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Diabolically Arcane

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Let Us Pray

22 April, 2014

Easter is not the only religious festival in town. Across the Islamic world, the call to prayer (or AZAN) is equally vital to believers.

As I read things, a faithful Muslim must pay respects to Allah five times a day. And these five windows lend us a chance to break new ground by clueing some exquisite terms.

Spelling may differ, depending on culture, but according to the Macquarie Dictionary, the five prayer windows are below, from crack of dawn till bedtime:

SUBUH (dawn prayer)
ZUHUR (after midday)
ASAR (late afternoon)
MAGHRIB (4th prayer, after sunset)
ISHA (final prayer at night)

There’s the call-out, the azan of Islam: five prayer times to convert into your own cryptic scripture. Who can compose the best set of five, without any call for definition? Together I’m sure we’ll amass a perfect quintet. I have faith in you.

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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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