A Stunning Cryptic Crossword

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Thanks to Mike Hutchinson for the recommendation and to Methuselah for creating such a beautiful puzzle.
Mark has released his latest solve of The Times Club Monthly Special crossword on Patreon today. You can watch it at the link below:
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Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships.
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Simon and Mark

[@LEEBLISSY]

simon: making the most incredible deductions that I could never hope to understand me: haha he doesn't know what a blunt is

[@SnowTheJamMan]

Simon: *doing witchcraft* Me, after 2 minutes: Ooooh i get why running can mean "on"

[@leekaufman5660]

Ooohhhhhhhhhh

[@bucherrabemittendrin9344]

Took me 15min and this comment... 🤦‍♀️

[@LevatekGaming]

Please explain 😂

[@cherielov3394]

@@LevatekGaming If a car is “running,” it’s on ?

[@symmetricksambigrams]

​@@LevatekGaming when a TV show is running, it's on (a channel)

[@rhysbart]

I've been watching the channel for almost a year now and never commented. But I have to acknowledge Simon's unexpected review of Love Actually. A wonderful tangent. More film reviews please.

[@kelseyfassett7099]

my exact thoughts

[@BertBergaf]

For a non-native speaker, incredibly difficult (not to say impossible), but these cryptic crosswords are really cool and I feel like I'm learning a lot every time I watch you solve one.

[@amoswittenbergsmusings]

You do get used to the quirks of the English cryptic. Just keep at it. Berg af?? Berg op!

[@DhansakPuzzles]

Do come and join me on my channel if you want to learn more. I solve and explain crosswords twice a week.

[@jasminedavis6686]

I'm a native English speaker and am absolutely hopeless at these so don't worry

[@Hakucho64]

Also super hard for native English speakers who don't live in the UK. I got about half of them out.

[@terracottapie]

@@amoswittenbergsmusings He's just really really Berg. Berg a.f.

[@elliottmanley5182]

COITUS! Never in a million years did I think I'd get a crossword clue that Simon missed.

[@JoQeZzZ]

It was also really weird, since he immediately got US with I in a COT

[@KumaKaori]

19:40, when I saw Hammond and May, My mind went first to "Top Gear?. So I love that, indeed, that is the reference made in the answer XD;.

[@addeleven]

"There was an old colonel from Egypt"? I was certain you were going to break into a limerick at that point 😅

[@willemg1]

Since the clue mentioned a travel agency... There once was a colonel from Egypt, Who's task was this crossword to decrypt, He hurried along, And finished quite strong, The agency soon had him reshipped.

[@SpencerTwiddy]

There was an old colonel from Egypt who had a crossword answer key shipped. He wanted to cheat with an answer sheet, but sadly he couldn’t read English.

[@SomethingWellesian]

It’s been so long since I did cryptic crosswords that I really struggled with this. Very good puzzle, though. I used to do Crosaire’s daily crossword in the Irish times. He started setting them in 1943, and had published over 14,000 by his death in 2010. He lived most of his life in Zimbabwe, and spoke sometimes of his delight at knowing how many people thousands of miles away would love to wring his neck.

[@longwaytotipperary]

It all seems impossible until you explain it. Fun to watch!

[@Wonderland_Jutomi]

Even after he explains it, it still seems like a total impossibility to me, hehe.

[@gordonglenn2089]

I got 4 clues on my own and came back to watch Simon unravel the rest. There were some great surface reads and misdirects, those things that make cryptics so entertaining!

[@emo6577]

These started making sense to me after I started framing the clues in my head as many layers of pun (a realization I came to after watching marks walk through of the clue basics). I don’t think I could do these on my own yet but I really understand the appeal

[@beeble2003]

When I was doing these about 20 years ago, I found the _Telegraph_ to be by far the easiest of the national dailies, so you might want to start there. _The Times_ is the most rigorously logical, and forbids a lot of the "funny business" you see in this crossword. Their Monday puzzles always used to be the easiest, getting gradually harder through the week. I generally found the Saturday puzzle to be more of a Wednesday/Thursday standard, with Friday's being the hardest. _The Times_ Jumbo puzzle on Saturdays was more like a Monday/Tuesday standard but bigger.

