About the Author

Alan Connor is the question editor of BBC2's Only Connect and writes quizzes for various newspapers. He cannot see a new fact without wondering how to make it into a piece of quiz. Alan is a screenwriter, journalist and the author of Two Girls, One on Each Knee, about the puzzling world of crosswords. His favourite quiz question is: What word was intentionally omitted from the screenplay of The Godfather?

Reviews

Alan Connor's charming, fascinating history... is as elegantly sprinkled with surprising gems as the most satisfying crossword... thoroughly, consistently entertaining... In a single, gloriously decipherable chapter he lays out with perfect clarity the entire range of rules and devices through which cryptic clues work their magic
*Sunday Times*

It is witty, charming, encyclopaedic and highly readable - and it can be read in any order. Take a chapter or a paragraph, a puzzle or a clue. In each the reader will find something to intrigue and delight.
*The Spectator*

Two Girls is a lovingly crafted little book, from the table of contents - where chapter titles are hidden in a crossword designed by the great Araucaria - to the index, which skips from "I give up, see frustration" via "primness in American crosswords", to finish with "zookeepers, beleaguered". Connor's wry, good-natured tone and his commitment to the serious business of play make him the perfect guide to a great pastime as it approaches its 100th birthday.
*The Times*

A lovingly crafted little book ... Connor's wry, good-natured tone and his commitment to the serious business of play make him the perfect guide to a great pastime as it approaches its 100th birthday
*Daily Telegraph*

Connor writes with great flair ... it is nice to dip in and out of his entertaining essays
*Church Times*

An ideal stocking filler
*Metro*

The brilliant new book on crosswords that delivers fun galore whether you're a doer or a duffer
*Mail on Sunday*

There is something to entertain even the most infrequent dabbler
*Financial Times*