Puzzles, posts, news and general word-chat.

Diabolically Arcane

Bingo. You’ve reached David Astle dot com, a carnival of words, puzzles and more words. Welcome aboard, and have fun.

Loading tweet...

Finessing the Effable

8 November, 2017

Some words own opposites you seldom hear - or don't truly exist. This perversity applies to the list below, in our final Brainstorm of 2017, as I will be off the grid for a few months, heading into a realm where a crossword is a keresztrejtvény.

In keeping with the year's last hurrah, there's a prize to win - my new Gargantuan Book of Words, as kindly donated back to the stock cupboard by SK.

No need for aliases when competing, as I'm prepared to let the clues speak for themselves. Your challenge is to craft a clue containing BOTH wordplay and definition for any of this dozen below. 

To help me pick a winner, please submit your best THREE clues by 6pm on next Wedesday, November 15. Thanks. And don't be too ruly, truly.

scrutable

effable

wieldy

nocuous

evitable

kempt

ruly

nocent

peccable

maculate

gruntled

sipid

Share your clues and ideas in the forum here. Then post your three best as a shortlist before next Wednesday 6pm to be in the running for the Gargantuan prize.

comments powered by Disqus

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.

Medal

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

read more +

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.

read more +

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 

read more +

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
See Results