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Diabolically Arcane

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Page 105

8 May, 2014

Regular readers will know I’m in the midst of reading the Macquarie 6th Edition. (Comedian Steven Wright did a similar thing, and said the zebra did it!) And so far I have to nominate page 105 as the juiciest on offer – so many delightful new words, many with rich clue potential.

Here’s a smatter. As a Storm surrogate, see who can make the classiest clues, including a definition element. When I’m not solving MUMS puzzles, or co-hosting Friday’s Conversation Hour, I’ll try to vie for the golden tiara too.

BALANDAnon-Aboriginal person of European descent
BALASvariety of ruby-coloured stone
BALAYAGEsalon term for highlighting
BALBRIGGANunbleached cotton used for underwear
BALIBUNTALfine straw used to weave hats – or the hat itself
BALINTAWAKtraditional Filipino costume of thin blouse with wide sleeves, maxi and kerchief
BALISAGEmarking of a route by dim beacons, necessary during wartime blackouts

Who can compose the most balletic clue for these BAL-words?

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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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