[@cjmauger15]

Freddie Highmore 😍 Hugh Laurie 😍 Hugh Grant 😍 and Simon Anthony 😍. England pumping out the gems on this episode.

[@jplay9710]

Methuselah is the youngest setter? Something about that seems wrong. Anyway, the Rooney clue was phenomenal. Love Actually is great, I enjoyed the little interlude to talk about the parts of it you liked.

[@beeble2003]

Just means he has a lot of years left in him/her! On the other hand, I've a feeling I was aware of a crossword setter called Methuselah at least 20 years ago, so "youngest" doesn't necessarily mean "young".

[@AussieJohnny]

Like you Simon I do the Times Cryptic Crossword every day. I get it in the online version of The Australian newspaper. I do the crossword followed by the two CTC sudokus (wearing my CTC hoodie if it is cold enough). Today's crossword didn't load (it still pointed to yesterday's). I contacted The Australian's support and he tried to tell me I should relaunch the app, clear the cookies, etc, etc. I suggested that he should check on his computer and of course the problem was at their end. It is now 10pm and today's cryptic crossword has finally loaded.

[@TheFreeBro]

I’d love to see more of these. Your literary skills are just a joy to watch. (Also it fits your recent trends of puzzles with no given digits :)

[@virtuous-sloth]

I'm so happy to have got 22 across in about 30 seconds but otherwise would have been clueless. Simon's delight in doing this puzzle brings me delight.

[@tonyroberts3926]

President Nasser was never what I would call "old". He died unexpectedly of a heart attack aged 52. On the other hand, that is now over 50 years ago - so that's what makes it "old"

[@DevonParsons697]

I love the cryptic crossword content!

[@terracottapie]

Great video. I just wanted to say that "B" for second rate and "C" for third rate are not just crossword conventions; they're commonly used for those purposes (B- and C-list actors, for example). Not sure if intended, but Simon made it seem as though setters just decided to use those letters for those definitions but they're definitely found "in the wild" in English.

[@rosiefay7283]

Indeed, every one of those definitions for a single letter that are used in crosswords are used more widely, too. Otherwise nobody would understand them!

[@traviscochran9253]

I'm just happy I got the Hamlet clue before Simon. Excellent content as always folks.

[@bryanroland9402]

I came here for the crosswords years ago and stayed for the sudoku. I'm duly appeased.

[@sndmnc]

these might as well be magic to me, i'm looking at this stuff like a pig staring into a clockwork mechanism

[@samtravis4822]

The only one I got before Simon was “irate”, which he was unhappy with! I never do cryptic crosswords so maybe ignorance helped me on that one.

[@th.nd.r]

BEAUTIFUL puzzle, well set and well solved! Love seeing cryptics featured here. As an American though I would love to see a cryptic that isn’t so purely British. Nothing against y’all at all, I just want to get the references lol

[@CreatrixTiara]

Stephen Sondheim introduced cryptics to the Americans and I believe The Listener has his own take on cryptics for American players!

[@th.nd.r]

@@CreatrixTiara do you have any links? I would love to check these out!!

[@powt0wn]

@@th.nd.r sondheim’s ones were very very hard. the new yorker does cryptics which are a little more approachable. every sunday i think

[@rosiefay7283]

Believe you me, on the net I see far more references I don't get (and are probably American) than British references.

[@byakb1868]

I would like to take this opportunity to also appreciate the genius that is Love Actually. (The puzzle is also fantastic!)

[@anthonybailey5655]

Sorry to grinch, but... I don't much like to see this film lauded without any acknowledgement of how it reduces women. So here's my token dissent.

[@venomthegirl2006]

Poor innocent Simon, not knowing what a blunt is

[@Draedaja]

Bless Simon for not knowing the meaning of "blunt" used here :)

[@feasible]

Hamlet was the only clue I got before Simon, I very quickly spotted what "useless" was doing and spent the rest of the video waiting for his reaction when he figured it out!

