The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 27

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the 27th edition of our attempt to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon takes on today's puzzle, which is rated harder than average and features some cracking clues.
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...
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[@peterchilcott4192]

Essential Friday viewing, please do not stop

[@twobitera]

Not sure how much commenting on these older videos helps, but I very much enjoy the cryptic crosswords.

[@VonBlade]

Me neither but I'm liking and rewatching them all.

[@elemenopy7605]

algorithm schmalgorithm, these Masterclass videos by either Simon or Mark are my favorite youtube content

[@anwenroberts7887]

I love these cryptic crossword videos and make sure to never miss one! I like your sudoku videos too, but I especially look forward to these.

[@rgoyal107]

I'm always blown away by Simon's knowledge of obscure English words.

[@fussyboy2000]

Cryptic crosswords are practically the only place some of these words get used these days - they'd have been dropped from the language long ago otherwise.

[@_witsd]

And then not knowing 'lairy'. Maybe you had to grow up in a certain area of the UK for that one :D

[@mrmidlife2546]

Sod the algorithm, my wife and I love the friday crossword. We're learning and getting better, please keep including them on your channel.

[@peterdunlop7691]

These are my favourite videos from the channel.

[@HanBanan828]

Omg that comment at the end about these videos not doing as well the others! I certainly hope you don’t stop these!!! I have busy days and unfortunately I rarely watch the sudoku videos anymore but I always make time on Fridays for these. Even just to have on in the background during my lunch break ❤️❤️❤️ with love from the USA

[@JohnLeeShaw]

Thanks once again Simon, another brilliant and informative solve! I actually thought Wham straight off, but only because you already had the W there 🙂 Being a watercolourist, I got rose madder, also. I can safely say that it is a great pinkish colour, I use it often with blue to make a purple for clouds in skies. Again, one of the most impressive things about watching you solve these puzzles is seeing you get answers without being super familiar with them. As for the KZbin algorithm, I do hope you ignore it, because these videos are one of my Friday pleasures now. The only bad thing is that they make the week go a little slower waiting for Friday to come around again! 😇 Have a nice weekend!

[@longwaytotipperary]

@JohnLeeShaw I started water coloring during COVID to relax. Rose Madder is indeed a lovely reddish/pink shade that I turn to frequently when painting flowers.

[@paul_harness]

Another great video! Please keep them coming as they are so helpful 👍

[@MartinSteed]

I dont understand cryptic crosswords at all, but I find watching these videos entertaining and informative. I will happily watch them as long as you continue to make them!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Ditto

[@rhodrijames7962]

I think 4 across is actually "bird place" = "a mew"; mews were where hawks and falcons were kept in medieval times, and appear mostly in street names nowadays.

[@plusjeremy]

That's a good point, MEW = coop = "bird area" is reasonable. But crossword conventions would not allow "bird area" = A MEW. The 'A' has to be justified, so it must be parsed MEW (bird) + A (area). MEW is another word for the common gull.

[@bryanroland9402]

"Lairy" is a slang word that means behaving in a loud, brash manner, especially when you are drinking alcohol: "The bar was full of lairy, pint-swilling lads." I remember hearing it used decades ago in my Fenland town but it must be rare nowadays. I always enjoy the Friday cryptic and learn something new.

[@MarcMcMillin]

I'm so happy to wake up on Friday to this Masterclass!

[@danecarter5454]

Please keep them coming!

[@the_real_student179]

As others have said these are currently my favorite videos coming from CTC (although everything you guys do is great). I always look forward to Friday mornings now to watch these first thing.

[@Melissa_Hz]

I’m just starting to watch, but if 1 across turns out to be “echo” I’ll know I’ve officially watched enough of these to still have no chance of ever solving one. 😂

[@Landis963]

And lo and behold!

[@user-gs3nz8xj5x]

Yea same .... my answer was GAGA.... I thought the empty cage was AG... I feel like i've understood half of the rules and now I'm further away from the answers than I was when I started.

[@jadeEpeace]

Thank you I have been watching these for a while and very proudly just solved 1 across and properly understood all the wordplay :) love these videos!

[@iamtheblarneystonekissmyass]

Simon + crossword = awesome

[@longwaytotipperary]

Always happy to see this - particularly today - after a stressful week. Thank you, Simon!

[@listey]

🎶 That's E in the corner. That's E in the spotlight. Losing its religion. 🎶

[@jonhansen9622]

Twice!

