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Diabolically Arcane

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Dabblers v The World

3 July, 2012

A special Storm this week to mark the midpoint of 2012. The wonderful Guardian blog curated by Alan Connor does a weekly clue roundup, with a best clue put forward. I’ve selected five such clues (so don’t go looking for them!) and supply their answers below.

Our challenge – mine included – is to create our own stellar clues for the same five. Choose an alias inspired by any of the words, and roll your ideas and drafts through the week. Come Thursday, 9pm, we need to have your top 5 clues submitted, with wordplay workings added.

Then on Friday, all players must vote per word (3 points for best, and 1 point for second-best) to determine a category winner, plus an overall winner. And just to spice the end-game, on the weekend I will couple our best five selections against Alan’s favourite five – and see how we measure up. Impartially, of course…

So pick a code-name these sample words spark, and finagle clues for all five:

BACK-SEAT DRIVER
DERMATOID
HAREM
REALITY CHECK
SHOPPING CENTRE

C'mon Aussies, c'mon. See if we can’t pip the Poms at their own sport!

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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

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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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