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Diabolically Arcane

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

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PAW-PAW

5 November, 2013

Woozle. Munzie. Bouba. Kiki. Mankad. Pakapoo. Just some of the words you’ll meet face-to-face in Puzzles and Words 2, the sequel just hitting my porch yesterday. Packed with puzzles and 250 word stories, this is a summer must, the ideal means to animate car trips and beach lazes.

Look for a contest on the blog soon, where P&W2 may be yours to win, or ask your favourite book vendor to get supply, with the release date slated soon. At only $15, it’s giftable gold.

Meanwhile, a few brain-benders from the book to help pass Cup Day:

  1. Six (and arguably seven) countries around the world become English words when their last letter is replaced by an E. How many can you name?

  2. Each clue leads to a rhyming pair, where one word is an Ockerism. Chicken volume (CB), of course is Chook Book, while comical WW (FD) is Funny Dunny. Get crackin'.

a. muscly fool (SN)
b. menswear slug (DT)
c. warm mail worker (TP)
d. launder money (WD)
e. macho snack (RS)
f. great pedestrian (CW)
g. cowardly aunt? (YR)
h. dinkier-di Di? (RS)

Good luck on the gee-gees, cobbers.

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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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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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