Blog - David Astle

Translax 2.0

2012-02-21T00:00:00Z

Allegedly a new-age gizmo made to translate Russian into English still has a few kinks. For example, the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is rendered into the Russian equivalent of ‘invisible, insane’. Or ‘going flat chat’ is ‘leaving dull talk’.

Bogus yarn or not, I love the tangent. Let’s pretend we work for an IT lab, hired to isolate the glitches in a new travel gadget. Pick a piece of idiom, then concoct a wayward translation. May work best if we present the stuff-up first, and then the true phrase. Like these:

The dispenser needs refilling (That’s the last straw)

Add a bonus bathmat (Throw in the towel)

Blonde and daggy (Fair and square)

This week let’s try a popular voting system. Before shut of biz on Friday, choose your three faves (from other compilers) and send them to my Email. I will do the same, and together the field’s funniest, wryest and/or freshest will turn into cats (be lionised) on Saturday.

Salon 16

2012-02-20T00:00:00Z

Who’s set to deal with paw on leg? (9) That’s 1-Across of the week’s opening Times, and I’m still fumbling for the answer. As that’s the fun of the solving Salon, a place to brag or beg across the week of Guardian, Times and FT puzzles. Share the quandaries, and the triumphs – and tell me the paw-on-leg answer after lunch!

Fielded a great question this weekend too, from an emailer called Gerianne who asked:

I am childless, but I love children. I am a music teacher and swimming instructor and coach; I am very close to several of the kids at my school, a disadvantaged school in Brisbane’s southern suburbs. Often I take small groups of kids to swim, or to the movies or museums, etc. I am also very very close to my ex-sis-in-law’s children; they are as close to being ‘mine,’ – my niece and nephews – as anyone could possibly be, yet we are not related either by marriage or blood. Same with the kids at my school.

Right now the only word we have for this relationship is “aunt.” But I’m not really their aunt, you see? Could someone invent a word for this very close and loving relationship? When I say I’m these kids' auntie, I feel like a pretender. Perhaps you, can help?

WoW: Illchiljera

2012-02-20T00:00:00Z

Collision Course [BB350]

2012-02-19T00:00:00Z

If CLAN arises from a Cadillac colliding with a Lancia, what collisions result in these other nine words below? Only makes of car (not models) are involved – and some prangs natrually will have more than one solution.

Note: in each case a car’s tail will combine with another’s front to create the word, just like the picture, with no internal mixing or rearrangement required.

(Any other accidental combos you can contrive?)

schemer
oversea
vomits
rumor [sic]
agenda
guard
infer
wren
clam

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB349 SOLUTION: Cantaloupe, sarcophagi, garlic clove, soundtrack, misbegotten, smokestack, submit, martini, body lice

What Have I Done Now?

2012-02-18T00:00:00Z

A headline from today’s SMH online:

Councils named and shamed over DA approvals

Hey Kelsey Munro, just for the record, let me say that I was nowhere near that lousy green light. Though I can confirm that there is bonus DA puzzle to be found over at Australian Style magazine, the Mac Uni’s linguistic biannual.

While not a pure cryptic, you will find a few brain-scratchers among the orthodox clues, and a tricksy end-game. Which likewise applies to Monday’s Omega puzzle in the Herald. As you know, Omega isn’t a feature I usually plug, but anyone with a soft spot for popular culture, and a bent for whodunits, will surely relish the wrestle. Have fun, you hear.

And The Winner Is...

2012-02-18T00:00:00Z

A triple-digit Storm to prelude the authentic Oscars, with a furious and simpatico workshop to distinguish proceedings. All the more reason to carry my critic duties with honour, rating each clue on zing, concision, originality and story. Cue drumroll, as I read the nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Admired the two Moneyball ideas – Buckshot and Doughnut – and a special mention to Rooster Cogburn’s spoonerism of the same movie: Bugs attack Spooner? Flick’s the answer

But in the end the academy plumped for modernity, and the seamless surface of Clapperboard’s HUGO:

Xbox hub?

BEST ACTOR

Rooster again did some deft reduction with Gary Oldman (Fishy almond paste?), and special mention to Midnight Cowboy for a compact Demian Bichir (‘Mexican actor made rich man die,’ I bragged), but the Tinsel Committee pushed long and hard for Red Carpet’s elegant BRAD PITT:

Daughter in riotous bit part

BEST ACTRESS

Bill Blass drew gazes with his terse treatment of Michelle Williams (Obama sisters), and Parisitic Nostalgia drew oohs with ‘Child actress’ (for Streep), though special mention went to Sacheen Littlefeather for her nimbler Streep: Secretly perm frizz without first consulting actress. Lovely. But the Celluloid Mafia adored the originality of Cut Crystal's ROONEY MARA:

Wicketkeeper scores duck for $500, gets Australian cap for his silence

Or the subtitled version: RODNEY MARSH [swaps D for O, and SH for A]. How’s that?

