Puzzling

Best wishes for Christmas and and the New Year! May your 2015 be filled with puzzles and conundrums (of the entertaining kind)! Here's a great puzzle-y comic from one of my fave webcomics, Girls With Slingshots . PS the title of this post is an anagram, did you figure it out?

Just in case the plethora of crossword magazines out there isn't enough for you — "More, more!" I hear you cry! — there are vast numbers of online crossword sites.   The Guardian  website has a huge collection of cryptic and quick crosswords, from over 30 setters.  They have an archive crossword search function, so you can easily locate puzzles by your favourite setter, type, or publication date. You can also sign up for the crossword editor’s monthly update email, and participate in discussions about each crossword in comments below each crossword. You can either solve them online, or download print versions to do with pencil on paper. The Puzzle Wizard series of magazines is  produced by the excellent independent Australian puzzle writer and publisher, Greg Parker. His  website includes a bunch of puzzles to solve online.  There are six crossword themes you can choose from Straight Crosswords, Movies, AFL, Cricket, Music, and Telev...

I don't quite know where the last seven weeks disappeared to, seem to have lost my blogging mojo for a bit there. Anyway ... I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the very silly definitions from my friend Troy Simpson's book, The Funny Dictionary . These definitions have come from student essays, which Troy heroically trawled through. I did these few illustrations for the book. A la carte : When you can have all the desserts that's on the trolley Ampersand : A special kind of sand used in electricity Ave Domine : 'Lord, I am a bird.' [my favourite] Barber : The opposite of heiress Botulism : A close study of plants Caterer : Someone who minds your cat Circular Argument : Presiding at a board meeting Coup de Grâce : A lawn mower Cynic : Someone who refuses to believe in fairy tales Decimal : A fraction with a point Democracy : Government by demons Diabolic : Having diabetes Banter:  a small rooster Dogma : The mother of...

We indexers are a hardy species. We are almost all self-employed, which means we're good at working alone, and are self-motivated and organised. We work long hours when an indexing job comes in, including nights and weekends, to meet publishers' and authors' deadlines. We love our work. But despite this hardiness, we do need some care. We are still human. We can't work miracles. The following list addresses frequent grievances, and ways you can look after your indexers better. 1. We need you now! Don't contact us for a quote, and then expect us to be available that week. Many of us have work booked in advance, for months. We need advance notice. An exasperated indexer (me). We're pretty low key 2. It's going to be late ... When you give us a deadline for the delivery of a manuscript, we book it in to our work calendars. We often have many projects coming in, one after the other, and we schedule them accordingly. When you run late with deliver...

The latest book I've indexed is Born Bad, by James Boyce (Black Inc. Publishing). This is a fascinating book, tracing the history and impact of the idea of original sin, from its origin from St Augustine in the late 4th century, to the modern day. I highly recommend it! There were several points to make decisions about in this index (well, every index is a constant process of decision making, to be honest). Firstly were a bunch of medieval names, how are these treated? And the names of saints and popes? With names such as Friedrich the Wise , I used direct order for the entry (ie written as is, 'Friedrich the Wise'), not inverted (Wise, Friedrich the), as 'Wise' isn't a surname. The same goes for names such as Julian of Norwich ... 'Norwich' isn't a surname, so he appears in the index under J for Julian. With popes and saints, the way I treated these names (as there were a lot of them mentioned) was under their 'holy' names, wit...

Time for another Gemini analysis. This is for the Gemini cryptic #7043, which was published in The Canberra Times  on 15 July 2014. A usual, the definition part of the clue is underlined, except for double definition and cryptic definition clues. ACROSS Photo By  Great British Chefs Team  via  http://imagefinder.co/ 1. Eggs it's nice to scramble (7) = INCITES The definition is a nice confusion here — it's a verb, as in egging on someone, not a noun! Anagram indicated by scramble  of it's nice. Ignore that apostrophe. 4. It's mean to the players (5) = MEZZO Cryptic definition. MEZZO is a musical term meaning 'middle'. Mean is an average, or the middle. So MEZZO is a term that means 'middle' to musicians ( players ). 7. A stake in a buoyant economy (4) = ANTE Hidden word clue, indicated by in. You can see it in buoy ant e conomy. 8. On the edge and somewhat alarming (8) = MARGINAL Anagram, indicated by somewhat , of alarming. ...

