Alan Connor

Alan Connor (born 1972) is a British writer, journalist and television presenter. First seen on Channel 4's youth entertainment programme The Word in 1995, ^[1] he later appeared on The Big Breakfast and BBC Radio Five Live and was a BBC News correspondent, appearing on BBC News 24 and The Daily Politics . ^[2]

His scriptwriting credits include the comedy-drama A Young Doctor's Notebook , starring Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm, ^[3] the mockumentary Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back ^[4] and the BBC film The Rack Pack. ^[5] He was also the "puzzle consultant" for Ludwig (2024). ^[6]

Connor has worked as a writer for programmes including Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe , The Jonathan Ross Show and This Week and writes journalism for BBC News ^[7] and The Guardian . ^[8] He was the question editor for BBC Four's lateral thinking quiz Only Connect for series 9–12, having taken over from David J. Bodycombe at the start of series 9.^{[ citation needed ]} He is also the crossword editor for The Guardian and sets the Everyman cryptic crossword for The Observer . ^{[9] [10]}

Books

In 2013, Penguin published Two Girls, One on Each Knee: A History of Cryptic Crosswords. ^[11] In 2014 Gotham Books published The Crossword Century: 100 Years of Witty Wordplay, Ingenious Puzzles, and Linguistic Mischief. ^[12] In 2016 Penguin Books published The Joy of Quiz. ^[13] In November 2024 BBC Books published 188 Words for Rain. ^[14]

References

1. The Word Archived 28 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine , imdb.com; retrieved 11 January 2017.
2. "Tips For The Technically Terrified" , BBC News, 5 July 2006.
3. "A Young Doctor's Notebook: from the operating table to the screen" Archived 17 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine , theguardian.com, 4 December 2012.
4. "Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back" , bbc.co.uk, 30 October 2016.
5. The Rack Pack , bbc.co.uk, 17 January 2016.
6. Connor, Alan (7 October 2024). "Ludwig, the Guardian's genius new crossword setter". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
7. BBC News: Smashed Hits Archived 21 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine , bbc.co.uk; retrieved 25 January 2017.
8. Profile, The Guardian; retrieved 25 January 2017.
9. Connor, Alan (4 December 2023). "Crossword blog: time to take stock". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
10. Connor, Alan (26 November 2022). "Meet the setter: The Observer's Everyman". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
11. Connor, Alan. Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword. London: Penguin Books, 2016; ISBN   9781846148415
12. Connor, Alan. The Crossword Century: 100 Years of Witty Wordplay, Ingenious Puzzles, and Linguistic Mischief. New York: Gotham Books, 2014; ISBN   9781592408580
13. Connor, Alan. The Joy of Quiz. London: Penguin Books (2016); ISBN   9781846148682
14. Connor, Alan. 188 Words for Rain. BBC Books (2024); ISBN   9781785948541

External links

• "Alan Connor official website".
• "Biography at DAA Management". Debi Allen Associates. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
• "Author page at David Higham Associates". David Higham Associates. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014.