[@sh4dowchas3r]

I think the Cambridge University was doing double duty, both for the MIT bit but also a definition CU Artisan. Which was how I backed into the copper part.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Yeah, I noticed that too. Of course, *the* Cambridge university is the other one, the reason the town has its name -- Harvard, founded by some of Simon's fellow Cantabridgians (if rather a bit older). (I've only the most tangential connections to either of them, though.)

[@richfield4405]

Please keep up with these videos, we are all learning everyday with your help. I still get completely stumped by not only the clues, but also the explanations. Today living and quickly !

[@rebeccaneville8968]

I like watching these videos - been watching them more than the sudoku recently

[@Sheeno101]

Agreed with everyone else that these are essential weekly viewing for me - please don't ever stop!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Do keep doing these: they've become a highlight of the week! I love the clever vocabulary, the word play, and the random literary allusions. 😺 Simon, given your well documented love of poetry, I'm always surprised when you don't recognize Shakespeare. To be fair, though, my own first association with Mistress Quickly is Verdi's "Falstaff." Also: earlier this spring you mentioned "A Digital Tomato," by your friend R. M. Frith. I've finally had a chance to read it -- it is a feminist dystopian satire, and I was particularly amused by Pidpat, the slang Frith concocts for the young characters. The title is supposed to remind you of "A Clockwork Orange," and there are various points of contact between the two stories. (I haven't read Burgess, though, and it's a very long time since I saw the movie, so I'm sure I've missed a lot of the parody.) Worth reading!

[@adamusher468]

One of my weekly highlights! Loving getting into cryptic crosswords myself. Thanks Simon. Impressed as always by your mighty intellect!!

[@charliejoseph6465]

Back in December 2019, after having just started learning cryptic crosswords, I decided to enter the Times championship. I came in dead last place, which I did enjoy, as I knew it would be a good interesting fact for me to use in my next ice breaker exercise. So I took a photo of the leader board, and the other day I found it that photo. I was very excited to see both your names on the photo, as I only discovered this channel about a year or so ago. Now I am aware just how good the best solvers are, I think it is hilarious that I took part. It was like entering the Wimbledon of crosswords! Though it was a very fun and friendly day out. I wish I could go back and tell you in person how much I enjoy this channel.

[@emdiar6588]

I love that you've never heard of 'lairy'. The sign of a sheltered life.

[@altreusplays]

“I think it’s going to be a word like oh, then we empty out cage and turn it all around… nope no clue” Simon

[@user-gs3nz8xj5x]

Also Simon ( after a nanosecond ) "Game warden ?"

[@arthurcharest9061]

Thanks Simon!

[@royston1928]

I LOVE the crossword videos!

[@martinwilson5210]

Wow! great solve please continue. This makes my Friday every week

[@lukasaurelius4462]

This is my favorite sub-series on KZbin. What I mean is, I started watching this channel for the variant sudokus during the 2020 lockdown in the States, and continue to watch daily. But having the cryptic crosswords to watch has become something of a ritual on Saturday mornings over coffee. Thank you Simon and Mark - I genuinely enjoy the casual brilliance and logical deductions on display every single day.

[@michaelmoore6481]

My solving has improved since watching these videos, please keep them coming.

[@johnmerriam8661]

Love these videos! Please keep them coming!!

[@crhodgkin]

I very much enjoy these Friday bonus videos (and Mark's monthly sorcery as well) and hope you continue them. 🙂Thank you!

[@lin4579]

Always look forward to these. So helpful to novice solvers

[@emilywilliams3237]

I love these cryptic crossword videos, and I also love the sudoku videos. I definitely watch every one of these, and eventually every sudoku video (though sometimes I am a few days to a few weeks late on the latter, depending on what my life is doing). I love this change of pace as I watch you or Mark use something different in your arsenal of knowledge and experience. So interesting and enjoyable. Thanks for doing these!

[@patrickocallaghan3429]

While Titian was mixing rose madder His model reclined on a ladder Her position, to Titian Suggested coition So he sprang up the ladder and had 'er

[@profregan6937]

Algorithms are bunk. Fabulous entertainment always

[@zyxxy]

I hope you continue. I always look forward to fridays as the Times Cryptic crossword is becoming (slightly) less incomprehensible due to your explanations and strategies.

[@heydh.]

I certainly enjoy the cryptic Fridays and hope they continue!

[@cumulus888]

Always a job watching video solving cryptic puzzles.

