The hat that Alistair give Lionel is from the Oakland Athletics (aka As) major league baseball club.
The writers' beginning story line in the writing meeting, is reminiscent of Random Harvest.
The book that Lionel is reading is The Genius of Gower by David W. Goodyear & Robert Brooke, a biography of cricketer of David Gower, OBE. The book that Jean is reading is 1971's No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell, CBE. It is part of the Chief Inspector Wexford series. Lionel asks about the strength of the Spanish Peseta, but the plot of her book has nothing to do with Spain or currency.