The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 42

** KICKSTARTER LAUNCHED - FOG OF WAR **
Please take a look at our new Kickstarter where we tasked ourselves with creating the best Xmas present for a puzzle fan. There's a novella by professional writer Peter C Hayward linked with (at least!) 10 brand new Fog-Of-War puzzles by Sandra & Nala; and this all made beautiful by the artwork of Haleigh Mooney. All delivered by Christmas Day!
www.kickstarte...
** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the 42nd edition of our attempt to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon takes on today's puzzle which features a brutal crossing entry!
The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
www.thetimes.c...
You can find more information about the SNITCH rating here:
xwdsnitch.hero...
** NEW CONTENT ON PATREON **
Joining us on Patreon costs as little as $2 a month and includes Mark's new solve of The Times' Club Monthly special - a vicious cryptic!!
/ crackingthecryptic
** ORDER OUR UPCOMING BOOK HERE **
www.kickstarte...
** NEW CONTENT ON PATREON **
Joining us on Patreon costs as little as $2 a month and includes Mark's solve of The Times' Club Monthly special - a vicious cryptic!!
/ crackingthecryptic
** NEW GAS PACK IS OUT **
The new GAS pack is out on Steam for PC here:
store.steampow...
It's already out on Android and App Store. 60 original puzzles by Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Clover and Philip Newman!! Earn party hats and dinosaurs with these brand new puzzles!
We've also released a FREE app full of handmade puzzles to celebrate reaching 500k subscribers - simply download the Cracking The Cryptic app on Android, Steam or App Store and then select the 500k pack. We're streaming a playthrough of this app and you can watch all seven episodes
▶ Contact Us ◀
Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic
email: [e-mail]
Our PO Box address:
Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
56 Gloucester Road
London
SW7 4UB
(Please note to use our real names rather than 'Cracking The Cryptic'.)
▶ SUDOKU PAD - Our New App ◀
You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:
iOS:
apps.apple.com...
Steam: store.steampow...
Android:
play.google.co...
ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”
**************************************************************
▶ CTC FAN DISCORD SERVER◀
/ discord
▶ OUR BACK CATALOGUE - ALL CATEGORISED WITH LINKS!◀
tinyurl.com/CT...
▶ NEW CRACKING THE CRYPTIC MERCHANDISE◀
teespring.com/...
▶SEND US PUZZLES TO SOLVE/CONTACT US◀
[e-mail]
▶FOLLOW US◀
Twitter: #crypticcracking
@crypticcracking
Instagram (for how to solve daily clues from The Times): www.instagram....

[@AlonAltman]

I love how Simon explains simple things like single-letter acronyms ("O" standing for round) but not even remark on the fact that "anon" seems to be an archaic word for "soon".

[@uncluckable6535]

"This would have to mean 'zany skier' and Simon doesn't fit" got me

[@bigdmcc1]

7D is actually incredibly clever if you know enough music theory - "A ... do ... mi/E ... la" is not just the anagram fodder, it's also a description of the notes in the Aeolian mode. The Aeolian mode is made up of the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A in that order. Leave out B, D, F and G and you get "A ... C ... E ... A". Replace C and A with their sol-fa equivalents do and la, and you get "A ... do ... E ... la". Then do the same with E, replace it with mi/E (because they're the same thing), and you get "A ... do ... mi/E ... la" - which is a legitimate, if very contrived, description of the notes of the Aeolian mode, while also giving the anagram fodder to describe the Aeolian mode. Absolute genius, in my opinion.

[@flanmanistehbest]

That is absolutely incredible!

[@nfc153]

I was half expecting to see another clue that just said "7D (5,3)"

[@ohth8047]

I mean, those are also the base solfa notes of every other diatonic mode (and only correct for C-do). Also I don't think 'style' and musical scale are equivalents. Good enough for a crossword but it didn't sit right with me

[@Sandra_and_Nala]

I can solve 0% of these, but I do enjoy watching them every week :)

[@azrobbins01]

Same here. Thanks for your great sudoku puzzles, btw. I love doing them!

