Wordburger

Kids of a certain age become obsessed with crossword puzzles: what are they? how do they work? when can I solve one all on my own? Word wizard David Astle has come up with a sneaky way to introduce children to the mechanics of cryptic crossword puzzles, by taking them through different kinds of wordplay - anagrams, pangrams, spoonerisms, tongue-twisters, homophones - before presenting them with crossword puzzles to solve using everything learnt so far. 'DA' puns and word plays abound, making this the word nerd's bible of wordy trickery and puzzling.

David Astle is a full-time word nerd. Many will know him as the dictionary man on the TV show Letters and Numbers. Or maybe just DA, the devious crossword-setter in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. He also devises a weekly 'Wordplay' newspaper column, plus a newsy anagram game on Sunday radio. Between puzzles, he's written half a dozen wordy-nerdy books for adults, including Riddledom, Cluetopia and Puzzled.