Book description
As a child, David Astle's hero was the Riddler. Figuring out
brainteasers like 'Where is a man drowned but still not wet?'
(quicksand) and 'How many sides has a circle?' (two - the inside and the
outside) became an obsession and, eventually, his life: his cryptic
crosswords now appear in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald every week,
to the delight and frustration of thousands. In Puzzled, Astle offers a
helping hand to the perplexed and the infatuated alike, taking us on a
personal tour into the secret life of words. Beginning with a Master
Puzzle, he leads us through each of the clues, chapter by chapter,
revealing the secrets of anagrams, double meanings, manipulations,
spoonerisms and hybrid clues. More than a how-to manual and more than a
memoir, Puzzled is a book for word junkies everywhere. As a child,
David Astle's hero was the Riddler. Figuring out brainteasers like
'Where is a man drowned but still not wet?' (quicksand) and 'How many
sides has a circle?' (two - the inside and the outside) became an
obsession and, eventually, his life: his cryptic crosswords now appear
in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald every week, to the delight and
frustration of thousands. In Puzzled, Astle offers a helping hand to the
perplexed and the infatuated alike, taking us on a personal tour into
the secret life of words. Beginning with a Master Puzzle, he leads us
through each of the clues, chapter by chapter, revealing the secrets of
anagrams, double meanings, manipulations, spoonerisms and hybrid clues.
More than a how-to manual and more than a memoir, Puzzled is a book for
word junkies everywhere.
