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Diabolically Arcane

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Gemini Enigma

10 May, 2012

While our minds are racing with doubles – Abbott and Costello, Thelma and Louise – the time may be right to consider twinship. In case you don’t know, there’s a trend afoot to concoct cute and compatible names for twins – like Polly and Holly, or Aiden and Diane.

Sure, rhymes or anagrams are sweet. Or maybe a trip to the Gospels will give you Luke and Matthew – but what about some pairings with a more cryptic connection? Like Oscar and Emmy, or Dawn and Aurora, or these:

Steele and Nicholas (Nick)

Olivia and Wanda (beheaded nations)

Hugo and Amelie

Ash and Craig (cigar)

Get the game? Sift the census for haywire overlaps, using wordplay or theme, and let’s have some gemini hijinks while our double-Storm plays out.

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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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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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