[@gatlygat]

Another comment mentioned the crossword setter David Astle from Australia. If you love cryptic crosswords and are unfamiliar with DA (David Astle or, as some say, 'Don't Attempt') PLEASE, do yourself a favour. He is one of the best on the planet He sets the Friday Cryptic for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, and his themed crosswords are of legend Two examples are a Xmas crossword based on 'Noel' (i.e. No 'L') where the clues are double edged to cater for words with and without their Ls (i.e. like rally and ray) - and another one themed on circumnavigation where the answers wrapped around the grid (there are hundreds of other incredible ones that could be mentioned) Of particular interest for those into crosswords are books he has written 'CLUETOPIA' is the 100 year history of crosswords done in 100 mini-chapters where every chapter is a year and based around a crossword clue from that year. (it is as brilliant as it sounds!) 'REWORDING THE BRAIN' is an book explaining how to learn and do cryptic crosswords. and not to mention some amazing books for children based on fun with words and wordplay ('Wordburger', 'Gargantuan book of words' etc.) Even if you only get a tiny fraction of the joy he has provided me and my friends, it will be the discovery of the year. Merry Xmas CTCers 🙂

[@Hakucho64]

DA is great overall, I have Rewording the Brain, but I find many of his clues to be overwrought, i.e. they can only be solved by retrospective justification. I prefer the DS cryptic on Saturdays, they're much more amenable to solving from first principles.

[@Sinebeast]

When you were talking about Love Actually, you mentioned Colin Firth and I heard "Colin Furze". That would have been quite a different movie :D

[@Stu_1977_SEmelb]

Yaaay! Finally! Another cryptic! :) A great puzzle and a great solve, thank you, Simon. Many more videos like this, please! ♥

[@amoswittenbergsmusings]

Oh, joy to the word! That was such fun! It's probably my sort of mind but 1ac was a write-in for me - and once that was in, 4ac became available by pure association. These apes are all systems go most of the time. Then 9ac came along with another association. Next phase: have a long stare and look around for low hanging fruit, forbidden or not. I needed 38 odds minutes. Watching Simon's solve clarified some wordplay for me. I wrote in the tragic Dane without really understanding how the clue worked. Lurkers and anagrams are much easier for me. I have much more trouble with intricate wordplay. Keep 'm coming, those xwords!!

[@bristolrovers27]

Tough crossword, with some great clues and an excellent solve More plz 😀

[@isaacbragg-gardiner2456]

YAS WE GOT MORE ACTUAL CRYPTICS! More of these please :)

[@selenasilverstep7981]

US, I, in COT.... or something, can't see what that is. I saw that immediately and laughed out loud

[@QemeH]

I blame Sheldon for immediately getting this :D

[@trueprotocol7467]

14:20 calling it now: reverence

[@Teverell]

Massachusetts was 'US state' and 'chasms' anagrammed together ('littered with'), I don't know how you didn't spot that because it was beautifully clued!!

[@andymion]

An ape is a parrot. Another knowledge bomb from Cracking the Cryptic ;)

[@Hakucho64]

No, to ape someone is to parrot them (imitate what they say).

[@JalebJay]

Would you consider doing only connect word walls (from custom setters instead of directly from the show) for some of your videos? Would be interesting to see logic you can make to justify some of them. I know it would be hard to explain them live as it's supposed to be a 3 minute challenge. However, I think it would be fun to watch. (Also, you two should try being on the show with your vocab skills)

[@callummillar9177]

I’m pretty sure they mentioned in 400k subs Q&A video that they were in talks with someone else to the third member of their team and were considering applying for the show.

[@chitraagarwal8259]

I would give anything to see Simon interact with Victoria.. And he should tell her how much he loves David Mitchell too - just not the one who's her husband ;)

[@AJCham]

@@callummillar9177 I hope they name their team "The Bobbins" Edit: On second thoughts, maybe "The Naked Singles"

[@chitraagarwal8259]

Just saw the latest episode of Only Connect (S17E24) ... The sequence in the second round about the ways to add to 14, with an acrostic poem spelling out the word Fourteen seemed so tailor made for Simon

[@garrettstoneburner6307]

I love the way the setter used their name, which I know typically has a given meaning in cryptics, and uses in a completely different way.

