http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au a guide to offbeat Australia Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:49:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Every year the Macquarie Dictionary opens its gates to let a new batch of marauding words into the Australian language. Not that you need a lexical OK for a word to exist, but it does make infomania and toad juice just a tad more official – and far more kosher ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/09/03/flexicography/ ‘My name is Garson Hampfield, and I’m a crossword inker.’ With a smoky sax below the words, so begins an inspired mockumentary about the dying art of puzzle-inking. Created by Michael A Charles, the seven-minute animation is so finely infused with humour you can’t help but wish that inkers existed. As ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/31/rage-against-the-drying-of-the-ink/ Today’s nine answers share an obvious link. Bond baddie Thug’s weapon Cicero’s gift Musical handicap US folk music legend Canadian rockers Coolness under pressure Snake Respirator SOLUTION NEXT WEEK BB168 SOLUTION: It’s a Heartache, Taking Care of Business, Smoke on the Water, La Isla Bonita, Driver’s Seat, Guantanamera, Werewolves of London, Beast of Burden http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/31/ore-body-bb169/ Writers can’t just be writers nowadays, says author Robert Dessaix. They also need to be figure skaters. Stage hounds. Hucksters. Acrobats. A presence in the limelight to help move so many units per festival. When Clive James wows his throng with fluent Auden quotes and a tango twirl beside the ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/25/axel-with-pike/ Each phrase below is a mondegreen (or misheard lyric) of the song title in question. Mice Aroma, for example, should be My Sharona. Can you decipher the other eight? We’ve supplied the title initials in brackets as an extra clue. It’s a Hard Egg (IAH) Baking Carrot Biscuits (TCOB) Slow Motion Swatter (SOTW) Louise ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/24/mice-aroma-bb168/ A muddle of a week, hence the delayed post. So what’s my defence? Well, Your Honour, I have ten in total, and none is too persuasive: 1) Preparing for the Melbourne Writers Festival. I’m part of the Whole Shebang at Federation Square tomorrow. Check here for a few more clues. http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_home.asp? 2) ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/21/festival-eve-whats-your-excuse/ What two sights common to a dance hall can both precede SAW, so making tools common to a timber workshop? SOLUTION NEXT WEEK BB166 SOLUTION: Tim must save vast summit http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/17/step-up-bb167/ Last time I went to India I was a clean-livered teen, bypassing alcohol for the local orangeade called Tums Up. Next time, now that alcohol is a welcome anaesthesia, I’d be more tempted by Seagull, Sandpiper, Rosy Pelican and the rest of India’s beer flock. The brands are bizarre. Among the ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/15/a-head-for-trivia-2/ Old Monk Rosy Pelican Australian Max Stop me if you’ve heard the list before. Any ideas? Here’s a few more to tease the taste buds: Black Knight Gymkhana Taj Mahal That last one serves as your biggest clue. I’ll publish the list’s link in a day or two, along with the reason I make a point of ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/12/a-head-for-trivia/ Climate crusader, Tim Flannery, has to prevent a colossal conference from derailing. Can you compose a palindromic headline (reading the same either way) to capture such a dramatic mission? The word breakdown is (3,4,4,4,6), with TIM your first word. SOLUTION NEXT WEEK BB165 SOLUTION: Mung, mango, genome, Managua, Magna, Gemini, mange, manga, ... http://www.cassowarycrossing.com.au/2008/08/10/symposium-u-turn-bb166/