two teams, each consisting of a contestant and celebrity competed. the object was for the team to work together and decipher puzzles that are written "in other words" style. for example, "twice / speak" translated to "double talk", the show's title. the slash represented a break in the puzzle, and each partner had to solve half of the puzzle to score. as noted above, this game play mechanic was borrowed from "shoot for the stars" but slightly modified for "double talk".