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Diabolically Arcane

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All ABOARD?

21 May, 2013

Care for a clue game? I do. No prizes. No ballots. More a parade of ideas, with clues to chew and solve as we roll. The theme relies on those seven letters that boast an enclosed space in their composition: ABDOPQR.

What words can you make from these exclusively? ODD is one. DODO makes two. While BOOBOO and BOOB can both mean bungles. But just to lend our game some bite, what say we clue any candidate – with definition and wordplay – but refrain from providing a letter count? That way we have to solve your work, knowing the finite set of letters available.

Provide your byline and number to help tie any loose ends, like I’ve done here:

DA1 Stole Manx pig = BOA (boa/r)
DA2 Way-out medic zeroes in?
DA3 Giant school capsule
DA4 Contagious foursome unaffected by stand-up?
DA5 A gun backfired on explorer

Care to ADD?

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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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