Taskmaster season 17 spoilers follow.
Steve Pemberton pulled out all the stops to grab as many points as he could on tonight's (May 2) Taskmaster, delivering a cleverly hidden message for Greg Davies.
The Inside No. 9 star won the prize task with a cryptic crossword he previously compiled to reveal he'd be on the show, published on September 27 last year.
Called to come up with "the best thing you can get into", Pemberton and his co-stars Joanne McNally, Nick Mohammed, John Robins and Sophie Willan showed off their most creative offerings for Taskmaster Greg Davies to enjoy.
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Steve's double Easter egg was hard to beat and eventually earned the actor and comedian the coveted five points.
Appearing in The Guardian under the name of Sphinx — a compiler Pemberton played on Inside No 9 — the crossword contained a direct address to Greg and allowed fans of the show to decipher he'd be on the series.
The star brought the crossword as his pick for the prize task, wowing Greg and viewers alike with a message aimed at the sometimes merciless Taskmaster.
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Reading the words down, some of the letters revealed a message saying, "Greg please give Steve all five points".
"Steve, the only problem for me is how to reward you suitably and punish these four," an impressed Greg said.
"I am points-hungry tonight, Greg," Steve admitted, explaining the crossword "took ages".
The Taskmaster couldn't help but give the actor his well-deserved five points, conceding he should have earned even more.
"You feel robbed in many ways," Greg told Steve.
On Twitter/X, fans praised the brilliant crossword, with some pointing out the puzzle was the same game with which Steve had outed himself as a Taskmaster contestant.
"Holy moly, that Crossword is genuinely the best prize ever on the show," one person wrote, while another called it "the single most impressive thing" they've ever seen.
"YES! This is the crossword that the Inside No. 9 fans found months ago and decrypted that Steve was on #Taskmaster," one person noted.
"i wondered how long it would take for Steve's cryptic crossword to appear!!!" was another comment.
Taskmaster airs and streams on Thursday nights at 9pm on Channel 4, where you can also stream previous series.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
