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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WOW: Favrile

20 May, 2013 14 comments

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Whirlwind Week [Salon 20]

20 May, 2013 18 comments

One glance at the DA dance card will make you understand why a Stormfront is not likely to sweep the blog this week either. Or next, for that matter, but let’s play wordplay one week at a time, like football really.

Victorians, you have your chance to drop by the Wheeler Centre tonight at 6.15 to hear about my love affair with poet Les Murray. You won’t need to have read his selected poems – our focal point. Instead, drop by gratis to hear James Ley and me unpack Les.

And if food and crosswords are more your bag, then grab the last few chairs at the Country Place Retreat in Olinda for the Dandenong Ranges Festival this Saturday, 12.30-2.30.

Meanwhile Sydneysiders, get along this Thursday to meet two dictionary addicts, or grab an early seat on Friday for the crossword session on the harbour. BYO pencil.

Enough plugola. Time for a game. When I heard the phrase ‘unfinished business’, I though TOSH(IBA), or GOO(GLE). That’s the game. Clue the opening segment of the business (or brand) name, then give the tail instead of word count. So Blog regular (SUNG), would be SAM(SUNG). And these?

  1. Melee (INTO)
  2. Fiddle (OTA)
  3. Home (LE)
  4. Kid (Y)
  5. Cut (ERS)
  6. Wisdom (AL)
  7. Measure (QUIS)
  8. Fish (UDA)

Any more? Add them here. As well as the best of Brit puzzles – last week’s lot were stellar. Do yourself a favour.

Vitamised [BB414]

19 May, 2013 7 comments

Creeping into winter, it’s time to mash some veggies to keep the lurgies at bay. See if you can process vegetables of the matching lengths below, in order to create nine familiar words. SH(4), say, is SHEKEL, where LEEK has been mashed. Now apply your verbal wands to this batch. And can you offer another mixed medley?

  1. P(3)ENT
  2. SH(4)G
  3. TU(4)AT
  4. L(5)ESS
  5. SIN(6)
  6. B(5)
  7. T(6)
  8. H(6)P
  9. F(6)H

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB413 SOLUTION: Video-Ezy, Compaq, Whiskas, Cap’n Snooze, Vita-Weets, Mortal Kombat, Quik, BlackBerry, Blu-Tack, Berri (Other brands may meet the demands.)

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Clodstreet

17 May, 2013 11 comments

In case you missed the hijinks on 702 ABC this morning, brainstorming with Adam Spencer, the idea was to cook the books. In the spirit of the budget, you needed to reflect a deficit, shaving off a letter – or two consecutive letters – from a book title.

Zoba the Geek? Cat 22? Animal FM. Check out more here. Yep – the game went gangbusters. Here are the winning entries below, plus a few notables. Reckon you lot could extend the reading list with ease.

Lice in Wonderland – hairy adventure in primary school
Ride & Rejudice – the downfall of Lance Armstrong
Huger Games – London’s bid to outshine Sydney
All Quit on the Western Front – end of the mining boom
Robbery Under Arm – history of Australian/NZ cricket
The Lap – suburban outrage about who sat on whom
To Kill a Mocking Bid – budget reply speech
We’re Going on a Bar Hunt – seeking post-budget therapy

“Please sir,” said Oliver Twit, “I want some more.”

All For One & Vice Versa

14 May, 2013 37 comments

This next fortnight marks a spell in our Storm frenzy, due to a mad stretch of events. But you know me – I love a game. So let’s call this week an imperfect Storm, with no formal vote, no prize, and no outright winner. But plenty of thrust & parry.

Good news for CL, our simpatico go-between. (I’m seeing a tech today in hope of making the voting easier for all.) And welcome news for the maverick players too, as this game could go anywhere.

On the back of last week’s puzzle – ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE – we have a kindred challenge. The game has three elements, each entailing the swapping of ONE for ALL, or ALL for ONE. Here they are:

  1. Who can discover the best kosher coupling? FOOTBALL and FOOT BONE is a decent benchmark. Can you top it, using legit words or phrases?

  2. Create a word or phrase that seems OK, like CAKE STONE, or GAME OF THRALLS, and supply a comical definition. HONE OF FAME, say, could the axeman’s mecca. While a BOOTY CONE is a stolen icecream.

  3. Make a non-word, a non-phrase (TROMBALL? BOLSHOI BONEET?) and make a classy clue, with definition (of the source) included.

Use your real names as glory stands to be immediate this week. See who stands to be our greatest (unofficial) musketeer, displaying superior wordsmanship. Have fun.

