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A quick piece for the BBC about double negatives:

It’s hard to understate how often we find ourselves using two negatives when we don’t mean to – in fact, this sentence begins with a common example

See also:

• Election Lexicon | BBC
• Guardian crossword blog

Series two begins on BBC2 today.

particularly pleasing… This is trivia, plus; it requires a bit of wit, and imagination, even, certainly silliness — Sam Wollaston, Guardian

…just how much I loved BBC2’s new quiz show Richard Osman’s House of Games… Like all the best TV quizzes, ROHOG scores very highly on the playalongability chart – so the half hour fair flies by — Ian Hyland, Mirror

the BBC’s new infectiously funny prime time show… deserves praise for finding a sweet spot which fits all audiences — Adam Bloodworth, Metro

it shouldn’t be a surprise that [Richard Osman’s House of Games] is terrific… The victor gets to choose between a dartboard, pasta maker, cushion and dressing gown, but really, we’re all winners here — Robert Epstein, Independent

viewers couldn’t stop laughing… The show’s debut was a success by all means as fans loved Richard’s new format — Helen Daly, Express

• BBC Two, 6pm weeknights from Mon 29 May
• See also: my book, The Joy of Quiz
• Also in quiz: Only Connect

A piece for BBC News about the use of Stand By Me at the royal wedding:

That’s why Harry and Meghan’s choice of song meant more than if they’d gone with, say, Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You. And the performance by the Kingdom Choir takes Stand By Me back further still, re-infusing it with the defiance as well as the devotion of gospel.

(more…)

I am a panellist on Heat Map this Sunday.

Under discussion: cultural appropriation, Kanye West and The Communist Manifesto.

My choice of intro music:

• See also: 5Live’s Arts Club
• Other episodes
• Image from Kew Bridge series

I am a guest on the first episode of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Arts Club. Tickets for the recording are available from The Bill Murray club in Islington.

Update: More episodes with me —

• 2 Feb 2018: Art for Trump, Dylan v Cohen, What does Banksy look like and is The Bayeaux Tapestry a bit rubbish? (My sacred cow: The Laughing Cavalier)
• 16 Feb 2018: Florence, portraits and the music of our youth (My sacred cow: The Great Bear)
• 18 Mar 2018: Awards Shows, the NME, and TV shows for the Obamas (My sacred cow: Julius Caesar)

• Recording: Thu 1 Feb 2018, The Bill Murray, 39 Queen’s Head St, London N1 8NQ [tickets]
• Broadcast: BBC 5 live, Sun 4 Feb 2018 and on podcast
• See also: The Will Gompertz Fringe
• Image from the RWA Exhibition, 2007

By me for BBC News: Election Lexicon, the words which “caught the ear” in a week of campaigning.

12 May: Battle bus, hovercraft, draft manifesto, shambles, blame
game, Monsieur Zen, airbrushing, photoshopping and The Big Six

20 May: Heineken politician, cockroach, cyber, Mayllenials, Robin
Hood tax, last-chance saloon, unique selling point, rent-to-buy,
insourcing and period poverty

27 May: [campaigning suspended]

3 Jun: Naked in the chamber, glumbucket, Brexit, Frexit, Nexit,
Brixit, hung parliament, negotiating parliament and Kobayashi
Maru

I am proud to have performed the minor role of “crossword consultant” for this excellent episode of Inside No 9, The Riddle of the Sphinx:

I’m further proud to have filled the role of some kind of muse:

• BBC Two, 10pm, 28 Feb 2017
• Two Girls, One on Each Knee
• Steve Pemberton set the episode’s crossword as ‘Sphinx’, which is also the Guardian’s cryptic on the day of broadcast
• Interview with Sphinx at the Guardian crossword blog
• More Inside No 9