birth_place image_size nationality birth_date article_title occupation
sydney , australia 150px australian 9 november 1961 david astle
 writer
david astle

david astle -lrb- born 9 november 1961 in sydney , australia -rrb- is a melbourne-based writer of non-fiction , fiction and plays .
he also cohosted the sbs show , `` letters and numbers '' , as the dictionary expert , in company with richard morecroft and lily serna .
his cryptic crosswords , appearing under the name `` da '' in `` the age '' and `` the sydney morning herald '' , have developed a large following which includes musician holly throsby and actor geoffrey rush .
rush called him `` the sergeant pepper of cryptic crosswords . ''
in 2011 , his portrait called da was shortlisted for the archibald prize , painted by artist amanda marburg .
his latest book is `` cluetopia : the story of 100 years of the crossword '' celebrating the centenary of the crossword with a chapter for each year .
he won third prize in the 1990 the age short story award 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 .
he 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 -lrb- a portmanteau of phone and snub , used when someone is ignored in favour of a mobile phone -rrb- .
