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Diabolically Arcane

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Bappy Hirthday

23 July, 2013

Reverend William Archibald Spooner was born in London on July 22, 1844. Just think, if he’d still be alive today, he’d be one fold-art, not to be confused with origami.

Anyway, to toast the reverend this week, with a non-ballot Storm, players are welcome to convert any person into the spoonerised form, and then clue that name as if was the actual identity. Of course you can manipulate the usual suspects:

Bitchy Renaulttemperamental car

Or you can walk the path less trodden, and see what the makeover inspires:

Mate KiddletonCouple meeting pirate to betray
Fellen AnningOutspoken villain criticising leader’s dismissal

Obviously a degree of fudging will come into effect. In spoon-form, Peter Siddle’s first name coul be Seter, Seater, Seeter…whatever you choose, so long as the phonetic aspect is retained. Let’s just stir the spoon-cum-possum and see what weather-fate wonders we can create.

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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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