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.

Loading tweet...

Plus One

18 September, 2012

Instead of wangling clues this week, let’s see if we can invent a new alphabet. Not neo-Greek or retro-Esperanto, but an ABC of cryptic addition. You know the type. Where a single letter is added to the fodder before the rumpus begins. Here’s what I mean:

O = oxygenate (adding O)
P = plush (adding H)
Q = question put to
Z = Zambian leader contributes…

That last one is rubbish, but that’s the rub: try to find a word or phrase that denotes a letter being added to a larger combo. Long-time Dabblers will recall we did a similar stunt – called Omission Possible – where we listed an ABC of letters to be removed. This week, our gain is Cryptopia’s gain – and you may win a book prize!

So get inventive. Get silky. Get vernacular. And tell us to add whatever letter you can subtly isolate. Use an alias that relates to EXTRA or SURPLUS, and submit your letter ideas piecemeal, just like the examples above. By Thursday 9pm, hand in your own master list, covering as many letters as you wish, with no double-dipping on any letter.

To save you a headache, I’ll be sole judge and bottle-washer, selecting the best ABC from the pool and awarding the greatest contributor a copy of English Down The Ages by Linda & Roger Flavell, an intriguing meander from village green to Greenpeace. So, time to get exceptional with the additional.

comments powered by Disqus

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 +

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
See Results