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Diabolically Arcane

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Inside Out

4 December, 2015

Today's DA was inspired by 2015 film - and what the title offered. (Pretty good movie too, by the way.) Though another flick from this year could well get the prize for having the most wordplay potential. I refer to Pixar's surreal romp - Inside Out.

And if you haven't seen it yet, you'll love the Chamber of Abstract Thought. I almost spilt my inflight cuppa giggling at that scene....

But what say we dream up clues for two words, one with its inside (the central letter or letters) removed? Not cryptic clues as such, but more like these:

EX: Difficult danger (4,6) = HARD HAZARD

DA1 - Dislike rushing (4,5)

DA2 - Lakelet (6,4)

DA3 - Socialising less? (6,8)

DA4 - Unwise root? (4,6)

DA5 - What a cool cat gives? (6,4)

DA6 - Feral genius (6,4)

Keep clues tagged with byline & number. And enjoy the Friday folly.

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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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