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Diabolically Arcane

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Happy 100 You Old Rascal You

21 December, 2013

Today’s the day. December 21, 2013 – the centenary of the black-and-white menace that Arthur Wynne conjured for the New York World. (Part of me is relieved, as the havoc and hoop-la running up to C-Day has been feverish.) Though you don’t get to celebrate centurions to often.

While most of you will be away with seasonal pleasures, I felt the date too momentous to ignore. And celebrate with Folly-Cool’s recent idea, seeing what movies can be manipulated into crossword-cinema classics. Here’s a starting list. Should you be dropping by, between retail therapy and bonbons, feel free to add to the cruciverbal festival.

The Power of One-Down
Monkey Grid
Paul
DA Vinci Code
Rebus Stop
Homophone Booth

What else is on the bill? Happy 100th hipster.

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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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