I'm very excited to announce my interview with Alan Connor, from The Guardian 's Crossword blog. You may recall that I indexed Alan's book, Two Girls, One on Each Knee , last year .  Alan raised the idea of interviewing me about my CrypticGuide app when I was writing his index — and it has finally come to fruition. CrypticGuide is an app that my husband and I developed over a year — it is a 'slender' cryptic dictionary, with around 7,000 cryptic definitions, abbreviations, indicator words, and homophones. It also includes an anagram solver and wildcard search. It is very much a work in progress, with new cryptic definitions being added to the app over time. If you come across any cryptic terms in your puzzle solving, which aren't in the app, please let me know, so we can include them in future releases! CrypticGuide is available on the App Store . It works on iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Unfortunately, at the moment it is only available for iOS, as ...

On 4th June this year, Chester Nez (93) died . He was the last of the Navaho code talkers. In all the reading I've done on cryptography, codes, and ciphers, the story of the American Indian code talkers is my favourite. Before we delve into their fascinating story, I need to be explain the difference between a code and a cipher. Codes A code is a mapping of a word, a short phrase, or even a whole sentence, to a single collection of symbols (words, numbers, or other symbols). They are almost impossible to break through analysis. However, unless it's a very brief code (which can be memorised), a code requires a codebook. There is simply no way to remember all of the substitutions accurately (unless you have a photographic memory!). The existence of this codebook is a security hazard, though. If the enemy gets a copy, you've had it. Some examples of codes are: @! = the contract has been signed pancake = come at once, bring syrup 169 = the plan is proceeding ...

And now for the big reveal — answers, with explanations, for the latest set of clues. The definitions are underlined. 1. Shame about poison for humans (4,7) = HOMO SAPIENS. Anagram (indicated by about) of SHAME + POISON. 2. Row of bushes missing first side (4) = EDGE. This is a deletion clue. Row of bushes = HEDGE. Missing first = remove the first letter (H). Which leaves you EDGE. 3. Citrus Mole misbehaving in post office (6) = POMELO. An anagram, indicated by misbehaving . The fodder is MOLE + PO (for post office ).  4. American city ’s sample of  tomahawks (5) = OMAHA. A hidden word clue, indicated by sample of . It's in clear view, inside t omaha wks. 5. Khan plays test in Uzbek capital (8) = TASHKENT. An anagram (indicated by plays ) of KHAN + TEST . 6. Adhesive from grated tapes (5) = PASTE. An anagram ( grated ) of TAPES . How did you get on?

Image courtesy of dan | FreeDigitalPhotos.net I've finally got a new set of (easy) cryptic clues for you to solve. Just the thing for a chilly winter's day. So get a cup of hot <insert favourite hot beverage name here>, and a pen, and let me know how you get on! Shame about poison for humans (4,7) Row of bushes missing first side (4) Citrus Mole misbehaving in post office (6) American city’s sample of  tomahawks (5) Khan plays test in Uzbek capital (8) Adhesive from grated tapes (5) I will post the answers, with explanations, on Monday morning. Please don't give away the answers in your comments, just say 'I got it!' or similar — thanks :)

I don't know about you — but there's only so many words I can take. I wrote  Word Searches For Dummies on a challenging deadline. (Actually — let's face it, all my Dummies books were written on 'challenging deadlines'. Hmmm.) My brain was getting a bit melty from all the words ... but jigsaws saved me. I kept a jigsaw next to my computer, and took regular short breaks to work on it. It got me out of my chair, away from the screen, and thinking of something other than word searches. A bit of visual fun and thinking, rather than endless wordy stuff. I got through at least three large jigsaws while writing the book, including an almost impossible one of   Escher's Relativity drawing . Nowadays there are squillions (it is so a word) of jigsaws. They may have a few simple pieces or  multi-thousand pieces . 3D shaped puzzles. Jigsaws without straight edge pieces. Jigsaws with 'extra pieces'. Double sided jigsaws. Online jigsaws. All white jigsaws ...

