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...

Tour Leaders

30 November, 2012

First up – thanks for all your feedback during the week. This is a site-in-progress, and the web wizards at Ice Lab will learn a lot for seeing their redraft in action, coupled with your comments. Very soon I trust the forums will be easier to enter, the left margin will be adjusted, and recent comments restored, among other wishes.

Meanwhile, to help beat the heat, here’s a fun podcast involving one word-nerd and two wordy text gals, Alicia Sometimes and Lauren (sorry, Lorin) Clarke on Triple R’s Aural Text. You’ll our triangular banter around the 41-min mark. A lot of fun.

And if that doesn’t slake your thirst, then how about a flyweight word-game? More and more we see celebs taking tour parties offshore, or across Oz, like Gabriel Gate in Paris, or Skull O'Keefe to Edgbaston. But what say the VIPs were selected for comical reasons – using wordplay or association. Here’s a starter:

Irvine Welsh – Trainspotting in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Pat Rafter – Franklin River
The Edge – K2
Devo and Brad Pitt – down a coal mine
Kofi Annan – culinary tour of Colombia and India
Taylor Swift – Savile Row while-U-wait
Adam Hills – Aussie farm tours
Russell Crowe – a good year in Spotswood

Flyweight, I told you. But who can concoct the best smiler?

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