Call it rigged, call it propitious: but that leaves us with a lockdown, where Clapper, Carpet and Crystal share gold, and Rooster/Midnight/Sacheen pool silver. Or do you see the appraisal otherwise?

In short, the year’s first blockbuster Storm comes complete with a Hollywood ending. Well done all production houses. Thanks for the emotional rollercoaster. Now who the hell are you?

Lost Lingo

2012-02-17T00:00:00Z

Last month I saw Ray Lawler’s Doll, a rollicking play that still retains its punch and charm, with a swag of Aussie touches. Though the ‘wordsmirth’ in me couldn’t resist. I’m sure I irked my china in the adjoining seat as I jotted down phrases that our language has lost since the play’s first staging, stuff like strewth and skite, nippers and my eye.

My eye in fact is looking to survey these extinct and endangered species in a future column, and I’m sure you lot of galahs, you true-blue cobbers, you dinkum sports, can add to the Doll’s roll call. What phrases have you seen die in your lifetime – not just high-school slang, but generational dialect?

Another way of asking this question: what once-common words vocab may well have appeared in an LB crossword, yet now would seem quaint or foreign? Just as celebs fade into footnotes, so too do words need context.

My dear old Nan complained about matters getting on her quince, a phrase revived (momentarily) by Lawler’s script. As a kid, whenever I fell, my Dad would say I went for a Burton. Who’s Burton? And what other Australian phrases have drowned in the six o'clock swill?

What say we whack together an A-to-Z of Lost Lingo, the best word or phrases we find claiming rights to each letter? Should take two shakes. Let’s give it a burl, Shirl.

Szemantics

2012-02-15T00:00:00Z

You have to love Magda. Not only does the face of Sharon Strzelecki use Valentine’s Day as a platform to support the sense of gay marriage, she also dares the linguistic community to dream up a new word. To quote the gal from last night’s Project, as reported by Karl Quinn in today’s Fairfax papers:

“I am absolutely not straight. I wouldn’t define myself as bisexual either. I would say I am gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-a little bit not gay-gay-gay-gay. Unfortunately there’s not actually a word to describe me so I have to express myself through the medium of the dance.”

Consider the gauntlet thrown, people. What could be the word Magda seeks? If she’s not fully pink, than how about salmon? Or bohosexual? Or maybe ga (being mostly gay)?

And is this a general problem in English – lacking words of degree? Shades of emotion seem well covered, from miffed to furious, or glad to euphoric, but where else do the nuance gaps lie? How do you best say mainly healthy or minutely lewd? Or half-clever? Two-thirds funny? Just a little bit contoversial?

Envelope Please...

2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

Oscars are upon us, the season of Grecian gowns, scalloped taffeta and the mandatory fashion disasters. A time for one-liners, seat-fillers and after-parties, and of course some devious wordplay.

In case you haven’t guessed, your Storm challenge is to create a clue for any of the Best Film nominees – as appear below – as well as Best Actor and Actress. (Definitions are optional, so long as you signal your intent with the target’s unique intials.)

First let’s unfurl the three lists:

BEST FILM: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse

BEST ACTOR: Demián Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt

BEST ACTRESS: Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams

And now a bunch of my early bids, taking a candidate from each list:

MIP: HILGTON?

GO: Profit lost in crash, randomly

GC: Pronounced depression looming

Choose a cinematic alias, just to to keep Tinseltown honest, and craft as many clues as you like – one for each, or several for one. Of course, in the traditional Storm spirit, feel free to suggest tweaks or tucks to your fellow artistes, so the final edit will bedazzle. Submit your final trio (one for each category) to the DA Academy before Thursday, 9pm, and allow Roman, Whoopi and all my other colleagues to determine the year’s most outstanding.

Salon 15

2012-02-13T00:00:00Z

When I hear the phrase SILENT MOVIE, a-la this hyped flick The Artist, I think of film titles that contain SH, like Crash, and Caddyshack, and that creepy Dutch indie, The Vanishing. Now that your mind is humming, can you name FOUR films that all own five letters, and start with SH? (Or what about the only movie I found that owns two SH-pairs?)

Throw your titles – and any other SH-examples – in the Comments below. (I’m trying to make a longer list for a MetroHead puzzle.)

And while dropping bt the Comments, should you chance on a Times or a Guardian, or the neglected Financial Times, this week, than jot down your impressions, your doubts and disputes here too. No spoilers till the arvo. And may your cryptic Muse shine bright.

WoW: Pickelhaube

2012-02-13T00:00:00Z

Dress-Ups [BB349]

2012-02-12T00:00:00Z

Let’s play dress-ups this week, digging around the drawers in the name of wordplay. What you need to do is pick the right garment, and clothe each cluster below, so making a common word or phrase. (AGU), say, = V(AGU)EST, clothing the cluster in vest, while (RE/OF) = SCARE OFF, wrapping the letters in scarf.

