What connects Only Connect and New York Times? Game’s similarity puzzles host

In response to a tweet announcing the new puzzle, Victoria Coren Mitchell said: ‘Do you know this has been a TV show in the UK since 2008?’ Photograph: Rory Lindsay/BBC/Parasol Media

It’s quite the conundrum. Is a new puzzle game launched by the New York Times original, or does it have connections to a long-running BBC programme?

Victoria Coren Mitchell, host of the BBC’s Only Connect, floated the question on Twitter in response to the US newspaper’s associate puzzle editor sharing its new game Connections.