[@recentrunes6519]

Always look forward to Friday evenings, to be able to watch these videos..

[@pokinDave]

I thoroughly enjoy these crossword videos. The sudoku videos will always have a potentially broader audience since the logic does not require mastery of English. Due to the channel sparking my interest in variant sudoku, I have actual watched two videos In Chinese of solvers doing Tallcat puzzles. I did not understand a word but still comprehended the videos.

[@josephblack2757]

These are among my favorites, but they definitely tickle a different and more difficult to access part of my brain than the daily sudoku videos. Fridays are an excellent day for them!

[@leehazell7633]

Please continue these. These have become a Saturday morning ritual for me.

[@jimbothefuzzy]

This was the first time I managed to get a clue before Simon without the help of any checking letters! Admittedly it was 1 across, but just reading the clue gave me the first two letters and the definition. Which let me get it before Simon finished reading the clue. And I figured out the first word of 6 Down. But that was probably as far as I would get, even with the dictionary. I hope he keeps going with these, as I learn something new every week!

[@Emmibean77]

I love these videos so, so much!

[@robertrome2293]

Thank you Simon. Like others this has become essential viewing - but only after I have tried (and sometimes finished) Friday’s crossword. Today I did finish it but got Nudge and Peahen without fully understanding the clues. Very helpful.

[@Torenhire]

For what it's worth, cheesesmith was my first thought for that 2 down clue as well! It totally should be a thing!

[@Willow211]

I've heard that the KZbin algorithm doesn't like episode numbers in the title. The reason/assumption being that if there is episodic content people need to see it in order, so the algorithm ignores the middle episodes. Great video still!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Really?? Bad algorithm!!

[@Sgray-ep7se]

Always a pleasure to watch!

[@Jonty340]

Very much enjoy these puzzles. Another great solve.

[@waynethomas7406]

I've been meaning to comment for a while. I have had a hate hate relationship with cryptics for many years and decided to apply myself a little more seriously recently. This coincided with coming across this channel and I cannot thank you and Mark enough. These Friday solves are excellent viewing and have helped immeasurably with attempting cryptics in the Guardian. I cannot class myself as anything other than a novice but am now solving the Monday quiptic and have less successful but enjoyable attempts at the others. The most interesting aspect for me is your reading of the clue. I find myself parroting your technique. To that end I managed echo as you were reading the clue yourself. Again, many thanks. I still find them frustrating and some setters appear to be thinking at different wavelengths to my own thought but on the whole I feel that I am making progress.

[@duncanwilliamson3242]

I love these videos, they always brighten my Friday. Ive definitely noticed improvement in my cryptic skills in the past few months. Im still years away from being as good as simon.

[@Grumpy_Granddad]

I really look forward to your Friday times cryptic outings

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

Simon, don't worry about being 'too slow', it give us time to find the word before you, and therefore shouting it to you. Even if it is for a few seconds only. As long as you will love to register thoses videos, we will love to watch them... So don't force you to do them if you don't like it, but otherwise, please continue.

[@bobblebardsley]

6:32 Yep you said "AH! or OH! followed by emptied cage, CE, then we have to reverse it... I haven't got a clue" and moved on 😂 (or words to that effect, along with "It won't be parrot like the bird, it will mean to repeat something.") It is Friday though so all is forgiven 😅🥳🥳🥳

[@philipbrooks402]

Another impressive solve from Simon. Given the high difficulty rating that was quite a fast solve given the time he takes to explain the clues.

[@jakemurphy6125]

Mistress Quickly is from Shakespeare and his ‘Henry’ plays

[@9conn]

We do enjoy watching the Cryptic videos! KZbin didn't recommend them to me for a while, which is odd because they are the only videos of yours that I watch, and it still decided to recommend other videos of yours

[@myacky5887]

Simon knowing "horse" is slang for heroin is so funny to me 😂

[@andywilson5000]

Love these videos Simon

[@thatbear28]

I love the crossword videos please keep them up!!

[@jonhansen9622]

Another fun solve, these are always entertaining and informative

[@user-bb7gz2if7d]

Came for the sudokus, stayed for the crosswords.

[@gojiralaluna9114]

I love the cryptic crossword solves, theyre always so fun and interesting with so many strange pop culture or old words used in so many different ways, it blows me away each time! But I also love catching puns that you dont, or possible little side clues, even though I'd only be able to complete about 5 clues myself on my own 🤣 For instance, 23 across, "flipping ass" also referring to the U.S. party system, with democrats symbolized by a donkey, of which Reagan was not, as he was a republican (who use an elephant). then 24 across, old captain ahab and his quest against the whale, perhaps a hump backed whale.