(For sartorial stars who complete the list, can you name any item of apparel we neglected? No design labels please – just the generic items of clobber.)

(NTALOU)
(COPHAG)
(ARLIC/C)
(UNDTRA)
(SBEGO)
(KESTA)
(MB)
(ART)
(Y/L)

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB348 SOLUTION: Battery, bedroom, blister, channel, comfort, diamond, fortune, forward, whistle. (Other words could fill the breach.)

Word Award

2012-02-11T00:00:00Z

Only now discovered these Torah tweaks are called consonyms, where APRON shares its consonant pattern with PARANOIA, or ESPRIT with SPIRIT. Down the track, with a little more guidance, I may revisit this addictive pursuit, but till then some APPLAUSE to the promising PUPILS for last week’s excursion.

Savoured RM’s accusation – DAVID ASTLE DIVIDES TOIL. Or SK’s bleak economic forecast, culminating in EUROPE R.I.P.

And spare a though for Em, who must be shaking off a midsummer flu if her suggestions are any hint:

PANADOL TABLET – PAIN DILUTABLE. TA.
BUTTER MENTHOL – BETTERMENT. HAIL!

But this was a Storm where the winners jumped out, in sequence too. Though you may disagree. But LR set the standard high by converting my numerical colleague into a cynosure: ALL EYES ARE ON LILY SERNA! A worthy bronze.

Also admired SK’s Salman bid – both in fact. His opener, and his late redraft. (What a coup to see the ISLAM potential of the novelist’s opening!) Enjoy:

ISLAM? ONE RASH IDEA…
ISLAM IN IRE. HIDE!

But for topicality, elegance and sheer provocation, I can’t resist Mauve’s gold-scoring take on GINA RINEHART – GAIN OR INHERIT. Sublime. Well mined, Mauve.

Indeed all players. A quiet Storm by last year’s standards, the rampage was made memorable by several vivid flashes. Look forward to next week, a welcome return to the dark arts of clueing.

Friday Follies

2012-02-10T00:00:00Z

Not sure if this is a new category – let’s see how we roll. The essence of Friday Follies will pivot on a word challenge (as in Challenge 1 below), or a freewheeling riff in search of variations (such as C2). Just treat the game as a small-s storm, or an alternative to Birdbrain, and News Clues.

No prizes, or tiaras, just the pleasure of plunging in, and seeing what other Dabblers concoct with the same ground rules. We ready for our maiden FF? Onward.

Challenge 1 – reading a story collection this morning, I came across the word SIGHED. Sounds like side, obviously, just as the plural form SIGHS mimics size. Yet what seems extra strange is that SIGH itself has no homophone. How rare is that? Can you name any other verb that has no homophone, yet owns others among its multiple forms?

Challenge 2 – A lovely theme in The Onion puzzle last week, composed by newcomer Aimee Lucido. The gag related to collective nouns, where ‘Ants without pants’ were a NUDIST COLONY, or ‘Aloof wolves’ were a COLD PACK. The ocean’s B-team? SECONDARY SCHOOL. Though the jewel in the crown had to be ‘Lions without lionesses’. GAY PRIDE. Any more?

There you go. Consider the FF gauntlet thrown. Can you extend either list?

The Sex of Lex

2012-02-09T00:00:00Z

A little while back, an emailer called Cate had a conundrum. A whim, really, that has the danger of becoming an obsession. So be warned, before you read any further.

Cate wants to know whether some words possess a certain gender-leaning. Relax, this is not wymyn’s business, a shesis to rewrite herstory, but a phonetic puzzle. Do some words feel more masculine, or feminine, due to their sound, and ‘mouth feel’ as Cate puts it.

Does such a thesis exist, or is this a fresh playground? Curiously, I recall reading that Mark Okrand created the Klingon language based on an extinct warrior class of Native American people. And languages like German and Arabic have a reptuation for aggro staccato – but what about English words? Are some more femme than homme?

Cate suggested gallant and cuckold as both having feminine qualities (which you might debate), while distaff does have a misleading blokey aura. Off the bat, I’d say cascade and worthwhile feel more womanly (is it the duplicated consonants), compared to the boyish pebble and upshot.

What’s happening here? Is there a poetic theory afoot? And given the puzzle, what words spring to your mind? Does the topic teem with codswallop (which has to be male, just like poppycock), or is there a vein of girlish verity?

Vwl Fr Strm

2012-02-07T00:00:00Z

The Hebrew word for milk can swap a few vowels to spell the Hebrew word for animal fat. That may seem trivial, but not to Orthodox Jews, those who rely on the Torah for their spiritual guidance. You see the holy book is founded in the oral tradition, and often the supply of vowels falls to the reader.

