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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Salon 1 - A New Year of Solving

20 January, 2014

Back in the word cave, dabblers, for this week at least – with two big Cluetopia events scheduled in Melbourne and Sydney. A big thanks to Dymocks and Fairfax for supporting the sessions. If you wish to join the fun, there may still be tickets available. Both gigs are informal interviews, touching on the centenary, and my own verbal shenanigans with floor questions encouraged. I can also promise a few brain-teasers to ensure you’re awake.

Like this conundrum: What cartoon character can change a B in his surname to M, so making an approximate synonym of his first name?

JD and Em – apologies for the delay. I’ll be sending out your Puzzles and Words 2 this week. We will also have a brief Storm resumption – a Babel redux – plus a bit of Friday follying with some happy/sad words, as I’ve recently discovered.

Intrigued? Hope so. Rejuvenated for more lateral madness in a brand-new year? Hope so too. Many thanks to all those players – SK, Sam, uha, jpr, Mr X, Gayle, RV, LR, Anthony, JD, AC, JC & more – for keeping the pot bubbling while I left the stove. Your contributions, creations & discoveries are one major reason this site keeps a-rolling. Let’s have some fun in ‘14.

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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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