Career
He also cohosted the Business School show, Letters and Numbers, as the dictionary expert, in company with Richard Morecroft and Lily Serna. His cryptic crosswords, appearing under the name "District Attorney" in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, have developed a large following which includes musician Holly Throsby and actor Geoffrey Rush. 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.
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 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University and in 2004 was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross Teaching Award for best sessional teacher. In 2013, he helped create the word phub (a portmanteau of phone and snub, used when someone is ignored in favour of a mobile phone).
