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

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.

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 

Wordburger

Packed with games, pickles, codes and cheesy puns, Wordburger is your chance to be a champion puzzler in 20 quick bites. Ideal for wordy kids keen to open a new language door, or grown-ups who want to cut their cryptic teeth. Click here. 

Riddledom

Riddles in song, in code, in pictures. From Ireland & Wonderland, Einstein & Pompeii. Riddledom reveals 101 wry questions from 50+ languages & shares their secrets. A book to unlock culture via conundrum. Order here.

Cluetopia

Cluetopia roams the planet – and century – to find fresh crossword stories in 30+ languages. From shipwrecks to hoaxes, Cluetopia is a holiday for the head. Buy here.

Puzzled

Puzzled combines memoir, wordplay history and a how-to guide for solvers. With bizarre crossword stories, example clues plus mini-puzzles to test your skill – and nerve. Buy here.

Puzzled (UK)

The Aussie bestseller has crossed the ditch – slimmer, sexier, with updated examples to help bestow the cryptic knack, and reveal the personal and puzzly backstories. More here.

Puzzles and Words 2

A pocketbook packed with 250 word stories – from Aga to Zemblanity – plus 175 new puzzles for all comers, this is a word nerd’s summer necessity.

Puzzles and Words

Over 170 new word puzzles – everything but crosswords – woven among 200 curious word stories, from Acme to Zzxjoanw, a Maori drum that doesn’t exist. Purchase here.

The Best Australian Stories 2012

Edited by Sonya Hartnett, this jumbo collection holds 32 tales embracing Powerball, death, rainbow shoestrings – and Australia from a bullock’s point of view. Lowdown here.

Smith Journal Spring 2013

Arthur Wynne grew onions in Texas. He fiddled in Philadelphia. Oh yeah, he also invented the crossword in 1913. Read my article, and solve my two-speed puzzle, in Smith.

Griffith Review 36

Say you were taught Australian Studies by a castrated bull. That’s the scenario at play in Oxtales, my story found in the winter release, Griffith Review 36: What is Australia For?

Sleepers Almanac 6

Boy meets woman. Boy and woman both love insects. That’s the gist ofNymphomaniacs, my buggy story amid two dozen original tales. Make a beeline for theSleepers Salon.

Offbeat Australia

Offbeat is the alternative guide to anywhere you visit in Australia. Mermaid statues. Pebble churches. Tram hotels. Over 1000 entries from Airborne to Zany. A glovebox must.

One Down One Missing

Join a taskforce chasing the killers of Sgt Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller. Co-written with Joe D’Alo, this true-crime case is not on sale, but well worth hunting.

Kiss Greeting

AIR-KISS AND TELL

(The rites, rules and riddles of the kiss-greeting)

You’re the proud owner of an orbicularis oris – but do you know how to use it? 

Ulysses Club

OVER THE HILL – AND MILES AWAY

If I say ‘Gold Wing’ and you think ‘bird’, or ‘airline reward scheme’, then this story’s for you.