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.

Loading tweet...

Stormathon Update

11 December, 2011

Quick post to report how things are faring in our rampaging Stormathon. Been totting up votes among the peers in both forums, and below are the current standings. Taking the first six first, the highest rated artisan is Mozzie on 5 clean votes for REALM:

Lear went mad over grand kingdom

(Adore the Lear discovery, though is the pesky one confusing grand as M, which must be million, no? No matter, as this phase of the tourney is peer-picked, and Mozzie is an early leader.)

For the record, in the same leg, Jim Maxwell also gleaned 5 clean votes for BANNER (Standard urban nerve centre) though Jim himself must be too busy in Hobart to find time to lodge his own votes. A pity, but a cautionary tale for all players.

Notably, Air Conditioning scored highly for an exceptional EARL GREY: Eagerly stir around the right cup of this

++

Moving onto Post #2, and a new crew of compilers rise to the surface. Here our high-flyer is surfie chick Gidget for her (?) supreme summer treat of APPARENTLY: Reapply tan cream on the face

Narrowly missing the cut, with one vote less in both cases is G&T for a dazzling spot of CARPENTRY: Fish in chips shop?

Followed by Budgie Smuggler for SINGULAR: Harry ruling as ‘The Chosen One’?

All these feats will be taken into final consideration when I anoint the Stormathon winner, where leg winners will jostle with the best of the mystery word clues. Since this last section carries the slightly greater weight of the contest (but only just), all players would be wise to isolate those words as we go, and finesse four sumptuous clues to submit before Friday 5pm.

So with Mozzie and Gidget having one toe in the pool, I urge all athletes to flex their muscle in the second week, and dive headlong into contention. Remember, there is a real-live crossword book up for grabs, a hardback no less! And of course, a big thanks to all for making this event such a simpatico and stellar jaunt. Roll on Post #3.

comments powered by Disqus

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.

Medal

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

read more +

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.

read more +

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 

read more +

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
See Results