Countdown co-host Rachel Riley has given hints with occasional on-air references to zeida but she finally confirmed that she was of the faith when she recently recalled the delights of her mother's chopped liver.

While she looks after the numbers on the popular Channel 4 quiz show, from time to time she has been called on to help its words expert, Susie Dent, with the pronunciation of such words as matzah or hedarim (the plural of cheder, allowed without the ch).

"Maven came up the other day, too and shofar comes up a bit," she told me.

"Trouble is there are so many spelling variations and only a few make it into the dictionary to be valid for Countdown."

She also revealed that Susie has been researching some words with Yiddish origins, which will air in June.