[@Alex_Meadows]

I've only solved one of them (a particularly easy one) but The Times also does a "Quick Cryptic" every weekday, which is sort of the GAS equivalent for crosswording and much more approachable than the main crossword. If anyone's interested, you can sign up to the puzzle section for £5 a month, which is a lot cheaper than a subscription to the whole newspaper.

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

I can solve one or two words every week, with a little nudge from Simon.

[@mariusnafe26]

Same. I've solved one in the whole series before Simon explained anything about it. Other than that I'm completely lost and amazed by his solving

[@davidcrisp5805]

Ammon with two m's is an old spelling, it's generally been Amon or Amun (as in Tutankhamun) for at least a century now. Surprised even an old Chambers only has the double m version.

[@damienknapman2308]

For 3d, "Lost" isn't being clued by "gone missing", just by "missing", since the "gone" part is being used for the "i" removal instruction.

[@Juanchodh]

As you were solving, I thought that “madrileño”, with the spanish “ñ”, would fit perfectly in the answer. Imagine my surprise when that was indeed the answer, which, for me, is a testament of how hard these crosswords are, and how your deduction powers still baffle me to this day. Thank you for doing this.

[@eyvithorgeirsson6028]

I’m not even a native Spanish speaker and I laughed out loud at Simon’s pronounciation of Madrileño

[@arty9935]

Simon, I'm fairly certain that you told us in a crossword solve of a few years ago that US was shorthand for unserviceable. Great solve today, please keep up the good work.

[@coffee_cup]

Yes, that definition is in Chambers too

[@Antagony1960]

It's usually given in dictionaries as U/S, hence why he didn't spot it in Chambers.

[@marklee343]

Dear algorithm, I enjoy these crossword videos.

[@arataya8706]

These videos are always so interesting!

[@Draedaja]

Respect the cryptic crosswords! Comment for the algorithm gods.

[@bobblebardsley]

If you need a source for U/S to mean "no longer working", it's used by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) to mean 'unserviceable' with reference to aircraft. If you google it there's an entry in the Collins Dictionary that specifies the abbreviation.

[@GavinWilsonsPage]

My dad (national service in the air force in the 60s) used this all the time, anything broken in our house was always us....

[@drwalton4310]

In the RAF we used U/S FOR Un-Serviceable

[@Teverell]

@@drwalton4310 In the British Army, too. I've had to write equipment off as being 'U/S no longer OEM supported' (because it was ancient and we couldn't get the parts to fix it!).

[@devonm8578]

Ah excellent. I guessed under service from the more common “out of service” we use in the US(a). Cheers for the source!

[@francesT5877]

My game has been improved immensely. Thanks very much.

[@Blithedale]

The algorithm might not love these videos but I look forward to them every week. As an American cryptic crosswords were always an intimidating mystery. Now I fumble through one daily. AARP has one daily obviously sourced from someplace in the UK given the occasional spelling or clueing tell. Great fun! Thank you, Simon!

[@adrever1986]

Superb as ever!

[@LorisLaboratory]

I will never be able to do a single clue of these but it's always a pleasure watching you solve them! :)

[@Prazzie]

I'm sure that you could, especially if you start with some easier ones. I saw a nice and easy clue earlier this week: "Selfishly keep pig (3)". 😅

[@biaberg3448]

Holm/e is a tiny island in the Scandinavian languages. And Stockholm is build on many small islands.

[@darreljones8645]

No doubt its English-word status is a relic of Danish rule in medieval England.

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

@@darreljones8645 - Not so - holm was was in proto-Germanic as holmaz, and got carried into Old Saxon and hence into Old English.

[@mikechappell5849]

Amun, Amon and Ammon are all possible spellings of the same Egyptian god

[@fregus.]

I love seeing it's friday and going "ooh, new cryptic crossword video today!" this videos are really enjoyable to me! Sorry that youtube doesn't seem to agree yet.

[@OskarMarszalek]

Thanks for the video!

[@michaelpdawson]

Amilcare Ponchielli was an opera composer, and I guarantee you have heard his music. Look up "Dance of the Hours."

[@jacksonvance7219]

I am slowly starting to understand these, and I solved 4 of the clues on my own! Definitely more difficult being an 18 year old in the US, because so many of the words/definitions are unfamiliar to me. Love the videos!