WOW: Zemblanity

13 May, 2013 11 comments

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Salon 19

13 May, 2013 60 comments

Ouch. My back is still smarting from the public thwacking. Puzzles like last week’s themer, where some entries are ‘non-words’, clearly polarise the public. For every bravo, I copped three salvos. Hence the poll you see in the right margin: what’s you response in general to non-word solutions, based on a thematic manipulation?

A reminder, the Sydney Writers Fest is fast looming, with two DA sessions as part of the schedule. Both are free and don’t require booking, but I’d recommend you roll up early (especially for Friday’s crossword powwow) as seats are finite. Say gday if you squeeze in.

(Melbourne solvers, if you want your chance of a personal puzzle session, with a view, and a vino, and a divine meal, then inquire here at the Dandenong Festival for May 25, as there may be a few seats remaining.)

Can’t speak for the rest of the week, but today’s Times is a trimmer. Great definition for 10ac, and a brilliant container: Bacon, perhaps, I put in hot dog (7) Talk more about the Times and the G below, as the week unfurls.

Regarding the Coppola hiccup in last week’s Storm, aplogies to uha if your clues were omitted. All cares are taken by the blog admin – which gracefully has included CL for the last while – but zero culpability. If there is a benign programmer out there who could help establish a shortlist template, then I will reward him/her with a bespoke puzzle, no question.

And last a puzzle to chew on, and extend. If vicburton = vicTIM, or safinhon = MARAThon, then can you restore these other non-words?

  1. uspectorl
  2. tarankain
  3. pahode
  4. parcowelly
  5. pholmo
  6. pafey
  7. haridor
  8. grefalcor

Any more to enlist?

Kwik-E-Mark [BB413]

12 May, 2013 11 comments

Ten well-known products, each owning a deliberate misspelling, have inspired these corrections here. UI for OO (cereal), say, is the necessary tweak for Froot Loops. Can you name each brand name? And do you possess enough market savvy to suss out other brands that need a minor alteration to abide by conventional spelling?

  1. AS for Z (entertainment)
  2. CT for Q (computers)
  3. ER for A (pet food)
  4. AI for ’ (bedding)
  5. HEA for EE (biscuit)
  6. C for K (gaming)
  7. insert C (drink additive)
  8. b for B (telco)
  9. insert E (adhesives)
  10. Y for I (drink)

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB412 SOLUTION: Genome, indigo, meerkat, torment, andante, intrepid, interact, shoehorn, covenant, ecstatic (Other words are possible.)

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Viz Biz Wiz

11 May, 2013 15 comments

With a chance of stardust up for grabs, our Storm went cyclonic, all players trying to craft clues with a strong visual element. Despite my threats, I didn’t enter, as I was happy to see new auteurs rise.

While I can’t guarantee the winning clue/s will earn a place in a new short film, rest assured your podium bling won’t hurt. (The mystery director – to be revealed – will certainly have a close look at the talent on show, and the cutting room floor.)

Let’s parade the A-listers. First in the Letter Category:

ZEROEmperor’s cardinal keels over making love [NERO takes a tumble in Fritz Lang’s toga de force, earning a 9 point/5 vote plaudit.]

PUPWhippersnapper taking a dip between the flags [Spielberg shows vivid concern for safe swimming, with a ripper 12/5 reply.]

Word Category

BEDLooks like you could sleep in this [Alan Smithee spots a lower-case loveliness in ‘bed’, getting Vegemite on toast, and 6/2.]

ILLFeeling unwell after seven-hundred and seventy-one 180° turns [Still in bed, Buster Keaton does a number trick to get Lily Serna’s lawyers noticing. This time the yield was 6/3.]

HIAWATHAMohawk is no different in the mirror [Spielberg scalps his opponents, displaying the marvel of a vertical HIAWATHA on glass doesn’t budge as reflection. Box office record ensues: 12/5]

So thanks all directors. As CL points out, the cutting room floor was littered in equal wonders. For the record, the Oscar tally was Truffaut 5, Woody 6, Baz 6, Smithee 6, Hitchcock 7, Lumiere 9, Fritz 14 and Mr ET himself a soaring 24.

Will let you know more about the cloak-and-dagger celluloid as pre-production hots up. Well played, academy. Till next sequel.

"

Hello To Legs

10 May, 2013 17 comments

Thanks for a mind-bending Storm this week. I’ll gather your votes today (3/2/1 for both categories) and post a winner on the weekend. Will also be inviting our legit director (initials DA in fact) to peruse the pearls and make a pick.

In the meantime, US Twitter had fun overnight, cooking up Opposite Books. The idea was simple. Choose a title – books in the main, though movies crept in – and see if you can flip it. Of course, some titles will include some switch-proof words. However, among my favourites:

Atlas Replied With Exuberance
The Stets
Starve, Blaspheme, Hate
The Pitcher in the Barley
Pandemonium in the Eastern Hindquarters

Feel free to extend the list. Or maybe you prefer a conundrum, too hard to be a regular Wordwit: By chance, as the words have no etymology link, what natural location sounds like its own conditions? Will share a clue later if the question is too irksome.

