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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Translax 2.0

21 February, 2012

Allegedly a new-age gizmo made to translate Russian into English still has a few kinks. For example, the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is rendered into the Russian equivalent of ‘invisible, insane’. Or ‘going flat chat’ is ‘leaving dull talk’.

Bogus yarn or not, I love the tangent. Let’s pretend we work for an IT lab, hired to isolate the glitches in a new travel gadget. Pick a piece of idiom, then concoct a wayward translation. May work best if we present the stuff-up first, and then the true phrase. Like these:

The dispenser needs refilling (That’s the last straw)

Add a bonus bathmat (Throw in the towel)

Blonde and daggy (Fair and square)

This week let’s try a popular voting system. Before shut of biz on Friday, choose your three faves (from other compilers) and send them to my Email. I will do the same, and together the field’s funniest, wryest and/or freshest will turn into cats (be lionised) on Saturday.

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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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