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Diabolically Arcane

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Toponymy 2

11 May, 2011

You’ve filled the tank and fiddled the sat-nav. You’ve driven the highways to reach the nation’s cities, and you’ve given them the names they truly deserve. (Well, if not all, then most.) So now it’s time to kick into cryptic action. What’s the best clue you can devise for each of our state and territory’s traditional capitals? Don’t bother with a definition – just cook up a tricky bit of wordplay. Here are two:

Paper-thin segment

Batman: The Beginning?

Of course, those two lead to PERTH and MELBOURNE respectively. With just a finite group – eight cities in sum – there’s no need to identify which burg you’re twiddling. (We are a cluey bunch, after all.) Though come Thursday e'en, if you could muster your final eight, that would be grand. And come the weekend I’ll declare each city’s best clue – and best new name. Sixteen prize berths in all – how many will you fill?

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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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