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...

Death Warmed Up

28 February, 2017

A Storm with a ghoulish twist this week. Not just the flavour, but the fact we get to massage phrases rather than the usual words or names.

Listed below are a range of euphemisms and blowhard idioms hailing from the talk I gave at Hamer Hall on the weekend. The occasion was the opening gala of the Wheeler Centre, each of the dozen performers asked to respond to death.  Naturally I went the wordy tack, dividing an eerie story as the speech's bookends.

Check out the address here, with the option of hearing the genuine if you push the Play function - a bittersweet recital complete with ringtones, laughs and deadly silence too.

So live it up, my quick friends. Let's see who can animate these macabre offerings with most vivacity. (No need to supply the definition, unless talk of dying benefits the wordplay. Have fun, and enjoy my Wheeler jabber too.)

BITE THE DUST

CROSS THE JORDAN

CHECK OUT

CONK OUT

PASS AWAY

CASH YOUR CHIPS

BUY THE FARM

GO THE WAY OF ALL FLESH

POP THE CLOGS

KICK THE BUCKET

ASSUME ROOM TEMPERATURE

On a related theme, a big thanks to all for keeping the blog pulse so vital since the silly season. I've relished the lively WoWs and other forums - quite rejuvenating in fact . And don't forget to hop across to the Cruciverbalist site too, where the latest zine has a DAshing-cum-DAggy theme, a prize offer, not to mention curly work by CB, SL and SK.

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