A reminder of one of the loveliest pairs of siblings in the dictionary: ‘muscle’ and ‘mouse’. To the Roman imagination, the flexed biceps of a (typically naked) athlete resembled a rodent scuttling under the skin. ‘Musculus’, in Latin, means ‘little mouse’.
Alan Carr and I standing in front of one of the puzzles set for the contestants on tonight’s Secret Genius.
Secret Genius continues tonight at C4, 9pm, with episodes 1 and 2 available on catch-up. Thank you to everyone who has tuned in so far.
Word of the day is ‘fanfaronade’ (19th century): to strut and swagger about as if you own the stage.
Some words to play with over Christmas!
A little selection of my favourite words for the season. Some beautiful, others potentially necessary. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
twowords2.page.link/play
A few words to play with this Christmas!
A little list of some of my favourite words for the season. Some beautiful, others potentially necessary. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Some of the words that have made me smile this year.
Which words have given you happiness this year? I’d love to hear them.
(And if you fancy some distraction over the holidays, do give my word game Two Words a try.
twowords2.page.link/play)
Some dates for 2026 for my Word Perfect theatre tour. Hope to see you there!
I’m delighted to announce the next shows in my Word Perfect tour. Thanks to all my wonderful audiences this year: I’ve had a blast!
Word of the day, should you be feeling a little huffish, is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century): a love of solitude and the desire to be away from other people.
Thanks for all the excellent responses to this. It might make you smile on this dreich day.
Thank you to the lovely audience member at @hayfestival who shared that her daughter had once corrected her pronunciation of ‘epiphany’ and told her it should of course be ‘epi-fanny’.
Which word have you royally mispronounced because you’d only ever seen it written down?
We have a name for the new bot in my word game Two Words: Alphabetty!
We have a name for our new bot! Thanks to everyone who voted, and to all of those who continue to play and enjoy the game.
twowords2.page.link/play
TOMORROW! Join us for a special Film Stories 500th episode event in London with special guest Romesh Ranganathan. Details and tickets here:
filmstories.co.uk/news/film-st...
Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.
Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.
This show will not disappoint: Simon is more passionate and knowledgeable about the magic of the movies than anyone I know.
Boatman - the first 50 reportedly makes a great present or holiday read, exemplified by this image of the book opened to show the story behind the Shipping Forecast puzzle, on display on Brighton beach. Reviewing Boatman - the first 50, Alan Connor (The Guardian's crossword editor and the brains behind many of BBC2’s quiz programs) says: "This is one to savour. Boatman's puzzles are witty and ingenious. It is an extraordinary pleasure to read how his unique mind works. The first 50 is a book I never knew I needed in my life. Gift it to yourself and to the word-lovers in yours". Hugh Stephenson (Alan’s predecessor at The Guardian) says: "This is a unique book of crosswords" and Henry Morris: "a Boatman crossword is like a theme park. Each daunting line is a rollercoaster ... He scares you witless. But you can't wait to do it all over again".
Boatman - the second 50 contains another 50 puzzles from The Guardian, with five bonus puzzles previously only available online and including puzzles, solutions and the ideas and stories behind them, exemplified by this image of the book opened to show one of the stories, which is accompanied by a picture of a large cow. Reviewing Boatman - the second 50, Gyles Brandreth says: "If you want a fiendish crossword, you want the best - which means you want Boatman, because he is the best" and Brian Bilston: "Cracking crosswords - each puzzle a delightful daily workout for the brain and a welcome tonic for the soul".
It's the Seasonal Reposting Competition! Repost this over the weekend, and on Sunday one lucky person will win a signed copy of one of my books. For you or the #crossword addict in your life: 50 fiendish @theguardian.com #puzzles and all the stories behind them:
boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-bo...
The shortlist of three names for the new bot in my word game Two Words is in. We have: Alpha Betty Bottispelli Biblio Bot Let me know your favourite!
We’re down to a shortlist of three names for the new bot in my word game Two Words! Thanks for all the brilliant suggestions.
You can vote here for your winner: playtwowords.com/namethebot
We need a new bot for my word game Two Words! So here’s a picture of a bot on a Wanted poster.
We’ve introduced a new Bot in our word game Two Words, and it needs a name! Please reply with your suggestions (Botty McBotface won’t do).
For those who don’t know the game, here’s the link.
twowords2.page.link/play
Word of the Day is ‘catchfart’ (17th century): an obsequious individual who sucks up to the boss and always follows the political wind.
There is a moment at this time of year when the word ‘apricity’ really comes into view. For those who don’t know it, it was recorded only once, in 1623, before slipping out of view. Apricity is the warmth of the sun on a chilly day.
Word of the Day is ‘tandsmør’, from Danish. It describes bread that is buttered so thickly you can see tooth marks in it after every bite. Its literal translation? ‘Tooth butter’.
To ‘ultra-crepidate’ (19th century) is to lecture others on subjects you know very little about.
Well that is lovely. Thank you Greg.
Like many, I grew up with Woman’s Hour, so it was a special delight to chat with Anita Rani on Friday about Words for Life. It also made the weekend round-up if you fancy a listen here.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Today I offer a reminder of the word ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. To be ‘foreswunk’ (my own version) is to be exhausted before you even begin.
Word of the Day is ‘snerdle’ (19th century): to stay warm and still beneath the covers for as long as humanly possible.
A picture of my new book Words for Life. Today is publication day!
Delighted to say that my new book of words is out today, in which I explain how ‘sneeze’ was born from a mistake, that ‘window’ is a Viking leftover meaning ‘eye of the wind’, and that the Finns really do have a word for drinking alone in your underwear.
linktr.ee/WordsforLife
A picture of me signing a lot of copies of my book Words for Life at the warehouse!
Thanks to the wonderful team at the Hachette warehouse for making this morning’s mammoth book-signing a lot of fun.
Words for Life is out next week. I hope you like it.
linktr.ee/WordsforLife
A copy of my new book Words for Life