Here is my analysis of the Gemini Cryptic Crossword from Monday 16 June edition of The Canberra Times . The definition is underlined (except in cryptic definition and double definition clues). ACROSS 1. Philanthropists throwing coins in the water? (4-7) WELL-WISHERS Cryptic definition. 9. A support this returned is appropriate (7) = APROPOS A charade clue with a reversal — A + PROP ( support ) + OS ( this returned  = SO reversed). 10. A moss-strewn island of Greece (5) = SAMOS Anagram ( strewn ) of a moss. 11. Misfortunes we keep well away from (4) = ILLS Cryptic definition. We keep well by staying away from ills! 12. Agreeable countryman about fifty (8) = PLEASANT Container clue — PEASANT ( countryman ) gets put about  (or around) L ( fifty, in Roman numerals). 14. Take some back to quarters (6) = ENTRAP Reversal and charade. Some (PART) goes back to become TRAP. And it also goes on the back of quarters = EN (east and north). 16. Very mu...

Well, moving house (no we haven't unpacked all the boxes yet, shut up), followed by two indexing jobs ( Income Contingent Loans , and Born Bad ) in close succession kind of occupied all my attention and energy for a few months there. My apologies! I had a train trip to Sydney in April, and was amused by this crossword in the 'in train' magazine, The Link . 1 Across is supposedly a 4 letter word for 'leap' ... except in the grid it's 1 Down, and there isn't a 1 Across ... and so on. I'm sure the setter was well and truly pissed off to find out the designer put the wrong grid in with the clues (or vice versa)!

We're in the midst of moving house, I will be back on deck eventually!

It's been a while since I dissected a Gemini Cryptic; here's the first one for 2014 ... This one appeared in the Monday 13 January issue of The Canberra Times.  The Gemini Cryptic is a British cryptic, set by two people. More detail here.   As ever, the definition is underlined (except in double and cryptic definition clues).  ACROSS 1) He requires staff for the spring (4-7) = POLE-VAULTER Cryptic definition. Nothing to do with hiring people, this guy needs a pole to spring up with! 9) Vindication of French miscreant (7) = DEFENCE Charade clue. Of French  = DE ('of' in French) + FENCE (a miscreant, as in someone who received stolen goods). 10) Cool courage is never shattered (5) = NERVE Anagram ( shattered ) of never. 11) She's not improved by the golden touch (4) = LILY Cryptic definition. Reference to 'gild the lily' and a girl's name. 12) In use can turn into a problem (8) = NUISANCE Anagram ( turn into ) of i...

Happy New Year all! I'm pleased to announce the winners of the last cryptic clue writing competition, for the word CENTENNIAL. First prize: For the hundredth time Len, nice tan job (GrizNHeph) — A lovely concise clue, with LEN NICE TAN as the anagram fodder, and job as the anagram indicator. Second prize: Celebrate one hundred years by shaking 50 Romans in canteen (sandbox74)— an anagram of 50 Romans (L) with IN CANTEEN, indicated by shaking. Third prize: CNN late in e-broadcast, spoil 100th year anniversary (Asuquo) — an anagram of CNN LATE IN E. Broadcast and spoil  could be the anagram indicators (although only one is needed). I know that sandbox74 and Asuquo are both outside of the regions where I can gift apps, sorry people ... but you can have that peaceful inner glow and smugness of knowing you did good  ;) GrizNHeph, drop me an email to let me know where you live, and hopefully I can send an app to you!