PS – enjoy you diabolic DA today.

Eye of the Bemuser

7 May, 2013 69 comments

Psst, wanna be in the movies? This Storm offers you that rare chance. Last week a film-maker dropped a line, eager to get some ‘visual clues’ for his short film. By visual, I discovered, he meant clues that can be captured well on screen – those that inspire imagery, or play with letter shapes.

His request triggered our contest. We all know good clues paint interesting pictures, but let’s focus on the alphabet this time. Using a directorial codename, we need to craft two clues, one per the following categories:

1) A clue involving a fresh take on letter shapes. Last month I suggested Y to be a slingshot. While M maybe a child’s bird drawing. O, we know, is a bagel, a donut, a hole – but what else?

2) A clue that considers a word’s shape, or component shapes. It may entail letters being changed, or inverted, or an answer shifting cases, etc. A W can become an M, just as O can turn into Q. Or FIJI gets dotty in lower case…

Hard to describe, unless we see it! Let’s use the optic nerve for a change, and show some nerve on the drawing board. Answers can be drawn from anywhere, though bear in mind the best clues will have a visual pull, and potentially a story to play out in the solver’s mind.

As best as I can vouch, the winning clue/s will appear in the film. I may even invite our mystery director a casting vote on the shortlist.

So do your best. Invent and imagine. Later, between Thursday 1-6pm, declare your best two clues (one per category), and let’s vote 3/2/1 in each section over Friday. Remember, to play, you must vote, and voting is done via email DA, before Friday 6pm. This will be epic – and may the winner be credited.

The Who?

7 May, 2013 16 comments

Look for an exciting Storm (with a unique prize) to kick off later today. In the meantime, let’s have some fun inventing fan clubs.

Wholigans, says, believe in The Who, while Beliebers idolise Justin Bieber. Then you have the TV tribes, like Wingnuts hogging West Wing and Gleeks all over Glee.

That’s the game. See who can conjure the sleekest or funniest cult, depending on the musical act or TV show (or maybe even author). The Jamily, I’m told, shadow Pearl Jam. So does that mean Twi-Hards devour Twilight, or Projectors have a soft spot for Charlie Pickering?

Warm up the brain with some other suggestions, then look for our ‘visual’ Storm on the horizon.

WOW: Marabunta

6 May, 2013 13 comments

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Double Shot [BB412]

5 May, 2013 6 comments

Double the right letter in each word below, then mix, and you’ll create a new word. SOMBRE + B, for example, gives you BOMBERS. Just as PAPERED + A = APPEARED.

See how you fare with rest, bearing in mind that alternative answers are possible. (And can you provide your own – with byline and number to help us keep track?)

  1. gnome
  2. dingo
  3. market
  4. mentor
  5. tanned
  6. printed
  7. certain
  8. onshore
  9. centavo
  10. ascetic

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB411 SOLUTION: Wrist (writ), groin (grin), thigh (high), palate (plate), temple (Tempe), patella (paella), pointer (Pinter), spine (sine), stirrup (stir up), sacrum (scrum)

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Two-Up Turn-Up

3 May, 2013 19 comments

War is hell. This last week was proof, where 13 brave souls put their reputations on the Maginot Line, with only one victor to snare the prize.

Personally I liked the tactical element of picking a word per pair, sacrificing a damn fine partridge (if I can say that) for a fair bureau, which sort of worked, but maybe not as well as I’d hoped. Anyhow, due to the large numbers of soldiers, and targets, I’m going to be brief. Let’s start with that bloody PARTRIDGE:

Role to strip? Bardot’s game [Simpson snags 14 points/6 votes for a sexy delete.]

Big Bird rated R? Pig swill! [Slouch Hat took another route – Sesame Street in fact – and attracted a 20/8 haul.]

BUREAU

Davenport serves with authority [A tennis tale from Rissole for an 11/5 booty.]

Chest and back massage by topless escort [Sex sells, as Cookie proves, with our highest clue score: 28/10.]

FOXGLOVE

Go behind studio plant? [Lone Pine gets 12/6 for a flash of Tinsel.]

Sensual beauty’s first great passion’s in bloom [Tails keeps the winner’s circle fresh, and achieves a 15/7 result.]

PSYCHOANALYSIS

Hypnosis a scary alternative, on the other hand! [Cookie returns to the limelight with an impressive anagram. The upshot was 16/8.]

Doctor says no physical activity for shrinks [For many, Digger’s anagram was COTS, Clue of the Storm, with a 24/10 homage.]

