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...

(Missing) Letters & Numbers

27 June, 2013

Love this nifty puzzle from Graham Hanlon, a maths teacher with a dangerous flair for wordplay. I wish I could say I’ve nailed the solution, though I’ve yet to examine the patterns in closer detail. Before I do, I thought I’d share Graham’s devilry in the meantime.

Beware all browsers, if you wish to figure out the code on you lonesome, then I suggest you resist the Comments, as all comers are welcome to identify the group. (And can you construct your own encoded list?)

In Graham’s own words: “I’m thinking of a set of 9 objects, where each 1 stands for the same letter and similarly for 2 and 3.” Meanwhile zero stands for any other letter. What’s the set?

1 2 3
0 0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 3 2 1
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
0 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 2 0 3
0 0 0 3 2 1
3 0 0 0 2 3 0

Thanks to GH for the puzzle. A deft roll-call. And if you have a puzzle to share, send it in. These teasers are the mental callisthenics we love here.

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