Monday is traditionally pointless list day on the Observer blog. But, since today is also a day of mourning, we thought it only right to get our army of top pointless list researchers to come up with an ultimate top ten that might serve also as a Countdown memorial.
We've done numbers. So here, by popular demand, is the Observer blog all time top ten letters of the alphabet, as voted by our panel of experts.
1. g – It can be silent and stealthy like a gnarled gnu, it can be soft and delicate like a gentle gerbil, tough and edgy. Grrr. It can make sin sing. It is the gold medallist decathlete of the alphabet.
2. w – Easily the pointiest letter in a alphabet, it puts a playful whimsical wobble on the lips. And yet, equipped with an 'h' it is a brutal interrogator. Why? Who? Where? When? Plus, the French have no idea what to do with it.
3. s – It looks like a snake, it sounds like a snake. How cool is that? The letter that launched a thousand onomatopoeias.
4. k – A letter with edge. No lapsing into sibilance like that flaky 'c'. And yet it can marshal its powers deftly, giving a hint of kick to words like 'knock' and 'knout'.
5. o – It is round and when you stack them in a row they go 'ooooooooo'. What more do you want from a vowel?
6. e – Not much class, but just so useful it can't be ignored.
7. y – The party letter, it hangs around at the end of a word to make it more wordy. Poets in search of an easy rhyme and adverbs would be lost without it.
8. z - Fancies itself a bit too much, hanging around at the back of the alphabet, thinking its oh so rare. But the fact is it has got a cultish zing to it.
9. b – Not the sexiest letter in the alphabet, but a friendly, bumbling sort of blokey letter. A building block with a bit of bounce.
10. x – Another cult letter, trades a bit too much on sex for its popularity.