WRD, huh? (Did I just say WEIRD, or WORD?) As that’s our Storm this week, to fabricate clusters that own contrasting meanings, once different vowels are supplied. For example, GR can yield a mentor and a monster: GURU and OGRE. Or PL two sports: POOL and POLO. Just LSK can give you an American state and African capital: ALASKA and LUSAKA.

Or try the sentence approach, such as APRON SO OLIVE & PARANOIA IS ALIVE. See who can make the most interesting twosome.

As with the examples, consonant sequence needs to be maintained, with only vowels (no other consonants, including Y) can be added. Best specimens will embody irony, contrast or surprising kinship, such EMUS and MOOSE (two animals), or VALIANT and VIOLENT.

If you wish other players to solve your discovery, then feel free to submit in puzzle mode, with a numbered clue plus word lengths, such as trees (3 and 4) – which would be ELM or LIME.

Or simpy reveal the treasure at your leisure, especially if it’s esoteric, like fair dinkum reptile = GENUINE GOANNA. Aided by a spot of active shortlisting on latish Thursday, the cream will be skimmed for a mention in Mentone on Saturday. HV FN.

Salon 14

2012-02-06T00:00:00Z

If a young girl has a pony, then is that pony a pet? Or do pets needs to be kept within the home’s confines? How do we define domesticated? Capable of being controlled? Toilet-trained? Could a recalcitrant poodle who continually chews the couch forfeit its pethood? Your zoo-views here.

And while your mind dwells on bestial matters: how do you define feral? We all know an escapee cat, now roaming the bush, is feral. But what about a fugitive cow? A pet goldfish swimming loose in the Murray? Or a pony in the Budawangs for that matter? If a fox is an introduced species, how does that differ from a runaway rabbit? Forget blackberries – I reckon these semantics are far more tangled, and just as thorny.

By the way, this post is where we also chat over crosswords. Assuming you can go feral (breaking free from your domestic obligations) and chew some quality clues, a bit like that naughty poodle. (No spoilers before the lunch interval.)

WoW: Dwile Flonking

2012-02-06T00:00:00Z

Circuit Breakers [BB348]

2012-02-05T00:00:00Z

Squeeze a seven-letter word between each pair to make a string of two phrases. Short breaker, say, is short CIRCUIT & CIRCUIT breaker. Answers are in alphabetical order.

(And see if you can throw the horde with a few more pairings, with a seven-letter word as the link.)

car chicken
master eyes
blood pack
English surf
cold stop
rough python
small teller
loose pike
dog blower

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB347 SOLUTION: Piazza, marijuana, misogyny, cauliflower, spryly, mugwump, bantamweight, advocacy. Albeit, virtuosos, betwixt, shibboleth, unwieldy, halcyon, verbiage, laryngitis, blitzkrieg (or possibly whizkid), eisteddfod. Other words may do the trick.

Falsity Finale

2012-02-04T00:00:00Z

Quiet start to a Stormy year, but plenty of quality among the posts to compensate for volume. Clearly this was a big ask, to make a clue that seemed to be one recipe, yet operated according to another. Rather than try to explain, let’s admire the pick of the posts, with the top three wrapping up:

Spooner about small start of poverty (8): POORNESS [One Wheel incites the Spoony one, only to rely on cocktailing.]

Same stunt, with a tad more flair, pulled by SK: Spooner displayed tendency to limp? (10) = DROOPINESS

Possibly lyrical gear? = REVERSE [That’s my bid – a false anagram going down the charade road.]

Cockney drug, playing and hurting (4,5) EAST ENDER [Mr X proves the Pavlo theory. As soon as a cryptic mutt hears Cockney, he gets ready to slash an H: wrong.]

Back up in cricket, say (7) SUPPORT [Boniface has us facing a homophone, only to trap us inside a container.]

Misfortunes sounding terrible (8) UNDOINGS [Boniface again, scoring bronze, with a sly jumble that quacks and waddles like a hidden.]

Approval or penalty contains violence = SANCTION [To snag silver, Mr X executes a similar bait-and-switch, with the added bonus of a contranym – since sanction has oppositing meanings.]

Used to be shut into a box with label! (11,4) = EXCLAMATION MARK [That man again, SK, proving he has the mettle for a dominant 2012 unless you can shade him. This is exquisite – seems a pun, and yet baffles with hybrid. Don’t geddit? Here’s the sequence:

Used to be = EX
shut = CLAM
into a box = fodder + anagrind = ATION
label = MARK
! = def

A picnic it ain’t – but the clue is beautifully two-faced. Thanks for your curly work, and congratz to the podium trio. Leaving us with Anax’s nagging question: How can a setter signal a spoonerism without naming Reverend Spooner? Is it at all possible?