contrived

John Adams, the nation’s first vice president, declared the position to be “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived, or his imagination conceived.”

Despite this catalog of current and easily predictable future horrors, America keeps up a façade of normality: the manic cheerfulness of TV newscasters, the moronic sitcoms, the contrived crime dramas.

This was a huge deal for a contrived unscripted series that simulates the search for love and romance; rarely do contestants find the real thing.

The Guardian is relatively kinder, summing up Season 2 as “so painfully contrived that it’s genuinely fascinating.”

With the Proteas recommencing their first innings on the fifth day Cronje - prompted by a bookie named Marlon Aronstam - contrived an unprecedented innings forfeiture for both sides to ensure a result.