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Diabolically Arcane

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Bling-Bling

23 November, 2011

Hip, hip….I’m back on air, and finally smiling. Thanks for patience during this blackout, where Telstra did its best impression of a lethargic janitor getting around to fixing a dripping tap, four days after the plink-plink was reported. Time to move on, and celebrate that Storm from so long back:

Boy oh boy, did we make some merry hell with repeater words. The contest drew 100-plus entries, including such promising newbies as DM and Crucifer. We also saw Mr X toy with an imagined repeater grid. (Be careful X – as madness lies that way.)

Just a note before I roll out the best. The new Storm custom is to self-select your best stuff before the usual late Thursday deadline, just to streamline the judging side of things. We also have a Popular Choice ritual, where all players rank their own top three from the Storm.

So, to prove your creations were far from so-so, the shortlist, and winners:

TOM-TOM: Drum combined with [MAJOR MAJOR] features in two Bowie hits. [Kudos to Mr X for taking the meta-theme tack. Look for a DA double-theme in 2012, I hunch.]

PAWPAW: It’s a soft, slippery fruit – use two hands [Rufus-like in its sweetness, as styled by Boniface.]

TINTIN: Colour-in cartoon character [One I’ve used before, which means I hear-hear Boniface’s approach. Reads very well.]

NANA: She takes two short naps [Criseyde has fun with Granny siestas, though this still needs moulding to make the &lit tighter: She has more than one nap, quietly dropping off!]

HUMBERT HUMBERT: Pervert them – rub repeatedly [Grammar seems a tad awry, but JD’s prurient motif for Lolita’s lech is beyond question.]

SING SING: Two-timing snitch in jail [Splendid surface from LR, with a deft repeater signpost as well. Very close to the chocolates.]

MUU MUU = Low sounding frock [A kapow luau from JD.]

THIRD PRIZE: TESTES: Match-point requires ultimate tennis balls [Maybe ‘brass’ instead of tennis here? But Crucifer’s debut is a dazzler.]

SECOND PRIZE: TWENTY TWENTY: XXXX-rating suggests supervision? [SK throws every parenting lobby groups into a tailspin with a top-drawer clue.]

FIRST PRIZE: SAME OLD SAME OLD: Male lead’s moods change in “Groundhog Day” [Think of Bill Murray as the harried news hack, and you can’t look past SK’s other creation. A unique & zestful anagram for a duplicated & jaded solution.]

Proving SK’s win in the preceding Storm was no fluke. The globe-trotting man of mystery is in rare form and needs to be overhauled, I suggest. (Or perhaps you preferred other clues, some not even listed here – then tell us your own top three.) New Storm next week, with some puzzle play in between.

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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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