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Diabolically Arcane

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Slam-Bhang Bingo [BB341]

17 December, 2011

To keep all you Stormers in suspense, I have opted to post the overall results on Monday, giving me some weekend space, and the necessary think music. (Thanks too for all those entries – now 11 in total – and your kind words.)

To replace the results vacuum, a big shout to a small boy with a dazzling mind. I speak of Anand Bharadwaj from Melbourne, who has conquered the junior world in Scrabble, at the creaky age of 11. He’s a champion kid in many ways – not just his knack to find anagrams and sleek escapes – but also for his pure-eyed exuberance for language and music.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Anand and his dad, Kannan, who guested on Letters & Numbers. To my surprise, Anand was devouring Puzzled, even the naughty bits in Chapter 6, and can’t wait to emulate his Scrabble Jedi (Andrew Fisher) as a maestro in the studio, in five years' time….

Here’s more about the wunderkind, the cherubic champ of Chennai heritage, and an early supersize Bridbrain below to toast his success. If old Madras dye is CHENNAI HENNA, can you crack these other 15 clues, where every two-word answer sees the outside letters of one word stripped to reveal the other?

  1. Cranky buccaneers (5,7)
  2. Riding hog (6,4)
  3. Examining redbreast (7,5)
  4. Hot bread (6,4)
  5. Patterned passage (7,5)
  6. Tinsel trash (8,6)
  7. Way to ‘whatever’ (6,4)
  8. Extolling fruit (8,6)
  9. Costing poison (7,5)
  10. Army spirit? (8,6)
  11. NIDA, cynically (5,7)
  12. Aquatic ceramic? (5,7)
  13. Versed in a sport (6,8)
  14. Apollo 13 launch? (7,5)
  15. Crater tree (7,5)

Initials only in the forum please. Until blabbing is downright necessary. Any more to add?

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK
BB340 SOLUTION: Sadly/say, pedlar/pear, cure/curdle, spindly/spiny, beam/bedlam, brindle/brine, Bowdler/bower, goy/godly, swine/swindle

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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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