Rewording the Brain

Master wordsmith and crossword guru David Astle shows how cryptic crosswords can boost your brain power and improve your memory and cognitive capacity.

Recent ground-breaking and exciting studies have shown that cryptic crosswords are among the most effective ways to boost the power and agility of your brain.

Why? The answer lies in the art of teasing out a clue, a discipline that calls for logic, interpretation, intuition and deduction as well as the ability to filter nuance and connotation. All these challenges and more are found in the cryptic crossword. And all are invaluable in increasing your brainpower and improving your memory and cognitive capacity.

In this entertaining and essential book, cryptic crossword guru David Astle explains how your brain responds to and benefits from attempting these crosswords. A growing body of research suggests cryptic crosswords are the ideal workout for your brain, and Astle shows how regular training of this kind can be fun as well as fundamental.

If you've always been intimidated by cryptic crosswords, fear not! Rewording the Brain is an accessible guide to developing and sharpening your puzzle talents. Novices and expert solvers alike will gain plenty of cryptic insights. There has never been a better time to start solving, nor a better teacher than the legendary DA.

Also included are 50 cryptic crosswords hand-picked to keep your brain abuzz, ranging from beginner-friendly to fiendishly complicated!

About the Author

As crossword maker in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as Wordplay columnist with Spectrum, David Astle is a full-time word nerd. He's the author of Wordburger - a quick-snack guide to cryptic crosswords for kids or rookies in general, as well as the time-travelling mind-trip called Riddledom. His other wordy hits include Cluetopia, plus the ultimate manual-cum-memoir, Puzzled. To complete the set are the two pocketbooks: Puzzles & Words - and Puzzles & Words 2. David has a regular column Wordwit in the Saturday SMH, Age and Canberra Times and has a weekly slot on Radio National's Sunday Extra with Jonathan Green. He is an ambassador for Dementia Australia.