[@jamesmoriarty6782]

Great solve. I always enjoy the Friday masterclass. Thank you Simon.

[@Cthulhus_Mum]

When I was in the navy, “us” was shorthand for “unserviceable” - aka “no longer working”

[@azrobbins01]

Love these! Thanks for continuing the series!

[@davidperkins3621]

Steep Holm and Flat Holm, two islands off the Southern coast of Wales and in tree Bristol Channel.

[@JohnLeeShaw]

As always, Simon, thanks for another wonderfully instructive masterclass. And well done for getting the better of the setter once again. It's interesting that you mention that these have been going for almost a year now, as word does certainly seem to be traveling at last. I used to be something like the 20-something like, and now I'm the 290th. That naughty KZbin algorithm is certainly getting an education from us Cracking The Cryptic Cruciverbalists! As far as 9a goes, I've often heard 'U. S.' used for useless ('... is absolutely U. S.') back home in the north-west of England. Hence, I did actually get that very quickly from the wordplay, along with 21d. That is happening more and more with me, thanks to your guidance. I think that your advice to build a bank of short synonyms is the golden piece of advice, and interestingly in all the books I have read on cryptic crosswords, it does seem to be absent in all of them. Maybe you should write one, I'd certainly buy it! Wishing you and all here a great weekend! ☺

[@dumediat_]

These videos are always great fun for me to watch, please keep them coming! I recently started solving cryptic crosswords because of these videos, and have crossed the threshold where I solved about half of the clues of this week's daily cryptics in the Guardian (very similar to my trajectory of solving variant sudoku because of this channel). Thank you for the education and entertainment!

[@Emmibean77]

I look forward to these videos every single week! They are immensely enjoyable, and incredibly fascinating. Well solved, Simon!

[@Svetsdead]

I got 1 and 19 across before Simon :O Thank you for these videos, always an entertaining watch!

[@rockhopper_penguin]

Another excellent solve. Thank you Simon. This was very entertaining

[@bobblebardsley]

39:35 I loved their song 'Kayleigh' 😜

[@michaelpdawson]

Just what I was thinking!

[@waynethomas7406]

Have been waiting for this and always enjoy the way the clues are read. Even more enjoyable to watch you tie yourself in knots when you have already solved a clue, klosters being a great example today. Thanks again

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Definitely a treat of the week.

[@debrabowen4276]

I love watching Simon solve these puzzles!

[@emilywilliams3237]

I do like these, and I'm getting more certain that I can recognize the code - sometimes, at least! Thanks for doing them, Simon.

[@arthurcharest9061]

Thanks Simon, these crosswords are my favorite!

[@louisesuth8141]

another fine friday chill, with this and tea!

[@stevewood8]

I noticed that Simon got a mention on the Times for The Times blog for this puzzle today, so maybe he'll get a few more views and help the KZbin algorithm. Hope so, cos I wouldn't want this series to stop - really enjoy them.

[@thedrunkenelf]

I want to get really good at cryptic crosswords just to show off to people honestly

[@nemuchan]

with S O and O and capital i was yelling Stockholm at you Simon ^_^

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

I was surprised that Simon hadn't heard of a Very light and didn't know U/S for unservicable - both are very common in UK cryptics. On the other hand, holm is a word that only scholars of Old and Middle English are likely to know. I can understand his problems with Madrileno and amorphous, as those were my last two as well. For the hiddens, only one forward hidden is allowed, but you can also have one that is backwards in the same puzzle.

[@gokufirespit8418]

This has been going on already for a while, but I adore the Professor Plum art meant to represent Simon in the thumbnails! Let’s get Mark some character art too, maybe he could be Mr. Green, or if he doesn’t take offense to this suggestion, perhaps Professor Farnsworth from Futurama!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

I love the Friday crossword videos!😺

[@martinwilson5210]

Really enjoyed that solve, thank you

[@falconcoolchris]

U/S used to be military abbreviation for unserviceable but we changed it in WWII when we needed help from the US. Amon can be spelt a million different ways as with most transliterations but especially if they come from hieroglyphs

[@LaytonBehelit]

Actually got 1, 5, 19 before Simon, I'm proud of myself

[@MarcMcMillin]

Great way to start December! Thanks Simon 🙂

[@clara931]

I almos forgot today was a friday. I suppose the crazy week of non-stop snow shoveling and non stop work has finally fried my brain

[@paul_harness]

A great help. I try to do this within the video these days and then watch through after. Good that Simon struggled on some similar clues to me eg Madrileno but generally he wizzes through many i found just as hard 😂 A great help to my crossword skill development, thank you!

