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Diabolically Arcane

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Rupert's Recipe

15 May, 2015

Earlier this week, Rupert went wild with a recipe, cooking up a clue for the latest WoW in ENCHIRIDION. His formula was a fusion of alternation and anagram - plus deletion if you want to be pedantic, but let's skip that element. 

To remind you, here was Rupert's clue for ENCHIRIDION:

Handbook omits direction regularly - screwdriver is neither in nor out

The explanation, which many of us needed, revealed the devilry: Anagram of even letters of "screwdriver is neither in nor" - E.

What a marvel - a cocktail of alternation and anagram. Can we meet the challenge, dabblers? And just to give the folly one more degree of difficulty, let's focus on dogs, in honour of the impounded Pistol & Boo, those headline-hogging dogs of Johnny Depp. To kick off:

Oddly called in owls to ruffle dog (COLLIE)

Tarantula name (Indian) regularly mistaken for dog (DALMATIAN)

These aren't easy - but to master one is massive. Try it.

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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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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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