Alan Connor's Blog, page 5
November 2, 2020
Support for solvers | The Guardian
Two new features in my Guardian column. Recommendations for remote activities, and a collaborative playlist of music recorded under current conditions:
October 26, 2020
Becoming You | Apple TV
A long time in the making. There is something extraordinary in every episode.
Apple TV from November 13
October 14, 2020
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm | Amazon
“Additional material”, written before the substantial Covid elements, for this, released on 23 October.
October 8, 2020
Richard Osman’s House of Games | BBC2
Series four starts on 12 October. Happily (for me), the question-editor bit of production preceded … the Unpleasantness.
See also: my book for Penguin, The Joy of Quiz. And, to a lesser extent, the official spin-off book.
July 2, 2020
Crossword column | The Guardian
An unusual honour: featuring in The Antidote: the ‘list of non-coronavirus [Guardian] articles our readers spent the most time with’.
Attention should pass to St Christopher’s hospice in Sydenham.
June 8, 2020
The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book | BBC Books
For every Shipping Forecast area, you find the places on the map indicated by various clues. Join the places to form the shapes of letters. Join the letters to form a sea shanty.
Out 5 November from your local bookshop / Penguin / Waterstones / Amazon etc
It also gives a flavour of what it’s like to be in each of Dogger, Fisher, German Bight…
BBC Books / Ebury PublishingISBN: 9781785945106240 pages; 216 x 135 mmGoodreads · LibraryThingPreviously: Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword ; The Joy of Quiz
May 8, 2020
April 30, 2020
Jam On It | Podcast
Since the mid-’90s, my friend Pandora and I have been planning a music- and ingredient-themed experience where the listener cooks along in real time. It’s finally here, as an unofficial podcast. Get involved.
April 12, 2020
WCEQ 2020
Hello! Links to the YouTube streams to follow once they are up. Stay safe.
Shaun and Alan
March 20, 2020
How to solve Cryptic Crosswords during Coronavirus
Looking for a distracting hobby that takes a chunk of time?
Maybe one with a bottomless supply that you can access without going out into the world?
But you find cryptic crosswords baffling?
Here’s a selection of understandable explainers from the Guardian (if you prefer, your local bookshop can get my book for you).
And another thing: crosswords are best learned with a friend or family member.
Cryptic devices
Right, these are the bits of business like anagrams that you find in cryptic clues: hidden answers; double definitions; soundalikes; initial letters; spoonerisms; containers; reversals; alternate letters; cycling; stuttering; taking most of a word …
Bits and bobs
You also come across abbreviations and whatnot: Roman numerals; Nato alphabet; Greek letters; chemistry; abbreviations for countries; points of the compass; playing cards; capital letters; apostrophes; cricket; alcohol; the church; drugs; music; animals; cars; cities; rivers; when the setter’s name appears; when the solver appears …
Individual letters
A surreal set of “interviews” with the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L …
Top 10 Crosswords in Fiction
10: Brief Encounter
9: PG Wodehouse
8: The West Wing
7: Martin Amis
6: Madness’s Cardiac Arrest
5: Rubicon
4: Alan Plater
3: Inspector Morse
2: Lord Peter Wimsey
1: The Simpsons
Interviews with setters
What makes these people tick: Paul; Enigmatist; Anax; Tramp; Boatman; Arachne; Rufus; Shed; Puck; Pasquale; Morph; Orlando; Gordius; Audreus; Philistine; Otterden; Doc; Crucible; Picaroon; Nutmeg; Chifonie; Screw; Chalicea; Knut; Styx; Marc Breman; Azed; Navy; Smurf …
Random bits and bobs
100 years of crosswords; commentary from the Times Crossword Championship; rudeness; plagiarism; David Nobbs; Steve Pemberton …
If you prefer quiz, there’s a book about that too
