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Diabolically Arcane

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Patent Tent For Dad's Day

4 September, 2015

Psst kids - still time to grab some nose clippers for Dad. Or make a macaroni picture. Or maybe buy a copy of this weird riddle book everyone is talking about...

Or play a Pa puzzle online. For this is this Friday's folly, piercing any word with PA to make a new word, and then clueing the combo as one entity. For example, an obvious shelter is a PATENT TENT, while a split carer is a RENT PARENT.

As you can see, the PA-word can be first or second, depending on which sequence gives you more options. Without letter numbering, see if you ID the pairs that satisfy these clues:

DA1 - Belting old singer

DA2 - Cardinal Pell? 

DA3 - Diet? 

DA4 - Robust wire

DA5 - "A soothing bath is a hassle to prepare...."

As a comical diversion, bung PA into any old word, or name, or title, and give us the new definition:

WAPATCH - Kimberley

PASTARCH - Spaghetti with extra carbs

ENTERTAIPAN - Antivenene laboratory

FRANK SPAINATRA - American answer to Julio Iglesias

THE PALEGO MOVIE - Insipid gamer doco from Japan

Have fun with either one - naming & numbering clues, and sharing the creative stuff. Oh, and have a good one pops.

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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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