Puzzles, posts, news and general word-chat.

Diabolically Arcane

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Plese Give Bld

29 September, 2016

Ding-dong the glitch is dead. The DA website is back in action, after an enforced lull of IT wrangling and platform disputes.

The hiatus reminded me how rewarding this portal can be, hosting the cream in creative clueing, and sharing news, words and other scuttlebutt of an alphabetical nature. I hope you missed your word-nerd hit as well.

So to celebrate the site's resuscitation, let's do what some companies did last month - and donate blood. In name at least. In case you missed the yarn, several UK firms agreed to remove the blood types (A, B and O) from their names, inspiring folks to give their own blood.

Lovely gimmick. And a perfect Storm idea. Pick a company, and remove its various blood types - then clue the new transfused entity. Like so:

FXTEL - Movie racket OK in hindsight [FX + LET<]

NISC (NABISCO) - Regular clients mismanaged [CINS*]

PTUS - Puts out

As you can see, please provide parsing [where the clue is unpacked] for the more intricate bits of wordplay. And maybe let us know the company - like NABISCO - if the blood-drawing is extensive. Otherwise, get gory. Tell us an amazing story.

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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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