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...

Laurel O'Clock

4 August, 2012

Just like the blue-ribbon dash in the main arena, eight runners took their marks last week, trying to out-hustle, out-muscle, their rivals. And boy, did we find a Usain Bolt in the pack, as you’ll read.

The way I rated this Storm, was calculating the total number of votes gained, across all four offered clues (or less clues in some cases). In order to give you an inkling where you stand in the IOC rankings, I’ve chosen this week to publish all totals. If you’re low, see if you can tweak that trend next meet. If you’re midfield, again, take your lumps and match it with the Jamaican soon.

Let’s enjoy some fine clues, and big vote pullers. In the legend category, 11 points saw bronze go to Stick Check’s Shirley Strickland: Temple’s secret plot

While silver and gold – spoiler alert – went to a single athlete, viz Eric the Eel. The slippery customer amassed a whopping 19- and 25-point quinella for these two jewels:

SHANE GOULD: She held an unbeatable lead in Olympic quest!

DAWN FRASER: AM followed by PM?

In the other category, Epee snared bronze on 7 for Melinda Gainsford: In medal dash, wins car. (That was me by the way, defying my own rules by choosing a non-current athlete!)

Probable newcomer (it’s hard to be sure) Not Chris Morgan swooped silver on 11 for a popular manipulation of Nick Darcy: Kid can cry foul

But that Equatorial sea-snake stole the laurels again, bagging 14 points for Stephanie Rice: Patience is her undoing.

No shock then that our outright champ is Eric on a mind-spinning sum of 62. Compare that to the ‘lowly’ silver star, Epee on 22, just pipping Samaranch on 19. For sweepstake ticket holders, the remainder of the field was Stick Check (15), Not Chris (14), Siddy (11), High Bar (2) and Chocolate Gold Medal (1).

Please let me know if you rather I don’t parade the full count in future, bearing in mind I’m a professional clue-maker and I was monstered by a gifted amateur – not for the first time! A great race. All hail the Eel, and thanks for your snivel-free sportspersonship.

"
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