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Diabolically Arcane

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Venez the Menace

15 May, 2012

In case you missed the yarn across the weekend, a crossword setter named Neptali Segovia found himself in major doo-doo. The Venezuelan puzzler intersected ADAN (the president’s brother) with ASESINEN (the plural of the imperative form to kill). The palace wasn’t pleased. Secret police in unmarked Cadillacs came to make inquiries….

Segovia is safe for now, thank God. The criss-cross was accidental. But the story highlights the danger of a volatile clue. And that’s where we go with this week’s Storm – another clue-fest, but this time with full disclosure.

Create a clue that may oblige a midnight call from ASIO, the CIA, the FBI, the Stasi and/or Mossad. Please, for reasons of lawsuits, don’t make things too red-rag, just edgy. Enough to cock a security eyebrow. Like this:

SHORTEN: Throne’s rigged by Cabinet Minster

BIMBO: Lara Bingle, perhaps, detonated one bomb

DERRICK: Cabal murder Ricky with old gallows

Be alert, and alarm us with your wordplay. Before Thursday 9pm, submit your favourite three, and I will judge the pick on (a) quality, closely followed by (b) menace.

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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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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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