Puzzles, posts, news and general word-chat.

Diabolically Arcane

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Tangent

29 February, 2016

Back from the beach, and better for the break. Cyclone Winston knows how to throw a surf party, while exploring the nooks of Mimosa Rocks National Park is my idea of medicine. 

I'm thrilled too to see the guest-grid experiment work so well. SK was the ideal debutante with both his puzzles sparking plenty of buzz. I'm keen to revisit the precedent over coming months. Don't flood me with grids, not just yet please, but look for more on the cycle in weeks to come. Any suggestions welcome.

While I was away, Wordburger earned a spot in the Kids Reading Guide, as well as these two exuberant reviews. If not for my tan, you'd have seen my blush. In fact the Wordburger circus is gathering momentum, with a reprint underway, a Wheeler event soon, and some cool Sydney gigs around the corner. Keep tuned.

Further north, ABC Brisbane will be running a neat contest, the major prize a trip to see Turandot in Sydney. Being a riddle-laced opera, the radio team invited a riddle-laced bloke to pose the posers. Try here if you fancy your chances, or like a laugh. I'm hoping the riddles will be posted across the week.

Lazing on the coast, I also devoured a stack of books as well. The pick was Murder Without a Motive (a pensive true-crime by Perthian Martin McKenzie-Murray). What about you? Any recent reads you'd recommend? 

To finish this wandery postcard, my favourite four clues of the fortnight:

1. Fine boomerangs in the style of native Australian (5) [Arachne]

2. Working across part of garden without a pick (6) [Anglio]

3. Record's popular air and tracks about love (9) [Picaroon]

4. Best for two years, say (6) [from US Fireball Crosswords]

Good to be back. Thanks for keeping the blog humming in my absence.

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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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