Puzzles, posts, news and general word-chat.

Diabolically Arcane

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Wordburger To Come

13 October, 2015

Your first glimpse of my imminent (and eminent) kids' book called Wordburger, due to appear in late November. Click here and you can read more about the project, and the book's stealthy plan to skill young minds in the cryptic arts.

Further down the publisher's page you can also find some puzzle sheets to download. Why not run off a few copies and road-test them on any kids in your life? The level of difficulty is aimed at late primary, though a cluey youngster below that band should make good headway. (I'd be interested to get your feedback.)

Sometimes it's tough to make an easy puzzle. Anyone care to 'extend' any other of the downloads' puzzles, or perhaps create a delectable kid-friendly challenge of their own? See how you fare, as we play it simple and stylish for a day, while I'm recovering from Canberra's barnstorm. (And look for a standard post tomorrow.)

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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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