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...

Gloom Gleam

24 January, 2014

Thanks for so many brilliant tennis clues this week. (I’ll pick out the top seeds and issue the invisible silverware on the weekend.) In the meantime, here’s a game to keep the mind amped:

Recent studies (I’d quote them if I could find them!) have suggested that the long-u sound, (or long-oo sound), as heard in jewel, or flute, or through, are more likely to put you in a despondent frame of mind. By comparison, the long-e sound – as in keep, or beach, or recede, can buoy the mindset.

The ideal factoid to trigger a Friday folly, I reckon. No cryptic play involved. Rather, shift a ‘sad’ word to happy, or vice versa, and conjure a clue for the pairing. Ben Lexcen’s invention (4,4) must be a COOL KEEL. While Escape grippe (4,3) = FLEE FLU.

Make sure you number your clues, beside your byline, like this quintet:

DA1 Ex-Premier’s backside (6,5)
DA2 Select Stilton (6,6)
DA3 Hangs relatives (6,6)
DA4 50 Shades of Grey? (4,4)
DA5 Swann’s abbĂ©? (6,6)

Get busy – and get happy.

"
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