TORPEDO

Red-top goes ballistic over first strike [Three Down – how does that relate to Anzacs – gets a mountain of second votes, so boasting 15/10.]

Stir around pre-cooked squash [Kip shows class, getting a same score with fewer votes: 15/5]

SCAMPER

Fly south with one intent? [That crumby warrior Cookie again: 16/8.]

Bolt more affected after Athens final [Yay. Lone Pine here. I did win one toss at least – for an 18/8 dividend – but will I keep the book? Let’s see.]

Good news. Every soldier scored. (And what happens on tour, stays on tour.) Let’s recite the honour roll in ascending order shall we?

Rissole 12, Ataturk 14, Three Down 15, Dawn 16, Reveille 16, Tails 16, Rosemary 18, Kip 24, Simpson 27, Slouch 29, Digger 31, Lone Pine 33, Cookie….are you ready for this….60.

So it is that our golden-syrup icon gets the gold, and the terrific Mark Forsyth read, telling you all about Messrs Sade and Masochs, and which magazine first used magazine. It’s a great odyssey. And this was one great Storm. You’ve all earned your R&R. (Maybe a game here later in the day…) Dismissed!

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Reveal the Conundrum

3 May, 2013 21 comments

Came across an age-old stumper from an erudite blog called Futility Closet. Well worth a look if you’re a student of puzzles, and other diversions through the ages. Anyway folks, we have a mystery to solve. I shall hand over the microphone to the people at Futility Closet:

Bishop Samuel Wilberforce was fond of riddles. After his death in 1873, this one was found among his literary papers:

I’m the sweetest of sounds in Orchestra heard,
Yet in Orchestra never was seen.
I’m a bird of gay plumage, yet less like a bird,
Nothing ever in Nature was seen.
Touch the earth I expire, in water I die,
In air I lose breath, yet can swim and can fly;
Darkness destroys me, and light is my death,
And I only keep going by holding my breath.
If my name can’t be guessed by a boy or a man,
By a woman or girl it certainly can.

No one knows the answer. Any theories?

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Two-Up Votes Here

1 May, 2013 36 comments

Another torrid Storm, dabblers. With zero hour approaching – that time we need to choose your best clue per pairing and file our final three.

Just a reminder on the rules. Over the last week you’ve clued some 6 words drawn from Mark Forsyth’s Etymologicon – the Storm’s ultimate prize. Between 1pm and 6pm today, you need to submit your best clue per pairing, comprising three clues in total. And then on Thursday, we vote 3/1 points per word – all six words – sending those votes to the DA Email before 6pm if you can.

I’ll do the tally-up that evening and later post the tossup’s washup, declaring our best overall. So time you run, diggers, then scamper as if you have steel springs with your best (or most strategic) three words for a chance at the ultimate glory. May the best scrapper be our greatest sapper.

Two-Up Slamdown 3

30 April, 2013 28 comments

Your last chance to pick a winner between your two clues. So clue both of these words below, and then select your best (or the least selected) to woo the votes on Wednesday. The overall winner stands to earn The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth, who I’ll be hosting at the SWF very soon – along with my crossword chat on Friday..

Pick an Anzac alias, if you haven’t entered already, and craft your clues in the chatroom. Submit your best three (choosing one clue per post) by Wednesday 5pm. Here’s the final pair:

TORPEDO – underwater missile [From Latin torpidus, tired or numb, due to the paralysing effect of the torpedo fish.]

SCAMPER – to dash, or flee [From escamper in French, to leave camp.]

Choose your best clue per post, and submit these three by Wednesday 5pm. We then vote via EmailDA on Thursday, with 3/1 votes per word. Our best tosser snags a brilliant book.

WOW: Kwela

29 April, 2013 9 comments

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Salon 17

29 April, 2013 25 comments

Pretty unfair to call Sigourney Weaver a diva, or Rob sitch kitsch, but Stuart Diver is certainly a survivor. While Christopher Pyne sits squarely with whine. This whim is something I started on Twitter last week, looking for people who yield the ideal rhyme (Barack Obama > charmer?) and though you could add to the roll-call.

Don’t forget our two-up Storm is still going strong, with votes not due till Wednesday, choosing your best clue per pairing. To keep things fair, with a book prize at stake, let’s aim to submit entries on Wednesday between 1-6pm, rather than delaying or jumping the gun.

Plenty of DA events looming too. In order, there’s a chat about Les Murray at the Wheeler, two chats at the SWF, and a lunch/crossword soiree in the Dandenong Hills. Say hello. Be great to see you round.

Oh, and if we ever find time to battle with the Brits, then here is where we review, revel and revile in the week’s clues from The Times + The G.

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 +

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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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