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Diabolically Arcane

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Mid-Series Trading

16 July, 2013

Here’s an idea. Instead of devising clues for this current lot of cricketers, let’s chop and change the names around. That way we make unique characters, and scintillating clues, in theory.

The game is simple. Choose a first name from the Poms XI (below) and match it with an Aussie surname. Then reverse the process, choosing an Australian first name to sit beside a Brit surname. ASHTON BELL, for example, could be: Honest ball tweaked. Or STEVE STARC may inspire: Crave Test’s denouement.

Make as many combos as you like, always selecting one element from each team, but come Thursday arvo, after 1pm, we only submit two clues, an example of each direction. For voting, sending your scores to DA Email, we’ll go with a 3/2/1 for each category: UK/Oz, then Oz/UK. May you get the rub of the green.

EnglandAlastair Cook, Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steve Finn, Jimmy Anderson

AustraliaShane Watson, Chris Rogers, Ed Cowan, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, Phillip Hughes, Brad Haddin, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson

Cut, slice, chop, change, and see who wins the series. Oh, and use a spliced alias too – half-English, half-Australian from yore. Your turn.

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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
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