[@stephenjcarr1]

I started doing this crossword after watching this video. I'd like to point out the puzzle from Wednesday Feb 2nd. It is brilliant - the theme is Homer's Odyssey. There are two clues 10a and 28a both with the same clue "A side of arsenic fed to awfully sly cop - one who detained hero (7)". At first I thought it was an error, but no - there are two different answers to the same clue. Brilliant !

[@kilimanjarocruz660]

Great puzzle. And this was the first time when I figured a clue before Simon (19d)! Cheers.

[@radd1865]

It's fun to watch these now that I'm starting to understand how the clues work, thanks to this channel's wonderful videos. I'm afraid they're still a bit too British to make any headway on, but I can at least understand how you get there now!

[@zacharycampbell1002]

Some really great faces in this puzzle! Excellent solves, Simon!

[@jodyvanliew2514]

Another superb solve by Simon .

[@DDRFaQ]

Love Actually is definitely within my top 1000 favorite movies 👍

[@Chiny_w_Pigulce]

Not sure if I've even watched 1000 movies in my life...

[@pallasproserpina4118]

I’m just proud of having gotten “Hamlet”

[@glum_hippo]

Excellent puzzle. Excellent debut!

[@christopheredwards4012]

Learnt the basic rules and did my first Times cryptic crossword off the back of this video. Took me nearly 24 hours on and off haha (I obviously slept in the middle).

[@beeble2003]

Nice one! I used to like the Times best when I was doing cryptics, a couple of decades ago. I should probably get back into the habit.

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Weird how different minds work - to me HAMLET and ADHERENCE were pretty obvious, yet I really would never have ever worked out EURPIDIES. Would love to see more Crossword content :)

[@TrekBeatTK]

Massachusetts may not be littered with chasms, but we do have a few! Purgatory Chasm probably being the most famous.

[@ButcherBeynon]

Colin Firth's Portugese love interest in Love Actually is 'Aurelia'

[@nickloader3184]

Now it is my turn to gloat and say I got BONOBO, ORALLY and HAMLET before Simon and to ignore the fact that he was streets ahead of me on everything else ;) Agree on the quality of this grid. Not a fan of the SILVERED clue - the concept is excellent, just totally illegal in many newspapers - and I agree on ? for IRATE - should really have 'introductory' or 'as part of job description' or something in my opinion. Still, that aside, some amazing clues as Simon pointed out: CHARMED LIFE and COHOSTS as well as PARDON and a bunch of others.

[@mumiemonstret]

Oh, is this the origins of what I thought was a strangely named Sudoku channel?

[@myrthestammen2634]

I didn't understand any of the clues myself, but the clue about Hammond and May instantly made me think about top gear, so I'm proud that I got that right

[@bruceyanoshek626]

Thank you for explaining Hamlet. I was confused by the extra H.

[@t71024]

Superb. My claim to fame was that I saw 5 down a few seconds before Simone said it (but I had no idea how to justify it).

[@bibliopolist]

Hey, don't forget the Joanna Page/Martin Freeman "story" :-)

[@aqilariff1100]

I was yelling CLARKSON for the 18 down, but I was wrong. But still, it's his 'co hosts' hahaha nice one

[@keithlewis7205]

Love the cryptic crosswords. Please do more

[@Swisswavey]

Good to see a crossword again. I didn't fully understand 12a and a couple of the clues felt a tad clumsy but on the whole a nice puzzle. I've got to say I prefer The Times' crosswords though.

