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Diabolically Arcane

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Lo the Odd

27 September, 2012

That there tiny ship is a called a NEF. Not sure if you recall our Word of the Week back in July last year, but nef was identifed as an “Ornamental piece of metalwork in the shape of a ship”. Back then, I never thought to hunt down an image of such a curio, but I’m incurable.

This morning, when I should be working, I’ve been tapping other WoWs and crossword-words into Googe Images, and seeing what the esoterica elicits. MAKAPUNO diplays a swollen coconut, ETUI a needle kit, AGLET a shoelace tip. It’s fun, seeing how smart the Image bank can be. Or how inventive.

ZAX for example isa tile cutter, a handy Scrabble word, but the same name applies to a Seuss humanoid. Just as MONTEITH, our scalloped punchbowl from this July, shows Cory Monteith, a boy in Glee. Makes you wonder what other obscure words will yield.

Or oddball anagrams. I put in some cocktails of my own name. Here are the results:

DELTA DAVIS – showed a three-wheeled car called Davis Delta;
DATED VIALS – a dusty ampoule (impressive);
LA-DI-DA VEST – champagne jacket from Gucci;
SAVE DAD LIT – a bloke with a red Kombi.

Can’t help but think there’s a funny puzzle in this. Or at least hours of idle wastage. If you get a chance, tell us what images your obscure words and phrases summon. Warning: you lose a morning.

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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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