[@richardfarrer5616]

"Holm" is an island generally. In the Severn estuary there are Flat Holm and Steep Holm for example.

[@mathhits]

These videos have been cemented into my Saturday cleaning routine. Unfortunately, it slows me down some, as I have to jot down interesting indicators and synonyms every 5 minutes! That said, please do continue on your quest to bring cryptics to the masses - I love these solves!

[@21deezer]

I don't do cryptic crosswords as would get frustrated with not being able to do them but I really look forward to Fridays and watching Simon's solving and explaining. I do sometimes get the answers before him (not very often though) lol roll on next friday

[@amysteele2488]

Back in the 1970s and 80s one of my uncles would use the phrase 'US' (with the two letters pronounced individually) to mean 'useless'. I think it was fairly current slang at the time. His name was Stan, hence his 'initials' from his nieces point of view were 'US'.

[@JezCarlton]

Love these videos, thanks for the walk through. How did 'chinchilla (a rodent) perhaps when' become 'catas'?

[@benphelan88]

“Very light” is a flare. Genesis fans are familiar with Vari-Lites, the technology used to create their incredible light shows.

[@michaelpdawson]

I was thinking that, too: I've never heard of very lights, but I've heard of Vari-Lites!

[@ashmeadowphoenix]

Lovely video as always. Amun/Amon/Amen has a variety of different spellings but usually without the second "n"

[@philipbrooks402]

9 across us =unserviceable

[@Sebablolsssssssss]

love these!

[@barneytrubble]

James Bond is told to use his "Very Pistol" in one of the early films (maybe Thunderball??)

[@falconcoolchris]

Biggles was constantly using Very pistols

[@heatherallan9767]

loved the revisit of the mitchell poem

[@archivist17]

U/S is an abbreviation meaning 'Unservicable', as any technician would tell you! 🙂

[@Math.Bandit]

Love the series and learn a lot about cryptics from it, to the point I am starting to be able to do fairly easy ones now (like the New Yorker). One question I have though is when Simon looks up an answer to something he's not 100% sure of (like FLARE here) and says he won't change it even if its wrong. While I obviously trust that he's not trying to cheat, I do wonder what he would do if it turned out to be wrong and then he later solved a crossing clue which forced it to be wrong anyways. Feels like it would be safer to only look up after you have all the crossing words, since otherwise you might have been able to figure out it was wrong later in the puzzle.

[@Prazzie]

Regarding the frequency of hidden clues, in his book, 'The Times How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords', Tim Moorey wrote the following: "Because they are considered to be the easiest type, there may be no hidden clue in any one daily puzzle and rarely more than two or three. I refer to 15 by 15 square puzzles; there may well be proportionately more in jumbo-style puzzles."

[@no-feetmcgee5577]

"If you're firmer, you might indulge in higher powers" -Fermat, to Pythagoras (sorry, very niche math joke, couldn't resist)

[@LednacekZ]

illumination makes me think Minions

[@markcroxteth2108]

Super

[@drullen5096]

A thousand small homes: the thousand small cots in stockholm. Over island capital: Stockholm is built on several islands. Stockholm: the holm(holme) with lumber (stock) around it. That is the old main part of 14th century Stockholm. A isle/holm with paĺlisades around it.

[@jgreen2015]

Madrileño Mad (insane) Rile (anger) No. (No) One to close Spanish capital - definition. Eg a citizen of Madrid Gives o at the end for amorphous.

