David
Astle
Speaker Profile
David Astle is The Dictionary Guy you'll see on Letters and Numbers every weeknight on SBS. His role embraces word-umpire with anagram-meister, on top of the buzz he shares unlocking origins, from slang to jargon, from diesel to mountweazel: words weird and true.
Off the box, David's passion lies in smaller boxes, namely the cryptic crosswords that appear each week in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Adored or dreaded as the setter DA, David is a verbal wizard, playing with puns, codes, themes, double-meanings and every other cryptic formula in the book of spells.
His own book, Puzzled (2010), captures this craze through his life, and wordplay through history too, from Pompeii's magic squares to the rude acrostic of Governor Schwarzenegger. Built around a central crossword, Puzzled is a book you unravel as you read, clue-by-clue, chapter-by-chapter. A joyous and contorting ride, just as David can offer in person.
His knack for wordplay is ideal for tailor-made puzzles, riddles, clues and other creative challenges for any occasion. An exuberant speaker, David can offer a spark-filled crash-course in cryptic solving, enthralling a room in word games. With 30 years as Australia's leading puzzler, David has also many offbeat tales of language and inspiration to share.
As a dynamic teacher at all levels, David is gifted in the area of mobilising the imagination, exploring your creativity through language, as well as creating games as tools of learning.
David is also a weekly columnist for the Spectrum section of the Herald, chewing on language topics as diverse as polly-speak and endangered words, kid-talk and buzzwords, clichés and misnomers. Wherever words are found, David is nearby with a few words and unique insights to offer.
Travels from Victoria
Client Comments
Client Comments
- David is fantastic! Fabulous talent, huge brain and all round nice guy. David completely immersed himself in our brand and that shone through in every interview.
Mark Communications
Topics
Speaker Topics
- The Creative Trance
- Clue Clinics to Unravel a Crossword
- Game-Playing as a Means of Learning
- Puzzle Solving as a Creative Challenge, and Icebreaker
- Puzzle-Making for Every Occasion
- Using Words and Puzzles to Launch Imagination
- Verbal Trends
- Word Secrets and Puzzle Stories
Related Categories
Topic Synopses
The Creative TranceWhat links cabbage to music? Or Germaine Greer to Harry Potter? What about acrobats to piglets? Or maybe a long-running problem to its missing solution? Often the ideal remedy is one creative thought away. At least that's how cryptic puzzles work - both solving and setting them. And crossword maestro David Astle insists the same nimble hobby has plenty of benefit beyond the black-and-white squares.
The Creative Trance is a flexible way of thinking, looking for hidden links between two ideas, and seeing which inspiration fills the gap. Not only will you become a more adaptable problem-solver, but a better clue-solver too. Whimsical and practical, the Creative Trance is a session to help you unravel strange clues, make surprising connections and revitalise your mind.
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