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Diabolically Arcane

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Cilla Black & White

7 August, 2015

Trivia gem: the late singer Cilla Black was born Cilla White. She only changed her stage name owing to a newspaper slip-up. Which probably makes her history's only vocalist who owes her name to a typo, of sorts. Probably.

The bungle has inspired today's skylarking - this week's Friday Folly. What other names could have been altered by subeditor, becoming their opposite? And if such a blunder had occured, what new fate (or career twist) would await the luminary involved? For example:

Bill Extend - Shorten dumps politics to be a freelance builder on the black economy

Vin Gas - Fast & Furious 8 - The Quest For An LPG Outlet

Salman Walklive - trekking guide based in Darjeeling

Lady Sane - Gaga admits to being Aladdin's lovechild 

Doff Draper - stripper on Madison Avenue

Feel free to toy with first names, both names, or combinations. I'll aim to have a go from Bendigo too. Have fun. 

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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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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
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