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Diabolically Arcane

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Elementary Enigma

11 March, 2016

Ken Jennings is the US trivia king without peer. Back in 2004, he reigned for 74 episodes of Jeopardy!! (That's one exclamation mark to accompany the show's exclamation mark.)

He also mails out a free set of curly questions every Tuesday. It's open to subscribers, while the posers are always fresh and intriguing. Without fail, my favourite of the bunch is the final question that boasts on being Googleproof. 

That question may relate to quirky film links, or VIP overlaps, or city sizes etc. And last year, the Googleproofer turned its focus upon the periodic table. I've listed the relevant elements below. So (a) can you detect their unique link? And (b) - can you compose the smartest clue for any of the substances, no definition needed?

Bismuth

Caesium

Chlorine

Indium

Iodine

Praseodymium

Rhodium

Rubidium

Thallium (arguably)

Zirconium

Enjoy your rubidium conundrum, and chlorinated clue-crafting...

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Rewording The Brain

Focus & memory, lateral leaps & logic - every aspect of cognitive health is lit in Rewording The Brain, a book revelling in how puzzles boost your brain. Part 2 equips your brain to conquer any twisty clue, plus the wild crossword finale. Pop science meets neural gameplay, Rewording is rewarding, and out now.

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Rewording The Brain

Care to renew your noodle? Rewording The Brain explores the latest neural studies, seeing how puzzles (and twisty clues) boost your neurons. Part 2 helps you crack such clues, and prep the grey matter for the crossword showcase to finish. More here

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101 Weird Words (and 3 Fakes)

From Ambidextrous to Zugwang, this mini-dictionary teems with rare or alluring words, plus bonus riddles, puzzles and fun word-facts. Dictionary detective will also nab the collection's three fakes. Ideal for late primary schoolers, or word-nuts in general.

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Gargantuan Book of Words

Sneeze words. Fake pasta. Viking slang. Gargantuan is a jumbo jumble of puzzles & games, mazes & quizzes, tailor-made for that wordy wonderkid in your life. Or anyone in love with letters, secret codes, puns, rhymes, emoji & all things languagey. More here 

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Recent Comments

Riddledom Rave

If you missed my riddle chat with Richard Fidler, then feel free to slurp the podcast at http://ab.co/1I9t1x5

Text-speak is creeping into Scrabble. Where do you sit?
OBVS I'm fine with it
Entrenched stuff - like LOL and OMG - but no more.
Words With Friends, maybe. Scrabble, no
Let the 'real' dictionaries decide first
Just the handy stuff, like FAQ and EUW
I mean, WTF?! No way
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