[@nickloader3184]

There are a number of issues with 12A. Firstly, the only way you could get SILVERED from 'aged' would be with a reverse clue: Clue to having aged? Turned grey. ('having' is a little dodgy here as it should be 'have' for the cryptic grammar but in order to have a natural sounding surface I have to bend the rules a little.) Then theoretically, you could have, "silver ed" as a clue which would yield AG (silver) ED. Unfortunately, it is not written as a reverse clue and the reason for that is the other issue which is the illegal elision which is occurring. You are not generally allowed to have the solver split a word into two parts unless those two parts are also words. Here, the setter is trying to find a loophole by saying 'after split'. What this actually does though is create a two-step or indirect clue which is, you guessed it, also illegal. The idea is though: AGED gets split into AG ED then used as a reverse clue - with no indicator to say so - to produce SILVER ED which as a clue would make AG ED, the definition, of course, is 'turned grey'. It's a cool idea but using current rules of elision it'd be impossible. Guess a similar but far less interesting idea on the flipside would be: Silverback gorilla's final plan (6) Anyway, everything else worked okay in my opinion.

[@CDCHexaku]

I got 18 Down before Simon!! I'm so happy I got one :D

[@Airantu]

I am not very good at crosswords any version and crypitc give me head aches trying to figure out but I did get Hamlet before you and that makes me feel great. (On the other hand you got everything else way before me)

[@roboduck200]

I got HAMLET, but parsed it differently. Methuselah = ME Cut = HALT Terribly useless = anagram

[@teamcyeborg]

As an American, I will say that "Hammond and May" made me immediately think Top Gear

[@GordonjSmith1]

I find the cross word puzzle vlogs so much more interesting than the sudoko ones. More please.

[@jessicatait1867]

Love to see CtC doing a crossword!

[@shifttheshaman]

Beautiful phrasing.

[@JamieAtSLC]

More cryptics please!

[@sanctionbuster]

Best line in Love Actually: "8 is a lot of legs, David."

[@richy77]

Love these!

[@dangturkey3947]

Have you ever attempted some of David Astle's cryptic crosswords? He is known to produce some great themed puzzles and I love doing them every Friday down in Australia.

[@theunamiable]

The is a CTC video where Mark does a DA crossword in blinding speed. That's what introduced me to the channel. It's hard to find though.

[@theunamiable]

I found it by trawling through their spreadsheet. Not sure I can link to it, but it's called "The Age" - Themed Crossword from 2/8/19.

[@australiajohn]

DA's cryptics were always a Friday highlight for me too, until I moved overseas. A great challenge!

[@Psionic1]

@@theunamiable kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWHJaqyHediYq8k

[@seanm9306]

Gammon and May was genius!

[@roughryder5]

How in the world?!?! I would really love for you to do the LSAT exam. Or at least the Logic Games portion of it. I genuinely want to see how you would score since you're so good at making deductions I wouldn't even have caught in a million years.

[@elLooto]

2D mad = angry = irate

[@longwaytotipperary]

Why would the clue about Hamlet not be allowed by Times?

[@utoddl]

First one of these I'd seen. Wow. I've spent 60+ years under the delusion that I was a native English speaker. Now, having doubts.

[@dworldruler]

I am trying so hard to follow this and completely failing. Nothing like feeling like a complete moron first thing in the morning! :D Still, great solve and entertaining as always, Simon. Keep it up!

[@weemanling]

Less Sudoku, more cryptics.

[@TheMrVengeance]

Can someone explain why some clues "wouldn't be allowed"? Like the 'useless' in the Hamlet clue. I've heard Simon mention it every now and then but I don't get why.

[@tc2461]

I normally have Sonne troubles understanding the sudoku solutions but i dont even stand a chance at this even after the explanation

[@KinkyTurtle]

This is one of those puzzles with a few clues where I can figure out the word but I'm baffled by part of the wordplay. Like ORALLY. I got that it was O + REALLY - E, but I had no idea how "E" was a "point". I was worried for a while it might be some terminology in cricket or some other sport I'm not familiar with... until Simon finally said "compass point"!

[@Hakucho64]

Yeah, trouble is there's four compass points, and that's before you include NE, SE, NNE, etc.!

[@stephenjames2951]

I think the short sentence is ‘I’

[@noahhobson4521]

This puzzle made my head hurt. At least with the sudoku I can usually solve them, even if it takes me about three or four times longer than it takes you. That crossword I'd have banged my head against for ten minutes without understanding a single clue and then given up in disgust.

