Winter Special: Word Games

Synopsis

Is English an innately playful language? Are word games good for you? Do we divide into number and word players? Sudoku and Sudon't ku? In this special winter programme, Stephen examines word games in diverse formats, and challenges his audience to play some unusual ones. We'll hear some familiar voices playing unfamiliar games - Sheila Dillon from the Food Programme plays Font or Cheese against miscellanist Ben Schott, who typesets his own books. Phill Juptitus talks about his personal word game habits. And we'll remember the late Humphrey Lyttleton's scurrilous account of Una Stubbs on Give Us A Clue, the TV version of Charades.

At the heart of the programme a question about English - the original language of the best word games like Scrabble and crosswords. But is English by its nature a language that encourages word play, and therefore shapes English-speaking culture? Does its size and diversity make it somehow playful?

We'll travel deep inside the mind of puzzlemaster Chris Maslanka, who helps put diverse word games into categories. And we'll examine an extraordinary claim - that the fashion for increasingly cryptic crosswords helped save the free world from Nazi domination.

The psychology of word games is also considered. Pondering over words requires a special kind of relaxation. Word association games used to bring to mind an old cliche. Supposedly they revealed your innermost thoughts, usually to psychiatrists sat alongside chaises longues. Now they're more the preserve of improvised comedy, so we visit the Comedy Store in London to experience the lightning reflexes of some top word-athletes.

Producer: Nick Baker
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.