[@colinstuartsmith]

we used the abbrevation US in the army to apply to anything UnServiceable

[@B1GB1RDB4G3L]

Love the videos Simon :)

[@bluerizlagirl]

5D: Insane -> Mad. To anger -> Rile. Number -> No = Madrileño, a native of Madrid, which would certainly be "one close to Spanish government". 9A: No longer working -> U/S -> unserviceable. I've encountered it in repair reports .....

[@vanessaosborne3175]

Timed it perfectly

[@ericpfannes3022]

For 11 across, if you look at the first letters of the first 5 words A Small Cravat Or Tie you find your answer ascot!

[@TheMajorr86]

There is an American football player with the first name Amon-Ra which is how I clued in that it was one M, so it must be an acceptable spelling of the name. I'm curious to see how widespread and used each acceptable variation spelling is.

[@finbarrhayes5878]

Yeah, Amon Ra St Brown, he plays for the Detroit Lions.

[@da1e11oyd]

us is often used to mean unserviceable relating to machinery and the like.

[@kevinmartin7760]

24 across is almost an &lit, since Piece of whatizname is both the definition and part of the wordplay. Actually if his works were becoming more popular lately, it would be a full &lit clue

[@Karboluk]

As you like comments, here's one especially for Simon: "Old Korean Pro by his home cafe- a real stunner! (9)"

[@markgillespie3971]

Aeolian Mode is another name for the Natural Minor scale, derived from the 6th step of the Major scale. Slightly dodgy clue I think as to play in a minor mode is not a 'style', it's a tonality.

[@walterxplinge3867]

US can be unservicable

[@mikelooker3649]

or useless commonly put on broken machinery in factories

[@sandmehlig]

Morpho... does having watched 'Silence of the Lambs' count as classical education? 😅

[@nickr3115]

Is it me or is the image of this video blurred? I have some difficulty reading the clues. Still enjoyable of course but wondering if picture could be clearer.

[@richardlyons7582]

Nice and early today.

[@fussyboy2000]

Are regular letter clues also restricted to one per puzzle? Also u/s is an abbreviation for Unserviceable.

[@al129]

The "us" part of 9 across the un-serviceable which fits with the no longer working.... Simon has failed to pick up on the use of us previously.

[@glum_hippo]

It's interesting how there can only be one 'hidden', but an unlimited number (presumably) of things like just taking the odd or even letters from a string such as 'nomad seeks' - I wonder what the moral/ethical/philosophical/mechanical difference is.

[@michaelpdawson]

The New Yorker Cryptic Crossword, for one, does not follow this convention. Today's puzzle included two hiddens. One was "Distorted judgment is part of rehab, I assume (4)", and the other was "New York school tucked into dish of strawberries (7)."

[@LednacekZ]

chinchilla is a cat?

[@jonathancowles8488]

It's a rodent

[@CrusherUK2013]

US is what engineers use for Un Serviceable.

[@c898dba]

No longer working = US = unserviceable :-)

[@wossaaaat]

Let's gooooooo

[@ranajamal3848]

❤

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

Isn't 24A both an andlit and an hidden ?

[@mikelittle5839]

as always simon entertains us, oh us is useless/no good anymore.

[@robertberwick3856]

As many have mentioned U/S is an abbreviation for unserviceable, synonymous with useless but not a driect replacement I don't think.

[@PeterMoore66]

12D I don't get why "chinchilla, perhaps" is "cat". A chinchilla is a rodent, and so definitely not a cat!

[@michaelpdawson]

That's tricky: chinchilla is also the name of a breed of Persian cat.

[@PeterMoore66]

@michaelpdawson ah, thank you. That didn't come up when I Googled it. That's the thing that frustrates me most with cryptic crosswords - I often understand the wordplay and can see how the clue must work, but some of the constituent parts are just so obtuse, or eclectic.

[@stevenewcombe1487]

Us is military slang for unserviceable

[@chrismeekings]

US is shortened for unserviceable

[@AlonAltman]

How does "pit" mean "bed"? Again, you explain the obvious stuff like pi being irrational, and not the weird obscure stuff...

[@stuartharris2165]

us maybe means unservicable

[@glynjones2893]

Hi Simon I know the abbreviation U/S to mean unserviceable !

[@richardj3880]

Equipment gets tagged out of service with "US" for UnServiceable