Puzzles, posts, news and general word-chat.

Diabolically Arcane

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

Loading tweet...

Boardwalk Empirical (Salon 15)

15 April, 2013

Midway through Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire, a series that gets richer and darker by the episode – do yourself a favour. Last night Eli Thompson wants his kid to leave the garage, so asks the boy to fetch a left-handed beebletzer.

Do you have a similar ‘apprentice prank’ to relate? I once worked at a pub, where we’d tell the new guy to get a Spring Glen Shiraz from the wine room. The room existed; the wine didn’t. Ever been punk’d with striped paint, a reflux cable or platinum skyhooks? Or is there a BS term that does the office rounds?

And a puzzle to prime your morning, plays with director’s cut. What famous director, when cut by one letter, creates a director’s film-making consideration? And if TONE (or LIVER or ERST) can be cut from OLIVER STONE, what directors can produce the cuts below?

  1. FELL
  2. PIKE
  3. IDLY
  4. TOP
  5. IDLE
  6. SCAM
  7. TINT
  8. ROUGH

Blab below. And make your own (with byline and number.)

And yes, here’s the post where we get to adore/abhor the best/worst of the week’s Brit puzzles, most notably from The Times (in the Oz) and The Guardian. Solve and share right here.

comments powered by Disqus

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.

Medal

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

read more +

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.

read more +

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 

read more +

Recent Comments

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
See Results