alanconnor.com/log

Crikey.

Not another one:

See also: Election Night Quiz; Election Lexicon

I am proud of this book, which comes out on 17 October.

It has some games from the TV show, and some new ones and, with a couple of exceptions, all new questions. There are some imaginary behind-the-scenes conversations and general nonsense.

• Previously: Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword; The Joy of Quiz
• £14.99 RRP hardback
• 17 October 2019 hardback
• BBC Books
• ISBN: 1785944622 and 978-1785944628

Blurb:

Do you know how many post boxes there are in the UK? Could you guess how many times the word ‘goat’ appeara in the King James Version of the bible? Fancy playing a game of charades where all of the books, films and plays are entirely made up? Now, look around the room. Is anyone there the kind of person who’ll say ‘I just don’t understand this’, when faced with something that’s not just perfectly easy to understand, but is … well, fun? Ask them to leave. Have they gone? Good. Now welcome inside the House of Games.

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

I’m part of the panel for a Bafta event:

A panel of comedy entertainment producers and writers discuss the recent renaissance in entertainment television, covering programme development, writing, casting, and the role of satire.

• 6:45pm, Tuesday, 17 October 2017
• Princess Anne Theatre, Bafta, 195 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1J 9EU
• Tickets
• Updated with image by @widowedanthem

I have been enjoying working on Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night:

Jeremy Paxman, David Mitchell and Richard Osman present an all-night feast of comedy and comment in Channel 4’s very different take on election night

• 9pm, 8 June 2017, Channel 4

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