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This book can be found in:
Hobbies, quiz books & games > Crosswords
Language & Reference > Language usage & writing guides > Language: history & general works
Politics, Society & Education > Society & culture > Cultural studies > History of ideas
Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword (Paperback)
  • Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword (Paperback)
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Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword (Paperback)

(author)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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£9.99
Paperback 320 Pages / Published: 05/06/2014
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Synopsis
In the century since its birth, the crossword has evolved into the world's most popular intellectual pastime: a unique form of wordplay, the codes and conventions of which are open to anyone masochistic enough to get addicted. In Two Girls, One on Each Knee, Alan Connor celebrates the wit, ingenuity and frustration of setting and solving puzzles. From the beaches of D-Day to the imaginary worlds of three-dimensional crosswords, to the British school teachers and journalists who turned the form into the fiendish sport it is today, encompassing the most challenging clues, particular tricks, the world's greatest setters and famous solvers, PG Wodehouse and the torturers of the Spanish Inquisition, this is an ingenious book for lovers of this very particular form of wordplay.

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780141977102
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 237 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 18 mm

MEDIA 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. * 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". * 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 *

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Reviews

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“ Wish I’d read it ages ago! ”

This book has been on my radar since it was published eighteen months ago and I can’t believe I have only just read it. It tells the story of word puzzles in such an entertaining way that I had to force myself to put... More

Paperback edition
5th January 2016
Helpful? Upvote 49

“Not Just For Crossword Solvers”

This lovely little book goes into the history of crosswords, and wordplay in general, as well as having tips on solving cryptic crosswords.
I do like a good ( easy) crossword and have picked up some tips on cryptic... More

Hardback edition
8th December 2013
Helpful? Upvote 47

“Two Girls, One on Each Knee”

I love crosswords and word puzzles in general, and this fantastic book, full of tips and clues for the reader to solve, really did help me try to understand the apparent gobbledigook used by cryptic crossword... More

Hardback edition
13th November 2013
Helpful? Upvote 24

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