitz question, then all 3 boxes are used.

Black box question example: this item is among the first items air crash accident investigators look for on crash sites.

Answer: A flight data recorder. (In Russian, a black box and a flight data recorder are the same words)

Item-based questions are usually questions where the experts are presented with an item and asked how it is used in a specific situation, or an image of another item if the item itself is impractical to use in the confines of the studio.

Item-based question example: (A balloon is shown to the experts) How could this item be used onboard a space station?

Answer: The balloon could be used to determine the air currents so that it would become easier to find drifting objects.

Audiovisual questions take the form of either musical or video questions. Their supports are shown to the experts before the actual question is asked. Historically, musical questions are considered the hardest for the experts to answer. In addition, video questions come in two varieties: questions taped by their writers or by correspondents.

Audiovisual question example: (Two different pieces of music from Bach's etudes are played to the experts) The black box contains an object which can be placed between these two pieces. What is it?

Answer: A mirror.