What are the two most common words that aren't listed in a Scrabble dictionary?

The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Whoever coined that phrase clearly hasn't understood the second law of thermodynamics. Actually, maybe that's a bit harsh, but then maybe I'm just lacking

enthalpy. So here's the thing. The producer has, uh, sometimes put instructions in these

script reads for me. Sometimes it just says take a beat.

Sometimes it's got a read instruction.

And this, just have that, just in bold, in square brackets,

this is a good pun.

Oh, it's a great pun.

That doesn't mean we laugh at it.

I thought it was going to be make a t's noise.

Got to get that heat joke, really rub it in.

Yeah.

Joining us today, having already revealed themselves, thank you very much.

We have three players returning to the game.

We start with question writer and researcher Dan Peake.

Hello, good day to you, sir.

It is always a little bit scary as a host, having people who write quiz questions and who do this sort of trivia research for a living. I mean, we've got three of you on here today. How do you find the questions? How do you find things to talk about? Reading, reading, read the internet. Read all of it. Don't, well, maybe not all of it. There's some bits you don't want to read. Don't do that. Essentially, you can make a question interesting by putting a fact into the question. I love one of the questions that I wrote recently. You could ask, for example, who voiced Bugs Bunny? The answer to which, do any of you know? Mel Blank? Correct. Yes, you can ask that question. It's a dodgy question to ask that. Sorry, ah, yes. Always pin your question. This is a good lesson as well. He's the main person who we know. Which actor born in this year?

Yeah.

Well, all you can pin it like asking who after a car accident was in a coma for a couple of weeks, two to three weeks, and was then brought about by a doctor asking, so how are you today, Bugs Bunny?

And then them answering in character, eh, not fine. How are you, Doc?

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