[@FleckerMan]

There's a couple introduction to cryptic crossword videos on the channel, I manage to get maybe 3 words pausing before they do though even after watching a few of them :)

[@zmaj12321]

There's a steep learning curve to these, much steeper than sudoku

[@btestware]

Did you try bifurcating? That usually works if all else fails.

[@XperimentalUnit]

Can the Hamlet clue be a double wordplay? I thought of the Ham from the bible. He also lived long, like Methusela, and "terribly useless" could be in reference to the "curse of Ham." And then "let" could be short for "bloodletting," which would be a cut.

[@TheMeanAdmin]

Finished watching this. Finally I have the answer to how people create anagram based conspiracy theories and interpret Koko's sign language o_O

[@owenroche5247]

Does anyone know where the “New York state falls and Massachusetts flew” line is from? I remember Simon mentioning it in a previous video about his favorite novel, but I cannot find it for the life of me!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

It was about 2 days ago so you shouldn't have to look far.

[@owenroche5247]

@@Anne_Mahoney just looked back and it’s “the bone clocks” by David Mitchell. Thanks for the reply

[@Unchained_Alice]

Love 1 across, I find that word funny. :p

[@lawskuboi]

Was so shocked that Simon literally said "US.. I.. in cot" for 1A and yet didn't get coitus?? That was the only clue I could get on my own

[@TomHickey]

I don't quite follow the cryptic crosswords, as it seems there is too much required hive knowledge to just pick them up and take a stab. Though, my favorite part of this was how Simon just broke into casual conversation (e.g. the Love Actually bit)... don't often get to see him just chatting it up.

[@isabelamacedobellsita8394]

Acre is also a brazilian state. Hahahahahahha

[@MatthewLenton]

Is the nce at the end of adherence - New Church Earth?

[@MisuVir]

CE = Church of England.

[@QemeH]

No, it's just "new church" - british cryptic crosswords kinda assume that the only church worth thinking about is the church of england, commonly abbreviated as CE. The "on earth" bit gives you the "here" part of adherence. Read: "Being faithful (= definition), new (=n) church (=CE) gets behind (= is written after) Christian era (= AD, as in _anno domini_ as opposed to the more modern CE and BCE) on earth (= here)." So we put it all together: N-CE after AD-HERE gives ADHERENCE, which fits the definition of "being faithful"

[@graceambrose536]

I’ve never done more than a magazine crossword and I am so lost 😂 anagrams?? Second rate being b?? Huh 😂

[@thecommexokid]

As in a “B-list” celebrity, for instance. Or various food products that are sold as “Grade A” but also have B-grade versions

[@graceambrose536]

@@thecommexokid ahhhhh I see !! Thank you !!

[@ambbarnes9839]

The hamlet one is about the only one i solved lol

[@terracottapie]

Someone please tell Simon what a Phillies Blunt is!

[@Foxyjosh]

I couldn't get a single answer. I'll stick with Sudoku.

[@davidsiegel9363]

Meaning of blunt -- a blunt is a thing people smoke (marijuana). So they smoke it and then share the last of it with their girlfriends. Maybe this is an Americanism -- Clinton famously said he "did not inhale". Entertaining video, cryptics are still beyond me.

[@HienNguyenHMN]

It's kind of endearing that Simon didn't understand that.

[@jackw7714]

It is a term used in the UK (it's rolled using thicker tobacco paper, as opposed to rizler rolling paper, but with no tobacco)

[@oiseaubaladeur]

@@HienNguyenHMN would love to share a blunt with Simon though

[@beeble2003]

@@HienNguyenHMN Really? It mostly just means he doesn't have any marijuana-smoking friends. I also don't have any marijuana-smoking friends, so I didn't know it either. Just like I don't have any friends who are into carpentry so I don't know woodworking terms.

[@Hakucho64]

Not knowing this meaning actually helped Simon, by preventing him from being misled.

[@alexainsworth9840]

Simon, Yes Mickey Rooney, the famous actor, was married to Ava Gardner.

[@shlaz2740]

I liked this channel better before the Michael Crichton diss. ER was cutting edge TV at the time.

[@louisesuth8141]

what a lot of vowels