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Diabolically Arcane

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Out With The Old - In With The New

27 November, 2012

OK, let’s see how this Storm rages, amid the makeover debris. (And please ‘bear’ with us during this transit phase – the wait will be worth it.) The game in fact is based on the renovation, where a word has the letter O (cryptic shorthand for Old) replaced by N (New), to make a new word – and both are clued to form a pair. Like this:

TAROBacked sleazy Kazakhstani – top root
TARNSailor first to navigate mountain lake

BOOBOODug matching rings in slip
BONBONUlna perhaps twice chipped by cracker

As you can see, no mixing – and a double swap is OK too. Choose an alias to embody the New, and send us your best two old/new pairs by Thursday 9pm. And let’s all vote (with or without a poll), with 3/2/1 for best old, and 3/2/1 best new, before close of biz on Friday. NK? Gn.

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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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