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Diabolically Arcane

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January Jewels

2 February, 2017

2017 began with a bang, and I don't mean Trump's firecrackers, or Mike Baird stepping down. Instead let me introduce you to eight cracking clues drawn from British sources, all published in January, or just a little earlier.

See how many you can solve - with hints encouraged in the Comments. (Numbers 4 and 5 are extra gnarly.) And look for another eight to drop next week. Get cracking.

1. Dated briefly, making move (4) [Screw]

2. Regularly avoided trouble by withdrawing smear (4) [Times 10764]

3. Miss cue on air - sorry! (9) [Vlad]

4. Need to go to France, you said? Maybe everyone needs accommodation (4,2,6) [Vlad]

5. Advised not to go swimming in lake at deep end (8) [Can you tell I love Vlad?]

6. Novelist's career to come to an end (7) [Nutmeg]

7. Asian film stars in contest (10) [Paul]

8. Magic words - turned out hiding something up one's sleeve? (5,3) [Times 10758]

Begging, hinting & ultimately blabbing encouraged below.

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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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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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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
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