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Diabolically Arcane

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Salon 12

25 March, 2013

Paul’s crossword from Saturday is a red-hot favourite to be considered for Crossword of the Year. A quirky theme suffusing an ambitious grid, with fresh clues, strong entries, and a delightful pay-off in the key entry: what more could a solver want?

Speaking of end-games, my manuscript deadline is April 1, no joke. With one mini-chapter in mind, do we have an Arabic speaker among us? I’m hoping to find a simpatico soul who may be willing to look over some Egyptian crosswords and tell me what they see. Drop me a line if you know someone.

And last, some palindrome fun, where a big jewel is a MEGA-GEM. Or dense filth is DUMB MUD. Each answer is a two-word cluster that can switch from right to left. So what’s:

DA1. Fish fanatic (4,3)
DA2. CEOs cry (6,3)
DA3. Brazil underbelly? (3,4)
DA4. Regal lubricant? (4,3)
DA5. Note umps (3,8)
DA6. NASA merch (5,4)
DA7. Deer laugh (3,6)

Blab answers, and create other clues, in the forum. The very same place where we discuss other Brit crosswords through this week, just like Paul’s Saturday feast.

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Rewording The Brain

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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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