[@mattclem6753]

Finished it before watching…it’s a first…there were two of us though in the pub

[@LiquorStoreJon]

I have started to pick up some of the clues of these puzzles, all thanks to your teachings. So, thank you for that. I hope this series continues!

[@thimblythom]

I love these videos!!

[@francesT5877]

Thanks as always. I managed to get most of it with just a few hints, but made a silly mistake of thinking there was a variant chabutti. Probably thinking about Asim Chaudry. Lots of fun things in this.

[@ArpitAnand-yd7tr]

Hey Simon, great solve as always! Please keep these crosswords coming. Also, Mistress Quickly is indeed from Shakespeare

[@davidkay6655]

Physics and math yes. Useless at these can't spell to save my life but love watching Simon and mark do these

[@Biddlebum]

Mistress Quickly: Innkeeper in four Shakespeare plays - Henry IV 1 and 2, Henry V and Merry Wives of Windsor.

[@louisesuth8141]

i love them! part of my friday routine now!

[@rhoadeshouse]

Looking forward to watch simons solve.

[@AcidDotCom]

Really enjoy those videos. Keep it up and don't listen to YT algorithm...it knows nothing about quality videos :)

[@richardfarrer5616]

Mistress Quickly is Falstaff's landlady from Merry Wives of Windsor. And also a minor character in several of the Henry plays though I can't recall exactly which.

[@chitraagarwal8259]

I remembered it as a Shakespearean ref too and was wondering if it was in Dickens as well

[@richardclegg8027]

She first appears in Henry IV part I as a somewhat disreputable innkeeper.

[@ranajamal3848]

Great video

[@rub5370]

i love these so much

[@AlonAltman]

OMG for the first time ever I got a definition before Simon did (though I used his explanation) to get 1 across.

[@michaelpdawson]

There's a dirty limerick that begins "While Titian was mixing rose madder..." (You can Google the rest of it!)

[@ParsnipsMum1]

I saw Cambridge University artisan as cu smith... cu=copper, so coppersmith! But your solution with MIT might have fit it all better.

[@clamsauce]

If I were clueing 2 down, I would have tried to use Cambridge University to refer to both Copper (Cu) and MIT

[@clffliese26]

Mistress Quickly is a character in Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV. Shakespeare.

[@chitraagarwal8259]

Watching these videos is highly educational.. Hope someday to be able to get comfort in solving cryptic crosswords like i have learnt to do variant sudoku thanks to Simon and Mark.. Wondering if there are any "GaS" equivalent cryptic crosswords to start off with. Ive only ever done crosswords from NYT!

[@jonbrowne]

Awesome!

[@CrusherUK2013]

Hi Simon, love the crossword solves. Could 2 down 'Cambridge University artisan' have been read as 'Cu artisan', i.e. 'Copper Artisan'?

[@deniseiln]

Heh. Within this past week, an older relative of mine referred to a second reminder pay-this-bill notice as a 'dunning letter'. So it may not be modern, but it's not quite as archaic as 'la' for 'look'.

[@jennisrandom42]

Love these!

[@quantumelle]

I feel like I'm getting smarter just by listening to Simon

[@jgreen2015]

Echo! I always manage to get the ones he can't but never the ones he gets easily lol

[@logiciananimal]

Quickly is in Shakespeare's Henry IV

[@DevilboyScooby]

🎶 ooh, watching the people get lairy, it's not very pretty i tell thee..." ~Kaiser Chiefs, not Dickens 😂

[@GordonjSmith1]

Question - Why if you are 'living' are you 'quick'?? However apart from that I thought it was. very informative solve!

[@DuncanBooth]

The common gull is also known as a sea mew according to wikipedia.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

I was kicking myself: Seemöwe was one of the first German vocabulary words I learned outside of class (I used to write my weekly compositions on the ferry ride to college), so I should really have reacognized the English cognate!

[@richardlyons7582]

With a lot of help from CTC , getting better at solving cryptic crosswords, sorry only the DM at this moment in time. Storing away the little intricacies and synonyms of word play.

[@WayneField]

"Lairy" for me is being drunk and obnoxious. As the Kaiser Chiefs sang: "Watching the people get lairy. It's not very pretty I tell thee.."