David Robert Astle (born 9 November 1961) is an Australian TV personality and radio host, and writer of non-fiction, fiction and plays. He also co-hosted the SBS Television (SBS) show Letters and Numbers, as the dictionary expert, in company with Richard Morecroft and Lily Serna, a role to which he returned for Celebrity Letters and Numbers in 2021.
Career Astle's cryptic crosswords, appearing under the name "DA" in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald (for which he also writes the "Wordplay" section), have developed a large following which includes musician Holly Throsby and actor Geoffrey Rush, who called him "the Sergeant Pepper of cryptic crosswords". In 2011, his portrait called "DA" painted by artist Amanda Marburg, was shortlisted for the Archibald Prize.
Astle's 2013 book Cluetopia: The story of 100 years of the crossword celebrates the centenary of the crossword with a chapter for each year. Astle is a three times winner of the Banjo Paterson Writing Award.List of Award Winner in the Orange Wiki: www.theorangewiki.orange.nsw.gov.au, Accessed 22 August 2021. Bio at the Australian Literature Website: www.austlit.edu.au, Accessed 22 August 2021 He won third prize in The Age Short Story Award in 1990 and his first novel, Marzipan Plan, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. In 2001 he won the James Joyce Suspended Sentence Award for short fiction. His play Cowboy Humour was part of the Short and Sweet play festival in 2008, which has previously featured Astle's plays including The Gentleman Had An Axe in 2007 and The Mercy Kitchen.
Astle has taught journalism at RMIT University and in 2004 was awarded a DSC Teaching Award for best sessional teacher. In 2013, he helped create the word "phub" (a portmanteau of phone and snub), for when someone is ignored in favour of a mobile phone.
Radio & Television In 2010, Astle was part of Letters and Numbers, an Australian reboot of the UK series Countdown. Astle was the dictionary expert alongside host Richard Morecroft and maths expert Lily Serna. The show was produced by Shine Australia and ran for two seasons on SBS TV.
From 2015, Astle was a fill-in host on ABC Radio Melbourne as well as a regular word expert on ABC TV's News Breakfast.
In December 2019, Astle was appointed host of the Evenings radio program on ABC Radio Melbourne and ABC Local Radio in Victoria replacing Lindy Burns. Throughout 2019 Astle filled in for Burns whilst she was on long service leave.
In 2021, Celebrity Letters and Numbers was created with Astle returning as dictionary expert alongside Serna and new host Michael Hing. The show is currently in its third season and has featured guests including Nakkaih Lui, Aaron Chen and Benjamin Law.
Bibliography
Novels Marzipan Plan The Book of Miles (Minerva, 1997) 1-86330-589-0
Non-fiction "Rewording the Brain" (Allen & Unwin, 2018) "Riddledom: 101 Riddles and Their Stories" (Allen & Unwin, 2015) "Cluetopia: The story of 100 years of the crossword" (Allen & Unwin, 2013) "Puzzles and Words 1" (Allen & Unwin, 2013) 9781743318546 "Puzzles and Words 2" (Allen & Unwin, 2013) 9781743318546 Puzzled: Secrets and Clues From a Life Lost in Words (Allen & Unwin, 2010) Cassowary Crossing (Penguin Books, 2005) ; (re-jacketed as Offbeat Australia (Penguin Books, 2007) ) One Down, One Missing (Hardie Grant Books, 2003) 9781740661416
For children Wordburger (Allen & Unwin, 2015) David Astle's Gargantuan Book of Words (Allen & Unwin, 2017) David Astle's 101 Weird Words (and 3 fakes): From Ambidextrous to Zugzwang (Allen & Unwin, 2018)
Plays The Gentleman Had an Axe (2007) Cowboy Humour (2008) The Mercy Kitchen (2008)
References
External links Official site Cryptopia, a short documentary on DA and his crosswords Hacronyms , an article by David Astle The DA Trippers, a blog that pays homage to DA cryptics Alias DA, an essay that originally appeared in Meanjin about how Astle sees words and the world Astle's profile on Letters and Numbers website David Astle Re-works Words a Wheeler Centre video David Astle on ABC's The Conversation Hour Phubbing: A Word is Born video Leaping lexicons: David Astle and the joy of words on ABC's Conversations Do Not Ask for Whom the Pinball Chimes, David Astle at the Wheeler Centre Gala 2017. David Astle on ABC Radio. Lunch with David Astle: How he creates his notoriously tricky crosswords.