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.

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Nepal Plane

20 February, 2014

Hey gang – the Oz one is back from the ozone, replenished & knackered all in one paradoxical bundle. Nepal was stunning. The 16-day trek was tough but constantly rewarding, climbing some 2500 metres from remote airstrip to Everest Base Camp. The only wheel I saw in a fortnight was a Buddhist prayer wheel, so rough was the terrain. A blast of a trip, with chilblains and smelly socks as souvenirs.

Thanks for keeping the blog wheels spinning here too – your clues and quips are always prized. Even the spambots added to the merriment with their phony names and bogus wisdoms.

To mark the restart of more immediate mischief, what say we define any word or name by incorporating its one-word anagram in the definition. NEPALI, say, is a native of ALPINE terrain. While KITCHEN is where cooks let stews THICKEN. And we all know ENRAGED means ANGERED.

Simple pre-Friday folly, but let’s see who can seduce the jury, or make us cackle at least. Thanks again for the smart traffic.

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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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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
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